The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 17, 1930, Page 4

' Page Four Square. New York Published by thé Comprodaily Publishing Co. City, N. Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker Y. Telephone St Pi 20-28 Unio Baily 3: Central Coan of the Communist he of the U.S. A. : aWorker ne By Mai 11 (in New York City only): $8. i} Coutsi@e of New York City): ON RA 00 96. o's year: ATES yea $4.50 six months; $3.50 six months; $2.50 three months $2.00 three months THE PEABODY COAL CO. HIRES MORE HELP By BILL DUN \E. HE Springfield “convention” under the nom- inal leadership of Howat, Brophy, Hapgood, Germer, etc., but under thé ACTUAL leader- ship of the Peabody Coal Company, was an- other step taken by the coal operators and their agents among the miners in the drive against the economic and social status of miners and their faffilies. The personnel of the leadership,consisted of the Fishwick-Farrington forces and the Muste elements of the American Federation of Labor. There is no contradiction between this state- ment and the fact that Howat replaced wick as chairman of the convention and that Farrington was not seated, On the contra the apparent diffgrences among the leade’ and the pushing Reeacd of the “left” elements was the seal of this alliance and was placed upon it by the Peabody Coal Company. Fishwick and Farrington Too Well Known. It is no longer possible to fool miners with Fishwick and Farrington—the latter having had his $25,000 connection with the Peabody Coal Company publicly e&Xposed and the for- mer having munctioned openly as their tool inside the United Mine Workers in Illinois, Both of them were active together with deputy sheriffs, troops, gunmen and the courts in breaking the strike of more than 10,000 miners last. December and jailing leaders and active members of the National Miners’ Union. The main reason for the calling and holding of the convention was to create the impression among miners who in every fieeld are show- ing by actual deeds their will to fight for the program of the NMU and to resist in the most determined manner the increasing attack of the coal barons and their government, that Fishwick and Farrington no longed wielded any influence in union circles; to create the impres- sion that a new leadership had arisen which had dealt properly with these scoundrels. Dressed Up By the Coal Barons. The coal operators simply dressed Howat, Brophy, Hapgood and Company in the togs 6f saviors and allowed them to strut the conven- tion platform as spokesmen of the rank and file. The convention marked the advent of the Muste crew—the “left wing” of social-fascism into the coal fields in organized form. Their selection by the Peabody Coal Company and its associates for the role of leadership as against their former minority status is con- clusive evidence of the rapid development of decisive struggles in the mine fields and of the growing influence of the National Miners Union. Adopt Lewis Constitution. Still more significant is a section of Article XIV adopted by the “rank and file convention.” This section, lifted bodily from the old United Mine Workers constitution, excludes members of the Communist Party from membership in the Peabody-Howat Brophy “union,” The de- liberate insult to all militant workers in this section, made by mentioning the I. W. W., the One Big Union, and the Working Class Union in the same paragraph with the National Chamber of Commerce and the Ku Klux Klan, originated under the Lewis-Fishwick-Farring- ton regime, is maintained in the Springfield document. The inclusion of the phrase in this section, “or any dual organization not affiliated with the American Federation of Labor” is clear proof that the leaders of the Springfield con- vention contemplate no break with the chief instrument of social-fascism in the United States. As in the old constitution Section 7 provides an, initiation fee of $10—always too high but criminal now when more than fifty percent of all miners are unemployed and there is hardly a miner'that can get work for more than three days per week. A hypocrital gesture was made on the ques- tion of officers, wages, quite obviously in an at- tempt to capitalize the devastating criticism made by Communists of the huge salaries of A. F. of L. officials generally and United Mine Workers officials particularly. The Spring- field constitution fixes the wage of the presi- dent at $6000 per year, that of the secretary- treasurer at a similar figure while the poor vice-president is to receive a mere pittance of $5000. Jn addition these officials are to re- ceive all expense when away from their place of residence. This last phrase is designed to enable the officials to have their “residence” at some other place than the official headquarters and there- by continue to legalize the practice of drawing expenses for all the time they are at head- quarters, Some Gang! Among others, the convention call was signed by Howat, John H. Walker, Oral Daugh erty, John Brophy, Adolph Germer, Harry ishwick, Walter Nesbit, Joseph Loda and Gus itz. This choice list includes everything from “left wing” social-fascists to a gunman of the Peabody Coal Company. Specifically: Howat and Brophy deserted the rank and file of the whiners at the height of the strug- gle in 1927-28 against the operators and the Lewis machine, led at that time by the “Save The Union Committee,” when 100,000 Ohio and Pennsylvania miners were in heroic struggle for months against the offensive of the steel trust controlled coal companies. Howat crawl- ed back to the Lewis machine. John H. Walker, president of the Illinois state federation of labor, is one of the worst enemies of the working class. He was proved to have received a large sum from the Insull public utility interests in the scandal attending the election of their senatorial candidate Frank J. Smith. Walker is one of the official “red- baiters” of the A. F. of L. and has actively sup- ported John L. Lewis for the last seven years. » Oral Dougherty, former sub-district pres- dent of subdistrict 4, Ohio, during the height of the Ohio strike in 1928, tried to break the strike by attempting to have the men accept a $6.00 wage scale from the coal operators. Fishwick and Nesbit, president and secretary- treasurer, respectively, of the Illinois district of the U.M.W.A., are associates of Frank Far- and like him agents of the Peabody Coal Company. Gus Fritz is a slimy faker who can be bought for the price of a pint of moonshine with a part payment down. Joseph Loda is a Peabody Coal Company punman, | 1 Adolph Germer is a pre-war secretary of the Illinois district, a member of the socialist party whose main working class activity for years has been gelling correspondence law courses in La Salle College. He is the individual who called the police to kick out the left wing at the S. P. convention in Chicago, 1919. The convention call signed by this crew does not contain one single word about the terrible conditions of the miners and their families. This seems unbelievable but it is true. One would think that a few words of this basic subject would have crept in by accident. But it is not accidental that nothing of the sort is there. Who Wrote the Call? The explanation is that this convention call was written under instructions of coal opera- tors. It contains much criticism of Lewis and his administration but even this is not nearly sharp as has been made in the past. The only subject dealt with is the condition of the union as a result of Lewis misleadership. Not one word is id that would direct the atten- tion of miners to the vicious attacks of the coal barons and their government. There is not a word about unemployment. There is not a word about preparation for strikes. On the contrary, it cont paragraph: s the following “Every part of District No. 12 (Illinois) was functioning smoothly in spite of the most difficult circumstances. Its legal de- partment collected over four million dollars in compensation annualy for deaths and in- juries. The district treasurer over $350,000 per year in death benefits. Work in the district was increasing. The contract, while not all it should be, gave the highest wage and the best working conditions in the cen- tral competitive field. This picture of the Peabody paradise is a daub of outright lies designed to convince min- ers, half of whom are starving, that there is no need for struggle because in some other districts all miners and their families are starv- ing. Brophy’s Line. Statements made by Brophy during his speech in Springfield show conclusively the actual character of the leadership in spite of its loud criticism of Lewis. For instance: “My policy is to be conservative and make a wage scale based on freight rates, etc. If you set up an organization fair and square. . and conservative we will go down the line with you men. We are conservative. If it is spread that this is a red convention, and I am asking you not to put this stamp on this organization that it is a bunch of reds we will not be able to make contracts with our operators. We must pick out men nationally known who are conservative to lead this union.” (Emphasis mine.) The most powerful microscope would fail to disclose the slightest difference between the policy outlined by Brophy and the policy of Lewis. It is a policy of, by and for coal opera- tors. Hapgood’s contribution to the discussion was “I don’t believe in wage reductions but failure to keep up organization makes it necessary to accept them.” Make Up of Convention. The composition of the convention was in- teresting—to say the least. The official fig- ures credit Illinois with 283 delegates, Kansas 37, Iowa 13, Indiana 5, Oklahoma 14, Ohio 26, Pennsylvania 2, Wyoming 3—a total of 381. (The two from Pennsylvania were Brophy and Hapgood.) Doubtless there was a considerable number of militant rank and file miners among the delegates who still hoped against hope for unity and fighting’ leadership as a result of the convention. But most of the delegates were handpicked by the Fishwick machine and evidence of the use of this time and tried method of building up conventions came out during the proceed- ings—due to the fact that the continued criti- cism of Lewis as the base of their fakery com- pelled the new Peabody Coal Company leader- ship to give some opportunity to the rank and file to voice their suspicions. One delegate from Harrisburg, for instance, charged Fishwick with packing the convention. Another delegate supported him and adduced proof: “Take Local 758 . .. The names of delegates for this union were read when the union has not been in existence for years. You said this was a rank and file convention. Let’s elect our own credentials committee and investigate these unions.” Howat was elected chairman of the conven- tion. Walter Nesbit, for more than fifteen years secretary of the Illinois district of the U.M.W.A., serving in all administrations in- cluding the Farrington-Peabody-Fishwick re- gime, was elected secretary of the convention. The Peabody Link. The organic link between the convention and the Peabody Coal Company thus was not weak- ened by the failure of Fishwick to be elected chairman, What did the convention do? It provided for a delegation to the next con- vention of the A. F. of L. It continued negotiations with Lewis. It appealed to the United States Senate to investigate the coal mining industry and the U.M.W.A. The wire was adJress¢d to Senator Wheeler of Montana. Not to be outdone, the Lewis convention praised Senators Norris of Nebraska and Walsh of Montana for “spon- soring anti-injunction legislation’—none of which has been made into law, however, and which, if it was, would make no difference, since strikes are smashed by fascist methods and not by injunctions. The exposure of the purposes of the Spring- field convention by the Communist Party, the Trade Union Unity League and the National Miners Union spoiled the plans of Peabody’s Musteite henchmen, exposed them before thous- ands of miners and prevented them from ef- fectively carrying out their program of be- trayal Our Mistakes. But it must be noted also that the mistakes made by the former hational leadership of the N.M.U., and by the Illinois district of the N. M. U.—mistakes made by almost all Ithe mem- bers of the Communist fraction—alone made possible the holding of such a convention. Had the policy of our Party and the Trade M icing F ‘orward to Sociatien— Despite Capitalist ‘Prayers’! | their trade (By the International Committee of Revolu- tionary Metal Workers.) HE “socialist” and capitalist press talk a lot about the “dreadful” unemployment in the Soviet Union. The press in the capitalist countries even strives to show that the unem- ployment in the Soviet Union is worse than in the capitalist countries. The facts, however, show that the opposite is true, While in the capitalist countries, in connection with the present industrial crisis and rationalization, unemployment is steadily growing and affecting the broadest sections of the working class, in the Soviet Union un- employment during the past year diminished. (Also it must be remembered that the un- employed in the Soviet Union receive substan- tial relief, both from the government and from unions, in which nearly every worker is organized. For example, the unem- ployed pay no rent while out of work, they receive medical attention free just as when employed and many other benefits besides cash compensation, all of which gives them security and relief from the hell of anxiety such as an unemployed*worker has in the United States.—Editor.) This diminishing number of the unemployed in the Soviet Union with the growth of so- cialized industry applies also to the metal workers. While on July 1, 1929, the unem- ployment registers of the Metal Workers’ Union in the Soviet Union contained 94,300 names, on September 1, the number of unem- ployed metal workers was 90,000, and on Oc- tober 1, 89,700. However, the fundamental difference be- tween unemployment in the U.S.S.R. and in the capitalist countries is not sufficiently indi- cated by these figures. It is necessary to make a deeper examination of the causes and character of unemployment in the U.S.S.R. and in the capitalist countries to realize the PS RS SS A ee Union Unity League been carried out some six months ago the Illinois strike would have had a still greater mass character, the N. M. U, would have been far stronger and the sys- tematic exposure, especially of Howat and Watt, would have swept away all illusions among the miners, The failure to organize and bring forward Rank and File Committees. of Action as the principal instruments of struggle, the failure even to elect rank and file strike committees, the failure to understand. the revolutionary significance of the united front of rank and file workers, unorganized workers, unemployed workers, rank and file members of the U. M. W. A. with the N. M. U,—on the part of many comrades seriously handicapped our work. These mistakes have been corrected: and the miners are responding as their response to the appeal to stay away from the Peabody heat vention showed. Our Tasks. It is necessary now to center the fire of the N. M. U. and the T. U. U. L. on the Howat- Brophy-Hapgood attempt to create a “left” front for the Fishwick and Farringtons—and the A. F. of L, There must be no let-up in this drive untii they are defeated completely. This is now done as a central part of the organization of N. M. U. district conferences and in the preparation for mass convention of the union set for Pittsburgh, June 1. The whole perspective is for widening and sharpening struggles in the mine fields. The strategy of the “left wing” social fascists in their Springfield convention was to halt these growing struggles, In this they were defeated by our Party and its mass support among the miners. Unemplopment in the U.S.S.R. and in Capitalist Countries entire significance ‘of the difference between “FROM PRINCE TO BOLSHEVIK” | By I. AMDUR (Moscow). HE youth of bourgeois countr and par- ticularly working class youth receive a con- siderable portion of their “worldly” education in the form of a senseless (to the reader), but extremely harmful (also to the reader) “literature” bearing on all manner of daring, of exciting and thrilling escapades, hair- | raising duels with death, etc., etc. Tales of adventure portraying the meteoric rise of the inevitable poor boy to “Ship’s Cap- tain,” “Banker,” “President,” or some such other worldly position implying wealth, honor and glory, serve as a useful appetiser to the lad’s love of adventure, judiciously tempered, however, with the usual fatherly counsel of “honesty, the best policy,” of loyalty to the boss and such-like stultifying and subtle class propaganda that typifies this category of lit- erature. The fact that in real life the poor boy re- mains, a poor boy naturally, nowhere stressed, but this little fact hardly stays the pen of the highly imaginative author who is paid by the amount of fantasy he succeeds in getting into each line. This, solely, being all that is required by the mind-moulders of the ruling class (read capitalists) for shaping the ideology of the “young idea” (working class youth). The following is a tale slightly differing in context to those of capitalist manufacture in that, firstly, it represents the evolution of the son of a mid-Asian Emir to membership in the Russian Young Communist League—“Blue blooded scion to Red Revolutionary” (I pre- set this title as a gift to the aforesaid im-* aginative authors), and secondly, it happens to be a true story. And thus, once upon a time... The University of Uzbekistan (in Central Asia) has recently disclosed the fact that it includes among its student body the son of an ex-Emir. Prince Shakmurad Alim, as he was known before the Revolution, is the second son of Alim Khans former Emir of Old Bok- hara, one of the richest and most powerful principalities in Middle Asia. Shakmurad was ten years old when the last stronghold of the Emir fell into the hands of the Red Army (1920). The Emir fled to Afghanistan not forgetting to take along a goodly portion of the family jewels which had been accumulated for generations, and worth, from all accounts, a fabulous sum. The family of 8 wives, three boys and four girls, was left behind to fend for itself. How- ever, they were treated with every kindness by the new rulers, a fact which greatly im- pressed young Shakmurad who had been thoroughly scared by court stories of Bolshe- vik “horrors.” Later, the family was given the choice between remaining in Bokhara or ! joining the Emir. The 3 wives, a boy and two of the girls availed themselves of this offer and left for Afghanistan. The two elder girls had since married and elected to remain viet Bokhara. Shakmurad and his brother 1 to be permitted to enter the Moscow ersity. Shakmurad had his wish. He attended var- ious technical schools in Moscow and when the first University in Uzbekistan was opened he returned to enter it as a student, It must have been somewhat strange to Shakmurad when he entered its portals as it is housed in a former palace of the Emir and where he himself had lived for some years as a child, Now, its gorgeous halls and corridors echo to the gay laughter of some 300 of the finest Uzbekistan youth, boys and girls from worker and peasant families. Shakmurad is a-keen worker and participates in all cam- paigns and social activities carried on by the students. Especially is he impressed and most enthusiastic at the unbelievable cultural and educational work trojanly carried on de- spite all manner of obstacles—religious tradi- tions, superstitions, ete. He has joined the Komsomols in order, as he says, “to place my- self directly under the control and guidance, and to be at the service of that organization which is leading the youth to a better, a finer future.” In reply to questions concerning the rumor that his father is actively plotting to return, Shakmurad stated it as his sincere belief that the old order is dead and never again can be restored. He quoted an open letter sent by his brother and himself and published in the cen- tral press in which he propounds his political views as being pro-Bolshevik. In this letter Shakmurad and his brother denounce the Emir and disown him, adding that they could meet hereafter only as advocates of opposed social * systems and, consequently, as enemies. The October Revolution, asserts Shakmurad, is the greatest, most progressive event in his- tory, and he sees the emancipation of the toiling masses possible only through similar upheavals throughout the world. He speaks with feeling on the terrible con- ditions of women during his father’s reign— illiterate, ignorant, superstitious to an in-* credible degree, faces always veiled, and mar- ried off while yet mere children. While today, the “chadra” has been discarded and girls at- tend the new schools, erected during the last few years, showing an aptitude and zest for learning which would have startled the old feudal aristocracy of the Emir’s court brought up to look upon women as two-legged cattle. Shakmurad’s ambition is to become a teach- er and go out among the youth of the country to instill in them the knowledge he has gained. Especially is he interested in technics and is already instructing classes. unemployment in the first socialist. country and in the countries of capitalism. In the capitalist countries unemployment has a so-called “structural” character. It is due to the very existence of the capitalist sys- tem of production, for the existence of a con- stant reserve army of unemployed represents an inalienable feature bf capitalism. This army has been growing particularly of late years despite the simultaneous increase of capitalist production, since this development of production has been achieved on the basis of extensive concentration and vigorous ra- tionalization as a result of which large masses’ of workers have been thrown out into the streets. In the capitalist countries the overwhelm- ing mass of the unemployed consists of 100 per cent proletarians. A considerable section of them is composed of skilled and highly skilled workers who are being replaced as a result of the development of machine produc- tion by the cheaper laber power of the un- skilled workers, women and children. In the Soviet Union the existence of unem- ployment is due primarily to agrarian over- population. Parallel with the development of industry we see a constant growth of the num- ber of, workers employed in production. The rationalization taking place in the U.S.S.R. differs from capitalist rationalization precisely in that, while introducing technical improve- ments, a more efficient organization of labor, it does not affect the workers and does not lead to a reduction of employment in industry as a whole. Thus, the socialist rationalization carried on in the U.S.S.R. does not constitute a factor making for an increase of ynemploy- ment. ~ Among the unemployed in the U.S.S.R. there are no highly skilled and practically no skilled workers. On the contrary, the Soviet industries are suffering from a considerable shortage of skilled workers. The overwhelming majority of the unemployed in the Soviet Union consists of recent arrivals from the village, unskilled workers, boys and girls offering their labor for the first time, seasonal workers, etc. Further, while in the capitalist countries one frequently meets with unemployed workers who have been without work for one, two and even three years, the unemployment period of in- dustrial workers in the U.S.S.R. is far shorter and usually does not exceed six months. As has been aiready stated above, during the last year unemployment in the U.S.S.R. has been definitely on the decline. This has been due both to the adoption of the seven-hour day and primarily of the continuous working week in consequence of which employment in factories introducing this system has increased by about 20 per cent. The cofisequences of the agrarian overpo- pulation in the U.S.S.R. are now being largely eliminated by the policy of agricultural collec- tivization and the creation of giant state farms. The collectivization of agriculture undoubtedly leads to a growth of production while the state farms also employ tens and hundreds of thous- ands of new workers. We thus see that the socialist. system of economy in the Soviet Union constitutes an effective factor in overcoming unemployment. This ‘also shows to us the entire difference be- tween unemployment in the U.S.S.R. and un- employment in the capitalist countries. By following the example of the Soviet pro- letariat which overthrew its bourgeoisie and is now building its own economic system, the workers of the entire world will deal a power- ful blow also at unemployment which so gravely affects the conditions of the workers in all the .capitalist countries, One-Eighth of Youngstown Demonstrated on March 6 By BERTHA K. MARSHALL We suppose that from the fact that at our March 6 demonstration in Youngstown, we had a “mere” 20,000 workers, Lovestone will claim that he was “corect,” that our Communist Party is “dwindling before our eyes” and that its activities hardly create a ripple: in this “unshakable” capitalist structure known as the United States of America. We had here in Youngstown a “mere” 20,000 workers, employed and unemployed. This is about one-eighth of the total population of the city. For the first time in the city’s history have such large masses turned out to hear our message and to demonstrate by their eager applause, that they had found in the Communist Party their true leadership. Our demonstration on the Public Square was scheduled for 4:30 P. M. However, very early in the afternoon, thousands of workers had al- ready gathered. By the time we got there to open the meeting, many thousands more were there to greet us and as the demonstration progressed, workers kept swelling the crowd from every direction until there was not an inch of space empty on the whole square. Unfortunately, we had only one speakers’ stand. However, whether they heard us or not, the workers stood solidly to the last to de- ary proletariat of the world. Youngstown has long been considered the second largest steel center in the United States, | with many independent companies within the city and in the surrounding towns. Within this center the two main groups were the Youngs- towy Sheet and Tube, the largest of the group, the Republic Iron & Steel holding second place. ’Recently the Republic Iron & Steel have consolidated with a great. many small com- panies all over the country and have raised themselves to third place in the steel industry. More Mergers. Now the Youngstown Sheet & Tube is merg- ing with the Bethlehem Steel. This will make this newly formed organization a very close competitor of the United States Steel Corpor- ‘ation. In the Youngstown plant as in others there will be a tearing out of old machinery and new electrically powered and controlled machinery will be installed. This, of course, will result in additional thousands of permanently unem- ployed. The Amalgamated Association of Iron & Steel & Tin Workers, aw A. F. of L. union, have for many years maintained a closed shop among the select few of the workers in one section of the industry, namely heaters and rollers. While all workers in the industry were theoretically included, under the reactionary leadership of Mike Tigue and others of his ilk who helped to break tie steel strike of 1919, they have consistently refused to organize any- one but the privileged few. Now these misleaders are becoming alarmed due to these mergers and the consequent radi- calization of the workers, which has shown it- self in the mass movements toward the Metal Workers League of the Trade Union Unity League, and the Communist Party. Youngstown is also not without its religious dopsters. One of these attempted to hold a meeting on the Square before we got there, and until we arrived spouted forth his doc- trine of “Pie in'the Sky.” However, when we 4 monstrate their solida~ity with the revolution- | arrived with our banners the workers joined us en masse. This was a demonstration within a demonstration which should not be passed un- noticed. Naturally, we did not hesitate to point out what role religion plays in keeping the working class down, nor to show what role the churches were playing in the present international in- trigue against the only Workers’ state, the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics! Nor did we forget to point out the fact that these churches, richly endowed by our multi-million- airs were working in the interests of these capitalists; that it was the role of the churches to distract the thoughts of the workers from the vital problems facing them and their fami- lies by promising them a better life in heaven. Great interest and enthusiasm was shown when the speakers pointed out the marvelous achievements of the Russian workers. One of our speakers very ably pointed out that we were brot up with the fear of various “boogie boos.” First it is the “boogie man,” then god, then the policeman, then the boss and so ad infinitum, until we pass the stage when we can distinguish the boogie boo from the fact. Under certain conditions these may be real- | ities. Policemen’s clubs, gangsters’ black jacks and slodiers’ bayonets are painful realities when the workers are disorganized. However, all of these are only boogie boos when the working class is united under revolutionary leadership and acts in a body. Workers Leaning Their Power. One of the boogie boos that the workers were discarding was the fact that a handful of : policemen could break up a demonstration of thousands of workers. Another was the idea that they would get “pie in the sky” if they starved on earth. They are fast coming to the point when they will realize that the boogie boo that a handful of plutocrats are the destined keepers of this world’s wealth is the biggest of them all. Our Party members led a march to the hall and were followed by literally thousands of workers. All who could possibly get in crowded into the hall, leaving a large number on the sidewalk outside. These waited for sometime but were finally dispersed by the police. The workers who came into the hall stayed on for many hours listening to the various speeches and pledging themselves to bend every effort in aiding us to carry on the work. Many joined the Party and the Young Workers League. The speakers were Joseph Greene, John Mar- shall, Bertha Marshall, Marie Robins (a colored woman worker), Lloyd Dight (a young colored boy, member of the Young Workers League), and Joseph Gottlieb. Mike Mauvrikus, a pion- eer made a short talk and gave the Pioneer pledge which was received with great applause. The Party in Youngstown, as elsewhere, is growing by leaps and bounds. On two or three different occasiona recently we have recruited as many as 77 members in one night. This, I suppose, Lovestone will say is a form of dwindling. This, after there seemed to be fair ptomise of no Party in Youngstown due to the disruptive tactics of this “master theoretician” and soothsayer. In the heart of every true Communist fighter there is a song of joy that at last we are thru with the renegades and disruptionists and are solidly united in the struggle of the working class of the United States of America, ©