The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 22, 1930, Page 6

{ Page Six Square, New York City, N. Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, Published by the Comprodaily Publizhing Co., Inc., daily, except Sunday, at 26-28 Union . Y. Telephone Stuyvesant 1696-7-8. Cable: 26-28 Union Square, New York, N. Y. “DAIWORK,” c al Organ of the HOPEFUL HOOVER AND THE Capitalist Justice Par Excellence! ¢ By Fred Ellis HOLY WAR By BILL DUNNE. “Steel and automobile production de- clined . . . somewhat toward the end of the’ month (February) and in the first week of March. . . . Building contracts awarded failed in February to maintain the slight gain of January and the dis- tribution of goods by rail failed to show the usual seasonal advance, so that car loadings were below the January level. “Employment in factories . . . de- clined somewhat in the last half of the month (February), contrary to the usual seasonal tendencies. The general level of factory employment in February re- mained at the low level reached in Jan- uary. “To this general picture should be added the fact that the prices of both agricultural and non-agricultural commo- dities have continued downward to date and that in the past they have corres- | ponded closely with business activity. “Interest rates have declined still fur- ther in February and at present they re- flect the falling off in demand for credit from business and commercial sources. . + This declining demand for credit is also reflected in a decline in bank loans for commercial purposes during February when they usually advance. “Another factor . . . is the decline in-agricultural prices which is tending to Tower the money incomes of farmers be- low their incomes at this time last year.” (STATEMENT ISSUED ON MARCH 15 BY THE BUREAU OF AGRICULTUR- AL ECONOMICS OF THE U. 8S, DE- | PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.) * * * Herbert Hoover, Wall Street’s prophet of | prosperity, and Julius H. Barnes, chairman of { the National Business Survey Conference, one of the sub-prophets, dare not question the facts.set forth above without repudiating one | of Hoover’s principal governmental depart- | ments. Yet Hoover gave a special interview to headlined in Pittsburgh, for instance, where, as.in the adjoining steel and mining towns, | more than 40 per cent of the workers are un- employed ‘or. working part-time, as: “Hoover Says Dawn of Prosperity Is Breaking.” Barnes began in the New York. Herald- Tribune magazine section for Sunday, March 16, a-series of articles headed “Business Turns the Corner.” A couple of quotations from this | gem of Munchausenism are sufficient to show the*lengths to which the prophets of prosper- | ityeare forced to descend in an attempt to | maifitain the fiction of Hoover as the miracle | worker of American capitalism and the lie | that “business is improving.” Barnes says: “To the business: men of America, the spring of 1930 marks the end of a period of grave concern. . .|. American business is steadily coming back to 2 normal level of prosperity.” Further: ' “. . . At present the trend is right é a comprehensive survey of business condi- tions as of March 1:. . . shows at a glance that there are few bad spots in American business .°. . and that recovery from the admittedly bad weeks of late November and early December is clearly under way. Compare these statements with the factual quotations given at the beginning of this article, Barnes’ article could be characterized most correctly—and alliteratively —by a typical | American slang word. The Hoover Interview. Let us return to the interview given by Hoover, who, according to one lyrical boot- licker, “without ostentation . . . continues to | watch the details of the business situation with hawk-like attention.” Hoover, according to this same authority, “is confident that busi- ness is on the upgrade. He feels that the rate | of improvement has been far more rapid than | in comparable cycles in the past.” | Once more! Read the statement of Herbert | Hoover’s own. department of agriculture at the beginning of this article. (It is. an: il- luminating commentary on the executive abil- ity of Hoover, the far-famed engineer and‘ or- ganizer, as well as on the conflict of interests within’ the capitalist class and their govern- ment, that, he is not able even to prevent his department heads and other appointees, as a result of the workings of Washington routine, proving him a liar.) The. Hoover interview, however (it is syn- dicated by the Universal Service, Inc.), is more sinister than optimistic. It has these main points: First, placing still: more of the burden of | newspapermen over the week end which is | i j | same time stimulating hope for “better times” by propaganda (such .as the interpretation | placed by the capitalist press on the interview itself, and initiation of a few schemes for “public works” which can be used for politi- cal patronage as well, by the Hoover machine.) Hoover—The “Individualist.” There is no plan for governmental relief for the millions of unemployed in the Hoover scheme, We quote: recession went far beyond Wall Street to for- | eign countries. The world-wide decline in raw material prices, of course, has a dam- pening effect on foreign purchasing power, but some of the leading economic thinkers in the government employ believe that the turn is near.” Admits World Crisi: The whole capitalist world is in the grip of ! an economic crisis which already has in a num- ber of countries produced a political crisis. This has been evident for a number of months but it took the world-wide demonstrations against unemployment and _ particular the tremendous demonstrations in the United States, led by the Communist Party and or- ganized by the Trade Union Unity League, to force such an admission from Wall Street’s president, the admission he makes in the fore- going quotation. The effort to stimulate foreign trade, to further invade the world markets by American imperialism can have no other result than to deepen the world crisis and sharpen imperialist antagonisms. « _ Inevitable Results. One concrete result of this policy is seen now in the new war between the British-con- trolled Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company and the Standard Oil, centering around the inva- sion of the huge Indian market by Standard Oil. Another result is the speeding up of the building of the huge new U. S. mail fleet, fast steamers that will rival with the best Great Britain has, in both speed and tonnage, and that can be armed, armored and turned into war vessels. Of less importance but significant as indi- eating the general trend of the Hoover pro- gram is the “suggestion” in the interview that “American tourists, instead of going abroad this year, travel at home.” “The spending of $800,000,000 or more abroad helps foreign purchasing power, but only a lice of this is expended for American exports,” says the interview. The insoluble contradiction between this at- titude and the policy of stimulating export trade is too obvious to need emphasis—just as obvious as the fact that the drive for wider world markets when every imperialist country is doing the same thing leads straight to im- perialist_ war. Hoover and the Holy War. The drive on the Soviet Union now in pro- gress, headed by the pope, supported by all the churches irrespective of denomination and doctrinal differences, backed by the imperial- ist governments of the United States, England, France, etc., is a clear indication of the anti- working class and war-like trend of Hoover policy since the high peint reached by this campaign in America, where no tradition exists of “holy war,” the rallying to the battle-cries of feudal reaction issued by. the, pope, shows that actual government support is not lacking. This campaign, has as its object first, the * mobilization of the peasant masses of Poland, | | the crisis on the working class while at the | trict in some form or another. Rumania, Italy, etc., for a new offensive against the fatherland of the world’s working class— it is preparation for actual military mobiliza- tion—and second, the forcing of more eonces- sions from the Soviet Union in the matter of trade agreements, (To be continued.) March 6 in District No. 9 In spite of the fact that the 9th district of the Party has been in the past years over run by opportunism and reformism of every des- cription and color, the workers all over the | district come out en masse at the call of the Communist International and the Communist Party on March 6 and demonstrated against unemployment, which has its effect here as elsewhere. a On March 6 the workers of this district proved that they have thrown away the shackles of the social fascist leadership of the A. F. of L. fakerdom, with ‘all its appendages such’ as the fake “farmer-labor” movement and have chosen the leadership of the Communist Party and the Trade Union Unity League in the class struggle. Approximately thirty thousand workers took part in the demonstration throughout the dis- Even in the center of the worst blacklist system, the Iron Range, workers come out into the streets to demonstrate. In Minneapolis from six to seven thousand participated. This definitely proves the mood of the work- ers when we consider it and compare it with the meeting called by the fakerdom of Min- neapolis on February 28 where there were only about a thousand present. The demonstration was the biggest held for many years. When the parade passed the Ne- | gro sections, they were cheered very enthusias- “The president, an individualist, sponsors no | plans for unemployment insurance, or doles. ..”. | But:Hoover makes a direct appeal to the middle class to “take advantage” of mass un- employment: “. «s+ The president would like to see home builders take advantage of the increased ef- ficiency of labor incidental to the existing un- employment to proceed now to build individual homes,” So far as the kind of relief that is furnished | to upemployed workers by public utility com- | yuctes, upon whose construction programs | Hoover places the greatest emphasis, a~good example is furnished by the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway now under coristrut- | tion by. the Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Com- pany ae} . The twelve-hour day prevails on this job, the-wages are 25-to 30 cents an hour and $1.25 per day is charged for board. The -Wworkers are hired by employment agencies ‘andthe infamous “three gang” systent: pre- vaile: One crew going from the agency to tically, showing that the Negro workers are also ready to be organized, which the fakers have never attempted nor do they want to. In Duluth, a steel trust town of a little over a hundred thousand population, between five and seven thousand participated at the meeting, close to a thousand marched through the main street of the town cheering and singing. It was the largest demonstration held in Duluth in | decades and perhaps the largest ever held. In St. Paul several thousand participated at the meeting with several hundred marching through the down town streets. In the smaller town and even in agricultural centers the farmers held meetings at the call of the Communist Party. Throughout the district new members joined the Party and the T.U.U.L. There is one lesson to be drawn from the March 6 demonstrations in this district that is very important. » The demonstration proved de-, ifinitely that the workers are coming closer to the Party here as elsewhere, they are begin- ning to realize that the Communist Party is the only organization that fights» for the in- is dis~ trict in the class struggle which is becoming ever sharper. f BUREAU, DISTRICT Daily 52; Worker Communist Party o/ S A. By Mati (in New York City on}y): By Mail (outside of New York ity’: 96.00 a SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 00 ay + $3.50 $4.50 six month: $2.50 three months $2. six month 00 three months Excerpts from speech of Robert. W Dunn made at a meeting of the Covimittee on Justice..for Russia, at the National. Press Chib; Washington, -D.€.,° March 16...The meeting was one of those arranged in dif- ferent cities by the Friends. of the Soviet Union to. answer the “prayer campaigns” of the Pope and: Bishop Manning, against the Soviet Union. Robert W. Dunn was a member of American’ Trade Union Delega- tion to: Soviet Union in 1927, author of Soviet Frade Union, and: co-author. of So- viet Russia in the Second Decade, the report of the technical staff of that delegation. "s HE Greek Orthodox Church, under the Czar, was an organ of the government and an instrument for keeping the workers and peas- ants in ignorance and poverty. Priests ever went so far as to use the confessional to se- cure facts which they turned over to the po- lice.and the Greek Church, also helped the gov- ernment to. place all sorts of restrictions on the Jews and to suppress the other non-Or- thodox sects and send their leaders into exile. When the revolution came, church and state were separated, secular education was confined to the schools, church lands and buildings were nationalized, freedom was given to all religious sects. The corrupt Greek Orthodox Church sided solidly with the White Guards in the long per- jod of the civil war after the revolution. They blessed the arms of Kolchak, Denikin, and the other bloody representatives of landlordism and capitalism. Later, the high agents of the church opposed the appropriation of some of the unnecessary gold and jewels of the church for the relief of the starving population in the famine of 1921. ; When the priests resorted to such open acts against the government they were dealt with as counter-revolutionists. But insofar as they carried out religious functions they were not disturbed. Freedom of worship exists in the Soviet Union. There is vastly more of it than before the revolution. In view of these facts the campaign of prayer. and special services against “Moscow’s war on religion” appear to be inspired by other reasons than opposition to so-called “persecution.” These prayers, in spite of declarations to the contrary, have a political content and implica- tion. In England they are inspired by the most reactionary newspapers. Ancient and undated stories of “atrocities” are dug up to rouse the ~eligious-minded population to hatred to the Soviets. The same is true of this coun- try where clerical representatives of entrenched wealth lead the protests against the Soviets. Even certain innocent, and usually more lib- eral-minded persons are drawn into this con- solidated praying campaign, not knowing they, are part of a campaign against the Soviet government, inspired by emigree and monarchist Russian elements in Europe, as well’as by the tions with the Soviet in which he had hoped. to get back the church property and lands in “Russia and to increase the influence of the Catholic Church at the expense Orthodox Church But the pi reason for the outbreak of | ricultiival pbuilding. —Espectally: 1. ‘An Answer to the Imperialists’ “Prayer Campaign” ~~ made yy the Soviet: ‘Union-in the working out of the “Five-Year-Plan” of industrial-and.ag- 1 cs oagri- | culttiral progress. menacing to the imperialists and counter-revolutionists the world over who have always counted on the “ignorant” and “individualistic” Russian peasant as 4 support- er of the attempts to restore capitalism in Russia. These peasants, it seems, are. now getting their eyes open, ,They are going in for collective farming. With tractors on these farms they are plowing deeper and thus getting better crops. They are using fertilizers andthe most scientific methods of farming. And they ow fight insects and pests with other weapons tly incense and incantation. ‘ying out the great drive for collective farms vigorous and often violent opposition has come from the kulaks, the richer peasants, who have been strongly supported by the priests. Some priests haye predicted all sorts of dire calamity for those who went into’ the eollect- ivies. They have told the peasants that their children would be born with black tails! They have told them that God would destroy their crops. Thus the church has again acted as a force against social progress. In the face of this sort. of opposition and provocation the’ Soviet Government has, on the whole, shown extraordinary restraint. As a rule churches have been closed not as an act of vengeance or retaliation against the priests but only when the population of a village or city district have made application in writing asking that it be closed or converted into a school, hospital, club, reading hall, or museum. Other churches have been closed when the con- gregations themselves decided they no longer cared to contribute to the support of a priest to care for their souls. It is estimated that al- together about 6% per cent of the churches of all Russia have gone out of business since the revolution. Some of these closings, it may be added, have been due to the fact that priests have voluntarily changed their occupa- tions, acquiring useful work on the land or in factories. The position of the Communist Party of Russia and the Soviet Government is still the same as it was when it was explained to some of us on the American Trade Union Delega- tion by Joseph Stalin himself when we inter- viewed him on September 9, 1927. He said: “Our legislation guarantees to the citizen the right to adhere to any religion. This is a matter for the conscience of each indivi- dual. That is precisely why we carried out the separation of the Church from the State. But in separating the Church from the State THE PENNA. COAL MINERS ARE NOT FOR SALE — By VINCENT KEMENOVICH. (Secretary District Five, N. M. U.) ECENTLY two “conventions” were held in the name of the miners of the United States—one in Springfield, Ill. and the other in Indianapolis, ‘The one in Springfield, under | the leadership of Howat, Brophy, Walker, et al, was under the direct control of the Pea- body Coal Company, which worked directly through its agents, Farrington, Fishwick and Loda., The Indianapolis “convention” was the typical U.M.W.A., with the paid henchmen and machine supporters as the “delegates” picked to represent the miners, At the Springfield gathering two “miners” spoke for the 300,000 Pennsylvania coal dig- gers. Neither have seen Pennsylvania for several years. Neither knows what wages and conditions prevail in the state at present. One of them, Powers Hapgood, has been engaged in a feverish campaign to be taken back into the fold of the U.M.W.A.—through the good graces of a Miss Roche, owner of the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company in Colorado. The other, John Brophy, has been selling canned goods for the elder Hapgood, of Indianapolis. Both Deserted. When the coal corporations in the Pennsyl- vania fields were cutting wages, wiping out conditions, forcing the miners to pay exhorbi- tant prices in the company stores—when the miners were being murdered and jailed by the coal company police, evicted and victimized, these two gentlemen were either tilling their gardens (as per photos in Colorado news- papers) or selling the canned stuff to soup merchants. And now these gentlemen come to speak in the name of the men whom they de- serted and left at the mercy of the coal cor- porations. Why? In order to receive recognition from the Peabody agents, one had to bring some- thing. Farrington had squeezed out of th Peabody mines tens of thousands of Illinoi miners. He was instrumental in forcing MIli- nois miners to load 25 tons of coal for wages | that were 100 per cent lower per ton. He forced the men to do work of two and three | by speed-up, increased unemployment—thus creating a market of willing slaves for Pea- | body. Fishwick, Loda, Nesbit, etc., all helped in this. Alex Howat, at the same time, promised to deliver the Kansas miners and the name that the Kansas miners had built up for him during the years of struggle against the agent of the U. S. Steel Corporation—John L. Lewis. By utilizing this name, he hoped to further fool the miners. Sharp Corfains. Brophy and Hapgood had nothing so tangible to offer; their names were not in. the same | class with Howat; they were not in a position to deliver the miners in Indianapolis or Den- | ver, so they struck the happy medium by pro- mising to deliver the miners of Pennsylvania on the altar of the Peabody Coal Company greed. They. forgot.to consider a slight: de- tail—would the miners of Pennsylvania permit this delivery? These gentlemen, Brophy and Hapgood, who had deserted the Pennsylvania miners during the bitter fight of 1927-1928, a fight against the bosses and their agents, the Lewis machine, came with no mandates from the miners, These two: fakers simply came to the “convention” and assumed their rightful places in the Peabody organization. Brophy had spent several days in the Penn- sylvania mining fielg a few weeks before the “convention” andthe best he could do was to | get the Colorado “miner,” Hapgood, to be his co-delegate from Pennsylvania. worth and this probably is one of the reasons why Brophy did not get elected to some exalt- ed office in the Peabody union. On the other hand, the U. S. Steel conven- tion in Indianapolis also boasts a number of “miners’ leaders” who speak in the name of the Pennsylvania miners—P. T. Fagan, Philip Murray, John O'Leary, ete., who in turn pledge | the Pennsylvania miners to be the obedient sJaves of the U.S. Steel trust. Were they delegated by the miners to do this? By no means! The miners did not send the Fagans and Murrays to Indianapolis in which they had | slight interest. The U.M.W.A. machine has kept on the payroll the Hugheses, the Gulicks, Fagans, Murrays, etc., and the fraternity of gangsters, stoolpigeons, paid pickets, etc. Con- ll Russia has characteristics similar to those of the Anti-Clerical movement in France and the Rationalist movement in Great Britain. Its main sociation in England, is to promote a concep- tion of nature, history, and the meaning of life, in accord with the facts of experience and with the progress of science and criticism. “As for the paper, ‘Bezbozhnik,’ the organ of the voluntary society of the Godless, it is ed- ited by an ex-pri One number which I examined gave a syllabus of books it wanted its readers to read including those of Tom Paine, Bob Ingersoll, Ernst Haeckel, Charles Darwin, Mendez, Spinoza, Benjamin Kidd, Charles Bradlaugh, Renan, Huxley and Vol- taire.” Looking over copies of this paper in recent days I find it less given to mere ranting and cartooning and more to brief articles on science, anthropology, evolution and new methods of agriculture. This voluntary movement with its 2,000,000 members receives no financial support from the government. It holds lectures and carries on a steady propaganda against religion. It is this which ecclesiastical forces outside of Russia who now protest against atheism in Russia would suppress if they could. They know it is having its effects on the population.’ They and proclaiming religious liberty we at the same time guaranteed the right of every citi- zen to combat by argument, by propaganda and’ agitation any and all religion. And the Communist Party of Russia like Socialist and Communist Parties the world over for years, has taken its stand for science and against religious superstition. 5 Returning from Russia through London in 1923, I was asked by George Lansbury, Labor member of the British Parliament, to prepare tatement on the so-called of Godless; as-at that time there was also much clamor’ about the anti-religious activity of the Soviets. This statement, read ine Parliament, contained know it is winning over even the “dark masses” drugged for so many centuries by the medieval Superstitions of the Greek Orthodox Church. This partly explains their present prayers about “persecution.” But the more significant explanation is the one already referred to—; the fact that the Soviet Union is growing in- creasingly powerful under the Five-Year. Plan, must be attacked now if it is ever to be over- know that the success of this industrial and agricultural plan,for-a socialized society will completely doom their hopes of a change of re- gime, Hence they stir up these hypocritical rel protests—which are thus a very dis- ti of their general of lying lander against the first workers and peas- In this in- | stance Peabody is not getting his money’s | object like that of the Rationalist Press As- | | sider: there were supposedly 103 delegates from the Western Pennsylvania field, but not one of them is working in a mine. The “dele- gates” from the Western Pennsylvania field to the Indianapolis “convention” are s.en whose records are as black as the coal that is mined in the field. Some of them are bonded for thousands of dollars as a result of extorting money under false pretenses. Others are known as paid stoolpigeons of the U. S. Steel. Others are bootleggers. These perverts do not rep- resent the miners, were not delegated to rep- resent them, as the miners of the Pennsyl- vania fields have nothing to hope for from the Indianapolis crowd. On the contraty. Thus, Murray, Fagan, Lewis, and the rest of the gang lie when they claim that they have the support of the Pennsylvania miners, Miners Support N. M. U. The National Miners Union does have the support of the miners in the Pennsylvania fields. The bosses know this and discharge, evict and victimize all men whom they suspect of belonging to the N.M.U. The Pittsburgh Coal Company at the Midland mine recently ; called in sixty men and threatened to dis- charge any of them who dare attend a N.M.U, meeting. At Hendersonville N.M.U. members ; have been discharged, At Harmarville, Daisy- ' town, Vestaburg, etc., in every mine in West- | ern Pennsylvania, the miners are discharged daily in an attempt to frighten them away from the N.M.U. In this the bosses are not successful. The miners are coming to the N.M.U. meetings in ever greater numbers. The N.M.U. is holding four-five metings each Sunday in various parts of the fields. N.M.U. locals are growing in membership and influence as they are fighting for the every-day demands of the miners, N. MU, mine commitees are demanding increases in wages, pay for dead work, recognition of checkweighmen and mine committees, The AN.M.U. carries on daily struggles against wage cuts, speed-up, unemployment, e' This is why the miners support the N.M.U. and under its leadership are preparing for new struggles on a scale never before attempted in the min- ing industry of the U.S.A. Vital Conferences. The Western Pennsylvania district of the N.M.U. is holding two sub-district conferences on Sunday, March 23, and a district conference on March 30. At these conferences delegates will be miners direct from the pits and duly elected by the men working in these pits. These conferences, representing th minrs of on district, will lay down a program of action, establish and widen the district organization, | draw into the district work new rank and file elemtns, prepare for the second district and na- tional conventions of the N.M.U., and the same hurl into the teeth of the Murrays, Fagans, | ‘Brophys and Hapgoods the lie that they rep- resented the miners at the conventions of the two sets of coal operators in Springfield and Indianapolis. ‘Forward to the Fifth Worl Congress of Revolutionary ‘Unions! Th following article outlining the ideologi- cal preparations for the Fifth World Con- gress of the Red International of Labor Unions, sent out by it for the stimulation of interest in the Congress among the broadest masses of workers, is given in assisance to the R.ILL.U. section in the United States, the | Trade Union Unity League. It is worthy of the attention of every revolutionary and mili- iat wonleer one should serve as guidance or such workers in strengthenin I, U.L.—Editor. wei tga * * «# Tn ‘its Resolution on Preparations for the Fifth R.LL.U. Congress, the Sixth Session of the R.I.L.U. Central Council emphasized the political significance of the preparatory cam- paign for the Fifth Congress, especially at the present stage of the maturing class struggles in the, various countries .of Europe, America and the East. This campaign should aim primarily at veri- fying the execution of the basic decisions of the Fourth R.LL.U. Congress and taking stock of the new developments in the International Rev- olutionary Trade Union movement ‘since the | Fourth Congress (development and consolida- tion of the revolutionary T.U. opposition in Germany, the increased number of strikes in France, the growing of new revolutionary unions in the U.S.A., ete.). Further, we must | carefully note and give good publicity to the | experience gained by the Red International of Labor Unions during'the last ten years of work and struggle. The Sixth Session urged all the R.I.L-U. sec- tions to start off systematic activities to make proper preparations for the Fifth R.I.L.U. Congress and to get all the workers to dis- cuss the questions on the Agenda. The, success of the Fifth R.I.L.U. Congress—which must prove a new milestone in the development of the International Revolutionary T.U. movement— depends on the extent and the scale of the preparatory activities that will be undertaken- The Revolutionary T. U. press and the fac- tory papers must play a prominent part in the preparatory campaign. Only a short space of time now separates us from the Fifth Congress. We must therefore not lose a single day in the work of mobilizing all our forces and means, which must, also include all the revolutionary papers. As distinguished from the Amsterdam leaders who prepare their Congresses in the undisturbed atmosphere of their offices, deli- berately avoiding any attempt to get the rank and file to take a hand in the preparations, we must see to it that all our preparations are carried out with the direct participation and support of the broad working masses. We mist immediately start off a system- atic campaign in the revolutionary T. U. papers calling attention to all the questions connected with the Fifth R.IL.U. Congress, which should be a regular feature in all the numbers’ from now on, We must immediately open up the columns of the central Revolutionary T. U. papers for 8 discussion of the questions of Fifth R.LL.U. Congress, or set aside special pages for this purpose. All steps must be taken to get the broadest sections of the industrial and ct bares workers, the’ unemployed, the wo- men workers and the young workers, r and the unorganized, to take