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

hers i. mail Page Four g, 1 checks to the [ | es mane stein cet Sander oh Seager Baily ad, Worker 26-28 Union Square, Ne y York, N. ¥ Central Organ oi the SUBSCRIPTION RATES: mail everywhere: One year $6; six months $3; two months $1; excepting Boroughs of fanhattan and Bronx, New York City, and foreign, which are: One yr. $8; six mons. $4.50 vi the U. S. A. Sag G79 The Political Report of the Central Committee to the X VI. Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Comra 1 survey of the developing the world economic annihilating effect, ta of middle and small capi- ng whole groups of the peasantry, and damning the workers to starva- t arises everywhere: What of the crisis, where are its > they to be combated, how de- multifarious “crisis theor- Whole projects are pro- lleviation,” “prevention” or the crisis. The bourgeois op- the bourgeois governments, ave “failed to take the neces- to prevent the crisis. The ow the blame on the “repub- spublicans” on the “democrats,” against the Hoover group with 1 Reserve Bank system, which has proved unable to “cope with the crisis.” In- ere are some wise heads who observe causes of the world economic crisis in the Bolshevism.” I refer here to n “industrialist” Rechberg, for » has little resemblance to an in- s such, but rather resembles an ’ among the literates and a “lit- ong the industrialists. (Laughter.) bvious that all these theories and 2 nothing to do with science. e admitted that the bourgeois scientists ed utterly in the face of this J even more than this, they show lacking in even that minimum of zht into life which their predecessors must tel to have possessed. These gentle- n forget that the crisis cannot be estimated ] phenomenon in the system of talist economies, the econ ic crisis is the compulsory re- capitalism. These gentlemen forget that crises came into the world simultane- with the birth of capitalism, In the of more than one hundred years period- rated. es elves 2 to 10 to 8 years. During this period urgeois governments have tried every riety of device, bourgeois brains jegree of capacity have exerted their ts, all to solve the problem of “preventing” these crises. But they have one z suffered defeat for the reason that confines of capitalism economic can be neither prevented nor removed. en a matter of surprise that the bour- rains of today again fail to find a u ? Is it any matter of wonder that the measures of the bourgeois- governments ave in actual fact accomplishing nothing to- ward an alleviation of the crisis, toward an i of the position of the million soluti rovement momie erises have occurred, returning | | upper hand in competition, Tt} These gentlemen forget | | the old crises. masses of workers, but lead to fresh dem- ies of bankruptcy, to fresh w unem- ployment, and to the absorption of the weake: capitalist ass tions by the stronger capi- talist associations? The bases of the over-production crisis of economics and their cause lie in the system of s of capitalist economy itself. The basis of the crisis lies in the antagonism between the social nature of production and the capitalist form of appropriation of the products of this pro- duction. One expression of this fundamental contradiction of capitalism is the contradic- tion between the colossal growth of the poss bilities of production, culated on the win- ning of a maximum of capitalist profit, and the relative limitation of the solvent demand | on the part of the masses of the workers, whose standard of living the capitalists are constantly endeavoring to press down to the utmost minimum limit. In order to gain the and to press out fresh profits, the capital are obliged to develop technics, to carry out rationalization, to increase the exploitation of the workers, to intensify the productive capacity of their un- dertakings to the uttermost. In order not to fall behind one another, all capitalists are forced to strike along one path or another of blind haste in the development of the possi- bilities of production. But the purchasing powers of the million masses of the workers and peasants, at bottom the chief buyers, re- main at a low level in both home and forei, markets. Hence the over-production er Hence the well-known consequences, repeating themselves more or less periodically, causing the goods to remain unsold, production to de- cling, unemployment to increase, wages to fall, and the contradiction between the level of pro- duction and the level of solvent demand to in- crease. An over-production crisis is the ap- pearance of these contradictions in tempes- tuous and destructive forms. If capitalism were to adapt production, not to the achieve- ment of a maximum of profit, but to the sys- tematic improvement of the material situa- tion of the masses of the people; if it were to apply the profits, not to the satisfaction of the desires of the parasite classes, not to the perfecting of the methods of exploitation, not to the export of capital, but to the systematic betterment of the material position of the workers and peasants, then there would be no crisis, But then capitalism ‘would not be capitalism. In order to exterminate the crisis, we must exterminate capitalism, This is the whole basis of the over-produc- tion crises of economy. An examination of the present ¢ cannot however. confine itself to these considerations. The present crisis is not a simple repetition of It is growing and developing under new conditions, which must be made fully clear before a complete idea of the crisis Some Conclusions from the Chicago Convention Mobilize For BILL DUNNE tional Convention of Unemployed July 5th, undoubtedly marked in our work among the s, in the bringing forward of the leadership of the unem- developed dinectly out of their changing*the base of the Un- masses an integral part of the or- ganization of the unorganized directly by the Trade Union Unity League and its affiliated justrial unions and leagues. ntion was a de adicalization of the conv growing ive proof of the working class, From March, 6 to July 4 is four months. the preparations for the Chicago conven- been on the same scale as for March 6, had there been the same intensity of agitation and organ ional work during the four months intervening as there was for the six weeks preceding March 6, there can be little doubt that we would have come very close to having 10,000 delegates at the Chicago con- vention One thousand three hundred and twenty dele- gates from 21 states, with substantial repre- sentation from such decisive industries as steel and al, transportation, mining, food and building construction, were registered at the The garment industry was well and agricultural workers sent a , and especially in regard to the actual organization of Unemployed Coun- cils, is shown by the fect that by far the est majority of the delegates were elected by unions, shop committees, industrial leagues, minorities in the old unions, local T. U. U. L. groups, workers fraternal and benefit societies, etc., and very few by Unemployed Councils. This means that the organization of the unem- ployed councils has made but a bare beginning, oe The serious work of preparing the co n- “Won was begun not more than two weeks be- Tore July 4—except in the Chicago district— and in most districts only a week before the conyention. Under these circumstances the response of working class organizations repre- sented by 1320 jobless worker delegates, most of whom encountered the greatest difficulties —financial, police interference, etc.—in getting to the convention, is truly remarkable—elo- quent testimony to the extent of mass unem- ployment, to the growing influence of our Party and the T. U. U. L., to the rapid height- ening of the militancy of the working class. Wrong Conceptions Refuted. The tone of the convention, which was one _ of militant enthusiasm, and the manner in which its organization and general work were ¢arried out, refutes in the most emphatic man- ner the opinion held even by some Party’ mem- e, that a gathering of unempivyea orkers must necessarily be somewhat loose, narchistic and undisciplined. This was true the old “bummery” conventions held under i influence of syndicalist elements and con- isting mostly of migratory workers, but the # struggle now has reached a far h'~her e, the influence of our Party is a power- August First! ful factor making for the recognition of the need of proletarian discipline. The order of business of the convention was carried through on schedule. The delegates were housed and fed in a manner that raised the morale of the convention. The industrial conference and the conferences of Negro, youth and women workers were organized and held as part of the convention itself in spite of poor technical preparation and a great shortage of technical forces. Weak Preparations—A Concrete Instance. The amount of work accomplished by the convention—agitational, propagapdistic and or- ganizational—could and should have been spread over a three or four day period and better results accomplished. This was one of the greatest shortcomings of the conven- tion which resulted directly from the general lack of preparation everywhere by our Party and the T. U. U. L. It was possible in the course of one day to obtain only the minimum results—especially in the industrial conferences. Let us take a concrete instance: Three hundred and seven steel and metal workers registered at the convention. The steel and metal (including auto) conference. At the National Conference of the Metal Workers Industrial League in Youngstown, June 14-15, 127 delegates were present. At the Chicago convention therefore, there were about two and one-half times as many metal worlers present as at the Metal Workers National Conference. Proper’ Connection Not Made. This shows that not only did we fail before the Youngstown conference to make the proper connection between the struggles of the unemployed and employed in the steel and metal industry (as in all other industries) but that up to Chicago we had continued this error. Otherwise we would never have permitted our- selves to be placed in a position of having only an hour or two to prepare and hold a confer- ence of steel and metal workers of the mass character that the Chicago conference was. Had we not underestimated the response of the steel and metal workers to our unemploy- ment program (and this is a result of an underestimation of the extent of rationalization and the depth of -the economic crisis in this industry) we would have been able to broaden the base of the Metal Workers Industrial League and stimulate the struggles in the in- dustry far more than we did. Other Shortcomings. While the large steel and metal workers delegation denotes a big response to our pro- gram and activity in this decisive industry, the total absence of textile workers from the convention does not indicate rising employ- ment or lack of the will to struggle among the textile workers. In no industry is employ- ment more severe. The influence of our Party and the National Textile Workers Union, and the will of the workers to fight, has been proved in many important struggles. The fact that not a single textile worker was at the unemployed convention must therefore be considered as proof that the leadership of the N. T. W. U. does not consider unemploy- can be obtained. ieated and deep- ened by a series of special circumstances, and until clear light is thrown upon these there is no possibility of forming a real conception of the present economic crisis. What are these special circums ? These special circumstances consist of following characteristic facts: e 1, The crisis has seized most acutely the chief land of capitalism, its citadel, the United States of America, which holds in its hands no less than one-half of the total production | and of the total consumption of all the coun | tries of the earth. It is easily comprehensible that this circumstance is bound to involve an enormous extension of the sphere of influ- ence, an aggravation of the crisis, and the accumulation of extreme difficulties for world capitalism. the ney: Stalin’s Address on 27th June 1930 2. In the course of the development of the economic crisis, the industria] crisis in the most important capitalist countries has not simply coincided with the agrarian crisis in the agricultural countries, but the two are interwoven, greatly intensifying the difficul- ties and determining beforehand the inevita- bility of a general retrogression in economic activity. It cannot be otherwise; the indus- trial crisis is bound to intensify the agrarian and the agrarian crisis the industrial, neces- sary leading to an aggravation of the econ- omic crisis in its totality. 8. Capitalism today differs from the old capitalism in being monopolist capitalism, and this determines in advance the inevitability of the struggle of the capitalist associations for the maintenance of the high monopolist prices for goods in spite of over-production. Two Hearts That Beat As One By GROPPER. Demonstrate Against Imperialist War Aug. 1 By VERN SMITH, c goes unchallenged that bad money drives out good money. The cheapest money re- places the better until nothing but cheap money circulates. Wages and payrolls work that way, too. Cheap wages destroy higher wage: It does not exactly work silently, The air is full of the indignant shouts of those better paid wor .ers in northern textile mills, for example, who have neglected to organize themselves or ment work important or, if it does, is unable to connect it with the general work and struggles in the indust Another Instance. A similar instance is brought into the sharp- est relief by the fact that there was not a single unemployed. miner from the huge anthracite and bituminous coal fields of Penn- sylvania present at the convention, West Vir- ginia sent 19, and Southern Illin 11 but from the state of Pennsylvania with its 275,000 min- ers there was not a single delegate. This instance shows the almost complete neglect of unemployment work in this basic industry, by the Party district offices in Pitts- burgh and Pennsylvania, by the T. U. U. L. and the National Miners Union. One would sup- pose that with close to 50 per cent unemploy- ment in the anthracite, and as much as 75 per cent unemployment in many bituminous fields of this state, that at least one Pennsylvania j miner would stray accidentally into the Chicago conventiom. One, is almost tempted to think that what work was done among the tens of thousands of unemployed Pennsylvania miners was directed to keeping them away rather than getting delegates to the Chicago convention, Many other instances of almost total neg- lect or extremely formal and weak conduct of the unemployment work could be cited but these are sufficient to show that the radicali- zation of the working class rather than planned and sustained activity on our part was respon- sible for the mass character of the Chicago con- vention. This is true-to such an extent that it now constitutes a real danger which we must eliminate from this moment on in carrying out the program adopted by the convention, «To Be Continued.) i} | | | Woman and Child Laborin Textiles their southern fellow workers, when they find the average wage of $22.09 a week in Massa- chusett. (before the wage cuts) conflicts with an average of $14.55 (full time) in Alabama, and as the bosses do not raise the Alabama avera; to the N. H., they try to equalize just the other way. Then the South where they boast of “cheap wages,” proceeds vo cut again, and so it goes. uikewise when the boss in either place finds, as ‘n Alabama, that he can get-women for an average of $11.45 (full time), he immediately begins to scheme how he can use them instead of his $14.55 men. Then the unemployed men are rehired again at the women’s wage, but Southern Chivalry (nice name for the bosses’ swindle game) demands that women be the weaker sex and her wage probably goes down to $8. (All figures from the United States Department. Government Bureau of Labor Statistics.) y “Keen On White Women.” jouthern Cotton Mills and Labor,” by Myra Page, says: “Because of the practice of sex discrimination in the wages, mill employers are especially keen on having white women in the mills. In the cotton growing states in 1919 women composed 364% of total textile wage earning group.” The percentage of all women in industry was 24.5%. Of course it works the same with children. From the very beginning the textile industry has been a hot bed of child slavery. Every improvement in machinery means that another child can take the place of a man or a woman. Lately the increase in child slavery has been a little siower simply because there is an un- limited supply of the cheapest adult labor. But with increased eompetition the still cheaper children will be drawn in. The 1920 census shows a little over 6% children in the | southern mills, There are laws against very young child labor in some states, which means very little. So we have cheap southern labor cheapening northern labor’s wages because both are unorganized. We have cheap women’s labor replacing slightly higher paid men’s labor. And we have a cheap child labor competing with, replacing both men’s and women’s labor, “Women and Children Fifst.” Short me-vets. comvetition between groups of textile capitalists as now between England © It need not be said that this circumstance, which renders the crisis especially tormenting to the masses of the people forming the main consumers of the goods, and reduces these to want and misery, necessarily leads to a pro- longation of the crisis, and hampers its ab- sorption. 4. The present economic crisis is develop- ing on the basis of that general crisis of capitalism which originated during the period of the imperialist war, which undermined the pillars of capitalism and facilitated the bring- ing about of an economic crisis. What does this mean? It means above all that the imperialist war and its consequences have accelerated the process of decay of enni- talism and shaken its equilibrium, that today we live in the epoch of wars and revolutions, that capitalism no longer represents a uniform and comprehensive system of international economies, that side by side with the capi- talist economic system there exists the social- ist system, and that this is growing, matur- ing, opposing the capitalist system, exposing by the mere fact of its existence the rotten- ness of capitalism, and shaking its foundations. It means further that the imperialist war and the victory of the revolution in the Soviet Union have shaken the pillars of imperialism in the colonial and dependent countries, that the authority of imperialism is becoming very brittle in these countries, that it no longer possesses the power to pursue its customary methods in these countries. It means further that during the war, and after the war, a young capitalism sprang up in the colonial and capitalist countries, and that this has competed successfully in the markets against the old capitalist countries, thereby intensifying and aggravating the struggle for the markets. And it means, finally, that the war has be- queathed to the majority of the capitalist countries a disastrous legacy of chronic non- utilization of the producing capacity of the undertakings, of an army of unemployed which has become transformed from a reserve army into a standing.army of unemployment, a fac- tor which confronted capitalism with a multi- tude of difficulties even before the present crisis, and has been bound to complicate mat- ters further during the crisis. These are the circumstances deepening and aggravating the world economic crisis. It must be admitted that the present economic crisis is the most serious and profound of all the world economic crises hitherto experienced. 2. The Intensification of the Antagonisms of Capitalism. The most important result of the world economic crisis is the exposure and intensifica- tion of the antagonisms inherent in world cap- sitalism. (a) The antagonisms amongst the most important imperialist countries are being re- vealed and intensified; the struggles for the markets, the struggles for the raw materials, the struggles for the export of capital. None of the capitalist states are any longer satis- fied with the old distribution of the spheres of influence and colonies. They see that the comparative forces have shifted, and that the markets, the sources of raw materials, the spheres of influence, etc., must be redistrib- uted. The most important of these an‘agon- isms is the antagonism between the U, 8. A. and England, Both in the field of the ex- port of manufactured goods and in the sphere of capital export the chiefestruggle is between the United States and England. It suffices to glance at any economic newspaper, at any document relating to the export of goods and capital, to receive convincing proof of this. The main arena of this struggle is South Amer- ica, China, the colonies and dominions of the old imperialist states. The preponderance of forces in this struggle—even the express pre- ponderance—is on the side of the U. S. A. This main antagonism is followed by others, which, though not decisive, are still very im- portant: between Germany and France, be- tween France and Italy, between England and France, ete. There can be no doubt that the struggle for the markets, for raw materials and fields for the export of capital, will be intensified from day to day, and from month to month, by the developing crisis. The means used in this struggle are: tariff. policy, cheap goods, cheap credit, regrouping of forces and new military and political alli- ances, increased armaments, preparations for fresh imperialist wars, and finally, war. I have referred to the crisis which has seized upon every branch of industry. But there is one industry which is not affected by the crisis, and that is the war industry. This is growing | steadily, in spite of the crisis. The bourgeois states are arming wildly, arming ever more and more. Why? Certainly not for amuse- ment, but for war. And the imperialists need war, for it is the sole means of redistributing the world, and to re-divide the markets, the sources of raw materials, and the spheres of capitalist investment. It is easily comprehensible that under these circumstances so-called pacifism is at its last gasp, that the League of Nations is rotting away while still alive, that the “disarmament . proposals” vanish into the abyss, and the con- ference for the reduction of naval armaments is converted into a conference on the renewal and extension of the navies. This means that the danger of war will grow more rapidly than before. Let the social dem- ocrats chatter of pacifism, of peace, of the peaceful development of capitalism, etc., the experience gained during the governmental reign of the social democrats in Germany and England proves this fascism to be a mere mask hiding fresh preparations for war. (To be Continued) By A. JAKIRA UGUST First is International Red’ Day against war. On this day millions of men and women the world over will come together in huge demonstrations to express their op- position to the coming new world slaughter and to mobilize their forces for a militant struggle against it. The workers of the world have not yet for- gotten their sacrifices in the last world war, the “war for democracy.” The workers paid in the last world war with at least ten million lives, and more than 19 millions maimed and crippled! At present, the danger of a new world war is greater and more apparent than ever be- fore. The various imperialist powers, unable to solve their own home problems, are fever- ishly preparing for a new bloodbath. They are busy perfecting the deadly weapons with which to murder greater and greater numbers of workers. They are at the same time united- ly mobilizing their forces for an attack on the Soviet Union, the haven of the workers, per- secuted by the various capitalist governments The imperialist powers know very well that the Soviet Union is a strong barrier against war and that it serves as an inspiration to the workers 0. the entire world in their strug- gle against exploitation and oppression. Prepare Openly. The reactionary forces of American imper- ialism do not even conceal their preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union. This is apparent from a series of events that took place here recently, one on the heels of the other. The sensation created by the forged “Whalen documents,” the senatorial investi- gation of the Communists and of the various organizations of the militant workers, the or- der prohibiting the export of airplanes to the Soviet Union, the campaign of the An- thracite coai operators to prohibit the import to this country of Soviet coal, and finally the recent attempts to stop the import of Soviet lumber to this country—these are just a few of the facts pointing to the preliminary steps towards war against the Soviet Union, In their efforts to prohibit the importation of Soviet coal and lumber, the dark forces of this country—the land of lynchings and most atrocious cuair. gang and convict labor system are trying to discredit the Soviet Union in The this | thousands of English workers’ on strike have and America make all worse, | not suffered so much from cheapening of wages on account of women and child labor. They have a period of organization back of them. | But if they lose their strike immediately i the terrific exploitation visited upon the American women and children will crush down on the English fields. Then we have com- petition between the bosses of England and America to see who can cut wages faster, with the wages of women and children falling fastest of all, and being used as a lever to force other wages down. The long three months of the struggle of the Yorkshire woolen workers is a struggle against speed up, wage cuts. It is part of the general struggle of the textile workers the world over. We must help morally and financially. Organize for the textile strikers Solidarity Day, July 19 The I. L. D. and August First the eyes of the American workers by telling them that the Soviet Union is using cheap and convict labor. In this way the employers are trying to cover up their own crime against the workers, whose wages are slashed to the point of starvation. Bosses Attack. At the same time the powers to be in all the capitalist countries, including the United States, are waging a bitter and savage at- tack on all those who sincerely oppose the war preparations and who militantly fight against the war danger. Militant workers opposed. to war are imprisoned by the thousands and their organizations declared outlawed. This attack on the militant workers is part and parcel of the preparations for the new im- perialist wr and for an attack on the Soviet Union. The International Labor Defense, in line with the policy of the International Red Aid the world over, joins hands with all the other forces opposing the war designs of the imper- ialist powers. It calls upon all its members, district organizations, branches and all friend- ly organizations to begin energetic preparations for active participation in all anti-war dem- onstrations on August First, with its own banners, slogans and speakers. It calls upon all workers to strengthen and build the: or- ganization, so that it may be in a better po- sition to provide the necessary legal and ma- terial aid to those arrested or clubbed by the capitalist police forces because of their anti- war activities. It calls upon all workers to help defend and free the militant leaders of the working class now languishing in the pris- ons in all the capitalist countries. Defend the militant workers organizations from being out- lawed and crushed by the war mongers, de- fend the Soviet Union! The Census Bureau and Chester ‘ONDITIONS for the workers in Chester are worse today than they were last winter. Five hundred men stand in front. of the Sun Shipyard each morning hoping to get a job. Thousands have been Jaid off at Ford, Baldwin and other smaller plants. ig The Census Bureau gives the false number of 1.818 unemployed in Chester, Ford himself laid off a couple of thousand workers. And along with unemployment come wage ‘cuts. At the Irving Woolen Mills on.and after June 2nd a reduction of 10% will be made on all piece and time work rates and the mill threatens to close down unless this cut is accepted. And Only 1,818! Saturday evening Anna Burlak was the speaker at a mass meeting called to: protest the Atlanta outrages against the Southern workingel: fighters. The workers were enthus‘astic and pledged themselves to: support the International Labor Defence. A’ perma- nent committee was elected to organize a campaign to demand the release of the Atlanta prisoners. A picnic is planned by the Chester branch of the I. L. D. on Sunday, July 20, at Crystals Farm, 15th street and Highland ave. In Wilmington there is a terrible unem- ployment situation, Every plant in the town has been laying off workers. Yet thé census takers could only find 1,881 unemployed | workers, Krad a |