The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 30, 1930, Page 4

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SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By mail everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; two months, $1; excepting Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx, New York City. Foreign: One year, $8; six months, $4.50 Published by the Comprodaily Publishing Co., Inc., daily, except Sunday, at 50 East 13th Street, New York City, . ¥. Telephone Algonquin 7956-7. Cable: ATWORK.” Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, East 13th Street, New York, N. Y. Daily, 2Worker _ . 1" Gutsist “Ticket! Fer’ Bread and. Work! For the Communist Ticket! ~AGITATE IN THE SHOPS! Against Mass Layoffs and Wage Cuts! rialist Attacks on the USSR! Against Impe- THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND ELECTIONS By SAM DON N the presidential campaign of 1928, Hoover made speeches with the theme of “abolition of poverty.” The report of the Hoover Com- mittee, “The Recent Economic Changes,” pub- lished in 1928, spoke of a “bright and promising fut “wonderful momentum.” reported with confidence and enth n on the possibility of doing away with cyclical crisis and unfolded the theory of organized capitalism. At the time of the stock exchange crash last October, Hoover and the entire capitalist press were still singing hymns of prosperity and an immediate improvement in the situation. But as the crisis developed more and more on a world scale, with the economic situation continu- ally becoming ever more aggravated in the United States, a change developed in the policy of the bourgeoisie, and they became more cau- tious in their prosperity propaganda. Republican “Strategy.” The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mr. Fess, in preparation for the elec- tion campaign, made a statement six months ago that it was Mr. Hoover and the republican ad- ministration that prevented the depression from developing into a serious economic crisis and that the world situation was primarily respon- sible for the conditions in the country; therefore the Hoover administration cannot be held re- sponsible for the present economic condition. The placing of the blame on the world condition and the credit to the republican administration for avoiding the development of the depression into a crisis seems to have become the keynote of the Republican strategy in the election cam- paign. With no signs for the present of a liquidation of the crisis, but on the contrary with ever in- creasing signs of its deepening, the above-men- tioned strategy of the repulican administration seems to be weakening so much so that the majority leader in the senate. Mr. Watson, in | an election rally speech made in Indiana on September 11, said the following: “We can neither foresee nor legislate against a collapse in the price of stocks or a wide-spread and disastrous drought or an economic depression that embraces the whole earth; but for such sudden, unexpected and inescapable catastro- phies, we should be enjoying our customary degree of prosperity.” talk of abolition of poverty, from the theory of organized capitalism, to a consideration of the present crisis, as “inescapable catastrophy.” It is precisely the realization and conviction that the crisis, being world wide with no im- mediate signs of liquidation or recovery, that is driving the bourgeoisie to mobilize their forces for a well organized attack on the working class. ‘The four speeches of Mr. Hoover were a clear expression and signal for it. At a time when Mr. Hoover felt that he could make speeches on the abolition of poverty, he could also afford to call the Bolsheviks “martyrs.” But in his speech in the south he already declared that the enemy within is the greatest danger confront- ing the bourgeoisie and in Boston he called upon the fascists of the American Legion brand and | of the American Federation of Labor leader- ship brand for a holy war against the working class and its vanguard, the Communist Party. Lenin a long time ago pointed out that the bourgeoisie rules not only with open force (which, of course, is its main reliance) but also by social deception. As conditions become un- bearable and the workihg class begins to fight, we see very clearly how the capitalist Class in this country is perfecting its fascist machinery and open attacks upon the working class (which is its main consideration) and at the same time proceeds very energetically in developing social demagogy in order to demoralize the working Class and primarily to prevent it from following our Party. The speeches of Hoover, as well as the entire policy in this election campaign shows very clearly on the one hand perfection of fas- cist methods and on the other hand development | of social and social fascist demagogy. The relationship between the economic crisis and the political developments are even ex- pressed by one of the most optimistic econom- ists, Mr. Irving Fisher. In an article appearing in the Chicago Evening Post of September 29th. he states the following: “When world-wide business is unhinged by the fall of price levels, human society feels victimized. The more radi- cal of each nation come to hate society, gov- ernments are overthrown, changes take place. The United States is no exception to this rule. (Mr. Lovestone may take a lesson from Mr. Fisher S. D.) The administration at Washington, swept in largely on the issue of prosperity, may be swept out again on the issue of hard times. The fall elections may show the turn unless some concert of minds reaching far across national borders can be found to dispell the terrors of deflation.” Comrade Stalin, in his political report to the | 16th Party Convention, said, “The illusions of the power of capitalism in general and of North American capitalism in particular are crumbling to pieces.” It is precisely on the background of a steady increase of unemployment with the perspective of the blackest winter that the illu- sions of American prosperity are beginning to disappear among the workers and dissatisfaction | and readiness to struggle surges through them. | ~ The capitalist class, conscious of that, have ‘opened up in the last few weeks a well-organized and concentrated drive of spreading social demagogy amongst the masses. The Hoover Unemployment Board, the ‘various state unem- ployment boards, all sorts of unemployment charity schemes, express the realization on the ; of the bourgeoisie that they cannot fool ¢ workers any more with talk of a return of Prosperity and that they had better make ges- tures for relief or else the Communist Party might succeed in organizing the workers in real struggle for unemployment relief, etc. This realization is very simply and clearly expressed by the New York Times in its leading editorial in the issue of Sunday, October 12, “Hollow Jaughter would greet any republican orator who would address any workingman as they were “Spoken to two years ago.” Not just hollow laughter, but menacing fists would greet such an orator. » The democratic party makes unemployment ( So we see that from the | one of its very primary issues as the basis for its election strategy. And in proposing all sorts of unemployment schemes (all of them with the purpose of detracting the attention of the work- ers from real unemployment insurance) there is not only a gesture of relief for the unemployed but also an expression of fear for what the workers might do under the leadership of our Party. It is no accident at all that the speeches by the democratic senatorial candidate in the State of Illinois is not only filled with “sym- pathy” for the unemployed and all sorts of pub- lic works schemes, but also expresses the dominant fear of Communism as shown in his statement that the unemployed are “fit for Communism.” | Since prohibition cannot blind empty stomachs and the fear of Communism is haunting the bourgeoisie, unemployment schemes and sym- pathy speeches are the strategy now to blind the workers. | The growing disillusionment of the workers and their desire for a change are already being noted by the advance political predictions on the outcome of this year’s elections and in all the made by the capitalist press unemploy- ment is taken as the starting point. For in- in Chicago Hearst’s publication in a Washington dispatch of October 10 reporting a special meeting of the leaders of the republican party stated the following: “While republican leaders insists no democratic landslide is in sight they are worried over what may result over the combination of business depression and the pro- hibition issue.” analy: stance, But Mr. Longworth, the speaker of the House of Representatives, is far more emphatic than | the above-mentioned report. He stated, “My reports are to the effect that in industrial sec- tions the republican vote will be reduced due to unemployment.” And the New York Times in | its September 19 issue, in taking up the election | situation in the state of Illinois and referring | to the National situation states the following: “At the republican campaign headquarters in Chicago where representative Will R. Wood, of | Indiana is in charge, overconfidence is not ob- servable. There is a feeling among Party lead- ers that November's voting will leave only a shadow of the majority which the G.O.P. now enjoys in the House.” ‘In the various primaries throughout the coun- try unemployment was in many cases a decisive issue in the outcome of the nominations. This was brought out most strikingly in the nomina- tion of LaFollette in Wisconsin, as admitted’ by the New York Times in the following state- ment: “Along with the LaFollette name, unem- ployment was a determining factor. This was strikingly true in Milwaukee county where in 1928 Kohler insured his nominatfon with a plurality of 22,000 which’ melted away in’ this LaFollette landslide. It struck again'in other industrial centers along the Lake Shore and up through the Fox River Valley. Nothing could stop it.” It is very interesting to note that while in the last few years the S.P. in the State of Illinois did not even take the trouble to nominate many candidates, in the various elections this year not only did they nominate quite a number of candi- dates, but are also making an attempt to develop a big campaign with unemployment, the present economic situation and the building of a labor party as the main issues. Mr. Howatt one of the very expert social fascists and the president | of the Independent Miners Union declared that the Labor, Party is the only hope. As the workers demagogy of the open bourgeois parties, the bosses will begin consciously to build up in the ranks of the workers the labor party illusion as the only hope. There is no doubt that the workers were re- acting politically to the present situation. The prediction, even by the republicans themselves of a democratic landslide and the gains of social- fascist votes will be due to the growing disatis- 1 begin to lose faith in the social | Workers’ Freedom in the Soviet Union By ROBERT W. DUNN Author of “Soviet Trade Unions.” Workers in the Soviet Union are organized in labor unions. They are the best organized in the world. In Austria, not more than 50 per cent of the workers are now organized and that is the highest percentage that can be claimed in any capitalist country. In the Soviet Union, where incidentally union membership is entirely voluntary, about 81 per cent of all workers are organized, and 86.5 per cent of all the workers in the industries. It is a pretty good record for a “backward country” ‘to have ‘over 12,000,000 workers in unions. The A. F. of L. has less than 3,000,000 and only 10 per cent of the American working class is organized. Mathew Woll, president of the fascist National Civic Federation, and his monarchist advisors contend that the Soviet unions are not “free.” He says they are worse than American company unions, and that they are run by the workers’ state. If they were nice “free” unions they would be run by the Civic Federation, Grover Whalen, and Mathew Woll. Furthermore, these Soviet trade unions don’t pay per capita to the A. F. of L.! They don’t support democrats in one town and republicans in another. They don’t subscribe to insurance sold by the Union Life Insurance Co. They don’t do all sorts of things: Mr. Woll would. like to have them do, including the support of a capitalist government in the next war for imperialist plunder. All of which is just too bad—for Mr. Woll and his gang of Soviet baiters and ‘ysterical pro- fessional patriots. But it is a very good thing for the workers of Russia that they don’t pattern their unions after the rackets operated by Mr. Woll. It may pain him terribly but we have to report that the Soviet labor organizations are very different from this flourishing “business unionism.” Here are a few things about Russian unions that the American Trade Union Delegation dis- covered, and I believe these facts have been con- firmed by every honest worker who has since visited Russia either as an individual or as a member oi any other delegation. These Russian unions that Woll so fervently hates, participate; actively in the building of the national industries. They take an increasingly important part in the building of socialism under the Five Year Plan. As Mr. Woll detests so- cialism it is obvious that he should be peddling lies about those who are trying to create a so- cialist industry. The workers in the’ Russian unions take the greatest and most personal interest in produc- tion, in new inventions, in everything that car- ries industry forward: Why? Because these workers are already sharing in the results of increased productivity. They are not subject to more intense work or speed-up. They are instead faction on the part of the workers and their | _desire for a change. The bosses are haunted by the growing radicalization of the working class and the fact that they become “fit for Com- | munism.” This explains not only the growing fascist attacks but also the increased use of social demagogy. It is up to the Communist Party first of all, and the duty of all revolu- tionary workers to see to it that the workers who are dissatisfied and looking for a change should express this dissatisfaction and desire for change in revolutionary channels and not in an | increased vote for the democratic party and the | social fascists. We must convince the workers that only by following the lead of our party will they be able to compel the capitalist class to grant them real unemployment relief. the organizing capacities of the party are the decisive factors in the present objective condi- | tions determining whether the workers, in re- acting politically, as they do, will express it by accepting the leadership of our Party or be mislead by the social demagogy of the three bourgeois parties. Workers! Join the Party of Your Class! Communist Party U.S, A. 43 East 125th Street, New York City. I, the undersigned, want to join the Commu: nist Party. Send me more information. Name .....cceeeee eetemeecee | Address ..ccceccccccccemwoccs UMPscovsecce r Uocupation 2... cceccacsscccvecess AGZGsesees Mail this to the Central Office, Communist . ¥. Party, 43 East 125th St.. New York, N The conscious role and. the benificiaries of every new development in production. ’ What are the concrete evidences of this? The seven-hour day already for nearly 50 per cent of the workers—it will be universal next year. The five-day week. The fullest social insurance in any country. Vacations with pay. Economic security. Educational and cultural opportuni- ties exceeding those of trade unionists in any other land. These are a few of the reasons why the “Socialist competition” of the workers has made such progress in the Soviet Union. I remember some of the advantages the work- ers told us they derived from union membership in the Soviet trade unions. Here are only a few of them: Free dental, medical and other dis- pensaries. Reduced rates for all sorts of services, including rent, light, housing and amusement. A better chance to go to a Rest Home or a health resort. Credit in the consumers: co- operatives, Educational and health advantages for the children of the trade unionists. Addi- tional benefits in case of unemployment. But do the workers really take part in these unions that mean so much to them? The ques- tion seems quite crazy to one who has had a chance to investigate the working of unionism | in all parts of Soviet territory. I have never heard more effective or “creative” discussion in my life than in the meetings of the textile workers union that I attended in Moscow prov~ ince. The workers were alert, keen, able to ex- press themselves about the most vital questions of industry and government. They seemed en- tirely conscious of, the fact that it was their in- dustry, their government, their social system that they were developing with their own hands and ouv of their own experiments and struggles. I should like to see Mr. Woll face an: audience of these workers. It would be interesting to see what this indefatigable agent of the capitalists would say to them, what answers he would give to their flood of questions about his relations to American capitalists. Perhaps he. would be as discreet as his friend, the late James Duncan, A. F. of L. Executive Board member, who was sent to Russia in 1917 to help Kerensky keep the workers in the trenches fighting for “democ- racy.” Duncan gave the Russian workers a lec- ture on the “union label.” Reports are to the ORITY OF PEaPLE ee ace ADJUSTED ELVES le PRESENT THEM SE CONDITIC 8.000.000 UNEMPLOYED By RYAN WALKER Wisconsin Workers Respond to Communist Election Tour By DONALD BURKE (One of the four comrades now touring Wisc- onsin for the election campaign.) HE first half of the election’campaign tour of Wisconsin which has just been completed, has met with tremendous response and is able to report that all thru the state, workers and farmers are becoming more and more radical- lized, are preparing to fight against their miser- able conditions, and thousands whom we reached gave hearty endorsement to the program of the Communist Party in the-coming. elections. The tour covered nearly two thousand miles during the period of a month. Twenty-five thousand leaflets. were distributed in over fifty cities and towns. Three thousand Daily Workers were sold and distributed, and three hundred Party platforms and pamphlets were sold. The best meetings were hetd in Sheboygan, Fond Du Lac, Oshkosh, Red Granite, and Owen, Wisconsin. At the Sheboygan meeting the police and American Legionnaires interfered, but were unable to break up the meeting for half an hour due to the militdnt spirit.of the crowd of five hundred workers who were listening to Com- munist speakers for the first time. Finally by calling for reinforcements the dicks weré able to arrest all four comrades—Ed Nehmer, candi- date for Sechetary of State, Ted Witt, Young Communist League Organizer, John Hilty, who served three month in the House of Correction at Milwaukee for his participation in the March 6th demonstration, and Donald Burke, candidate for State Senator. We were all released after a “lecture. » Good Meet in Oshkosh. The best meeting of all was held in Oshkosh. Five hundred workers came in response to our leaflets, and many shouted approval when we pointed out Hoover's lies about “no wage cuts” and “the crisis will soon be over.” Especially did they agree that they must organize and fight against the lumber mill barons who have been exploiting them for years at an average wage of 30 cents an hour! Now wages have been cut to between 24 and 27 cents an hour, and nearly half are unemployed. Red. Granite, which is the home town of Fred Bassett Blair, who led the March. 6th demon- stration, and is now serving one year in the House of Correction while the Communist Party is carrying on a campaign for his election “a8 governor of Wisconsin,—this little quarry town of only a thousand produced a meeting of over two hundred workers who came to hear our speakers. We pointed out especially the swing of the American born workers to the Communist Party, and showed how it was that one whom they knew was raised in their own environment, and worked in these same quarries had become a fighter for the working class and a leader in the Communist Party. Several hundred of these workers have already signed petitions for Bassett’s release, and many told us that they would vote Communist. (Owen, Wisconsin is also a town of only a) thousand, but over two hundred came to our open air meeting. Conditions here are also bad, the town being practically owned by the Owen Lumber Company. Wages in the lumber mills have been cut to 25 cents an hour—$2.50 a day. And the workers listened closely to our speakers, bought a lot of literature, and applauded en- thusiastically at the close of the meeting. Meetings were also held in Wansan, Appleton, Brantwood, Phelps, Waino, Wentworth, Hurley and Superior. The Superior meeting was not very good, due both to the bitterly cold weather, and to the fact that the Superior comrades did nothing to help distribute leaflets or mobilize the workers. Outside of a little help from the effect that it was not well received! I wonder it Mr. Woll is aware of the fact that the unions have representatives in almost all.the leading governing bodies of the Soviet Govern- ment. They select: the Commissar of Labor. They also select many lower: officials in the de- partment of labor. and are well represented in | the departments which operate the extensive system of social insurance. All legislation affect- ing labor is passed with the consent of, the unions and after the most thorough discussion. In other words, the conventions of the unions are, in a sense, a legislature for the country, sup- Plementing the Congress. of Soviets. On the economic and industrial organs of the govern- ment they also have their representatives.. ‘They are on the State Planning Commission which devised the Five Year Plan. They are repre- sented also on scores of committees and councils that operate the various departments of the government, It is clear from all this that the trade unions are a powerful force in Soviet economic and industrial life. And their members are un- doubtedly the freest, most active and intelligent trade unionists to be found anywhere in the world. ‘ League, we had to call and hold our meeting unassisted. This is due to the complete absorp- tion of the Superior-Duluth section in work among the Fingish workers and farmers—in their language and cooperative organizations— and total neglect of mass work among the English speaking and non-Finnish workers and farmers. However, the District Committee of District 9 is aware of the situation and is taking steps to correct it. Big Unemployment. From talking with workers and farmers thru- out the state we have observed the correct- ness of the Party thesis on the development of industrial crisis, the aggravation of the agrarian crisis, and the widespread radicalization of the masses as a result. Unemployment we found to be especially bad in the lumber and wood products industry. Many lumber camps are closed and wages in those. working. are $1.75 to at most $2 a day—with a dollar taken out’ for board! Thousands of lumber jacks dre tramping the roads from camp to camp, living in “jungles” and coming into towns demanding food when- ever in need. The lumber jacks are ripe for or- ganization, and especially must the Party lead their struggle against starvation this winter. Farmers On Road Work. Thruout Northern Wisconsin the farmers are mostly very poor, farming only a few acres of cleared land, and dependent on outside work to make a living. Some of them have had road work for 25 cents an hour this summer, but that was very little and is now over with the cold weather. Milk is the only thing they sell and that has fallen in price. Large numbers of farmers are unable to pay taxes on their mortgages, or Farm Loans. But the banks are slow to foreclose because they would rather keep the farmers paying interest to them than take the Jand which cannot be sold for love or money. Wage Cuts in Paper Industry. le, paper industry seems to be not quite so hard fit, and paper mill towns do not show such mass unemployment. But wages are being cut and part time work is reducing the average wage of the workers to ten dollars a week. The aluminum industry centered around Manitowoc is also slack, with rationalization, speed-up, constantly increasing. Many young workers are employed in the aluminum plants, and their wages are less than ten dollars a week. The ship yards in Manitowoc are about to shut down after they finish a car ferry now about completed. Workers in S. P. Coming Over. In many towns we met former socialists and even present members of the socialist party who expressed great disgust with the S. P. Three of them gave us subscriptions to the Daily, Worker. and a group of them in Green Bay were ready to act as a defense corps against the American Legion. Everywhere we heard rumblings of re- volt in the ranks of the S. P. and: signs of the leftward swing of the rank and file. But the phenomenon of greatest significance is the great support of the workers and farmers for Phil LaFollette, the “Progressive” Republican candidate for governor who defated Governor Kohler, by 110,000 maiority in the primaries. LaFollette. has. played o.ie radical, thundering about unemployment, the farm crisis and high taxation. He has been denouncing chain stores, chain banks, etc. including, the Power Trust. These demogagic tricks have fooled the workers into supporting him. Show Up LaFollette. | But when we pointed out the true character of LaFollette and especially exnosed .the revision of the Progressive platform after the primaries so that the progressive platform became as reac- tionary as the regular republican platform, and especially pointing out that LaFollette now warns against any unemployment measure which will injure Wisconsin “industry's ability to compete with other states’—the workers listefed ‘closely and in no case were we heckled. LaFollette has won over Kohler, but the masses are everywhere skeptical and will soon realize that the “progressives” are still republicans and 100 per cent sunporters of the capitaltst class. Many. Shortcomings. ‘ While the tour as a whole was undoubtedly a Success and a very big step for the Party, it re- vealed the tremendous gap between the possi- bilities for organization which exist, and the inability of our Party to meet the growing needs of the workers for leadership. Imediately after the election campaign organizers will have to go out from Milwaukee again, build ‘Party nuclei, and thry them rally the workers and farmers for struggle. ‘The second half of the tour, now starting. wili take us to LaCross, beside distributing leaflets in all towns in between.’ We are confident that our reception in these cities will be as warm if not warmer than in the cities already covered. Workers of Wisconsin! Vote Communist! Fred Bassett Blair for Governor! i By JORGE emcee There’s a Difference j We continually run across comrades who use the word “exploited” in the wrong economic sense. They say that the capitalists “exploit” the workers by taxation, by high rents or food prices, and so on; that farmers are “exploited.” What they mean is that they are “robbed.” Naturally and rightly we call exploitation also “robbery.” But “exploitation” of the workers takes place only from the act that the surplus value created by them is retained by théir employers. The employer owns the means, the machinery of production, and exploits his wage workers only in the process of production. A farmer, who does not sell his labor power for wages is not, therefore “exploited,” though he may be and in fact is, “robbed,” by bank- ers, landlords, tax-collectors, marketing mono- polies, railroads, monopolies who gouge high prices from him for what he buys. A farmer is not a “worker,” though he may work like a horse, and he can’no more be called, in econ- omic terms “a worker,” than he can be called a “horse.” The two terms represent two dis- tinct economic classes. Likewise, a worker, because he works on.a farm for wages, should not be called “a far- mer” but an agricultural or farm wage worker. Confusion in these terms is widespread. The idea that we are “exploited” as con sumers leads to all sorts of wrong policies. Trade unions, yes, our own revolutionary uni- ons, get the notion, inherited from the A. F. of L., that instead of organizing the workers in the shops, where they are exploited, try to organize them as consumers, and thus get into the idiotic practice of saying—‘Don’t eat at that restaurant. It’s against the union.” Meanwhile,the’ union does little or nothing to organize the workers inside the restaurant, and uses the ridiculous A. F. of L. policy: “Jones is a good boss and Smith is a bad boss.” So they help the “good” boss to make lots of money and become powerful enough to tell the union to go to hell. It is, thus, a “union label” plan of organization; in effect a class collaboration plan, This does not mean, of course, that in a con- flict a’ boycott should not properly be applied. Nor does it mean that workers should not fight against robbery of high prices. In fact we are astounded at the fact that there is no fight against the outrageous robbery of retail food prices right now. While wholesale commodity prices have been falling steadily all summer and fall, the De- partment of Labor reports that in the month ending Sept. 15, retail food prices through- out the country rose one and one-third per cent, and in New York City two per cent. With the millions jobless and millions more with wages cut, this is a damned outrage that ought to be answered with action of masses not forgetting, of course, that the main task is to organize and strike for higher wages and fight for unemployment relief. BAP RAK ® Silent “Discussion” Well, we see that Mayor Walker has an “ex~ planation” about those salary raises which some suspicious guy dug out of a long list of itemized graft. He says they were “put in only for pur- poses of discussion.” Now isn’t that wonderful! After Walker him- self had incited a massacre of Unemployed Council delegates because they insisted on dis- cussion, then we read the following in the N. Y, “Times” of October 24: “Several speakers insisted on haranguing the Board on subjects which Mr. McKee (Acting Mayor while Walker is playing indoor golf with Betty Compton—Jorge) ruled were to~ tally irrelevant to the purpose of the hearing ....On adjourning the session he turned to his colleagues and commented; “It is a sad commentary upon the citizen ¢ interest in municipal government....that we have to sit here and listen to that kind of stuff.” The haughty scorn with which these Tammany grafters look upon everybody who tries to taka “discussion” and “public hearings” seriously, would do credit to the King of Aaragon, who, if we have our etymology straight is where the word “arrogant” originated. Anyhow, Walker is slick enough to have the raises cut out without any more “discussion.” * * Holy Water The holy communion by the “socialist” party and the church should not be allowed to pass without notice. Part of the touching ceremony was observed in the N. Y. Times of Oct. 21. On page 5, it was. told how Rabbi Wise has endorsed Charney Vladeck, the “socialist” candi- date for congress, saying that this scoundrel, if. elected, “would bring great honor to his district, and be an intellectual and moral asset to the House of Representatives.” Which sounds funny if you know Vladeck. On page 6, we learn that Dr. Guy Emory Shipler, editor of “The Churchman,” a religious publication;—‘“urged voters to elect Mr. Heywood Broun to Congress, explaining that “a vote for Broun is a vote against criminal complacency.” Which is not only funny, but ridiculous. Pos- sibly the Reverend Doctor is trying the biblical stunt of mixing water with gin. Anyhow, it is clear that social fascism is being well sprinkled with ‘holy water. eT eS Absent-Minded Almighty It would appear that God has to be reminded that things are not running right. In Grand Rapids, Mich., more than fifty congregations of protestant churches are making a campaign for eight days, to bring the state of business depression before the attention of God, pray- ing for “improvement of business.” The 75th annual conference of the Methodist Church, ing perhaps that God might -be a little too) jeaf to hear the still small voice of nly adopted a memorial to Hoover, we a day of prayer for the benefit of ployed. _ bly, because the conference was held in , the Methodists figured that if there was anything that would take the Hokum Medal away from Mayor Murphy, it would 'be a National Day of Prayer supervised by Hoo- ver. / v4 ; *

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