The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 12, 1930, Page 1

> i . Speed the Signature Collection Campaign for the Unemployment Insurance Rill. Unemployment Insurance Must Be Won Now! “ ail Central Org. ¥ orker ~Communict Party U.S.A. (Section of the Communist International) OF WORKERS THE WORLD, UNITE! at New York, N. Entered. as second-class matter at the Post Office + under the act ef March 3, 1879 CITY EDITION aera 3 Cents : NEW YORK, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1930. Vol. VII. No. 297 z A Serious Crash TREMENDOUS shock was suffered by the financial structure of American capitalism, in the very heart of the money capitol of the United States by the closing up on Thursday morning of 57 branches of the Bank of the United States. Tens of thousands of workers, many of them unemployed and dependent for their bread on their meagre savings, cannot withdraw their money. Over $202,000,000 in deposits are involved. So serious is the situation that the leading bankers of Wall Street held an all night conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in an attempt to “correct” the situation. The closing of these 57 branches of this New York bank gives the lie to Hoover, Mellon and Barnes claims that the 110 bank crashes which occurred in November alone in the South and West, involving $100,000,000 were “sectional” matters and do not affect the general banking system of the United States, To date, excluding the Bank of the United States, there have been 734 bank failures this year in the United States, involving $317,000,000 in deposits. It has been the boast of the capitalists and their spokesmen that the present economic crisis was different than previous ones in that the banking structure was not affected. The huge: increase in bank failures over the 1920-21 crisis shows this to be a lie out of the whole cloth. The situation now is comparable to the 1894 and 1907 crises, which were connected with heavy bank failures, The Bank of the United States had bee: considering a merger with other banks in New York. The merger attem,t failed. The true causes behind it have not been made public. For the working class the closing of these 57 branches is frought with serious consequences. Most of the branches were in working class districts. There is mass unemployment,/ and thousands of the depositors were living on their few pennies in the bank. The boast of the American capitalists about the “savings” of the American workers obviating the necessity for unemployment insurance is receiving death-blows. The talk about the banking system coming out of the crisis unscathed is overwhelmingly smashed by the record number of bank failures already reported. The Journal of Commerce, an important Wall Street organ, some time ago made a survey of the banking situation and “deplored” the difficult position that many banks were in. The bank crashes are a part of the fundamental, and deep-going crisis of American capitalism. The financial structure of world capitalism is seriously affected. The Hatry failure in London involved over $1,000,- 000,000. The Oustric crash in France is rocking the financial system of that country. There is little doubt that the closing of the Bank of the United States will have far-reaching results. That the big imperialist banks stand to gain as a result of the “liqui- dation” of the smaller and weaker banks is admitted by the National City Bank Bulletin for December, 1930, when they say that bank failures are ‘'the natural process by which the weaker units are forced to liquidate or to merge with stronger institutions.” The economic crisis of American capitalism is getting deeper, shak- ing the stabilization of the entire system. The workers are being made to pay—in wage cuts, in unemployment and starvation,,in speed-up and in threatened loss of their few pennies scraped together by sweat and toil. Everywhere the workers, in connection with the growing number of ‘ank failures, must raise the demand for the payment of all small de- yositors in full. ‘Some Warnings JOURGEOIS statesmen are in a tight hole these days. The world capi- talist crisis, which sharpens all of the long standing antagonisms be- tween nations, is drawing them closer and closer toward a new world war. They are forced by the needs of their own capitalists to more de- terminedly fight for new markets, cheaper sources of raw materials, broader and more profitable fields for investments, new colonies, etc., and especially to more energetically complete their plans for war agaifist the Soviet Union. On all sides one hears nothing but talk of war. Yet, while the capitalists are being driven headlong into a more bloody war than history has ever known by forces beyond their control, they fear the outcome of this war; they fear the action of a militant working class which will refuse to fight for imperialist greed and plunder. ‘They know that the Franco-Prussian war of 1871 ended with the Paris Commune; the Russian-Japanese war with the 1905 revolution in Russia; the World War with revolutions in numerous countries, including the vic- torious setting up of a workers’ and peasants’ government in the old czar- ist empire embracing one-sixth of the world, They are. feverishly pre- paring now for another war, most energetically for war against the Soviet Union in 1931, but théir knowledge 6f history causes them some little worry. M. Briand in last Sunday's New York Times, expresses these fears in the following manner: “The nation responsible for a declaration of war would most cer- tainly have to face something even worse—civil war.” ‘ Former U. S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, in accepting the Nobel peace prize (from a munitions manufacturer), makes an even more emphatic statement: “I have snid it before,” said Kellogg, “and will emphasize it as strongly as possible, that Western culture will never outlive a new war, but will perish in a general chaos.” Many comrades, unfortunately, in reading these statements, con- clude that there is no real war danger. They see certain forces driving the imperialists toward war; they read these fears of the capitalists, and then conclude that the capitalists, because of their fear of revolution, will not undertake a new war. This 1s wholly wrong. Surely the capitalists very often fear the rebellious workers. They fear strikes. They fear demonstrations. But these fears do not prevent them from cutting wages or laying off workers. Their greedy desire for profits forces them to attack the workers, and by strengthening their armed forces, by the use of ‘social fascists, etc., they try to make these attacks successful. Likewise they see the danger of a proletarian revolution during a new war. They more and more see this as a real danger. But this does hot prevent them from declaring war. The competitive struggle between nations, huge eapitalist trusts, etc., for profits drives them to war. Their fear of revolution only causes them to prepare the war better, giving greater care to lining up of the trade union bureaucracy, the labor aris- tocracy, the social fascists, and to preparations for putting down the revo- workers’ movement at home. These are the conclusions which qu .: mu drawn from the statements of Kellogg and’ Briand, and not that their ’ and amongst the workers, be established, the fm the rs eliminate the war danger. ‘The Fish committee activities, the campaign against the foreign born, the lyneiing attacks on the Negro workers, the growing police brutality— “yall these are concrete examples of America’s preparations to deal with iting workers during the coming war. They are efforts to fight on fronts—against revolutionists at home, as well as against the foreign “Moe, most likely the Soviet Union. Also it is necessary to warn other comrades against the tendency, on the basis of the statements of Briand and Kellogg, to accept the civil war as already won. Imperialist war will inevitably bring an objective situation favoring an armed struggle for power by the workers. But whether or not such a struggle can be successfully carried through will depend upon the revolutionary consciousness, discipline and organization ‘among the workers—and especially on the extent to which the roots of the Communist Party are deeply sunk among the masses, Just as the capitalists prepare now to prevent revolution in case of war, so must we prepare now to work for the defeat of our own government in the war, to transform the capitalist war into a civil war at the first favorable mo- ment, to overthrow the capitalist government and set up @ government | of workers, But these slogans would be only idle talk unless we do our work now. The road of, struggle against wage cuts, lay-offs, speed-up, lynchings, finger-printing, police brutality, to prevent the outbreak of war, etc, is also the road of struggle against imperialist war when it starts. While the capitalists go for with their feverish war preparations and while we constantly expose these preparations to the workers, we have to draw the masses into struggle for their partial demands, and against the capitalists, In this way the roots of the Party will be sunk deep into the factories the influence and leadership of the Party will great mass of workers will be prepared now to Join i Price al BIG BANK CRASH IN U.S. FINANCIAL CENTER. MANY MASS MEETINGS IN. NEW YORK T0 PLOT AGAINST THE SOVIETS COMBAT WAR New York and New Jersey Workers in Meet- ings for Soviet Defense Workers to Give Stern Warning to the Im- perialist War Pack : ¢ Will Demonstrate Saturday Before French Consulate Against War Plots To combat the rapid war preparations against the Soviet Union, hundreds of meetings are being called all over the coun- try to mobilize the American workers against the war. danger. The exposure of the widespread war plot against the Union of | Washington Ex-Soldier “Ashamed” of Cops in Capital Complains to “News” Exposes Police Excuse As Hypocritical When Washington cops fired tear gas bombs at and clubbed the reéent demonstration of the foreign-born at the capitol, the police tried to de- fend their brutality by saying that the workers were attacked because there is a law which says that no banners can be displayed on Capitol Hill. On Dec. 4 the following letter ap- peared in the Washington News: ‘InnrocentPassersby’ Complain of Cops’ Fiendish Br o utality, SEES Pg | Cops’ Brutality Shocks) Author Clubbed at Zelgreen Saw Woman Beaten Was Blackjacked When He Went to Her Aid | NEW YORK.—Channing Pollock, bourgeois author and playwright, has | just discovered that the police wield their blackjacks brutally and indis- criminately on anyone in or near a demonstration of militant workers, Pollock, who hasn’t yet learned that cops club workers not only with the) | approval of their officers but at their | ; express orders, has announced that | he will complain of the cops’ brutality ee TENS OF THOUSANDS OF WORKERS ARE AFFECTED; ECONOMIC CRISS WORSE Wall Street Heads Meet All Night Trying to Bolster Up 57 Branches “Editor, the News: Directly in front to Police Commissioner Mulrooncy Socialist Soviet Republics, whi wreckers’ trial in Moscow, hase been responded to by renewed war preparation by the robber powers. At these meetings, the truth of the war plots will be told. Every worker should agitate in his shop for mass atendance at these demonstrations, ‘Tonight there will be the following meetings in New York and New Jersey: St. Luke’s Hall, 125 W. 130th St. Speakers: Williams, Moore, Be- dacht, Amter, Kroll, Ho. 35th St. and Lexington Ave. Speakers: Sankari, A. Markoff, Kroll, Aziz, H. Williams. Ambassador, 3875 3rd Ave. Speakers:: Reiss, Olgin, Baker, Ho, Moore, Grand Manor, 318 Grand St., Bklyn. Speakers: Flaiani, Bimba, Amter, Engdahl, Haywood, Lucy Wang. 1373 43rd St., Bklyn. Speakers: Lawrence, Hathaway, Obermeier, Chen, E. Walsh, 48 Bay 28th St. Speakers: Kogan, Markoff, Nesin, Damon. ae 2901 Mermaid Ave., Coney Island. Speakers: Sazar, Levine, Todes, 105 Thatford Ave., Bklyn. Speakers: Weber, S. Don, John- stone, Alexander, S. Van Veen. Elizabeth, 106 E. Jersey St. - ROCKEFELLER HANDED $100,000 TAX RETURN TARRYTOWN, N. Y., Dec. 11— The . bosses’ government is good to John D. Rockefeller. He has just been given back $100,000 in taxes by the Tarrytown board of trustees. When Hoover handed out $300,000,- 000 in tax returns last November, Rockefeller got a big chunk. Rocke- feller, who has billions, is given dozens of presents by the local and federal governments, but the 9,000,000 ch were brought out in the Speakers: Blosser, M. White, Wag- enknecht, Jersey City, 37 Henderson St. Speakers: S. Krieger, Biedenkapp, R. Ragozin. Perth Amboy, 308 Ftm St. Speakers: Blosser, D. Gordon, Tal- lentire, Sepesy. New Brunswick, 11 Plum St. Speakers; R. Evans, Moreau, Rubin, Paterson, 205 Paterson St. Speakers: Appel, C. Brodsky, Sroka. Newark, 93 Mercer St., Dec. 14. Speakers: Harfield, Potash, Moore, S. Don, Hsu, J. of the capitol, I was an eyewitness to the most stupid piece of police brutality I have ever seen, The Communist group did not have guns, clubs, tear gas or blackjacks, They were made the victims of persecu- tion by ignorant policemen who used their clubs instead of their heads. “The police say there is a law which does not permit banners he- ing displayed on Capitol Hill, If there is a law, why did the police permit the Friends of Irish Freedom to display a thousand banners in two big demonstrations on Capitol Hill? Why did the police permit ex-ser- vicemen to assemble on Capitol Hill with a hundred banners demanding a soldiers’ bonus? Why did the op- (Continued on Page Three) Democrats Dra jto Hide Hoove w Smoke Screen r’s Relief Flop Robinson, One of Best Supporters of Hoover, Makes Pretense of Disagreement; But Workers, Farmers Starving ‘WASHINGTON, Dec. 11. — In or- der to keep ‘up their, fake roles of “benefactors” of the unemployed and starving poor farmers, the democrats, under the leadership of Robinson of Arkansas are criticizing Hoover for his sharp message accusing the dem- ocrats of “playing politics with hu- man misery.” Hyde, under Hoover's instructions, had issued a statement previously stating that he favored the feeding of animals and buying fertilizers with government funds, but was against the “dole” for human beings, saying that this would lead to the demand for unemployment insurance by the workers, This was severely criticized by the democrats, not because they Lave any fundamental differences with Hoover or the bosses whom he represents, but. because the democratic land- Hoover in every fundamental ques- tion. The main purpose is to detract the attention of the workers and farmers from what is really going on in con- gress. Hoover aslec for $30,000,000 to “feed the dnimals”, The senators shoved it. up to $60,000,000. But at the same time they gave the grain |}gamblers and rich bankers $100,000,- | 000. At the same time, the Hoover two billion dollar building program has simmered down to $110,000,000 — and not one penny of this will ever reach a worker for two years — and then only an insignificant few will get any benefit. Meanwhile, reports from all over the country show the growing crisis: Ford will close up soon. The bread- lines are lengthening. Bank crashes increase daily, Bonds and stocks ' and Mayor Walker. Pollock, who} ; travels = great deal, was evidently in China when Walker ordered kis cops to beat up the unemployed dele- | gation right in City Hall. | According to the New York Times, Pollock was blackjacked*a' the recent picketing of Zelgreen’s cafeteria when he went to aid a woman who had been knocked down by a cop. Pollock then declared to a Times reporter: “I’ve read a lot of stuff about police brutality in New York but I never believed it possiblt that such a thing as I saw last Thursday could occur here, It was positively rotten, “I had just reached Thirty-fourth St. There was not the slightest sign of disorder, Suddenly I saw a big man in citizen’s clothes draw a black- jack from his pocket and strike out indiscriminately at the people around him, The thought flashed through my mind: This is one of the lunatics escaped from Mattewan, Then two other men joined him, swinging their clubs in a similar fashion. “A woman was standing beside me. A detective approached her and gave her a violent push, She fell into the street on her face. I went to the woman’s aid. As I leaned over to help her, a detective leaped on me. He struck first at my head and then struck me a violent blow on the left shoulder, I could not move my arm for several days after- ward, and even now, a week latr, th shouldr is still bruisa. “The conduct of the police was thoroughly inexcusable and brutal beyond words. I will appeal to the Mayor and Commissioner Mul- rooney.” 3 Pollock, from the tone of his state- ment, evidently believes that it is | perfectly alright for cops to beat up | Workers who are fighting for the | abolition of the 12-hour day, but that it is shameful when the police beat up nice, refined gentlemen like him- self, YOUNG COMMUNIST DANCE NEW YORK.—The Y. C. L. will hold a dance Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, being prepared, unemployed workers, who have not a| Slide was gained by fake promises, and the democrats were forced to carry on this line of demagogy to fool the masses. How little Robinson, the demo- cratic floor leader, differs from Hoover can be seen from the fact that he was a member of the Amer- ican delegation to the London Naval Conference, where he aided the bosses prepare for war. He has backed cent for bread, starve and freeze. The Communist Party demands that the rich parasites be taxed heavily to pay for unemployment in- surance. This $100,000 should have been turned over to the Tarrytown unemployed and not to Mr. Rocke- feller, are falling, The workers are facing starvation. The fake tussle in con- gress should not blind the workers to the real situation. The demand | Social Insurance Bill, An interest- for unemployment insurance must| ing and varied program has been ar- grow into a mighty battle, if the] ranged. Don’t forget:—New Harlem workers are not to starve to death] Casino, 116th St, and Lenox Ave, by the tens of thousands. No relief will come out of congress. Relief will be given only on the organized demand of the workers, for the purpose of mobilizing young workers for the struggle against un- employment and for the Workers’ Hot Dog Jamboree of Red Builders News Club, 27 East 4th St., Sunday, 3 p. m. Lax Support: of $30,000 Campaign Threatens Daily Worker’s Existence ; _NEW YORK ARRANGES TAG DAY FOR DAILY WORKER The $30,000 cy Fund Campaign is slowly gathering speed, but the response thus far has been so inadequate that the threat of forced suspension still hangs over the Daily Worker. The war danger against the Soviet Union grows and through the col- umns of the Daily Worker, American workers organize to fight it. The intensity of the depression carries with it intensified attacks by the bosses against the working class—more speed-up, longer hours, the injunction in increasingly vicious forms, One bank “run” in New York City, the Bank of the United States, | involved 58 branches. This is a sign of the weakening of the so-called powerful banking system of American capitalism, ‘The Daily Worker, which, as the organ of the Communist Party, forced unemployment upon the country’s attention, is a weapon in the workers’ struggle against increased exploitation, ‘dhe workers must have the Dally Worker. The workers will wipe out the deficit, We must not allow the Daily Worker to miss a single issue. ‘The support of the Fund has been so lax that the paper sie, ta ay THE TOTAL RESPONSE TO DATE HAS BROUGHT ONLY $2,573.09. And of this more than half has come from District 2, which leads with $1,222.95. Other districts disregagd the essential task of mass support for the $30,000 campaign. A comrade who is, apparently, so embarrassed by living in District 18 that he prefers to remain anonymous, represents the whole working class there with his $5 donation. W. S. Braugh, of Seattle, seems to be the only worker in his part of the country—at least his 6% i. the only response from District 12. The Daily Worker cannot exist with such scattered support. It must have a consistent mass support until-the $30,000 is raised. New York is showing a way with a Daily Worker Tag Day on Satur- day and Sunday, Dec. 20 and 21, This is only a hint. You must support the Emergency Campaign: your organization must support it. Send money to the workers’ paper, Make collections. Send individual donations. Make collections, arrange tag days and affairs. SEND ALL DONATIONS IN MONEY ORDERS (CHECKS ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO CASH) TO DAILY WORKER, 50 E, 13th St, * sayZit, DAILY WORKER MUST BE gave, sass | 100 Were Shut in Oné Month; Total Deposits in Bank Crashes Reach Over $500,000,000 NEW YORK. tens of thousands of unemploy. branches of the Bank of the morning. KELLOGG SPOUTS PEACE PHRASES TO COVER WAR Fears for Capitalism in Next War Fearful that another war may de- stroy capitalism, Frank B. Kellogg, whose name has been given to a “peace” pact under the guise of which the next imperialist war is in accepting the Nobel peace prize at Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, urged his fellow bosses to refrain from talking so much about war. “I find it very regrettable,” said Kellogg, “that so many, including my own countrymen, still are pre- dicting war and stating that Eu- rope is preparing for such a con- flict, Undoubtedly there are, espe- cially in Europe, national jealousies and racial animosities... .” He did not say a word about the $5,000,000,000 being spent by the im- perialist powers for war. Not q word was mentioned about the billion dol- lars “cing expended by the United States for the next World War, It was with the Kellogg “peace pact” as a shield, that the United States attempted to start » war against the Soviet Union over the Chinese East- ern Railway. In line with what Senator Reed had said a, week ago, that it is only the fear of Bolshevism that is keep- ing the powers from engaging in war now, Kellogg said: “I have said it before, and will emphasize it as strongly as possi- ble, that Western culture will never outlive a new war, but will perish in a general chaos.” “Western culture,” of course, 1s Kellogg’s name for capitalism. He overlooks the fact that the capitalist world, with a worsening economic crisis is now in chaos, with 25,000,000 unemployed facing starvation thru- out the capit ‘-t world, However, despite Kelloge’s fear, the war prep- arations are being speeded up. The plot against the Soviet Union has been thoroughly exposed but not stopped, The struggle for world markets-is growing greater, and the conflicts between British and Amer- ican capitalism, throughout the en- tire world, have never been greater. Neither Ixellogg, his fake pacts, nor the pacifist phrases of the bosses can prevent war by a jot. Only the work- ing class can smash the war prep- arations. The Ccramunist Party, as one o its demands against the war prepara- tions, calls on the workers to demand the war funds be turned over to the With, $202,9 59 in deposits, affecting d and employed workers, the 52 nited States in this city, the |financial center of the country, closed their doors Thursday The banks refused to. pay out one penny, and are now in the hands of Joseph A. Broderick, State Superintend- ent of Banks, This tremendous bank clos+ ure shows the deep-going ef. fect of the economic ‘risi which already has severely hit thé financial structure of American cap italism, Thousands of workers, man; of them who depend for their brea on the few pennies they had in these banks, wait at the doors, questioning the hundreds of uniformed cops who have surrounded these institutions, and getting evasive answers about their money. The banks were main< jy situated in workingclass neigh- borhoods, and it is the workers who will suffer most from this closing up, The closing of the Bank of the United ‘States is not an isolated in- stance. In the first.tem months of the year, before the 52 branches here shut their doors, there were 724 | bank failures, thruout the country’ involving $317,000,000; the total has now been brought to $519,972,469, “he The Hoover government, when 110%! banks with $100,000,000 in deposits ‘ crashed during November, attempted * to fool the workers into believing that these were “local” matters, But the action of the Bank of the United States in the heart of the financial center of the United States shows matters in a different light, 3 Sometime after the avalanche of (Continued on Page Three) DAILY WORKER MERTS THIS WEEK District Two Tag Days Dee. 20 and 21 Conferences of workers organizas tions for the support of the D: Worker and to make plans for fhe pbuilding of mass circulation will be held this week-end os follows: Down-Town, New York, Conference of workers orga tions will be held Saturday at 3 m. at 27 East 4th St. AD roster organizations meeting down-t are urged to send delegates, Elizabeth, In Elizabeth there will be a con- ference of Daily Worker readers on . Sunday, December 14th at 6 p. m, followed by a package party and ene tertainment, Every, effort is being made by the New York district of the Daily Work- er to mobilize the Daily Worker read= ers in back of the emergency cam- paign. A Tag Day will be held on Saturday and Sunday, December 20 and 21, All organizations aré urged to mobilize their membership for this Tag Day. ‘ Series to Rip Up Boss Hypocrites Read how Frank Democratic boss of New Jer- sey, lived sparingly and man- aged to lay aside $25,000,000 in a few years on an annual sal- ary of $5,000, * Don’t miss the item on Po- lice Chief Walters of Atlantic City, who Reeps tive New York banks on their feet with the revenue he picks up from 4,600 speakeasies, mt Watch for this startling se- ries of exposures of the New Jersey open-shop paradise writ- ten by Allen Johnson, the Daily run cnaeemeRRS HUET ON