The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 24, 1931, Page 6

Published by the Comprodatiy Publishing Co., New York City. Address an@ mati all checks to the Dally Worker, Ath Street, Page Six Inc, daily, except Sunday, at N. ¥. Telephone Algonquin 1956-7 Cable: “DAT 60 Fast {3th Street, New Yor ‘ ; 50 East kN. Y Central orker Berty USA mail everywhere: One year of Manhatt: JUBSCRIPTION RATES: $6, iz montha &: a Bronx, New York City, Foreign: One year, $8; two montha, $1; excepting Boroughs iz months $4.50, ~ TO THE MINERS OF ALL COUNTRIES! Appeal of the International Miners Committee Miners! Comrades! The strike front of the miners in Great Britain and Germany is extending. Under the leadership of the revolutionary tarde union movement and the International Miners Committee the hungry and impoverished miners have entered the strug- gle against ca) list exploitation and against the social fascist treachery of the Amsterdam trade union bureaucracy. ‘The State apparatus of the bourgeoisie, the police terror and the organized. strike-breaking of the reformists are striving to break the fight- ing spirit of the miners. The whole weight of the economic crisis is to be shifted onto the shoulders of the working class, but the workers are defen themselves with increasing energy. ry united front embrac- the workers will de- ing all capi stroy the capitalist system In this situation it is the duty of the miners of all countries to show the greatest possible ac- ivity and solidarity towards their fellow workers in Germany and Great Britain, and to create the necessary conditions for success by taking up the struggle in their own countries for their own demands. The International Miners Committee which is the revolutionary leader of the miners appeals in particular to the miners in Poland, Czecho- slovakia, France and Belgium to organize a soli- darity movement. immediately. ‘The miners of Poland must immediately go to the assistance of their fellow workers in Upper Silesia. The solidarity strike is the most power- ful weapon to strengthen the international pro- Jetarian front. Miners of Poland, do your revolutionary duty! The miners of Czechoslovakia are faced with the same task. The capitalists of Czechoslo- vakia are exploiting and oppressing the miners and seek to prevent them from going to the assistance of their fellow workers in other coun- tries. The slogan for the Czech miners is, “Leave | the pits! Do not waste precious minutes! Sup- port the fighting front of your fellow workers! Miners of France and Belgium! The war of the capitalists against your fellow miners in Germany and Great Britain is being carried on with the greatest possible brutality. The In- ternational Miners Committee expects from you that you will uphold your revolutionary tradi- tions and give quick international solidarity and assistance. Your comrades are to be crushed by hunger and terror. Your solidarity and your comradely assistance can give the guarantee for success in the struggle against the bourgeoisie. The fighting miners in Great Britain and Ger- | many are convinced that you will do everything possible to strengthen their fighting front. Miners! Comrades! ‘The revolutionary fighting spirit of the min- ing proletariat must be demonstrated openly. Meetings and demonstrations, agitation and propaganda must mobilize all forces for the cre- ation of a victorious revolutionary united front. The international bourgeoisie must be over- thrown by the joint fighting spirit of the miners of all countries, The systematic treachery of the Amsterdam International (LF.T.U.) its shameful social fascist actions, its treachery and its strike- breaking methods, must be put to a stop and made impossible by our united front, by our will to victor Organize resistance in every country, in every pit! Organize international assistance for the vic- tory of the miners! Organize and consolidate the revolutionary united front of the miners under the leadership of their International Committee! Long live the revolutionary united front of the miners and their alliance with all other fighting workers! Forward to the struggle! Forward to victory! ..The International Miners Committee. Those in Glass Houses Shouldn't Throw Stones (This is the second in a series of four ar- ticles dealing with convict labor in the United States.) By HELEN KAY. IN Rhode Island an interesting case was brought before the State Supreme Court. Several years ago a former prisoner by the name of Anderson | filed a suit against the Crescent Garment Com- pany, claiming wages-of $15 a week for the time one of these six, uses the convicts from the State Penal Farm for this work anyhow. There is also the occupation of making “little | ones out of big ones.” Nearly every State has | its quarries. The foremost of these are Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri. In Illinois the crushed stone is shipped from Joilet and Menard for township‘and State highway work. This is fur- nished free of cost, the State pays only for the transportation. } Increase in Use of Prisoners he spent in making shirts. He based his claim | on the fact that the State constitution provides “Slavery shall not.be permitted in this State,” and he alleged that the forced labor performed in the shirt factory was slavery. The Supreme Court, of course, decided against him. The State had a contract with that company. At the present time there are six functioning systems out of which profit can be squeezed from the labor of the convict. These are the contract, the lease, the piece price, the public account, the State use, and the public works and ways systems. the institution and officials get the benefit of the prisoner's labor and that the prisoner gets | in moSt cases, absolutely nothing. The contract system enables the contractor to engage with the State by time for the labor power of the prisoner, and a specified amount is paid to the State for the labor of the in- dividual. The lease system requires that the lessee who hires the convict pays the State ‘or the labor, feeds, clothes, and guards him. The other systems work on nearly the same basis. The Public Account system allows the State to run a factory, and the prison warden acts as the boss, besides enforcing discipline. The State use and public works and ways are similar in that the convicts are employed by the State for work on State roads, institutions, etc. Under the piece price the contractor pays the State by the amount of articles manufactured—really on a piece work basis. Chief Manufactures ‘The chief manufactures are shirts, overalls, pants, aprons, housedresses and cotton cloth, in the clothing industry. Chairs, stoves and other furniture, brushes and brooms, shoes, twine, brick, sand, gravel, and auto liscenses are pro- duced in nearly every state. Besides this output there are garages, turpentine camps, cotton mills in the South and huge farms in the middle west which produce cotton, corn, wheat, peanuts and flax. There are also printing plants where State documents are printed. We find that in only 104 institutions in the United States there are 51,799 prisoners employed in productive labor, and that there are over 3,700 jails and lockups which are not included in these Statistics. Almost every county jail or city prison has convict labor of one type or another. An unofficial statement by an officer of the shirtmaker’s union shows that 95 per cent of the total production of work shirts were produced by convicts. On the other hand we see that conditions in the factories where free labor is used in making shirts gre miserable. The girls only get from.$10 to $15 a week. It was brought out before the Interstate Com- merce Commission during the 70th Congress that 35 per cent of all work pants and 10 per cent of all overalls produced were made by prisoners. In the “Typographical Journal” of August, 1930, in an article dealing with convict labor, it was stated that it is a known fact that prisons have supplied mail order houses with shoes, stoves, brooms, furniture, house dresses, overalls, and aprons, at extremely cheap rates. In 1923 the total state prison production of binder twine according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics was valued at $5,588,372. Twenty-one per cent of the total produced was done in only nine prisons. The entire production in the U.S. was valued at $88,283,038, Besides manufacturing of all sorts, there are other industries from which the state and pri- vate contractors reap profit. For example, the work on the highways. Out of the 43 States, 42 use the priscmers for work on roads. Only ‘x have no legal authority to do so, and Indiana, ‘They are all similar in that | In the “Southern Labor Review” of December 24, 1930, on the Moffat Farm, it was stated that, “A noticeable increase in convicts is remarked. In 1926 the number of State convicts was 3,094 and 115 county prisoners. At the close of the last fiscal year the number of Staté convicts was 4,370 and county prisoners 664. The “American City” shows that in 1929 in | the State of Alabama, 1,400 prisoners were em- | ployed and in the month of October of 1930, | there were 1,600 used on the State highway In West Virginia there has been an increase of from 170 in 1929 to 800 in 1930. In North Carolina where the chain gang is so prominent {| there has been an increase of 275 from 1928 to 1929. The barbaric conditions under which the chain™| gang slaves will be dealt with in a special ar- ticle. It is a known fact when road work states in the early spring, sheriffs and cops go on a ram- page to pick up workers for highway work. Charges are framed on them such as: “Vagrancy, drunkenness, insulting cops, etc., and they are forced to slave without pay for the State or for the private contractor. What It Means to the Bosses ‘The convict labor system is of great value to the capitalist State. A great profit is reaped from the sale of the labor power of the prisoner, for the State institution, for the warden, or for | the private boss. Prisoners are kept busy with- | out any additional effort of the warden, or any extra expense. Commodities are furnished by the prisoners for other State institutions at very trivial cost. State documents are published in the prison printing press at Trenton, New Jersey. Machines are fixed in the prison garages as in Wilmington, Delaware. Cotton fabric, ducks and canvas are manufactured for the use of the War and Navy Departments. Bags are made for the mail service. State roads are repaired and made by the convicts. Sand and gravel, brick and other highway materials are made for State consumption. Private contractors pay for the use of the prison labor and this brings in added profits to the State institutions. (To Be Continued) Good work by convicts in U. 8. prisons how- ever doesn’t go unnoticed by the warden, who gets graft on each article that goes out. If a prisoner turns out shoes faster and cheaper than anyone else he is singled out for special rewards. He loses his parole and he is given, free, an extension of his sentence. A convict who turns out ladies’ slippers too rapidly is liable to get a life sentence for good conduct. “A careless worker, his mind adrift, who gets the heels inside the shoe, or who doesn't put enough paper inside the soles, is liable to be kicked out of jail in disgrace.” This and other amazing facts of U. S. prisons in the next two articles. Don’t miss tomorrow's. A St. Louis Unemployed Work- er Secured 2,500 Signatures Through His Individual Ef- fort. Have You Secured 250, or Even the First Twenty-five “HEH, HEH, THIS OUGHT TO MAKE YOU FORGET YOU’RE HUNGRY!” EXPERIENCES IN THE LESNOW STRIKE By LLOYD BROWN. (¥. C. L. District Organizer, Dist. 15.) IN leading and organizing the young workers in the Lesnow Shirt Co, strike in New Haven, Connecticut, the Party and the Y. C..L. gained much valuable experience. (Party resolution estimating the strike printed in the Jan. 21 issue of the Daily). It is interesting, in the fi rst place, to learn By BURCK An Analysis of the Danville Strike | how the strike was called and how we succeeded | in gaining the leadership in the strike. A mem- | ber of the Young Communist League found out about the wage cut which was to take place in | the Lesnow shop while soliciting signatures for the Unemployment Insurance Bill. A young worker told her/that the bosses in her shop were going to put a wage cut into effect the folowing Monday and also learned that the girls ex- pressed the willingness to resist the wage cut. The comrades were aware that a wage cut would go into effect but they did nothing about it until the girls had already walked out and it was too late for us o establish our leadership and as a result the strike collapsed immediately. In this situation we immediately secured information for a leaflet after visiting one of the workers, and a leaflet was issued calling upon the workers to resist the wage cut. The workers walked out the first day, marched up to the T. U. U. L. head- quarters for leadership in their strike. The successful putting into effect of the deci- sions of the last Party and Y. C. L. Plenums re- garding partial economic demands was one of the most decisive steps taken by the comrades in leading the strike. By avoiding the putting for- ward of general, abstract demands we did not confuse the strikers and got their full support for the strike demands. The central demands of the strike were, Ist, the withdrawal of the wage cut, 2nd,,no firing of any of the strikers, and 3rd, the recognition of the strike committee. The composition of the strikers was mainly young workers between the ages of 14 and 21. Most of them were girls. The wages they re- ceived before the wage cut averaged from $3 to $7 per week. Because Of the inexperience of the strikers in any form of organization or struggle very flexible methods of leadership and conduct of the strike activities had to be introduced, In order to keep up the morale of the strikers var- ious activities were introduced in the strike head- quarters such as music, dancing, singing, games, etc. In this part of the activity the Y. C. L, had to play the main part, because of the age and because they were more Americanized than the Party members. The League members were as- signed to mingle with the young strikers, to make friends among them, visit them in their homes, etc. . * One of the failures of the conduct of the strike was our failure to organize mass picketing, involving the strikers themselves. This we reme- died to some extent towards the end of the strike, but on the whole it was enirely insuffi- cient. In a strike involving such a large percentage of young workers it is very necessary to secure the support of the parents for the unions and the strike. This was done, but also insufficiently. We did not take advantage of the fact that, the parents of many of the strikers work in the neighboring metal and hardware shops near the shop which was on strike, but their sympathy was not concretized organizationally. The reason for this is the fact that the T. U. U. L., as such, was not involved in the strike. Since the strike has ended we have even been without a District T. U. U. L. director; this is the situation in the T. U. U. L. today, Getting the strikers to Join the union required much preparation and tactful approach, At first the girls were suspicious of the comrades active in the strike. The boss circulated rumors among the strikers that the union organizers were out after money from the strikers, ete. This obstacle was overcome and full confidence in the union was gained by the participation of the comrades By WM. MURDOCH. (Editor's Note——Murdoch, secretary of the National Textile Workers’ Union, was released Jan. 17 after serving a five months sentence, which was inflicted upon him because he ex- posed the strike-breaking activities of Gorman, an official of the United Textile Workers’ Union. Murdoch issued a leaflet showing up Gorman and the U. T. W. as soon as he ar- rived in Danville, shortly after the 4,000 went on strike. The employers’ courts of Virginia, knowing that the U. T. W. is their best strike- breaker, rushed to its defense, and ruled that the leaflet was a libel.) Nee ye 3 The four thousand textile workers who still continue the fight for organization in Danville, Va., are beginning to feel the full force of. the bosses’ power. After six months of struggle, in which they faced the bared-bayonets of the state militia and reinforced city police, they have effectively tied up the mill in what has been one of the most fiercely fought strikes of the past few years. . Now these four thousand Danville workers are facing the worst month of the winter with a leadership that more and more barenly exposes itself as a rank strikebreaking agency and the final reserve of the textile employers. Gorman, Green, the United Textile Workers and the A. F. of L., are stabbing the strikers in the back. Stirred by the example of the Gastonia strikers, spurred by the hunger marches (news of which occasionally filters through) and answering the! ~direct call of the National Executive Board of the National Textile Worker's’ Union, the work- ers came out on November. 25 in massed forma- tion and demonstrated their ability to keep the scabs from the mills. Not a, scab went to work. The U. T. W. leadership, ‘scared by the fight- ing determination of their following, accepted the decision of the city and state governments to send in the troops, and mass arrests were made, of both women and men at the point of the bayonets. Over fifty workers were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly and arson, carrying long prison sentences, Now the U. T. W. leaders refuse to guarantee the strikers the support of the union for their legal defense and has surrendered thesé¢ most militant workers to the tender mercies of the courts, Fake Relief. While the northern labor press is full of state- ments that the workers are receiving wonderful relief the U. T. W. is forcing the workers to live on a daily ration of beans, fat-back and flour while the leaders draw their steady ‘salaries: of SURES EERneeeeeeeeeeeoee in all of the strike activity, picketing, facing ar- rests, etc. By explaining in a simple manner every day to the strikers the necessity of joining the union. We succeeded in getting a substan- tial part of the strikers into the union, One of the first difficulties we encountered in the strike was the election of a strike committee of the strikers. The srikers at first did not un- derstand the necessity of having a strike com- mittee to direct the strike, to negotiate with the boss, etc. But an inciden which happened on he setond day of the strike convinced them that such a committee was necessary. The boss sent out one of his foremen to tell the girls that he wanted to talk to them. Most of the strikers went in to find out what he wanted to say, think- ing that he was going to withdraw the wage cut. About 20 girls refused to go in at all. We finally $75 a week or more. At the same time the “leadership” made a statement that they would not allow the workers to accept aid from the N. T. W. U, The anxiety of the fakers to get this militant demonstration of the workers off their hands is to be explained only by an understanding of the national situation in textiles. Lawrence, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, and the entire South is ready for immediate action. Already 10 strikes are ‘in progress in Philadelphia. In Kensington, Tom Macmahon (president of the U. T. ‘W.) was booed from the platform at a meeting of carpet Weavers where he made an attack on the N. T. W. U. in an effort to stop the strike there. Strikes Coming. a The Philadelphia carpet weavers will strike | against wage cuts. The Lawrence workers will | strike against the starvation conditions being im- posed on them. The workers in the South are veady to face the guns of the textile bosses’ thugs to secure decent living conditions. Speed-up, Wage-cuts and hunger have made the textile workers desperate. The time has come for action. At the coming board meeting of the National ‘Textile Workers’ Union the entire situation must be gone into. Our errors in the Danville situa- tion ‘and in the other districts will have to be thoroughly uncovered in the spirit of rea) con- structive working class criticism. We must tighten our ranks and ire to fight. Let the action of the Danville steikers be an inspiration to all ‘textile workers that even under the tremendous obstacles which we face the textile workers can fight and win! SPECIAL BOOK OFFER The International Publishers has gotten out a new set of Six Volumes of Lenin’s Works at a greatly reduced price. The following volumes are already published and ready for distribution to subscribers: Materialism and Empirio-Criticism. Reveals Lenin as a militant dialectical materialist, Con- tains the writings which appeared after 1905 to combat. attempts at Marxist revisionism in terms of empirio-criticism and positivism, The {mperialist War. Contains all ot Lenin's writings during the first two years of the World War; a brilliant analysis of its causes, an at- tack on the socialist and labor elements who Supported it; and a plan for turning it into @ class conflict, The Iskra Period. (1900-1902.) ‘Iwo targe volumes. The formation of the Bolshevik Party Contains the famous pamphiet, “What Is To Be Done?” and an analysis of the agrarian problem. The Revolution of 1917. Two large volumes. The immediate background of October, 1917. From the overthrow of the Czar in March until the first open conflict with the Provisional Gov- ernment in July. The Subscription Plan. These books sell regularly in the bookstore edition at $18.50 for the set. Under the sub- scription plan, they sell at $9.25 cash for the six volumes, They can also be purchased on installments on the following terms: For an initial payment of $2, one volume will be sent, which usually sells at $3. Four more payments of $2 each can be made either weekly or bi-weekly at the discretion ot , the subscriber, On receipt of these payments single volumes usually selling at $3 and $3.50 each are sent. For the last payment, two volumes having a bookstore value of $6 are sent, However, if the subscriber prefers to receive his books C. O. D., an additional 12 cents postal charge is added on each shipment, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS The Daily Worker will answer in. this col- umn questions which are sent in to its Work- ers Correspondence Department. yee Question—What is Communism,“anyway? Brooklyn, N.Y. It is used with two meanings: Communism is the future form of society which will replace capitalism. It also means the revolutionary movement of the working class whose aims and activities will bring about this Communist so- ciety. In the world Communist society, work will no longer be done for capitalists, since class divisions, along with the capitalists, will be abol- ished. All will be workers and comrades working for their common benefit. Private property will be abolished, the means of production and dis- tribution will be owned in common, and con- sciously planned and organized for the purpose of satisfying the growing social needs. All crises, wars, unemployment, oppression, poverty, and wretched standards of living will disapnear. Each can have what he needs for the askine, and 4many thines will be furnished without askine— money will be unnecessary. The practice will be, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” Production will be so efficient that every one can have the better thines of life, education, recreation and culture. The social distinctions tween workers doing different kinds of work, and between manual and mental labor will be abolished. Under capitalism each worker has a one-sided monotonous training and is ignorant in many ways. Under Communism, work, edu- cation and social life will be associated tozether. Each will receive an all-around education, so that he can understand and do many things. No one will be reauired to do the same thing all of the while, but will do different jobs at various times. Machinery will do many disagreeable jobs now performed by hand--hours of labor will be much shorter. The State which is a means of class rule will no longer be necessary and will disappear. * The revolutionary movement, which 1s what is more generally meant by Communism, fs a working class movement which fights most mili- tantly right now for the every-day needs of the toilers and also leads them to this new so- ciety. Only the working class with the leader- ship of the Communist Parties, is able to bring about the necessary conditions and build a Com- munist society, which is the only way to gain freedom and full human development. The capitalist class which now rules, which exploits and oppresses the workers and poor farmers, is bitterly opposed to Communism and to the well-being of the laborers. It is necessary for the toilers to organize, overthrow the capi- talists and their rule, take industry and. estab- |s lish a workers and farmers government. The workers will win this class struggle. The So- viet Union is already in the first stages of a Communist Society. ' Communism is a world-wide movement. ‘The~ Communist Parties are joined together in one association, the Communist International. It leads the longer struggle sa well as the im- nediat> bread and butter fight of the masses. . es . > Question: What is the difference between a Communist and a Bolshevik?—Brooklyn, N. Y. A Communist is a Bolshevik. Bolshevik is a Russian word and means “majority.” When the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party split in 1903, because one section was unwilling to accept a revolutionary (Communist) program, the ad- herents of the Communist program received a majority, and the opponents of the Communist program remained in a minority, both continued to consider and call themselves the Social-Demo- cratic Labor Party of Russia. To distinguish themselves from the non-Communist minority, the Communist majority attached to its name the word “majority” (Bolshevik). Gradually, the | word “Bolshevik” came to mtan the same as “Communist.” ier oe Question: Who constitute the International Conference of Revolutionary writers?—Washing- ton, D. C. The International Conference of Revolutionary Writers and Artists, held at Kharkov, U. S.S. R., from November 6 to November 15, brought to- gether delegates from 22 countries and five con- tinents, who discussed their problems, adopted a common platform and made concrete plans ‘or cultural and political work in each country. ‘rhe conference was organized by the International Bureau of Revolutionary Literature, to which or- ganizations of revolutionary writers and artists in. various countries are affiliated...The Ameri- can delogation, representing the John Reed Club and the New Masses, consisted of Fred Ellis Michael Gold, William Gropper; Joshua Kunitz A. B. Magil and Harry Allan Potamkin, The conference declared the chief politica task of all revolutionary writers and artists t be the waging of a relentless struggle agains the war danger and in defense of the Sovie Union. For a full report of the conference se’ the February number of the New Masses, (Loo) for your other questions in the near future.) Workers! Join the Party of Your Class! © Communist Party 0 S A. ' 43 East 125th Street, - New York City. Please send me more information on the Cur munist Party. Name .. Address CIEY ..seseceeeecescescseseess StAt® seesence -Mail this to the Central OfMce, Commu Party, 43 East 125th St., New York, ¥. Gathering Signatures for 0 Unemployment Insurance B Lays the Basis for a Mas Movement Against Ca talists and Their ernment. It’s An Im- . portant Task Stieal outa PHY) PSS SOR Pearce ony of Laf gation are tc a jury of the of est: ‘Thei