The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 21, 1931, Page 6

Fubdlished by the Comprodaily Pu 18th Street, New York C Address and mail all checks to the Daily THE AWAKENING OF Page Six THE WEST By WM. Z. FOSTER. the United States there is a sharp radicalization of the workers, under the pres- sure of the economic crisis, more than most us realize, under the inspiring influence of Soviet Union. This new spirit is exem- plified in many ways; by the big unemployment demonstrations, the: increased militancy of the workers. But no- where is it more str ng than in the West. In- deed, there is a veritable awakening taking place among the workers of the western states. For many years, the West was the stronghold the revolutionary movement in the United es. The heroic battles of the old Western eration of Miners, the many struggles of the W. W., the deeply intrenched A. F. of L. unions, the strong and (at that time) quite militant sections of the Socialist Party—all testified to the glowing revolutionary ardor of the workers in the West. But about a dozen years ago, with the onset LL over of the tong period of prosperity, the old-time fighting sy among the Western workers seemed to evapora The I. W. W. declined in numbers, influence and fighting spirit, the A. F. of L,.uni were broken up or passed almost wholly to class collaboration policies, the S. P. Jost. the last traces of any militancy it once had and most of its organizations also. The work- ers seemed ha: o have a kick left in them. Now, however, the West is coming back with a bang. Again th> workers are beginning to display their old-tim ilitancy and fighting spirit. A veritable wave of radicalization, born out of the intolerable economic conditions, . is now sweeping over the whole West. In the strug- gle of the coming period, the workers in the Western states will play a big-and decisive role, and this time, of course, the workers movement will be broader in scope, deeper politically, and of a more lasting character generally. the growing strike movements, | City, Then, by virtue of some good organizing work and our correct line, the workers began to rally to our leadership in force. The demon- } Stration on Februs 10th had 5,000 present, about 45 per cent of the total unemployed in Salt Lake City. And at my meeting, 2,000 workers abso- lutely jammed the big theatre, while several hundred more outside, vainly sought admission. Not even ‘the oldest-timers can remember This new spirit was quite manifest to me at the | very. edge of the West, St. Louis. There the T. U. U. L. unemployed council meeting was the best gathering held by revolutionary workers for at least 20 years, the memory of our local com- rade, running back so far as a better meeting. In} the midst of living conditions that are terrible, the workers, both black and white, fairly radi- ated with enthusiasm and ‘fighting spiri' Kansas City was a repetition of St. Louis, but even. more clearly expressed the new militancy of the We. Again the comrades declared there had not been such a fine meeting for many years. It)was made up of splendid proletariazi elemerits. Ta City, I came into. contact. with eomrades fresh from the Oklahoma oil fields. uation is. truly inspiring. The e large majority of whom are na- are displaying the keenest’ militancy. e of the great days of the I. W. Ww. an excellent meeting, emphasized ing fighting spirit of the workers. I have spoken in Omaha during but this -wes ‘the ‘best meeting I , not only as to size and prole- osition, but especially with regard nd militancy. a-tey.2. big. Wremploymment demonstra. tion the day before, turned out a crowd of 1,300 at .2d¢. admisiom.. I. .was. .splendid—the. same enthusiasm, the same cilitancy, the same basic worker elements. The capitalists, who also every- where sense the hew spirit of the workers, had mounted police for a block in every direction from the meeting hall. Then, last night, came Salt, Lake City. This meeting and the circumstances surrounding it, are a,real symbol of the awakening West. A few weeks-ago we had almost nothing in Salt Lake ers; And it just vil it. a meeting in Salt Lake City and rang with fighting spi Behind these meetings, of course, deep up- heavals eré preparing in the industries. The oil workers of the Southwest, faced by 75 per cent unemployment and ferocious wage cuts, are in a state of wide foment. The miners of Colorado, confronting a e cut of 30 per cent and liv- ing under starvation conditions generally, are seeking a way to fight back. And the steel and agricultural workers of Colorado, the packine house workers, etc., of Kansas and Nebraska, are stirring with active resentment, which awaits a degree of organization and leadership to break into active struggle. Doubtless the rest of the West will show a similar picture of deep- ening working class discontent and as I haye encountered up to this point in my present tour. At present these big mass movements develop around the issue of unemployment relief. But they also reflect the general radicalization of the workers. We must be skillful enough to spread the movement over into the industries. Out of our big Lueamegenes movement, we must establish T. U. U. L. unions all over the West. An important seo of the situation is that it enables us to better our connections with the poor farmers, especially in the Southwest. These, with the starving oil workers, the drought- stricken farmers, unite in common struggle. We omy must improve this opportunity to reach the toil- | ers on the farms. Militancy is the keynote of the movement in the West. necessary to call out the troops to combat the February 10th demonstrations. comrades heading a big demonstration, brush past the police, enter the state capitol and make | fiery speeches to the astonished legislators, who reply by mobilizing the local police force for my meeting. It Salt Lake City, our comrades, with thousands of unemployed workers supporting them, submit their demands to the Senate and House, speaking before these bodies and ad- vertising my meeting in this heart of the local capitalist government. We must learn how to develop this growing fighting spirit with a still much sharper mass application of our slogan “Workers, Don’t Starve, Fight!” Let-us not misunderstand the political mean - In Oklahoma the Governor finds it | In Denver, our | at 50 DATWORK.” movement ing of meetings of 1,300 in Denver, and 2,000 | in Salt Lake City, and especially the big move- ments in the Oklahoma county. The masses in the West are beginning to stir and they are looking to us for leadership. We must not fail them. In the West, the workers are beginning to test out our Party as the practical leader in the class struggles. We must be alert to improve this promising situation. The Party must give immediate at- tention to the West. Our forces there must be strengthened at once. We must establish new districts in the livest areas. We must find more Jeading comrades to put in the field. We must call Western conferences to unify the work of our party in these states. We must become con- scious of the possibilities of the whole situation and act at once. While intesifying our work in the East and South, which like the West, is rapidly awakening, we must also develop the forces to lead and organize the awakening west- ern workers, -Ten Years Prison tor Every Communist in Alabama By TOM JOHNSON. Pye: Communist organizers and workers arrested and charged with Crinminal An- archy in Birmingham; five more workers arrested in a police raid the week following in the same city; two Communists arrested when asking for a permit for a hunger march in New Orleans, Feb. 10th; one delegate to the Wash- ington Conference for Unemployment Insurance arrested in Alabama on his way to Washington; two police raids on textile workers’ homes in Elizabethton, Tenn., and the NTWU organizer threatened with a ride out of the state in the same town; another delegate to Washington arrested on,a framed up charge in Chattanooga Such is the record of the past two weeks in ‘District. 17. As, these figures show the development of the Party's work among the unemployed workers, the growing response of the masses of workers and -poor farmers to the program of the Party has called forth a corresponding increase in the intensity and ferocity of police terror. In Birmingham the steel trust owned police frankly state they have embarqued on a campaign to wipe out the entire leadership of the district | thru 10 year prison terms for every known Com- munist. The police have come to this decision -a$ a last resort. Every possible method from -@epeated arrests on vagrancy charges to threats . of murder and the cool kidnapping of organizers .in broad daylight, has been tried to drive our , Party from this field. These methods have failed and now, much as the local forces of reaction hate to carry thru a purely political trial which they realize will result in the rallying of larger masses around the Party, they are preparing to Carry this thru. ...Eyen now every effort is being made to drive active Communists out of town by threats of application, of the Criminal Anarchy Law rather fee its immediate application, Thus in the t arrests on this charge the arrests were made wy the City Criminal Anarchy Ordinance, -peeod_ocainst our Party last summer in order to facilitate arrests without a warrant and to _faaive Ube state to deny the right to a jury trial. This Ordinance makes Criminal Anarchy a mis- _démeanor punishable by 6 months on the chain Rang and a $100 fine. The comrades arrested og, this charge were released on their awn rev- and the trial continued until Feb. 28th. time this was done the prosecutor stated he requested the postponement in order to an indictment in these cases before the Jury which convenes this week, under the “4 in prison and a $5,000 fine. Within a } more workers were arrested and brought Criminal Anarchy Law which provides for ; to police headquarters where they were held for several hours. While there the police chief warned them that indictments against all known Communists would be handed down by the Grand Jury and “advised” them to leave town. The ‘-s of the police are clear. They wish to avoid a political trial if at all possible. There- +v-e wi€y Warn our comrades that they will be indicted if they fail to leave. Therefore they do not ask our comrades to post high bond in these cases and on the contrary make it very easy for those arrested on this charge to leave. At the same time it is clear that when they fail in driving out leading Communists by these threats they will carry thru the only alterna- tive left them—indictment under the C. A. laws and 10 year prison sentences for every known Communist. This last series of attacks against our Party in the South will fail as other attacks have failed in the past. Our Party is no longer 4 Party of Northern organizers in, the South. It has sunk its roots deep in the heart of the most tae * + eons of the Southern proletariat and poor farmers, It isno longer a “northern” \G.osing thousands of the white and Negro miners, steel workers, textile workers, and croppers today claim it as their own—as the one revolutionary Party of their class. It is a part of them and to destroy our Party today the bourgeoisie must destroy the Southern working class. These thousands will*protect their Party, will fight for it to the last ditch, and will de- feat this last attack of their class enemies, Workers! Join the Party of Your Class! © Communist Party U. 8 A. P. O. Box 87 Station D. _ New York City. Please send me more information on the Cum- munist Party. Name .. AGAPESS ....secsescescerccccresssercessccecvoces CH -sssiseceeserereceerevers BtAte csseeeeeeee Ge PAN Ges atl siecdebiotionn cs ren ad -Mail this to the Central OfmMce. Communist Party, P. O. Box 87 Station D. New York City. | anti-Soviet “holy” crusade, co-operating in the conference of revolutionary writers. | Union. | the possibility of getting jobs in the Soviet Union. | ditions and organize for the overthrow of Amer- Fast Dail orker . Dery USA Mauhadtan wil everywhere: One’ year, $6 RATHS: ‘wo months, $1; ; one year, SUBSCRIPTION x month York Ctiy and Bronx. New $8. excepting Boroushe six months, $4.50. By BURCK | % QUESTIONS and ANSWERS | Question—Who is the secretary of the John Reed Club? Are they- doing anything and are they getting anywhere?—Wash., D. C. Louis Lpzowick is executive secretary. The club, in a little over a year of its ex- istence, has done good work in the revolutionary movement, conducting campaigns against the campaign in defense of political prisoners, help- ing with posters for demonstrations, arranging pageants and a portion of its members taking active part in the Communist election campaign. It should broaden and enlarge its present work along the lines of the program of the Kharkov It should | keep closer contact with the life and everyday | struggles of the working class, giving more at- | tention to the development of proletarian litera- | ture, to the development of new worker writers | and artists, as well as to winning over the radi- | calized intellectuals. It should become a real | force in the struggle for racial’ equality, espe- | cially’ for the Negro masses, and give greater | effort to exposing social-fascism and petty- | bourgeois tendencies, to the fight against im- perialiss war and the defense of the Soviet * 8 6 A number of our readers have asked us about This is not the business of the Communist Party, and the Party has no connection with any of the institutions dealing with such ques- tions. The Amtorg Trading Corporation at 261 Fifth Ave., New York, which is a purely com- mercial organization, handles the business and commercial relations of the Soviet Union in this country. Information concerning these matters must be obtained from them. The Communist Party carries on the fight for the unemployed and employed workers and farm- ers in this country. Therefore, we say, fight right here for immediate relief and better con- ican capitalism and the establishment of a work- ers’ and farmers’ government in the United States. It is, of course, entirely correct for work- ers who are especially needed in the Soviet Union to engage themselves to work there, where there is a great shortage of skilled workers and no unemployment at all. We also say, co-oper- ate with the workers of other countries and all the oppressed colonial peoples for the establish- ment of workers’ rule all over the world. Question—Can you give me the name and publisher of a book that gives the story of the United Mine Workers as well as the new Far- rington union from a Communist point of view?—E. K. Labor and Coal, by Anna Rochester; Interna- tional Publishers, 381 Fourth Ave., New York City; price, $1. This can also be obtained from the Workers Library Publishers, Box 148, Sta- tion D, New York City. . . Question—In what year did the Communist Party organize in the United States?—P., N. Y. September, 1919. Question—What is the iuctaberaiitp of the | Communist Party of the United States? Of the | Party in the Soviet Union?—P., N. Y. ‘There are about 12,000 members of the Party in the United States. And there are thousands | of sympathizers. There are about 2,000,000 members in the | Soviet Union. | es ee Question—Are there any recent books from a Communist viewpoint on the farmer question in the U. S.2—M. B. There are none, but the following articles are recommended. U. S. Agriculture and Tasks of the Communist Party, U. S. A, in the Com- munist, February, March, April, 1930. Outlines for Discussion on the Agrarian Question, in the Communist, March and April, 1931. The Collec- tive Farming Movement and the Progress of Ag- giculture, by. J. A. Yakovlev in the Inprecorr, Vol. 10, No. 37 and 38. The following two books. have some valuable facts, but their viewpoint is not Communist: America Challenged, by Lewis F, Carr, published by Macmillan and Co., New York; Too Many Farmers, by Wheeler McMillan, published by Morrow and Co., New York. America Chal- lenged has more facts about the conditions of the farmer than the other book. Harrison George and A. Bosse are preparing | a pamphlet on the American farmer and agri- cultural conditions in the United States. Sol Auerbach is also preparing a pamphlet on the Negro Worker in the United States, which will contain some material on agricultural conditions. These two pamphlets will, of course, be from the Communist viewpoint and can be obtained when they are ready, we hope in the near future, from the Workers Library Publishers, Box 148, Station D, New York City. “Our Hero, General Butler” By MOISSAYE J. OLGIN. ps. comrades, do you read Il Nuovo Mondo? I don't. It's enough that I read the Jewish | Daily Forward, also a paper of the socalled “socialist” party. This latter paper is “both necessary and sufficient” for the understanding of social-fascism. No publication, however yel- low, has ever exceeded ‘the Forward in crawl- ing-on-the-belly before capitalism, in reviling the revolutionary movement and in cultural degeneration. No, I don’t read the Tl ‘Nuovo Mondo, the Italian brother of the,Forward. I don’t have to. And altho the paper is often placed on my desk, I seldom touch it. (Who wants to soil his hands?) But recently my attention was drawn* to an article appearing on its front page, on Feb. 1, in the English language. The incident: which called forth this article, has been “‘amic- ably” settled—to the shame and humiliation of all concerned. The article itself, however, can- not become old. ‘I don’t think it is late even now to quote from it a few gems. It is an appeal by the editors of the Il Nuovo Mondo to President Hoover on behalf of Gen- eral Smedley Butler, It is an impassioned pro- test against court-martialling General Butler for his derogatory remarks about Mussolini made, undoubtedly, in’ the exhuberance of a “dry” banquet. It is a cry for “liberty” and “democracy.” The authors are proud of America. They praise “a Democratic government such as we are fortunate enough to enjoy.” They call it “this great nation.” ‘They call Stimson “our Secretary of State.” They appeal for the libera- tion of General Butler in the name of the “Stars and Stripes.” It is, however, in their praise of General Butler that the editors of the “socialist” Italian paper, one-of whom is the awfully “Left” Mr. Muste, most eloquent. To them, including Mr. Muste, “progressive” leader of the A. F, of L., this hero ot Vera Cruz, this commander of the American naval forces in China, especially sent to crush the Chinese revolution, this obedient servant of American finance-capital, this one himdred per cent militarist and drill master—to them he is “our hero General Butler.”, They bow before his medals. They say: “Every decoration on the breast of General Butler means a heroic dead for this, our great nation.” They declare General Butler to be “the man before whom the whole nation should bow down with reverence and gratitude.” They declare on behalf of themselves that “liberty loving Italians, we are sure, are grate- ful to General But They place General Butler among the great of the world. They reach the heights of ecstasy when they proclaim: “And the Stars and Stripes, with the help of God, will never bow down before the tyrant Duce of fascism nor the Red Duce of Bolshevism.” Here you have them, the “Socialists” of the second international! Seldom have they re- vealed themselves as they did in this instance. They are supposed to protest against fascism. But their protest against Mussolini's fascism soplt baad albyanacge doe ea a American fascism. Yankee imperialism becomes to them 4 ‘a WARNING AGAINST A SPY All working class organizations are ‘warned against Harry Hites, a spy in the pay of the Birmingham, Ala., police department, and prob- ably working also for the Associated Industries of Alabama. Hites. whose photograph appears herewith, is about 35 years of ave, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, 170 Ibs., brown wavy hair, ruddy complexion, wears glasses. He is a born American, and pipe fitter by trade, at present working as a used car sales- man in Birmingham, For a short time, last summer, he succeeded in getting into the Party, but was soon sus- | pected and disconnected. Since ‘then, however, it has been definitely established that he was responsible for several raids on membership ‘mectings of the Communist Party and for a raid on mincrs union meeting at Pratt City, Ala. All workers and working class organizations should be on guard against this spy, wherever he may try again to ply his slimy trade, CENTRAL CONTROL COMMISSION, COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE U.S. A. Organize Unemployed Councils! Every Mining Camp, Steel and Textile Town, Every | Large and Small Indus- ‘trial Center Should Be Honeycomted With ‘Jobless Councils democratic government.” A fascist militarist, who helps to crush the: workers and the colo- nial masses, becomes a man before whom “the whole nation” should bow down. “Our Presi- dent” becomes the man’ who can mete out jus: tice. Stimson becomes “our Secretary of State.” All this tirade is covered up with “the Stars and Stripes. with the help of God.” In pre- tending ‘to fight against fascism, these gentle- men teach the Italian masses in America the most abject servility before Yankee imperialism and Yankee fascism. Truly, no more hideous spectacle has ever appeared in the ranks of the social-fascists. No, I think I have to becin to read the Tl Nuovo Mondo. ws Surely. a Fool’s Cap from Lima, Peru, that words are given of His Exceilency it is that princes are called) about the American make of printing press the shop uses: the next press you will buy will be English.” carefully noted, so—at the cost, we presume, of about 15 us the following: ment, the prince noticed a workman, in a gesture of respect, paper cap of the type which is worn by stereo- typers and pressmen everywhere. gazed admiringly at the simple headpiece and then placed it on his own head.” anace and time to expose it. | equivocally, that: | quite safe to “crash flats” especially in the Har- | lem Negro section, in order to force graft in num- _ Washington. By JORGE eee The doings and digestion of the “great” are 's of tremendous interest. Which, doubt- accounts for the Associated Press cabling a yery “important” incident occurred when the Prince of Wales was a printshop in that city. and this really is important erice sts, the exact (or whatever of course- few “Your plant is quite up-to-date, but I hope But when the stupidities of royalty must be cents a word, the Associated Press gaye “While inspecting the stereotyping depart- remove from his head the home-made The prince The burden of waste of capitalist society that makes such things news, to be cabled all over the world and printed in the popular press to awe the lowly, makes us the more indignant, because upon occasion we have to use our own Lucky Dogs and Hot Dogs “Ailing dogs, cats and other small animals bee longing to the poor will be given free medical attention at a clinic to be opened in April in Newark, N. J.”, we learn from a paper of that city. While the capitalists refuse unemployment in- surance, workers who cannot even feed their families and themselves cannot be expected to keep pets in condition. So the philanthropic capitalists are willing to doctor the dog. Which reminds us; ¢'# you read the Worker Correspondent letter published in the Daily Worker about three weeks ago, of a mother of several children who, having no other resources, cooked the family dog? That was about the third case of the kind reported to the Daily. Wonderful country! Hot dog! Nice Story!. Cheerful News! Real Unemployment Relief! A comrade sends us the following, clipped from an obscure page of a paper, the name of which was not given, but the dispatch itself is by the Associated Press: “Poughkeepsie, Feb. 3 (AP)—An aged man working in a cemetery here under an unem- ployment relief committee arrangement, col- lapsed on the job today and died soon after- ward. He was Germond Wilkinson, 70. Coro- ner.Card said death apparently was caused by malnutrition.” Note the beautiful “arrangement” of the Un- employment ‘Relief’ Committee. It sends a 70- year old man who is starving, to the cemetery so that he could collapse in the right spot. Probably, we thought, he was required to dig his own grave. But on second thought, it is hardly possible. Class discrimination followed him to the graveyard, where he was doubtless put to digging graves for people who have mo: enough to be buried in style, and after he died on the job his working class carcass was thrown in the potter's field or, still serving capitalist efficiency, was scld to some medical school. Altogether, this is the most cheerful story capitalism has produced for our perusal today. How Much Is It Worth? The Fish Committee, and assorted capitalisi patriots, continually harp upon “our institutions” made sacred by “our constitution.” But what little “rights” are supposedly “guaranteed” by the U. S. Constitution are worth darned little when workers try them out. Bachmann, reporting for tt in Congress, wants “no hesita in “shutting treasonable mout by act of Congress. While the First Amendment of the Constiution says: “Congress shall make no law . abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.’ Every day, workers’ meetings are broken up and the gov ent both do ; martial law, in effect, and refuscs to receive the Unempioyed Delegation, in snite of the Constitution providing that “the people”—and please note that it doesn’t say “citizens cnly”’—to assembly and “petition the government for a redress of grievances.” In the Constitution, it is said flatly and un- 2 Fish Committee “The right of the nox shall not be infringed. It doesn’t say enything about them being “con- ceal either, Yet upon that basis the “right” is infringed everywhere. In New York Sta x canitelists have a law that “infringes” that so-; called “right” com'etcly. The “Sullivan Law" forbids “the people” from even “keeping” arms’ in their houses—but of course, this is enforeed| only against the workers, Having thus disarmed the workers, the Tani- many police, as proven by dozens of cases, feel ple to keep and bear arms berless frame-up “vice” cases. If these victims were armed and defended their “rights,” there would not have been so many frame-ups for Mr, Mulrooney to cover up.. But there would not, also, be so many big bank accounts. Incidentally, in “crashing flats.” the cops open- ly violate the Fourth Amendment to the Con- stitution: “The right of the people to be secure in their Persons, houses, papers, and effects, against un- reasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” But when the workers’ are disarmed and cap!- talists arm themselves as “private citizens” (as in Evanston, Il, and Westchester, N. Y.), we see that the fascist American Legion, in its: magazine, announces that Krag-Jorgeson rifles} can be obtained by Legion Posts from the Wal Devartment for 1.59 cach, and that 584 sucl rifles haye been bought by the Legion at Everett These arms are supposed to be “obsolete” an to be used “for military purposes only, such for firing squads for funerals and exhibitio drills.” But that is all in your eye. ‘These rifl ‘can. shoot—and the only question is, at funeral?