The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 26, 1931, Page 4

Ff Sablished By thé Cémprodatly Publishtig Co; Inc; Aaly Geept Sueaay, at 60 Wart 13th Street, New York City, N. Y. Telephone Algonquin 7956-7. Cable: “DAIWORE.* Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, 50 East 13th Street, New York, N. ¥. Dail ina HE of Manhattan and Bront, SUBSCRIPTION RATES: ~ F. 36; six months, $3; two months, $1; New York Ctiy, Foreign; one year, $8- six months, $4.50, sxcepting Boroughs ‘Bill Green Fi ghts Wage Cuts! By JACK STACHEL we. Green, President of the American Federa- tion of Labor, has issued another statement “against” wage cuts. There have been few such statements in the last few weeks. Until recently Bill Green was busy praising the bosses aind the Hoover administration for maintaining “their faith in high wages.” Perhaps it was not accidental that Green spoke about their faith in high wages and not actually of maintaining high wages. At that time Mr. a Green took no little praise for himself when he stated “equal commendation is due labor organizations which cooperated by not raising issues that might embarrass or in- terrupt efforts to turn the tide upward.” Then fearing that he has showered insufficient praise upon the employers, he adds: “Difficult as the long depression is proving its it has disclosed with striking distinctness a growing responsibility on the part of management for the workers on their payrol and an appreciation of workers as consumers.” This statement was made as late as October 1980 at the A. F. of L, convention. At that time wages had already been slashed considerably in most of the industries. What, then, made Bill Green change his song at this time even though admitting that his love has not changed? It is without question the increasing number of strikes that have accompanied the more widespread and more general wage cutting that is now being practiced in almost all industries, and the reali- zation that in these strikes the unions affiliated to the Trade Union Unity League have played the most decisive part. That the T.U.U.L. unions are not only organizing strikes among the unorgan- ied as in the case of Lawrence, among the 1-iners, etc. but that it is exerting great in- iluence in developing strikes among the workers still affiliated to the A. F. of L., despite every attempt of the bureaucrats to stop these strikes. This was seen in the case of the New Orleans strike of longshoremen and more strikingly in the case of the strike of the upholstery weavers of Kensington. There is no doubt that the bosses have now entered the stage when they intend to cut the standards of the workers much more than has as yet been done. This becomes more pronounced as the consciousness grows among them that the crisis has not yet seen its lowest point. That it is still deepening. They look to the reduction of the living standards of the workers through wage cuts, increased speed-up, the introduction of the stagger system, which is promoted by Mr. Green under the guise of reduction of the work day as means to solve the crisis and have the advantage over their competitors in the sharpening struggle for markets for their exports. Mr. Green has learned this from his masters and it is this that makes him cry “reductions of wages forced by some employers are delaying 2 return to prosperity.” In the first place Mr. Green still speaks of some employers in order to cover up the wholesale wage-cuts throughout the country. And, secondly, he tries to tone down the depth of the crisis by making it appear that if only there be a little more care in wage-cuts the crisis would be over. Again he states the “reductions have been favored byafew bankers and some employers.” Mr. Wiggins, of the Chase National, Mr. Taylor, of the National City of Chicago, the vice-presi- dent of the National City Bank of New York, these are the few bankers that Mr. Green has in mind. And it is precisely these bankers that can speak in the name of the whole of Mr. Gerard's 59 rulers. Some employers, states Bill Green. Yes, some employers. Already the wages of the workers engaged in manufacturing have been reduced by 3334 per cent in 1930. While Mr. Green was busy talking of the good will of the employers,the workers’ wageshave been slashed right and left. And do not mistake this for ignorance, dear reader. Bill Green is no one’s fool. He knows what he is doing. He is paid for the job and he delivers. He is part of a team that works on the principle of division of labor. Mr. Green praises the employers for not cutting wages and this serves as screen to hide the wage cuts. Now the wage-cuts are so spoken that they cannot be hidden. So Green is told to change his role. Now he yells against wage-cuts while the wage-cuts are put through on a wider scale than ever before. Why it is necessary for Green to change his role is no secret. Not only do the bosses see the danger of the workers fighting under the leadership of the T,U.U.L., but even in the ranks of the A. F. of L. there is a growing movement against the Bolicies of Green. Now Wm. Green becomes threatening. But the bosses do not fear him. For they hear only the words they had written out for him and which he memorized. He says: “In the light of these facts the A. F. of L. conceives it to be its duty to resist with all the influence and power at its command any attempt on the part of the em- ployers to cut wages.” And what will this re- sistence consist of? Mr. Green does not keep us guessing. He tells us at once: “Furthermore | it will be the policy of the federation to direct its efforts when favorable conditions permit to- wards compelling those émployers of labor who have reduced wages during the period of unem- ployment to restore them.” Now it is all clear, Now the workers must accept the wage-cuts. Because now there are not “favorable conditions” to resist wage-cuts according to Green. The workers must accept the wage-cuts until such time as the A. F. of L. will “direct its efforts” to restore the wage-cuts they are now receiving. Now the workers must accept wage-cuts because you cannot fight dur- ing periods of crisis. Because strikes cannot be successful. And what will Mr. Green say when “conditions are favorable”? Then he will as now talk of class peace, of class collaboration, of ar- bitration, Then he will, as now, sell out the workers. Now he tells the workers to accept wage-cuts. Then he will tell them not to “em- barrass and interrupt” the peaceful conditions of “prosperity.” But Mr. Green really is not much worried about the period when the “conditions will be favorable.” He knows his capitalism and its problems. He knows that the crisis is grow- ing deeper. He does not expect “prosperity.” What he is concerned with is the present. He is concerned with pulling the capitalist system out of a lurch through wage-cuts and speed-up. | He knows that even were the bosses able tem- porarily to overcome the present economic cri- | sis there would still be more than 6 million per- manently unemployed. Already in 1928 there were over 4 million unemployed. That was dur- ing the period of prosperity. without wage compensation, of course. But the workers also are concern\i with the present. They are unemployed. They are work- ing part time. The wages are being slashed and the speed-up is increasing. They are organizing the fight for unemployment relief and insur- ance at the expense of the bosses and the gov- ernment. And they are organizing to strike against wage-cuts and speed-up. They will not be fooled by Green to wait for “favorable con- ditions.” Now, when the bosses are bending every effort to overcome the crisis at the expense of the workers, now is the most favorable condi- tion to strike against wage-cuts. And this goes for the workers inside the A. F. of L, unions as well. The only reason the workers have not yet in larger numbers struck against these wage-cuts is not because they follow Green and his A. F. of L. It is because they did not sée any léader- ship for their struggle. The 'T.U.U.L. unions have been too slow and too weak to lead them into struggle. But much of this has been overcome. The T.U.U.L. unions have in the last few months shown that they can lead the struggles of the workers and that they can win thé demands of the workers. The strikes among the minérs, tex- tile workers, needle workers, and others, parti- cularly the strike of the Lawrence textile workers who under the leadership of the National Tex- tile Workers Union have won a partial victory have shown the difference between the Policy of struggle of the T.U.U.L. and the policy of be- trayal of the A, F. of L. Lawrence and Dan- ville have clearly shown the two policies. One the policy of the workers and in their interests, the other the policy of the bosses and against the workers, The fact that the U.T.W. organi- zers dare not show their face in Danville while at the same time the best forces in Danville are joining the N.T.W.U. is proof of the fact that the A. F. of L. will not be able to fool the workers when the T.U.U.L. reacts to its respon- sibilities. ‘The recent meeting of the National Executive Board of the T.U.U.L. took steps to strengthen the struggle against wage-cuts in the various industries, to increase the fighting capacities of the unions affiliated to the T.U.U.L. The T.U. UL, already has growing standing among the workers. The A. F, of L. is more and more as- sociated in the minds of the workets with strike- breakers and stool-pigeons of the bosses. No wonder therefore that Bill Green’s song has somewhat changed though his love is constant and more ardent than ever, United Struggle ot Employed and Unemployed Pe AOTICALLY 30,000,000 unemployed in the Capitalist countries (besides the colonies) — such is the eloquent proof of the depths of the present-day world economic crisis. Millions upon millions of workers of all branches of industry and agriculture, office | j workers employed at government and private | institutions, thrown out of their jobs, walking the streets in search of work. Ninety million persons, if we count the fam- ilies of the unemployed affected by starvation and poverty. Tens of millions of toilers starving in the colonial and semi-colonial countries. alone there are about 170,000,000. Many of the unemployed have already been out of work for the last few years, With the help of the social-fascists, garbed in their bureaucratic reformist uniforms, the bour- Beois governments are steadily wo the already miserable conditions of ee cae Ployed; reduce the amount of unemployment Telief, deprive altogether ever greater numbers 58 workers and women workers of their relief, To Expose and Smash the Social-Fascists, Last year particularly clearly exposed the election promises of the reformists concerning the struggle against unemployment, and their various schemes for liquidating unemployment. It's rather interesting to recollect what hap- penéd to the promise made by the British “labor” party on the eve of its elections, to the Projects of the German social-fascists or to those of the “labor” government of Australia. $ re, the social-fascists in the trade lons not only are today sabotaging the strug- le for unemployment insurance, but sre com- out against the unemployed. They idea of deporting foreign workers, | with the help of the police persecute the In China | unemployed and suppress their movements. During all large-scale battles the social-fascists try to set the employed against the unemployed and use the latter as strike-breakers.’ However, th revolutionary trade union movement cannot very well boast of the fact that it does every- thing possible to takeythe lead of the movement of the unemployed and to mobilize these work- ers for the united class front of the proletariat for waging the struggle against the triple alli- ance of the employers, the bourgeois state and social-fascism, against the whole capitalist class system breeding unemployment. During the preparations for last year’s cam- | paign of International Day for Struggling Against Unemployment many instances were seen of real mass upsurge in the unemployment movement. When summing up the results of | the campaign we established the significant growth of influence of the revolutionary trade union movement aver the unemployed and the necessity for organizationally strengthening this influence. When, however, we try today to sum up the results of the work carried out among the un- employed, we see how insignificant they are. Quite frequently these poor results can be ex- plained by the opportunist underestimation of work among the unemployed, by the remains of reformist contempt for them, or by the inability to effectively take up this work from an or- | ganizational point of view. For the Lining Up the Unemployed. The revolutionary trade union movement is confronted with the task of rallying ideologically and organizationally the unemployed to its ban- ner, to recruit members into the existing or- ganizations of the unemployed and tostrengthen these organizations, The R. I. L. U. Sections are faced with the task So in addition he | is out for the reduction of the hour's of labor * pow N s\ — cere eT ty “erm ‘ ~ aa ‘AMERICAS WAY OUT EayQuorman mem as EMPLOYED BOOKS Seen A aches anitat | | Conducted by the Organization Department of the Central Comniitiee, Communist Party, U.S.A. Throwing Away Opportunities From a District Org. Letter: In the Fisher Body Plant in Cleveland, where | we have a shop nucleus, a wage-cut took place a couple of weeks ago. Twenty-five men, in- cluding a Party member, out of a total of 75 workers in the department walked out. was the duty of the Party member in this situ- ation? Of course, to bring the 25 men to the District T.U.U.L. office where an immediate Plan of Action could have been worked out. We have no doubt that a strike in this department of this important plant would have resulted. Instead, the comrade only reported the walk-out to the nucleus meeting that evening. The re- sult is that all went back to work the next morn- ing. We thus missed an excellent opportunity to lead the workers in a struggle against wage- slashing. It was a very serious mistake, | Organize an Unemployed Coun- cil in Every Workers’ Neigh- borhood of Twenty Blocks; Register the Unemploy- ed; Investigate Starva- tion Conditions. those places where they are still non-existent and of lining up the unemployed into the ranks of the revolutionary trade union movement. The lessons gained in the campaign last year, all mistakes and shortcomings, will doubtlessly be taken into consideration this year. All problems which had not been so}ved last year, should be solved during the campaign this year; a network of local (at the labor ex- changes), regional and central unemployed or- ganizations should be established. | The revolutionary trade union movement is | confronted with extremely responsible tasks. in those districts where large-scale economic bat- | tles are on are maturing. Here it is particu- | larly essential to consolidate to the maximum | the ranks of the employed and unemployed. | These contacts should be established both along | lines of mutual representations on the strike committees and unemployed committees, as well as through point action. | Lately the social-fascists and fascists have | come to realize the serious danger which the million armies of unemployed present to cap- italism. They are now trying to come out in the role of defenders of the unemployed, taking some steps for organizing them, in order to thus win their-confidence, and then break the strug- gle of the unemployed for their urgent and everyday demands. If our work among the unemployed continues to remain weak, the social-fascists and fascists are Mable to win over the movement of the un- | employed and direct it along incorrect. channels. | The organization of the unemployed, mob- ilizing them for the revolutionary trade move- ment, setting up the united front of the work- ers, employed and unemployed, under the lead- ership of the revolutionary trade union organ- izations—these are some of the most important tasks of this campaign. The Fifth R. I. L. U. Congress issued some clear-cut directives with regard to this ques- tion. Feb. 25, the day of militant class review, was the day upon which we were to show how the revolutionary organizations carried these out in What | | PARTY LIFE A. F. of L. Leaders Betray Tom Mooney This is the thirteenth installment of Mooney’s own account of the way the A. F. L. officials betrayed him and Billings for 15 years. It was written last year and made public this year. The last installment told how the A. F. L. had a majority on the San Francisco board of supervisors, and was in a position to paralyse the prosecution of Mooney and Bill- ings by refusing to appropriate money for the frame-up. But they appropriated huge sums for the frame-up! Now read on! INSTALLMENT 13 James W. Mullen and the Clarion.” 'HE “Labor Clarion,” official organ of the San Francisco Labor Council, under the editor- ship of one of the most reactionary old fossils in the labor movement—James W. Mullen—has exceeded even the hostile capitalist press in its Jong campaign of vilification and falsehood when writing about Mooney, Billings, or their friends. On May 25, 1919, the “Clarion” with great gusto denounced the earnest, militant workers, who, by means of a general strike tried to save their doomed comrades, and stated: “This is a turbu- lent little band of dreamers which is endeavor- “Labor ing in contravention of the laws of the labor movement to bring about a general strike to affect political purposes, the release of Mooney and Billings.” February 23, 1917, the “Clarion” commented editorially: “The ridiculous contention of some of those connected with the trials (of Mooney and Billings) to the effect that the prosecution of these defendants was a scheme hatched by the Chamber of Commerce in order to strike a blow at organized labor, was treated with contempt because of the impossibility of that body in- juring the labor movement through any of the defendants is fully appreciated, owing to the fact that none of them was a representative of the organized workers of this city.” Besides being a lie, this quotation clearly shows the ndtural alignment of the California “labor leaders” with the Chamber of Commerce, Mul- len knew Tom Mooney had credentials to or- ganize the platform men of the United Railway Company. If such credentials are not “repre- sentative” Mullen should state what, in his esti- mation, constitutes a labor representative? If Mooney and Billings are not true representatives of labor, who is? Does Mullen, by exchanging amenities with the Chamber of Commerce, call such acts those of a true “representative of | labor”? If Mullen looked after the interests of labor as well as he attends to the wants of the Chamber of Commerce, the rank and file might have some respect for, him, The following excerpt from the March 30, 1917, issue of the “Labor Clarion” clearly shows the attitude of the local “leaders.” “The San Fran- cisco Labor Movement knows its own business and is in no,way in need of advice from dream- ers either in Cleveland or Oakland. It also knows more about the union connections and activities of the San Francisco men (Mooney and Billings) than do the prigs who are so free with their advice. + It is thoroughly in- formed as to its friends and enemies and cannot be easily deceived by anyone so Bolsheviks may as well cease their bellowing.” Yes, the Clarion and the “Labor Leaders”—not the labor move- ment—were well informed as to their friends; the Chamber of Commerce, the politicians of the state, and the whole frame-up crew. Mullen and all the other reactionaries clearly perceived that Mooney and Billings and the militant work- _ ers who rallied “to. their defense: were their enemies, ‘When the confession of John McDonald, one of the chief witnesses in the Mooney-Billings trial, was published, the “Clarion,” February 4, 1921, stated: “Another@ensation has been thrown to the public in the Mooney case by the publi- cation of an alleged confession made by John MeDonald at Trenton, N. J., last Monday. The alleged confessor is said to have sworn to a statement that he was coached in his testimony in the Mooney case by District Attorney Fickert and that he did not tell the truth. If the news- paper stories are true then McDonald has per- jured himself in a very serious manner. If he did not tell the truth at the trial then he has been guilty of sending an innocent man to the penitentiary on perjured testimony. If he is not telling the truth now he is endeavoring to lib- erate a guilty man. In either event, if published stories are true, McDonald should be in the penitentiary.” This is rather obscure reasoning but it is sufficient to show the complete af- finity of Mullen and the California “labor lead~- ers” for the frame-up crew that sent Mooney and Billings to prison. On June 6, 1919, the “Clarion” became very indignant over the fact that Anton Johansen, one of the few militants of the A. F. of L., made the charge in Southern Illinois that: “No one in this country is more responsible for Tom Mooney’s conviction and continued incarceration than certain labor leaders in San Francisco.” In this same issue of the paper, Mullen sharply con- demned a mass meeting that was attended by over 10,000 people because the meeting was ad- dressed by what he termed “imported Red orators such as Mother Jones and other radical talents.” If these quotations are not enough, one more example will illustrate the complete corruption of the “Labor Clarion,” its editor and the “labor leaders” it represents. In every Labor Day issue, | the “Clarion” carries a full-page advertisement of two of the worst anti-labor firms in this coun- try—Sears Roebuck & Co., and Montgomery .Ward Co. Chicago Typographical Union No. 16 is now in the midst of an active campaign against these firms, as all their printing—$10,- 000,000 and over—is done by a notoriously scab firm. James W. Mullen is a member of the Typographical Union, yet,'in spite of the vigor- ous fight waged by his own union, he betrays his fellow-craftsmen for a few pieces of silver. Of course, the San Francisco Labor Council and the Directors of the “Labor Clarion” fully endorse J. W. Mullen. March 19, 1919, a resolu- tion adopted by the Council highly commended Mullen, and stated: “That he was not temporiz- ing with rainbow-chasing faddists” and that “the welfare of the millions had been the thought kept foremost in Mullen’s mind. . . that the ‘Labor Clarion’ had been a strong influence to- ward keeping the labor movement on an even keel during this time while the crazy-quilt theorists have been struggling desperately to turn things topsy-turvy.” All of these excerpts from the “Labor Clar- ion” bear witness to the point of view of a Mooney. Mullen and his friends act as apolo- gists for Big Business. They blindfold the workers by the use of such terms as “rainbow chasing faddists”—"keeping the labor movement on an even keel” and reference to Mother Jones as “an imported ‘Red’ orator.” Hobnobbing with the Chamber of Commerce might be James Mul- Capitalist Class Courts ° Rub this under the nose of any who say that Communists “€xaggerate” when they call the courts capitalist institutions. We give it in all its. pristine’ purity, just as it appeared in the Chicago Tribune of March 18: “Evansville, Ind., March 18—(Special)—Mrs, Inez B. Crandall, widow of Joseph T. Crandall, fireman, killed in an explosion of a Louisville a Nashville railroad locomotive, was sentenced to- " day, the anniversary of her husband's death, to serve three months in the women’s prison and to pay a $500 fine and costs, by Probate Judge ‘Travis B. Williams, for contempt of court. “The contempt charge grows out of her filling a suit for $95,000 damages in the Circuit cours of St. Louis against the railroad company for the death of her husband, after an ordér handed down by the Probate court last September en~ joined her from filling or prosecuting any suit against the railroad in St. Louis. “Mrs. Crandall is alleged to have disobeyed this order. The woman was ordered to jail at once by the judge, who declared he would sus- pend her prison term provided she would. dis- miss her damage suit in the St. Louis court.” So! Contempt of court is about the, mildest “offense” we could imagine the worker’s widow could be guilty of. * No Slippery Memory Goes It seems that the principal tasks of the Com- munist Party are easy to forget when some com- rades mount the tribune. From Newark we™ receive a complaint about a speaker from New York who, speaking at Newark, made a won- derful speech—“raising the revolutionary spirit of the workers present to a high level.” The complainant gives full credit to the speak- er for what he said. But—but let him tell the rest... “But here comes a BUT, and a very big one. It is about time that our comrades, at least the leading comrades, learn this BUT. I carefully listened to the speech of Comrade —— and, mind you: Not a single word about our tradé unions, neither our press! It’s true that this affair was held under the auspices of the I. L. D. But since when are we going to build the I. L. D. without the trade unions?” So you see, orators, that the Party workers are paying attention not only to what you say, but to what you don’t say. So put some sand . 8 8 Lo, the Poor Convict! Let’s knock the edge off one of these hatr-rais- ing Fish stories of Soviet lumber camps! For example let us take the gutter sheet N. Y. tabe loid daily, the “Evening Graphic,” guaranteed none dirtier. Thé “Graphic,” in its magazine séction of Sate urday, February 28, published a big double page display story: “Red Russia's Lumber Camps Where Penal Serviiude Revives Opprecsio Vorse than the Knout!” That's kinda awful, aint it? And with it went along some pictures, one of them of men work- ing in @ logging camp. While it wasn’t at all visible, these men were supposéd to be suffering something terrible, and the caption given by the Graphic said that it was a “Photo” of political | prisoners working in the lumber camps amid ice and snow.” Now it might occur even to a moron that any- body, ‘convict or no convict, who works in ‘the Northern Soviet lumber caps might miake the ac- quaintance of “ice and snow.” But probably Stalin, the “despot” had deliberately inflicted ice and snow on these poor “victims of Red terror.” However, we happened to be lookirig over the “Economic Review of the Soviet’ Union”, for March Ist, which was undoubtedly out in cir- culation before the Graphic story, when we spot- ted the identical picture used by the “Graphic,” | only here, in its orignal form, it was given as | showing workers “Loading lumber at Krasno- borsk, South of Archangel.” What the “Graphic” did was to take a new photo of the one shown in the “Economic Re- view” and then deliberately and knowingly put a lying caption on it, in order to make it anti- Soviet! So much for forgery and fakery—and that goes for all anti-Soviet propaganda! GS ee A Modest Bo: “Won't Seek Pree of All of China,” reads a headline over an Associated Press dis- patch from Shanghai, telling how that timid and blushing violet, Chiang Kai Shek, mass murderer of some 200,000 workers and peasants —at a minimum estimate—modestly denies that | “he was preparing shortly to proclaim himself | President of All China.” Well, Chiang, you dirty murderer, you might as well be modest. Because there are several great chunks of China in which you dare not | stick your nose. Because there, in the heart of mighty China, is the Soviet Government of the Chinese workers and peasants, supported by the great mass of some 50,000,000 Chinese who live under the red banner emblazonéd with a Ham- mer and Sickle and defended by 250,000 well- disciplined troops who know what they fight for and why they are fighting against you and the imperialism you serve, . s oe Yah, yah! You: might as well be ti, e a Chiang. “In fact you might as well leav * before you get what Kolchak got! aaa ranma SO AOE PR what does he care about the workers? His jov is to fool them, keep Mooney and Billings in prison and retain his standing with the Cham- ber of Commerce. . % ‘ ‘ “The Chamber of Commerce and Big Business know Mullen is their willing’ tool. They kno he is ready to obey orders at all times, and tha! he does not hesitate to betray the interest of the workers. He is “safe.” »As a reward, Big Business “advised” Governor Rolph to appoint him Labor Commissioner for the State of Cali- fornia, Now, in a strategic position, he will be able to spread his poisncaus lies about Tom Mooney with greater effect. $ 1 ae ‘There can be no doubt. that Mullen will try vo persuade Governor Rolph not to pardon Tom Mooney. He has replaced Paul Scharrenberg in the Official Family of ‘the Governor -of Call- fornia, but Scharrenberg’s policy of béetrayal wil! surely be continued through the zealous. efforts of James W. Mullen. i ( TO BE CONTINUED eo $i JOHANNSEN NOT A MILITANT.