The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 14, 1931, Page 4

Seer \ © Published by the Comprodaily Publishing Co., Inc., dally except Sunday, at 50 East 18th Street, New York City. N. ¥. Telephone Algonquin 7956-7. Cable: Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, 60 Hast 13th Street, New York, N, ¥, ' Page Four r ‘DAIWORK.” a ne CONCERNING LACKEYS RISON GEORGE, lemen, certain snooty (Socialist) Interna- the rude language a disapproving finger bourgeois politi- -colonial dependencies the impolite appella- By HAR ERTAIN Peck ng to be precise our dictionary and for h ‘lecher, to lick; a footboy or follower.” for the pages of the t 1931, we find a concerning the a South Amer- mall place. It e miles, compared to . It has (1928) population of 17,967,788 lace. It is a nation. nation of Colombia, henalia and personnel , & capitalist govern- the Soviet Union, and other Colombian capi- id become such. ated ed Fruit Co. from higher wages—the massacred some hun- s in the early part of 1929. bananas, however, the escape the inj tion in the 1930 elec- one of the prize winning ‘y, to wit, President Olaya In March, 1930, an election was held in the Republic of Colombia, And from it emerged a ident-Elect. .No other and no less than He Thus it came about that, being President-Elect of a South American republic, ke the raps of old Rome, Senor President- Herrera was due to journey northward all the w ington, to pay obeisance to the Yankee Caeser, Mr. Hoover. It is an unfortunate characteristic of this revolutior y age, that whereas proletarians may get along splendidly without capitalists, these much bedevilled capitalists cannot, in the nature of things, get along without proletarians. And hence it came about that in the journey north- ward of President-Elect Herrera, it became nec- essary for certain interested parties to send him a cablegram which fell into the hands of a cer- proletarian in the city of Panama on April h, 1930, while Senor Herrera’s boat was pass- ing through the famous canal, This cablegram is most interesting, both from the point of view of its contents, and from the | fact that it was sent to President-Elect Herrera by John L, Merrill, president of the All America Cables corporation, a up-and-coming Yankee im- perialist concern, But we must put off the read- er for a moment to specify the contents of the New York Times article above mentioned. In it we find under date of April 8th, 1931, that President Olaya Herrera has sent to the Colombian Congress a message urging the pass- ing of pending legislation approving the contract between the Colombian Government and the Gulf Oil Corporation for a concession to that corporation of what is known as the Catatumbo petroleum region, It is evident from the article that President Herrera is exceedingly anxious that this concession be approved. Let us go now to the text of the cablegram received at Panama City, April 15, 1930, by the then President-Elect Herrera, from the imperial- ist corporation head, Mr. Merrill. It opens with the following brief line: “In answer your message April 4th. sends following.” So it seems that President-Elect Herrera had written or cabled something in the nature of a request to Mr. Merrill, who, in order to advise the President-Elect of Colombia properly, con- sulted something or somebody called “Jeffer- son.” May we not suspect here, however, that instead of “Jefferson,” what was really meant w “Washington.” But we continue with the cable: “After conferring Furay and Olano suggest following speech should last thirty to forty-five minutes, Recommend you write in Spanish and Jefferson we will make free translation here in order to compel attention newspaper men. Furay re- quests you send Spapish copy to United Press representative, Perez, Bogota, who will be in- structed regarding release to all s at the proper time.” “Furay” referred to is an official of the d Press Association, a capitalist news cor- oration which es some pretense of being more “liberal” than the known reactionary Service of the Associated Press. Who “Olano” is, remains a mystery. But there is no mystery about the fact that Mr. Merrill, speaking for “Jefferson,” is instructing the President-Elect of the sovereign nation of Colombia about a speech; and specifying just how long that speech should take. It will also be noticed that the United Press is taking care that the speech shall be Colombian { given proper publicity to the Colombian masses, | But Yankee imperialism is noted for being thor- | ough, and not only is the length of the speech | “suggested,” but from the above quotation the | cablegram proceeds to sa: “Recommend following outline:”—and in order that Senor Herrera might not miss anything, the points desired are specifically numbered as “1,” “2,” “3,” etc. So we find in the first the fol- lowing text “Brief re-statement your platform with ap- propriate preparatory remarks leading up to re- cent election including open-door policy, efficient administration, intensify development, sound economic political relation with U. S. and mu- tual confidence and respect.” Readers will notice that “preparatory remarks” may be appropriate of anything or nothing, only they must “lead up” to certain things in which “Jefferson” is interested. And one of these things is the “open door policy.” But just how from the fact that Washington (beg pardon, “Jef- ferson”) is giving instructions that the door shall remain open. We may pass up the usual | palaver about development and its “soundness” however, to concentrate upon “mutual confidence | and respect.” | We assure all who may read these lines that | the writer of this article has seen Senor Olaya Herrera in person; that he is a cultured and | dignified gentleman wearing boiled shirts and | high silk hat; and in no respect does he resem- | ble, physically, a boot black. But for all this, we cannot repress a ribald Bolshevik horse-laugh for the “mutual confidence and respect” that is pos- sible to exist between President Olaya Herrera of the sovereign republic of Colombia and his mys- terious but very tangible task-master—‘Jef- ferson.” We may pass over for lack of space points No. 2 and 3, which instruct this lackey exactly and precisely what he is to say about the natural resources and products of Colombia, even specify- ing the exact number of bunches of bananas and bags of coffee exported to the United States. But we must quote from the last lines of point 3 which say: “Because of importance, suggest statement as separate concluding item under this head (about products.—H. G.), petroleum resources and new policy regarding developments.” We then see the relation of cause and effect between the above quotation of the cablegram sent by “Jefferson” on April 15, 1930, and the message to the Colombian Congress on April 8th, 1931, by President Herrera, urging the concession of petroleum resources to the Gulf Oil Corpora- tion. “(4) Financial structure one of the soundest in South America. Brief statement on reorgan- ization work of Kemmerer mission, the therefrom and manner in which business of ticularly recently demonstrated ability and de- |} termination to maintain the exchange value of the peso at all costs.” Here we have the instruction of Yankee im- ereign” nation of Colombia to praise the Kem- merer mission, whose business in a score of col- onial, semi-colonial and vassal countries through- of the national economy to the door panels of Wall Street. The maintenance of the peso “at all costs” is to be done, of course, at the ex- pense of the millions of impoverished toilers of Colombia. One may, nevertheless, be allowed a cynical grin at the imperialist wiseacres who, in April, 1930, confidently mentioned the “recent depression” in view of the intensified crisis since that time. But we go to point 5, which says: “Development of friendly relations between U. S. and Colombia; tremendous trade develop- ment with U. 8. since the war; participation U. S. in financial and public works, of American business method in progress of Colombia; exist- ing cordial relationships.” There is no doubt whatever of the existing “cordial relationships.” otherwise unless the nefarious agents of some unfriendly power, let us say, Great Britain, | might protest in the form, perhaps, of subsidiz- ing some semi-feudal military chief to make a coup d'etat and upset the pretty plans of that mysterious entity known as “Jefferson.” With this cablegram, we, also are nearing a conclusion. But we must give the conclusion, which states: “(6) Conclusion: Above gives background for making frank, honest and courageous statement advocating Colombians’ desire to come into closer contact with U. S, Furay says will have 100 to 150 of the elite American newspapermen at dinner.” There is little left to say. The speech was delivered by President-Elect Olaya Herrera upon his arrival at New York City, exactly as ordered, And in the minds of those who read and believe the capitalist press, it no doubt appeared to be “frank, honest and courageous.” But we, the rude and ribald Bolsheviks, who have utterly no respect for boiled shirts and the polite hhypo- crisy of imperialist diplomats know that all of the “frankness,” “honesty” and especially the “courage” of the President of Colombia, a great. nation of South America, could be put under the eye-lid of Mr, J. Pierpont Morgan without that gentleman feeling the slightest irritation. The Re-United U.M.W.A.—A Truce Between U.S. Steel and Peabody Co. By JOE TASH. T international “reorganized” United Mine Workers of America, which began its career over @ year ago has been swept into oblivion y a decision of a capitalist judge who declared that Lewis is to be recognized by District 12 (the Illniois District of the UMWA) as the Interna- tional President of the UMWA, The UMWA Journal declares that this is a sweeping victory for the bona fide organization. In a recent conference held by representatives of both factions Fishwick recognized Lewis as his International president. The decision of Judge Edwards further makes it known that Lewis has nothing to do with the affairs of District 12. For the time being a truce has been reached between the two factions. This has come about as the result of the growing rebellion among the miners in Illinois against the attacks on the conditions of the mine workers. The pro- gram of the coal operators is getting sharper and sharper, already one of the leading coal attacks of the bosses for temporary unity in the boss controlled UMWA is @ reflection of temporary ynity reached betweem the United States Steel Corporation and the Peabody Coal Co. It is a case of two trusts in temporary unity for an attack against the proletariat. ‘The procedure can be seen in the fact that Walker jong before the decision of the judge, resigned as International Secretary of the reorganized group, and ran for President of District 12 and was elected, the Peabody Coal Co. thus has given @ new face to the portion of the UMWA it controls, ‘The Peabody Coal Co. has won a victory in so far as the decision provides that Lewis has no right to interefere with the affairs of District 12. Lewis has won to the extent where he is no longer embarrassed by a “Reorganized In- ternational” group outside the State of Illinois, Questions are asked as to what will become of Howat and Germer. Not so much Germer as Howat. Howat in a statement to the press, says that he is in disagreement with the decision of the judge, consequently in disagreement with bie former master, the ol oii ic ator camera “open” the door is to be, may be questionable | result | country supported during recent depression, par- | perialism ordering President-Elect of the “sov- | out the world has been to nail the financial hide | Indeed it could not be | & SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By mail everywhere: One year, $6; six months. $3; two months, $1; excepting Boroughs ot Manhattan and Bronx, New York Ctiy. Foreign: one year, $8+ six months, $4.50, | The Wobbly By I. AMTER. HE I.W.W. has degenerated into an organiza- tion using the methods of the fascist offi- | cialdom of the American Federation of Labor | and the police against the militant workers who protest the anti-working class and anti-Soviet | Union activities of the I. W. W. But now it has | added another “laurel” to its crown. It has formed a so-called “unemployed union” in New York, with an anti-working class pro- gram. It calls on the unemployed to give up | the “bread lines and go on the picket line.” It proposes that the unemployed shall assist the employed in reducing hours to such a low num- ber that there will be jobs for all. That is the fake proposal of the Greens and Wolls—the stagger plan of Hoover. That is the program of the bosses, who wish to divide up the work among the workers, but reduce the pay cor- respondingly. That is their program for making the workers bear the burden of the crisis—but | it will not increase the earnings of the workers as a whole one penny. It will do only one thing: | it will make the scramble for.the job more in- | tense, with the result that the wages will be | further reduced. The demand of the unemployed work: their demand is for work or wages—either work, or pay whether there is work or not. The unemployed demand unemployment relief and the passage of the Workers Unemployment In- surance Bill at the expense of the bosses and the government. Going on the “picket line” in the sense that the I. W. W. means it, would re- sult in nothing, for it would not open factories that are closed; it would not produce more work. It would merely produce illusions that the trouble with the system is the uneven division of Jabor. This is fundamentally wrong, and the propagation of the idea puts the I. W. W. into | the class of William Green, who talks about a reduction of hours—the Metal Trades Depart- ment of the A. F. of L. even advocating a fiv hour day, but dare not raise the question of increased pay. It is demagogy—but in practice | not for | further states that he did not come into the | fight with the understanding that a decision of | a judge would stop the reorganized group trom fighting on, etc, Beneath Howat’s statement, the press quotes the “other officials of the Dis- trict” as saying that Howat’s declaration is “premature” and they voice their disagreement with it. It seems that Howat has been used and now is discarded by the Peabody Coal Co, No doubt the dissatisfied elements, such as Howat, Germer, Keeny and Mooney in West Verginia, Hapgood, Brophy and other social fas- cists under the leadership of Mr. Muste will move out in an attempt to launch a movement outside of the UMWA. In this event we shall have in the mining industry a pure and simple social fascism, This is the situation created by the new de- velopment of the UMWA, The National Miners Union points out that now more than ever those miners who are still in the clutches of the UMWA must lose no time to join in a struggle under its banner in an organized fight against the attacks of the bosses upon their very lives. No victory can be pos- sible without the defeat of the UMWA and the social fascists. ‘The role of the UMWA will now become more open in Illinois and elsewhere as a strike break- ing organization and the agent of the boss class. We point to the recent struggle of the miners in Illinois for a division of work and the attempts of the miners to spread the strike against a wage cut proposed by the Old Ben Coal Co. The henchmen of the UMWA again appeared as deputies on the picket line to crack the heads of the miners. In the recent strike of the Pennsylvania miners under the leadership of the NMU, against a wage cut, the UMWA officially called meetings of the miners and attempted to break the strike in a direct fashion, eagerly deputizing themselves and marching with the rest of the thugs including the notorious Pennsylvania State Cossacks to Ponbnty Coy) Co. Hey! est he bya of slaving mange “~~. Unemployment * place the burden of the maintenance of the in- Solution tor is treason to the working class—and the I. W. W., which has demonstrated to the hilt its position in regard to the. revolutionary movement, be- comes a fit partner of these working class enemies. But in practice, the I. W. W., through its “Un- | employed Union” becomes a worse outfit. It is a pure “hand me out” outfit. In credentials issued | over the signature of one Geo. Wm. Ojala, sec- retary of the “Unemployed Union” in New York we read the following: “Introducing our repre- sentative who is authorized to solicit work, food, clothing and shelter for the Unemployed Union of New York.” Thus writes the I. W. W.—and puts itself into the class of the Salvation Army and other charitable organizations, This pro- gram would make beggars of the unemployed, dividual unemployed workers on the shoulders of well-wishing people—and leave them to starve if the philanthropists do not contribute. The program of the Unemployed Councils of the Trade Union Unity League is a program of struggle. It makes the correct declaration that unemployment is a product and part of the capi- talist system, and will continue as long as capi- talism endures. The unemployed, however, must live, and the government must be compelled to provide for them. Therefore, the unemployed must organize into Unemployed Branches, in order to realize their demands, with the aid of the workers in the shops, who also are fighting against the miserable conditions and pay in the shops. Together they must fight—unemployed and employed—in order firstly, to force unem- ployment relief for the mass of unemployed; and secondly, in order that the conditions of the workers in the shops may not be worsened. By demands on the city, state and federal govern- ment, by demonstrations against the utility cor- porations, by prevention of evictions and by or- ganized securing of quarters to live in and pro- vision of food for the unemployed, the workers will be in a position to compel the government to act in their behalf. ‘The method of the I. W. W. “Unemployed Union” puts it into the category of the worst kind of panhandling, begging institution. It would train the workers to be good patrons of the Salvation Army. It would degrade them and lower their morale, The workers must not fall prey to this low, disgusting A, F, of L, and boss program. They must organize to struggle and to demand as a class that the municipal, state and federal gov- ernments and the bosses provide full pay for the unemployed, who are willing to work, but are kept idle in the streets because the factories have closed down, because the bosses can make no profits. No panhandling—no begging—but militant or- ganization and struggle alone will help the work- ers in the fight against unemployment, and for unemployment relief and the Workers Unem- ployment Insurance Bill. Correction Two omissiond occured in the statement by the Central Control Commission on the expul- sion of Eva Cohen and Don Wishnevsky, as printed in the April 11 issue of the Daily Worker, in the second and third paragraphs, Below we repeatthe full text of the second paragraph and of the first sentence of the third paragraph, indicating the omitted portions by bold printing: “They persistently fought against the policy of the Party which was outlined to them inc on- nection with the fake local 38 strike called by the ILGWU bureaucrats last fall, They agit- ated and fought among the non-Party mem- bers against the line of the Needle Trades Work- .ers Industrial Union, “This line pointed out very clearly the treach- erous role of the ILGWU leadership of Local 38, whose aim was not a real struggle for the interests of the workers, but was only the per- petuation of the rule of their own miserabl selfish and stupid gllaye gver the workers of By BURCK. Pani yY Lire Conducted by the Organization Department of the Central Committee, Communist Party, U.S.A. How One Unit Is Making the Turn in Shop Work S. A. D. (California) | aan is a shop unit of four in a needle shop of about one hundred workers in Los Angeles. For as long as it has existed it functioned as a street nucleus, When it distributed leaflets it was to a certain part of the city (not the shop). So it was also wtih all other activity. It never issued shop papers; never recruited a single new member; but was happy in the virtuous thought that it was a shop nucleus. When it was first proposed to them that they work as a shop nucleus, one of the members of the nucleus said that we are too abrupt, it is first necessary to “lay an ideological base” (after all these years!) However, the criticism made the nucleus real- ize that it could no longer live in its former virtue. So it began to work. A large part of the shop are of Mexican workers. cult and brought the least pay. The workers, under the leadership of our comrades and sym- pathizers, chose a committee which went to the boss to demand an equitable distribution of the work which would involve no discrimination. A few comrades who were “revolutionaries since the revolutionary movement began” but who were getting several times the wages of the Mexican workers on the basis partly of being more energetic slaves but also because they were profiting from: the discrimination, suddenly lost interest and even in one way or another opposed this concretization of our fight against discrim- ination. The Communists had, however, through this work, broken the ice with the Mexican workers. Despite this it was still practically impossible to get them to meet with the Jewish workers amongst whom are our comrades. Then one of the Mexican workers (a girl— but it hardly matters) announced she was re- turning to Mexico. (If the mountain wouldn't go to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain). So our comrades proposed to the Mexican workers to hold a farewell party. It was agreed. A hall had to be gotten so our comrades offered the Union Hall. The party was a huge success. The Mexicans lost a good deal of their shyness and suspicion and became much more friendly. The following week the boss announced a wage cut. A meeting was called. For the first time in the history of the shop a@ decisive number of Mexicans came to the meeting. Altogether about half the workers were there; amongst them, however, a stool for the boss who reported what happened. When he heard the report the boss hastily posted a notice rescinding the wage cut. That's how matters stand now. If our comrades now recruit for the union and the Party nucleus until every shop worker 1s organized, thereby capitalizing on the splendid attitude of the workers towards the Party and union, and continue to be alert for openings for struggle, then the shop will be well on its way to completing the turn towards mass work, Of course, all shops don’t have Mexican girls going home, but a wide awake Communist can always find such openings for’ work on real class issues. . Comment: This little article is of the great- est importance for our work in the shops. The most immediate task in our work of or- ganizing shop nuclei is to re-vitalize our ex- isting shop nuclei and make them the real leaders of the workers in the shop. The ex- perience of this nucleus in bringing the gap between different nationalities in the shop— the older, Jewish workers, and the newer, Mex- ican workers should be of special value to the ‘New York needle trades comrades, who still ’ have to win the leadership of the newer Negro These got | such garments to work on as were most diffi- | | look over and comment upon. | chorus of counter-revolution pawed the air in SSS By JORG | Wanted By the I. W. W.— “A Place To Sleep” From the dusty shelves of pre-war history, tne capitalist press has taken down the I. W. W. to But where, in 1917, and earlier, and even some later, the I. W. W. was spoken of as a “menace,” today, with the degeneration of the organization into social fascism, we note, for example, the N. Y. World-Telegram commenting in a matter- of-fact way in a headline of its issue of April 10th, that this “Former Radical Organization”— has opened city headquarters in Manhattan. The story opens up with again noting that the I. W. W. was “once-radical,” but that now— “The members play checkers and doze.” It— the World-Telegram—adds that James Holland, an ex-speakeasy proprietor now acting as “secre- tary,” tells the sad tale of how the “bumming squads” who beg the neighborhood for food “don’t get much’”—but “we are against hell-raising. We aren’t affiliated with the Communists. What we really need is a place to sleep.” A place to sleep is right! And Possibly for use as bedding, the I. W. W. puts out a pink (note the color!) bulletin for seamen, in which, after Jengthy explanations of how bad conditions are, it is strangely claimed that the “strikes won and conditions improved” since 1921 are due to the One is left to wonder how the latter is true if the former is a fact, or vice versa. But then the eye catches a line at the bottom which ex- plains all this. Since the I. W. W. has little or no connection with the industry, but is now con- tent to “doze” and to “sleep,” any conclusions they may reach in their wakeful hours about conditions are not guaranteed. Therefore, they state, at the bottom of all this recital of conditions and claims of two victories where, “In both cases the workers were organ- ized under the banners of the I. W. W.,” the following: “The foregoing information has been taken from sources believed to be reliable, and while not guaranteed, has been accepted by us as accurate.” 2 ae Read This and Get Mad Oh, what a howl was raised in the capitalist and “socialist” press when the Workers’ and Peasants’ Soviet Government yanked up a few paid sabotagers and plotters for armed imper- ialist intervention! What a to-do! The Bolsheviks were this and that and the other! They were “persecuting” and “assassinating” and so forth and so on! ‘They were “brutal” and “murderous” and “anti- Christ” and what not! In fact, Mr. Fish and Mr. Norman Thomas and Mr. Heywood Broun and the editor of the New York Times could not denounce them enough, and the whole fury. But just look, workers, at what we find in the N. Y. Times of April 12, under a headline saying “Reds Threaten Summer Uprising!” It is a story sent in by mail frdm Shasi, China, dated March 8, and the last paragraph we give in full, as follows: : “Two days ago twelve supposed Chinese Communists were due for execution, one of them the mother of three children, ranging from five to ten years of age. For several hours the authorities debated over what to do with the children after their mother had been shot. Shasi boasts of no orphanage, and no one could be found who would adopt the waifs. It was finally decided that the children would be better off dead than to be turned loose to compete with the beggars on the city streets, and accordingly they were all shot.” Cut this clipping out, workers, and keep it handy for any of your acquaintances who come around raising objections which they haye been given by the “socialists” and the Mr. Fishes and the Matthew Wolls. And if ever you lack an illustration to show what would happen in the Soviet Union if its workers were as sub- jected to imperialist rule as China is! If you ever feel the need to prove what kind of “mercy” the capitalist class stands for, just recall this incident, the story of which was buried away on an obscure page of the N. Y. ‘Times, under a headline which inferred the “Reds” were bad people, and “strong measures” were justified against them! And remember that this is the same kind of “mercy” your own babies are given by capitalist hypocrites here who try to cover up starvation of your children with empty talk about “child health day” on May First! On to the streets, on May First, to tell ‘em what you think! A Chance for Jimmy ‘The capitalist press, as well as our radio, has brought us all the way from Amritsar, India, the tremendous news that Gandhi, the Mahatma himself, has taken to pants, * Not yet, but soon; that is to say, when he visits London to arrange for what he and Ram- say MacDonald hope to be the betrayal of the Indian national revolution, he will put off his gossamer G-string and put on a regular pair of pants. He even intimates that he may cut off his. pigtail, or what is challed a “chutia,” which in Gandhi is but sparsely represented by about eleven hairs, We see, in this possibility, the further pos- sibility of a reciprocity agreement betwee: Gandhi and Jimmy Walker, mayor of New. Yor! Jimmy has any number of pants. In fact, ove! vast sympathy for the unemployed, he took of! a pair of pants and gave them to “charity.” Now, since Jimmy is long on pants, and shor’ on pigtails, which, according to Gandhi's religio: are to be used to lift heir wearers out of Hell. we suggest that Jimmy send Gandhi a pair o! pants, possibly with a@novie actress thrown in; and receive in return the pigtail of Gandhi, because, since Tammany is rumored to have decided that Jimmy had better take a job with Warner Brothers, he is likely to be in a hell of @ political situation,