The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 7, 1931, Page 1

EE eee, ge ee ae: aad a Continue the May First Fight Against Starvation, Wage Cuts, Lynching, De portations, for Defense of the Soviet Union, for Amnesty for all Class War Prisoners, and to Smash the Scottsboro and Paterson Frame- ups. Vol. VIII, No. 110 CSectno N econd-clans matter ¥,, under the of March 3, t the Post Office 22 the-Com n of the AS iie NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1931 Norker fruit Porty U.S.A. es CITY EDITI WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE! Price 3 Cents FARMERS MARCH WITH HUNGER DELEGATION IN OHIO Let’s Win This Fight, Too! ‘URGE WORLD 'VERY worker should rejoice to learn the victory won by the Interna- tional Labor Defense in Portland, Oregon, where there were 13 work- | “criminal syndicalism.” ers arrested last fall on a charge of These arrests were made directly in connection with a raid on the Communist Party headquarters supervised by the infamous Fish Com- The present victory is the acquittal of John Moore, the second acquittal in the trials of these workers which are being made separately. Coming on the heels of the acquittal of Paul Kassa: yictories of the International Labor Defense illustrate what can be done by that organization, and illustrate as well, the necessity for the utmost mittee. solidarity in its support. The case against Kassay, calism,” was flaunted in all the capitalist papers. being a “Soviet agent” and a great hullaballoo was raised because he had been working on a dirigible air-ship of the navy. “sabotage” finally simmered down to a mere supposi out of 6,500,000 were supposed to be faulty! whole capitalist press raised the cry for blood and Mr. poured out a new flood of fascist attack on the Soviet Union and the Communists. ‘Kassay was not a member of the Communist Party, and from what we know of the 13 workers arrested at Portland, some of them also were rkers who chanced to be present when Mr. Fish descended But the International Labor Defense immediate- ly did everything possible to rally all support to both’ these cases, with the result not only of the acquittals obtained, but also the judicial deci- sion that the Ohio “criminal syndicalism” law is unconstitutional. ‘These victories should encourage all forces now supporting the de- fense of the nine Negro boys under sentence of death at Scottsboro, A! bama, and should also rally all support pos workers, whose lives are tlareatened by a frame-up engineered by the silk | only lumber wi upon the workers’ hall. mill owners of Paterson, N. J. The legalized lynching at Scottsboro would have gone comp: unnoticed in the ocean of “ordinary” oppression of the Negroes, not been that the International Labor Defense immediately took up the case. Today the lives of these nine Negro boys are a national issue, and even the German workers have cabled a protest. widespread anger against lynch law to be concretely organized behind the defense in order that the death sentence, due on July 10th, be chal- lenged effectively. The victories in Oregon and in Ohio should encourage all forces and | all elements ready to unite to save the lives of the nine Negro boys at Scottsboro, to speedily organize every supporter for the defense. who was charged with | in Ohio, these “criminal syndi- He was charged with Mysterious tales of ion that two rivets about this case the Fish solemnly But ible to save the five textile ' atively hed it It remains for this Let's ‘The anti-imperialist struggle in the Caribbean countries, particularly those dominated by Yankee imperialism is becoming sharper every day. In Nica- ragua, the agricultural workers of Porto Cabezas are joining detach- ments of the Army of Liberation. Driven by hunger and despair, these workers are taking to arms in their struggle against exploitation and for national liberation. U. S. imperial- ism answers this challenge with more rifles, more marines, niore airplanes. In Cuba Dictator Machado, under “the leadership of Ambassador Gug- genheim is coming to an agreement with the leaders of the Nationalist Party, in order to further strengthen this dictatorship against the op- pressed workers and peasants. The condition for this agreement is to stifle the revolutionary struggle of the workers and poor peasants who are fighting against imperialist ex- ploitation, In Honduras the armed struggle of the workers and agricultural workers is spreading throughout the country. The United Fruit Co. is helping the government of Honduras to crush the rebellion. American warships were sent by Mr. Hoover in order to mas- sacre the masses who are fighting for bread and land, for freedom of the country from Yankee rule. All these struggles demand that we support the oppressed masses in their struggle for liberation. The New York Branch of the Anti- Imperialist League is organizing a mass protest meeting to be held Fri- day, May 8th, at New Harlem Ca- sino, 116th St. and Lenox Ave. at 8 p. m. Workers, anti-imperialists voice your protest against Yankee domination in Latin America. De- mand hands off Nicaragua and Hon- duras. Join the Anti-Imperialist League. Dress Pickets in Fight With Needleman Bremmer Thugs NEW YORK.—Yesterday morning at 7:30, several hundred sympathi- zers of Needleman & Bremmer strik- ers joined the strikers on the picket line. When the scabs, gorillas and detectives protecting the scabs ar- rived, a struggle broke out between the striker sympathizers and the scabs and gorillas, Police reserves were called out, but the strike sym- pathizers were determined to resist the gorillas who have been making attacks on the strikers, and they succeeded in donig it despite the viciousness and brutality of the po- lice. Many workers were clubbed by the police and were carried away by the sympathizers. But the police and the las encountered such determined oppo- sition from the fighting sympathi- zers of the strikers that the police were finally compelled to take all the gorillas inside the building, after a fierce fight lasting half an hour. Two workers, Rubin Berger and Alex Hartenstein, were arrested and are framed-up on felonious assault charges. They were held on $3,000 bail each, The person making the charge against Berger is a police spy, still on the force, This proves that the company not only uses private hired ugs but can use the Tammany po- for part of its dirty work, hese «40 enem dorum of turrlers took| ers, place at 301 W. 29 Street, yesterday. The place was packed and many furriers had to go away. This forum was conducted by the Industrial Union, and the furriers were ex- plained the meaning of the coming elections in the Joint Council (com- pany-union). The furriers were very enthusiastic for the program of the Industrial Union and _ expressed their determination to fight in the company union and in the shops for immediate improvements in their conditions, Knitgoods Meeting Today Today, ‘At 7:30 p.m, at the Union Hall, 131 West 28 Street, there Will be a membership meeting of Knit- goods Workers. Preparations are be- ing made for a drive among the Knitgoods Workers for organization. The efforts of the company union to push them into a fake organiza- tion drive completely failed and the workers are turning to the Industrial Union. The cases against Jack Shneider and I. Weissberg, organizers of the Industrial Union, who were held on charges of assault, framed by the company union, are called for today at the general sessions court, Part 9. Today there will also be the fol- Jowing meetings at the office of the Union, at 6 p.m, Cloakmakers Membership Meeting and meeting of Hemstitchers, Pleaters andl "Susk- | Fete amen oy | program-swas for | commission to study the matter ‘Hands Off Nicaragua!’ Meet To Be Held Friday in Harlem ,|@ new trial in the case of Heywood WAGE CUT FOR WORKERS AT INT'L CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SOVIETS ONE OF CHIEF TARGETS Cooper Is for Credits; Others Surely | WASHINGTON, M May 6. — Discus- | sion of the Soviet Union was forced | into the open today at the Interna- tional Chamber of Commerce, meet- | ing in convention here, with over | 1,000 delegates attending, when Col. Hugh L. Cooper, famous American engineer, and president of the Am- erican-Russian Chamber of Com- merce presented copies of a pam-| phlet to all the delegates entitled | “Trade with Russia.” The question of the Soviet Union was uppermost in the thoughts of all the exploiters gathered here, and y planned reprisals, econo- | ades and war against the workers’ republic, the plan was not | mit the issue to come forward Cooper, who 1s engineering the Dnieper hydro-electric project in the | Soviet Union, is the leading hydro- | electrical engineer in the world. His unlimited credits. to the Soviet Union. He proposed a | of trade to the Soviet credits Union. and Try To Hide Plans Yesterday British and other dele- gates openly declared they did not want the question of the Soviet Un- ion to come up in the sessions of the convention. They do not want their hand forced in the war prepar- | ations. Behind the British delegates | were the French, many leading Am- erican imperialists, Mathew Woll, Hamilton Fish, and such war mon- gers. Col. Cooper said that a trade of $3,000,000,000 could be readily devel- oped with the Soviet Union; that in the present crisis which under- mined the capitalist countries, they could not overlook such an import- ant trade. He said nothing was more heart-rending in the capitalist countries than a worker tramping the streets “wearing out his soul and sole-leather hunting for a job he can- not find.” Cooper said that trade between the U. S. and the Soviet Union thus far has aggregated $750,000,000, with a cold cash profit to the American bus- iness men of $450,000,000. He hit the lies about “dumping” and the “red trade menace.” Cooper's hope is. that by unlimited trade with the Soviet Union the capitalists can “demonstrate the superiority of our (the capitalist) system.” This has al- ways been Cooper's idea, that the Soviet Union could complete the Five Year Plan and should be aided in so doing (of course, with adequate profit to the capitalists), and that this would lead in the direction of capitalism. Thus far there has been no open Mellon Covers Wage Cut Drive With Pack of Lies “Cut Costs,” He Says But Makes It Appear | As Rise in Standard WASHINGTON, May 6.—Wage- cutting and an attack against the living standard of the workers is one of the foremost questions being taken up by the leading bosses of all coun- tries represented at the Interna- tional Chamber of Commerce, now in session here. The other question is how to organize the attack against the Soviet Union. Today Aloyse Meyer, president of the European Steel Cartel, compris- ing the leading steel industries of Europe, in which the U. S. Steel Co. is also interested, came out openly with a demand that wages of all workers be cut in all countries of the world. Meyer said that the crisis was caused by “high wages.” Melion Says Wages Should Be Cut. Yesterday, Secretary of ‘the Treas- ‘ury Mellon madesa demagogic speech which the capitalist newspapers in- terpreted as being “against wage- cuts.” Mellon's speech, by no amount of twisting, can be interpreted as a “no wage-cut” policy. Mellon said the bosses should cut wages and yelp about “maintaining standards of living.” Mellon's own words are: “Prices must be revised and costs of | production and output brought down to a point where demand will again be stimulated and goods move into consumption.” Bringing down “costs of produc- tion” to any capitalist means, first and foremost, slashing wages. This is what Mellon was for, an insidious system of wage-cutting while telling the workers that “living standards” would be maintained. Calls for Universal Slashes. But today, Meyér, head of the Eu- ropean Steel Cartel, came out with what every capitalist has in his mind and acts on, but doesn’t usually splurge across the front pages of the capitalist press. Meyer came out directly for a wage-cut for every worker in the world. He put the matter bluntly. He told the capital- ists that the solution of the crisis for capitalism can be solved by a smash- ing attack against the standard of living of the American workers. Organize and Strike. The A. F, of L. is aiding the wage- cutting drive. It is trying to make the workers follow Hoover's policy of talking about “maintaining wage standards” while putting over an ef- fective wage-slashing campaign. The ‘Trade Union Unity League is lead- ing the resistance to wage-cuts. All workers must organize and strike discussion on Col. Cooper's proposals. against wage-cuts! Mass Pressure in Portland > Frees Moore | PORTLAND, Oregoa, May 6.—The tens of thousands of workers rallying | throughout the United States to the} defense of the nine Scottsboro boys} will receive inspiration from the suc- cessful application of mass pressure in the case of John Moore, whose trial | ended today with the freeing ot) Moore. Moore is the third of the thirteen Portland workers arrested under the Oregon Criminal Syndicalist Act to be tried, and the second to be freed | by the proper mobilization of the} workers in his defense. | Before a court room crowded with workers mobilized by the Interna-/| tional Labor Defense to support the legal defense of its attorney, Irvin) Goodman, the case was heard today, | with the same stool pigeons testifying | for the State that were used in the two other criminal syndicalist cases when Ben Boloff was sentenced to ten years in prison and Fred Walker was freed. | Moore is one of the thirteen work- ers arrested last fall, directly after | raids on the Communist Party head- quarters when the infamous Fish Committee paid its inquisitorial visit to the Pacific coast and membership books of the Party were stolen out of | | the headquarters of the workers or- ganization, As the loggers came in from the lumber camps, arrested and held for deportation or charged with criminal syndicalism on suspicion of working class. activities. Prosecuting Attorney Dillard, in his opening statement before the jury and Judge Hewitt, stressed the de- fendant’s membership in the Com- munist Party and that he “therefore teaches and advocates the overthrow of the government by force and vio- lence,” and that membership in such an organization is therefore sufficient gr-und to be convicted under the Criminal Syndicalist Act. The I. L. D. attorney scored the} hypocrisy of the boss courts and poin- | ted out that the Criminal Syndicalist Act had laid dead “on the books” } since 1919, and has not been used for } the past 10 years, but was revived by | the lumber interests in the hope of crushing the revolutionary mass struggles of the workers against star- vation, wage cuts, police terror, etc Scottsboro Defense Conferences May 17 New York City, 11 a. m., Finnish Workers Hall, 15 W 126th Street. May 20 Pittsburgh, Pa. May 21 Minneapolis, Minn. 1 May 23 Buffalc N. Y at the gan Avenue “Y”. New Orleans, La. May 24 ; Chicago, Il. May 25 Philadelphia, Pa. May. 29 Cleveland, Ohio, at the Spiro Hall, 3804 Scoville Avenue. May 30 at Chattanooga, Tenn. they were | Broadcast Demands for Unemployment Insurance Over Radio, Mansfield Starving Ky. Miners Wage War With Company Gangs Four Known Dead in Pitched Battle Near Evart; One Is a Striker Posses of “Citizens” Formed to Hunt Down “Left Wing Miners;” Hungry Seize Food At least four men were killed, one of them a striking more were wounded. | miner and the others deputy sheriffs and mine: guards, in a | battle which took place Tuesday at Evart, Ky., and a dozen | j On the same day, three men were killed in a slate fall in the mines, and two more were killed in an (as '3 MORE MINES ON STRIKE a COUPON, PENN. Against Wage Cuts May 6.—The strike COUPON, Pa., at the Pages Mine of. the Russett | Coal Co., which started May 1 against a wage cut, has spread to three other mines. They are Mc- Neil's Mine of the Horner Coal Co. (30. men out); of the Eckenob Coal Co. (25 out); and Bakers Mine of the Thos, L. Jones Coal Co. (60 out), This last mine struck only on May 4, the sec- ond day of mass picketing. There are 60 striking at Pages Mine. All these mines are struck 100 per cent. The strike is lead by the National Miners Union. The wage cut given the miners was from 15 per cent to 18 per cent. A mass meeting of strikers was held Saturday, and a relief commit- tee organized, and all workers are urged to send donations of money, food or clothing to Local Union, 302, Coupon, Pa., through Financial Sec- retary Louis Gabilla, Box 45, Coupon, Pa. The strike committee presented demands to the Russett officials and the company agreed to grant a checkweighman, recognize the mine committee, not discriminate and give equalization of the work. However, the company refused to annul the wage cut, or to allow the scales to be tested in front of the mine com- mittee. The strike is going on, and more mass picketing is planned. Use your Red Shock Troop List every day un your job. The worker next to you will help save the Daily Worker. Parents of Scottsboro Negro Boys Accuse NAACP Leader of Sabotaging Fight to Save Lives of Sons (By Telegraph to Daily Worker) CHATTANOOGA, May 6, — The court hearing on the motion filed by the International Labor Defense for Patterson, one of the nine Scottsboro frame-up victims, has been postponed to allow the state to file counter affidayits and briefs in opposition to a new trial for these innocent Negro children, eight of whom have been sentenced to burn in the electric chair on July 10. | In the meantime, General Cham- lee, leading Chattanooga attorney en- gaged by the I. L. D,, is in Scottsboro today, with Joseph Brodsky, New York attorney of the I. L, D, filing motions for new trials for all of the defendants. i ° Hearing On Motion for New Trial for Heywood’ Patterson Postponed As State Prepares Fight; ILD Files Motions for Other Boys capitalists and their state .govern- ment opposing the I. L. D. demand for a new trial for the nine youths, Mrs, Janie Patterson today accused Walter White of the National Asso- ciation for the Advancement of Col- ored People of sabotaging the de- fense of her boy and the other eight youths, She declared a letter re- ceived by* Mr, Patterson purporting to come from their son to be a rank forgery. The letter states that Wal- ter White of the N, A, A. C. P. was in Kilby Prison on Monday to Visit to ask the parents to follow the lead of the N. A. A. C. P. and to sign a statement repudiating the I. L. D. and its United Front Defense policy. It asks Mr. and Mrs. Paterson not to confer with or show the letter to the I. L, D. local organizer. Warn Boys Against Betrayal. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson at once got in touch with thé I. L. D. organizer and sent a wire to Heywood to sign nothing unless his parents are pres- ent. The omher parents of the Chat- tanooga boys are also sending letters the boys, The letter-then goes on|to their sons, The constant effort eof the N. A. A. C. P. leadership to trick the boys into statements and hamstring their defense are adding to the worries of the parents, already sorely tried by the death sentences hanging over their sons. Mrs. Williams, mother of 14-year- old ugene Williams, one of the con~- demned lads, returned from Georgia last night bringing contracts with the I. L. D. from the nearest rela- tions of Ozie Powell, 16; Willie Rob- ertson, 17; Ollie Montgomery, 17; and Clarence Norris, 18, All close rela- tives of Charley Weems, 20 dead. The families of the other Georgia boys all welcomed the de- fense of the LL.D, are i Goblers Knob Mine} yet) unexplained shooting | | which may have been a part of | |the general civil war which is | miner 'NMU Leads Struggle at ele started about a month ago with | m goir on between starving and the company gun- men ber known to have t two weeks is ten. So} far only the capitalist’ press) stories been received. The Daily Work- | is making every effort to get direct | information. ‘There are some members of the National Miners’ Union in the vicin-| ity, but no actual organization, so far The total nw in the tied as is known here. The capitalist’ press speaks, however, of posses of “citizens” being organized to’ “hunt| down the left wingers or. run them| out of the territory.” According to available and appar- ently reliable information, the strug- the locking out of all miners by the Black Mountain Coal Co., which has a mine at Evart, and an attempt to operate on part schedule with scabs brought in from outside. Other com- panies followed suit. Even employed miners in other mines are practically starving on part | time work and wage cuts, as were the Black Mountain Miners before the D ON PAG (CONTINU THREE) TO WELCOME MRS. WRIGHT TODAY Collect Saturday and| Sun. for Scottsboro NEW YORK.—Mrs. Ada Wright, mother of Roy and Andy Wright, two of the nine young Negro boys whom the lynch-courts in Scotts- boro, Ala., are trying to burn in the electric chair, will arrive in New York from Chattanooga at 5:45 p. today (Thursday) at the Penn- Sylvania station, Mrs. Wright is the second mother of a Scottsboro defendant to come north in behalf of the defense. Mrs. Janie Patterson, mother of Haywood Patterson, who was here for a week, is now back in Chattanooga, As part of the campaign to smash this vicious frame-up, house-to- house collections will be held this Saturday and Sunday throughout the city by the New York District of the International Labor Defense. The collections will also help defend the victims of another murder frame-up, the five Paterson, N. J., silk workers who have been framed up on the charge of being respon- sible for the death of a boss, Many collectors are needed in order that thousands of dollars may be raised to smash these two outrageous frame-ups. Volunteers are asked to report at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sun- day at the following stations: 27 E. 4th St.; 799 Broadway, room 410; 64 W. 22nd St.; 350 E. 81st St.; 353 Lenox Ave.; 569 Prospect Ave.; 1400 Boston Road; 2700 Bronx Park East; 61 Graham Ave., Williamsburg; 136 15th St. Williamsburg; 118 Bristol St., Brooklyn; 534 Vermont St. Brooklyn; 140 Neptune Ave, Brigh- ton Beach, 4 “Hold Meetings Along the Way; Rally More Support [arching Five Abreast Sing Workers’ Songs; Show Determination ASHLAND, Ohio, May 6—Gaining re- cruits not only from the unemployed of. the industries, but also from the farmers ruined by “Hoover Prosperity,” the state hunger marchers are parading down the roads toward Columbus, where they will demand unemploy- ment insurance of the state’ govern= ment. They intend particularly to see the state legislature, which has once already postponed its sessions in the effort to avoid them. The Cleyeland and- Youngstown sections of the hunger mareh, which | united at Massillon a few days ago, expect to’ reach ‘Mansfield tonight and stay over night. Mansfteld is an industrial city of 35,000. Yesterday, C. B.'Cowan of the state unemploy- ment committee gave a fifteen-min- ute talk over the radio, Station WJW, from Mansfield, explaining the mis- ery and starvation of the jobless in Ohio, and telling of the five lines of march now cénverging on Colum- bus and the demands that they will present to the state government. The talk was arranged by the Mansfield’ Unemployment Insurance Committee. Farmers March, The Cleveland section ..of © the marchers was met at East Greenville by 15 farmers who joined their ranks and passed with them through. the village of Dalton, center of’a farm- ing community. A meeting of a hun- dred was held in Dalton. “a The marchers then went~on to Wooster, a town of 12,000 and an- other farming center. Here a mass meeting of 350 was held -on the county fair grounds. They were mostly farmers. The night of May 4 the marchers slept in Wooster and last sugne in Ashland. The Toledo section of the hunger march arrived May 4 in Bowling Green and held a meeting. The To- ledo and Cleveland-Youngstown sec- tions will unite May 8 in Marion. Five Abreast. ‘The Akron “Beacon-Journal” gave the hunger marchers considerable display, with pictures, and in a not particularly antagonistic tone ‘to its stories. This paper describes the marchers on the road as follows: “Frank Miller, state secretary, Ohio Councils of Unemployed, is com- mander-in-chief of the army, and is striding at the head of the Cleve- land contingent, which got under way late Friday. “This is serious business with the marchers, Miller said. They stick close together, hiking five abreast. They exchange banter pleasantly with the public, but there is noth- ing antagonistic about their attitude. “They'll Stick.” “None of the marchers is more than. middle age, and several of them are mere boys. They are fired with the zeal of Sovietism, however, and will stick to the hike until physically in- capacitated. “The mess wagon carries @ tult complement of first aid materials, two 10-gallon cans of fresh water, ® Supply of smoked meats and such, donated to ‘the cause’ and zealously guarded by Comrade ©, G. Zehe, in charge of the ‘advance car.’ Alto- gether, arrangements for the hike seem to have been well planned, “There: will be a: commissary for the Akron battalion, too, said today,