The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 11, 1931, Page 4

Published by the Comprodaily Publishing Co., Inc., daily,exe New Page Four YorkCity, N. ¥."Telephone} Algonquin’ 7956s" t Suvday, at 50 East Gable: “DATWORK.” mail all checks to the Daily Worker, 50 East 13th Street, New York. N. ¥. ker “> Derty USA oom = SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mall everywhere: One year, $6; six months $3; two menths, $1; ot Manhattan and Bronx, New York Ctiy Foreign: one vear ——— = a Racketeering-—-A Capitalist “ea Government Institution By I. AMTER IV. HE republicar ceed with t Hall mac attack in th rife there 2 fore in the ers had to could be ob put thr City adm Walker, ter offensive investigation Bounty adm Borough Pre diately declar investigation know that wh tre contro! is & goverl of the republica time as of would arouse out the city, wh starvation for 1 of millions of a ministration, 1 the borough an admin is rotten t must be s ‘Therefore it. It will not proc as the republicans kettle calls the pot black too deep, the ¥ The socialists, on the other the situation an oppor e behind ‘s far ned, for when the gered. d, who see in before the public—not the workers—as the cleaners of the stable of capitalism—not to remove the cause, not to destroy the system of c m, but to save ca m and institute “ govern- ment’—these people jump on the s in the person of Norman Thomas, and the “City Affairs Committee.” What do these people propose? They pro- pose an investigation with lawyers of their own. ‘What do they charge? They charge Walker with malfeasance of office; that he ware of the situation in the city of New York; he was not aware of what was going on, he shows his incompetency, and therefore must be removed. And then what? That the which pro- duces such scores must be des ing. class stem, controlled by should be put in its place? Thi rotten to the core, that no capitalist tive in government can be trusted “clean” government? That a governm does not and cannot s, and that therefore, being founded on capitalist principles and morality, every capital- ist government must be a racketeering govern- ment? Nothing of the kind. Norman Thomas and the socialist party see in the present situation the possibility of establishing themselves more openly as the third party of capitalism—as the party that comes forward at a time of Tammany Hall and Hoover republican corruption, to save the face of capitalism. Norman Thomas proposed that the investigation should not be a two-sided affair, of the republicans and democrats alone, but that all three parties should be involved. Norman Thomas saw in this investigation an opportunity to establish himself and his party fs the “clean” party of capitalism, as the party Which the bosses could trust to conduct their affairs in an “honest” manner, in a manner that would still retain the faith of the workers in capitalism. Is this a far-fetched conclusion? Look at Germany, where the social-democrats, socialists of the American socialists, today are the bulwark of the capitalist regime—they are the party on which the Bruening dictatorship de- pends for its very existence. The government, that has cut the wages of all the workers, has taken hundreds of thousands off the unemploy- Ment insurance list, has voted for new cruisers —with the support of the social-democrats—while 5,000,000 workers are unemployed! Look at the British Labor government, fellow socialists of the American socialist party, which has helped to cut the wages of the workers 10 per cent, has denied independence to the Indian Masses, and instead has slaughtered thousands and jailed 0,000 workers and peasants. From country to country one can proceed in order to demonstrate that the socialists are the third party of capitalism, intent upon establish- ing more strongly the structure of capitalism which is tottering. And looking at the socialists at home, with Norman Thomas, Morris Hillquit, as their fascist leaders, what do we find? The clubbing of the unemployed by the Tammany police was ap- proved by Norman Thomas. The jailings of the Unemployed Delegation of March 6th was ap- proved by the socialist party, The clubbing represent the | repub! fellow- lace at the hands of the so- Evictions, starvation and nt in these two socialist con- And in Wisconsin, the socialists 0.a coalition with the LaFollette r the purpose of strengthening ig of the working m: Socialist lawyers, Mor Hillquit, Charles Sol- e injunctions against striking workers. The g Tammany Hall judges grant them these injunctigns and with ‘olled by nternational amated Clothing Workers and build- locals—work with the racketeering un- id, club and beat up the militant workers. of the socialist party, the underworld and e Tammany Hall police and courts! in more recent days, the united front of t party leaders with the police, the t Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Russian white guards, to prevent the workers from dem- onstrating on May Day! We must judge .a party not by its statements alone, but by its action: cialist party, through its leaders, is a record identical with that of Tammany Hall and the an party. It is a third party of capital- and in entering into the muckraking busi- the social-fascist socialist leaders soci ism. the workers—but of the capitalists as full porters and reliable props of the capitalist em. The exposure of the racketeering Tammany Hall machine will not be a deep-going one. It dare not go deep, for it will only arouse the workers still more against the racketeering sys- tem of capitalism, which starves and tries to crush the workers, lets the unemployed and their families be thrown into the streets to die, forces wage cuts and speed-up on the workers in the shops. The workers know today that there is a Communist Party, which is umafraid of the courts, police, the jails and penitentiaries; that organizes them to fight for unemployment in- surance and relief; that organizes them into the revolutionary unions of the Trade Union Un League, to fight not only against the rack- eteering of the bosses but against their racket- eering colleagues in the American Federation of Labor, and the socialist party. There can be no cleansing ‘of capitalism or of capitalist govern- ment, It is not the capitalist governments alone that are corrupt: capitalism itself is inseparable from corruption and graft. Capitalism spreads the disease of corruption that seeps down to and through the working class. Only by the workers destroying the system of corruption and rackct- eering, only by rooting it out branch and limb, will it be possible on the basis of working class power and of collective production and distribu- tion for social use, to erect a government, which not only may be controlled by the workers, but which has a foundation that eliminates graft, corruption and racketeering. The socialist party leaders, Thomas, Hillquit and Company, are of the same class of racketeers as Walker, Tammany Hall and the republican party. The drawing in of Rev. Holmes and Rabbi Wise does not and connot change the character of the system one bit. On the con- trary, their very coming on the scene has the purpose of giving a “holy,” “impartial,” “clean” aspect to the investigation. These people are as much a part of the racketeering capitalist sys- tem as is the underworld, the gangsters, the fascist socialist party and the A. F. of L. leaders. It is all capitalism—and capitalism being’ the cause of present-day mass misery, starvation, and persecution must go and will go when the work- ers at last see through the lies of capitalist poli- ticians of all types and capitalist parties, when “they recognize the methods of struggle and or- ganize under the leadership of the Communist Party to sweep capitalism off the face of the United States and the entire world, and, in re- volutionary struggle, establish a Workers’ and Farmers’ Government in the United States. ‘The answer of the workers of New York this year to the racketeering system of capitalism, must be to build up the Unemployed Councils and revolutionary unions of the Trade Union Unity League to fight for unemployment relief and insurance, against wage reductions and speed-up, and for the 7-hour day with no wage reductions, against discrimination and jim-crowism of the Negroes, against imperialist war and for the de- fense of the Soviet Union. The May Day dem- onstration of the United Front May Day Con- ference with its tremendous outpouring of the workers of New York was the answer of the working class to the racketeering capitalist system with its misery for the workers. We must answer the racketeering Tammany Hall, repub- lican and socialist parties in the coming alder- manic elections by supporting the only party of the working class, the party of the class struggle, tthe Commimist Party, Lovestoneites---Strikebreakers By ROSE WORTIS. IN a recent statement issued by the Lovestone group they openly proclaim their affiliation with the company union in the needle trades; however, they still try to cover up their desertion to the cathp of the enemy with revolutionary phrases. In their statement they speak of build- ing left wing oppositions in the company union. We will therefore cite some facts which will throw light on the character of the Lovestone “left wing fighters.” In the dress industry the firm called Needle- ™man and Bremmer, formerly located at 370 W. * 86th Street and now at 263 W. 40th Street, was for many years under the control of the Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union. It was one of the few shops where. union conditions Gere enforced and the workers earned a decent live- lihood. The ILGW made many attempts to company-unionize this shop in the past. few years, but found it impossible toe penetrate this fortress of the Industrial Union. When the Lovestoneites began their destruct- ‘ve work in the Needle Trades Workers Indus- _ trial Union they concentrated their efforts on ., Needleman and Bremmer, where one of the out= standing leaders of the Lovestone group, T. Stein= . -20r, was employed. Through demoralizing ac- tivities in the shop Steinzor sought to bring _ Gissention into the ranks of the workers, to poison Is and he ast. with resentment on the part of all workers with the exception of two or three followers of the Lovestone group. Steinzor’s Strategy. Under the influence of Steinzor, the Gitzes brothers began to work hand in hand with the bosses to lock out the workers and settle with the company union. Steinzor, who' still had to parade as a left winger, quietly left the shop before the lockout so as not to expose himself by openly scabbing; while his supporters, the Gitzes brothers, under his- inspiration got the boss to sign an agreement with the company- union and become open scab agents working under the protection of police and gangsters. When the lockout was declared in the shop the Industrial Union called all the workers, in- cluding Steinzor, to a shop meeting. Steinzor failed to report. The warning of the union that this will mean desertion of the strike made little difference to him. It is now almost four months since the strike against the firm of Needleman and Bremmer started, The scabs (Lovestone supporters) are brought in taxis guarded by gangsters and po- lice. The strikers, many of whom are old fighters in the ranks of the needle trades workers, have shown a spirit of militancy and self-sacrifice that has aroused the admiration not only of the members of the Industrial Union, but of many of the well. The fel ompen member's with its racketeering, with its star- omon and others, use the capitalist courts to | the aid of the socialist | lawyers send the militant workers to jail. Unions | Ladies Garment Workers, | The record of the so- | ness together with the republicans, they hope | to establish themselves better in the eyes—not of unemployed in Milwaukee and | PARTY LIFE Conducted by the Organization Department of the Central Committee, Communist Party, U.S.A. | Sacramento, Calif. | Dear Comrades: Well, just a little low down on unemployment conditions in Sacramento, Cal.—the poor half- starved families who somehow or other have been able to keep body and soul together last winter in the jungles in Yolo County across the river from Sacre—were given three days no- tice to get out. It was pitiful to see the efforts they had made at making a home—pieces of cardboard and old parts of autos, and so on— anything to be out of the weather. Of course, some had tents or could sleep in their car, but most were little rusty shacks made of this and that. Well, on the third day the law started in burning down these people’s only home and if they stayed they were threatened with jail. Wlel, they went, some here, some there—looking for another place to do the same thing or maybe find a cheap master. It did not solve the prob- Jem for the poor people, but was a good alibi for the boss gang of that locality, as they had got rid of those huban derelicts; lét someone else worry what to do with them. In regards to organization a very queer thing happened in the Yolo jungles. An old helpless and (supposed to be insane) man lives in an old tent there. When these boss representatives went around ordering the people out, they came to the old man—“You got to get out, dad.” He says, “Who said so?” “The law,” they said. The old man says, “I don’t know whether I will or not.” Then they threatened the old disabled man with pick and shovel and jail. But I no- ticed on the third day he was still there when the so-called wise slaves weré gone. The idea is, if they had had as much guts as this poor in- sane old man and stuck together, they still would have their shack homes. Will they ever get wise to themselves and organiez for their own protection? Some of the comrades left three days before eviction day to thin fruit at 35 cents an hour. Some comrades talk Carl Marx and so on in the Hall but do not function on committees when elected on them. I average 40 copies a week, but times are bad with many out of work, the Southern Pacific R.R. shops, the canneries near- ly closed, only working part time at starvation wages, It seems as thought the petty shop keepers are waking up and starting to wonder what it is all about. And as I go over my route I find quite a few of them pretty radical. I find the rank and file of the AFL are O.K., but the leadership is the bunk. I met an AFL mem- ber last night and sold him a paper; he was very sore at conditions in the S. P. shops, I sold a Daily Worker to an American Legion mem- ber's wife; the next time I went to their house the man ordered me away, said all the damned Communists should be shot down like rats. I think between the members and sympathizers a hall could be built of our own here in Sacra- mento, by throwing in donations, and I know of several people who would throw in a dollar, Now I want to say right here before the Party get anywhere here the local must be cleaned up of a lot of useless and undesirable members, as they are a bad example for the Party. If they had carried out the orders of the district office during the last demonstration we would not have lost our hall. There is a lot of turboil in the local here and it is seeping out into public and is hurting the Party's progress in Sacramento very much, . KS. THANE FOR €50N.! ts | Be By BURCK OLD LA ova CAPITALIS mM eet J How to Fight for Food tor | Starving and other relief for the starving families of unemployed workers is: (1) to bring the misery and hunger of the unemployed workers’ families into the light of day and to mobilize the broad- est masses of unemployed and emplayed work- ers to fight against starvation and to struggle for immediate relief from the city governments and corporations. (2) To expose the ‘city govern- ments and rich corporations and their agents in that they condemn families to starvation and death. ( 3) To organize an immense net-work of neighborhood branches of unemployed work- ers and wives of unemployed at the same time that we uncover the starvation that exists, make demands for immediate relief from the city gov- ernments and rich corporations, give a measure of immediate relief through our unemployed councils and branches in instances where the need. is acute. How not to do it: We have before us two re- ports which show us how not to carry on our work of fighting for relief for starving families. In an Ohio city the following happened. A com- mittee from our unemployed council found a starving family. They took the name and ad- dress of the family to the police station, the city’s relief agency. The police sent an investi- gating committee to the home of the family. The police gave the family relief. According to the report, this is all that happened. In a work- ers’ neighborhood in Philadelphia the following happened. The neighborhood branch found a family that had lost its furniture because it had not paid rent. A constable had suld it upon the demand of the landlord, and had evicted the family. The lranch investigated the case. friends of the evicted family went to court to prosecute the constable. What were the mistakes of our Ohio and Philadelphia comrades? In the Ohio case our comrades acted as capitalist charity agents of the city government. They helped the police prove that the police give relief. It is altogether possible that the starving family that secured relief from the police now thinks that the po- lice and city government should be supported be- cause of their “kindness.” And the workers in the neighborhood of this starving family? They have undoubtedly heard how “kind and gen- erous” the police were to this-family. Instead of proving to the workers in the neighborhood and the stafving family that the city govern- ment and police condemned this family to starvation, that the capitalist government and rich corporations are condemning thousands of workers to starvation and death because they refuse unemployment insurance and adequate immediate relief, instead of informing all work- ers in this neighborhood by a neighborhood meeting and by leaflet that the city government is responsible for the starvation ‘of this family and organizing the workers in the neighborhood into the branch of unemployed workers and .tak- ing a committee of unemployed workers from this neighborhood to the city government to co- operate in making demands for this starving family, our committee, from the outside, came, found the starvation case, went to the police, the police gave relief, the police got the credit, In the Philadelphia case the same mistakes were made. The workers in the neighborhood of the family that was evicted and lost its furni- ture were not mobilized, called to a meeting, in- formed about this case, were not given a voice as to’ what to do in the matter, and on top of all this wrong approach, the case was taken to @ capitalist court in an attempt to “legally” re- cover the furniture, which in the absence of the workers in the company-union shops in the building. ‘The workers in many of the company-union shops, inspired by the spirits of self-sacrifice displayed by the strikers and the need of their families, are making financial contributions to aid the strikers and assist’ them on the picket line, But the Lovestone leader, Steinzor, who had been employed in the shop for more than a year, not only failed to show his face on the picket line, but is actively defending the scabs against the strikers, Lovestone Tactics f ‘The Lovestoneites, who today are in the ranks of the company-union under the pretense of fighting from within, are giving their full sanc- tion to ‘these strike-breaking activities of the company union, They have not raised a single word in protest against this outrage committeed by the company-union against some of the best fighters in the needle trades. The Lovestoneites, at one time members of the Industrial Union, are company-union, They have had ample exper- ience with strikes of this character and they know full well that such a maneuver means a reduction in wages and slavery for the workers, A Fake “Opposition” The facts about the shop of Needleman and Bremmer speak louder than any of the proclama- tions of the Lovestoneites about their desire to fight for the interests of the workers within the ranks of the company union. The facts about this shop prove that the Lovestoneites though still parading under the guise of a left wing opposition have become part and parcel of the treacherous, corrupt gang in control of the company union. Through this one example the workers in the needle trades will learn that there is no difference between Zimmerman, Steinzor, Pearl Halpern and the company union officials; that all have but one aim—to help the bosses carry through their attack on the con- ditions of the workers and force the yoke of company-unionizm on the needle tred2s workers. Schlesinger does it openly, the Lov: ° x aes a Families | complete exposure of capitalist courts in the neighborhood will give the workers illusions in that they may now think that because the con- le was held under bail, the courts will give this family “justice.” We Must Fight Sharply Against Opportunist Tendencies, Unless we carry on this’ work of securing | direct relief correctly, we will only help to mis- | lead the workers. Every TUUL local and dis- trict secretary and the comrades who help give leadership in our Unemployed Councils and branches knows that the capitalist governments, the rich corporations, the charity institutions are against unemployment insurance and give immediate relief only because pressure by the workers force them to make gestures in this direction. Right now the employers and their government are lessening the measure of ira- mediate relief in hundreds of cities. Starvation is on the increase, It is just at this time that we must bring to the light of day the misery and starvation among the unemployed, fight for | food for the starving families, while at the same | | time we organize neighborhood branches thereby effecting an organizational base for mass strug- gles and protests. | In the next article we will discuss how to carry on this work, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ~ Question:—How shall I answer this question, “If the Communists don’t like this country, why don't they go back where they came from?”—A Young Worker. What if some of the Communists did come from other countries? Foreign-born certainly have a right to come here, and a right to work to make things different. Immigrants have been in great démand here, they have done a great deal of the work of building industry, etc. Without immigration all of us including the In- dians, would not be here, ‘The question does not consider the fact that many Communists are native born. Further- more, probably most of the foreign-born Com- munists became Communists “after” instead of “before” they came, Workers are Communists not because of the place of their birth, but because of economic conditions. Every day Communists are made in the shops, the mines, the railroads, on the farms, and in the industries of the United States. This is where Communists “come from”, and they in- tend to go deeper and further into the shops and factories. Communism cannot be deported or exiled. Fighting reds like fighting fire with gasoline. The Communists do like this country; they want it for the masses of workers and toiling farmers, the producers to whom it rightfully be- longs. Surely they do not like the poverty and misery enforced by capitalism, nor the fat pouch- es living Off the labor of the masses, nor the exploitation, oppression and rule of the cap- italists. They do not like capitalism here or in any other country, The Communists intend to continue to lead the masses in the fight for bread and butter for better conditions right now and for the final abolition of capitalism,—the fight to establish a workers’ and farmers’ government, to take and operate the industries and the land, and to abolish misery and poverty. Labor Spies Exposed By her own admissions, Maria Podhayny, © young office worker and store clerk of Ukrainian nationality, stands exposed as a stool-pigeon for the Trumbull Steel Co., of Warren, Ohio. She made an application in May, 1930, for joining the Young Communist League, but al- though she was at first permitted to attend unit and committee meetings, her application was placed under investigation, and she was never formally admitted into the League and, there- fore, never received a membership card. According to her statements, her father, who is working for the Western Reserve Lumber Co., is also a stool-pigeon, All workers and workers’ organizations should be on guard against these spics. CENTRAL CONTROL COMMISSION, | COMMUNIST RARITY OF HE Ty 1 from Colorad thn ete nh AE eacepting Boroughs 34.50. $8. six! months. SSS ee ARSE CS By JORGE | Red Spooks, Maybe! ‘There was a big fire in Buffalo the other day that burned up the armory and then jumped over to consume a church or so. Result: A big “red scare,” with raids and what not. The Buf- falo Bulls “believing” that the fire was due to “inflammatory” leaflets put out by Commu- nists. On an inside page of a local paper, another “theory” just as absurd as the first was given, It appears that the armory was the third build- ing erected on.that site which has gone up in smoke. And Buffalo grandmothers say that the place is accursed, The reason is: The armory, and the other two buildings previously burned, were built on ground that used to be a cemetery. Twenty-five years ago it was condemned. Bodies were dup up for blocks around by relatives who paid for removal to. other burial grounds, But thousands remained and the sentimental objectien against building houses—and armories—over the graves was used as a fat graft for Erie County politi- cians. The county agreed to pay $15 for everybody dug up and reburied. But they were counted and checked on when reburied. So the grafters, when they dug up one body, mixed in pig’s bones enough to fill three coffins, and got paid for re-burying three! At least $80,000 was known to have been cleaned up in this business by the contractors, in cahoots with the county officials, No wonder the spooks got sore and went Bol- Shevik! But, dear reader, this story will’ not get the Pull r prize. If it had only been write ten by Knockerbocker about Soviet horrors, that would be splendid! eee Those Songs Again Als hiner~ f being in New York on ? g the demon- stration, writes that I vercome by tionale,” the Fort? a par- Republic.” s no other songs?” he asks. rs in the John Reed rs with stirring ai they would not find rn bourgeois tunes There are othe: And if we are not mistaken, the Y. C. L. is trying now to gather them up and publish them. But will they be sung? That's a ion. Wh€ther the John Reed Club c the thing needed is t singing teachers assa workers’ choral o to add to their li: tionary songs an cobble-stones f march next May Day Why Use Cz In case you a@ coated t lown with a copy g the apy ecretary ve % gripes w , Who is “visitis who is “posing with the Pr who is “breakfasting with the President,” ad nauseum. And now, in the Times of May 7, is something that ought to get the Pulitzer Prize. We will not inflict the whole story on you; but you can get an acute attack of dysentery by reading. the headline alone, which says: “Tells of Pup- py in Lap Stealing Hoover's Egg—Broadcaster Describes White House Breakfast and the Grand- children’s Greeting.” “Puppy in Lap”.. “Steals Hoover's Egg”. .t!! And this is the publicity that is going to elect Hoover in 1932729 aS GR This Is a Nice One When it comes to explaining the Five-Year Plan, the N. Y. Times’ editorial writers re- semble nothing so much as the amusing sight of a dog chasing its own tail, without noticeable success. ? In its issue of May §, the Times used about 600 words to show how the Five-Year Plan was failing—precisely because it was succeeding! Yes, sir-ee! It says, in part: “Plenty of evidence is forthcoming from Rus- sla, of the dislocation produced unscheduled spurts of success.... Victories on Russia’s ‘oil front’ or ‘timber front,’ if won beyond the re- quirements of the Plan, are a denial of the whole reason of that Plan. ... For the foreign de- votees of Russia’s beautifully co-ordinated prol tarian planning as a substitute for capitalistic, chaos, there must be, theoretically, almost as” much regret in a Five-Year Plan attained in three years, as in a Five-Year Plan that should take ten years.” Oh, yeah! You hear us weeping and wailing, don’t you, Mr. N. Y. Times editor! And you wrote all that long editorial to gloat over our sorrow, didn’t you! And you're plumb tickled to death that the Five-Year Plan is now sure to be accomplished in four. years, ain't you? Because that “proves” that the Plan is a fail- ure! Now you write another editorial proving that capitalism is really a success because it is such a magnificent failure, and let us dry our tears! See He Knows It’s True A young farmer of Dalla, Georgia, writes a letter to us which shows that the capitalist hokum about “forced labor” in the Soviet Union is a deadly boomerang: “I have read several articles in the Daily Worker about slavery in Louisiana plantations and other Southern states. I have worked on Louisiana plantations and have been an eye- witness to it. Louisiana and Mississippi are both full of decayed aristocrats and they certainly do stink, Lots of plantations keep stacks of guns and ammunition, I heard them say that they were going to ‘thin out these niggers one of these days,’” This is @ fipe country to be yelling a | Eis ab 9 Jerse Inter out a ducte save whon road up n repre BL fri part Pla dates ences Ambe Pater tees | these