The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 21, 1931, Page 4

1 all checks hing Co., Inc., dat elephone Algonquin 7956-7, xcept Sunday, at 50 Hast Cable: “DAIWORK.” o the Daily Worker, 50 East 15th Street, New York, N. ¥. orker wn SUBSCRIPTION RATES: rite wen, & By mail everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; two months, $1; excepting Borough# © of Manhattan and Bronx, New York Ctly. Foreign: one year, $8 six months. $4.50. Unemployment and nd to all has been e of the TUUL fying the policy ployment which will be held cities within the next six weeks been @ id charity unemployed. in ‘the lessening han But en to the lected in our recent activit ¢ little relief given was due large- ly to the pressure of the masses of unemployed Jed by our movement. Simil the attempt thi f away from the unemployed and alias g forward in When we fi eeting with orgar gle from us is es and munici ue of relief nce of the millions of unemployed or okesmen in the government bodies c t they could do nothing beca d the funds or the legal author gles succeeded in making le ferent “At the present time most of the c and charity organizations connected with es, state that they have come to the end eir rope. They claim to have had only so much to give and hoped that soon things would bett Now they pretend to be helple: What should be our answer. Even bigger st gles can be organized against the tal g relief than at first to compel this relief. But we have not reacted on this, with the result that everywhere the masses of unemployed are left starving and no voice of protest and struggle eard. Nor do we react to the fake news about turning prosperity and fake relief proposals let loose by the bosses side by side with their lessening 1 This is a serious indictment of our work. It shows that we have not yet learned how to lead the unemployed movement through the var- ious stages and utilize every situation to advance the interests of the unemployed and the move- ment generally. “What is the reason for this situation? Here we will not attempt to review all of our ac- tivities in the unemployed work for the last 18 months or to restate the general policy and pro- gram sent you in detail only recently. We will only take up recent manifestations of one side- edness and the failure to properly execute the correct policies laid down. “When it became clear that all our work was limited to occasional demonstrations organized on a national scale and that this did not result in the steady building of the organization of the unemployed, we, after an analysis of the causes for this, came to the conclusion, that our work must be better organized and that it must be- come more concrete; that we must fight for the relief of the unemployed on a more co: te basis and not even shrink from organizing relief for the unemployed through the Unemployed Councils. This whole program was contained in & document sent you under the title ‘Next Steps in Our Unemployment Work.’ Now after two months when we examine the work carried on by the unemployed branches and councils what do we see? First we see that the carrying through of the work as outlined in Next Steps is proceeding very slowly; that we are still at the stage of investigations which in many cases are disconnected from the struggle for relief from the government but become isolated investiga- Organize City Conventions to Fight and Starvation! s of a census taker. Secondly we find that estigations are carried through, the s whom we visit do not hear from us, once tior while worker we have ‘investigated’ them. What do they think of us under such circumstances? Certainly not what we aim to accomplish. Also there are cities a single step has yet been taken work outlined in Next n which not rry to ¢ through the Steps eneral failure to react to the we can draw the conclusion been interpreted in a way ne struggle for relief from the gov- emi-government charity or- Otherwise how can we explain the during the period from February 25 nly in one or two cities did we ions and actions in connec- ening of relief. The state hun- which are still being carried through ates are part of the program in October long before the Next were you. It s were understood as a substitute for the gle to be organized on each when the interests of the unemployed served through such actions, instead of as a means of giving firmer foundation and richer content to these local actions and at the same time through the self-activity of the mass- es build organization as a result of these actions. “What is to be done about this? Some will “Let us return to the old methods,” to the methods of the general demonstrations and that the work outlined in the Next Steps wo! This is not correct. In the first place the Next Steps did not eliminate demon- ions and actions. On the contrary, they are 0 be the basic work that will lead to bigger and better demonstrations, and not merely demon- strations that will take place on a certain day set aside nationally or internationally. But local demonstrations of a mass character that will be the logical result of the diverse local and teps has ve up t ernme and th demons e le! s str can be neighborhood activities and struggles for the re- || lief of the unemployed, for every interest of the une ed. s, Can we say that this is not prac- t will not build the movement? n begun to put it into operation We must make the first beginnings. licy is correct. But policy not carried out de not build the movement. Let us stop pla the question as one of either day to day work and steady organizational work or mass demonstrations. Let us look at our work as fol- lows: Steady day to day struggles for food for starving families, constant building of the unem- ployed branches; the development of the self- activ of the masses of the unemployed; the b ing of the Unemployed Councils on a city basis through the united front policy, the carry- ing through of mass struggles and demonstra- tions on every occasion that makes it necessary and possible constantly sharpened by the fight- ing for food for starving families fighting against evictions. Had we carried on the work on this basis we would have had many militant strug- gles of the unemployed against the lessening of relief. We could have prevented the taking away of the relief from the unemployed. It is not too late, though there is little time to be lost, for our entire movement amozg the unemployed. “To help bring about a sharp correction, and to as well more effectively unite the struggles of the employed and unemployed workers in view of increased slashes in wages the National Buro of the T.U.U.L. now calls upon all comrades in all cities to organize City Conventigns to fight unemployment. These conventions should take place within a month to six weeks from this date. The basis for these conventions is con- tained in this very important letter to you. And as to the work outlined in | Capitalism Apologizes for Its Existence By HARRY GANNES. Iv. From Apologies to Attack. a is soon evident to every worker that the Capitalists’ defense of their dying system quickly turns into an attack against the So- viet Union. ‘The very same bankers whom William Green, president of the A. F. of L. blames exclusively for the wage-cutting drive in the United States, at the same time make the heaviest attack against the Soviet Union. ‘The basic reasons are the same. It is a smash-~ ing attack of capitalism against the working class in the United States and against the van- guard of the world working class, the victorious workers of the Soviet Union. After a miserable apology for capitalism, the National City Bank Bulletin for May says that this most perfect of systems, which is in the deepest of crises, could get by all right if it didn’t have so formidable a rival in the Soviet Union. “The most conspicuous rival of the system ex- isting in the United States is the Soviet system of Russia,” is their conclusion after listing the blessings of capitalism. Why can this imperialist bank talk of the Soviet system as a rival of American capitalism, formerly the Hope of world “socialists?” With 10,0000,000 unemployed and industry declining, starvation in the midst of plenty, with the parasites gorging themselves while the workers suffer want in the “richest country in the world,” while in the Soviet Union unemployment has disappeared, industry flourishes (for the masses), there is no wonder that the leading imperialist bank in the United States considers the Soviet Union the foremost rival of the most highly de- veloped capitalism. But others, speakmg more frankly, consider the Soviet Union as more than a rival. At the thirty-seventh annual convention of the Penn- sylvania Bankers Association the Soviet Union was one of the leading topics of discussion. W. Walter Wilson, president of the association, made it the keynote of his main address. “This Communist experiment,” he warned, “is loaded with dynamite and every effort should be made by the members of this association and their business interests against its possible ad- verse results,” ‘These close associates of Andrew Mellon, sec- retary of the treasury of the United States made it clear that they would put forward “every boycott, by supporting counter-revolution and by war. In order to hearten the Pennsylvania bankers in their struggle against Communism, United States Senator David A. Reed, of Pennsylvania did a little prophesying for them. He said that the Soviet Union would collapse “utterly” by 1936. Senator Reed has learned by Sir Henri Deterding’s mistakes. Deterding used to prophesy the collapse of the Soviet Union regularly every six months. But this finally turned out to be embarrassing. Senator Reed prophesies the col- lapse far enough ahead so that all his listeners can conveniently forget about it when the event is scheduled to take place. Senator Reed is no “sixty-day”” promiser. At the same time, Reed told the bankers (none of them believed it, but it was supported to make an impression on the workers through the press) that the “nation is now rounding the corner to normalcy without being conscious of the fact.” Which is something on the order of Ford's whitticism uttered about a year ago that “prosperity is here but few know it.” Certainly,, the 10,000,000 unemployed are.not conscious that their hunger is lessened, nor are the employed very conscious of any slackening in the wage- slashing campaign. Even the stock market won't believe Senator Reed and continues to be un- conscious of “normalcy.” Capitalism’s apologies for its existence, which come thicker and faster as the crisis deepens— from the popes to presidents, from socialists to fascists—are intended to revive the dying faith of the workers in the present system. They do not proceed as a mere campaign of ideas, but go along with a drastic attack against the entire working class, especially against its vanguard, the Communist Party, and with the utmost virulence and hatred against the Soviet Union. American Imperalism’s j “Model Colony” : American imperialism boasts of its “beneficial” work in Porto Rico as an example of what it does for those countries which come under its controi, This mask of falsehoods is torn off, exposing the real situation, with the intense mis- ery of the masses, in an analysis of this “Model Colony of Yankee Imperialism,” in the May Communist. Another concrete picture of the workings of American imperialisth in Latin America is given by Albert Moreau’s article, “Blood-steined Ni« | THE BLOOD TRANSFUSION . Conducted by the Organization Department of the Central Committee, Communist Party, U.S.A. Don’t Abuse the Worker Who| Doesn’t Agree With You! | By I. AMTER. Many Party members are impatient—impatient not only with the boss (which is not always good, for it sometimes leads to hasty, unorganized action), but also impatient with the workers. ‘They think that if workers do not accept Com- munist ideas at once, they are stupid and there- therefore of less use. This is fundamentally wrong. Most Party mem- the ideas they then harbored. They were not revolutionary ideas, for revolutionists are not years back, most of the Party members were average workers, with the ideas of average work- ers pounded into their heads by the agencies of the bosses, their press, church, schools, movies, and what not. They did not begin to think (with exceptions) in terms of the working class until something happened in their lives—a dis- charge, a leaflet, speech, etc. Then finding that the new idea explained things that they did not understand, a light went up in their minds. Many of the unemployed workers who are not afraid today of being called Reds would have punched a worker in the face who dared to call them that a few years ago. But the crisis has caused the workers to do some thinking. The nonserise and lies of the capitalist class—which explain nothing and do not fill the stomach of the worker and his family—are beginning to lose their influence, and the workers are learning what class struggle, class solidarity, mean. They are learning through experience what the Com- munist Party stands and fights for; they see the movement led by the Party attacked by the capitalists and their tools. They see that the Communist Party is fighting for the interests of the working class, and therefore if that is what the capitalist does not want, then the suffering worker is on the side of the Communist Party. But most of the workers are just beginning to think for themselves. They are still in a fog. They still have their old ideas, many misleaders arise to confuse them. They cannot understand and therefore do not yet accept our ideas. And again—many of our comrades are poor interpret- ers of the Communist position. They are not able to approach the workers in the proper man- ner. They do not understand how to disarm the workers of their capitalist prejudices, clear up their doubts. The unenlightened worker still voices ideas supporting the capitalist system, for he cannot with one strike throw off the in- fluence of generations. He still has patriotism in his veins, he still believes in the system, he still is influenced by the lies of the capitalist press. While we are talking to him, he is being poison- ed by the capitalist press and church, he still fore useless to the movement, or reactionary and | bers should think back some years and recall | has his old attachments, which is not so easy to break. A Party member is a disciplined worker, He is disciplined not only by the Party, but also by himself. In his work he must conduct him- self in such a manner that he is doing the best service for the Party in all contacts with the workers. He must try to convince the workers by word and deed of the correct position of the Communist Party. He must know how to ap- proach the workers, how to convince them. He must understand that a weak current of elec- tricity (his propaganda) will not move the train (the worker). A certain force must be reached before the train begins to move. Anger that the electrical power is not intense enough will not move the train. Only by letting on more current (by adding more arguments through words and deeds) will the train begin to move, and as it moves it gains momentum and then runs at full speed. This applies in like measure to the Party. ‘Therefore the Party member must be patient with the workers, clear them up, explain their doubts, and above all show them by action and example what a Communist is. But too many Party members have not this patience—revolu- tionary patience—and if a worker does not agree, the Party member abuses him, thereby estrang- ing him. This is bad, and not only hurts the recruiting of workers into the Party, but also impairs the value of the Party members to the Party. Abuse of a worker does not help—even though it may ease the chest of the Party mem- ber. Patience and ever more patience, deter- mination but calmness will win over the work- ers to the Party—abuse will only drive them bers a few months-—which YOUVE FBEEN i GIVING YOUR Bc000 FOR ME, (T's MY TURN THIS \ By BURCK May Day in Illegality By G. H. AY DAY in Birmingham has a special sig- nificance for the Party—first of all be- cause it \}i held under conditions of complete illegality, which as a new experience is worth much to the Party in other sections—particu- larly for the future. Secondly that here in the heart of the Jim Crow-lynch law state of Ala- bama, where the nine young Negro workers are sentenced to die in Scottsboro—white and Negro toilers gathered in solidarity, in spite of all the oppression and persecution, to demonstrate their working class solidarity, to pledge to carry on the fight for better conditions, and to free the victims of the bosses’ lynch law—at Scotts- boro—together with the revolutionary millions throughout the world. Preparations. The preparations were—issuing of 2 general born, but developed out of the conditions. Some | agitational leaflets throughout the city as well » out of! le ct 5 as the “Southern Worker” and other literature, and individual agitation. The spot chosen was a white and a Negro settlement—on the out- skirts of Birmingham, in the woods. These both settlements in particular, were well cov- ered with our literature by the Party units and contacts in each one as well as plenty of in- vidual agitation. Jn each unit discussions were held, through- out Birmingham, on the significance of May Day and our tasks. All of the units were in- structed to be ready to mobilize other workers to come to the demonstration. A few days before the demonstration the units were noti- fied of the time and place, given instructions on how to get there, and every member told to come and to bring their fellow workers, if pos- sible to try to get cars or trucks to come in. Then about two hours before the meeting the immediate vicinity of the meeting place was flooded with half page notices of the time and place of the meeting, which was at 6:30 p. m., giving those who worked a chance to come too.~ These arrangements left little possibility of the police being notisied in time to come and break it up. Comrades were assigned to handle literature, etc. The meeting started on time—about 100 present, 50 white, 50 Negroes—including 20 youth, a few white women, a few Negro women and some children, There was but one disturbance from a drunk, who was promptly rushed off by the workers present. Expose Bosses’ Lies. The workers, white and Negro, listened very attentively xs the speaker explained the mean- ing of May Day as a revolutionary working class day of solidarity. Especially was there quiet as the bosses’ tactics of dividing the workers into white and black—of prejudicing the whites and terrorizing the Negro—and that the boss class was the enemy of all toilers— white and black. This was proyen by a picture of the local situation, the unemployment, misery and starva- tion—the bosses’ militarism and preparations for war in which white and colored would be both sent to defend the bosses’ profit system. Especially impressed were the young workers. ‘The exposure of the bosses’ lying propaganda about the Reds forcing whites to marry Ne- groes, about us giving every new member a rifle, and other such lies—and particularly the exposing in all its brutal bloodiness of the legal lynch law frame-up of the 9 boys at Scottsboro —as a blow to all workers—was well received by those present. i Send Protest Telegram. Negro and white unanimously endorsed a pro- test telegram to be sent to the governor. The bosses’ lie in this as in other lynchings about “protecting white womanhood” was effectively exposed by the illustration of white women slaving and killing themselves in the local cot- ton mills and the women and children starving to death in the city and on the farm, in the midst of plenty. « The Shortcomings. ‘The shortcomings were that few shop leaf- Jets were issued—that every party and league member did not come and bring others—and of course that, owing to the weakness of the party leadership, the units Were not sufficiently keyed up and mobilized day to day and checked up on about their preparations—but as is still a bad feature of our party work—preparations were rushed the last few days. it revealed sharply our good agitational work, but our basic weakness, ORGANIZATION, in not having all of the Communist Party and Young Communist League members present— even though if, is true that most are only mem- secondly, sufficient preparations were not made for transportation to the demonstration. Party Program Proven Correct. Symbolic of the demonstration and the cor- rectness of the party program was the following: After the meeting a white worker of about 40 rushed up to the speaker, shook his hand, and said: “Son, when I came here I was hell set against you, but now I’m 100 per cent with you. I couldn't get the ‘nigger’ proposition through my head, but I understand it now.” He used another peculiar expressloh on this. ‘This example of the awakening of the white workers to the necessity for organizing, side. by side with the Negro toilers, arises out of the worsening conditions of the workers and the correctness of the party program in dealing with these problems. The speaker was supposed to leave at onoe, but he was surrounded by an eager crowd of about 25, mostly whites, who listened and asked questions for about 20 minutes before he could break away and beat it before the cops came. This was a serious mistake and unnecessary risk—the speaker should have in a few words told the workers about the foolishness of risking an unnecessary arrest and that he would be around to see them all later and that our party comrades would get in touch with them and then beat it out. As @ result of the meeting, five whites joined the Communist Party;two whites and two Ne- groes joined the Young Communist League. The meeting had a very enthusing and inspiring ef- fect on the party and league membership—as the coming together of white and ._Negro—se- cretly—though—small—in a common meeting showed them that with work we can get results, and the comrades have asked that in the future more neighborhood demonstrations bé held. Some Lessons. Some lessons to be drawn are: 1, Widespread agitation is necessary as prep- aratory groundwork. 2. Well organized individ- ual agitation. 3, Well-functioning and check up ,on organization of campaign, particularly in the units. Well arranged transportation and direc- tion. 5. Preparations for contingencies (if cops are there at start, speaker and comrades do not stop but keep going—if cops come when speaker is speaking—to try to rally workers to resist), comrades ‘instructed beforehand, etc. 6. The holding of more well-organized, snappy (though illegal) neighborhood demonstrations. 7. The winning over of the white workers for our pro- gram through a clear, concise explanation of the party program. 8. For other sections to look their ground over and NOW to review their own situation and plans for organization of such demonstrations if driven to illegality. 9. The extreme importance of shop contributions, papers, leaflets and importance of getting work- ers NOW, even on a small scale, to come to demonstrations directly from the shops. Through a careful analysis of our mistakes and shortcomings, in the party units, we have been able to see how, in the next demonstration we will be better able to mobilize wider masses for direct participation in our demonstrations and growing activities. Negro Women Workers Get Lowest | Pay 'YBIL PATTERSON, sister of Haywood Pat- terson, one of the nine Negro boys in the Scottsboro case, works in the house of a coal yard boss, two days a week, and gets $1.50 a day, or about 15 cents an hour. » She is one of 2,000,000 Negro women workers in the United States—2,000,000 unorganized Ne- gro women working on farms, in mills and shops, or serving the rich. Nearly a million are in “domestic and personal service,” over half a million are farm laborers and the rest are in tobacco factories, textile mills, laundries and clothing plants, always forced to do the dirtiest, dustiest, heaviest work for the longest hours, at lowest wages. How little they earn is admitted by the U. S. Women’s Bureau in) studies of Negro women in 15 states, giving the median weekly earnings in different occupations, “Median” earnings mean that one half the women were earning less than the amount listed: Tobacco bunchers, $1.85; boxers and craters, $3.75; chicken pickers, $7.75; oyster cht®kers, $11.50; tobacco twisters, $12.60; tobacco feeders, $14.00. White women workers earn little enough, as we well know, but Negrd' women earn far less. ‘The striking difference is clearly seen in the following statements: In Fk for white | American “advisers.” = — By JORGE ee Sweet Land of Libert. We wondered for some time why all the may= ors, President Hoover and assorted capitalist crooks turned out to kowtow to the King of Siam. Of course we know that the United States is the refuge for all counter-revolutionayies, and that any slant-witted pervert with a royal title at whom the rest of the world hurls bricks and stale eggs, can always depend on an official re« ception by American government, officials, ac- companied by fanfares of publicity and rotos gravure photos in the Sunday supplements. But we wondered why all the fuss over the King of Siam, who is blind in one eye, can’t see with the other and is physically not fit for dog meat. ‘Then we noted that Current History gives us more light on the subject, In advertise ing its artiele on Siam, as follows “Siam—The only absolute monarchy in Asia. “Siam—Where the law permits a man to have as many wives as he can support. “Siam—Where Americans, exclusively, the Foreign Minister's advisers. “Siam—Where the state religion is S3udd- hism, and its defender is at present our na- tion’s guest.” Well, that’s a nice list, isn’t item, revealing the fact that Americans, “ex- clusively” are the “advisers” to his Buddhist, polygamous, despotic majesty, explains all the rest, Only the apologists for Yankee imperialism who can strut around bragging that it is im charge of and approves of this despotic, poly. gamous, Buddl government, ought—at least— to let us up for air before they ask us to get a temperature over the “terrible Soviet Gov- ernment,” where there atheism has the same freedom as Buddhism to agitate, where there ain’t no monarchy, where harems are abolished and—ah, there’s the rub!—where there are no j are it. The third Guess Who? The N. Y. Sun of Friday, May 15, quotes a famous capitalist newspaper correspondent who has been“in the Soviet Union for some years as Saying the following: “The most ridiculous propaganda was spread abroad. My articles from Russia, although they gave the only facts available concerning what actually was happening in Russia at the time, most newspapers in America and Europe be= lieved to be Bolshevik propaganda.” Who is this corresondent? We are sure that 7 some who themselves are all too reliant on the N. Y. Times will jump to the conclusion that the correspondent is Walter Duranty, Well, it isn’t. But it is Isaac Don Levine, who once was held in about the same estimation, as the above quotation states. But now... ? Now Levine's period as an “impartial” reporter is over. Now he is writing a book entitled “Stalin,” which Dorothy Dayton, a fellow scribe, is boosting in an advance review. Now he re- veals his own position, through this reviewer's words, as fol »ws: “Levine . . . shared some of the high hopes which every Russian held, a hope of liberty which was blasted when Russia fell under the sway of one-party rule, under a dictatorship which was to tighten through the years until today it is the dictatorship of one man,” So this is the “Bolshevik propagandist” of yes- terday! He also piles in an opinion that the Five-Year Plan is “infantile and insane” and re-discovers, for Trotsky’s benefit, the yarn about “Lenin's will.” But no book can contradiet life enough to make Trotsky anything more than what he is, a disappointed egoist engaged in counter-revolution; no book can defy success- fully the fact that the Five Year Plan is al- ready assufed vietory. Levine’s book might contribute, however, to the enlightenment of some fuzzy-witted people who think that Walter Duranty is a “Bolshe- vik propagandist.” Such a belief, we hear, is shared by the U. S. State Wepartment, which places reliance on Soviet events only when it hears from its spy agency at Riga in.Latvia. a eee How the Pope Helps You You jobless workers in the Pittsburgh district, where the influence of the local duck that wears his collar the wrong way round may be thought to reach—if it reaches anywhere, kindly let us know if you see any difference between being hungry before prayers and being hung:y after prayers. ‘The reason we ask, is the following ilem from the Pittsburgh Press of May 12: “Special prayers for unemployed will be said daily at Epiphany Catholic Church in a novena honoring St. Rita, beginning tomorrow and ending May 22.” . ‘You ought to know whether the prayers had, any effect on unemployment by about 8 p. m. on May 22. If they haye no effect, we suggest that you march up to Harrisburg again and ask’ Governor Pinchot for something real to eat. pike! Woke’ “If Blood Be the Price” “Dear Jorge:—I wish to call your attention to the irony of the recent picture exhibition shown in the windows of the Empire State Building. They are ‘art-photos’ of the proleta- rians who constructed the skyscraper. Now they are out of work. And all the benefit and value of their labor goes to Al. Smith and company. Incidentally, over ninety men were killed on the | job! t “Again—a contrast. At 110th St. and Fifth Ave. there is a milk-stand, which is supposed to distribute free milk to the under-nourished children of that locality. It stands at the end of the richest street in the world!” @ week, but for Negro women less than half as much—only $6.65. Less than $10 weekly Less than $5 weekly State Negro White » Negro White Georgia. .90% 21% 35% 10% Missouri .81% = 27% 50% 21% Tennessee.85% 41% 28% 12% . These exploited Negro women workers, throughout the South and North, too, have been aroused during this past month by the Scotts- boro case to see what mass organization can accomplish, All workers together, Negro and white, men and women, unite in solidarity to demand higher wages, the 7-hour day and un- employment insurance of $15 a week for each PE effort” to smash the. ‘be. Soviet Union by economic | trates of Opile” in the Senne AUD a ag MITE AED ET rete hgeiemere - Bol understand tis aportenee-and