The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 3, 1931, Page 1

TO ALL READERS AND WORKERS’ ORGANIZATIONS: The Daily Worker is in the most serious crisis in its history. $5,006 must be raised within the next three days. Our electric light and power may be shut off at any moment; our supply of paper is almost exhausted and we have no money to buy more Send all you have, borrow if necessary, but by all means save the Daily! Use airmail or wire to speed funds to the Daily Worker, 50 E. 13th Street, New York City. : paper. USE COUPON IN PAGE 3 COMMUNIST PARTY, U. S. A. DAILY WORKER MANAGEMENT AnD IVE ADVERTISED s Sur it DION ay —— Ot yh Business ANY JeevVA Ls } A JUNE Wea ee Al NG AT Pye One Caden irae a esha Dail Central (Sec Orga tion so) Interna at New _Vol. Vu, No. 133 Entered an second-class watter at the Post Office ander the act of March 3, 1879 York, N.Y. 21 NEW YORK KK, W EDNESDAY Norker ne—-SdRMuniet Party U.S.A. the Communist tional) COMM. WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE! 5 JUNE 3 3 1931_ CITY EDITIO Price 3 Cents _ e A Lesson From Spain MERICAN workers have a lesson to learn from the events in Spain, A where the “socialist” party is participating in a capitalist govern- ment and is resorting to open fascism in an attempt to uphold capital- ism, turning machine guns against the workers and using every possible deceit and brutality to prevent the revolutionary masses from making a victorius struggle for power. However, in addition to these openly fascist counter-revolutionaries masked as “socialists,” another crippling influence on the revolutionary forward drive of the masses is the traditional confusion of the so-called ‘syndicalists,’ whose approximate likeness in America is the Industrial Worke.s of the World (IWW). On last Thursday these syndicalist leaders gave an example of how they serve as counter-point accomplices to the treacherous “socialists.” Holding that as a matter “of principle” that “all” political parties are against the working class, rejecting the role of the Communist Party as the leader of revolution against capitalism, refusing to make an al- liance with the impoverished peasantry against capitalism, and con- tending that the trade union alone can overthrow capitalism and main- tain power for the workers afterwards in the sense of looking only to narrow trade interest, the Spanish syndicalists reyeated the criminal mistake that the Italian syndicalists committed in 1920. On a smaller scale, the same “left” idiocy was used in the misleading of the metal workers of Saragossa, as was used in Italy during 1920, when the Italier-syndicalist leaders rejected-the lessons of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and misled the Italian workers into a “seizure of factories” without organizing the entire revolutionary mass for the overthrowal of capitalist government and the establishment. of Soviets. In Saragossa a small section of the workers were, under syndicalist direction, marched to a foundry and steel plant and urged into seizing the factory and ejecting the managment, under the theory that they could take over the works and run it by themselves. Now there is no objection on the part of Communists to workers taking over factories and running them, but when this is done the whole million-mass must be in motion in the same direction under the leader- ship which does not limit the movement to a mere occupation of the factories, but which ‘goes on beyond that to the destruction Of the ca- pitalist government and its forces of repression, the establi ent of a revolutionary government that can be nothing else in form than a Soviet and the sejzure of the entire social power including the banks. It must arm the masses and disarm the capitalists and all their supporters. Because none of these necessary conditions of revolutionary sy were tonsidered by fhe syndicalists of Saragosa, and the workers seized the factories were compelled to withdraw at the approach of troops sent against’ them by the “socialists” in government power, it was a dis- couragement for further revolutionary efforts and an objective assistance to the fascist maneuvres of the “socialist” leaders, who used thte event as gn argument against any revolutionary action by thte workers them- selves, and who appear before the masses, deceitfully but plausibly, as the only “sensible” leadership whcih will—according to their demagogic promises—obtain socialism “gradually” and “step by step.” Actually this promise is false and is made to choke the revolution, to betray the workers and maintain capitalist rule. That this syndicalist theory not only serves to strengthen fascism, but that it iteelf turns to fascism and counter-revolution, is proven by thé action of the IWW in the United States in their strike-breaking in the TlUnois miners strike, in their attacks on the Unemployed Councils, and in a speech by their leader, James P. Thompson, in Seattle on May 24th where, in comment on the Soviet government, he laid the same basis for war against the Soviet as do the capitalists by prophesying Soviet “collapse” and a “taking of control” by the IWW. Workers of America must learn from the lessons of Italy and of Spain that no one has a program “more revolutionary” than that of the Communist Party! Above all the victory of the Russian workers and the successes of the Soviet Union must clinch tthe proof that all who attack the Communists are enemies of the workers! “SEVERAL JOBLESS which is located on the waterfront near the scene of the fire, collects thousands of dollars to shelter homeless seamen and waterfront ‘BURNED T0 DEATH IN PIER 9 BLAZE NEW YORK.—Pier' No, 9, formerly owned by the Munson Line, was wrecked by fire yesterday. The rot- ten and dilapidated dock had been abandoned and was used by many unemployed and homeless workers as a place to sleep. especially since the Tammany Hall racketeers closed down the Municipal flop house at South Ferry. How man) workers were burned to death or drowned at Old Slip has no tyet been found out. Three of the homeless workers were forced by the fire to ump into the river and were saved. Directly under the hottest part of the blaze two} workers, who were caught unaware, were seen clinging to the piles and were saved. They said there were others sleeping nearby, but the smoke was so thick from the fire that they could not see what happened to them. The three workers’ who were res- cued-and are now at the Broad St. J osvitel are Alvarez Scheerer, 35 years old; Frank Sylvia, 21, and Kugene Nelson, 28. 1 »'The Seamen's Church Instivute, workers. The Homeless men. how- ever, are forced to find shelter on the piers and in empty shacks. Money collected by the Institute for the unemployed finds its way into the pockets of the religious fakers who run the place. In order for an 2,000NY. JOB. LESS MARCH, DEMAND FOOD Commissioner Taylor Flees, Deputy Passes the Buck Only 5.000 in Mass Meeting Decide to Hold City- Wide Demonstration NEW YORK.—The march of 2,000 unemployed to the Welfare Depart- ment yesterda@yygwhich started from the Municipal Flopliouse at 25 Street and” First Avenue) yesterday and joined forces with the Downtown Branch at 7th Street and Avenue A, resulted in the jobless delegates gain- ing admission to the office of the Tammany Commissioner. But Com- missioner Taylor, himself dodged the issue of 1,000,000 starving unemployed in New York. Instead his represen- tative, Deputy Commissioner Dunne, first refused to hear the delegation’s spokesman, Geo. Benton, on the ground “that he was born out of town.” Instead the delegates put for- ward John Abt, who has worked in New York for 41 years and lived in New York for 51 years. In Dunne’s opinion, the demands of the Unem- ployed have been carried out —“we have been giving the Unemployed three meals a day, and we found it wasn't necessary because the Unem- ployed were all put of town.” The fact of the matter is that the noon- day meal has been cut out entirely, and Dunne can’t pass this bluff off. On the second demand of the Un- employed Councils for sleeping quar- ters to be provided every night with- Two) SHOE WORKERS WIN. VICTORY Led by 8. L. W. If U., Workers Resist Boss Drive NEW y RK—After a two weeks’ struggl@ @gainst the Antonoff Nov- elty Sitpper Co., 71 Green St., New York, which was called by the Shoe and eather Workers’ Industrial Union, after the bosses locked out the Shop Committee, the strike ended yesterday, June 1, with a victory for the workers and for the union, The CONTINUED ON PAGE unemployed sailor or waterfront worker to get a bed in the Institute he must pay hard cash. The Marine Workers’ Industrial Union and the Unemployed Council, which demanded yesterday that the Welfare Cot loner open up the flop house at ith Ferry, dmenad that the Seamen's Institute also give free beds to the unemployed sea- men. Deport 150 Chicago Foreign Born At One Swoop: Hit This! CHICAGO, Ill—Making the larg- est group to be deported from this city at one time, 150 workers were Joaded into six prison-barred cars to await the arrival of the special im- migration train from Seattle. Wash., bearing its human cargo, and pro- ccad with it to New York and Ellis land. bosses signed an agreement with the union, granting all the union condi- tions and wage adjustments to be worked out with the Shop Commit- tee. ‘This strike is significant. It shows that under a proper leadership and with determination of purpose to stop the wage'slashing campaign, the workers can win. This strike will be a stimulant towards the organiza- tion drive conducted by the Shoe and Leather Workers’ Industrial Union among the slipper workers for or- ganization and betterment of the conditions in the slipper and stitch- down trade, Slipper workers, organize in the Shoe and Leather Workers’ Industrial Union to fight against wage-cuts and long hours of work and for better orking and living conditions, Join the Shoe and Leather Work- ers’ Industrial Union. Come to the Union office, 16 W. 21st St. The of- fice is open every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m, Cops Bleniied Slaughter in Youngstown, Reporter Says Legionnaires Caine Armed | On the Wor With Revolvers; kers’ Heads BULLET?! YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, June at the demonstration on National are reported getting on fairly well Qn Thursday or Friday a mass be held to expose the brutal police. A permit has been secured. ‘The spirit of the workers here behind the demonstrators who put 2 fascist Legion and steel capitalist police, Four of the arrested have been made to bail out the others. The court, but no details have heen received as yet Ohio, June ports of the two workers who were shot by the; police in their murderous attack on the Na-) YOUNGSTOWN; tional Youth Day parade here on May 30th, state that one of them has died from his} wounds. (The Daily Woker is making every effort to verify this report.—Ed.) The attack of the pdkice was deliberately planned, with the help of the Fascist American Legion at the order of the Mahoning Valley steel bosses, Tenant Attacked; Kills Landlord Rent Hog Threatened Worker NEW YORK. — Antonio Copace, 66 years old of 167 Lexington Ave., the landlord of the tenement at 519 Second Avenue, was killed yesterday in a dispute. over the rent after the landlord attacked the tenant Peter Romano, who told him that his wife was out trying to get the money. Fifty-two dollars was due on the rent for two months. The landlord refused to wait for the money not even until the tenant's wife returned and declared the Marshall was ready to evict the family. It was then that Romano fired a shot at the landlord and killed him. —The two workers who were shot Youth Day were op ed on and No one has been killed. open air protest demonstration will and murderous attack of the steel boss is excellent. The steel workers are up a splendid battle against the ‘ bailed out so far., Efforts are being arrested workers were arraigned in 2.—Latest re- and with the full val of Mayor Jos: ay yh L. Helf Commenting on the two hours bat- tle in which the police shot, club- bed, slugged, mauled and mpled men, women and children, Mayor Heffernan said ‘The police were acting under orders, and I accept full executive responsibility for .the:r actions.” The police had deliberately mob'l- ized all their forces in order to mur- der and beat the young workers who. insisted on parading when a permit was refused to the Young Commun- ist League. The American:Legion or- dered its men out, armed, on secret orders, to the scene of the mass mecting. Two thousand gathered to listen to the speakers of the Young Communist League on Saturday. Workers arrived from many rounding cities. The meetii held in an empty lot on E. Federal Street. As a result of ,the battle at least 29 persons were sent to the (CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE) Birmingham Police Arrest So. Conference Delegates in Attack on Fight To Save Nine CHATTANOOGA, June 2. the growing united movement in the fight to save the nine the electric chair mingham, Alabama, delegation from the “Black Belt” which was on its way to the All- Southern United Front Scottsboro Defense Conference held Sunday in Chattanooga. ‘ The delegation, which included both white and Negro workers and the southern organizer of the Young Communist League, is held incom- municado in a Birmingham prison. The delegation was. picked up on the charge of violating the curfew law of Birmingham which forbids Negro workers to be on the streets after 11 o'clock at night. In order to reach Chattanooga in time for’ the opening of the conference, the delegates had started out at four o'clock Sunday mroning. The real motive behind the ar- rest is the fear of the bosses of the | (CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE) —In their frantic attacks on of white and Negro workers Scottsboro Negro boys facing m a framed-up charge of rape, the Bir- bosses had their police arrest an entire NeptuneStrikers Stand Fast Although Boss Tries to Break Ranks BOSTON, Mass., June 2. — The socialist party boss, Lefkowitz, of the Neptune Garment shop at Broadway and Sixth St. Cambridge, is trying desperately to break the strike of the raincoat makers in his shop. He is trying to got scabs, but the sol- idarity of the strikers has prevented much success. The couple of Lef- kowitz's henchmen who are afraid to openly scab but who work within the ranks of the strikers to try and de- noralize them, have found that the strikers stand fast. A fine picket line is being maintained. The strike is led by the Needle ‘Trades Workers Industrial Union, Send Funds Now! Insure “Series” Starting June 10 The lies of the capitalist press it forced labor in the Soviet Jnion must be met with the truth || about forced labor under Amer- ican imperialism, The Knicker- |] bocker-Post Anti-Soviet Cam- | Paign must be exposed and the | | Cops Slug | Women and Children; Break Blackjacks underlying motivse for these vi- cious attacks explained. The reasons for the vast un- |} employment in America and |] actual shortage of labor in |] Soviet Union must be analyzed. The fundzmental differences be- tween the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of the U.SS.R. and the autocracy of capitalism must nade clear to the masses. To make possible the the the les by Max Bedacht } Crusade Union” in answe you must FIRST mal Po: the continued appearance of the are d, | les are due to be | nning Wednesday, 10’ on it is of | nee to see that | to insure publication of this vital series are sent in im- || mec At this it is a qusstt-n whether the “Daily” will be able to survive until June 10. Do your share more without || a moment's a a E OVER WAGE a Horrihb fee Conditions And Long Hours NEW YORK. — Outrageous work- ing conditoins, endanseri the health of the workers, plus a sudden wage cut that was put into effect one day before it was announced, caused a strike yesterday of furniture helpers at Gimbel Bros. Seventeenth Street warehouse. Most of those on strike are what. are called in this store, “contingent” helpers. They work when there is work, with no limit on the number of hours which may run up to 15 or even 18, with no pay whatever for overtime, loading furniture into delivery trucks and unloading it and carrying it into the houses where it is delivered. Regular helpers get $21. The helpers now on strike were get- ting it, shift Monday, were, get $3 a day. a man goes days without work. the boss, Kearns. ers was threatened with arrest. Will Spread Strike helpers trying to call of the Daily Worker. They are bit- ter over the policy of the new super- intendent who fires the higher paid men and uses the lower paid ‘‘con- 1,400 MORE JOIN MINERS STRIKE; MARCH TODAY ‘Four More Mines Quit Work; Others Struck Today; Over 6,000 Pennsylvania Coal Diggers Out; | . Led by Natioral Miner Union i Thouc cards ds ef Women, Young Miners, Negroes In Front Ranks of Mass Picketing Wat Vea ce Committee “undreds of Delegates Exrested at Meeting Will Issue Call for | District Str'ke Today | PITTSBURGH, Pa., June Four more ;mines, em»! oying 1400 miners were struck to- iday, and the miners in an additional four mines lare expected to join the str uggle tomorrow. There were before the striking of these four |mines today, already 5,500 miners in this region on strike, under the le p of the National Miners’ Union, and defy- jing all the strikebreaking activities of the United Mine Work- e Di President Fagan and his officials. | Tomo: a mass march will take place on the Library | mine cf the Pittsburgh Coal Co., thus spreading the strike to the strongest 6 de als The strikers have adopted resolu- tions protesting the capitalist press lies which play up Fagan as the “Yeader of the strike.” The general strike committee, rep- resenting all mines, meets Wednes- day to formulate the demands and issue a call for a district strike, Hun- dreds of delegates are expected at the meeting. | company Militant Picketing. | The mass picket lines are actively | nvaintained at every mine. * The pickets at Coverdale stopped four scabs and beat them up. Thousands of women are actively participating in all strike activity. The young miners and Negro miners are in the forefront of the fight. tingen” workers to do the work. Routes have been doubled up, so as to use fewer men. After working un- til all hours of the night on the route, the helpers have to load trucks 200) WALK OUT IN LONGSHOREMEN’S for the next day, and still be at STRIKE IN TEXAS work before 7 a. m. Loading is done in a cramped space, foul with motor gas; no ex- tra loaders are provided when heavy Marine Workers In- ice boxes, etc., but after paiting in a full some of them, informed that hereafter they would That way they are lucky to make $15 a week, and some have families to support. Sometimes Yesterday the helpers protested to The new super- intendent, Allen, had ordered the cut. The bosso told them “If you don’t like it, you know what you can do.” ‘The company began right away try- ing to hire new men to replace the helpers. The spokesman of the help- The strike is now on, with the out others working for Gimbel Bros. They de- mand $4 a day, no favoritism or dis- crimination as is now practiced, shorter hours, and other improve- ments. The strikers tell of a list of abuses too many to find space in this issue have to be lifted up to the trucks; the helpers have to distribute the furniture on the plat- forms for the different routes be- cause the management is saving mo- ney by firing platform men. There is poor light, poor air, wrappings full of filth, drinking water only in bot- tles, and generally insanitary condi- tions. Penalties The men want to get drivers’ li- censes, but on one excuse or another are prevented. If men are sick, they are penalized by being made to stay home another day when they appear for work. The “contingent” helpers get the heaviest loads and the longest runs, do more work for less pay. Some have worked for years without be- coming regular helpers. Regulars get pay for holidays lost, “contingent” helpers get none. When furniture {is scratched, the workers are fined. Fines caused by the trucks being in bad condition through no fault of the men are paid by the men. When the trucks, many of which are not fit to run, break down, the truck crew losses the time, and has to finish its route anyway. Any mistake made in delivering C.O. D. parcels results in the driver hav- ing to nce the: sea “ dustrial Union Leads GALVESTON, Texas, June 2—Over 2,000 longshoremen have gone out on strike here against wage-cuts and the strike is spreading under the leader- ship of the Marine Workers’ Indus- trial Union. C. T. Davis, organizer of the union here, is active in push- ing the strike. Most of the strikers are Negro workers. A rank and file dock com- mittee was elected to draw up de- mands of withdrawal of the wage- cut, an increase in wages and recog- nition of the dock committee, Although the largest part of the strikers are Negro workers, when a mass meeting was called by the Ma- rine Workers’ Industrial Union, @ large number of white workers came and joined in a unified struggle against wage-cuts. Thirty have already joined the M. W. I. U., and others are joining in large numbers daily. The union has sent another organizer into the field to help spread the strike. An attempt was made recently to cut the wages of shrimp fishermen 50 per cent. The M. W. I. U, carried on agitation among fishermen and as a result the militancy of the men forced the rage to rescind ‘the Moan cub ay?