The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 24, 1931, Page 4

5 Sogeehcemomemmeeeee I t 4 4 i f : Page Four the Comprodaily all checks to the Dail: , Publishing Inc daily excent at 59 Bast DALWORK." How tion. Am amount of iled to hi work- n disappe ‘orm it into a pe ers’ relief o We faile ide the hundreds of thousands of and sym- 's, the thousands of organizations we had won for famine relief into channels of other forms of proletarian aid. This was a political error which cost us very dea: In 1926 the Passaic textile strike occured Altho only 14,000 workers were involved, the strike was the outstanding struggle of the period and was shot thru with such dramatic occur- rances that the strike relief activities took deep root in every state and city and among the poorer farmers. A total of $500,000 in relief funds were collected during the year’s struggle and nearly an equal amount in food and cloth- ing. Having failed to transform the FSR into @ permanent proletarian relief organization, the Passaic strike found the Workers International Relief very weak. And altho we popularized the WIR tremendously throughout the Passaic strike, we conducted the relief campaign under the auspices of an extra committee and again failed to transform this committee together with its extensive united front affiliations, into per- manent WIR organization. In 1927 and 1928 the big coal miners’ strike took place. The strike was led by the reaction- ary leadership of the United Mine Workers. We entered the strike six months late, but never- theless, developed in the course of a few months another extensive united front movement and broad influence among A. F. of L, local unions and other workers organizations. The relief campaign was again conducted by an extra com- mittee, which collected nearly $300,000 in money and an equal amount in food. With two failures to organize a mass WIR in mind, we did make an attempt to turn the broad movement into permanent WIR organization. Another failure resulted because we did not give consideration to the element of time, the correct period for this transformation. We attempted the trans- formation when the relief campaign and the strike were already on their last legs. The relief campaign for the Gastonia textile strikers was led by the WIR. This strike con- stituted a base for permanent WIR member- ship branches, district organizations, collective ness it, to | SUBSCRIPTION RATES: New York City. Foreign: one year, By mai: everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; two months, $1; excepting Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx, $8; six months, $4.50. Two outstanding weaknesses again id too shing permanent mem- s and securing the affiliation of he c: raising and Second, the lead con- , useless a conception of our peated fai nization emen, the RILU ion. Again ttee Again we gn upon he col- pe and as- anizing s of the policy 0} Weeks haye pa a ia~Ohio a p i since we est’ Vi ef Commit- nent Re inio per The mine: base and ta ment of the e, how- ever, the relief ned, im the fight of the starvation has as its perspective the broadening of the struggle, the intensifica- tion of the battle inst the coal barons in the strike a) and s} ing it into other mining territories info more thousands upon thou- sands of coal digg2 Exactly at this t me, while the relief cam- paign is still trave’ towards its peak, mu: we transform ‘tva miners’ relief commi tee into a permanent WIR machine. The or- ganization of membership branches of the W. LR. must proceed at once. Acquainting the workers and their organizations with the pro- the gram of the WIR in the field of strike relief, | aid in catastrophies, proletarian culture, aid to proletarian children, development of proletarian films, must proceed without delay. And of ex- treme importance is also the clarification before the working class of the role of the WIR in the unemplyoed movement The delegates from the United States to the International Congress of the WIR, to be held in Berlin in October, where ten years of exist- ence and proletariaix accomplishments of the WIR in all countries will be celebrated, must be in a position to report that the United States | section of this important workers’ organization is at last forming upon a mass scale, with permanency, to live and grow. Numerous and militant struggles of the workers in this coun- try, against deep wage cuts and backbreaking speed up are in perspective. Already many strikes are occuring among textile and other workers. The steel mills are rumbling with dis- content. We must be ready to bring all strug- gles the solidarity of the great mass of work- ers, sympathizers, poor farmers. This will be possible if we build the WIR at once. “Begin organizing a permanent mass W. I. R. today” must constitute the slogan of every re- volutionary and sympathetic worker. All com- rades must help in this task. When Winter Comes By HARRY GANNES OON .the unemployed who sleep in the parks and eat out of garbage cans will be faced with the problem of winter. What this winter will mean to the American working class can be gleaned from the admissions of President Hoo- ver, William Green of the A. F. of L. and Silas H. Strawn, the confidential adviser to Hoover and leading Chicago banker and lawyer. When Hoover says this coming winter will be worse than ever before in the history of the country, in his usual manner paints the picture a roseate hue. First of all the army of unemployed has now passed the 10,000,000 mark, and using William Green’s own estimate at least 2,000,000 will be added to it before mid-winter. But it is only a question of increase in numbers. It is mainly a matter of increase in intensity of suffering—mil- lions of workers will be entering their second, some even their third year of hunger with all available resources—except those in the pockets of the capitalists and their state—nearing com- plete exhaustion. The quick rise in bank failures ($100,000,000 in the small city of Toledo alone where the proportion of unemployed is excep- tionally high) has shorn hundreds of thousands of unemployed of even the few pennies that were available to them. Then, the so-called charities are nearly empty. ‘The capitalists with profits dropping refuse to contribute to this form of relief as well as to al- low unemployment insurance through their gov- ernment. The cry throughout the charity dens is: Half the resources with twice the call for relief! And the Employed. Those unemployed who lived with employed workers will find the family income cut down by wage cuts, by additions to unemployed members of the family, so that starvation will effect the employed almost equally with the unemployed Eviction actions are virtually choking the cap- italist courts, and the matter of evictions is be coming an open armed struggle against the workers. ‘There is little doubt that this coming winter, with evictions increasing by at least 100 per cent, new forms. of violence and terror tgainst the unemployed will be developed by the capitalist police force Hunger and starvation will to the cities alone. I crisis plunge not be. restricted uth the ¢ tens of thousands of Negro he 8 arian share croppers, tenant farmers as well as Negro workers, into a period of starvation equr! to an Indian famine. Thousands of tenant farmers and share-croppers will gct nothing for the thoy «pay expenses., The sit so drastic that the Hoover gov- find a solution only by an at- exops ation down South i: ernment. could tempted enforced destruction of one-third of the | fotton crop. In the whent territories there will be bent { { ruptcies, evictions, and hunger. The wheat crop | is breaking the hack of the farmer py iis size, and the Federal Faim Beard sees hope ocly in the physical’ destruction cf at least i0 to 20 per cen‘ of the farmers along with their f These are the prospects of the coming winter for the American workingclass. The sharpening financial crisis in England and Germany, with German capitalism dump- ing on the world market, with British capital- ocms, ism, through the Labor party, enforcing a 10 | per cent wage cut for the British workers, rais- ing a tariff wall of 10 per cent against American | goods—all this will have its effect on the econo- mic crisis in the United States, cutting down production, stimulating further wage cuts, and intensifying unemployment. The American capitalist class is not inactive in the face of this situation. Hoover is prepar- ing a smashing attack against the workers this winter on two fronts: 1) A drive against any form of unemploy- ment insurance. in which he has openly an- nounced he will ust the United Sta’ Army in some sections (hz says to hand out relief, but it will be in builet-form), as well as the Red Cross. Governors of at least five states have declared they are ready to call out the militia against the unemployed (Illinois, Penn- sylvania, Colorado, Ox:lahoma, Kentucky). 2) Wage cuts will be handed out to the major part of the workingclass through the direct intervention of the government. This can be seen in the action of Secretary of Com- merce Lamont approving wage cuts, and the fact that the leading imperialist forces in the United States, directly in the leadership of the Hoover government have already started the wage cut drive. The Rockefeller interests an- nounce wage cuts of 20 per cent in the Colo- rado Fuel & Iron Co., and this will spread to all the ramifications of the Rockefeller trusts. mn is to be intensified, | active in | WIR | | Massacre. Andrew W. Mellon, secretary of the United States treasury, and the most powerful figure | n the Hoover government, slashes wages in the coal fields and now in the Koppers Co,, a Mel- Jon coke and chemical industry And last, but no least, the huge Morgan & Co. combinatioy the United States Steel Corporation and the | leading railroads are already slashing wages. The U. S. Steel has started its wage cutting drive against 250,000 stecl workers by slashing pay in its Monessen mills of the American Sheet & Tin Co. of the he rail before thi in the Hoover (8-3-31) which “Regardless of the outcome of the fight for higher freight rates, which enters its second stage tomorrow with the opening of regional hearings, 18 te almost certain a general down- The Morgan inte-vest government, are planning d, which are scheduled winter th: the N. ¥ declares with the help cuts on sheet Post Evening W x Must. Celebrate the | Oth “WE ARE FACING A HARD WINTER”—HO OVER Year ot the WIR By BURCK B wth, The T.U.U.C. ot N.Y. Decides on a 3-Month Plan of Work By JOHN STEUBEN The Growth of the T.U.U.L. INCE the last meeting of the National Board of the T.U.U.L. (November, 1930) the New York District. of the T.U.U.L. has made decisive steps forward. We began to root ourselves in- side the shops as well as among the rank and file of the reformist unions. We began to carry out in practice the line of the R.ILL.U. in regards to the development of united front movements. In this respect we made great headway in the textile and needle industries. We led and par- ticipated in over five hundred strikes which in- volved about 38,000 workers. Especially were the strike struggles we' lead in the shoe, needle and textile industries successful. It is also im- portant to note that we sharpened the struggle against opportunism in our own ranks, in the building trades against the stagger.system and resistance to organize the unorganized, Among the fancy leather goods workers against the lagging behind and legalism of the T.U.U.L. leadership. In the needle trades against the tendency to liquidate certain departments of the industrial union. As a result of this increased activity our unions and leagues have recruited 5,467 new members and the general influence of the T.U.U.L. has still further increased. Organization Drive ‘These gains, while important, however, are not basic enough, if we view them in the light of the present great possibilities for the building of our unions and leagues in every industry and trade. Therefore, there can be, no spirit of satisfaction because we do not as yet live up to the demands and duties placed upon us by the R.LL.U. and the workers themselves. It is for this reason that the newly elected council of the T.U.ULL., at its very first meeting decided to start a general organization drive. In order to carry this drive through successfully, the T. U. U. C. has decided that each union ahd Jeague is to work out a concrete program of work to last from September 15 to December. 15. Proposals for a Program 1. Mobilize the membership, The period from now up to September 15 must be used by the leading committees of the unions to pic- pare a draft of the program for a thorougi discussion and approval of the entire membt ship. The ledders of the unions must clearly understand that it is not a mere formal approval of the plan by the membership that is needed. ‘The idea is to arouse and mobilize the entire membership for the carrying out of the plan. In fact, the successful carryinng out of the plan depends on the ability of the leadership to draw in every member into active participation, 2. Concentrate on the most important tasks. It would be wrong if the plan would try to cover everything under the sun, What we should do is rather concentrate on the most important tasks. For example, the organization of two or three functioning shop groups in the most im- ‘LABOR’ DAY By SEYMOUR BURNS. ABOR DAY was first celebrated in the United States in 1882. The movement to celebrate a day set aside for labor was started by the Knights of Labor, following the Haymarket Labor Day later was established as a legal holiday in a number of states throughout the union to offset May First, which was be- coming: the day of demonstrations of the revo- lutionary working class of Eurépe and America, and which was finally established in 1889 on the 100th Anniversary of the fall of the Bastille as an International Working Class Solidarity Day. For the last two decades, Labor Day has been the day on which the officials of the A. F/of L., as well as other labor fakers, called upon the workers for class collaboration and peace with the bosses. On that day, the late president of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, and today, Mr. Green urges the work- ers to be thankful for the many things capi- talism has given them, At a time when more than ten million work- ers in the US. are unemployed, William Green, president of the A. F. of L, and Matthew Woll, vice-president of the National Civic Federation. will call upon the workers to support capitalism in its “effort to stabilize industry and reduce unemployment.” Said Matthew Woll, “Indus- trial democracy cannot come through the work- ers alone. We need the help of the employers.’ When Green was inaugurated as president of “ward revision in wages will he sought by the carriers, When this step will be initiated is uncertain, but it seems likely to be delayed not much beyond mid-October, when the decision on rates is expected.” Against all this the-workers must gather their forces now to prepare for a struggle, a struggle against a mighty attempt of the capitalists to unload the heaviest burden yet attempted in the present crisis on the backs of the workingclass. The struggle must increase ten-fold for unem- ployment insurance, for immediate unemploy- ment relief, rallying the widening mass unem- ed ranks for a concrete struggle. he struggle against wage cuts, the steepest yet attempted will increase many fold this com- ing winter. The capitalists are preparing, and the workingclass must answer now, by solidify- ing its ranks by strengthening its revolutionary organization to rally new hundreds of thousands in struggle. the A. F. L., one of the industrial magnates stated, “Mr. Green is representative of all peo- ple, he is not radical. He labors for the good of all people. We can feel safe in his hands.” Speaking at the Advertising Club immediately following his inauguration in 1925 at Miami, Fla., he said, “There seems to be an understand- ing of peace and unity between labor and capi- tal in Miami, Labor and capital cannot hate each other if they understand each other. Mis- understanding is the cause of strife. Under- standing means accord.” To this Mr. Edward Henning of the State Department exclaimed passionately, “Thank God that when the reins fell. from the palsied hands of Samuel Gompers, they fell into the virile hands of Wm. Green.” Will their speeches be different this Labor Day? When ten million workers are unemployed, the Executive Council of the A. F. L. speaks of relieving the unemployed situation by introduc- ing beer. When thousands of miners fight against starvation, the United Mine Workers of America, with Lewis at the head, has its gang- sters who, in alliance with government agents, maim and kill miners and their families. When the textile workers go on strike, the United Tex- tile Workers of America unites with the Asso- ciated Silk Workers, which in 1919 broke away from that organization because the late presi- dent, John Goldie, openly betrayed the silk workers of Paterson. Today, however, when the National Textile Workers’ Union of America calls a strike against starvation, against the speed-up system, against inhuman wage slashes, we find Gitlow and the Lovestone outfit using their influence over these two organizations, to unite in a struggle against the National Textile Workers’ Union. Tt is very significant in this general strike where thousands of silk and dye workers have been organized, and are fighting militantly under the leadership of the united front of the National Textile Workérs’ Union, that Gitlow and the United Textile Workers of America, to- gether with the Associated Silk Workers, lead a parade, with the American flag, thus making an effort to offset the tremendous enthusiasm of the textile workers when they paraded under the leadership of the National Textile Workers’ Union, on August 13th, five thousand strong. Labor Day this yeae will be celebrated by the workers in another manner. The Workers’ In- ternational Relief and the Penn.-Ohfo Striking Miners’: Relief Committee has arranged a Soll- portant shops in ‘the trade or industry; the building of functioning groups in the A. F. of L. locals. “To take practical steps to immediately proceed to organize the unemployed in the in- dustry, To work out ways and means to reach the Negro workers in the industry. How to in- crease the sale of Labor Unity. Last but not least how to organize ‘a united front movement among workers of a particular industry, regard- less of their union affiliation, or whether they are organized or unorganized. 3. No dead figures. Should each union decide definitely how many new members they are to recruit during the coming three months? The ‘P.U.U.C, would discourage such an idea &t this present stage. Individual recruiting is very im- portant, but we are not going to build mass unions if we recruit the workers one by. one. Recruiting must be done on the basis of our activities inside the shops, A. F. of L. locals, among unemployed, leading strike struggles, etc. In other words the aim of the plan should be the development of genuine mass activity, and uuring the process of developing such work we snall streng.hen ourselves organizationally. 4. The basis for the Plan. In preparing such a plan it is bacic that we take into consider- ation not only the possibilities, but also the pre- sent strength of each union. This means not to spread out too much. Instead we should rather concentrate on a particular shop or trade in the industry, or a particular A. F. of L. local, or on a@ definite section of the city where un- employed workers of the trade live or look for work. This will make it possible to assign the best forces for the carrying out of the Plan. 5. Distribution of work. The Plan must deal not only with what to do and how to do it, but also who will do it. This means, first of all, the drawing in of the entire membership. The leadership of the union must not only direct the work, but be involved in the carrying’ out of specific tasks. If absolutely necessary special committees shall direct the work, but as a rule the leading body of the union shall’ direct it. We don’t want any “committee activity.”” We must give our membership a chance to do work among the workers in the shops, in the neigh- borhoods and not in our offices, 6. Control over decisions. It is not sufficient to prepare a plan. The most important task is to control the practical carrying out of the plan. This means that at each membership meeting a report is to be given on what was done, who did it, and how it was done. The working out of such a program by each union and league must be started immediately so that by September 15, the plan will already be taken up at the membership meetings as well as approved by the T.U.U.L. The possibilities for transforming our T.U.U.L. into a mass organization fully exist and it is. our job to do it. Uncover Starvation and Misery The capitalist press, the agents of the ruling class, has been publishing less and less news about unemployment, It hides the starvation of the unemployed workers’ families. We must constantly expose the miserable treatment of families of the unemployed by the city governments and charity institutions. We must uncover all cases of starvation, un- dernourishment, sickness. We must pub- lish these cases in our press, in the Daily Worker, in Labor Unity, tell them at all workers’ meetings. Un- employed Councils should publish bulletins to inform all workers of the starvation and misery of the darity Day Festival, which will take place at the Starlight Amusement Park, 177th Street and ‘West Farms Road. Solidarity Day will offset the Labor Day of the A. F. of L. On this day the revolutionary workers of New York will demonstrate their power against betrayals and class collaboration, against all renegades of the working class, They will show these misleaders of labor their proper place. All workers of New York and vicinity should come to the Solidarity Day Festival. The Work- ers International Relief is the organization which will set the pace on Lobor Day to offset the class collaboration speeches of the labor takers. ~ Come in masses, ‘ A Milk Fund for the Strikers’ Children HARLAN, Ky., Aug. 22.—Thirty of the hungri- est and sickliest of the hundreds of children at the Sunshine mine camp in the outkirts of Har- lan, will get milk daily as a result of the: Wo- men’s Auxiliary’s activities. A milk collection route was established by them among the farm- ers in the region who pledged a certain amount of milk each day. A. day after the auxiliary of the National Miners Unoin was organized, the worker’s home where the meeting was held, was raided by the armed thugs who roam the region in cars heavi- jy laden with machine guns. However, at the second meeting of the auxiliary, Plans to open @ relief kitchen in Sunshine to care for the hun- dreds sickening for want of milk and bréad, were taken up. Because of the “law's” terrorization, it is impossible to rent a Place for use as a relief kitchen, the women found. The auxiliary is appealing thru the Penn- Ohio-W. Virginia-Kentucky Striking Miners Re- lief Committee, 611 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, for money to buy enough lumber to build a shack, or a large tent to house the relief kitchen. They have the use of a piece of land free of charge. “We just must feed the children, if we do nothing else,” a miner’s wife writes. “Us older folks need food pretty bad too, and we hope to be able to give everybody something to eat, with your help, but we decided to do something about the children first. So many of them are sickening something dreadful. You folks up yonder have stood by us in our’ fight as nobody ever did before. We know you're our folks, Same as we're your folks and comrades, all of us being in the big fight to live right. That’s why we're writing to you, asking you to try to help us get enough money to help buy this timber to build us a relief kitchen that we can cook in, and feed out of the rain. I don’t have to tell you about how bad the hunger and sick- ness is here, and how we just got to do some- thing right away. We're doing lots of things and we are going to do just as much as we're humanly able to do so. But we need help now!” The armed thugs are doing all they can to smash the relief kitchens. The Evarts kitchen was destroyed. McKinney Baldwin, Negro chair- man of the Harlan kitchen was taken out of his house Wednesday night, tied to a tree, beaten until his clothes was torn into strips and told he would be killed next time. Sheriff John Henry Blair’s automobile was used for the ex- pedition. % At the same time hundreds of children are suffering from Flux, suffering from the lack of milk and other nourishing foods. Workers everywhere must mobilize to collect funds to help feed these children and their parents who are putting up a heroic fight against starvation. The Workers International Relief, which is holding a National Relief Conference in Pitts- burgh August 29 and 30, is conducting a special campaign to raise a milk fund for strikose’ chil- dren. A Correction '‘HROUGH a printer's error some of the lines in the article in the August 20 issue of the DAILY WORKER called “Not Hillquit Alone But the Socialist Party” by Comrade Darcy were so mixed up as to be very unclear. We reprint this section below from the original article. Be- ginning with the eighth line from the bottom of the first column it should read as follows: “Comrade Henderson in his letter declares: ‘,..the more he (Hillquit) insists on his view- point as a lawyer the worse his position as a supposed leader of the workers becomes. Law- yer Hillquit continually exposes Chairman Hill- quit... If Hillquitian leadership and Hillquitian Socialism cannot be repudiated by the Social- ist Party, I call upon all workers and, former comrades to leave the party which supports such misleaders and betrayers’. “Are there really such conflicts existing? Let us consder the oil case (Comrade Henderson properly calls it the ‘oil scandal’), was there any conflict. between lawyer Hillquit and chairman Hillquit when he decided to take up the suit? And further, was there any conflict between the position of Hillquit and Thomas in their attitude on the question or between ‘Hillquitian social- ism’ or the ‘socialism’ of the Socialist party? And still further, was it a departure from So- cialist party principles’ and practice for Hille quit to take up the case. To all three we an- swer NO. Hillquit, Thomas, the Socialist party and the Second International are’ all united in one position against the Soviet Union. This we will prove now. Hillquitian leadership and ‘so- cialism’ is the Socialist party whether Hillquit is there or not. “Does Hillquit’s action in the oil case case constitute a change of position for him? It does not, On November 23, 1930, a banquet for socialist officials was given in the Pennsyl- vania Hotel to help the activity of the dirtiest counter-revolutionary that ever dis this earth—Abramovitch. At that affair stronger stuff than water must have flowed for the orators threw all their habitual caution to the winds. Hillquit for example declared: ‘Russia today is a government of a small minority which has taken advantage of special conditions to gain and hold power through force and terrorism. Its reign of blood is almost as abhorrent as war among nations’. “Could anything be said more plainly to pro- voke a war for ‘civilization’ against barbarism and the Soviet government? And who do you think said this? ‘The method of the Communist government...” From here read on to the end. We are sorry this error occurred, but in the pressure it was overlooked, .Workers! Join the Party of. Your Class! Communist Party U. 8. A. P. O. Box 87 Station D. New York City. 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