The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 29, 1931, Page 7

ae tad BArwsY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1931 estate owners and bankers from the expense of real unemployment insurance, and to keep the masses in such starved condition as to be ready to accept drastic wage cuts and speed-up in the automobile factories. the best examples of the cruel trickery that is being employed to deceive and demoralize and disorganize the unemployed and working masses. Between Henry Ford and his servant Mayor Murphy, a mock quarrel is carried, on in the capitalist press as to whether the 100,000 uneraployed automobile workers whdém Ford threw out of his; factory to starve shall look for their relief from Ford or from the city of Detroit. Other spokesmen for capitalist starvation for workers, such as James W. Hook, member of President Hoover’s “Committee for Em- ployment,” seek likewise to confuse the masses of workers with scores of different schemes, all intended to divide the workers, to create the: illusion that each unemployed worker should depend.on his previous employer in the false hope of relief, and to divide the employed workers from the unemployed, and the better- paid workers from the lowest paid, by all sorts of categories of “older” employees and ‘‘stable” employees, and others. Efforts are made to break up the*united front of.the working class by drawing artificial lines between “‘resident”’ ~ workers who have lived in a-given.community a certain length of time, and other workers who have more-recently arrived in the com- munity. All of these capitalist spokesmen know that the only hope of real unemployment relief for ‘the workers is in united action of the workers. The working class must also know this! ‘A. F. OF L. STARVATION PLAN. B. The American Federation of Labor “whieh officially endorses the most brutal op- pression of the workers by. the capitalist class —its program is essentially the same fascist program as that of the bloody Mussolini) ; The officials of the A. F. of L. were the first agents of the capitalist class that President Hoover ealled into council, together with the heads of the biggest Wall Street banks and trusts, i the early part of the present economic crisis, for the purpose of arranging to keep the work- ing class completely suppressed guaranteeing that the workers should not resist any wage euts or demand any higher wages—really for the purpose of helping the capitalist class to utilize the economic crisis and unemployment to cut wages to a permanently lower standard {supposed to be necessary “to meet European competition’) and to break up all “radical” trade unions which would dare to fight for anything for the working class. William Green, Matthew Woll, and other heads of the American Federation of Labor and kindred unions, openly promised to the open shop ern- pioyers in Hoover’s Conference that the wor! evs should net receive any increases of pay ou vould net strike under any condition. This reant in fact that the A. F. of L. agreed onon- ly to kreak every strike during this peried as cents of the capitalists. To cover up this treason, the big bankers and trust heads in Hoover’s conference “promised” not to lower ‘wages; but this was not meant seriously, as the A. F. of 'L, officials well knew, and the same big employers ‘have been slashing wages and discharging workers ‘by wholesale ever s.nce, with the cooperation of the A. F. of L. This is the best indication of the A. F. of’ L. program on unemployment—to act as a pe- icing agent for the exp'talist class in enforcing the decree that the “messes must starve.” The A. F. of L. openly opposes all social ivsurance for workers—all: real unemovlo ment relief. Tt calls for the workers to depend upon the miserable charity of private institutions to keep their families from starvation, and tries to make the workers believe that lezaliz- ang beer would cure the crisis—only to divert attention from the need of unemployment re- tief and social insurance at the cost of the capi- talists and the government. The A. F. of L. makes no pretense of doing anything but to support the most reactionary proposals of the capitalist open shop forces. The A, F. of L. supports every murderous police attack against the workers in unem- ‘ployment demonstrations and strikes. — . i Jt favors every device proposed by reac- tionary capitalists for the purpose of forcing the working.clasg to bear the whole burden of starvation due to the crisis, ' But does not the A. F, of L. say that it is in. favor of “a+ six-hour day and a five-day’ _ week??? Yes, and this. is only the :A .F. of Lai. Murphy is one of” « way of supporting the most reactionary ei- ployers who propose to adopt the “stagge: plan.” This is a proposal to shift the whole burden of starvation and unemployment on to the shoulders of the working class, employed and unemployed, and to save the capitalists from all expense. The workers who are em- ployed, they say, should “divide work” with those who have no jobs. The so-called “six hguy, day” proposal (with pay reduced ,accord- ingly) is.really a’ propdsal'to have alk of the workers go on part time—with theit, weekly wages cut. down about thirty to fifty per cent; The A. F. of L. does not demand the six-hour day as a shorter work- -day, but as a part-time system. It does not demand the same wages for this so-called “six-hour day” that are being paid for the eight, nine and ten hour day of the present. Furthermore, the A. F. L. stub- bornly refuses to permit the workers even to struggle for an eight-hour day! (And the workers have already: fost the eight-hour day in almost all industries, thanks largely to the A. F. L.) In short, the A. F. of L. program on unem- ployment and social insurance is to support the capitalist class against relief for the work- ers of any kind, and for the most violent re- pression of the working class. . SOCIALIST PARTY STARVATION PLAN C. The “Socialist” Party (the party of social fascism, agents of capitalism,-trying to secure support. of capitalism amongst the working class, using the name “Socialist” only as a means of deceiving workers). cialist” Party is compelled in order to divert and confuse the masses, to pretend to be ‘in favor” of the unemployment relief and social insurance. But the “Socialist” Party program on these points is entirely a pre-capitalist pro- gram—a program which, behind its nice look- ing words, in reality does nothing less than to support the Hoover program of starvation for the masses. The “Socialist” Party calls for the relief of unemployed through the construction of public works, although it is clear that: (1) The building of public works would not employ more than a small number of workers, and would only slightly reduce the number of unemployed, but the Socialist Party uses this demand to turn the workers away. from the Unemployed Councils and from de- manding more effective measures. (2) The “overproduction” of the capitalist system today is nowhere more marked than in building; it is not general building, but the building of workers’ homes (to replace their present unsanitary barracks) and hospitals, etc., that are necessary. (3) ,.The kind of public works that would be constructed under these plans of the Social- ist Party, A. F. of L., ete., would be chiefly for war purposes, directly or indirectly, and thus leading straight toward the drawing of the working class into imperialist war. But the “Socialist” Party proposals look at every dollar sharply in the interests of the capitalist class and do not at all propose that the workers should receive full wages when thrown out of employment. The “Socialist” Party proposal would: 1.. Limit the number of weeks that an un- employed worker would receive relief. 2. Make a sharp limitation of the workers eligible for relief ‘residence qualifications, etc.). 3. Compel the working class itself to de- liver over a part of their meager wages to pay for their own unemployment insurance (prac- tically taking a wage cut now against the fu- ture chanee of unemployment). The “So-' 4. Deceive the workers into accepting the brutal Hoover “Stagger Plan,’ which the So- cialist Party disguises under the name of “‘six- hour day.” 5. Limit the amount of relief to the sam« pauperized starvation basis that all capitalist proposals assume are “good enough” for workers. 6. Leave the administration of the un- employment relief to the capitalist politician: and-heads of corporations. This means tha’ unemployment relief would be sabotage by em- ployers, the funds looted by corrupt enemies of the worker, a brazen discrimination woulc be made against certain workers in the inter- ests of the employers. Those workers whc maintain a class loyal attitude toward employ- ers would be discriminated against, Negro workers would receive the same cruel jim- crowing in unemployment relief which they now receive in all other ways from the same capitalist bossés and politicians, foreign-born workers would be penalized for their working class activity threugh the withholding of un- employment compensation by the same scoun- drels who are now conducting the drive of de- portation against them for the same pufpose. It is clear that the “Socialist” Party program is not one of unemployment relief and social insurance but a capitalist program against un- employment relief and against social insurance. The real aims of these hypocrites who use the name of “Socialisnl™” only in order to de- ceive the working class, are made plain by the actions of their fellow-“socialist” Ramsay Mac- Donald, head of the coalition capitalist gov- ernment of England and hangman of Indian workers, who now openly is-cutting down the meager “dole” of the 3,000,000 unemployed workers of Great Britain in order to prevent the taxing of rich landlords and capitalists. “RADICAL” FAKERS STARVATION PLAN D. The “Muste’ Group of Social Fascists in the American Federation of Labor (and their “little brothers,” Lovestone, Gitlow, Can- non, etc., whose special way of serving the capitalists is in trying to destroy the Commu- nist Party): The program of these groups, in the long run, is the same as the program of the American Federation of Labor. But the peculiar function of these groups is to try to stem the tide of radicalism of the workers and to turn the masses away from the revolution- ary trade unions, away from the unemployed councils, and back into the institutions and policies that support the capitalist class azainst the workers. In this time of economic crisis, unemployment and radicalization of the masses—when the Communist Party has al- ready become the acknowledged leader of the movement of the unemployed, the acknowl- edged leader of the Negro masses in the strug- gle against special oppression and the acknow!l- edged leader of practically every bona fide strike (every real struggle for betterment of wages and conditions)—when the drift of the masses toward the Communist Party already astonishes and frightens the bourgeoisie— when even the most reactionary capitalist cut- throats have to speak of ‘‘planned economy” in a fantastically impossible capitalist imitation of the socialist planned economy of revolution~ ary Soviet Russia—it is just at this time when prostituted agents can best serve the capitalist class by calling themselves “revolutionary” and “also Communists” while striving with all their might to prevent the workers joining the Communist Party and to break up the trade unions and other organizations which follow the Communist Party leadership. The program of this group, concealed be-~ hind “radical”? and “revolutionary” words, is in support of the capitalist program. 2 CAPITALIST GOVERNMENT PREPARES FOR IMPERIALIST WAR But, even if the capitalist government will not willingly grant any demands necessary for the working class in the economic crisis, it would nevertheless be a mistake to think that the capitalist class does not wish to overcome the economic crisis, or that it has no plans to evercome it, Today in the highest circles of bankers and trust magnates, there is a plan laid down for a way out of the economic erisis, in addition to the inhuman speed-up, the dismissal of work- ers and wage-cutting. The ‘government: that took:-the working} clase’s lives in the last World War- for “the “ot conquest; war of plunder, The goods that — benefit of the ecumineveial interests of the wealthy class willl spend this year $1,000,000,- 000 on what? The government will spend this money on warships, on artilery, on fighting planes and bombs, on shot and shell fer the coming war. The war against whom? For what? } The war will be fought like the last one— what the hypocritical war president, Woodrow Wilson, afterward admitted was a “commercial” war—that is, an imperialist war again for the - benefit of the multi-millionaires of Wall Street who own the government and who will not per- - mit the relief of the starving unemployed, + "The war a are preparing for ig a war { Page Three