The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 3, 1931, Page 6

Torturing of Militants in i. Prisons By JESSIE L. WAKEFIELD ¥. L. D. Organizer Released ‘rom Harlan Jail After 8 Weeks by Mass. Protest Three ¢axs displaying machine guns; Thirteen heavily armed: dep- uty sherifis.+: Nine ‘Harlan defend- ants; handeuffed in: pairs of. two. This is the picture’ that’ met. the | residents of Clark County, and the | future jurors who are to try these | nine miners for murder. When the men were moved on a change of venue to Clark County thé author- ities were taking every precaution | to make sure that sentiment would be agairist the defendants by mak- | ing them appear as “dangerous” criminals who had to be guarded. | Local papers in that farming area were whipping up lynch = spirit against the “bloodthirsty” miners from the mountains, All during the “hot summer months, the union men were herded into the “bull pen,” where mahy of them had to sieep on the bare concrete floors. Every day they were fed the same menu of cab- bage and beans, with the stench of the cooknig cabbage reminding them of the come, Bill the But ceputy Randolph, liller of six men, each one shot in} comfortably in| the back, lounged his “private room,” away from the other prisoners, had his own radio, fried chicken every evening, and had all the visitors he wanted. He wes held in jail only until witnes- ses could be bought cf: to say that he had shot in self-defense. In jail, the defendants who had, finally been iniimidated to the int of turning state’s evidence, were given every privilege, while those who were determined to “stick it out,” were continually being dis- couraged by the jail authorities, and being reminded of their starv- ing families on the outside. Pro- positions to leave the state, Stay out of the union, go back to work, and they. would be allowed to go free, were made to the men in 2 patron- izing way. If any of them accepted such propositions they. were sup- - plied with spending money until “bail” was secured, and given a comfortable cell to stay in. If they refused, the authorities rebuked - them as traitors to their families, Those. are the tactics used-in Harlan to break down the spirit of ~ the mnion defendants. In Scottsboro the nine Negro boys sit in their cells just opposite the electric chair that is -being made ready for them. ‘They are forced to witness each electrocution. They are scarcely allowed to see their parents, and are allowed no liter- ature, outside of such trash as “Western Stories.” Their mail is intercepted. But the N.A.A.C.P. is given free entrance to -the jail to try.to persuade the boys against “them as defense action of the In- * ternational Labor Defense. In Woodlawn, Pa., the bosses are ——— 1,200 COAL. MINERS WERE JAILED IN BIG TR By M. STERN nauseating meal to} S7s2 RRs Bb FRANK SPECTOR | (Recently released from San Quen- tin. Now on National Tour) workers for five years on charges of sedition, but are hastening the death of one of the prisoners, Milan Resetar, who is dying of consuption, by not allowing him to see a doctor, and keeping his case from coming will not live long. Pus sacks have already formed around his heart, and both lungs are affected. The jailors disregard him. Because Tom Mooney was fear- less in exposing the government, the courts, and the A. F. of L. trait- ors, the jailors changed him from a relatively easy prison. job to one of peeling potatoes and onions, | where the conditions are so bad, that it is wondered just how long | Mooney will be able to survive, in | view of his already weakened con- | dition. | | | | | | | Such are the harships of impris- oned militants in the United States. |The LL°D. must rally hundreds of thousands of workers against the brutalities practiced against poli- tical prisoners in the American dun- geons! before the Parole Board. Resetar4 This picture was taken outside of a textile mill in The “Labor Defender” Is Growing By JOSEPH NORTH Unique among the working class publications in this country is the Labor Defender, the official organ of the I.L°D; Its, cxculation, which July and August is now steady at tion of any ‘working class periodical in America. The pictorial character of the pa- furnishes the I.L.D. with one of the most powerfulweapons any mili- tant working class organization pos- sesses. Its appeal is best to the broadest masses, the most untu- toréd groups, the most backward sections of the American working class. It can be used to great effect in winning contacis for the I.L.D.: Negro or white, foreign born or na- tive, all workers instantly catch up a Labor Defender, which? equalling the attractiveness in technique of the capitalist picto.tais, contains most vital issues simply presented to the workers. Comrade Browder declared re- cently, “We have to turn the en- tire organization (the ILD.) to- ward mass work, building up indi- } vidual membership branches, the penetration of new strata of work- ers, This is the only possible foun- dation from which to meet the in- creasing tasks of defense wok... . | This an only be done by buliding » mass organization. In this re- spect, I think the Labor Defender is |the most successful phase of [.L.D. work, Here we have a substantial | basis for a mass organ, We have jonly begun to exploit the possibili- | ties for it.” the workers’ pictorial in Germany, jhas a circulation of more than a quarter million and you have some- thing of a persnective ot what the Labor Defender can be built to. All workers must use this weapon to reach the hitherto untapped strata of the American working class. DOGS ALL—USED AGAINST STRIKERS = Pawtucket,_ R. L, in the midst of a recent strike. Police dogs are now being not content with imprisoning three trained by bosses to use against strikers. on o jminer to get arrested, so that one 33,000, probably the highest circula- | Consider the fact that the AIZ, | .| reached. a. high point of 40,000 «in per—its direct and stmple appeal—/ § k are also being arranged now in WV, GW LUMKSo...UKUDAY, UCKFUBER 3, 1931 \ SENDER GARLIN } (Co-editor of. Labor Defender, now on coast-to-coast tour) “Soviet Union and U..8. A.” { Sender Garlin, co-editor of the Labor Defender,is now on a coast to coast tour for the‘Interna ional Labor Defense. He recently re- turned from the Soviet Union and Germany and visited the most important cities. Garlin spoke to thousands of workers and peasants throughout the U. S. S. R. under the direction of MOPR, which arranged his tour there, explained the nature of the frame up against the nine young Scottsboro Negro lads, and to help mobilize protest against capitalist terror. Speaking on the subject, “Boss Terror in the United States and Proletarian Triumphs in the U. Ss. S. R., Garlin is now making a national tour. He-has already spoken at successful meetings in New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Washington, D. C., Providence, R. I., Pawtucket, R. I, Boston, Mass, Lawrence, Mass., and other citeis. Meetings Cleveland, Chicago, Kansas City, Butte, Mont., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, Wash., and in scores of smaler cities. Garlin’s meetings are unusual- ly effective in view of the fact that he shows a large number of striking photographs of Soviet life under the Five-Year Plan, contrasting this with unpublish- ed pictures of misery and boss terror in the United States. No capitalist newspaper in the U. S. dares“ publish these - pictures, which Garlin projects on a screen and shows to his audi- neces, | “Send to I. L. D., 80 East lith St., New. York City a E want to join the International Labor Defense. SO eee eereeencons City and State ... The task-of defending over twelve hundred Winers who were arrested during the coal miners strike in Pennsylvania; Ohio and W.Va. has brought out some valuable lessens for the workers in dealing with mass arrests during large economic strug- gies. At the present time, when one section after another of the working class is receiving terrible wage cuts, many more bitter strug- “gles are bound to come. These strug- gies will inevitably result in mass persecutions. The lessons learned from t!> ¢-‘ense of the miners, to- getber with arf’ analysis of the short- comings and failures of this defense- work, are valuable to the workers in the struggles to come. can immediately rush out to the squire, fight for him and if fined, to pay the fine at once. We had ;some very unpleasant. moments be- | fore the miners were made to un- derstand what the I.L.D. was. We soon found out what our im- mediate tasks were. 1, Education. 2. Organization. 3. Application of Policies. 1. We started this campaign of ed- ucation to shew, first, that the LL. D. is not something apart from the workingclass and the struggle,’ but is composed of workers and exists because of thegstruggle—that the I. L. D. is the workingclass, organized to fight persecutions, Second, that “Vhen the strike broke out and/|the strike apparatus and the Union mass arrests began to take place, the | must be involved in this fight National Miners Union refered all} against persecutions. Third, the ILL. cases to the LL.D. D. has certain policies and uses cer- .To the average miner the LL.D.) taintactics which—are most effective “was something new. He immediately|in the fight’, Thi seducation’ had: to formed the.opinion that it muSt:be'|'be carried on’ very quickly as the some very large office in Pittsburgh;/ need was extremely urgent. Every with plenty of money and a large | means was used: issuance of leaflets; staff of attorneys: waiting. for: apersonal talks with strike leaders, * 4 4 Wife Writes: izing in California. Dear Comrades: closing a $20 check, mind the victims of A Prisoner’s From the wife of one of the Imperial Valley-prison- jers who is serving a 2 to 28-year sentence for organ- San Diego, Cal. I received your letter en- for which I am thankful to you, You certainly keep in the bourgeoisie. If not for-the help from the ILD, and some valiant comrades, we would be in a pretty des- perate condition, with comrades behind bars. our We | must fight for the ILD and for the freedom of al our imprisoned comrades for: their struggles against the boss class. Juventina Orosco. gricultural workers |; ings with defense committees: tion conferences; District Conferen- ces; addressing the strike commit- tees. Here I must’ state that the “| miners have grabbed up every. bit of information very eagerly. 2. Persecutions: took place so often and involved such large numbers that it was impossible for the exist- ing. LL.D. apparatus to handle the situation. It would have been in- correct even if it could. Defense Committees were! set up in most of the mines. , These defense committees were.el- ecfed from the strike committees and ‘responsible to the strike committee and the LL.D. In this way the de- fense committees were the connect- ing links between the strike appar- atus and the LL.D. ’ Next we organized the defense committees into sections, Finally we have added to the LL. D. District ‘Committee somie.of, the section or- @anizers and also representatives of the central rank and file strike com- | mittee. 3. The application of our policies To You Who Are Not Yet In Prisons—- By ROBERT W. DUNN Relief for the prisoners and pris- oners’ dependents is the first duty trumpets. The majority of readers of the Daily, Worker probably don’t realize what a’ steady and heavy job this relief business is. Those cf us who are not—for the moment at least—in prison for our beliefs are pretty prone to forget. those who face long grey days be- hind prison bars. Perhaps it would help to keep us more aware of their presence there if we could contrib- ute regularly to a specific fund to help them. Because of this-heavy obligation to the prisoners, the Prisoners’ Re- lief Fund was recently formed. The ILD has on its hands hundreds of strike, picketing, hunger mareh, de- portations, sedition law, frame-up and other cases growing directly out of the class struggle. And it is pledged to fight all these cases and to help all workers who turn to it regardless of political. or economic affiliations. In addition to all this it does prisoners’ and dependents’ relief work, It attempts to send every class war prisoner each month $5 to help make his life in a prison cell a lit- tle easier. And at the same time it tries to help the needy dependents (wivs, children) of the prisoners by sending each one $20 a month. This entails a monthly expenditure run- ning anywhere from $500 to $700 even if we count only those prison- ers already sentenced for definite terms, such as the Centralia I.W.W. boys, or Mooney and Billings, or the Imperial Valley victims. Then on top of this come the needs of pris- oners held for trial or whose cases are being appealed, like the Scotts- boro defendants and the Kentucky miners. So any one with a little elementary arithmetic can wunder- stand why: the LL.D. has a heavy job and is continually “in the red” on its books. Just now we are making a spe- cial appeal for the 26 miners still in the jails in Harlan, Mount Ster- ling and Winchester, Ky., and their 110 dependents who are actuall starving. : We are specially eager to have readers of this article send us in something NOW for Kentucky pris- oners’ relief. | Tf besides sending us a contribu- | tion you can also send the names of | persons who might help, your gift will be doubly appreciated. Please send your checks and money orders directly to Grace Hutchins, treasurer, Prisoners’ Re- lief Fund, Room 430, 80 E. lith St., New York City. Both individuals ‘and organiza- tions should help in this necessary work. Adopt prisoners! Pledge your organization and yourself for regu- lar monthly contributions to the class war prisoners. « _—— = LSTATE STRIKE strikers, and those persecuted; meet-of mass protest, workers’ self-defense sec- in court, non-payment of fines, took place just as quickly as: the miners could be concretely shown their cor- reciness. At first there was a tre- mendous demand for attorneys to be present at every hearing, but when they were shown the class character of the courts at the inability to furn- ish attorneys for all the cases, they began to practice this own defense. When the miners bezan to realize that hundreds of arrests were made primarily to fine them and thus rob them of badly needed. funds, they “Stopped paying fines and went to jail instead. When miners realized that persecutions took place in or- der to break the morale of the strik- ers and that the courts were cooper- ating with the state troopers, thugs and constables, they began to put up a fight to prevent the arrests. It must be admitted that we have no! organized sufficiently for mass. sure nor have we, advocated i sufficient energy: | This, I be the greatest shortcoming in our defense work in the coa) strike. a of the International Labor! Diefense=: This relief has been ‘giyen”& good: ‘Many years arid ‘without’ blowing of’ a Kw &