The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 14, 1931, Page 1

WALL ST. RUSHES 9 at ( | | | |B. 19th St, in the large ha’) , The main point on the agenda will WORKERS OF THE WORLD, _UNITE! Dail Central Orga (Section of the Communist International) Vol. VIII, No. 247 Stee toa R taster ieteetanc'stes >" NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1931 CITY EDITION ieee, Financial Crisis Hits America’ ® recall that J, P. Morgan, when England abandoned the gold stand- ard, observed that it marked “the second stage of recover; And it might have been inferred, from his “infectious smile,” that even if this “second stage” failed, the next or-“third stage” was expected to bring to America, if not to England, great hope, good cheer, and returned pros- perity. Alas and alack! ‘First we hear that “British rumors” are “under- mining our securities market.” Then, the securities are given Doc. Hoover's “national unity” smelling salts. But in spite—or perhaps because, of this, the N. Y. Times of October 11 tells us that “French Rumors Sap Faith in the Dollar.” In Poland people are selling dollars at panic speed, and the rediscount rate is raised in New York at the moment it is revealed that $500,000,000 of gold has been exported from America since England suspended gold payments. Tt seems that “French rumors” are most annoying just now, on the eve of Premier Laval’s visit, one Paris paper explaining that— “at the rate | of 25.39 franes to the dollar, which is the present rate, instead of 25.52 francs, which is the Jegal rate, there is a profit for those who export gold from the United States.” Now, if the dollar has gotten into such relation with the franc, it can scarcely be charged up to “rumors” either British or French; though it may cause plenty of rumors that cannot be answered by American in- dignation. . We lay aside for the moment the connection all this has with Hoover's proposal that war debts be “scaled down” in exchange for disarming America’s European rivals, and Laval’s counter proposal that debts be reduced 50 per cent, in exchange for arms budgets cuts of 25 per cent | (not a bad bargain!) —and “security,” by which Laval means French hegemony in Europe. How “impregnable” is the American financial structure if it can be blown over by “British rimors” and “French rumors”? Is it any stronger than those banks in America which, in the capitalist press, were, in the early part of the crisis, destroyed by “Red rumors’? What has become of that favorite canard, anyhow, of “Red rumors” as a “cause” ci the capitalist crisis? The cause of the financial crisis in America, as in England, is the economic crisis, and all chatter about silver and gold “cures” will cure neither. No. The French stories of American inflation are true. And that is why the Dollar is falling in relation to the Franc. This was shown in the increased note circulation of 16 per cent over a year ago, cited by the Commercial and Financial Chronicle recently. But, it will be said, has not America over $5,000,000,000 gold? And how can European rumors undermine such strength? An answer is given by Sir Walter Layton, one of England’s leading financial writers in the London “Economist,” on the question of how much gold can America lose, as it lost $500,000,000 in three weeks? He says: “Current estimates vary and no rigid calculation is possible, for long before the final limit is reached, credit restriction, monetary stringency and a general deterioration of morale would have developed to an in- tolerable degree.” Clearly, these are symptoms now obvious in American finance. Yet too many workers, and even Communists, fail to observe the significance or even the fact, of recent “mergers” of great banks, such as Foreman’s Bank and the (Dawes) Central Trust of Chicago, and the giant Bank of America, in New York, all swallowed by the Morgan banks, although these events are of great political significance to the working class. But, further, says Layton, “The published returns of the Federal Re- serve System, including the ratio of gold to liabilities, are a most incom- plete guide.” What might be the guide to knowledge of just how much gold the U. S. can lose without a general smash? Layton says, that “at last gasp” the U. S. could give up only $1,700,- 000,000 (of its over $5,000,000,000) —“although,” he adds significantly, “the practical limit is far below that figure.” Now if the real limit is “far below” $1,700,000,000, it is clear that the withdrawal of $500,000,000 gold from America by Europe in the last three weeks is a serious blow, and a herald of one still heavier. For Sir Layton goes on to show that in the central banks of Europe (mot countzse the commercial banks) there is possible demand upon America’s gold of $1,400,000,000. One can understand therefore, why he speaks softly of the “inconvenience” to America. One can understand ywhy the New York banks increased the rediscount rate, and why also, Hooyer called his conference for “national unity.” Now, the significance of all this to the workers is more than the mere fact that the capitalists of the world are struggling over gold and their struggle deepens the mutual difficulties of the crisis. To workers in countries ruled by capitalists, workers who are by that fact inevitably involved as the victimized part of capitalist society, it means: 1. Further wage cuts. On one hand by direct reduction of wages paid in money; on the other hand by inflation of the currency, or the issuing of paper money in excess of its backing by real value in metal (the commodity which is the legalized measure of the values in all other commodities), which means that for the same money wage the worker cannot buy as much as before. 2. More unemployment by the intensified crisis, and wider starva- tion of the unemployed by capitalist refusal to bear any cost or relief. 3. Attempt to reduce the standard of living permanently to “coolie level” by the so-called “stagger” plan of “division of work” on the plea that this is “temporary” and that the employed should “share work” with the unemployed, thus saying capitalists the cost of unemployment, insurance and relief, accustoming the whole working class to a starva- vion standard, and sidetracking the.anited struggle of both employed and unemployed for unemployment insurance into a fascist scheme for great- ing hostility between the employed and unemployed.. 4. The bitter disputes over gold, war debts, Manchurian interests, etc, between the imperialist rohbers are but preludes to armed conflict, in which the workers and small farmers will be forced to die in battle” for their slave drivers’ interests. Workers cannot remain passive before these developments. As against wage cuts, they must organize and strike, not only to defeat reduction of wages, but for increased wages. ‘ Against more unemployment, both employed and unemployed must unite, to protest and strike against mass dismissals; for unemployment insurance at full wages at the entire cost of the capitalists and adminis- tered by workers; for Winter Relief of $150 to each jobless worker; for instant real relief to all destitute jobless workers and impoverished farmers, The war drums already are beating in China. Stimson has sent American imperialism’s threat of war to Japan. World war nears, with the threat of death and wounds to millions of workers and farmers! Capitalism, built upon war and loot and human misery, will try to solve its desperate difficulties by war on the Soviet Union, which in- spires workers in capitalist lands to revolt by the very fact that where workers rule, there is no crisis, no unemployment, no misery, Against imperialist war, the workers must defend themselves and their own conditions; they must defend the Soviet fatherland of all workers! \ And go forward to overthrow the insane and murderous rule of capi- talism! Trade Union Unity Council Will Hear Report On Plenum | tre report. shane ‘The report will not only deal with A special meeting of the Trade | problems discussed in Pittsburgh. On Union Unity Council of Greater New | the basis of the decisions of the Ple- ‘York will take place this Thursday, |num a program will be presented on October 15, at 7:30 p.m., sharp, at 5|}how to struggle against wage cuts and unemployment in the New York district be a report on the Plenum of the National Committee of the TU.U.L. held in Pittsburgh on October 3 and | 4e Comrade Joseph Zack will mak* | | Strike of 25,000 textile workers ‘|brutally attacked 4,000 workers at- Mass Pic Lawrence House Again Demand End of Wage Cuts, BULLETIN BOSTON, Oct. 13—Edith Berk- man, organizer of the National Tex- tile Workers Union, who was ar- rested in Lawrence and brought here by the immigration authori- ties to keep her out of the present against wage-cuts, was denied bail by the United States Cireuit Court of Appeals. She is held for depor- tation, Though out on $2,000 bail before the strike, she was immedi- ately arrested when the workers went out dgainst wage-cuts, and now the courts are holding her in jail. es LAWRENCE, Mass., Oct. 13— Strikers here are mobilizing to picket the Arlington and Kunhard Mills where the bosses declare they will at- tempt to open up today. There are! 25,000 on strike in this’ city against @ general wage cut of {0 per cent. On Sunday and Monday the strik- ers mobilized a large rank and file delegation: to picket the state house in Boston today at 10 o'clock to ex- keting to Keep Mills Closed Rank and File Strike Delegation Goes to Boston State st Strike Sell-Out No Arbitration, Free Speech And Release of Arrested Strikers so-called arbitration board. The de- mand of the striking pickets is: no wage cut; no arbitration; free speech for the Lawrence workers; immediate release of all arrested strikers and organizers. The National Textile Workers Un- to select their strike committees in addition to broadening the already formed united front General Strike Committee. Relief stores opened up today. The National Textile Workers.Union is calling a woolen conference in Bos- ton next week to spread the strike and to build up a militant organiza- tion. * CHARLOTTE, N. C., Oct. 13. The Burlington and Charwick mills here cut wages again yesterday of textile workers 10 per cent. The Na- tional Textile Workers Union issued leaflets to the mill workers affected a ton is calling mill meetings. this week | ted Textile Workers Union and the j PUSH FASCIST PROGRAM IN GERMANY Communists Demand Removal of Police as Reichstag Opens Bruening Tells Plans Socialists Help Fascists In New Move (Cable By Inprecorr) BERLIN, Oct. 13—The Reichstag opened today after almost a half year holiday. Following the reading of the new government declaration, Bruening spoke, explaining the ne- cessity of alterations in the. cabinet, by pointing out that the coming win- ter demanded concentration of the government's repressive powers in a single hand. He stated that the ap- pointment of General Groener as Reichskehr Minister and Minister of Interior offered the necessary guar- antee of determined action. Answering the Nationalist attacks, he declared that the policy of the) present cabinet is also national. He | declared that state interference in| private finance and industry was/| made necessary by excessive abuses | Fear Ch Polish-Rumanian Ati Staffs Meet to Plan Anti-Soviet War | | Pilsudski Makes Secret Visit to Rumania, But | Capitalist Press Admits It’s for War Aims NEW YORK.—French imperialism | seen the growing mass discontent in is forging the Polish-Rumanian an-/| the puppet states that border the ti-Soviet war front tighter, while at | Soviet Union as well as in Germany. the same time the League of Nations | This fact is brought out in an inter- takes up the question of “settling” | view of Edward A. Filene, Boston the Manchurian conflict by a war| merchant and famous writer, who against the workers’ republic. has just returned from a visit to Despite attempts to hide the visit | Europe. Filene, who usually spreads of Marshall Pilsudski, dictator of} the Hoover-type of optimism, this | Poland, to Rumania, the capitalist | time declared: “there is imminent papers were finally forced to admit | danger of violent revolutions” in that this war monger came expressly | Central Europe, including Austria, to strengthen the alliance for war | Hungary and Rumania. Filene ap- against the Soviet Union. | ologized for the necessity of telling | Admit War Drive | these facts to the capitalists but said “It is admitted, however,” says the | “I couldn’t make any but a truthful New York Times cable from Bucha-/| statement, it is only truthful state- | rest, Rumania, “that questions aris- | ments that will do good.” ing from a military-political Ruma- It is the pressure of the hungry MORE WARSHIPS T0 CHINA WAR ZONE inese Masses Will Turn Slaughter Into A Civil War League Maneuvers Are Lying Moves To Fool Workers CONFLICT IS SHARPER Seek Common Front For Attack on U.S.S.R BULLETIN. NEW YORK.—Nine more war- ships have been rushed by the United States Navy, under Wall Street orders, to the Manchurian war zone, as the imperialist con- flicts sharpen, The New York Graphic declares: “In apparent preparations for a definite declara- tion of war in Asia, as Japanese itary planes bombarded three Chinese troop trains, on their way | calling on them to follow the exam-j and warned the National opposition ple of the 25,000 Lawrence textile | against forcing him to make revolu- | workers and call a strike against | tions, Here the Communist deputies | pose the sell-out move of the Uni- wage cuts, —— no-Polish alliance—directed in spirit if not in letter against the Russian ‘danger’—will be discussed.” to reinforce the garrison now in Manchuria, the United States navy has ordered seven modern subma- masses, and the growing need for | markets and new colonies that is | driving the imperialists to war. This Fascists Break Worker | RACINE, Wis., Oct. 13.—“Socialist” police and legionnaires last nigrt | tending a political rally of the Com- munist Party on the eve of the con- gressional election in this district. Many workers were viciously club- bed and blackjacked by the combined forces of fascist legionnaires and po- lice. E Peterson, a member of the Young Communist League is in jail in a critical condition. L. Oken, Sec- tion representative was beaten by police while being taken to jail Many Orders Workers Attacked Many Injured as Cossacks, Backed by Legion | Up Red Rally— s Resist The “Socialist” mayor, Swoboda, had denied a permit for a Communist political rally, hoping thus to prevent an exposure of th treachery of the Socialist Party and its characters as a political party of the bosses. When the worker's insisted on exercising their political rights, Swoboda mo- bilized the Legion fascists and sent his police to break up the political rally. The workers fought back with the greatest militancy and many of the police and Legion thugs suffered in- other workers were arrested. juries. American Workers Delegation To USSR Gets Big Send-Off NEW YORK-—Giving the 1931 American Workers Delegation to the Soviet Union an enthusiastic send- off, 1,500: workers at the Cooper and Ohio had not arrived in time for the meeting. § Negro Cotton Specialists Go. Several members of the Negro cot- Union meeting, Monday, October 12, adopted resolutions of greetings to the workers of Magnitogorsk on the completion of the largest steél mill) ton specialist delegation going to work on state cotton farms in Turkestan for two years were present on the platform, and Sutton of their in Europe, and a pledge of support | number spoke. to the Soviet workers in building a| A banner and a statue of a shock Socialist society. & | brigadier by Adolph Wolff was pre- The keynote of the meeting, opened | sented to the delegation as a gift by the Red Front Band, was struck | from American workers to the Soviet by Marcel Scherer, chairman of the trade unions. A message of greet- evening and secretary of the Friends | ings from the Icor was read. of the Soviet Union, when he said} William Weinstone for the Commu- that the delegates came from the | nist Party and Lena Chernenko also fighting sections of the United States | spoke. to witness the building of a free) The delegation will sail Saturday, workers’ society and to see the con-| October 17, on the Caledonia. trast between capitalist and workers’ * rule, | Four Marine Workers. | The marine workers’ delegation of | four, veterans of the sea and water--| (CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE) JOWA FARMERS - CAPTURE JAIL; FREE PRISONER Action Taken After Militia Attacks ‘The capitalist papers report that 500 farmers of Southeastern Iowa marched militantly upon the New London jail yesterday and took pos- session of it, smashed the look, and set free Ronald Hart, 20 year old farmer previously arrested for shout- ing to milita that he was “Just a farmer, standing on my rights.” At last accounts, the militia and sheriff's officers had not re-captured Hart. ‘ This is only the latest development in the resistance of the poor farmers to the scheme of the big companies and the state power to put them out of business as competitors. Tht scheme is to administer the tuber- culin test to cattle, and kill off the cows of small farmers if the cows “react to the test. Cows of the high dairy companies have owners with influence and don’t get killed. ‘The farmers have fought this un- fair test for a long time. Yesterday a column of state militia equipped with a machine gun, charged with fixed bayonets a crowd of 150 farmers who blocked the road of the cow testers to the McKinnon farm. Only with the bayonets at their chests did the farmers disperse. It was here that Hart was arrested. Two others, Mike Hennessey and Henry Connor, were also arrested, and are in Mount Pleasant Jail. The crowd broken up at the Mc- Kinnon farm came to New London, was reinforced by others from other counties, and made the jail delivery. State troops are still attacking and dispersing groups of farmers wherever Pilsudski was met by the Minister | war front is being built up mainly of ‘War, the -Chief: of the General | against the Soviet Union, where the Stakk and other milit#ry officers of | workers have ended capitalism, its the Rumanian army. | hunger and misery, and are building Behind the move of Pilsudski is! a new society, Socialism. Jobless Demonstrate At Court House in Reading \Socialist City Administration Sits Beliind Its Machine Guns and Offers Starvation of Reading jobless demonstrated in|ing those demands if the jobless front of the court house here yester- | should come in with them anyway. day, and sent in a committee of the Clinton Bach, director of the poor, Unemployed Council to present de- proposes forced labor of the unem- mands for relief to a conference of | ployed at the rate of $15 a week in- the county commissioners, the social- | stead of real relief. ist [party city administration and) socialist Mayor Stump. had noth- “welfare” bodies. ‘ing to propose to the conference. A It will be remembered that this is | committee of chamber of commer the socialist administration whose | members, Mayor Stump, and others, chief of police, Scherer, boasted | were elected to consider plans. The rines and the U.S.S. Canopus to Chefoo, China, from Tsingtao. Two other submarines were sent to Taku Bar, in support of the first flotilla.” The first flotilla consists of 19 bat- tleships recently rushed to China by Wall St. The Graphic goes on to state: “This puts the United States sub- marines in a most menacing spot where they can intercept Japanese transports en route to China.” NEW YORK.—Through the de- mand of Japan, the League of Na- tions virtually slammed the door in the face of Wall Street’s representa- tive in Geneva, where the Manchur- ian war crisis is being “discussed.” Prentiss Gilbert was supposed to rep- resent the American government, but on insistence of Japan he was not allowed to be present as an “ob- server.” This shows the extreme sharpness of the conflict and is in- dicative of the line-up of forces. NEW YORK.—More bombardments by Jap- through the capitalist press on Oct. 5 that even though the city gave unemployed are not represented on it. janese airplanes, as nothing to the jobless, there was no | Hunger T-areh Oct. 28, danger. The socialist administration! The unemployed denounce this So- had purchased six new shot gunsand | cialist starvation administration. @ machine gun for the police force.| They will continue to organize and | “If there are riots we can take care | demonsirate for food and relief, and of them with the machine gun,” the | will hold a hunger march on the city chief is reported to have said, as he | council, October 28. fondle dthe new weapon. | The committee sent in by the job- Flee From Jobless. | less yesterday included candidates of When the committee of the jobless | the Communist Party in the coming reached the conference, they were de- | municipal elections. Harold John, nied the right to present their de- | Communist candidate for mayor, ad- mands for food for the hungry unem- | dressed the demonstrators, calling on well as a rapid mobil- ization of Chinese troops were the latest steps Tuesday in the war develop- ments in Manchuria, where American and Japanese imper- ialism are driving to a new world slaughter. That Chiang Kai-shek and the other Chinese puppet generals were ployed, and the conference adjourned | mobilizing their armed forces against them to vote Communist. ' | the Chinese masses as much as for NEW YORK. — Building resistance to the huge wage cutting campaign instituted by the employers and bankers against millions of workers they find them. still in the factories and mills, the Betsy Ross, Great Grand-Daughter of City-Wide Meetings to Build Resistance to Pay Cut Drive | war to help Wall Street in its con- | flict with Japan over colonial loot, is |shown by cables to capitalist news- apers in Manchester and New York. A recent issue of the Manchester Guardian declared that “bombard- |ment of Nanking by the Japanese | leads to war and possibility of a Com- | munist rising in alliance with the Soviet.” Chinese Masses Rising. | In other words, the Chinese masses | are answering the war threats of the | imperialist powers over the plunder lof Manchuria by an anti-imperialist struggle against Chiang Kai-shek, the tool of Wali Street, and are threat- ening to turn the oncoming imper- ialist war into a civil war. The same idea is expressed in a cable from Hallett Abend, Shanghai {Communist Party has issued a call for mass demonstrations throughout the country. In New York the following indoor | meetings have been called to fight against wage cuts. The meetings will be held Wednesday, October 14, at 8 p.m. Downtown Manhattan—Manhattan Lyceum, 66 E. 4th St.; speaker, Earl Browder Midtown Manhattan—Bryant Hall, Sixth Ave. and 40th St.; speaker, Wm. W. Weinstone. ng in Canton front, included Tom Burns, seaman, | 4 of San Francisco, John Green, sea- | man, of New Orleans, George Wick- | Colonial I | man, Negro longshoreman of New| York and Smith Hopkins, seaman, of | New York. Burns spoke for the) By ERNEST R. VUIGH grou and told of the conditions of, CANTON, Ohio.—Bets Ross, the the marine workers in the United | seat granddaughter of 1 1¢ creator of States. , the American flag, is facing death by Abraham Lewis, Negro steel work- | slow starvation while waiting for er of Youngstown, spoke on behalf | eviction. I found her recently in of the steel workers in the delega-|Canton when I was out collecting tion which includes Sam Langford, signatures. She met us at the door Negro furnace worker of Gary, Ini “My doors are al- and invited us in. and a metal worker from Pittsburgh. | Ways open to all you Communists,” eroine Starvi Says She'll Vote Com- munist Next Month © person turn around in, “My friends,” she declared after seating us, “I'm not going to apologize lived in my better days in California next door to the Hoover family. Then I was recognized by all the big shots. I went to church and interpreted the Bible literally., am schooled very dif- ferently now I tell you, my friends, T am old— I was born June 22, 1855 | in Knox County, IIL, but my blood still boils when I think of losing my property and becoming penniless all Harlem—Harlem Casino, 116th St. and Lenox Ave.; speaker, J. Stachel. Bronx—569 Prospect Ave.; speaker, Robert Minor. | Williamsburg — 795 Flushing Ave.; speaker, Harry Gannes. South Brooklyn—Finnish Hall, 764 40th St.; speaker, Sam Don. Brownsville — Rockaway Mansion, Rockaway and Livonia Aves.; speak- er, Tom Johnson. . Nick Kovacheff of Niagara Falls, a) chemical worker, was the other mem- | ber of the delegation present at the meeting. ‘The miners group from | Wester Pennsylvania, West Virginia she said with the accent on the “u” in Communist. She conducted us, through her “front’ room which was also a bedroom, to her kitchen which for the dirt here for it is not my fault nor my husband’s, but the cap- italists’ fault . . . those big manipu- lators, grafters and legal crooks, T wes just large enough to let one know them.” She shook her fists. “I through no fault of mine. I also re- member when I was a little girl and my father was an officer in the Civil I ™* +38 In the Bronx, The * will be 9 open air meetings fevht at 7 p.m. at 161st and Pro- | | CONLINUBD ON PAGE by aidan (CONTINUED ON PAGE THE: re correspondent of the New York Times. This cable says: “Despite this (war) declaration against Japan, which is designed primarily for foreign consumption, General Chiang is rapidly moving reliable troops and enormous stores of war supplies into a pivotal and strategic area in Central China, evidently fearing civil war more than a war with Japan.” Imperialist Conflicts. The seriousness of the war daria ger, and the movement of the big imperialist powers for the line-up ig (CONTINUED ON PAGE THREES whe 4 ont muha ented rtaeaes emi