The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 13, 1931, Page 4

® Address ana mail a Publishing Co. Ine. datly phone ALgonaein 4-7956 City Le ‘WHEN WAR COME Article 2. The following is the second of a series of ar ticles compiled by the Social and Economie Department of the Red International of Labor Unions, which give in clear outline, the forecast of what war will bring, the conditions that will ensue and the historic developments that will mark the transformation of the capitalist war into civil war, developments in which every worker will find it necessary to act as an agent of that transformation. Let all understand, then, that the developments which are today but forecasts, will tomorrow be grim realities— which must be faced.—Editor. * 6 6 PADICAL changes (seen already during the last k place in: the very composi- In the past the armies drew h from the rural population. the future in the chief —apart from the colonial troops, drawn mainly They will for the unskilled workers nm of the prole- od of rationalizatin. the composition of the work- v in the rear. True, nce of the last war, & 1 workers will have to the bulk of the in- t to the front, their by women, petus that production will make it and train the last war. r in industrial prepa- g for war needs. re will make huge de- ater than during the last elligerant countries were 0 teeming arsenals. aceful” industries will be d. The whole national econo- rely the entire industry, will be war needs. A “war economy” ed. Already in present-day war ee that the basic thing is not as such, nor huge stocks of mil- s, but the proper preparation and the entire economy to promote the pecially to the preparation aratus of the “peace- production of mu- on le Against Imperialist Wars. lopments are extremely impor- e character, the methods and of the working class ‘struggle against imperialist war. ‘The preparation and mobilisation of the mass- es to struggle against war will have to be made on a far wider scale than many think. Usually, one thinks of permanent armies, fleets, arsenals, factories and piles of explosives, etc., when war preparations are spoken of. But this idea no longer holds true and gives a com- pletely false impression of future warfare. Since the whole economy will, one way or the other, be drawn into the war, since the keynote of all imperialist war preparations today is to adapt the entire industry, all the transport services, communications and agriculture, etc., to war pur- poses, the struggle against imperialist war must be shoulderéd by the whole. working class, and | especially by its basic section—the masses of unskilled workers. ‘The most vulnerable and, therefore, the most important strategical points in the industrial machine—and consequently in the war machine —are no longer where they used to be. They are to be found now in the district power stations without which the operation of modern industry is impossible, in the chief plants handling chem- ical materials, which can be switched on to the production of explosives and poison gases, in the great automobile and tractor plants which are. increasingly mechanizing the armies and aviation, in the great engineering plants with thelr mass production which can be rapidly adapted to supply different war needs, the rail- roads, etc. ‘The mass character of the armies, the tremen- dous growth in the size and significance of the entire economic and industrial apparatus mo- bilized for the war, coupled with the transforma- tion of the national economy into an integral, basic and decisive part of the war machine— will radicelly change the entire character, the aims and objects as well ds ¢he methods of con- ducting anti-war activities. All the pacifist twaddle of the reformists about “boycotting war” is meaningless, absurd and ex- ceédingly harmful. Whether he likes it or not, whether in uniform, in the trenches, driving a locomotive or working at the bench, every worker | will become a part of the war machine. This, as we shall see, gives rise, on the one hand, to many serious obstacles in carrying out anti-war activities, and on the other, greatly ex- tends their scale and scope and opens up wide possibilities and prospects. The colossal war ap- paratus, complicated and sensitive, will feel its smooth running affected even though only one part of the machine falls out. In spite of its flexibility and elasticity, the friction caused by the faulty, working of any part will suffice to bring.about the gradual dislocation of the entire mechanism. (To be Continued) American Workers on the Job in Russia The Sen of a Kansas Farmer Is By MYRA PAGE. Yoreign Correspondent of the American. “DAILY WORKER.” SCOW, Oct. 11—Several thousand work- ‘om the United States, as well as from Ger- nd and other capitalist countries an important part in the vast pro- construction now underway in In the giant tractor works and Kharkov, with total productive of 100,000 tractors a year, in the Amo ‘ant in Moscow and in the large factory Novogorod nearing completion skilled s from Detroit and Cleveland are busily ide their Russian comrades; while building workers from Chicago, New and other centers help to rear new fac- workers’ apartments, and public buildings shooting skyward in every section of Eng tories, that are the country Men and girls formerly sweated by Westing- i General Electric are now making So- wer generators and electric bulbs; miners nia company towns are digging farmers starved off the land in the. rarvesting wheat on Soviet collective rms. Shoe operatives from New England's idle ts are cutting and stitching boots while tail- America’s dark eastsides are making and warm clothes for the energetic mil- ons of Russia's free toilers intent on building orking people's world. orkers in the Soviet Union not only mre taking part in the creation of factories and necessary products, but they are entering also es of its new social and cultural The seven-hour day, (six hours in mining nnd dangerouse trades), with every fifth day a gives them more free time than they Pennsy coal from € had before. Also the general economic h a worker in capitalist America can hardly vich a worker in capitalist America can hardly picture, even in his imagination), leaves their minds free from worry. So they and their fami~ lies spend their off-hours in workers’ clubs where sports and all kinds of activities are under way, sftend the best theatres and movies at a very ®mall price, or join one of-the many study circles in order to get more of the education which they have always wanted but which conditions of life in the States prevented them from se- curing is not to say that the newcomers find all roses in the Soviet Union. There are 1 some hardships and discomforts: This the Russian workers and comrades are the first to acknowledge, as well as to-explain: why these diffienlties still exist and what is being done to overcome them. For example, in most of the larger cities the influx of population: has been so rapid that it has been impossible to build new houses fast enough—especially as- the major. ef- forts now must go into building up basic in- Custries, which lay the foundation for socialism. Hence temporary over-crowding has naturally resulted. However, every month new apartments pre opened up, and the next year and a half will see this problem largely solved. From the Russian workers’ angle there has £ mes been another problem. He finds that Is brother from over-séas brings.with him ideas £ bits acquired under boss-rule, and that it weeks or even months for him to fully ' into the new life here. The foreign worker is accustomed to being driven by a foreman for the profit of some capitalist, and he gets little or no pleasure out of his work but merely slaves iyprcer to make a living. When he ashe dt take “REND NT peer _the States. Awarded the Order of Lenin to the Soviet factory, unless he happens to be a revolutionary worker, he does not at once understand the full difference. Only gradually does he come to see that now he is working for himself. and his fellow-workers, in a Workers’ Republic. Once he grasps this, he throws him- self enthusiastically into the work and whole life, with his full powers. He joins the Shock Brigades, (Udarniki), and does all he can to aid | the rapid completion of the Five-Year Plan of socialist. construction. In the Kharkoy tractor works we talked with several American, German, and Czeko-Slovakian workers. “Yes, I like it here, and I intend to stay.” Lawrence Smirck, skilled mechanic from Cleveland told me. “Of course some things are a little hard, but on the whole it is far better than it was in the States.” Smirck, a non-class con- scious worker, came to the Soviet Union with his wife and three children eight months ago. Being highly skilled, he earns 400 rubles a month. Rent for two rooms in one of the modern apart- ments costs him 82 rubles, and his wife buys am- ple quantities of the best food for about 140 Tubles. The rest goes for clothes, amusements, books, or whatever the family may wish. Since all medical treatment is free, there is no doc- tor’s bills to figure on. “It’s fine here—tine!” said Wolynec, a skilled fitter from Ford’s plant in Detroit, and former member of the International Labor Defense. “I worked seventeen years in Ford’s and it is as different here as day is from night. Two weeks ago this big shed where we're working was empty. Now it is full of machines, and operating. It was a monstrous job. A thing like that couldn’t hap- pen in America. It's the spirit of the men and women here—because here we have no bosses, but all work together like for ourselves You tell the workers back home for me that some day soon I hope they’ll have the sense to do the same as here:” The next American worker that we came across in the plant, Jaroshuk, a red-cheecked, deliberate man with powerful wrists and hands, was busy adjusting perts of a motor, so we waited while he completed his task. Then he could spare a few minutes and not slow up production. For Jaroshuk has the honor of being a Shock Bri- gader and he feels his responsibility keenly. He stroked his tool gently as he talked about Amer- ica and Russia. Jaroshuk worked nine years in the tool department at Ford’s. Oné day he hap- pened to get fhe Daily Worker, and has been reading it ever since. Here in Kharkov, seven- teen hours’ train trip from Moscow, he follows events in the States with careful interest. Jar- oshuk’s wife is coming over to join him and also work in the plant, as here women have an equal chance to become skilled workers as men. “Rus- Sta has always been a poor country in the past,” Ja.cshuk said toward the end, but now things are going ahead at a great rate. This for in- stance, js a well-equipped shop as any place in Give the Soviet Union ten years and her people will have the highest standard of living of any in the world. As for the United States--something is all wrong there. 1 don't know, it looks to-me like the: ll have to make a government like here,” In the Amo Auto works in Moscow seven Amer- ican workers-greeted the opening of the enlarged works on October first by declaring themselves Shock Brigaders. Among them were two defend- ants in the famous Gastonia case, McLaughlin and Harrison, who came to the Soviet Union for refuge from capitalism's dungeons over a HA AMNION except Sunday, at 60 East h 2 Cable ll checks to the Daily Worker, 60 Hast 13th Street, New York, N. Y. “DAIWORK.’ Dail Yorker. Porty U.S.A. f Manhattan and Bronx, SUBSCRIPTION RATES: New York City. ail everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; two months, $1; excepting Boroughs Foreign: one year, $8; six months, $4.50, -“The dole is degrading; what is wanted is voluntary assistance to the needy —” x. Bek! TEXTILE SALARIES AND PROFITS By Labor Research Assn. NTRASTING with the present wage cutting in Lawrence and other textile centers, we find the Americdn Wool and Cotton Reporter, employers’ organ, declaring that in a certain worsted mill the treasurer is getting a salary of $60,000 a year; that the manufacturing agent is getting $30,000; and that another man is getting $18,000—a total of $108,000 to the three men. And big money is being made for the stock- holders. A correspondent of the same capitalist journal writes that textile stockholders have not come off at all badly through their exploitation of the cotton workers. He cites Amoskeag, one of the wage cutters: “Suppose you had one share of the Amoskeag in 1910 which cost you $295. “A little while after that they gave you in exchange for your share | certificate two preferred shares and three com- mon shares. Then a little later they gave you three more common shares. Then three or four years ago they paid off the preferred at par, $100; then they gave you $52 a share cash for each of your six common shares—$312—and a $40 bond which is now quoted at 75 per cent, say, equal today on the $240 bonds, to another $180; and that then they gave you six shares of the new common, worth today about $9 each, or $54. So by today you have had cash and stock, at present market values, of $646—for your $295 share—as well as the dividends and interest.” A few profits recently reported are the follow- ing: Apponaug Co.: For year ended June 30, 1931, net profit of $616,786, after charges and Federal taxes. Now has a surplus account of $2,155,947. Arnold Print Works: Net profit, after all charges, of $316,988 for year ended June 30, 1931. Industrial Rayon Corp, made $202,934 net profit during two months ended August 31, 1931. Japan Seeks to Provoke the Soviet Union By YOBE. 'HE Japanese military forces in Manchuria are continuing their advance in all directions. The Japanese government have hardly taken the trouble to declare the decision of the League of Nations to be “illegal” as according to the Japanese interpretation decisions of the League must be adopted unanimously in order to be valid. The Geneva meeting was such a farce, Japan feels so sure of the friendly support of other imperialist powers, especially of France, that it goes to the height of cynicism. ‘The representative of the Kuomintang gov- e:.ment, which is still engaged in performing hangmen’s service for the imperialists (the death sentence passed on the Secretary of the Pan- Pacific Trade Union Federation, Ruegg, and his approaching execution is a fresh monstrous act, a challenge by the Kuomintang criminals to the international proletariat) at a moment when the part being played by Japan in the imperialist plans to carve up Manchuria has become quite clear and the spontaneous mass movement in China quite clearly demands as the only reply to the campaign of the Japanese imperialists— revolt against Japanese imperialism—at this mo- ment, Dr. Sze proposes to the Japanese robbers to enter into an arbitration agreement with China, whereupon he promptly receives the an- swer that Japan does not wish to negotiate with China. Why should it? Japanese imperialism is so certain of the lackey service 4f Chiang Kai- shek, who in the territory under its rule, shoots down Chinese workers for carrying on anti- Japanese propaganda. But behind the scenes in Geneva far more se- Effects ot Crisis By Labor Research Assn, Reports made to the public authorities of Pennsylvania indicate that in this typical in- dustrial state the economic and social condition of the workers is falling as the crisis continues. Of the 67 counties in the state, what are des- cribed as “serious conditions” exist in 30. These poverty-streaked communities, according to an official report to the governor of the state, “pre- sent problems which inyolye unusual unemploy- ment and the likelihood of its continuence; abnormal part-time employment; reduction in family income through wage decreases; mal- nutrition and underfeeding; exhaustion of public end private funds; lack of. private welfare or- ganizations; . . . and unprecedented pressure on hospitals for free care with a marked falling off in hospital receipts.” Even in June, 1931, some 919,000, or nearly one- eee year ago. Not only the workers at the bench but also many of the engineers who came to Russia to work have become affected by the spirit of col- lective life. Inspired by the Russian workers’ zeal for more technical knowledge, many engin- eers are instructing classes in their free time. Soviet workers are quick to recognize and ap- preciate the contribution which workers from other countries have to make to their life. One American worker, Joe McDowell, son a Kansas farmer, recently won the highest honor awarded in the Soviet Union,—the Order of Lenin. This distinguished award was voted to MacDowell by his Russian comrades through an all-Russian committee at a session last June in recognition of his service. The Lenin insignia, is a medal two and a half inches in diameter set on red cloth, bearing a miniature of the great Bolshevik leader, and carrying with it not’ only public honor but also various privileges, such as free use of the trains and street-cars, and tax reduc- tions, Joe McDowell has been in Russia since 1923, working on farms and in factories, and has several agricultural inventions to his credit. He received his award this September, along with seventeen Russian workers and peasants, one of them a woman, in the old palace of the Krem~ lin, once the stronghold of the czars, and from the hands of the most distinguished Russian peasant, Kalinin, President of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, a, in Pennsylvania quarter of the workinng population of the state were unemployed. Now it is certainly over 1,000,- 000 and these are conservative estimates. ‘The ratio of applicants to jobs open, as reported to the state employment offices, reached a higher mark in June, 1931, than in any time in the last | 11 years during which these offices have been open. ; Average weekly earnings in manufactur- ing industries in the state had fallen 23 percent between May, 1929 and June, 1931. Payrolls of manufacturing industries in the state which ap- proximated $26,750,000 a week during 1929, are now reduced to $15,000,000 or less. Reports from anthracite mine districts contain every indication of increasing misery among the | miners. Some of them are as follows: “Officials say that the distress has increased to such an extent that they are overwhelmed with applica tions for aid.” “There are about 6,000 women and children in destitute circumstances (in the Panther Creek Valley) and who will require more than local aid unless conditions change.” In another district, “2,000 men were thrown out of work and now there is a gréat deal of poverty. ‘The unemployed need help badly. Available re- Mief funds are now runing low.” As for the bituminous mining areas the official reports state, “The standard of living among workers in the Pittsburgh district is definitely declining. . . . Reports from 39 inspection dis- tricts show that there is poverty and distress in all but two . . . In one mining inspection dis- trict 2,000 people are reported without means of support.” Some of the reports on health conditions are to the effect that, “children are not receiving sufficient food, nor are local agencies organized sufficiently to handle the situation. ‘The out- look for the winter is bad.” “A large number of children not receiving sufficient food; beans and bread form the princtpal part of their diet, Mal- nutrition is prevalent. Children are in need of milk and medical care. Destitution will in- crease.” In this connection The Public Health Nurse Quarterly, issued by the Public Health Nursing Assn. of Pittsburgh, for October, 1931, states, “A conference with the various men working in the Public health conferences brings out the fact that coincidental with the depression there has been a marked increase in the number of cases of malnutrition and a noticeable increase in rickets, the latter, particularly in young babies ., , Tubex- rious things were discussed. The constant allu- sions of the imperialist press (and above all of the social democratic press), the appearance of white guardist bands in Manchuria have clearly | indicated right from the commencement of the | Japanese robber campaign, that the threat to the Soviet Union could become immediately palpable | at any moment. Trial balloons were repeatedly sent up which spoke of “concentration of Soviet troops”, reconnoitring flights by Soviet aircraft | and so forth. The categorical refutations of these reports by the Soviet government, the plain and consistent attitude of the proletarian power since the commencement of the Japanese cam- paign prove that Comrade Stalin’s declaration: “We do not want anybody else’s land, but we shall never yield up an inch of our own!” re- | mains the guiding principle of Soviet policy also | in the Far East in spite of the monstrous at- tacks by white guardists and Japanese, ™ ‘Now, however, the Japanese imperialists show what they are aiming at: the Japanese note to the Soviet Union is a brutal provocation having for its object the march of the Japanese on Harbin, the attack on Soviet officials on the | Chinese Eastern Railway ang thereby a repeti- tion of events of 1929 on a far larger scale, the commencement of an intervention. The Japan- ese imperialists require lies and slanders as a pretext in order to stretch out their robber hands against the stronghold of the world proletariat, | which, with the greatest sacrifice and the ut- most exertion of all its forces, 1s completing the third year of the Five-Year Plan. . * * The “Rote Fahne” (Berlin) October 29, writes: With their note to Moscow Japanese impe- rialists have carried out an impudent provoca- tion of the Soviet Union, Whilst the Japanese troops are advancing to | Steal the Chinese railway line and the land ad- | joining, Japan sees “with uneasiness” the move- ments of Soviet troops on Soviet territory. It | has always been a method of imperialist govern- | ments, to seek to cover up their aggressive policy by means of notes and diplomatic actions. In one of its latest declarations the Japanese gov- ernment, reveals its intention to continue its robber campaign in China and declares China to be responsible for it. Following the bank- ruptcy of the League of Nations, Japan feels at liberty to behave in an increasingly impudent and bellicose manner. The dogs of war have | been let loose in the Far East. Japanese troops are shooting, advancing and occupying railway | lines, The Soviet Power has proved that, it stands firmly for peace. The impudent ection of the Japanese imperialists renders it necessary that. the millions of workers and toilers form an iron wall round the Soviet Union, support it in its | peaceful policy and raise their voices against the Japanese provocateurs. Needless to say, the Soviet government will not allow the Japanese generals to prescribe to them in its issue of | culosis increased steadily in all age groups in the first six months of the year. More children un- der 16 years of age died of tuberculosis during this first six months than in the full year of either 1929 or 1930, ‘The increase in the population of almshouses is jalso considered a result of unemployment. Older men who formerly were employed at odd jobs are unable to secure these jobs now, while aged dependents formerly cared for by relatives, are now being sent to almshouses. “All alms- houses are reporting the largest population in many years and there is much overcrowding,” says the official report to the governor. Although the relief given to the families of the unemployed is entirely inadequate, reports from 11 counties, for example, show increases as high as 200 percent for relief disbursments dur- ing the first 6 months of 1931 as compared with the corresponding period of 1930. Forty counties spent about $500,000 more for relief in 1930 than in 1929. Increase in the requests for Mothers’ Assistance have increased from 10'to 225 percent in the various counties. In Phila. County the number of new families asking for Mothers As- By BURCK | By Jonen It Means Business When the Central Committee Plenum back im August called for a “conscious, intolerant and systematic” fight on bureaucracy, maybe somee body thought that was “just another resolution.” Here and there, there have been evidences of such among members, some of whom carry the overbearing attitude they pick up in the Party, over into the trade unions of the T.U.U.L. Well, the Trade Union Unity Council of New York tells us that they have captured one of these horrible examples in the Grocery Clerks’ section of the Food Workers’ Industrial Union, an official named Edward Schwartz. Schwartz is High German for “black” —and black is not red. He proved it to the T.U.U.C. 16 seems, according to the T.U.U.C. that a young worker, unemployed, had been given a job card by the Unemployed Committee of the union, but Schwartz had a different opinion So he took the card away from the worker, struck him, and thew him out of the union office. Thus it seems that the T.U.U.C. has deter- mined that such behaviour is not hereafter to bé rewarded by promotion to a more responsible post, and...well, we understand that something is going to happen that the offender won't like. “Conscious, intolerant and systematic’—re+ member! — ' Food—And Rumors of Food The Helena, Montana, “Independent” of Oct. 23, in‘boosting the Red Cross drive for funds, takes occasion to attack what {t calls “rumors” of the hardships being suffered by “dry-landers,” whom you city folks should know are those farmers who try to raise crops on land which gets less than 15 inches of moisture precipitation during a year. One of these “rumors” is that the dry-landers, many of whom in the north-east section of Mon- tana, got no rain at all and hence no crop at all this year, are “canning gophers for winter meat.” If you don’t know what a gopher is, look it up in the dictionary. But the Helena “Independent” gets wrathy about this “rumor,” which we are inclined to be- lieve may be true. And it proclaims that:— “Inasmuch as sheep companies are offering free mutton to anybody who will take it away, the gopher yarn is scheduled to fade shortly.” The only thing about THAT, is the fact that the “free mutton” is something nearly as bad as gopher when you get it, and you'll have hard time finding out just which sheep companies are suffering from enlargement of the heart. So says @ comrade from that neck of woods. “The fact of the matter is that a few, or per- haps one or two companies, tound that they could not carry theiry ‘gummers’—ewes without teeth— through to a profitable market this winter, be- cause these gummers must be fed ground alfal- fa, etc, for some time to make them fit for market. And unless they are thus fattened, they are little better than gophers. And again, there are the robber railroad shipping ¢harges to the starvation sections.” ‘ Incidentally, for you folks in New York who are paying 60 cents a dozen for eggs, and 45 or 50 cents a pound for butter, if you have that much cents, we noted in a recent issue of the Producer's News, of Plentywood, Montana, that at local markets the farmers were getting 15 cents a dozen for eggs and 20 cents a pound for butter. Monopolist capitalism will starve you to death if you don’t make a fight against this robbery. Bring It Over Quick! The “Illinois State Register” of Nov. 4, tells of the come-back Congressman Rainey of that state gave to the local Babbitts who noised around that he is a “mouthpiece of Communism” because he travelled 7,000 miles through th> Soviet Union and came back with a couple of ideas, one, at least, correct. He said that those who criticized him did not understand the difference between the “Third International” and the Soviet Government. Quite correctly he insists on this, and says in proof: “TI talked to many Russians about the Third International, and their reply always was: ‘We do not want the headquarters of the Third In- ternational in Russia; you can have it in the United States if you want it.” Rainey didn’t say anything about requesting its removal from Moscow to America, so we suspect that he will be better satisfied if it stays where it is. —— ee what movements the Soviet troops have to carry out on their own territory in the Soviet Union in view of the advance of the Japanese robbers against the Chinese Eastern Railway. When Chiang Kai-shek in the summer of 1929 attempt- ed to seize the Chinese Eastern Railway the Red Army showed that ii knows how to reply to any attack with the sharp edge of the revolutionary sword. 5 The millions of Communists, non-party and social democratic workers are fraternally united with the Red Army of the workers and peasanta, with the Red Army of Socialism, with the Red Army of peace, in the fight against the war ine tentions of the Japanese militarists, sistance has trebled in the past year. Under the relief plans as organized by the various capitalist agencies the workers of Pitts- burgh, for example, will get back in the form of relief less than two percent of their normal total wages. This much will be given in the shape of payment for part time charity jobs. Anothes 2 percent of normal total wozes will be givert’, to the jobless in the form of outright relief. As every other city the corporations hope to get large part of their charity contributions workers who have nothing but a part-time jo! to boast of. The charity heads in Pittsburgh hope to raise at least $1,500,000 out of employed workers, or one-fourth of the total $6,000,000 fund they are now trying to raise. These contribu- tions will be forced out of the workers through an almost compulsory check-off system, the boss and the foremen aiding the final touch of authority to the “request” for help, At the same time Mellon's Gulf Oil Corp., has given & meager $50,000 to the local unemployed fund drive Heinz, the big pickle corporation, has given as little. Nearly 140,000 were without jobs burgh and Allegheny County at the beginning of the | | | |