The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 28, 1931, Page 3

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK. WORKERS’ CORRESPONDENCE-- RDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1931 Page Three MINER’S WIFE TELLS OF STARVATION AND TERROR IN HARLAN RTI Family Driven from Home and Forced to Live! In Chicken Coop *We Are Destitute”, Says Mother of Four, “We ie. Are Bare for Shoes and Clothes” Yo Whom this may concern: Harlan, Ky. Being really glad to present this statement before any one who may wish to read same, I truthfully say this: My hus- band began working for the Harlan Gas Coal Co., June 26, 1930, working for same company until May, 1931, when he was laid eff, on account of lack of supplies.. While working for this company there was two-thirds could not get soup at the office, vent, doctor bill, etc., come first. ocular ono ama dare aaa A. F. of L. AIDS GRAND RAPIDS PAY-CUT MOVE Fakers Urge Workers in Store Equipment Co. to Accept Cut Grand Rapids, Mich, Daily Worker: ‘The Store Equipment Corporation has a number of plants in Grand Rapids and lately has shut down some of them. The Store Equipment has an agreement with Local 1615, an A. F. of L. organization, and lately it is putting over some of its ‘wage-cuts with the ald of the A. F. of 1." ‘The Store Equipment first shut down plant No. 1 after it was closed for two weeks, then they land off all the men in plant No. 3 that were getting more than 55 cents per hour and rehired the men from plant No. 1, Most of these that came from plant No. 1 were foremen. Then the men from plant No. 3, that they wanted to keep and that were laid off, were rehired after two weeks for 55 cents per hour. Some of the gang foremen at Plant No. 3 were reduced te cabinet makers and machine hands, ° ‘The company called in the grie- vance committee and told the com- mittee that they had to put through &@ 20 per cent reduction in wages. A committee was elected at a meeting of the local and three men went to Indianapolis headquarters. There they talked over the wage reduction and told our committee that the men could voluntarily accept a wage reduction, instead of instructing the committee not to accept a reduction, ‘Then a special meeting of Local 1615 was called and about 600 members were present, the cut was discussed and a vote of the members present cast, the vote being about 500 against the wage reduction and the balance for it, The workers think because it was gnowed under by such a large ma- Jority that they will not get a wage reduction. Look out boys and be on the alert, your leadership is not the right type, you are going to get that reduction. If you want to ward it off get in touch with a Trade Union Unity League representative for real Jeadership, Unemployed Factory Worker. Hotel Workers’ Wages Hit By Heavy Slashes {By 2 Worker Correspondent) DENVER, Col.—The Hotel Cosmo- |‘ politan has slashed the wages of the serub women and maids. They have ut the wages of both $13, which | brings them down to $47:50 a month, }And to further attack the wages of | these low paid workers the greedy | Bosses force the women to take a day | off every work for which they re- | ceive a deduction of $2, ‘Wages elsewhere are equally as low. Dishwashers average around $12 er week and have to work 12 hours ) @ day, Many workers are working for $6 per week in the restaurants and hotels in this city, Seviet “Forced Labor”—Bedacht’ eeries in pamphlet form at 10 cents per copy. Read it—Spread it! of the time we, a family of 6, All company cuts, such as My husband was not called back to work by the company after supplies came, for during the time he was laid off he joined the union’ Said company had no more job for my husband, He was fired. We STARVATION AND TERROR IN KENTUCKY EXPOSED_A WORKER WRITES ABO USSR—CHARITY SCHEMES BARED—LETTERS SENT BY SEAMEN AND STEEL WORKERS UT THE A PICTURE OF STARVATION IN THE KENTUCKY MINING REGION By JIM GRACE (A Miner from Harlan County) There is one picture of the horrible conditions of the coal miners in Harlan, Ky., that will never be forgotten by me. In the month of July the striking miners who had been evicted from the company shacks at Molus, Kentucky, had moved into some vacant houses at Wallins Creek for temporary abode. Some two or three families had move? ‘nto a house nearby where I lived. One family, who had several small children, came to my house quite frequently to * « for bread or anything that might be left ovr from the previous meal, which my wife always gave thm along with o/ er eats that we could spare, But on account of our own poverty we were unable to sw away from the door. On one occasion three little children came to m a doctor’s wife was in the house at the time. My wife called the doctor’s wife’s attention to the three children that stood before us and pointed out that their INVESTIGATOR were evicted from our house in said company’s camp on June 8, 1931. Removed our small amount of house- hold goods out while three company thugs stood close by and saw that we did get out. Of course we would have been thrown out had we not gotten out when they arrived. Lived In Chicken House. ‘Through the kindness of a friend of ours (not a company sympathizer), he allowed us to move into his chicken house. We lived there from June until October. While living there, thirteen of the company thugs came and turned the contents of my house upside down, searching for guns and literature of some kind, also inquiring the whereabouts of my husband, he making his escape on seeing them coming. My husband was then on the verge of a bad case of pneumonia. After fever developed I had to have a | county doctor for him, by making a sworn statement before Esquire of City, that we were paupers. Need Relief, While my husband was yet ill, | one of my neighbors happened to be in the Esquire’s office. He (Esquire) asked my neighbor how my husband was getting along. A thug standing by made the remark they would bring him out of the hollow in a few days. (We lived in Fair View Hollow.) Our neighbor, being a friend to my hus- band, warned him of his danger. We left here walking one morning at break of day. We went to Tennessee, staying five weeks. We now are back in Harlan, as we found no work or location in Tennessee. We are in @ destitute condition. Weare bare for shoes and clothing, food and even have no bed clothing sufficient to keep comfortable. Clothing is needed by us; but we would appreci- ate-most of all food. All would be more than appreciated. Respectfully, I am Mrs. Frank Walls and Hus- band and Four Children, SHAFER LUMBER: WORKERS CUT T.U.U.L. Urges Strike oe Action ABERDON, Wash—The Shafer Bros, Lumber Co. have cut the wages of their employees again. They used to cut by the percentage, but now its so much flat. The last cut went into effect the second of Noy. Those who received over three dollars are to receive a cut ranging from $1.00 to $2.00 a day, while those receiving less than three dollars receive a cut of 50 cents. Some of these are already getting as low as $1-75. The Communist Party, is calling upon the workers to strike aganst this attack upon their very lives. The TradeUnion Unity League and the Unemployed Council are issuing leaf- lets calling the workers to action. ‘Some of the other Lumber com- panies are afraid of this latest cut and are condemning the Shafers. The main reason for this is that they are afraid that Shafers’ will be able to get orders by being able to under- bid them, Lumber prices are the lowest in many years and the orders are fal- ling off in the place of increasing. l Soviet Women ee | Stella Rasefsky, young miner’s eerving with her mother, Anna, a two year sentence in the Allegheny ‘County workhouse, Blawnox, Pa., for activity in the coal strike last epring, have received the following greetings from the tolling women of the House Tenants’ Association, International Red Aid nucelus, Minsk, U, S. S. R.: Dear Comrades: ‘We, tolling women of the House : Tenants’ Associatio, No. 1 send you _ our hearty greetings. ; Our toiling masses have more than —_ ‘ i | once proved their true readiness to help you, captives in the bourgeois prisons. AThis time we Dearts to also wish with all our see the day when we will Greet Jailed Miner’s Wife and Daughter together with you, celebrate the lib- eration of all nations, the liberation of all our brothers fro mthe bour- geois prisons. / We would very much like you to write us and acquaint us with your Ufe in the capitalist prisons. How many political prisoners are you there? What food do you get? For how Jong are you imprisoned? How long were you under investigation? How, are your wives, children, pa~ rents and other relations provided for? What are you in need of? We are impatiently waiting for your answer, The IRA nucleus in the House Ten- Theodore Dreiser, famous novel- ist, who went to Harlan, Ky., to investigate the starvation, murder and reign of terror imposed ‘upon the miners by the coal operators. PLAN T0 BOOST TRADE IS PLOT 0 ROB MASSES Charlotte “Business Boosters” Show Cuts Wages CHARLOTE, N. C.—The business men of Charlotte give a food show every year, in order to “boom busi- hess.” This show is given at the Armory. It is very highly advertised and is designed to draw buyers from the country-side to patronize the Charlotte merchants. The slogan of the. show is “More Money for Char- lotte.” I was a worker in the last show and I want to tell how the Charlotte merchants nad _ business men made “More Money for Char- lotte” by robbing us workers. I have worked for these robbers five years. Each year doing all the heavy work connected with the place. They hire me to do the work be- cause a white man would refuse to do so much for the little money paid. Made Do 4 Men’s Work Up till this year the show would take 15 days and I would work every night from 11 p. m. till 7a.m. For this I would get paid $40 after the show was over. This year the busi- ness men economized and fired some of the extra help and forced’ me to do the work of four men. I was forced to come to work at 10 in the morning and worked like a horse un- til 2 the next morning. Besides put- ting all this extra work on mé the dirty crooked business men cut my wages in two, now handing me only $20 after working me 17 days. They paid me this small amount after they had promised me a good deal more. They even told me I would not have to work so much this year as last year. But as it turned out, they had worked me even more. It should be clear to every worker that when these business men give a@ show supposed to make ‘More Money for Charlotte,” the money is taken from the poor workers and goes into the pockets of the rich bosses of the city. It will be a long time be- fore they can make more money out of me this way and I am going to make sure by organizing other work- ers that they wi: not get away so easily with this stuff with other work- ers. Chicago Charities Steal Relief Fund Given for Jobless (By a Worker Correspondent) CHICAGO.—A certain man with a family was fired from a job 2 months ago. A friend of his gave the charity organization a check for $100 with instructions that the charities give the money to the jobless man, The charity outfit, however, gave him only $60 of the money, telling the donater that the other $40 went for expenses. A neighbor of the donater of the $100 gave me the news of this case. T cannot give the names of the parties involved, as they would lose their jobs if disclosed. _-nants’ Association No,“1, Minsk, U.S. 8. R. GET YOUR LOCAL TO ENDORSE THE NATIONAL HUNGER MARCH, parents had vegn evicted from their home by the coal company belly and said: “Don’t you see, to death.” to death in her own vicinty. course down her cheeks. crying. rible dis villages in Harlan County. at Molus and that they were starving. My wife told t tor’s wife that our own impoverished condition made possible for us to feed the children. legs of a little girl of about ten years of age and the little pot The doctor’s wife looked at the three children wit thin faces which showed the process of slow starvation, remarked that since she had been quite busy at home with her domestic affairs she was not aware that children were starving She questioned the children and when she was ful vinced they were starving she broke down and tears began to e doc- it im- She pointed to the slender the child is gradually starving their She ly con- I looked around and saw my wife crying and the children I turned around to try to suppress my own tears but failed. *The scene was so pathetic that I also shed: tears. This, however, is only ane instance, This undernourishment resulted in many deaths from the ter- se called flux in all of the poverty stricken towns and There are many more, \Bank Takes Savings; Worker Forced to Give to Charity (By a Worker Correspondent) PHILADELPRIA.—A local street car conductor, who lost all his life savings in a recent bank failure re- ports that he is now being forced by the company to contribute part of his earnings to the “Community Chest.” He is indignant and justly so. For after his recent misfortune he is hav- his wife and. family without being gypped out of his hard earned wages by a group of swivel chair relief fak- ers. A large portion of what is left of the money after the executives get through goes to the Y. M. C. A., Boy Scouts and Comp Fire Girls, while the workers’ children get nothing. I ing considerable trouble providing for | expect we'll be forced to attend the | “Charity Ball” for the Standard Oil | Co. Indeed I wouldn’t be suprised | to find them passing the had for the U.S. Steel. The Y. M. C. A. panhandled the | public ragged for smokes for us ex- servicemen in 1917, sold the smokes to us at a big profit, and built million dollars Y’s all over the country. | When an ex-serviceman asked these parasites for a place to sleep they called him a panhandler and a bum and called the cops. Shades of Jessie James! Lets get together and stop these thefts! Line up in the nearest Unemployed Coun- cil and demand unemployment relief. WORKERS WIN IN - EVICTION FIGHT : Force Release of Jailed’ Worker (By a Worker Correspondent) ANDERSON, Ind.—The Unem- ployed Council in Anderson is grow- ing stronger every day. We have Several real estate men and landlords worried, A few days ago there was an eyic- tion case, The constables set the furniture of an unemployed worker out and in less than 10 minutes the Unemployed Council had the furni- ture back in the house, When the constables came the landlord in order to speed up’ the eviction helped them carry the fur- niture out. The tenant finally got tired of having the people messing around, so he decided to kick them off the place,” which he did The worker was arrested. But the Unem- ployed Council, after they came and returned the furniture, went to the jail and demanded the worker's re- lease. He was released at once and is still living in the house, FORCE WORKERS TO GIVE TO FAKE RELIEF FUND BALTIMORE.—The workers in the Sparrows Point Steel Plant after their wages were cut refused to sign con- tributions to the Community Fund. The bosses at once arranged meetings in the mills where speakers urged the workers to give their money. They threatened the workers by infering that they would be fired if they failed to give. The rollers were forced to give $20 each to the fund. —P,S. PHILA. JOBLESS ARMY GROWING Stores Work Longer) Hours (By a Worker Correspondent) PHILADELPHIA.—Last week a mass lay-off occurred at the Philco Radio Co. plant here. No statements were given out by the company, nor has a word appeared in print, but the workers from the plant report that all the workers from several conveyors were laid off. This means, at a minimum, at least 1,500 workers, All the other workers in the plant were reduced to 3 days a week. At the Atwater Kent only sufficient | workers remain to maintain the plant. All the rest are laid off. At the R. ©. A> (Victor) of Camden, N. J., there is only part time work. The machinists of Budd's have been told (several months ago) to “wait until sent’ for” None have been sent for as yet and there seems to be little prospect for the workers of the large metal plant for any work in the near future. At the Exide Bat- tery Co. employment is at the lowest ebb yet known. The usual seasonal improvement in the work at mail order houses and department stores, the number and size of which this city is noted for, is conspicuous by its absence. Wana- maker's Lit’s and Snellenburg’s, Gim- bel's Strawbridge and Clothier, Frank and Seder and all the rest have longer hours( for less wages). Sears and Roebuck and Co. have a new speed-up system, through which the last ounce of energy is squeezed from the workers, pply one tenth of what they needed to keep the wolf y house to ask for a crust of cold corn bread, and it so happend that BOSSES’ TOOL This is Judge D. C. Jones, leader of the gunmen forces of Kentucky. Jones dodged testifying before the Dreiser Committee, but had Dreiser indicted on framed-vp charges of adultery and criminal syndicalism. VICTORY SPURS NORTHWEST T0 GREATER FIGHT Hard Fight Wins Ten Workers’ Freedom in Portland, Ore. (By a Worker Correspondent) PORTLAND, Ore.—The dismissal of the ten criminal syndicalism cases in Oregon has given impetus to greater energies upon the part of the workers. Having learned the lesson of fighting and that we can win, we are now passing to greater struggles in the economic and political fields. The boss press is raising a lot of demogogic demands for the freedom of Ben Boloff and repeal of the crim- inal syndicalism law. The workers, who have seen how hard they have had to fight, will not be misled by this line of attack. ‘The press hopes to stop the growing: organization of the workers by lulling them into a feeling of security and trust in our “liberal” adi stration. The workres are on guard. The Unemployed Council is preparing reorganization that will place it deeper in the masses | of unemployed workers. We will have a plan of work soon that will increase our tempo tremendously, Fight for Ballard Prisoners. The International Labor Defense, using the advantages gained by the mass support of the workers, will) press the repeal campaign and de- | velop a fight for the freedom of the | Ballard prisoners as well’ ‘The Communist Party mobilized a decisive anti-war vote among the workers for the nationwide demon- stration last Saturday. Ten thousand general leaflets have been distributed. One thousand students, transport and veteran leaflets éach haye been dis- tributed. Preparatory meetings are being held in new sections of the city all this week. This is the first time that the Party has broke into the neighborhoods. We are getting good response from the workers. HOZD OPEN HEARINGS AND LET THE JOBLESS EXPUSE HUNGER, UNLIMITED FUNDS SPENT FOR WAR While the jobless go hungry there is no limit to the funds spent for war. Here is the newest armored car, prepared to go 60 miles an hour over good roadsjand armed with two machine guns, Support the National Hunger March to Washington, Dec. 7! Demand all war funds for the unemployed! FULL WAGES PAID TO Work Hard to Ente Exchange Letter: Dear Comrades: life. As I have already written worker, Our main shops are the fo! ical shop, stamping shop, repai: shop. In the winding shop the Our factory is busy day and night. We have a 7-hour working day, and there are three shifts: a day shift, | an evening shift and a night shift. | The day shift gets one hour off for} dinner, and the evening and night | shift an half hour. After every 4 days work we get one day rest. The workers occupied in work, injr-ious to the health, have a 6-hour work- | ing day. | The workers, unable to come to| work because of sickness, also get their wages on a sick-leave certifi- cate from the insurance office. Preg- nant women, by Soviet law, get 4 months holiday with full pay (two months before and two months after childbirth). The only case of dis- counts from the wages is when a worker is absent from work for no| important reason whatsoever. 1, myself, am a non-Party worker. | Last year I made an application for acceptance into the Party, but I was refused, as I was unconscientious enough to have 5 shirk days in one year’s work. But since I have been transferred from the vacuum-impreg- | nation shop to the tool-shop to work | at the bench, I have promised myself | that on no account will I allow my- self any more late-coming or shirk- | ing. I promised myself that I will earn the name of shock-worker and | will make niyself acceptable to the | ranks of the Communist Party. Study Group. I work and study in the evening | Technicum of Foreign Languages. | I have specially undertaken to learn | the English language. Not to speak | of the use of same in translating for- eign technical literature, the English language makes it possible for us to have @ lively contact with the world | proletariat. At present I am in the | first group for the study of the Eng- {lish language. We are just learning grammar. Of course, I am not so} very satisfied when I receive your) letter with the Russian translation. It is very interesting for me to trans- late the letter with the help of a dictionary, and understand all that you write to me, but it would be still better if I knew enough English to read and understand it straight away. Well, hearty comradely greetings from the working men and women of our Works and the students of our English group “D”. z —P, BUCHAREV, Worker in the Tools-Shop, “Lepse” Electro-Motor Works, ‘Miner Without Shirt and Barefoot in Ky. | Harlan, Ky. | Dear Comirades: | One of our union workers told me | | to write you of the conditions, I and | my family are in. I am blacklisted. | I can't get work. I hayne’t worked in | 6 months, I and my family are out | of things to eat. Haven't got any- | |thing. Not even bread, and we are all | just naked; no clothes. We need everything, shoes, stockings, under- clothes, top clothes, ‘We are three in the family. I went to ask for work and the boss told me I would be lucky if I ever got work in Harlan county any more, I and my family have to go from place to place among our people to eat. I haven't got even a shirt to my back and we are all barefooted, and 8 months behind in rent and we have to move and nowhere to go to. I owe $96 for our house rent, I am sick right now and can't even get a doctor. A Miner. Browbeat (By a Worker Correspondent) YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio.—The Re- public Steel Co: officials told the workers recently to come a half hour earlier so that the bosses could hold mass meetings to fill them with a lot of propaganda, A few days ago a representative from the shoe factory came to the mill, held a meeting and told us that we must buy shoes from his com- pany, Then, the superintendent of the open heafth told us that we must buy all our shoes, overalls and gloves from these cheaters. He told us that if the workers refused to buy from these grafters they would lose their Jobs. ‘They usually charge $3.50 for a pair of shoes. The superintendent the sales, The goods in this com- and the bosses get a percentage of | Seamen’s Unemployed Council, benefit WORKERS OFF THROUGH SICKNESS IN U.S.S.R. Worker in Electric Plant Tells of Pledge to r Communist Party English 'Study Circle Urges U. S. Workers to 3 with U.S. SR. Moscow, U.S. S. R. Tn this letter I will try to acquaint you with the. conditions of labor in our Soviet factories and mills, and with our factory to you before, I am a factory I work as polisher in the tool shop of the electro- motor works named in honor of Comrade: Lepse. lowing: erecting sKop, mechan- r shop, tool shop, and winding workers are exclusively women, THROW JOBLESS SAILOR OUT OF SEAMEN’S HOUSE Parasites “At Banquet While Seamen Go Hungry (By a Worker Correspondent) NEW YORK.—The newly erectea Seamen's House, operated ‘by the Y. M. C. A. on the corher, of 20th Street and llth Ave., started off with @ bang: On the opening night Mayor Walker and many more of the fakers were |there. Superintendent Brady, head of the institution, told the fat bellies that no seamen need to sleep in the street. But there happened to be quite a few seamen present who did not know where their next flop was,coming from and one of them got up and asked for the floor. When the sailor called Brad ya liar, he was at once thrown out of the place. On the opening night there was a banquet for the parasites and not a sandwich for the seamen. This sailor then went to the Sea- men’s Church Institute, an organiza- tion that bums millions to “help the seamen,” and was refused a place to sleep. He told the hypocrites that he was 4 seaman arid was ‘broite 2! entitled toa bed, but” he’ was out just the same. Fellow seamen, there -is way that we can assure ourselves of meals and a place to sleep—that is by fighting for it. But in order to fight we must be organized. The organ‘za- tion that is putting up a real fight for relief for the jobless. seaman and for unemployment, insurance is the 23 Coentis Slip, New York, N. Y. LEWIS BETRAYS WINSLOW . STRIKE \Agrees To Return To Wy. Work At Wage- cut Bicknell, Ind. | Daily Worker: The Strip Miners: at’ Winslow re- turned to work, when they struck against a reduction in wages from $6.80 to $2.80. J. L- Lewis forced these men to return to work. at. the reduc- tions After working 5 days, these men forced the District to call them out again. But instead of all the Strip Miners coming out in support, as was the intention in the first place, the mine effected is left to fight the bat- tle, alone. This is the way J. L. Lewis believes in running a union. He is famed for his “take no backward steps.” He can’t get far enough back with taking steps. This is the first step in a reduction for the district. The min- ers are dissatisfied they have been sold out, and are talking methods of getting rid of J:.L. Lewis. The Na- tional Miners Union would not have allowed such a rotten sell-out to have taken place, because this organization places the power in the hands of the rank and file. Naturally the rank and file use this power to its own —0. P. Youngstown Steel Workers en by Grafters pany store are about 40 per cent higher than in other stores. Along with this we get a 10 per cent wage-cut and are working six hours a day and part time. Some days we don't take lunch to work, thinking that we are going to work six hours, Then the boss tells us to work ten hours straight and we must work on at full speed hun- gry. A worker told one of the fore-/ men that he was weak because he had no lunch. The savage foreman told the worker:to eat steel. There is too mtich ‘speed-up here: The conditions aré terrible. ‘They fire a worker for the smallest thing, ‘We must organize and protect our- tag against the savagery of the bosses. Get into the Mctill’ Workers’ Industrial League. :