The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 10, 1931, Page 4

’ Pubitehed by 13th N | New York City, Address’ and mail ali checks to the Dail N. ¥. Telephone ALgonquin 4-7956. WHERE LIVING STANDARDS ° By MYRA PAGE arby Flec pand played co-operative or evening. Repor on how well the 41,000 members’ housel ad been met by tion’s stores lowed by te four ht the be bring about dr: this field in the r list only more than 4 people has been oppressed, ha rved, etc clothed for centuries and wher A Soviet Cooperative Department Store. revolution they have achieved not only their freedom but also have so arranged production that all have jobs and good wages, then naturally their wants expand at a tremendous rate. The tore they develop socially and culturally, the more their wants increase. In a highly industrial- ized country under workers’ control this question would be easily solved, since the factories to pro- duce the required goodsare already at hand. But in a country largely agrarian and very back- ward economically as Russia was when the work- ers took charge, the matter is not so simple. It takes time to build factories and train labor forces to supply for instance all the toothbrushes for millions of teeth which never felt the need for such until a short time ago, to furnish ma- chine made clothing in place of home-spun, and to. supply boots and shoes for nearly a hundred million villagers who have discarded their cloth leg wrappings and demand footwear the same as their city brothers. ‘The first job, as the Communist Party lead Russian Masses to understand, was to build up the basic industries, the machine-building, fuel, motor, tractor, and other industries which would guarantee the industrial independence of the country from capitalist powers and at the same time to furnish the basis for rapid expansion of industries supplying goods for consumption. This is one of the main aims of the Five Year Plan,— to make possible a radical improvement in the masses’ standard of living. Because the masses realize this they work with redoubled enthusiasm for socialist construction. Now the third, decisive year of the Five Year Plan is nearing completion, the workers know that the time has arrived when they can enjoy more fully the fruits of their toil. Rightly they, demand of the state trusts and co-operative or- izations entrusted with the distribution of sup- plies, “How are you fulfilling your part of the plan?” This is what gives particular significance to such meetings as the one we are now attend- ing. While waiting for the conference to begin we looked about. The were many youth among the delegates —girls with silk scarfs and red ker- chiefs tied about their heads, boys in their late teens who joined good-naturedly artong them- selves, Some of the delegates had brought their children. It might have been a workers’ gathering in the States, but for these differences: Around us were red banners testifying to socialist con- struction. Above all the faces, the general man- ner of these toilers testified to the changes which fake place in human life where capitalism is re- placed by workers’ rule. In contrast to the har- rassed look of American workers these men, ‘women, and youth had a calm, confident expres- sion that springs from economic security and the consciousness of collective power. The chairman of the Electrozavod factory Com., Comrade Macaroff, an electrical worker, called the meeting to order and a directing com- mittee, termed a presidium was elected. Most of those chosen were the shock brigaders, those workers who voluntarily had taken the lead in increasing the quality and quantity of output in their departments. Amid great applause the po- litical committee of the Communist Party was also elected as honorery presidium. (It is in Ways like this that one sees the great esteem which the masses have for their Party) ‘The delegates listened with the closest atten- tion to the report of the co-operative’s dirctor, ‘Comrad Koodriafseff. Tt was obvious that he had . ? #6 deal with an intelligent and critica! audience "The local co-operative, he reported, hed grown from a membership of 14,000 at the beginning of the year to over 41,000 at the present time. Of these, 18,000 were industrial workers, 15,500 were office workers child: About 99 per cent of the 21,000 employed at the Hlectro- avod belonged, spending about 65 per cent of ‘their weges through the co-operetives. In the past three months the perative wstores had distributed the following amount of re lgoods among its members: 23,000 pairs of shoes, ey 41,000 pairs of rubbers, 4,891 men’s suits, 6,000 ‘ women’s dresses, 7,000 children’s garments and "% —s- 780. raificoats. At the same time 100,000 yards fof wool goods and over 120,000 dollars worth of pil, cqualing about 300,000 yards had been given ee this is tar from enough” the de ed. I looked at my companion, He the Russian girls and women ed workers we make afford to wear such the starving Russian workers! director also reported that over a half r of.dress goods had been distributed iree months, which meant an aver- per member. At this murmurs and dissent ran through the hall. Why it’s hardly possible!” It ites for the director to ex- WwW not every person ed more than this for good work at the plant 5 was true. any Tr ot get these figures r from the con- ext agreed that this ted the books i ns of the nd methods of distribution. The ow reached over with a monthly turnover Now the floor was open for first to take his place on the nall energetic man who talked egates, emphasizing his points zestures with his cap which he held ‘is left hand. He demanded that more ned, so that workers could get their more conveniently and be waited on delays. Another delegate insisted should be able to give their orders in nd have them ready when called for. e ount of supplies needed of different types of goods must be better calculated. He was followed by a young worker who said, “We shock aders because of our role in production are nosed to get our needs taken care of before . yet the opposite often happens. When lows we often stay by our machines to see everything is in order while others race off to the store. By the time we get there we cannot always get what we want. This must be changed.” The new Ss) m of shock brigade cards must be immediately introduced. These, in gen- eral use in many plants, guarantee the shock brigaders first attention. "A woman worker in a black silk dress ‘with a shawl acr her shoulders quickly mounted the platform. As she stepped up we caught a glimpse Jk bloomers. She was also a shock “T can’t understand,” she spoke di- rectly to the manager, “why things can’t be run better. In the factories we workers have produc- tion running well, why can’t you do as much in ‘The form was a t the di discussion res be olies An Electrozavod Shock Brigader and Dele- gate to the Workers Cooperative meeting de- seribed in this article, the stores? What is the matter?” She gave ex- amples of needless red tape, indifferent clerks, and long waits. So it went. Delegate after dele- gate made their criticisms and proposals in clear, concise fashion. Meanwhile innumerable notes from the audience passed over our shoulders on to the stage. All speakers and notes received careful attention from the presidium and director whose face grew more and more serious as the workers related the organization’s shortcomings. ‘This is how the Soviet workers are tackling the problem of improving the distribution of goods, with the same initative determination they put into developing industry, And they will achieve equa! telling results. The December Issue of “The Communit ” Now on Sale CONTENTS WALL STREET AND THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ASTI-SOVIET FRONT By Harry Gannes. THE PARTY ANNIVERSARY IN 'THE LIGHT OF OUR PRESENT TASKS By Alex Bittelman. THE MEANING OF THE WAGE CUTTING OFFENSIVE ase BUILDING THE REVOLUTIONARY UNION MOVEMENT By S. Wilner. RESOLUTION OF THE PRAGUE CONFER- ENCE ON THE QUESTION OF UNEM- PLOYMENT ae DILETTANTISM IN STRIKES ... By Wm. Z. Foster. RELATIONS OF INCE, THCHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMICS UNDER CAPITALISM 1D IN STHE SOVIET UNION .. By Prof. M, Rubinstein. SIS ON THE AGRARIAN QUESTION ... Adopted by the Second Congress of the Communist International. Send orders and subscriptions to Workers Library Publishers, P. O. Box 148, Sta, D, New TRADE the January issue the price will be reduced to 20 cents. Subscriptions now taken at the new | Tate af $2 pax xeax or $1 for ais months, the Comprodaily Puetistints €v., Ie, Gay except Sentey, at 86 East Cable Worker, 50 Hast 13th Street, New York, M. ¥. “DAIWORK.” ‘Dail orker: Porty U.S.A! « SUBECRIPTION RATES: By maf dvésPoRere: One year, $6; elx months, $3; two months, $1; excepting of Manhattan and Bronx, Rew York City. THE VULTURE GUARDS Foreign: one year, Boreushs 8; six months, $4.80. HER EGGS tralian Navy | By R. B. (London). | | ‘HE fact that there was a wide-spread revolt | in the Australian Navy at almost the same time as the revolt at Invergordon has been care- fully kept from the British workers until today Even in Australia the matter was hushed up for a whole week, when a Sydney journal, “Smith Weekly,” let the cat out of the bag. The Bri- tish press must have known of the matter long ago but not one single word has appeared in the British press so far about the matter. ‘The mutiny took place at the Westernpoint base of the Australian Navy and in the shore depots at the same place, As with the Invergordon revolt, the imme- diate cause was the announcement by the Naval Board of wage cuts which hit the lower paid men with the most severity. A contributory cause was the poor quality of food, about which there had been complaints for some time. The Australian mutiny was very similar to the Eng- | lish one, the sailors in both cases refusing duty, holding meetings on board, and ignoring their officers. The mutiny broke.out aboard the “Penguin” where the men had been ordered to work until 5 p.m. The men called a meeting and refused to work under the new pay rates. mander pleaded with the men but was com- pelled to retreat in face of their solidarity. On the “Canberra” the men also struck work and threw their scrubbing brushes overboard when ordered to scrub the decks. Similar action was taken on other ships. ‘The sailors hoisted the Red Flag over the shore depot, with the White Ensign underneath it, flying upside down. The cuts involved amounted in some cases to 25 per cent of the men’s pay. According to “Smith’s Weekly,” complaints about the food had been rife for some weeks. One of the complaints of the ratings being that the best food was reserved for the Petty Officers whom the officers thus hoped to keep on their side in the event of trouble. When they com- plained they were punished for making frivolous complaints. It is reported that on one occasion recently the men refused to eat a dinner stew and called on the officer to sample it. This the officer did, and pronounced it excellent, despite the fact that before he did so the men had thrown tea-leaves, cigarette ash, etc. into it. ‘When he gave his verdict they laughed in his face. Just prior to the Mutiny breaking out the captain of one of, the ships called the men to- gether for a meeting and lectured them on the events at Invergordon. He instructed them when they went ashore to deny the newspaper reports that had appeared, adding that similar instrue- tions had been given to the captains of all the ships in the Australian Navy. “Smith's Weekly” states that the sailors were all reading Communist literature, which had been brought on board from the shore, adding there is “enough revolutionary literature aboard to equip a Public Library.” The “Canberra” is an English built Cruiser of 10,000 tons which played a big part in the ac- tions against the Chinese Revolution in 1927. The Australian Navy has long had a reputation | for militancy and a number of mutinies broke out in it during the war, mainly directed against the harsh disciplinary code, especially the flog- ging of boy ratings. This practice they even- tually got withdrawn. Today no corporal punish- ment is permitted in the Australian Navy, al- though it is still a common practice in the Eng- lish Navy. The fact that two such widely scattered sec- tions of the British Imperial forces should have taken such action as did the Australians at Westernpoint and the British Navy at Invergor- dow, is an indication of the deep rooted workgng class resentment against the cuts. York City. 25 cents per copy. Beginning with |Join the Unemployed Councils and Build Block Committees In Your Neighborhoods The Com- | With Children’s lood By MAC WEISS. INWITTINGLY dispelling the somke screen of anti-child labor demagogy under the cover of which the capitalist class has amassed its tremendous profits, Courtenay Dinwiddie, Gen- eral Secretary of the National Child Labor Com- mittee, reveals in his annual report that there are 3,326,152 children between the ages of 7 and 17 who are out of school. ‘The great majority of this tremendous num- ber are at work or else are looking for work. Mr. Carr of the National Educational Associa- tion estimates that even in “normal” periods the number of children between 7 and 17 out | of school because at work reaches the total of | 2,120,000. While this is clearly an underestima- | tion, it is sufficient to indicate the real content | of the famous American policy of a “free educa- tion.” | | This number continues to grow despite the | “return-to-school” movement inaugurated by | many capitalist politicians. The growing pov- | erty of working-class families forces them to | withdraw their children from school in order | that they may get jobs—when there are jobs. Even in the cases of children too young to be employed there is a steady drop in school at- tendance because of lack of proper clothing, food and money for school supplies. Negro Children Worst Victims. Negro children are among the worst sufferers in this respect. The stark poverty of the Negro worker prevents his children from receiving but the merest rudiments of an education. In addi- tion, the vicious Jim-Crow policy prevailing throughout the entire educational system in- sures that even where the Negro child can at- tend school his educational possibilities are sharply limited, ‘. In 18 states last year in which there is a con- siderable Negro population, schools for Negroes, although serving one quarter of the entire popu- lation, received but one-tenth of the public funds devoted to education. Less than one-half of the 3,300,000 Negro children of school age were in attendance at school of any kind in the year 1930. More than a million of them did not even enroll, N. Y. Times Lies, In summarizing the issuance of Dinwiddie’s report, the New York Times for Dec. 7 lis brazenly and carries the story under the utterly misleading head: “1,000,000 Children Crowd Job Market.” This attempt to distort the actual state of ‘affairs is carried out further in the main body of the story itself, which states that there are “one million or more children under. eighteen at work or looking for work.” Even the Government Census report for 1920 shows that there were 2,773,506 children under the age of 17 at work. ‘This total leaves out of account the hundreds of thousands between the age of 17 and 18 who are at work and thus gives the lie further to the story carried in the paper which prints only “what is fit to print.” The “gains” made by the hypocritical move to limit child labor are shown in their true light once the terrible picture of child labor is fully unrolled. 3 In ‘North® Carolina, despite the great unem- ployment of 1930, there were over 2,840 children between 14 and 16 employed in the cotton mills working from 9 to 11 hours daily. From twenty to thirty thousand children in the single 14 to 15-year category are employed in the state of Pennsylvania alone. These children work on an average of 9 hours 4 day and 5! hours e ‘week. 11-Hout Day for Children. In the sections of child labor for which there are no exact statistics, general information as published in Dinwiddie’s report presents a par- tial glimpse into what is actually taking place in the realm of child labor. The report states: “It is impossible to describe the work of children thus unprotected as a group. Sych a description would contain many accounta of { the sufferings of defenseless childhood. Of the children ,wko are migrant farm laborers and those who are street vendors, both groups largely without adequate safeguards in most of our states, stories could be multiplied, such as of very-young migrants working 9 to 11 hours a day or deprivedof from 2 to 5 months’ schooling yearly, of street vendors working through meal hours far into the night or beginning in the smali hours of the morn- ing, with exposure to serious moral as well as physical risks, Tenement homework remains @ hotbed for the illegal employment of chil- dren. Canneries are exempt from child labor law in stveral states and in many places em- ploy young children under unsanitary condi- tions, for long hours at high pressure.” Children Under 10 On Farms, Although complete returns are not yet made on the status of agricultural child laborers, who form by far the largest section of the group, partial estimates reveal this phase of work to be a veritable hell hole for children, The report to the recent White House Conference on Child Health and Welfare shows that 48 per cent of the children working in industrialized agricul- tural occupations were under 12 years of age, while TWENTY-FIVE PER CENT WERE UN- DER TEN YEARS OF AGE! Child labor in street trades is continually on the increase and keeps step with the growth of urban population. Dinwiddie’s report stresses this fact while, at the same time exposing the completely misleading understatement given of this category of child laborers in the Govern~ ment Census of 1920, Accidents Kill and Maim. ‘The toll taken of children thus forced into industry through poverty and parental unem- ployment does not stop with the mere depriva- tion of education or exploitation in the factory. If it is true that the profits of the American capitalist glass is saturated with the sweat of children it is equally true that they are drenched with the blood of children,maimed and crippled through the intense speed-up to which they are subjected. Over a period of five years, 2 per cent of com- pensated injuries to child workers under 18 in New York state took the form of amputations, one-fifth resulted in permanent disability. Of the injuries sustained by children in occupa- tions supposed to be “illegal,” 30 per cent re- sulted in amputations and 50 per cent caused permanent crippling. In the same state the greatest number of industrial accidents was found to occur among girls between the ages of 18 and 19. In Michigan there were 1,107 injur- ies to working children 17 and 18 years f age during the year 1928-29, For the year 1930, the state of Illinois recorded 297 accidents to 15 and 16-year-old children, Child Toll Increasing. Although many states do not keep statistics on the number of industrial accidents, or, where they do keep them, there is no attempt at a division by ages, it is beyond all shadow of doubt that accidents to child laborers is increasing at a terrible rate as a result of the inhumap speed- up and lack of industrial safeguards on hazard- ous machinery, In this connection, of Dinwiddie states: “Through statistics which are collected by the United States Children’s Bureau from states which keep them in comparable form we know it to be @ fact that, yearly thousands of minors receive permanent injuries or are killed, and that tens of thousands are injured in the industries of the country.” Little more need be said. The tremendous suffering and misery of the proletarian child stahds out in black relief against the disgusting hypocrisy of the demagogues who hide the ex- ploitation of child labor, the mangling and murdering of the working youth under a veil of “Return to School”: and “Anti-Child Labor” By Joras It Is Reported That in a far country the King thereof heard of Herbert Hoover and his great work in “over coming depressions” by speeches to Congress and incantations of a Secretary of Commerce, Thoughtful of the possibilities of need for ad- vice arising in the land of Ishkabibble, the wise tuler sent for a copy of Hoover's patented “ for “overcoming depressions ‘in sixty ys.” : The Great Engineer was only too glad to oblige. The scheme was given to the chief of the Post Office Department, Mr. Brown, who wrapped it up in copies of Post Office contracts to Republican National Committeemen, and mailed it by parcel post to the King of Ishka~ bibble. A few Weeks later Hoover received 2 telegram Saying: A “Am returning your scheme for prosperity. Please send depression.” : What Kind of Disease Is It? Sometimes we wonder when, if ever, all the good resolutions about meetings starting on time and being prepared properly, are going to come true. There is absolutely no reason, outside of downright carelessness why we should have to be bothered with such as the following com- plaints, both from—where do you think? New York, of course:— “Dear Jorge:—Like it or not, the seamen got another kick, and I hope this one will be settled As you know, the leadership of the unemployed Movement in New York called a meeting of all: delegates going to Washington for Sunday, Nov. 29, at 11.2.m. But did that mean 11 a, m.? No! Hell, no! The way it comes out, the meet~ ing got started at exactly 1.43 Pp. m., which is 17 minutes till 2 p. m. No wonder the new mem- bers of the Communist Party get up in the air when this seems to be the regular proceedure everywhere and at all meetings. Let it be under- stood that being on time means a whole hell of a lot to the xevolutionary movement.—A. Ww, Jacobson, Seamen's Unemployed Council.” . Then up in the other end of town, we have been asked by more than one comrade, to find out what sort of responsibility attaches to any- body in Section 4, that is supposedly conducting the “Harlem Workers’ Forum” at Lafayette Hall, | 165 West 131st St., every Sunday evening at 7:30, A big hall with a bulletin blackboard, on which the number of the room where the forum is to be held MIGHT BE written but isn’t..The speaker comes and wanders around trying to find some- body who knows something—but nobody does. Workers come nad help him wander around. Minutes, half hours and hours go sailing by and nobody who is actually in charge of any- thing can be found. Somebody gets the idea of looking uv the hall management and gets let into one of the rooms by some magic. But it’s not much of a success by that time. Where are the workers that Party members might get by going and bringing them? Where, indeed, are the Party members of the Section? Where is even a small piece of the leadership? The devil only knows—and he don’t Say. Bob Minor is due to speak there next Sunday on the Negro question and unless something breaks down this inexcusable negligence there really need be no cards printed advertising the Forum, a job which seems to satisfy. the section , comrades that they have done their duty. These cases are, of course, only samples. There are plenty of others. But when is something going to be done about it? ign ee The American Black Chamber In view of the pleasant way the imperialist powers are slashing into China, we may give a few timely hints about what a lot of cutthroats they are. A slick guy by the name of Herbert O. Yardley recently wrote a book called “The Amer- ican Black Chamber,” being an account of his experiences in the employ of ‘‘our own” sancti- fied government to intercept and decipher code messages of other governments. With some qualifications, the book is an in- teresting exposure of the way the imperialist powers watch each other like cats and dogs ‘in the fight for markets and colonies, in eyery form of loot. The qualifications we make are, for one thing, that Yardley lies when he says that the “Black Chamber” is abolished. He had to say that. And all the “complaints” he makes about the U. S. being deprived of this weapon by Stimson is so much poppycock aimed to conceal its contin- uance, r But the book (which, by the way, some com- yade who has no conscience swiped from our office) is a revelation of imperialist intrigue ma~ chinery which all the imperialists use against each other and against the Soviet Union, and . never say a word about. The book created a cabinet crisis in Japan, because it told some in- side dope about Japanese messages. f In the “Liberty” magazine of Odt. 10, Yardley F : : Powers quarrel with each other over was in 1927, and a part of what: tells in this way: 3 “We were just in time, for Chinese “spoils” in China, as —America still has its ‘ 7 which seems to have excited no little fuss, Howe | ever, we have to agree with a correspondent who sends in the following: “T’ll go you one better on ‘symposium.’ Now if the F'8.U. had advertized it that way, be no keeping the sailors away! BAR” ave