The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 19, 1932, Page 3

DAILY WORKER " NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MARCH 19, “THANKS UNCLE!” JAPANESE IMPERIALISM BY worck ——. NEWS ITEM:—U. S. sells munitions to Japan and Poland for war on Soviet Union. THE MASSACRE OF THE FORD HUNGER MARCHERS {A Letter from a Ford Worker) UR. workers are dead, two of them leaders of of the Young Communist League, while 50 ,| others were wounded in Bloody Monday, March ‘th, 1932 by the murderous revolver and machine gun fire of the hired mercenaries of that cold- blooded and inhum:n exploiter—Henry Ford. A little after one o'clock in the afternoon of March 7th a small group began to gather at Fort and Oakwood in Detroit about one and a half miles from Ford's River Rouge plant. It was bitter cold. A sharp wind was blowing from the River. The workers shivered and wondered if many would come out on such a cold day. For about 30 or 40 minutes the crowd grew slowly but around 2 p. m. new and larger groups ap- peared bringing cheer to the hearts of the waiting workers. Now the spirit of the waiting workers changed. Every new arrival was greeted with cheers and the singing of workers songs. Large groups of unemployed Ford workers began to arrive in trucks from small nearby towns like Dearborn, Lincoln Park, Melvincale, Ecorse, all of which ate mostly inhabited by Ford workers. As the crowd grew and swelled their spirit and militancy rose to higher level. Forgotten was the cold. Unemployed Ford workers, broke and unable to pay carfares, met resistance from the conductors as they attempted to get off without paying. A struggle ensued. Police mobilized for the Hunger March attempted ar- rests but the waiting hunger marchers ran to the rescue and succeeded in affecting their rei’ase. At 2.30 the crowd had grown tremen- dously. A large number of Ford workers had been Jaid off and many of them joined the crowd, The workers’ spirit was rising and when about 100 workers with banners came marching, singing and cheering from a nearby hall the enthusiasm was raised to the highest pitch. In a surprisingly short time all workers lined up behind the marching comrades. All traffic was a standstill. Under the leadership of the Auto Workers Union and the Unemployed Coun- cil, the hunger marchers marched across the Baby Oreek Bridge and gathered on the corner of Fort St. and Miller Rd. in a dense throng around a waiting truck. Banners were quickly distributed as Comrade Goetz, Secretary of the Unemployed Council, swung up on the truck and began to speak. Briefly restating the purposes and demands of the Ford Hunger March, the speaker called upon the workers to form an orderly and disciplined march and stated: “We are not going to the Ford plant to create a disturbance. We are going to present the pressing demands of the workers. But we are going to go to the Ford plant, and if we are attacked, we will know how to defend ourselves.” A powerful cheer greeted these remarks and ‘he march began. Eight abreast. Singing and cheering, the Ford Hunger March proceeded with rigorous steps toward the Dearborn city limits where about 50 Dearborn and Ford police in miform were guarding the road. As the workers approached the police called upon them to stop. The workers marched forward. The police gelled, “Who are your leaders,” “We are all \eaders,” shouted the workers. “Stop or we'll shoot,” threatened the cops menacingly and shot large amount of tear gas into the ranks of the workers, The Hunger Marchers hesitated, blinded and _ Ghoked by the gas, some retreated and ran up a MARIO ioe iiss cuvevs Address ... 1 night sticks. | from the River blew it away. The workers railroad trestle on one side of the road. Some of the cops came out and attacked workers standing alone or in small groups with long The workers defended themselves militantly. A group of workers rescued one worker from @ cop on the trestle. One of the cops shot with his revolver some workers who ran from the trestle. By this time the workers had scattered all over a broken field along side the road. The field was well covered with stones which were picked up by the workers and soon the air was filled with a hail of stones, The caps kept on shooting tear gas but the sharp ying ished | and fell, back the cops and when the tear gas ga% out | the cops turned and fled. The marchers then continued their course to the Ford plant. At Dix Road the Dearborn cops recei re- inforcement from Detroit and the Ford plant and made another stand. A couple of fire trucks came up and tried to connect up the firehouse but so fast was the advance that the fire trucks beat a hasty re- treat with the cops behind them. At this particular point the most inspiring ex- | amples of working-class initative were revealed. Groups of workers passed among those lagging | | return march in close formation, While the speaker was addressing the crowd, a car drove out of the Ford employment office. In it was Harry Bennett, chief of the Ford spe- cial plant police, and two others. No one paid much attention to this car until a window was opened and Bennett himself shot teargas into the assembled workers peacefully listening to the Speaker. Almost instantly a shower of stones was hurled at the Bennett car which smashed front and rear windows and injured Bennett. ‘The car drove on until it came up to the bridge at Gate No. 4. Bennett stepped out of the car As he arose he emptied his revolver into the unarmed crowd with fatal effect, After the Hunger Marchers had proceeded on the return march, the Dearborn, Detroit and | Ford police poured the murderous machine gun | fire upon the unprotected backs of the. returning | Hunger Marchers, which killed 16 year old Geo. ; Bussell and laid low scores of workers on every side. Many of those last to leave, mad with | horror and indignation, wanted to return and | attack. But it was impossible. | behind urging them forward. Knowing no stones _ | were handy near the Ford plant, they picked up YOUR FIFTY CENTS WILL HELP SAVE THE DAILY WORKER! WRAP THIS COUPON WITH YOUR 50 CENTS 70,000 Half Dollars by April 1st handfuls, filled their pockets, and passed them along to other workers. The workers showed marvelous solidarity, helping one another against cops, helping clubbed comrades along. Now the workers thoroughly aroused and more closely united, followed the rapidly retreating cops past the employment agency up to gate No. 3 where under cover of reenforcements with new tear gas and drawn revolvers the cops were able to make another stand. The firemen con- nected the hose and soon @ couple of- heavy streams of icy water sprayed those more daring | spirits who ventured too far ahead. The workers grimy with-sweat and dust, their eyes red from gas fumes kept up a spirited struggle. Suddenly the cops began shooting into the crowd with revolvers, It was here that Comrade York, 19 years of age, District Organizer of the YCL, was shot and killed Comrades Leny and Del Blasio were also killed at this point. The cops seemed to have gone mad and shot left and right into the unarmed crowd. The workers, however, stood their ground and kept up the rock, throw- ing, inflicting considerable damage on the police. Later, the capitalist press revealed that Edse: of prison labor, were watching the massacre, supervising the shooting. In the course of the struggle many of the workers had engaged in struggles with the Ford service men who refused to go inside at first. They were quickly driven inside however, and the windows of the Employment office were smashed up by rocks. stop and park over at one side and traffic was almost completely stopped. The leaders of the Auto Workers Union and the Unemployed Council, realizing that nothing more could be attained at that time, decided to call off hte demonstration. Accordingly a speaker mounted the back of a car and pointed out that the tear-gassing, clubbing and shooting was Ford's bloody answer to the demands of the eb- ployed and unemployed Ford workers. Rousing cheers greeted the statement that the Hunger Marchers would return, but with 30,000 instead of 5,000, A vote was taken to start on the Send to 50 EAST 13th ST. Daily Worker NEW YORK CITY + ee (a Dery BSA Cee ese ewer errenasees’ si” hme easton ‘The only thing left to be done was to get out of range of the guns or find shelter behind parked cars, Many workers at the risk of their lives helped wounded comrades and it is a splendid testimonial to the heroism and working-class solidarity displayed by the workers that less were captured by the police, were captured by the police. After the march was over, the wounded taken to hospitals and sympathetic doctors for first aid, all the workers still did not disperse. They stood around in greups discussing the Ford mas- sacre and it was only after a number of arrests | were made by the reenforced Dearborn police that the groups were dispersed. ‘This is written on March 10. News is trickling in of the feeling inside the Ford plant among the workers on Tuesday where the mass indigna- tion of the workérs is now steadily rising. The Ford workers in various departments are or- | ganizing and collecting for the funeral of our fallen comrades, From New York we hear of a mass demonstration at a Ford Sales Agency and telegrams concerning the massacre and placing responsibility on Ford, Murphy and the Dear- born mayor, Clyde Ford, are pouring in by the hundreds, While these events are taking place and find | reflection in many‘columns of space in even the capitalist press, the Detroit News of March 10, | gives two inches of the bottom of the second Ford, Ex-Governor Green, millionaire exploiter | | of the first motor of the “BLOODY” new Ford page to a bare announcement of the stamping ‘V8 Model by Ford himself which was not ac- companied by the usual pomp and ceremony. The Ford massacre has already cast an om- inous shadow over the much advertised new model and the bleod-sucker Ford. But for the | Ford workers it is heralding a new day of Busses were forced to | struggle against the murderous speed-up, wage cuts and slave driving methods which have be- come synonymous with the name of BLOODY FORD. : The answer of aroused workers of Detroit and vicinity to the Ford MASSACRE on BLOODY MONDAY, March 7, 1932 will be the building of @ powerful mass Auto Workers Union and Mass Unemployed Council for the victorious con- tinuation of the struggle for the Ford Hunger March Demands, WORKERS OF DETROIT AND MICHIGAN, INTO THE AUTO WORKERS UNION AND ‘TIE UNEMPLOYED COUNCILS! Winds Begin ro) La ee | hdcok panty Camp Nitgedaiget protetn: Foy You ean piradel tes many other provements, The food 1 clean frenh and especially well prepared, SPECIAL RATES FOR WEEK. ENDS a Day . 2 D: 8 Daye For further {information call the— | COOPERATIVE OF FICK Bronx Park Bact | Tel—Esterbrook 8-1400 52.08 5.50 19 is AND FILE MINERS LEAD N. MU. DIS | cCONTINTED FROM PAc tional Miners Union; problems the United Front and Strike Strat- egy; Work among Negroes; New Constitution; International Rela- tions; Election of the National Com- mittee. After a short opening speech by Frank Borich, National Secretary of the N. M. U., a presidium of 19 rank and file miners was elected. The presidium was composed of five miners from Western Pennsylvania; two from Kentucky; two from Ohio; two from Central Pennsylvania; two from West Virginia; one from In- diana; two from Illinois; two from the Anthracite and one from metal mining. There are four Negroes and three women on the presidium. ‘Wilson, a Negro miner from West- ern Pennsylvania, was elected chair- man for the opening session. Greetings were sent to the Ken- tucky prisoners, Frank Borich, sec- retary of the N. M. U., for whose “body” the Kentucky coal operators are offering a huge reward, delivered the main support of theconvbzmbzb the main report of the convention. It was @ four hour report whcih covered the situation in the mining industry, the crisis and its effects, especially in coal mining, the star- vation among the miners, the role of the U. M. W. A. misleaders, the les- sons of the recent strike struggle led by the N. M. U., and the tasks of the union in the face of the coming strike struggles in the industry. Borich pointed out that great changes have taken place not only in the situation in the industry, but also in the methods of work and struggles of the N. M. U., since the second national convention in July, 132, In the last two and one-hali years the crisis has developed to such an extent that coal production is now at.25 per cent of capacity. The crisis was felt in the coal in- dustry even earlier than the general 2 ONE) of | CUSSION ON TASKS FACING UNION, | crisis. In 1929, 534,000,000 tons of coal were produced in the United States; in 1931, 378,000,000 tons. Borich Speaks “Employment in the industry has declined over 50 per cent in the past three years. Only 400,000 miners are now employed, virtually all part time. While in 1929 the miners averaged 206 days a year, he now averages approximately 142, if employed at all. In 1926 wages in the bituminous fields averaged $7.55 a day; at pres- ent $2.03 a day. This means wages have actually been directly cut ‘ per cent in the past five or six years, In tonnage rates they have come down from 77c to 22 1-2c a ton, the low level in West Virginia, where there is & U. M. W. A. agreement. cent, “During 1931 there were three gen- eral wage cuts in the bituminous fields, besides innumerable local wage cuts. The Llinois miners and also the Anthracite miners are now facing 40 per cent wage cuts, through the agency of the U. M. W.'A. of- ficiels, Walker of the Illinois U. M. W. A. stated openly at the District 12 Convention that the wages of Il- linois miners need ‘readjustment’ (in other words cutting). The Anth- racite miners face a 40 per cent cut despite the five and one-half year agreement. They have already re- ceived and struck against cuts sev- eral times. “Rationalization and machinery | has resulted in the permanent unem- ployment of scores of thousands of miners. In one Pittsburgh Coal Co. mine, where three loaders one year ago produced 25 cars @ day, three loaders and a machine now produce 85 cars @ day. This mine is at pres- ent closed, but when it reopens the same loaders will be forced to pro- duce 90 cars a day. “Such speed-up systems as the wagon system, clean-up system, av- erage system and complimentary sys- THE MURDEROUS NOON TODAY WHEN PO HUNDRED COMMUNISTS AND THE OFFICERS ON NISTS WERE STUBBORN SAVAGE ATTACK. ATTACK ON THE 1 CHICAGO ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATION {OONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE) SONS WERE SEVERELY BEATEN SHORTLY AFTER LICE CHARGED SEVERAL WHO WERE STAGING A PROTEST MEETING IN FRONT OF THE WRIGLEY BUILDING ON NORTH MICHIGAN AVE. “SUDDENLY POLICE OFFICERS GAVE A SIGNAL FOOT BEGAN SHOUTING ORDERS FOR THE CROWD TO MOVE ON. COMMU- AND SEVERAL ATTEMPT- ED TO WREST CLUBS FROM THE HANDS OF THE POLICE. THIS ACTION WAS THE SIGNAL FOR A “FROM OHIO ST. CAME THE MOUNTED POLICE. THEY RODE FULL SPEED UP THE SIDEWALK, HURLING THEIR MOUNTS INTO THE THICK OF THE CROWD. THEY CLUBBED LEFT AND RIGHT WITH ALL THEIR STRENGTH WHILE THE HORSES TRAM- PLED THE FLEEING DEMONSTRATORS UNDER FOOT. “THE POLICEMEN ON FOOT WERE ALSO IN THE MIDST OF THE STRUGGLING THRONG, LAYING LEFT AND RIGHT WITH POLICEMEN AFTERWAR: THEIR CLUBS. SEVERAL D CHARGED THE REDS HAD ARMED THEMSELVES WITH SHORT CLUBS WHICH HAD SPIKES DESIGNED TO TEAR THE FLESH. NONE WAS SEEN BY REPORTERS. AS THE SIDEWALK CLEARED, S EVERAL ALLEGED COM- MUNISTS WERE LYING ON THE SIDEWLAK. THE WOUNDED COMMUNISTS WERE LEFT WHERE THEY FELL UNDER GUARD, WHILE THE POLICE COM- PLETED THE ROUT OF THE REDS.” This description by the capitalist newspaper reporter is sufficient to convince anybody attempting to spread slandero the government. of workers for the profits of t of the murderous attack of the Cermak police against the workers. Nevertheless, Cermak’s police and the capitalist press are us stories that workers opened the attack and shot at the police. From the description given above of the workers partici- pating in the demonstration, it is clear that the police opened | | the attack and the police fired the shots. On the previous day, Friday, March 11, the same Cermak | i police fired at 7,000 workers at Humboldt Park, who demon- | strated against box relief, demanding adequate cash relief and for Unemployment Insurance at the expense of the bosses and | MASSES AGAINST WAR. The Chicago anti-war demonstration showed very clearly that masses of workers are against war and ready to defend the Sovict Union, Chinese masses and Soviet China, and fight! against robber war in China. A large percentage of the work- ers demonstrating were unemployed workers, which indicates | that unemployed workers clearly understand that war will not! bring prosrerity, that the capitalist war will slaughter millions | he bosses and will drive masses of workers into further misery, starvation and slavery. The slaughter of the workers at the Ford River Rouge | Plant at Dearborn, Mich., who demanded jobs or relief, the Chicago anti-war demonstration are an indication of the grow- ing mass resentment against capitalist exploitation and the Hoover program of war and hunger, THE TASKS. The task of every worker and especially the Communists and the Communist Party throughout the country is to mobilize masses around immediate demands in shops, unemployed workers in struggle for these d gle against war, leading towai lemands, uniting with the strug- rd Anti-War Week, March 30- April 6, and Anti-War Day, April 6, the fifteenth anniversary of the entrance of the United States into the World War. The Communist Party of | to the American working class and to the International Pro-| letariat its ability and determi this country is already proving ination to carry on the struggle to stop the plans of the war-mongers, to defend the Chinese , people and the Soviet Unior In addition pay for dead work no} longer exists, making the cut 83 per) and cutting wages further. “In addition there are numerous | stabilization pluns to la off further scores of thousands of miners. These plans will result in unemployment of 600,000 out of 800,000 miners. The Davis-Kelley Bill in Congress is an additional instrument to increase starvation of the miners | “The miners have, answered these attacks of the operators with many | big strikes (three strikes of 25,000] Glen Alden miners; Shenandoah; |} | Hocking Valley; Kentuc West Vir- gina; Western Pennsylvania Eastern Ohio, and local strikes in| Tilinois and Cerftral Pennsylvania. | The unemployed miners have also} developed real struggles (Oklahoma; Avella Hunger Ma‘ partic’ jon in county and state hunger marches etc.).” Borich exposed the strike-breaking role of the government. The fierce terror in Kentucky could not hal. the growth of the N. M.U. “Through mass struggle we have broken through the terror in Western Penn- sylvania and West Virginia to wori. openly, and we will sfnash through in Kentucky.” Astacks U, M. W. Borich exposed the officialdom of the U .M. W. A, as strike-breakers and wage cutters. “Van Bittner, the W. Va. secretary of the U. M. W A, stated openly at the district conyen- tion that any union miner can live as cheaply as any scab; ‘Outscab the | Scabs,’ he said ‘Put them out by working for lower wages.’ And the U. M. W. A. put this into practice and cut wages in West Virginia to 221-20. per ton—the lowest in any field. The U .M. W. A. helped the Pittsburgh Terminal Company cut} wages 10 per cent. When the militia| came into Kentucky the U. M. W. A disappeared. When 25,000 anthracite miners struck, Lewis suppressed their strike twice. In the big Penn-Ohio strike the bosses revived the U. M. W. A. The U. M. W. A. is collecting signatures for the starvation Davis- Kelley Bill The U. M. W. A officials are fighting unemployment insurance, as at their convention The fake pro- giessives are also bosses’ tools; in the Anthracite they turned the strike | over to Boylan and Murray to betray | it” | An important part of Borich’s re-| Port was the part devoted to the| analysis of the Western Pennsylvania, | Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky strikes. Among the serious shortcomings in| the big Pa.-Ohio strikes were no real efforts to build the National Miners Union, failure to register strikers | Promptly (resulting in leadership | losing connection with masses of| miners and their moods), lack of | | clarity on demands (failure to real- | ize separability of economic and polit- | | ical demands), organizational loose~ and | | | Page Three ncss (strike and picket committees nsufficient trade racy (union did not dis- s ions and policies with the mi which were made by the Central Strike Committee only; this resulted in ners returning to work | without knowledge of strike commit- tee). While there had developed back-to-work movement, the i e ship talked of a “second offensive” policy of ‘organized retreat without consw cussion on this should have. been i troduced among the strik as soon a back-to-wi began. The result i t we had a upion of black: unemployed miners after the strike and lost contact with those working in the mines. A big shortcoming was the failure to recognize need of the united front in the strike, and the failure to con- nect the strike in therns “West Virginia with the Pa.-Ohio strike. “The results of these shortcomings were that miners returned to work in an unorganized manner;«many were discharged and blacklisted} the union completely isolated from those working in the mines (not over 25 per cent of the N. M. U. members work in the mines) Because of our failure to analyze these mistakes in the Pa.-Ohio strike, we repeated the same mistakes in Kentucky. eW did not utilize ‘the achievements in the Pa.-Ohio ‘strike in Kentucky. We called the Ken- tucky strike only through the black- listed and unemplpoyed miners. Nine- ty per cent of the district strike con- vention were unemplpoyed. e must submit the analysis of our shortcomings to every member ularize hte lessons of the Borich stated that the chief ;rob lem of the union is to entrench itself within the mines. Borich gave as important points to conduct success- ful strike struggles: 1, Preparation in advance, draw in all miners into United Fronts real united front with U. M. W. ‘At and unorganized on the basis of common struggle against the ‘oper- ators. (We are beginning to do this in Iilinois and the Anthracite.) \ 2. Real trade union democr#¥y. 3. Build union in the strike? “ 4. Leadership must have “broad knowledge of every move Phat is made; must be closely soliected with masses, 5. Explain all policies and Hace to the miners. Borich concluded by rointié, out the need to recognize the impbptt nee of agitation and propaganda “Sheed to build the Mine Worker), af of seriously undertaking to —— ore forces, CHICAGO AND DETROIT ANSWER BOSS TERROR WITH 2-DAY ‘DAILY WORKER’ ‘TAG DAYS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY Chicago and Detroit are answering the bosses terror by organizing | mass Tag Days to save the Daily Worker. Workers have been sending in | money pointing out the best way of saving the Daily Worker and fighting | | | | Saturday, 2 p. | 558 E. 63rd St. ) 3151 W. Roosevelt Rd. | 49th Court & 14th St., Cireco. 10413 Michigan Ave. 4848 S. Ashland Ave. 2783 Hirsch Blvd. . 1919 S. Racine Ave. 2253 Fulton 8t. 1355 W. 14th St. 908 Orleans St. 5ist & Whipple. 109 W. Chicago Ave. 1628 W. Division St. 3242 Sheffield Ave. 1628 W. Division St. es The workers of Detroit are an-, swering the Ford-Murphy murder-| jous attack by contributing to the Daily Worker, by going out with cans and collecting money in the two days against the bosses’ terror. The following are Chicago Tag Day stations TAG DAY STATIONS m. to 6 p. m. Sunday, 10 a. m. to 6 p. m. 3116 S. Halsted St 2409 N. Halsted St. 2457 W. Chicago Ave 338 S. Halsted St. Needles Trades Adams St. 4006 W. Roosevelt Rd. 808 W. Van Buren St 2954 E. 97th St. 538 W. North Ave 3145 N. Oakley Blvd. aT] Comrades, the fate of the Daily Worker is in your hands! Make the tag days successful! Let’s reach our goal. . . Union, 180 ™% Detroit Tag Day: * Tag Days for the Daily Worker, | The stations where to get the ‘cans and other material can be gotten al any of the workers’ halls in Detroit and Hamtramck. = Collective Farm and May ‘This tour MAY FIRST DNIEPROSTROY 12 THRILLING DAYS 12 in the Soviet Union Itinerary including Leningrad, Moscow, Ivanovo Vosnesensk- Ist Celebrations in Moscow. $230 » ore wey §=$17S One way Itinerary incloding Leningrad-Moscow-Kharkey-Vievy and. May Ist Celebrations at Dnieprostroy, Ths wer §=$250 » $195» Shorter Tours as Low as $155 Sailings on SS BREMEN—MAURETANIA—NEW YORK trip. 175 Fifth Ave. New York OZ @Aae WGN Crmog ri ist fours are complete from embarkation te termination of in the U.S.8.R.; with ® retarm steamship ticket from France on the WORLD TOURISTS, Inc, Phone AL, 4-6656-8797 Mimeograph Supplies $15 op, repaired, Ie 82.25, ik $1, Bond a Colored PROLET MIMO 108 E 14th St.. K Y. ©. Near Union Sq. 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