The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 1, 1932, Page 4

Page Four Pudl Lage! by the Comprodatiy Publishing Ce, Ine, dally except Sunday, at 60 East 3 York City Address and mail all che Telephone Algonquin 4-7956. Cable = to the Daily Worker, 50 East 18th Street, New York, N. ¥, “DALIWORK.® GUBSCRIPTION RATES: By mati everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; two months, $1; of Manhattam and Bronz, New York City. excepting Foreign: one year, $8; siz montha, 94,50. THE | DYER ANTI-LYNCHING BILL-A CLUB IN THE HANDS OF THE LYNCHERS By ELIZABETH LAWSON | aber 6, 19381 Matthew W Basket factor e office of i come of > and Jim Elliott, the son led a gun and shot Williams de- Daniel Elliott There w of the fac an argument, y owner, ing him severely. In scuffle fended wimself the was killed a boss-incited lynch-mob | war General Hos- ing. The mob of big worker from his ed him to the court-house. square. ilated him, poured over him 40 m lons of gasoline, and, while whiskey bottles sassed from mouth to mouth, they burned his body to @ crisp. Having previously cut off Williams’ fingers they now invaded the Negro section iry, screaming curses and threats. On of Negro homes, they threw por- ams’ body, inviting the workers to toes wil he charred corpse 1931—Year of Lynch Law | larly brutal ly me 3 in which 79 lynchi mn the white boss pre an this number w shed up by the | , is beyond ion. 1931 was a of rising lynch law against the Negro work- | and farmers, The record of known lynch- | begins early, with the mob-murder | 10 of two Negro workers in Green- | r County, West Virginia. In the few mo the year that have already passed, the lynch- | ers of Negroes have taken a huge toll. | The Workers Fight Back t fighting back against this wave of terror nehing, is the rising tide of struggle of ) and white workers. Under the leadership ¢ Communist Party, the League of Struggle Negro Rights, the International Labor De- and other working-class organizations, and Negro workers have begun a joint In mortal dread of -.this common fight of the toilers, the Negro and at the re- That many hs | of of for fense white struggle against lynching. white ers are resorting to every means to draw these workers away from the program of struggle. The latest move of these fakers is the revival of the campaign for the Dyer bill—the so-called federal anti-lynching bill. A drive has been started by such organizations as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored eople, and the Women’s Stop-Lynching League, for two million signatures for the Dyer bill. By agitating for the Dyer bill, the fakers hope | to achieve three gains in their war on the Ne- gro masses. They hope to divert the fury of the Negro and white workers against lynching, away from the paths of organization, mass pro- test and revolutionary struggle. They hope to revive and strengthen the illusions of the mas- ses that the capitalist courts are fair and impar- tial bodies set up to protect the interests of all. And fi they hope by means of the Dyer Bill to place in the hands of the white bosses | a new and sharp instruments for use against the Negro and white masses in their growing strug- nst wage-cuts, oppression and lynching. Dyer Bill Is Weapon Of Lynchers For not only would the Dyer bill, it became not stop the lynching of Negro workers and mers; it would, on the contrary, be a weapon in the hands of the bosses, by means of which they could the more easily arrest and lynch Ne- gro workers apd share-croppers. The fakers, by promoting the Dyer bili as a | means of stopping lynching, are urging the Ne- gro workers and farmers to place their reliance for protection against the boss lynchers, in the machinery of the bosses’ state. Yet, this very state machinery is an instrument in the hands of the lynchers. Where police, sheriffs and other state officials are not actually part and parcel of the lynch mob—and this is an ordinary oc- c mee, as in the case of Matthew Williams— y combine to protect and whitewash the lyncher The recent brazen whitewash of Wil- licms’ lynchers in Salisbury is a case in point. fter three months in which state and local of- law icials stubbornly refused to set up a special machinery for investigation, t inally formed a d jury of the county's biggest business- men—the same type of men who had led the | lynching. After three days of secret sessions, | which it spent listening to the “testimony” of | over 120 hand-picked witnesses, the. jury return- ed a report that it could “find no one remotely connected with the lynching.” The brazenness of the whitewash is the more apparent when we remember that the crowd that lynched Williams was unmasked, that it made no effort at con- cealment, that its leaders walked to the very door of the hospital where this worker lay dy- ing and there talked at’ length with hospital officials, that it rubbed elbows with the local ehtef of police and other local and county of- ficers. ‘An indictment against the lynchers of Ne- groes, by a coroner’s jury or other official body, is.@ very rare occurrence. When it does occur, ityseldom results in the infliction of even the mildest penalty. Boss Courts Are Lynch Courts ‘This same court machinery is also the means of the legal lynching of Negroes and white workers, as in the now famous case of the nine Scottsboro boys—a case which ras ripped the mask of impartiality from the courts and re- vealed them as open and brazen accomplices of the lynchers. Thet under the rule of the bosses, a so-called anti-lynching bill along the lines of the Dyer bill is a dead letter against the lynchers of Ne- groes, is proved by the recent events in Green- brier County, West. Virginia, where two Negro workers were openly lynched on January 10. 4Vest Virginia some years ago passed the Cape~- hart “anti-lynching” bill, which, like the Dyer bill; provides for the payment of a sum of money to the families of the victims of lynch- ing. A suit was filed by the administrators of the estates of the two Negro workers for $5,000 each, against the Greenbrier county court. The court simply refused to pay the amount of mo- mey provided by law. The prosecuting attorney of the county instructed the court not to pay. ‘fhe court statéd that it had also received ad- wice from the Taxpayers’ Association against paving the $5,000 to the families of the victims. ad that was thats ~~ But whereas against the lynchers of Negroes, the Dyer anti-lynching bill, if made into law, would become a dead letter—against the Negro workers and share-croppers, and against the white and Negro workers fighting.to better their conditic the.Dyer bill would peorigs a heavy club for the white. bosses. The Dyer bill provides forthe aispersal of “mobs.” And @ “mob,” according to‘the’ Dyer bill, is “an assemblage of three or more “per- sons acting in concert, without -authority: of law.” Under the rule of the bosses, whose will is carried out by all police, courts and other or- gans of the state, a “mob” will be formed when- .ever workers go on strike, pieket, demonstrate in defense of their rights. It is noteworthy, that. the state anti-lynching law of. Virginia has been used only ‘onte—to break up the. picket line of the striking textile workers in Danville. To the bosses’ courts and the bosses’ police, meetings in defense of the Scottsboro boys, or meetings of Negro share-croppers to demand food or an accounting from the landlords, would be “mobs,” to be dispersed under the provisions of the Dyer bill. By means of this same bill, workers who take part in such meetings could be the more easily framed by. the courts. ‘Today, when the workers of both races are o® ganizing for a fight against starvation, are striking together for decent wages, are demand- ing unemployment insurance, are raising thund- erous voices of protest against the vicious frame- up of the Scottsboro boys and other instances of national oppression of the Negroes—today a bill which could be used against workers who or- ganize and assemble would be an invaluable aid to the, bosses and lynchers, | How Revolutionary Workers Can Fight Lynchings The Dyer bill is thus a weapon for, not against, the lynchers of Negroes. What course shall the revolutionary workers take to prevent lynch- -ings? It is impossible in the space of this article to indicate all the methods by which lynching of Negroes can be fought, We can merely outline the direction to be taken in this struggle. We, revolutionary workers, must not neglect to use, in our struggle against lynchings, ail the legal and parliamentary loopholes at our disposal. These include: adequate legal defense for victims of lynch frame-ups, demanding the right of Negroes to sit on juries, making de- | mands upon local, state and national govern- ment bodies, etc. But all these activities should be coordinated with, and subordinated to, the development and organization of: revolutionary mass action outside of the bourgeois coufts and legislative bodies for the prevention of lynch+ ings. We must organize giant mass protest meet- ings and street demonstrations against lynch- ings. Wherever possible, we must organize pro- test strikes in factories, among agricultural workers and share-croppers, atnong students. At the same time, we must organize masses of Negro and white toilers for open resistance to lynch mobs. In localities where lynchings have occurred, it is our duty to seek out the lynchers, and, upon finding them, demand pun- ishment of the murderers and their instigators —not forgetting among [these instigators the writers in the capitalist press, who whip up lynch spirit against Negroes, Death To The Lynchers Last, but of extreme importance, we must in every locality form defense corps of the most | militant white and Negro workers, for the pro- tection of the Negroes against lynchers. Not only must white workers participate in these defense activities; but they must take the lead in such defense. We are not revolutionists un- less we accept and put into practice the idea that it is the special class duty of revolutionary white workers to defend Negro workers against lynching and mob violence, even at the cost of our own lives. As revolutionists, we must in all our propa- | ganda expose the lynching of Negroes as a weapon of the American imperialists in the na- tional oppression of the Negroes. In our fight on lynching, therefore, we must never fail to link up this fight with the struggle against na- tional oppression, and to raise the demands: Withdrawal of the armed forces of American imperialism from the black belt; the right of the Negroes in the black belt to govern that territory, including the white minority residing there. Mobilization for April 6th Through Mass Sale of Literature One of the most effective agitational weapons —in fact an absolutely indispensable weapon— in our anti-war campaign is the extensive dis- tribution of our anti-war Mterature among the masses of workers. Tm our concentrated efforts to make April 6 the high point of our mass campaign. against war and in défense of the Soviet Union and of the Chinese masses, the following. seven pamph~ Jets have been chosen from among the mass of pamphlets on war which are available, to con- | centrate on: “The Soviet Union Stands for Peace” by M. Litvinoff (Speech of Comrade. Litvinoff at Geneva) . » one cent “War in China, -ten cents “Women and War,” by Grace Hutchins, five eents “Anti-Soviet Lies and the Five-Year Plan,” by Max Bedacht .....,....vesdsssee0.ten cents “Chemical Warfare,” by D, Cameron. ..ten cents “Revolutionary Struggle {Against War, versus Pacifism,” by A. Bittelman five cents Red literature day, as a feature of anti-war- week, should see a specially intensive effort, par- ticularly in connection with house to house can- vassing and in agitational work in the shops, to get these’ pamphlets into thé hands of the workers. Besides these strictly war pamphlets, we ree- ommend the following, in order to connect up the campaign with unemployment and Scotts- boro: “Unemployment Relief and Social Insurance,” . two cents “The ®tory of Scottsboro in Pictures”. .five cents Get them frem your District Literature Agent, or direct from Workers Library pt esd P. be Box 148, Station tions gan geé By VERA STONE | {bE month of April marks the first anniver- sary of the crisis in the Chicago Public Schools. It is now one year that the 14,000 (fourteen thousand) teachers of our colossal, their loyal services and diligent work. A year has elapsed, anti yet the politicians of the Re- publica trenches are at war with the present political Democratic machine, @ struggle be- tween two capitalistic forces for the possession of tax graft. And the teachers remain the vic- tims of political adventurers. i Only a few months ago the State Legislature assembled 1h Springfield, Ill. to find ways and ation in the Public schools. carloads of petitions, pleading with their repre- sentatives to come to their aid, to. pass such legislative measures that would yield immediate relief. For days our “honorable” Republican and De- mocratic representatives fought among them- selves, and when the day of adjournment ar- rived, nothing was accomplished. Once more trains full with teacher petitions sped to Spring- field, demanding that the law-making body does not adjourn until relief is offered. These extra sessions cost the poor tax-payer thousands of | dollars; yet, our representatives at Springfield | smoked fat cigars, ate juicy steaks, and made | whoopee in the cabarets. ‘Their final decision was to increase the taxes of the poor citizen, And what about the teachers? Nothing! Have not the Public School teachers always been the most loyal advocators of capitalistic robbery and graft? Have they not always been the moct devoted slaves of American “Democracy” and her laws? It is sufficient, therefore, to appeal to the teachers’ patriotism, to their idealistic mis- sion, and they will not rebel, they will not strike, but continue their “sacred” educative work of molding a generation for the interests of Amer- ican Capitalism. and her Imperialistic appetites. The radio brings to us daily the after-dinner speeches of the wealthy State Street magnates (the Kelly's, the Cavanaugh’s, Mayor Cermak) and of the Board of Education grafters who assemble at banquet tables jin the Sherman Hotel. These men praise the martyr, the brave and courageous teacher with words sweetened by high-balls and fruit salads, and—it is a. year now that thousands of teachers and their. fam- ilies have had to live on the two week's salary, @ mere bone that the city throws to the teachers every few months to hush the beginning of a bark. The obvious question arises: where is the fighting spirit of the teachers’ organization whose duty {t is to protect the interests of its membership? Why is the Chicago Federation of Teachers silent.in these days when voice and action are so necessary? The answer is simple. Faulty leadership. The leaders, molded of the same clay as the Schlesingers, the Wolls, the Greens of the American Federation of Labor, confine their activity to legislative lobbying and to fascist tactics, For years the notorius Margaret Haley has been at the head of the Chicago Teachers’ Fed- eration; her word equalled God's word. And when on that morning of voting for Mayor, 14,000 teachers received Margaret. Haley's tele- gram, demanding that in the name of the teachers’ financial interests, they vote for Cer- mak, thousands listened to her command; Cer- | mak become Mayor. So it is that the teachers’ union leader walks hand in hand with the po- litical Democratic clique, and her compensations are many. ‘Thus far she has been successful in ‘suppress- ing any initiative on the part of teacher groups to call demonstration meetings, claiming that. such were not only a discord to professional ethice, but that any sort of a strike would effect their tenure of office. She knows her teachers well. She is certain that the slaves of the Public Schools will not. betray their patriotic mission. Devilish is her smile as all protests, demonstrations and strikers are shattered by her warning. Yet, often a fear creeps into her. Perhaps?... Perhaps the voice of poverty and hunger will endlessly tear off the masks of false leaders, snd {lluminate their faces in the proper light? ‘Then Margarct Haley Ripriediy, rican to Foe “aanoreb wealthy city have received almost nothing for | means of extifiguishing the present critical situ- | ‘The teachers sent | The Crisis in the Chicago - Public Schools mak in California, where he went to cure his stomach indigestion, or to “Hot Springs” where he bathes his “weary, worn-out body” in the soothing warm springs of that country. Wires travel quickly! The next morning the newspapers radiate with headlines: “Dué to Mayor Cermak’s capable efforts, school teachers get two week’s salary.” For éwhile stomachs become satiated, and teachers cease to protest. And Margaret Haley loudly acclaims: “Teach- ers, see what we do for you! Pay your union dues!” ‘The teachers remain impotent. There {s not among them thé necessary revolutionary éle- ment to head them on the road of. organization and class-consciousness. Their lack of group solidarity is, of course, a result of their faulty education. The majority of the Chicago Public | School teachers are a product of the Catholic Parochial Schools, where reigns the word of the Catholic priest, a word that justifies and up- holds the Capitalistic world of exploitation and graft, a word that threatens with hell torture those who oppose and attack the possessors of might. Twelve years of this education has doped their minds with religion motives, and lulled their brains with non-resisting theories, And from there the young spiritually-clogged persons en- ter the Chicago Normal College, a local institu- tion that gives to the future teacher the tools necessary to hammer into the child the “cul- ture” of the Public School, and to instill in the young citizen respect and love for the land of our fathers—Washington, Lincoln, Adams, Jef- ferson, and Franklin: Even that minority of the teaching force which is not exposed to the inquisition culture of the Catholic schools, has attained its educ- ation in the public schools, an education which is fundamentally based on a capitalistic-religi- ous foundation, representing and defending the interests of the ruling class. Then, too, the greatest part of the 14,000 teachers is a product of the petty bourgeois middle class, who still mistrusts the organized worker and his strike tactics. Yet, when hunger and cold appear on the doorstep, when teachers lack the means of pay- ing for their mere necessities of living, when no one will accept the one month tax warrants is- The Danube Customs Union-Part of the War Preparations Against By BURCK sued by the Board of Education for their par value, then it slowly begins to dawn upon the teachers that “something is wrong in Denmark,” that there must be something wrong with the machine of system that cannot pay its teach- ers. And now and then, in the hells and lunch rooms of our schools, one can occasionally hear @ word of protest, a glance of hatred and an- imosity for the fat bellied politicians of the City Hall. “We are fools!” “We are slaves!” “Cermak gets his pay; let him give us our salary!” One can even hear [such radical words as: “Let's sabotage! Let's go to the City Hall and demand justice!” j In the classroom, too, is felt the effects of the crisis. The usual enthusiastic hymns of “My Country” and “Star Spangled Banner” be- come a silent procedure. There is simply no strength, no desire either on the part of the depressed teacher or on the part of the hungry child to shout patriotic hurrahs in times as these. Oftentimes, in conversations between teachers, Soviet Russia is mentioned, for they noticed in the newspapers that there, in the Communistic land, the teachers received a sal- ary increase, whereas here, their wages were reduced ten per cent. Slowly this strange—to them—Soviet Union begins to gain their interest and sympathy. It is inevitable that with the growth of the economic crisis in the U. S. and over the entire world, the public, school teachers will begin to apprehend, to conceive that the critical situa~ tion of the schools is not a local problem that can be solved by an “honest” Democratic or Republican administrative body. It will not be long before it becomes clear to. thém that the evil which has brought and will continue to breed suffering and hunger is the present sys- tem of exploitation and graft; and the only solution is to annihilate, to destroy the class of parasites and whoopee makers—the capitalistic class, and to create on these ruins. structure of a classless society, 2 Communistic society. It is time that teachers cease to listen to Cer- mak’s warnings against militant measures! We have had enough of Miss Agnes Clohesy’s and Margaret Haley's ethical preachings and im- potent leadership. It is time that teachers emerge from the ethereal world and join the ranks of those who have found the path to the world-wide struggle of all workers for a new and better economic and social system. Let this crisis teach us the lesson of the ne- cessity for organizing into a solid, class-consci- ous body! Let us show our strength, our sol- idarity! the Soviet Union By G. PERI (Paris) | ties imperialism is attempting to carry out @ very large-scale operation in Central Eu- rope. On February 29th, Tardieu came to Gen- eva. On the following day, he informed the Finance Commission of the French Chambes that in the course of his conversations in Gen- eva with representatives of the States of Little Entente, Austria and Hungary in regard to con- cluding a customs agreement by preference treaties, he had also secured the support of Italy and Great Britain. Commenting on this declaration the “Temps” writes: “One of the most important questions at the present time is that of a durable’ economic or- fanization of the Danubian countries . . . Serious endeavors must be made in the near future in order to rescue the countries of Cen- tral Europe from the results of the world crisis which for some of them are assuming a tragic character.” What the, in reality, the objects at which the Frech plan is chiefly aiming? In the first place, in this sphere, as in all other spheres in the world, France is playing its role of counter-revolutionary gendarme. ‘The countries in question are those in which the argrian revolution is growing from day to day. Peasant revolts are becoming more and more frequent in Rumania, Yugoslavia and Hungary. The cecriple chet % 5 Ee ree OCR tricts, and thé crimes of the Siguranza or the white hand have not destroyed the spirit of the peasants who are in revolt against the tax col- lectors, The case of Hungary is perhaps even more characteristic. In 400 villages the peasants have driven out the tax collectors, and in many cases the fight has assumed the foym of a genuine insurrection. The financial position of Hungary is such that the Minister Koranyi re- cently declared, during his journey to Paris, that he would like to lay down his office, as he was So ‘depressed by the open collapse of the Hungarian finances, The crisis has also -seriously affected the economy ‘of’ Czechoslovakia, whose industry— with the exception of the war industry—is at a standstill. The Czechoslovakia budget shows a big deficit; the salaries of the civil service and public officials have been reduced by 500 million crowns; wages are being cut. But the influence of the Communists is and the Red ‘Trade Union Opposition in cular is able to record remarkable progress, With regard to Austria, a few weeks ago the Federal Chancellor Buresch issued a call for help to the representatives of France, Great Britain, Italy and Germany, and among the reasons which he gave in support. of his appeal ‘was the growing discontent of the, working-class ‘Under these conditions, ony War Profits in Lumber By Labor Research Association (Based on Labor and Lumber by Charles Demands of the imperialist war of 1914-18 lumber for ships, airplanes, and materials camp and trench warfare revived that indi bringing a golden age to the manufacti Profits were sky-high and war profiteering notorious, At the very time when the lumber menufecy turers were crushing with brutality and blood shed the wave of union organization whig spread through the South and West, and bitterly fighting the workers’ demands for eight-hour day, increased wages and sani camp conditions, they were reaping the harvest of profits since the days of the grabs. Despite government price fixing and the mitted manipulation of accounts to show costs, Federal investigations of the war profs iteering of 143 companies in the Southern Ping industry revealed enormous profits. Profits in the Southern Pine Industry, 1917 Percentage of Profit on Number of Percent Investment, Companies Total Over 30 16 122 20 to 30 uv 118 15 to 20 6 m2 10 to 15 a wai 5 to 10° a 39 33.9 Under 5 19 13.3 Loss 5 32 The rates of ear. * Individual coma panies ranged up to a profit o: U: per cent of the total investment. Profits in other lumbew regions also rose to high Jevels as the lumbeg barons cashed in on the war business, 4 French Workers Expose War Preparations Paris, March, ssa, | Worker correspondents in the famous Renault works report to “I’Humanite,” the central orga of the Communist Party of France, that the workers are now engaged on the building of 6@ heavy tanks and 50 light tanks. Worker correspondents in the works “outilaga Mecanique” in Saint Ouen (Paris suburb) report that the works are now carrying out an army, contract for 28 tanks. When the tanks are built they are sent on to the Hotchkiss works where they are provided with machine guns. Worker correspondents of the Floriat works fi § Saint Denis (Paris suburb) report that the works are engaged on the building of 80 motor radio stations for the army and that the works have received a further order for the building of 14@ armored cars, Sea Mas SR Aiea a 67 TR tion and against the ferment in the proletariail by attempting to increase the exchange of goods between the countries of Central Europe, before all, however, by supporting the governments in question in crushing the insurrectionary move inents of the masses of the people. For the rest, this is only a part of the prow gramme, One.can remember the furious of fensive which French imperialism launched lass. year on the day following the signing of the customs union between Germany and Austria, With the aid of loans it managed to restore the order of Versailles and St. Germain in Central Europe. It caused the negotiations between Rue mania and Germany to be broken off, overthrew, the Bethlen government in Budapest, and aos celerated the collapse of the Austrian Creditang stalt. The Hague Court of Arbitration buried ment, which Curtius and Schober had already, renounced before the Court had pronounced its decision, But in the course of this collision France, will be remembered, submitted to the European Commission a “constructive programme” the contents of which were elaborated by André Francois-Poncet, the direct representative of thé Comite des Forges and the present French Ame bassador in Berlin.The plan included in pare ticular the setting up of an international mort« gage bank, the extension of a system of granting loans (thanks to which France secures control of Central Europe), the extension of cartels and preference agreements. These are precisely those recommendations which were advocated at the recent Pan-European Conference at Buda= pest, which even drew up a draft plan of co~ operation of the banks of Central Europe. Al? these items are contained in the plan of a cus- toms union on which the Paris Cabinet is now, working. This system, which excludes Germany, con solidates the hegemony of France, in that, on the eve of Lausanne, it enables it to increase ita Pressure on Germany, which in this manney would be cut off from the countries of Central Europe. It is noteworthy that while this eom- bination is being prepared there is 2 prospect of @ ministerial crisis in Bucharest, where Titu- Jescu, who stands for a pro-French policy, sems likely in the near future to obtain the upper hand over Prince Ghika. Finally there can be no doubt (and this is the third part of the French plan) that the draft of an economic Danubian federation is directed French Chamber reveals this aspect of the ques- tion still more When Comrade Marcel Cachin called attention to the heavy military expendi- we ait isn gese Wag eee eee One could not have a more open ities that the Czechoslovakian army is only @ part of the French military apparatus. When one knows the role of Czechoslovakia in the fight against the Soviet Union, when one remembers the recent Vanek scandal, one realizes the full signift- cance of this confession. ‘To this we would add that, in the course of this same sitting of the Finance Commission, France guaranteed to Crechoslovakia a loan of 600 million francs. In the vote on this loan the socialists withheld their votes; only Marcel Cachin voted against it. Another fact which serves still more to show the character of the French plan, is the fact that m leading circles and in French circles at Geneva, the opinion prevails that Poland must also be irvited to join this Danubian Federation. As aid for the oligarchies ofCentral Europe, oe ee muennet Of Cominaticn. 9 ie aid on a menen, in the h, these the draft of a German-Austrian customs agreee