The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 26, 1932, Page 4

Published by the Comprodatly Publishing Co., Inc., daily exexept Sani 13th St, Ni City, N. ¥. Telephone ALgonquin 4-7956. Cabli Address and mail cheeks to the Daily Worker, 50 E. 13th St., New York, N. ¥. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By mail everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; Borough of Manhattan and Bronx, New York City. six months, two months, $1; excepting Foreign: one year, $8 $4.50. Militant Leadership---the Need of the Carolina Strikers 'HE High Point Strike shows that the hosiery workers there are setting an example of initiative and courage that could well be followed by workers everywhere. Committees.were set up in every hosiery mill and mill meetings were held everyday, where all strike issues were passed upon by the workers. ‘They set up a Central Strike Committee which conducted negotiations with the manufacturers and which the workers compelled to submit all proposals to delegate mass meetings attended by 2,000 of the 6,000 strik- ers. This shows that these workers had learned much from the lessons of the Marion and Elizabethton betrayal and were determined to keep control of the strike in the hands of the rank and file workers. The effectiveness of such rank and file strike control was shown on ‘Thursday and again on Saturday when the workers decisively rejected the setttlement proposals of the bosses. The rejection of the $2.1244 per hundred dozen terms on Saturday was particularly significant because these were made, not directly by the bosses, but by the Bradley controlled Central Strike Committee which under pressure from the churches, police, Chamber of Commerce, etc., is becoming more and more, consciously or unconsciously, an instrument of the bosses. The strikers, however, must now especially be constantly on guard. The bosses and their local tools have been only temporarily checked. The editor of “Enterprise,” Keightly, and Bradley, having failed on Saturday, new forms and new manouvers will be used to break the strike. This is shown by the conference Saturday of the Chamber of Commerce, the Ministers Alliance and city officials, and followed on Monday by the ap- pearance of the North Carolina National Guard on High Point streets. ‘They will carry through further deceptive moves to confuse the workers, particularly using D. V. Bradley, who has ceased to be of any use in the Jeadership and should be removed in order to guarantee victory in the Strike. But, particularly now they will use terror against the strikers as they used it in the beginning against the unemployed. They will arrest and imprison militant strikers charging that they also are “hoodlums,” “riot- ing agitators,” etc. By such methods they will try to break the ranks of the hosiery workers as they already split off the unemployed and furniture workers. The workers must be prepared to defend their picket Hnes against all attacks. The argument of the bosses—‘first let us settle the strike and then we will. jointly investigate wage scales throughout North Carolina and ‘Tennessee so that a competitive average wage can be established”—is an old one. But it will be used to try to convince the workers that their demands cannot be met. The workers must uncompromisingly fight for their demand—%2.25 per hundred dozen—and if wages are lower in other mills, the High Point strikers xnust help the workers there to raise them. ‘This must be the workers <uswer. Unity—a solid fighting unity—is now the best advice that can be given to the High Point <irikers. A unity is needed that will result in removing all those such as ©-adley who weaken in the fight, that will result. in spreading the strike to surrounding mills and towns, that will again bring into the struggle the furniture workers, the textile workers and the unemployed workers, on the basis of the specific and common demands of these workers. The Menace of Demagogy in Unemployed Work i - GROUP of high church dignitaries, politicians and business men of St. Louis have decided “to come to the aid of the jobless by helping them to organize!” The organizations which they intend to form are the so-called “Unemployed Citizen’s Leagues.” It is not because the unemployed of St. Louis are unorganized ‘but precisely because they have begun to organize en-messe into the Unem- ployed Councils that these gentlemen have become active. Having failed to defeat the militant struggle of the workers of St. Louis by means of tear gas and bullets, the bosses have decided to resort to more extensive use of demagogy, in order to accomplish the same purpose by other means. ‘The “Unemployed Citizen’s Leagues” originated in Seattle. Initiated by a group of Musteites in that city, the bosses and capitalist officials soon recpgnized that they could serve as an excellent means of misleading the unemployed and preventing the development of militant struggle for un- epelovment insurance and real relief. They accordingly gave these t ” official status. They made them the distribution centers for the a berakle charity doles under the direction of a joint committee made up of the Musteites plus the Chamber of Commerce and the city ad- ministration. But the program of “self-help” which is the Musteite program of these “Leagues” suits the bosses fine. It serves to take away from them the respor ility of providing for the destitute jobless and puts the burden where the bosses seek to put it—on the backs of the impoverished masses. As a result the “Citizen’s Unemployed Leagues” and similar organiza- tions are springing up like mushrooms everywhere. The first issue of the official organ of these “Leagues” publishes an acknowledgment and \appreciation for the help received in building the leagues from the organs of the Rockefeller interests in Colorado, the “Rocky Mountain News” the “Denyer Post” and the large radio stations of these big-business interests. It is not necessary to prove to readers of the Daily Worker that these “Unemployed Citizen’s Leagues” and similar organizations under various names, are a real menace not only to the general interests of the workers but to their most immediate needs. We must howver point out that the dangerous character of these organizations is not yet so apparent to mil- ions of workers. These can be drawn into these social-fascist organiza- {tions and their struggle at least temporarily defeated by them.. Nor has ‘the danger of these organizations been sufficiently understood and com- batted by the Party. The task of opposing and smashing these demagogic foncerns is an important and indispensable part of the struggle for un- employment insurance, and the entire program of the militant Unem- ployed Councils. The fight aaginst the demagogues and their various organizations must be conciously conducted as part of the renewed upsurge of militant mass struggle of which the St. Louis demonstration and the stubborn’ stand of rank and file Bonus Marchcers are outstanding incidents. To fail to e this fight would be to invite a serious set-back which will make these splendid struggles mere sporadic outbursts. The most effective way to fight and defeat the demagogues and the organizations of the hunger regime is by multiplying and intensifying the struggles around the most urgent needs and grievanets of the victims of mass unemployment and the formation of real united front bodies, The failure to set up elected united front committees in blocks, flop houses, fnd other centers of the unemployed; the lack of unemployed councils hat carry cn day to day activities provide a fertile soil for the work of the magogues. Hence the best means toward defeating the bourgeois and ial-fascist demagogues is to vigorously put in effect the repeated in- ctions of the Party. United Front approaches to the workers must be made on the basis of direct, vital immediate issues and siuation instead of formal, lifeless Bppeals, which reduces the united front to a mere empty slogan. Where our enemies succeed in setting up these boss controlled or- izations as mass organizations, we must be prepared to penetrate them to set up representative committees of the rank and file within them. ‘The Unemployed Councils must be consolidated organizationally. fn revolutionary worker must become an active participant in the inited front of the unemployed and employed and thus lend the exper- nce, energy and revolutionary consciousness which is required in order to make this movement effective. ‘The masses are showing the readiness to join in the conduct of a stub- orn mass struggle of the unemployed. Let neither the trick of the bosses’ ments, nor our own neglect of this basic taks produce pause in that ruggle. to ‘ied sey toa ff ca m4 @ fighting, faaay fo yp ea movement embracing mil- ns, is a key ‘ noha ‘Let our maximum energies'be directed © the fulfillment’ of’this-task. PTE ot en wm inet Bt ae Ate Rata ree ls By BURCK Who Are the Rank and File Leaders ot the Bonus Marchers? By JOSEPH NORTH INDER the shadow of the Cap- itol dome, under the very nose of Hoover in his princely mansion, the lawn of which is said to shel- ter a machine gun under each rose-bush, the veterans’ rank and file movement of the Bonus March- ers grows in face of all terrorism. This profoundly significant mass movement, which teaches into the deepest. soil of the working class, | tapping centers of solidarity never before touched by a movement of the American masses, is throwing forward a host of honest leaders who dare to carry the banner of uncompromising struggle against the treacheries of the Waters, the Robertsons, the Glassfords, the Smediey Butlers. I recount here brief interviews with a few of the leaders of the rank and file movement. The first two I interviewed shortly before they were thrown into prison for leading the picket demonstration in the White House area. Plain men, filled with the drive of working-class militancy, you don’t find them in shiny riding- boots fingering a swagger stick like Waters. They're here to collect their back wages. And they don’t give a damn what the government says: they're here to stay until their demands are granted—and as much longer as they please! John Pace, ex-auto worker of Detroit, is chairman of the rank and file committee. He has been arrested six times for his unem- ployed struggles before embarking on the bonus march. A lanky, six- foot American, speaking a South- ern accent, he told me the remark- able story of the trek across coun- try of the Michigan-Ohio band of 600 veterans. Hold Railroad for 15 Hours. “When we reached Cleveland— getting there via freight—the Pennsylvania Railroad promised us transportation if we allowed two express trains to go through. We agreed. When this was done, the Officials double-crossed us. ‘Noth- ing doing, now,’ they told us. ‘You'll have to get going! And they tried to shove our 600 out of the freight yard.” He laughed. “Before the com- pany knew what was happening, the men organized a meeting; de- cided on their course of action and in a jiffy we shut down the round- house, closed the yards and held that damn railroad for 15 hours. We even held a fast mail train up an hour. “And don’t you think the rail- road workers were with us? They tipped us off, furnished us with flares and lanterns. And the city workers? They came in dozens with pails and baskets of food— pushing their way through the guards to get to us.” Governor Afraid to Call National Guards. ‘The railroad authorities called on the governor to send out the Na- tional Guards. But the governor, tipped off concerning the temper of the workers in Cleveland, re- fused. Thereupon the police de- partment summoned every ayvail- able force, and an army of 700 cops surrounded the freight station. ‘When the vets saw they were out- numbered, they decided to march outside the city limits to New Bed- ford, where trucks were furnished them to- McKeesport, Pa. where, e® | Brief Inter ews With Pace, Stember, Kicker} and Levine, Vet Rank and File Leaders with the aid of railroad workers, a freight train was again halted for forty-five minutes, the 600 men climbed on—and this time there | was no interference reached Washington. Pace, the chairman of the rank and file committee, was organizer of the Workers’ Ex-Servicemen’s League in Detroit. “What do you think of the evac- uation notice?” I asked. “It’s being brought about,” he said, “by attempts of the com- bined forces of the bonus enemies to demoralize the veterans. It con- tinues the policy to force more starvation and misery on the en- tire working class, And that is the reason why the masses of vet- erans are opposed to evacuation. Some are being led out of the capital by all sorts of trickery— such as the Robertson barnstorm- ing tour—and the Waters’ starva- tion process. All these “ methods have been used to stem the mili- tancy of the vets—and to prevent them from a real struggle for food and shelter.” Fight Just Begun. “What are the perspectives of the struggle here?” I asked. “In my opinion,” he said, “the fight is just beginning. The rank and file vets are realizing they are being sold out—anq they are start- ing to accept the rank~and file program laid down by the W. E. S. L., which will mean the devel- opment of an honest struggle on the part of all the vets. They re- alize now that their problem is that of the entire working class— and of every vet back home. Therefore they are beginning to call upon the unemployed and em- ployed workers to support them in their fight and to continue this struggle for unemployment relief for all workers, Stember, Ex-Gob. Stemberg, short, heavy-set tex- tile worker of New York, is a mem- ber of the Executive Committee and in charge of organization. He enlisted in the United States Navy during the war and saw service in. the Mediterranean, His brother’ was killed in action. Stember joineq the W. E. S, L. when ‘first organized in New York and is a member of Post No. 1. “Tt was through the pressure and demands of the W. E. 8. L,” he Said, “that we won. the question of. the two-year clause” Now, we haye~,| forced Hoover to sign it. Do you | know when we first raised that de-: mand to abolish the two-year period before you can get action on your bonus? That was way back on April 9th. Before the ‘Ways and Means Committee of the Senate.” » Won Important Demand. He told how he and James W. Ford, Communist candidate for Vice-President, appeared as a dele- gation of two from the national committee of the W. E. S, L. to demand immediate cash payment of the bonus. How for three days they were denied the right to speak; and how finally Stember forced his way to the front of the room and spoke for half an hour despite all threats of arrest. “It was at that’ time,” Stember till they said, “that we first called for the bonus march to Washington. ‘That was April 13, in our statement be- fore the Ways and Means Commit- tee. You can find that in the minutes of the meeting.” Stember, before going to Wash- ington, formed the Textile Trim- ming Workers’ Union of New York —with a membership of 300—hav- ing begun from scratch a few weeks before. Eicker, Ex-Marine. Walter Kicker, 32, secretary of the rank and file committee, a Detroit auto worker, saw action on five fronts in France during the World War. Chatteau Thiery to the Argonne. Three offensives and two defensives. Two years and five months overseas. This tall ex-marine upon his return re-enlisted in the marine corps to learn aviation, Sent to the West Indies, to bring “civiliza- tion” to the natives at the point of a machine gun, as he put it. For 15 months in Santo Domingo, where he was stationed for a time at the Caracel, infamous prison where natives are subjected to the fiercest tortures to cow their rebellion, When mustéred ott, he worked in the steel mills at Middletown, Ohio, and Ashland, Ky. He joined the W. E. 8. L. shortly before the march on Washington, He has been arrested a.number of times for unemployment. struggles, against evictions, etc. “Don’t worry,” the marines re- plied. “We'll know what to do when they call on us for that pur- pose, Don’t you worry about that.” Kicker said the marines and armed forces have the strongest sense of solidarity with the bonus marchers—that the government is at wit’s end in fear of the possible consequences if the military is called out against the veterans. “A Revolt Against Officer Con- trol”—Levine. M. Levine, also a former marine, who saw service in China, is the chairman of the national commit- tee of the W. E. S,L. For many hs he has been organizing, ning; laying the basis for a mass W, E. S. L. to win the bonus and the demands of the veterans. A veteran, not only of: the ser- vice, but also in working-class ac- tivity, he was business manager of the Daily Worker before leaving for Washington nine weeks ago. “The bonus march,” he said, “is @ revolt against officer and fas- cist control of the veterans. It is @ revolt against the practice since the war to use the vets for the purpose of the bosses—in strikes, etc, against our fellow-workers. We are uniting the struggle for the bonus with that for unem- ployment insurance and relief. McKinney, Miner and Ex-Gob. Sylvester McKinney, miner and cannery worker of Oakland, Calif., member of the Executive Commit- tee of the Rank and File, served in the Navy during the war—see- ing action in the North Sea. Twenty months in service; his craft once struck a mine, all hands narrowly escaping death. He js also a veteran of the labor movement, having served prison. terms for strike activity on the West Coast. C5 . “While we're here,” he said, “we're not just going to sit down beneath the trees while Waters and Butler tell the vets all sorts of bull about voting, polls, etc. They’re just laying the way for evacuation. Their slogan ‘We're here till 1945’ is one of defeat,’ he said. “The rank and file who made this march are beginning to wake up to the treachery of their misleaders. ‘They will soon flock.to the ban- ners of the rank and file move- ment,” These are few of the leaders of the rank and file movement in Washington. We will send the Daily more sketches—both of the rank and file and the leaders they have chosen. “No Mussouni for us,” they say. “We pick our leaders. We can recall them if they don’t represent our interests. It's the rank and file movement that. will win over teh majority of the vet- erans—that will force Hoover to call an extra session of Congress to pass the bonus.” Build the united front for | jobless. insurance. All out August Ist! How the First World | War Was Prepared 1 PEACE TALK AS A CLOAK FOR wa PREPARATIONS Documents from the Period Preceding the First Imperialist World War iG, & PEACE ~~~ new and very important fact| Hf \\p) NEGOTIATIONS characterising the international site| | Constantinople, November 14, uation at the present moment,| e 1912. It is officially confirmed that Kemal Pasha has directly ap- proached the king of Bulgaria re- garding the conclusion of an armis- tice and the commencement of peace negotiations. (Havas.) me as Constantinople, December 3, An armistice has been signed between Turkey on the one side and Bul- geria, Serbia, Montenegro on the other. (Telegraph Correspondence Bureau, Vienna.) Hg ete London, December 14. The peace plenipotentiaries of Turkey, Bulga- via, Serbia and Montenegro have arrived in London. On t he eve- ning of the 13th there took -place an unofficial conference of the rep- resentatives of the, four States, (Reuter.) EUROPEAN ‘WAR ON THE AGENDA Peace Asseverations... London, December 1. Prince Li- chnovsky, the German ambassa- dor, delivered his first official speech in England at the annual banquet of the Royal Society, in the course of which he stated that he gladly made use of the oppor- tunity of declaring that England and Germany are working side by side for the maintenance of Euro- pean peace, and that the political relations between the two powers were never more cordial and sincere than at the present time. (“Nord- deutsche Allgemaine Zeitung.”) Spee ae London, Novemebr 31, The First. Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, expressed the hope that after the conclusion of the Balkan war all nations would agree in de- ciding that the affairs which had given rise to the present war must | not for the second time be a cause | of war. Nevertheless, Great Bri must be armed for all eventualities. (Reuter.) BETHMANN HOLLWEG RATTLES THE SABRE “The exchange of opinion be- tween the governments has. hither- to been carried out in a friendly spirit and offers prospect of suc- cess. Should in the meantime, which we hope not, insoluble an- tagonismis arise, it will be the busi- ness of the Powers directly inter- ested to assert their claims. This also applies to our allies. If how- ever, in defending their interests they are, quite unexpectedly, at- tacked by a third party, as a re- sult of which their existence is threatened, thén we shall remain true to our obligations and range ourselves definitely on their side. And then we should fight for the preservation of our own position in Europe and for the defense of our own future and security.” (Speech in the Reichstag on December: 2, 1912.) THE REPERCUSSION OF THE CHANCELLOR'S SPEECH IN RUSSIA Petersburg, December 4. The | speech of the German Chancellor is which is fraught with the danger! of a European war. (“Rjetch,”) FROM THE SECRET ARCHIVES OF THE DIPLOMATS The Turkish Straits On November 4, 1912, the Russian’ Foreign Minister Sassanov sent to rn Isyolski, the Russian Ambassador in Paris, the following cypher tele=) gram: { 4 “I request you to inform Poine, care in confidence that the occupae tion of Constantinople by the Ale lies would result at the same time, in the appearance of the whole of our Black Sea fleet before the Turkish capital. In order to avoid) the great danger of European come Plications which such a step would involve, it is important that France should bring the whole of its influe| ence to bear. = COMMON WAR PROGRAM AGAINST AUSTRIA-HUNGARY Poincare replied on the same day: “As I already told you, the mys- terious attitude of Austria fills the French government with the same misgivings as it does the Russian government. In agreement with the Ministerial Council I consider’ it expedient to agree now to a com- mon program should Austria at- tempt to extend its territory. I should like to know whether the imperial Russian government, like ours, is definitely opposed to any annexation of Turkish territory- wby a great Power, and whether. it would be inclined to confer with France and England regarding what means should be adopted..in order to avert such a danger.” .- RUSSIA SHALL ACT FIRST AND FRANCE WILL FOLLOW | On 17th and 18th November, Is- volski reported to his chief “ré- — —- garding his conversations with } Poincare: ge 4 . Paris, November 17. Poineare said to me that it was for Russia | to take the initiative in the qués- ' tion as it is the chief party inter- ested, whilst it is for France to grant it active support. If -the French government, on its part, were to take the initiative, it would run the danger of going-be- yond the interests of the allies.in this or that direction. On the wholé, Poincare added the thing was, that if Russia makes war, France would also go to war, as we know that in t this question Germany is bebind. i | Austria. 3 . Paris, November 18. In view: ot the importance of the question I considered # my duty, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, ‘te read to M. Poincare my telegram No. 369 (quoted above—Ed.), the wording of which he fully approv- ed. Of course he told me that in a definite case where the casus foe~ deris stipulated in the alliance arose, ie, in the eyent of Germany giving armed support to Austria against Russia, France would come to the aid of Russia. * (TO BE CONTINUED) © * f) § { ( The Growing War Menace a By LABOR RESEARCH ASSN. (The Communist Party plat- ferm definitely declares against all imperialist war, pointing out ; that along with the offensive at home, this is the capital'st way out of the crisis and aimed di- rectly against the Soviet Union and the struggling Chinese Peo- ple. ‘August 1st is Anti-War day, when millions of workers thru- out the world will demonstrate against war.) the “foreign editor of the Scripps-Howard newspapers re- cently stated that Europe is in greater danger of war today than she has been since 1914, he was only echoing the opinion of almost every one in a position to know the facts. War not only threatens in Europe; it is “on” in the Far East Here are some of the facts and factors which indicate the rapidly growing danger of war embracing the entire, world: The further military occupation of Manchuria by Japanese impe- rialism on the pretext of “suppress- sing banditry” with the massing of trcops and armed White . Russians on the borders of the Soviet Union is the primary indication of the in+ creasing danger. ‘The chauvinistic press of Japan is not only predicting but calling for the attack. PREPARING FOR IMMEDIATE WAR In her preparations for the at- tack, Japanese imperialism is al- ready joined by certain French and British interests. At the same time, France ai her allies, Roumania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, on the western borders, to invade the So- viet Union from the west as soon as Japan begins the attack in the East. Arms are being moved in large quantities from Europe to the Japanese war front, and extensive air bases and forts are being built by the Japanese in Mancburia.:In the month of May alone, France re- ceived orders from Japan for-war - material to the value of 24,000,000 francs. Between November and April, the British Board of Trade issued licenses to British firms: to export 10,000,000 cartridges and many miachine guns to Japan. At the same time, we find a greater acceptance of the notion that may be the “solution” of the capitalist economic crisis. Writ- ers for the press become more open in stating this doctrine. “Should the present economic stress be prolong- ed,” says a writer in Current His- tory, “a state of mind may evolve which regards war as a welcome re- lief.” And General William Mitch- ell, writing in Liberty, says, “Many nations think that at this time a foreign war would do them a great deal more good than domestic in- surrection and revolution brought on by political, social, and economic upheaval.” And the confidential ‘Whaley-Eaton Service adds: “Many diplomats bluntly say that the sit- uation (in Europe) can be cleaned up only by another war.” The utter failure of all disarma- ment moves at the World Disarma- ment Conference and the fact that the capitalist nations are spending more today then ever in history for Preparations for slaughter, is an- other clear sign of the increasing danger. While the League of Na- tions turns down the concrete pro- posals for securing complete or even partial disarmament put for- ward by Litvinoff of the Soviet Union, the capitalist powers con- tinue to increase their naval and military budget from year to year, and maneuver for better positions in the armament race. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS— AN INSTRUMENT OF WAT And while all the capitalist na- tions prepare feverishly for battle, arms are shipped from France, England and Czechoslovakia to Ja- pan; with the U, S. sending ship- loads of nitrates to Japan. The League of Nations is nothing more than an instrument of war prepara-_ tions designed to hide the plottings and bloc-makings of the imperialist 1 powers as they prepare for war among themselves for recamasten of the imperialiss er" ef as they. r= © ganize for joint assault on the So- viet Union. All the developments in Europe, including the recent setting up of the von Papen government in Gere many, indicate the groping for a “military understanding” which 2 would facilitate the initiation, witht ‘ French help, of a still more open i anti-Russian policy. “There is j Berlin talk,” says the Whaley-Ea- ton Service, “of a Franco-German war against Russia, to be waged once the latter is engaged on her eastern fronts by Japan.” Von Pae pen himself expressed himself seve eral times in favor of an agreement between Germany, France, and Po- land against the Soviet Union, Last February, he said that such an agreement “must come about having regard to the fight bests Bolshevism.” . "The imperialist dictators of Cen- tral Europe, who carry on their plotting against the Soviet Union, do everything possible to hamper those who fight war. They thus ade mit the reality of the menace, When, for example, the Polish gove ernment of dictator Pilsudski ree cently arrested 78 persons who. t signed an appeal for peace in cons / nection with the preparations the International Congress ‘ War. Similer repression of antle militarists take piace in other coune 4 tries, against this congress called by Romain Rolland, Henri Barbusse and others to meet in Geneva, At the same time, hostility to the } Soviet Union is being fanned the reactionarics in every capil ist country; and efforts made. to, have Britain, for example, bteak ff” diplomatic relations with the. Vp