The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 6, 1932, Page 6

ai Dail Yorker’ Centra Party US.A Published by the Comprodaily Publishing Co., Inc., daily exexept Sunday, at 50 E. 18th St., New York City, N. ¥. Telephone ALgonquin 4-7956. Cable “DAIWOEK.” Address and mail checks to the Dally Worker, 50 E. 13th St., New York, N. ¥. SUBSCRIPTION BATES: By mall everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; Borough of Manhattan and Byonr, The New Hillman ‘Strike’ HE socialist leaders of the needle trades years ago initiated what is known as the “stoppage.” On the surface a stoppage appears to & short time strike against the employers. But on the contrary, it is car- ried through with the full support of the employers, Its main aim is to strengthen the hold of the bureaucrats on the mass and to fill the union trea: ies with plunder for the bureaucrats. This is accomplished by an agreement with the employers that only those receiving working cards from the union officials are admitted to the shops. And to receive such rd, the workers must submit to the fleecing tax of the bureaucrats d upon each worker. This is the internal organizational reason for e. But another and more important aim of the bureaucrats in stoppage is to create the impression that they are leading ” in the interest of the workers. Hillman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of the pioneers in putting forward these “modern” methods of the workers and to accomplish the policies of the bosses, w history in the use of stoppage. Originally Hillman ppage in order to effect new speed-up methods in the He even won the title of “economist” from is service in devising and putting into effect new schemes. Hillman was one of the first to bring the B. & O. ut more production from the workers) into the needle i satisfied with this service to the employers, he introduced for the men’s clothing workers. This was done in the zing the industry, of bringing back prosperity, of keeping the union shops. For this purpose Hillman entered into the open shops in order to prove to the bosses that an h the Amalgamated Clothing Workers is a good business organized stoppages to introduce speed-up her to introduce wage cuts, Hillman has now combined zing stoppages to speed up wage cuts, This is the pur- latest stoppage in New York City. two months, $1; excepting Foreign: ene year, $8; who is oni netime ago when a big general wage cut was put over in the en- Advance” organ of Hillman wrote: “No more wage cuts.” have been many since. This has, of course, created much op- an and his lieutenants. It has also weakened the hold n the revolting membership and consequently greatly re- ncome of the Hillman clique. Now in order to “stabilize the to speed-up the wage cuts so that he can establish with ts vers, better control over the workers. This he opénly stated at the meeting of the executive committee of the Amalagamated and admitted in the columns of the Jewish Daily Forward. The rank and file members that have been suffering the blows of the employers and the Hillman policy are beginning to understand the situ- ation. In Montreal and Toronto, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union has practically been wiped out by the Hillman policy and the workers ee taken up the organization of a new clothing workers’ union. In Rock New York, the Italian workers have already ousted the ad- aders in one of the largest locals. In New York City the d file left opposition is going forward despite the gangster role of te the dismissal of all militant workers from the shop of the Amalgamated officials. But the opposition has not to defeat the latest maneuver of Hillman to cut the wages This is due to. many weaknesses of the oppo- sition a to the fact that it has not yet entrenched itself on the bases of the shop and developed the fight against the attacks ng place day by day on the workers’ standards. be openly stated that the Needle Trades Workers Industrial the Trade Union Unity League as well as the revolutionary movement as a whole have not as yet given sufficient support A.C.W. in their struggle against Hillman. ge must be made the occasion for an intensification of the inst the slave sweat shop conditions being introduced by the ot only with the support, but upon the initiative of Sidney ted front of the workers in the shops, of the rank and e been thrust down to the lowest depths of misery, A militant mass opposition must be developed on the e shop, one capable of taking up the fight directly inside the n must attempt to turn the present stoppage into organize their forces to destfoy the sweat shop con- ne Hillman leadership that is responsible for them. The Convention of the Canadian Workers Unity League convention of the Workers Unity League of Canada led to open in Montreal on August 5th. As we go to press snow yet what action has been taken by the Canadian govern- nh threatened to suppress this convention in the same brutal they did the demonstration of the Workers’ Economic Con- which met in Ottawa on August Ist. lutionary workers of the United States greet the convention anadian trade union movement and are watching the struggles n workers with the greatest feeling of class solidarity. The struggles of the workers of the United States and Canada are closely knit together. The Canadian workers are suffering as their brothers in the United States from mass unemployment, wage cuts and speed up. The Canadian capitalists have been most vicious in suppressing the struggles of the workers. They have broken up unemployed demonstrations, they have, like the coal barons of the United States, used armed force and. struck down in cold blood workers fighting against wage cuts. They have robbed the workers of their political rights and have gone even farther than the reactionary Hoover Wall Street government is suppressing the militant movement. The Communist Party of Canada has been practically ille- galized and its leadership placed behind bars. But despite this terror the struggles of the Canadian workers are going forward and are more and more being headed by the Workers Unity League, (the brother organization of the Trade Union Unity League in the United States), and the Communist Party of Canada. The actions of the Canadian capitalists and their government which ‘was supported by the Canadian Greens and Wolls have so inspired Matthew Woll that he demanded of the government of the United States that the Communist Party here too be suppressed. Workers of the United States must jointly with the Canadian workers develop the fight against the attacks of the bosses, against growing reac- tion and against the lackies of these bosses, the trade union bureaucrats. PRAISES EXPOSURE. Bronx, N. Y. Dear Editor: — Congratulations to Re aa at the research organization, or indi- vidual comrades, who detecteq the| Editorial Comment: Socialist political fraud in the Any‘r- The exposure was made possible ican Freeman. Excellent work, com-| by the vigilance of workers who rades. It is becoming clearer every| sent in the American Freeman and day that the Socialists betray the| enabled the “Daily” to trace the interests of the workers and poor} sougce of the steal. The alertness farmers. Such outrageous tricks a8| of workers with regard to the ac- the one exposed in today’s Daily| tions of the workers enemies and Worker will not mislead the sincere) elose cooperation with the Daily workers if you keep wide awake and| wil] make possible a successful expose them. fight against our foes. Workers, T hope that all workers come to| keep the Daiy fully informed of all realize, as I did recently that an en-! happenings, emy of the Communist Party i @& i enemy of the workers and farmers. w. F. Editors, “Only war brings human energies to their full force, placing the seal of nobility on peopl)e————!” By BURCE MUSSOLINI How the British Workers Stopped Munition Shipments English Longshoremen Preparing to Repeat Historic Act of “Jolly George” Workers By L. MARTIN (Special Correspondent of the Daily Worker) ONDON.—Another “Jolly George” incident may happen here at any time. American transport workers will have to get busy if they don’t want to be left behind by their British brothers in the matter of stopping munitions ship- ments against the Soviet Union. Judging from activities in Lon- don’s dockland (the water front district of the East End), the Brit- ish longshoremen and seamen may soon take action whose effects will be felt around the world. NOT FIRST TIME, It would not be the first time that London dockers (as the long- shoremen are called here) have made history in their defense of the Soviet Union against imperial- 1 ist attack. In 1920—as now—the capitalist powers of the world were ready to jump at the throats of the victo- rious Russian working class. Am- munition was being shipped to the Polish militarists for use against the Soviet Union. The capitalist class of England, France and other countries were carefully watching | their fvorkers—to see how far they | could go with provocation and armed attack on the Soviets with- out provoking mass resistance at home. And it was the longshore- men of “Jolly George” fame who struck a blow that gave pause to every imperialist power. This is how it happened: Muni- tions were being shipped to Poland with the tacit consent of the Brit- ish government. The leaders of the Trades Union Congress (corre- sponding to the A. F. of L. in America) gave no sign of action to prevent these shipments. The im- perialiss war mongers, gaining courage daily at the apparent pass- ivity of the workers, increased the volume of their shipments. “STOP MUNITIONS” The London District. Committee of the Dockers’ Union decide dthat every possible action must be tak- en to stop the transportation of munitions, but the national exec- utive would not endorse their pro- posals. So the rank and file mili- tants of London acted on their own. They scoured the docks to trace every movement of muni- tions. They held regular meetings at the dock gates. They distributed thousands of leaflets and hundreds of Lenin's “Appeal to the Toiling Masses”. They éstablished personal contacts with longshoremen at the docks and at their homes. It was hard work. There were no immediate results. It must often have seemed thankless and hope- less to the comrades. Don’t we know all the difficulties in America? It must have seemed bum-drum work, too, But all the time the ground was being prepared for one of the most effective and dramatic acts of international solidarity. For when a full cargo of muni- tions labeled for Poland were brought to the Jolly George at the East India dock, the longshoremen knew what it was all about and knew what their working class duty was. Not only were they pre- pared by general propaganda, but a careful plan of action had been drawn up. THE STRIKE. First the longshoremen rendered the Jolly George unseaworthy. They put such a list on her as to make it impossible for the seamen to man her, since the latter were under the control of the reformist leaders of the National Union of Seamen and could not be relied upon. Then at an agreed time every longshoreman stopped work. This act was the spark that fired working class sympathy through- out Britain and other countries as well. Fearing it might also fire. the the dynamite of working class re- volt if they persisted in their open aggression against the Soviet Union, the whole British capitalist class was forced to back down. The capitalist press, for instance, after blaring forth the news of the Jolly George, suddenly discovered the “immorality” of supplying mu- nitions against a country with which Britain was not officially at war. The government, it is true, did not surrender so easily. It threat- ened dockers’ union to flood the docks with troops. But it withdrew the threat when informed that every longshoreman on the London waterfront would cease work if troops were sent. The shipowners had to unload the cargo of the Jolly George and agree to ship no more munitions before the longshoremen would work for the company again. The munitions rotted for two years on the waterfront at Greenhithe, in- stead of in the vitals of Russian workers defending their revolution. AGAIN. ACTION IS NEEDED. Today the capitalist powers of the world are again at the point of jumping at the Russian workers’ throats. Japanese imperialism has Letters from New York, N. Y. Dear Comrades:— The August first demonstration al- though very impressive, struck me as poorly organized. The public ad- dress system was not heard at a great distance. As a result the ma- jority of the workers were unable to hear the speakers and formed small groups so that the demonstration soon took the appearance of a picnic with a buzz of conversation in the air. This made the conditions much worse and the orators aside from the main platform could be heard only by small groups. The defect could have been easily remedied if the leaders of the demonstration would have seen the necessity of impressing upon the workers affiliated with the , [left wing organizations to keép order which would have alowed a much greater number of workers unaffili- ated with us to listen to the orators. Then, if going to the expense of get- ting a public address system, why not get a good one which would have permitted the workers all over Union Square not only to watch but also to listen and there were thousands of them standing apart from the demonstration. I would also suggest that we have more placards on the style of “Do not let the Scottsboro Boys die” and where Hoover is pictured as a pirate. They are much more impressive than the small placards and can be seen at a greater distance. Comradely, —M. W. a ae Editorial comment:—The above criticism is justified. If the loud speaker was loud enough, it would have attracted attention and maintained order. At the same time better order conla have been maintained and more discipline established if a workers’ mass de- fense corps would be established in New York. Workers’ defense corps would thus also be adding to the militancy of ‘such demonstrations. Our Readers A mass workers’ defense corps is much needed for defense of dem- onstrations as well as for their dis- ciplining. os 8 8 CHICAGO, Ill. Dear Comrades: Six picnics held in Chicago did not have one copy of the Daily Worker on sale. Three open air meetings in Section 3 did not have one copy of the Daily Worker on sale. Section 3 Election Campaign Committee has not made arrangements as yet for one copy of the Daily Worker to be Sold at meetings. This situation is prevalent through- out all the sections in Chicago, and to @ great extent among the language organizations. These startling facts account for many of our other shortcomings. We still fail to realize the truth of Lenin’s statement that “the Party press is a collective agitator as well as a collective organizer,” A Worker. Editorial Comment: This workers’ criticism shows the undertaking of workers of the im- portance of the press. The party committees in all dis- tricts think last of all of promoting the Daily Worker. This task is as- signed to a Daily Worker agent and he is allowed to shift for himself. Few districts, for example here realized the importance of spread- ing the Daily Worker issues carry- ing the vet fight. The value of the “Daily” as a mass agitator is being ignored, This is sectarianism of the first water. It is time for the District’s organizations, sections and units to back more completely the drive to the Daily.—Editorial. * Why this “horror” at the brutal- ity of Florida prison camps, when the prison camps in every state in the “Black Belt” are equally bad, when the prison camps in all the Southern states surpass the worst the Inquisition was able to invent? already begun the bloody work in China ang Manchuria. Again mu- nitions are being shipped to the spearhead of imperialist attack— Poland yesterday, Japan today. Or rather, now the anti-Soviet front has been widened to the extent that nearly every imperialist power is shipping munitions to some point or other in a world struggle against the victorious Soviets of the’ U.S. S.R. and China and against the re- volting colonial peoples. Once more the London dockers are preparing to do their working class duty. Your correspondent has just returned from a meeting of several hundred dockers in Step- ney, which was addressed by Harry Pollitt, Communist leader. In the chair was the same Fred Thomp- son who, as London organizer of the Dockers’ Union, played a lead- ing part in the stopping of the Jolly George. In the discussion at this and other East End meetings (and there is usually much more dis- cussion at British workers’ meet- ings than at those in America) the rank and file longshoremen and other transport workers showed their alertness to what is going on. In increasing numbers they are realizing that they cannot rely upon the trade union and Labor Party bureaucrats to give them any leag in the fight against war—any more than in the fight to maintain their wages and working condi- tions. The same Ernest Bevin, who as leader of the Transport and Gen- eral Workers’ Union was forced to approve the action of the Jolly George dockers—after the. rank and file had taken action, of course today declares in open meetings that he will not ask the London dockers to stop transporting mu- nitions. FOR A U. S. “JOLLY GEORGE” ACTION. The rank and file of the London transport workers, however, are once more organizing for action on their own—agdainst the labor bu- reaucrats, against the shipowners, against the capitalist authorities. But this time they have the help of a Communist movement which has recently tripled in strength, and the help of a revolutionary opposition movement within the unions which is preaching and or- ganizing independent action by the rank and file of labor. The “Dockland Leader”, publish- ed by the Communist Dock Groups, regularly prints the names and places and dates of sailing of all ships suspected of transporting munitions; thousands of leaflets are beiing distributed; mass meet- ings are held at dock gates and elsewhere; and the Dockers’ Mi - nority Movement is organizing the fight against imperialist war at the same time as it fights wage-cuts, speed-up and layoffs, The militant dockers of London want to know what the American longshoremen and other transport workers are doing to prevent the shipment of munitions. A “Jolly George” incident in the United States would tell the mthe story in the best possible way, The Red Singer Sewing| Machine Plant By MYRA PAGE Our Correspondent in the Soviet Union, I. EACHING the foundry, we find Feodor Trefanov busy with his students. Here eighty young work- ers are being trained as skilled moulders. Feodor moves quickly from one to another, correcting, advising, his hands and eyes eager as the youth questioning him. As he catches sight of us, he runs over, voice booming above the din, “Good! I’ve been expecting you!” Even his gray hair bristles with energy. “In five minutes it will be lunch time and we can spend a good hour together.” The bell sounds. Joking, pulling at their companions, the youth start for the dining room. While Feodor is getting into his top coat and cap, his old friend, Andree Boudnikov comes from another de- partment to join us. Andree can reckon almost as many years at the foundry as Feodor. TWO OF THE OLD GUARD Over bowls of steaming soup they begin relating their stories. “So you want to hear what it was like when your American capitalist, Singer, ran the workrs? And how we workers took over the plant? Between then and now, much has happened! Well, it was this way—’ This plant was built by Singer, we learn, in 1901. In its early years i temployed about 1,200 workers, expanding by the time of the world. war to a force of 4,000. Feodor, al- ready a skilled metallist, came to the plant’s foundry to work in 1906. He had left Petersburg, after the defeat of the 1905 revolution, and the reaction had set in. Bringing with him his wife and seven chil- dren, his family lived crowded to- gether in a small, one room hut across the bridge, on the outskirts of the small town. Dixon, Singer's Manager, was importing many peasants from the village as a source of “cheap, pliant labor”, and conditions were very hard. “But we couldn’t say a word,” Feo- dor explained, “all that Dixon al- lowed was work, and more work.” Among the. peasants brought in was Andree, a seasonal worker from Nizhni Novgorod. He was put to shovelling up the sand and cleaning up the foundry, working eleven and twelve hours a night for the paltry sum of one rouble and thirty kopecks (65 cents). The day shift was supposed to work ten plant quite trué4oform! Dixon in Podolsk might~heve-been Ford in Detroit. . = The SingerssCompany received much attention=f¥6m the Moscow governor. Spéciai-wickel and silver sewing machine“tiddels were man- ufactred and=giVéli-to him and to local czarist Officials, “with, com- pliments of thé Company”, and the customary,- more~-substantial gitts, followed, although: not so openly. On his part;"Dixon could «never complain of=the=political, as well as the poli¢emaid™he received in support of “His. policies. TECHNICAL, PROCESS KEPT SECRET. a Dixon followed another delibere ate policy, long praetited by Amere ican, British:and other imperialists in operating their foreign owned factories... Ptocesses of production were kepta@s secret as possible, while essential parts of the mae chines, such as bobbins, needles, and small parts were not manuface tured in: Russia at all, but import ed from America. This not only hindered competition from envious Russian manufacturers, but later on, when the*-workers took over production it-caused them no small trouble. But Feodor-and the Party were not sleeping» Andree did not bee come active until-later. In spite of reactionary terror, following the 1905 revolution, they. succeeded in organizing over ‘five hundred work- ers in study circles, with active, il- legal groups’ in the Singer and other factoriés, int Heighboring vil- lages, and.in-the one local hospital. There had: been’ many strikes and demonstrations during. the days. of upheaval,;~and the workers made desperate’ by hunger and opprés< sion, and supported by the villag- ers, had-attempted to seize the Singer atid-all local factories, but the governor’s- Cossacks had prove en the stronger. FEODOR TURNS AGITATOR Feodor, being -an exceptionally good worker,won-great prestige among his fellows. They would often come to’ see“how he worked, and so he made-frieénds and won their confidence, ‘The company watched hiny at every step. Al- though he had ‘studied little at this time and was ndt actually a mem- ber of the Patty, he tnderstood, as he expressed it, that “It was all going toward revolution,” and he was busy winning others. ‘Unions and all revolutionary organizations were illegal. Prices of food were very high, so some workers, in- cluding Feodor’ organized a small Andree Boudnikov, who has worked for 26 years in the Podolsk sewing machine factory, first’ under Singers man Dixon, and now working to build Socialism. He asks that American workers, espe- cially those who work for Singer, write to hit; and-he will answer. Address your Jetler to: Andree Boudnikov, Foufidry Dept. First State Mec! Machine Foundry, Podolsk, U. S..S. R. hours, but frequent over-time, es- pecially. in the foundry, often stretcheq the day even longer. Dixon was a shrewd business man, who served Singer's interests quite well. Utilizing the latest methods for speeding up labor and increasing its output he kept wag- es at a minimum, and so profits soared. While his spies were ac- tive among the workers, seeking for “agitators”, and even those who dared utter the slightest complaint, Dixon endeavored to establish himself in the eyes of his employ- ees as a benefactor, by much ¢is- play. of small favors and by giving premiums at Christmas and Ea- ster. SILVER SEY/ING MACHINES. Deliberately he set about build- ing up a small labor aristocracy from among the foremen and skill- ed workers, and making them de- pendent on the firm’s favor. To them he made loans of a thousand or fifteen thousand roubles, for them to build houses. For, as he said openly, “If you want to make men conservative, give them some- thing to conserve.” These loans he rarely asked back, but used them for pressure, keeping his foremen indebted and fithful to the «om- pany. The majonity of the workers he scornfully ignored. For them not one house was built, ‘hey verz left to find huts like Feedor or rent “corners” of rooms, like An- drce and his family, and to worty over making ends meet, the best they could. So, in the depth of old Russia cooperative store Local merchants ridiculed them,“‘How is it possible for workmen to” trade?” But the cooperative “succeeded and through it many workers: were brought into the movement. Then a grédt-experience came to Feodor. In1907-8the State Duma held its elections,::and the czarist government,-frighténéd by recent events, and™ hoping to pacify the workers, "armounced that this Duma would in¢lyde Workers’ represen- tatives. Feodor was one of the delegates"sent by his factory to the Moscow Yégion’s conference where sixteen €léétérs were to be chosen, who would-take part in the final choice of: the=workers’ Duma rep= resentatives: “~~ A leaflet was given out, giving a program end lst of the sixteen electors for_whorm to vote. Feodor’s name was among the list! “When the Party askédme to run,” he tells us, “my-teart began to bet On the one Nand; T was being pul forward, on thé’ other: side; it tig mean going to exile.or prison. But since thé. Patty wanted me, I felt I must do'it. And all sixteen of us ofthat. list were eléctéd. That's the: kind ‘of organization we had! ““two were later elected to the Duma. One of them, .Kobarov,;came to Podolsk to see - Feodor, bringing Party documents. These "Feodor read and burned, transfertifig-their message by word . of mouth t6"the others. There was a big mesting in the woods, one night, Witli'Kobarov, which the “police tended and “it oper 1 j dit’E“locate.. Andree ate