The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 30, 1932, Page 4

Y¥. Telephon the Daily Work SUBSCRIPTION RATE! By mall cverywhere: Ome year, $6; six months, $3: two months, 51; axcopting Borough of Manhattan ané Bronx, New York City. Foreign: enc year, 98; ‘six months, $4.50. Canada, 38 per year: 75 cents per month. A Call from the Fascist Prison Graves REE more names are added to the long list of anti-fas- cist martyrs—Terracini, Li Causi and Pianezza, who died of starvation and torture in the dungeons of Civitavecchia, Italy, during a hunger str against the intolerable, inhu- man conditions prevailing in jail. These three are more than names: they are striking symbols of the Communists’ self-sacrificing devotion to the oppressed and exploited workers and peasants of Italy, who are fighting under the leadership of the illegal Com- munist Party against the regime of misery and rvation and its bloody representative—fascism. Terracini, Li Causi and Pianezza were among the most outstanding leaders of Italy’s Communist Party. As a Cen- tral Committee member, Terrazini played a foremost role in the Party during one of its most trying periods, and drew upon himself the hatred of Italian fascism. He was thrown into jail in 1926, together with Gramsci, the Secretary of the Party, and many others. DAY the jails of Italy are filled with known and unknown members of the Communist Party who are held by fascism as hostages. By subjecting these political prisoners to the most hideous tortures and per- secutions, Mussolini, the chief jailer, hopes to keep their brothers, the workers and peasants, from participating in ever larger numbers in the fight against the fascist dictatorship of capital. But the 200 Communist prisoners on hunger strike in the Civita- vecchia jail are determined to frustrate this sinister maneuver engineered by Mussolini. They fight not only against the mediaeval tortures in- flicted upon them, they fight for the freedom of the Italian toilers to organize and strike against the hunger offensive being carried out by fas- cism—and for the overthrow of the whole bloody system. In this fight they must have the solidarity of all workers. They have won their right to this solidarity. The fate of Terracini, Li Causi and Pianezza is not only an indictment of fascism with its murderous tor- tures and persecutions of the political prisoners regarded as hostages. It is also, and above all, a call to action from the fascist prison graves. * HE murder of these three Communist leaders calls for a wide demon- stration of protest by the workers of the United States. Ti is a warn- ing that unless a wide ugitation for the release of the 200 prisoners of Civitavecchia is carried out at once, others will die at the hands of Mus- soljini’s jailers. The workers of the United States must develop a prompt united ac- ion in protest against these murders and serve notice that the wanton killings of Anti-Fascist workers in the jails of Italy will not be tolerated. This united est action must also be directed against American | m_ whic! supporting Ttalian fascism in its oppression of the yorkers and pe U. S. impe m, which is likewise jail- { ing the most mi ainst the same capitalist system. of m' ncial, moral and political support to Musso press y it eulogizes, through Hoover's “the m« effective way of as nd for the release of all polit- Scottsboro-Mooney Day, a might of our comrades in the Fa: ame time the workers must score cialists the world over who repeat that there is larity between fascism and Bolshevism, These gentlemen nothing in order to minimize and slander the prodigious ity of the fir ‘oletarian State successfully building Socialism, say ism is nothing else but “black bolshevism” and that Bolshevism m of “fascism, simi. The proletarian state of the Sovicts raises the position of the workers PARTY LIFE Warren, O,--- How Not to Concentrate By JOE CHANDLER 'HE strike at the Trumbull works of the Republic Steel Company, where the Cleveland district was concentrating, brought very sharply to light the most sectarian meth- ods now practiced by the League in general, and at the point of concentration in particular. If the League is to carry through its pol- icy of concentration, which is one of the main guarantees for the carrying out of the Y. C. L, letter, it is necessary to ruthlessly expose the mistakes committed in out work at Warren. CONDITION AT THE MILL ‘To illustrate the condition in the mill it will be sufficient to give the following examples: A few years ago, in the hot mill, the rollers, heaters, etc., used to make $100 to $200 per pay (every two weeks). Today they hardly average $30 to $40 per pay. This is true of the highly skilled man. The unskilled, of whom a great number are youth, only make about $10 to $15 per pay. "The speed-up system has reached a point where it is almost impos- sible for the men to stand it. The day of the strike 16 men were taken to the hospital. A few days before the strike it was re- ported three men were overtaken by heat and one died. , WORKERS BEGIN TO FIGHT BACK The A. A. officials have been directly responsible for bringing about these conditions. They have not only accepted six cuts during the last year, including one of 15 per cent on the basic scale, but have been acting as the stool pigeon for the company, exposing the rank and file members who begun to show signs of revolt At this stage the existing branch of the Steel and Metal Workers’ Industrial Union, which, by the way, was mainly made up of fer- eign-born workers, made a break in its work by coming in contact with one of the rank and file A.A. members who fought most mili- tantly against the conditions and policy of the A. A. officials, and from here on the S.M.W.LU. be- gan to grow among the native- born, highly skilled workers. Tt is on the basis of this pro- gram that the men, with the help of the union, began to prepare for a struggle against a new wage- cut that was to come on Sept. 1— as a result of the “sliding scale agreement.” HOW LEAGUE REACTED As usual the Y. C. L. reacted rather slowly. A leading comrade was sent in about June 28 and esti- mated the situation quite correctly, as we can see from his first re- economically, socially, politically, while the dictatorship of capital, whether | masked as a democracy or as an open regime of fascist violence, is ruth- lessly cutting odwn the standard of living of the workers and robbing them | of their rights. in the unceasing struggle for the emancipation of the proletariat and the setting up of a proletarian state, while the socialists are helping the dictatorship of capital to carry through the plans of ever-greater oppres- sion and imperialist war. * 8 ‘The American Communist Party fights in the spirit of the martyred Italian comrades, in the spirit of unflinching struggle against the bloody rule of capital. In this fight the working class must come to its support. Vote and support the Communist Party. Vote Red on Election Day. Letters from Our Readers A GOOD WAY TO FIGHT TERROR Uniontown, Pa. the Florida sweat box in action. But workers should not forget that “Hell’s Highway” is a capitalist Hollywood movie, and so it is full of capitalist Dear Comrades: On August 5th, while I was selling | 70" & the Daily Worker on the street in|!¥iné Propaganda, Uniontown, a state policeman drove; The main lie is that the Governor up alongside of me and ordered me|and the State government are not into his car. He drove me to the/|aware of conditions in these prison country office where he was joined|camps and will change these condi- by two other men. They put the|tions when the facts are known, blinds down, took off their coats,/ Of course the picture says nothiny and threatened to hit me. They kept of the workers imprisoned in these me for two hours spreading terror | death traps for daring to struggle into me. I was told to quit selling the | against the boss class for better con- Daily Worker or go to jail. | ditions, The picture is silent about Some of our comrades suggest that | the 14 tobacco Tampa workers now we elect a committee of three to sell | suffering these very tortures.—T, L. the paper. If they arrest these three we intend to elect five and so on, until they get that damn jail full. 1 I would like to hear from you as|| LETTERS MUST BE SIGNED | oon as possible. If there is any|| We will not publish unsigned | me ee have | | letters, neither can they be ae —S. | |swered individually. We urgently | “HELL'S HIGHWAY” | request all workers writing to esl Workers can see graphic pictures of | | Dally Worker to sign their names) the way convicts are tortured in the | | southern camps in the motion picture | talkie, “Hell's Highway” now running at the Mayfair. They can also see and addresses. We will not pub- lish the name unless they speci- | | fically suggest it. How the Socialists Supported Imperialist War of 1914-18 IN previous issues of the Daily Worker we published excerpts from the speeches of articles by European as well as American leaders of the Second (Socialist) International, in support of-the imperialist war. Today we continue with a statement by J. Ramsay MacDonald, Socialist leader—colleague of Norman Thomas and Hillquit—and at present British Prime Minister. The statement was read to an army recruiting meeting on September 11, 1914. @... QUT we are in it. It will work itself out now. Might and spirit will win, and incalculable political and social consequences will follow upon victory. Victory,—therefore, must be ours. mission is not accomplished “Well, we cannot go back, nor can we turn to the right or to the left. We must go straight through. History will in due time, apportion the praise and the blame, but the young men of the country must, for the moment, settle the immediate issue of victory Let them do it in the spirit of the brave men who have crowned our country with honor in the times that are gone. I want the serious men of the Trade Union, the Brotherhood, and similar movements to face their duty. To such men it is enough to say: ‘England has need of you’; to say it in the right way, They will gather to her aid” England is not played out Her i Terracini and the Italian comrades have given their lives | port of July 30, where he stated “The situation: The union has grown by leaps and bounds; at present there are 678 applications. + « « I might state further that within a few weeks we may wit- ness the beginnings of a strike in this particular area. ... As to the youth, I can state that a good num- ber of them have joined the Union.” IT would seem from this report that the only way we could have been successful in our work was to make the mobilizing of the young steel workers for the struggle our major task, and, with this in view, | proceed to get acquainted with the comrades, both young and adult, have a meeting with some of the leading comrades and ask what can be done and what should be done to mobilize the youth; meet with the young steel workers in meet- ing form or individually, as the* case may be; take up the problem with them, suggest the calling of a larger meeting where demands, methods of work, etc, would be discussed so that we can better mobilize the youth against the com- ing wage-cut. Unfortunately nothing of this sort was done. Firstly, the com- rades started to reorganize the Y. C. L. unit—both the shop and the street units. This is not bad in itself, but it seems not as a means to mobilize the League to help pre- pare the youth for struggle, but rather as an end in itself. This is shown by the fact that while one of the members of the shop unit was quite active in the Union, the comrade did not succeed in reor- ganizing the shop unit. Secondly, the decision of the dis- trict that while the Trumbel Works is the main point of concentra- tion, the other four units in the section should not be entirely ne- glected, was interpreted to mean that, the comrade must be at every meeting of the other unit. As a result a “jumping around” policy began, thus spending very little time in Warren proper. Thirdly, the above factors led our comrades to so-called open activi- ties of the Y.C.L. organizer (speak- ing at meetings, etc.). This fact hindered him from becoming active among the mill workers, both young and adult, not because as some of our comrades think the mill work- ers didn’t want Communists at their meetings, but rather because anyone who speaks in the open as a Communist is immediately “tapped” by the company stools and the government, and in view of the terror that existed the work- ers took precautions not to expose themselves too soon. RESULTS OF ISOLATION Many more factors can be enum~- erated to show the line the com- rades followed in their work, but I believe the above three factors are among the main reasons why the comrades isolated themselves from the whole struggle of the mill workers. It is important to note here that this isolation did not only separate the League forces from the Union organizationally, but even politically. This is a bitter lesson, showing what happens as a result of isola- tion from the daily struggles of the workers in the given place of con- centration, | é JIN RETURN FOR THIS GARMENT | WANT You TO IC AST YOUR VOTE 7 FOR mel; Sa DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1932 “The Greatest Mother in the World.” —By Burck CAREFUL, | BROTHER! THAT GUY OWCE HELPED ME “ ‘The Réd Cross chapters in New York City will receive 700,000 yards of cloth from the Hoover covern- ment, which “volunteer labor” is supposed to turn into clothing for the unemployed. (N. Y. Times) By THEODORE NEUBAUER 'HE bold actions of the Commu- nist Reichstag fraction at the commencement of the sitting of the Reichstag on September 12, has il- luminated like a flash of lightning the political situation in Germany by revealing the class antagonisms and also the differences in the camp of the bourgeoisie. The Papen Government and also all parties, with the exception of the Communists, did not w;:sh this precipitation of the situation, The national socialists (Hitlerites), only two hours previously, when the Communist deputy Torgler gave notice in the Standing Orders Com- mittee of the Reichstag of the in- tended action of the Communist fraction, earnestly warned him against this, because before it could become effective the Government would reply to the motion with the immediate dissolution of the Reich- stag. The social democrats «lso did not wish a sharpening of the situa- tion; they had prepared a motion to postpone the coming into force of the last emergency order until the Reichstag had adopted a final decision. FEAR ANGER OF MASSES But all these parties, from Hit- ler to Wels—although boiling with rage, on account of the Communist action—were nevertheless compelled to refrain from raising any objec- tfon to the motion of the Comi..+ nists. For they did not venture. ont of fear of the anger of the masses, openly to oppose the cancellation of Papen's monstrous emergency decree, This is the expression of the extremely accentuated class antag- onisms in Germany, The national socialists and espe- cially the Centre were in a very awkward dilemma, They had hoped that during the debate on the ex- pected speech of the Reichs Chan- cellor they would find an opportu- nity of inducing the Reichs-Presi- dent to give his consent to a re- formation of the government. The Communist motion thwarted these intentions and maneuvers of the Centre and the national socialists and still further intensified the conflict between these parties and the Government, Pe AME 1 Regt Papen Government itself has been ruthlessly exposed in Ger- many and abroad by the course of events in the Reichstag. They wanted in any case to prevent a vote being taken which was bound to show that they had nothing be- hind them in Parliament but the small party of the German nation- alists numbering 32 out of over 600 deputies. It will be of little’ use to the Government that they deny the validity of the vote (simultaneously with the motion for the cancella- tion of the emergency order a vote was taken on the Communist vote of no-confidence). Neither in Ger- many nor abroad will anybody bother his head much about these subtle points of law. On the other hand, it will be noted that of the 550 deputies who were present only | 32 voted for the government whilst 513 voted against and 5 abstained from voting. BOURGEOISIE FURIOUS Reichs Chancellor von Papen, three hours after this vote in the Reichstag, saw fit to deliver a speech over the wireless in which he announced that the Government regarded their position as unshaken and that they would continue their policy with a firm hand. But the verely shaken in the eyes of the broad masses of the people—a fact which no words, however brave, can conceal. The German bourgeoisie are furi- ous because, as a result of this in- tensification of the political antag- onisms the whole action to revive economy (even if it consists only. in the creation of new illusions) has been brought, to nought right at the commencement. It is to be ex- pected that the captains of industry and bank magnates will give vent to their whole discontent with the national socialist party, whom they hold responsible for this turn of events. But this development of the sit- uation in Germany will also make an exceedingly strong expression abroad. The public abroad must re- cord as an important fact that it was. possible for the Communist Party, by such a bold step to up- set completely all the combinations of the Government and of all other parties. The pessimism with which the international financial bour- geosie view the political develop- ment-in Germany will be increased by the sudden aggravation of the situation, It will be asked: Is it possible to conduct negotiations with this government, which has the whole of the mass of the people so much against it that none of the @ parties ventured, out of fear of the masses, to oppose the Communist motion? CONSEQUENCES NOT FORESEEN It is to be assumed that neither the national socialists nor the Cen- tre nor the social democrats when they gave way in face of the ad- vance of the Communists clearly foresaw the domestic and foreign- political consequences of this devel- opment. The attitude of the nation- al socialist Reichstag President Goehring shows this: after reading the order dissolving the Reichstag (which he declared invalid) he an- nounced a fresh meeting of the Reichstag on the following day. This must be regarded however as an open challenge to the govern- ment. The agenda of this new meeting was to be decided’ at a meeting of the Standing Orders Committee. This meeting of the Standing Orders Committee did not take place because in the meantime the social democracy had adopted the standpoint of the government position of the Government is ‘se- | Why the Dissolution of the German Reichstag Communist Party Scored Big Success in Mov that the dissolution of the Reich- stag was legally valid. At a meeting of the party leaders convened later, however, the national socialist Reichstag president climbed down by declaring he would not summon the Reichstag before the legal ques- tion had been decided. It is highly probable that the national social- ists, under the pressure of the capi- talists who finance them, will do everything to heal the breach with the Papen Cabinet. Will the Cabinet prescribe new elections? In reply to this question the Reichs Minister for the Interior von Gayl stated at a press recep- tion that the elections would only take place if law and order pre- vail, Thus observation of the provi- sions of the Constitution is made dependent on certain conditions! In his wireless speech the Reichs Chancellor announced a reform of the Constitution, including a rais- ing of the voting age and an altera- tion of the relations between the Reich and Prussia. Mn tits IT looks therefore as if Papen had not yet given up hope of being able to force the Hitler party to accept a compromise. The Reichs Chancellor has again given to un- derstand that he recognizes the “great services” rendered by Hitler in having restored to honor the na- tional idea and that he will con- tinue along this path. Great as the annoyance of the Government at the behavior of the national social~ ists may be, the Cabinet does not wish yet to break irrevocably with the Hitler party, The social democracy (socialists) has again played a downright de- spicable role, At first it adopted the standpoint of the Government in regard to the dissolution. It has now commenced a new maneuver in order to divert the working masses from the extra-Parliamentary fight against wage reductions: it has pro- claimed a referendum, which shall bring about the cancellation of Pa- , Pen’s emergency decree by “demo- cratic means”. As it would take at least six months to carry out the referendum, and as during this time the emergency orders would remain in forcé, it means that the German bourgeoisie would be sup- ported by the social democratic party in crushing the working class. COMMUNISTS SCORE SUCCESS The Communist Party has scored a big success with its motion in the Reichstag. It has frustrated the maneuvers of the Centre and of the “national socialists, just as it has thwarted the intentions of the Pa- pen Cabinet. It has thereby clearly placed before the working masses the question of the extra-Parlia- mentary fight. [t is true, that the Communist Party of Germany will now have to reckon with the sharp- est measures of oppression on the part of the government, but this will not prevent its penetration into the masses, | i | | | } THE THE STRUGGLES ON THE SOUTH SIDE NEGRO REDS OF CHICAGO By MICHA EL GOLD. SYNOPSIS In previous instalments plot hatched by Oscar DePriest, with realty sharks and N.A.A. Michael Gold related how the murder Yegro landlord and politician, together . lawyers, resulted in the killing of three Negro workers, when thousands massed to fight an eviction on the South Side of Chicago. The mass resentment “.d the eviction’ swept the entire neighborhood beh’ on daily by the Unemployed Council the workers for their “Comrade Part; . INSTALMENT 3. HERE was the funeral of an old Negro woman. She had died of hunger; the doctor's certificate called it “malnutrition.” The councils arranged a mass funeral; they rented a large lot for such services, The great procession | marched through the streets, carry- | ing hundreds of, banners and slogans telling the story, Ah, from all the sidewalks and tene- ment .windows, what groans, wails, what shrieks of pity and anger! A race was lamenting; this mourning was real: these workers knew what the funeral said: they knew they might be next to die of— “Malnutrition,” ue . S, yes, all the revolutionary slogans that well-fed liberals sneer at as cliches, the South Side takes to its heart. They are life. “Fight Against Bunger” is a literal command, it has helped to many victories, ‘The Negroes were once ph; slaves to the white man; they also made into mental slaves. chains of a slave religion were fas- tened on their minds; it proved their worst handicap to freedom. But on the south side the old Slavish spirituals are being re- written by a new race, The dvep yearning that once turned to a mythical heaven for freedom, now fights for a real and wonderful future on this earth, “THAT NEW COMMUNIST SPRIT” “Gimme That-Old Time Religion, it’s good enough for me,” they used to sing at their prayer mecting: Now I heard them sing it fervently The “Gimme that new Communist spirit Gimme that new Communist spirit, Gimme that new Communist spirit, It’s good enough for me. “It was good for Comrade Lenin, And it’s good enough for me. “It's against the labor fakers And it’s good enough for me, “It has built the Soviet Union, And it’s good enough for me, “It'll free the world of sorrow, And it’s good enough for me . (and so on, dozens of verses) Many such new songs and sin- gers. At mass meetings their reli- gious past becomes transmuted into a Communist present. They follow every word of the speaker with real emotion; they encourage him, as at a prayer. meeting with cries, of “Yes, yes, comrade” and often there is an involuntary and heartfelt “Amen!” Ts Chicago politicians are al- armed by this local revolution, Many of them, in speaking to the Negro workers, practice a demagogy worthy of a Milwaukee Socialist. Pork-jowled pimps and bootleggers sometimes come to the forums and begin their harangues with the, | hi against t murder fights being carried He also has told of the spirit of * shed real blood in defence of Ne- gro workers, gave Lightfoot a new vision of the question. | HE IS - ARRESTED He read, studied, argued, ne wrestled with his own mind, Dur- ‘ing this transition period, he hap- pened, by acciders to be arrested in one of the egtction fights He was beaten, stripped, thrown into a dark unheated small stone cell on bread and water. When I got out of there, the cell house, foul damp and with no MICHAEL GOLD ~ n, ar sanitation, looked like heave ii like that rotten on grub chicken dinne! He personally knew the capitalist liticians who were prosecuting In the very prison they came to him, and offered him his re- lease and a good job if he would a surrender his new ideas. He toid them to go to hell, He was given the maximum sentence in the Bridewell, that anciet hell of stone and hate, . HEN he came out he joined the Com:iunist Party. He has been an active force ever since. Here is sode out of his new life of Struggle: ‘The workers’ children in the Ray- mond Public School were starving, Many fainted daily of hunger in fh ¥ % o ( the classrooms, The nearby Onem: ~ ployed Council decided to organize a demonstration. Oct. 13, last, some 500 children of the ages of five to ten, assembled before the Council, intending to parade before the United Charities at 45th and Prai- rie, with banners demanding food and clothing. At 45th and Michigan three po- lice cars drove up; the cops rushed at the children, cursing, punching, s] ning their clubs into young frail bodies. (Yes, cops do such things, Lightfoot, and nine others, seven Negro and two white com- rades, were arrested and herded into the Bull Pen, a room packed with 75 other prisoners, the result of raids on gambling dives and speakeasies, Here they were held for three days without being Brown Squire, Negro Communist described by Michael Goid in his story, shown with his children (all Pioneers) at his home on the South- side of Chicago. These and other photos illustrating the story taken by Chicago Film and Photo League. salutation, “Comrades!” The work- ers laugh at them. They hooted and laughed down Big Bili Thomp- son, ex-gangster mayor of Chicago when he came to Washington Park, and pulled this new “Comrade” gag It’s hard to fool them any more. It’s not all blind emotionalism with them; they read, study, think. They have built up the best unemploy- ment movement in America, a model to the white comrades, in the sweat of their own minds and bodies, They have developed their own leaders. TYPICAL BIOGRAPHIES Of the hundreds of leaders Jet me give three typical biographies: Claude Lightfoot, a brilliant youth of 21 developed as a speaker at Washington Park forum. He was a Garveyite, and American patriot, and won a large following among the young Negro workers. Democratic and Repubtican poli- ticians came to him and offered him hundred dollar a week jobs, to campaign for them, But he was honest, the questions fired at him by Communist hecklers made him think. 3 The work of the unemployment councils interested him. The fact that white workers fought and booked. “But we kept up a wonderful spirit during that time, singing the old revolutionary songs all through the nights, and improvising new ones.” A DRAMATIC TRIAL There was a dramatic trial, The state shrewdly designatéq a Negro assistant on the State’s Attorney staff as prosecutor. “There will be bloodshed on our streets this win-* ter,” he orated, “if these Moscow agitators are not locked in the | Bridewell.” q Albert Goldman, the fearless at- torney for the International Labor Defense, made a most moving reply. “Yes, there will be bloodshed, unless economic conditions change, unless the naked are clothed, the hungry fed, and police do not stop beating in the heads of men who are only asking the right to live.” The Judge handed out the maxi- mum sentence. Lightfood had no more than been taken from the, court of capitalist justice when Lieutenant Barker of the Chicago police ene tered his cell, offering him again his freedom if he would «return te the fold. TO BE CONTINUED A a~ “mrmmnem.