The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 13, 1932, Page 4

DAILY Dail Yorker Centro : Party US.A Published by the Compredaily Publishing Co., Ine., dally axexapt Sunday, at 00 18th &t., New York City N. ¥. Telephons ALcomquin 4-795¢, Owble “DAIWORE.” Address and mall ehecks te the Dally Worker, 50 KE. 18th St, New York, M. ¥. SUBSCRIPTION By mail everywhere: One year, $6; six months Borough of Manhattan and Bronz, New York six months, $4.50, Canada, $8 per year; RATES: $3) two months, ity. Foreign: one year, 98; 75 _conts per month. No Illusions--Widen the Fight for Scottsboro Boys HE STRUGGLE for the lives of the nine innocent Negro Soys in the death house at Kilby prison, Montgomery, Alabama, has reached a most crucial phase. The forces of reaction are prepared for a titanic struggle around this issue. The presence of the armed forces of the state around the Capitol on day the case was reviewed evidence of their w. i io utilize brute force to crush the th our boys. ero a it VC er The driving force of pathizers led by and action the immediate talist justice d front of reaction and iss. The courts, the armed forces of the Kiux Klan Shirt bands, the America ion of Labor Socialist Party, the dvancement of Colored ‘delicate and sensitive tion, People, Negro reformi souls” of the Daugh , the working class must ted front for defense from Against this or: dx immediately develop the broade below. e of these boys has been of the Scottsboro case is From the standpoint of conclusively established But infinitely deeper than tt HE struggle for the lives of the S system of national opr sion of the Negro by Scottsboro. boys challenges the whole sses which is symbolized s moment of egro masses and white workers American working class as a of ruling class terror against moyement. of system ‘The deeping cri the merging of these struggles with the str as part and parcel of the struggles of the whole, has brought about an intensification the Negro masses in an effort to smash this tenance part s, the risi libe the Supreme Court The hoary headed too's of the ruling class upo bench are fully conscicvs of these tremendous cal involved. ‘The bosses will res 0 all sorts of maneuvers in order to smash this movement and to di the ma in their vigilance. of the political e and imparti- r to the success Any underestimation of the tremendous importani issue involved at this moment, to rely upon ality” of the Supreme Court, is frought with great dange of the entire struggle of the American working class. A survey of past decisions of the Supreme Court give undeniable proof of its role as a capitalist weapon against the working class as a whole and particularly against the Negro ma It ruled that the child labor amendment to the constitution of the U. S. is “unconstitutional”. That is, the children of the working class must be desiroyed in mines and factories, to create profits for the bo: The Supreme Court ruled in the Coronado coal strike case, that min- ers can be sued for damages to property of the employers during strikes. ‘This decision was a blow struck at union organization and strike strug- gles. The Supreme Court helped to pull the switch in the murder of Sacco and Vanzetti. In spite of the evidence of the complete innocence of these two framed men, the judges refused to hear an appeal. What, then, is the chance that mere evidence of innocence in the Scottsboro case will make the Supreme Court judges grant a new trial, which may serve to intensify the fight for their freedom. The Supreme Court has‘ announced that not for a month can any decision be expected. That is, the court does not dare to speak out be- fore elections are over. (0, the U. S. Supreme Court is itself part and parcel of the white bosses’ lynch law decision. It is m “dignified” than the court at Scottsboro; it is more “learned”; it is more “formal”. But no less than the Scottsboro Court is it a court of lynch law. still the same court that handed down the infamous Dr ion of slavery days. It is against workers and especiall: It has behind it long years of anti neclass traditions. It can be made to take the boys out of the clutches of the Southern Bourbons only by mass pressure. The fate of Scottsboro and the Ss war prisoners, Mooney, Berkman, ‘Tampa Tobacco workers, and others rests in the mighty hand of labor. For a stronger, united front of struggle, for continued and wider agita- tion, mass meetings, demonstrations! For a united front to include so- cialist and A. F. L. worker. Forward to the great struggle for National liberation of the Negroes, for the fight to smash capitalist reaction. Diego Rivera--Doak’s New Recruit Five thousand Mexicans on welfare rolls of Michigan cities are to be returned to their homeland under a plan worked out by Diego Rivera, Mexican artist, who is doing murals at the Institute of Arts. —Detroit dispatch to the N. Y. Evening Post, Oct. 10. pir ea) “S)ETURNED to their homeland” sounds much better than “deportation” but this artistic euphemism cannot disguise the fact that Diego Rivera, the artist who is above” politics” has enlisted in the Doak drive against his working class countrymen, Throughout the entire Southwest of the United States, Mexican workers are being herded and driven across the line like cattle. Far from protesting, Rivera now aids in this process, ‘The renegade, colleague of the Lovestone renegade group, who de- serted the Communist Party of Mexico and the workers and peasants at a time when they faced murderous attacks by Wall Street's Mexican fascist dictatorship, and joined the government which was butchering them, is being well rewarded by American imperialism. He is idolized by socialists and liberals. Like a jackal he follows the class battlefronts in the United States where lie in prisons or in graves the victims of the capitalist attacks, . * * TN CALIFORNIA which holds Mooney and the Imperial Valley orga- nizers in its dungeons, and where his own worker countrymen are treated like the scum of the earth, Rivera did murals for the Chamber of Commerce. In Ford’s Detroit, where the earth is still fresh on the Sraves of four workers murdered by Ford’s gunmen, Rivera does murals for the Institute of Arts. In New York, Rivera fs to do the murals in Rockefeller’s Radio City. Here he will be able to make the connection between the American and Mexican workers massacred by Rockefeller in Ludlow, Colorado, and New York workers like Steve Katovis, Gonzales, Levy and others, murdered by ‘he police in unemployment demonstrations, This renegade Rivera, now aiding the despicable Doak, must be ex- posed throughout the two Americas. He is a living symbol of the cor- ruption which characterizes American imperialist rule in the colonial end semi-colonial countries, and bears testimony to the miserable role which the renegades from Communism play in helping the capitalist ‘tacks under the guise of relieving the conditi sof the workers, rn PARTY LIFE Weaknesses inCampaign in Ill. District By JACK KLING HE election struggles must be considered part of all our activi- ties. It cannot be considered as a separate campaign by itself. We activities, in the shops, the unemployed, with an ¢ tion to the workers why they should support the Communist Party in the election campaign. ‘This has among plana- been said since the begin’ of the Election struggle. But it has not become a reality in our work. | pool | Such a task would be very simple. | stand the need for crystallizing | and determination. | throughout the field are condemn- In Chicago we have quite a num- ber of examples, ny of which can no doubt be for n the other districts. The Young Cor nist L organized a Scottsboro demo tion before the office of Osc Priest. This demonstration was connected up with immediate relief for the young work From 7,000 to 8,000 workers nered at the | demonstration and courageously fought the police who attacked them. Following this event we worked out a detailed plan our section committee of the South Side. The workers in the neigh- borhood were aroused and very sympathetic towards our move- ment, The Republ and Demo- cratic politicians will make tem) to penetrate among workers. MUST PICK COMMITTE We must elect committees of comrades and go from house to house in a number of blocks, to the rooms, candy stores and wherever the young workers gather, and organize these young workers into a “Boost Foster and Ford Club” and “Support Newton Clubs.” Such clubs can be used to rally the youth to support our Party in the election campaign and build the | ¥. C. L, Our comrades agreed. the But we failed to carry this out. Why? Our comrades have a “dem- onstration” approach _ towards struggles. 2. They did not u the influence of the League into organizational results, and through this popularize the election strug- gle and our candidates. aoe C8 1S this example exceptional? NO! must, therefore, connect up all our | Vy Uaedaaabes We have another, even more glaring, example, the coal fields. Here not only the League, but also the Party, is responsible. We saw in Southern Illinois tens of thousands of miners on strike | against a wage-cut, at the same time fighting against the mislead- ership of the United Mine Work of America. The struggle here is | an example of heroism, militancy The miners ing both the Republican and the Democratic Parties as parties of the bosses, and saying they must sup- port a workers’ party, MISSED OPPORTUNITIES We have on our Party ticket a miner from Springfield running for | Lieut. Governor of Illinois. Cer- tainly this should have given us a good opportunity to bring our Party forward and win the confidence of | the miners. Of course, this we could not do mechanically. We would have to explain just why the National Guard are in the field and how the Republican governor | sent them to shoot down the miners, that there is no difference between the Republicans anq the Democrats and the Socialists by showing them how, under Mayor Cermak, unemployed workers are | shot in Chicago under his demo- cratic administration when they fight for relief; how Judge Horner, democratic candidate for governor in Illinois, came to Southern Illi- nois during the mine struggle and had not one word to say about the killing of the miners; how in Mil- waukee, under socialist administra- tion, the workers are clubbed, beaten ‘and jailed. Then we could show the role of Comrade Hershy, a miner who is a candidate of our Party in Illinois. io cae . FNSTEAD when we ask some Party comrades in the field, “now that the workers condemn the Repub- lican and Democratic Parties what do you think the miners will do?” They answer, “They will support the Socialist. Party, because they have already gone through the Democratic and Republican. Par- ties. But they have not yet gone through the Socialist Party. After they pass through the Socialist Party they will support the Com- munist Party.” Many workers still support the Socialist Party, but not as some of our comrades maintain because of the “stepping stage” that the work- | ers must pass through, This | “theory” is 100 per cent incorrect. It_is only because we have not sufficiently exposed the Socialist Party to the workers. There are hundreds of examples of daily be- trayals of the Socialist Party which | can be cited to the workers. There are many examples in Milwaukee, Reading, Pa., and elsewhere, MUST LEARN—AND MOVE FORWARD! The events in Southern Tllinols show us that if we would have un- derstood the basic quection of “Each and every stru’> of the workers must be close’ ’ linked up with the | Election struggle,” the Young Com- munist League would have been able to rally tens of thousands of youth to support the Communist Party in the election campaign, In the remaining few weeks we must understand these basic weak- nessés and learn from them. We must popularize the slogan “Popu- larize the election campaign in every struggle that takes place.” Stop the billion-dollar subsidies to the trusts and banks, Immeiate unemployment insurance at the ex- pense of the government and em- 5 CS er ae | Win LOak, GeiUNosAL, CCivou | CAPITALIST “PROGRESS” To etanainonmsnnaginey Oklahoma farmers hitch horses to their automobiles because of no money with which to buy gasoline. —News Item, Mr. Norman Thomas--‘A Noted Orator, Charming Gentleman’ The Bosses of the South Greet Him As Their Own By C. A. HATHAWAY. ‘HE once-militant Party of Gene Debs, for years hated and cursed throughout the United States, its leaders jailed, is now welcomed by “our nicest people,” both in the North and South. The “personality” and “ability” of Norman Thomas is generally given as the reason for this changed attitude of the ruling class toward the Socialist Party. But when the Southern bourbons open their arms to Norman Thomas and heap praise on the Party which he represents, it is time to examine the real reasons. But first let us set forth some facts. HOOVER MAN IS THOMAS CHAIRMAN Norman Thomas is to speak in Memphis, Tennessee, on Oct. 18. According to the Memphis news- papers, one Herbert Harper has “kindly consented” to act as chair- man at Mr. Thomas’ meeting. Now who is Herbert Harper? Well, again according to the local papers, Herbert Harper is an ex-U. S. Dis- trict Attorney, a staunch supporter of the Republican Party of Her- bert Hoover. Furthermore, this same Mr. Harper is now campaign- ing in Michigan and other states for Mr. Hoover, This Republican, Mr. Harper, a native of Tennessee, a former U. S. District Attorney in Memphis, has “kindly consented” to ‘sponsor the “socialist” meeting of Mr. Norman Thomas in Mem- phis on Oct. 18. The Republican Party sponsors Socialist Party meetings! Gene Debs will surely turn over in his grave. And rank and file follow- ers of the Socialist Party will surely ask pointed questions as to such a course! * 8 HY do republicans sponsor “so- cialist” meetings? Well, partly because they are using Norman Thomas as a stalking horse to drag votes away from Roosevelt. That is one factor which helps to ex- plain the great popularity of Thomas in the capitalist news- papers, with the broadcasting com- panies, ete, Certainly it plays con- siderable part in the direct spon- sorship of Thomas's meetings by Republican politicians sufficiently high up in Party circles to be used nationally in the republican cam- paign. DEMOCRATS, TOO, BACK THOMAS But that does not explain all. Thomas is also boosted by the Democrats. ‘The attention given his campaign by such a powerful dem- ocratic organ as the New York Times and its auxiliary publications like Current History is proof of that, In the South all Democratic papers are playing up Thomas. Articles appear daily; pictures of ‘Thomas in all poses appear with the same regularity as do pictures of Roosevelt. Hoover's pictures are not popular in the South. Roosevelt and, _ significantly, Thomas alone regularly make the Southern democratic newspapers. em) Re how do they write of jon Shanghai territory, but much Thomas? ‘The: owipa. eA | See ME example taken from the Memphis morning paper of Oct. 5: “Whether William Z. Foster, who is running for President with a Negro (the paper’s small “n"—C.AH.) colleague seeking the Vice-Presidency will speak here .. . was not definitely known last night.... “Norman Thomas, the Social- ist candidate, is regarded as the foremost thinker in radicalism in America and is a noted orator and a charming gentleman. “He was educated at Bucknell and Princeton and entered Union Theological Seminary and served for awhile as assistant pastor of Doctor Henry Van Dyke at the famous Brick Church in New York. He entered socialism after Jong service as a church settle- ment worker in Harlem in New York.” I have quoted at length, not only to show the endearing manner in which they boost Thomas, but. particularly the manner in which they use Thomas to off-set the Communists. Here was supposedly a news item relative to Foster's meeting in Memphis. This “news item” is transformed into an edi- torial eulogy for Thomas. SLUR NEGRO WORKERS Between the first and second paragraphs ‘of the above quotation —the omission is indicated by the three dots—this paper would make Worker in U.S.S.R. Gets Two Months’) Rest With Full Pay) The following letter was sent by an American worker from Voronhezh, in the Soviet Union, where he is now working: Voronezh, U.S.S.R. Dear Comrade: I have just returned from my va- cation, which lasted two months. My own case is an illustration of how conditions are in the Soviet Union. On the 6th of May the health com- mission of this city decided that I must take a vacation. The 9th of that very same month I was in a beautiful rest home in the pine woods some 150 miles from here. Upon leaving, two thirds of my month's pay was given ime, plus railroad fare there and back. After the first month I received the other third. The second month I also received full pay. This is how the workers are being cared for in the land where they are the bosses—M, Alexander, 1 CALL FOR POGROMS Renaissance, the Russian White Guard paper in Paris, openly calls for “preventive action” (that is pog- roms) against the “Communist dail- jes of Europe, 'Humanite, Die Rote Fahne and Rude Prayo,” as the first step in effective armed intervention of the Soviet Union. It preaches the necessity of Japan's declaring war upon the Soviet Union, demanding “the liquidation of the Bolsheviks throughout Siberia.” It concludes: “The fight against the boycott of Japanese goods must be fought not it appear that there is “little dif- ference between the Communist and Socialist platforms.” They also refer, in the most vile, slave- market manner, to what they term the “inky portrait” of Comrade James W. Ford, and to Foster and “his thick-lipped negro running mate from Alabama.” Norman Thomas is a “charming gentleman” to these Southern lynch advocates because on the Negro question, so vital to the Southern bosses, his stand is no different from theirs. They know very well the statement of Norman, Thomas's protege, Heywood Broun: “If I were a candidate fcx high, or judiciary office, I would say, even without being correred, that I would not now sanction the efforts to enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States.” ay a ‘HIS statement, accepted by the Southern bosses as a Party state- ment, is a passport for Norman Thomas into the South. This is a guarantee that their profit system, based chiefly on the brutal ex- ploitation and persecution of the Negro people, is safe, not only in the hands of Roosevelt and Hoover, but in the hands of Norman Thomas as well. “EXCEPT ON NEGRO QUESTION” At the same time they boost ‘Thomas as “a noted orator and a charming gentleman,” they also herald his “radicalism” and try to make it appear that there is “little difference between the Communist and Socialist platforms”—except on the Negro question. Those South- ern workers who are now turning to the fight for Socialism under the leadership of the Communist Party can get it without associat- ing themselves with the “back- ward” and “inferior” Negroes! Norman Thomas, the “charming gentleman,” will lead them to a “lily-white socialism”! Oh, how easily Norman Thomas and _ his Southern Republican - Democratic allies would brush aside the his- toric declaration of the founder of Socialist theory, Karl Marx: “Labor in a white skin cannot emancipate itself so long as labor in a black skin is branded.” The Southern “socialists,” as, for example, Arlie Barker, one of the Socialist Party congressional can- didates in Tennessee, even pose as real “lefi socialists.” They are for the Communist position, revolu- tion and all, except that they are against equality for the Negroes. ‘The Communists they insist, do not know how inferior the Ne- groes really are! THOMAS—ACCEPTED BY CAPITALIST CLASS On this question, as on all ques- tions, the hypocrisy of the Social- ist Party is shown. It also shows why Norman Thomas is accepted by the capitalist class in the North and South alike. The Socialist Party ts plainly no longer the working class party of Gene Dabs. It is the party of the middle class, symbolized by the entleman,” Mr, Nor= | ~ | industry | The World ~ As Seen | (Continued From Yesterday.) ‘That under capitalism there is no hope for the masses to find a way out of poverty and want is admitted, under the pressure of in- contestable facts, by even the so- cial democracy which continues to form the main social pillar of the bourgeoisie. The social democrats are forced to demand of the present governments the “nationalization” of the most important branches of (Germany, Poland, Bel- gium, etc.). The Communist ex- pose the fact that such a “national- ization” ‘would mean renewed and severer oppression and enslavement of the toiling mas: and that the first and decisive question confront- ing the working class in the quest- tion of the conquest of state power. | MUST DEFEND DAY—TO DAY | STRUGGLE OF MASSES; DECISIVE IMPORTANCE OF | UNITED FRONT Precis for the reason that the Communist insists on the question of the dictatorship of the proleta- riat as the one decisive question, therefore, all their practical en- deavours are directed towards win- ning over the majority of the de- cisive ‘ata of the proletariat by the initiation of economic struggles for the defense of wages, for unem- ployed assistance, and for all the small daily demands of the masses. It is solely by means of the do- fense of the day to day demands of the masses that the social demo- crats and trade union bureatcrats can be exposed, and it is solely by means of the united front tactics that the masses can be led forward from the economic struggle to the political mass strike and to the general strike. It is precisely for the reason that the Communists place the question of the dictator- ship of the proletariat so decisively and determinedly in the forground that they must now devote their maximum attention to winning Situation by ‘Pravda’ over allies, for those who forget the possible allies of the proletariat in the revolution do not take the question of the dictatorship of the proletariat seriously. MUST BUILD TRADE UNION MOVEMENT, INTENSIFY WORK IN SHOPS 78) for the major e strata of the proletariat signifies the necessity of an all-round consolidation of all mass organizations, above all’ the strenghtening of the revolutionary trade union movement and its whole organizational system, and the intensification of work in the reformist trade unions. Otherwise it is impossible to win over the majority of the workers for the Communist Party, and to isolate the reformist leaders and the so- cial democrats. The majority of the working class can only be won over for revolu- tion by means of persevering work, only in the struggle for class in- terests of the proletariat. The Communist Party o f Germany has created the. basis for its election success by its ability to lead the strike struggles of a number of factories, and to resist successfuly the terrorist actions of the fascists. The ability of the C. P. of Poland to lead the working masses in their struggle against the capitalists, and - against fascist state power, has been the sole means enabling it to make a tremendous advance to- wards securing allies among the masses of the peasantry. And in Czechoslovakia the C. P. has won over the sympathies of broad masses of the reformist and unor- ganized workers solely by the fact that it undertook the leadership of the miners’ struggle. Solely the struggle of the proletariat can draw over to its side those broad strata of the petty bourgeoisie now suffering from the crisis. Forced Labor for 14 Cents A Day in Jamestown, N.Y. By JOHN VAN JAMESTOWN, N. Y¥.—If anyone not have forced labor, let him come the government at forced labor, or he can go to the Poor Department and work at forced labor, only the bars are missing. A family here gets the lousy sum of 14c (approximately) a day, per person. Does the Poor Department, realizing that the work- er is unemployed througlt the insan- ity of capitalism, give him this? No, it is given to him because the city knows that it will get $2 in work from the worker for every dollar it gives him. After waiting in line for many |hours, the worker gets in to see the | head faker of the Poor Department, Mr. Johnson. There he is pedigreed, much like a criminal, and carefully investigated, If he owns property, he \gets no relief. Many people own homes, but are unemployed, and can not sell their homes, yet the simple |fact that they are burdened with a | taxable home is sufficient reason for them to starve. If they have a radio, they get no relief. Many workers scrimped and scraped enough to buy a home, and now, being unemployed |through no fault of their own, they \will lose their homes for non-pay- ment of taxes. Graft System If the worker is found absolutely | destitute, that is, without owning |property, a home, or anything, he is | given a food bill, the princely sum of 14c per person. This food bill | can only be brought to certain stores jin town, If the stores charge more than other groceries, the worker must ferent, Only here it is not called forced labor, but Poor Relief. If a worker is unemployed and is starving, and is unlucky enough to be married, he can do one of two things, the bars, where he must work for¢-— imagines that the United States does to Jamestown, and he will know dif- He can steal, and be put behind stores no doubt are getting graft in this way. The worker gets no tobacco or candy. The city figures that work- ers’ children are not entitled to candy, nor the workers to tobacco, Only the barest necessities of life are allowed. No meats, as they are afraid that if the workers eat meat they will become ferocious and go on strike. They are trying to turn the workers into vegetarians, al~ though the bosses wouldn't think of sitting down to their meal without pork chops and chicken, In exchange for this magnificent food bill, a worker is forced to work on construction jobs, city work, and anything that the city tells him to do. The city makes sure that it gets its pound of flesh, If a man is un- accustomed to heavy labor, is physic- ally unfit, or ill, it maies no differ- ence, he must work at forced labor, or he is out of luck. The city also pays the worker's gas bill (although he must not burn too much) half of his rent is paid (the other half is expected to be paid by the Lord God, although so far he has not paid it) and no light bills are paid. The city owns the electric light plant, yet the people are asked to use candles. A single worker gets no relief whatsoever, and he is left to starve, until such a time as he organizes all the other unemployed and fore2s the city to give him relief. When the workers organize, employed and unemployed, married and single, Ne- deal. there just the same. These By J.P. (Concluded from yesterday) The number of new members re- eruited during the last three months have increased tremend- ously, Instead of increasing, re- cruiting during this period not only decreased but in most of the dis- tricts fell below the normal re- cruiting. The Chicago district re- cruited one miner from Southern Illinois during the period of three months of intensive strike struggle in this territory. In New York lately we led a number of strikes in the metal industry three of which occurred in the last month or so, Two of these were won, When the third strike was called the unit organizer was there. How many workers joined the Party in the first two strikes? The cam- rade thought he was exercising ) Bolshevist self-criticism by merely admitting his mistake. In the third strike, a little attention was given to recruiting and three of the hest fighters joined the Party in spite of the fact that this strike was not victorious, In Paterson, with a few victorious strikes of tex- tile workers in the first two weeks of September, we recruited only one textile worker into the Party, oe 8 oe Ww", could enumerate a num- ber of examples of the same character, The fact is that the majority of all the districts, during the last five months, did gro and white, they can get everys thing which the bosses now enjoy. RECRUITING--CAMPAIGN OR DAILY TASK? in one month during the last ree eruiting drive. af HOW IS IT EXPLAINED \ How it is possible that during the recruiting drive we brought in- to the Party 2,600 workers monthly and after the drive 1,300 or less? Could we explain this with the fact that the workers are not willing to join the Party in the summer, but only in the winter? Is it pose sible that our comrades participate ing in all the struggles, visiting personally such a huge number of workers, could not succeed in get= ting a large number into the Party? We can answer all these question with an emphatic NO. The fact is that we did not try to recruit, into the Party through these acts ivities. We forgot that by recruite ing members during the signature collection we could have made very valuable connections with importe ant, big factories. One district Bue reau discussing the mass work of one section, “forgot” to raise the question, why did the section fore, get to recruit new memberes thru the good mass activities of the secs tion?” The conception that the ree eruiting is enty another campa‘gn, must be changed and changed quickly and radically. Recruiting is a dally task of every Party meme ber everywhere, in the factories, mines,\offices, in strike struggles, unemployed activities, in mass ore ranizations, during signatures cole lections, in meetings. If every memes ber of the Party understands this,