The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 10, 1933, Page 1

fo haiomas | Inflation and A Drastic Production Fall "HE downward plunge of the economic crisis in the United States that * within the past ten days has brought the reeling financial structure down to collapse, was the signal for intensifying all along the line the flerce drive egainst the toiling masses. The ne all Street hunger and war cabinet of Roosevelt has invoked the 1917 “trading with the enemy act,” @ war measure, to justify this higher offensive against the working class. The closing of the banks, the declaration of a “state of emergency,” was accompanied by the drastic curtailing of production in all industry with the result that preduction generally hit a new low level this weck. Steel production has fallen to from 15 to 16 per cent of capacity from the approximately 20 per cent near the close of February. ccording to the Journal of Commerce “further recession is on the way.” Automobile Production has sunk again. The tire industry is approaching new lows. General Tire and Rubber is suspended; Goodyear is on a two day basis with curtailed staffs; Firestone is on a three-day basis. Lead and zinc production is approaching a standstill. Car loadings will show a sharp decline this week. Farmers are hard hit because their produce shipped on consignment rots at the terminals—hence the farmers will bear the loss. Oil fields in Oklehoma are closed down by order of the governor; all other fields have drastically curtailed production. Coal production rapidly sinks. Every industry, without exception, shows sharp declines. On top of this terrific increase in the army of unemployed, there is occurring a price rise, with food-stuffs taking the lead. Already the dollar has begun to sink in value because it is quite certain that the gold back~ ing for the dollar is at this moment lower than in any post-war period. ee The Washington correspondent of the New Yor E writes “at this moment some inflation exis! ly an early stage of infla- .” The pen valet, Walter Lippman, in column in the Tribune, a@ few days ago hailed this financial catastrophe as “a good crisi: tries to evade the term inflation by talking about : “managed curren: which shall be resorted to “with a view to causing a rise in prices.” ‘That the proposals of the Roosevelt secretary of the treasury, William H. Woodin, to start the printing presses at Washington turning out a new issue of currency to the tune of some two billion dollars, without having real gold backing are “essentially the same thing as guaranteed clearing house certificates and rests upon the same logic” is admitted by yester- day's Wall Street Journal. This new issue of currency is under the Glass-Steagal act and is based upon “liquid $ of a group of banks, the identity of which has not been revealed. This means issuing currency upon a shrinking gold basis, and is nothing other than inflation. is i to emphasize this terrific attack upon ing masses. If the capitalists and their government have their way we are entering upon a stage of the most frifihtful and devastating hunger, misery and general destitution this country has ever witnessed. The fight to beat back this offensive is a fight for life for the work- ers, the farmers, the ex-soldiers and the new strata of the population that has over-night been crushed down into the ranks of the starving millions. To carry out effectively this fight there must be at once an increase in the nation-wide campaign for immediate emergency unemployed re- lief, for unemployment insurance, for emergency relief to the impoverished farmers, for the payment of the soldiers’ bonus, for payir 2t in full of ne small depositors who are impoverished by the bank crash. The point as been reached where conditions today cry out not merely for resist- mce to the capitalist offensive—but this fight against the Wall Street bandit gang must be raised to such a stage that we can turn the de- fensive struggle into a counter-offensive to compel the capitalist class and the government not’ merely to stop this drive but to compel them to come acro:s with the means of life for the masses, They All Agree HE capitalis class finds it necessary to convince the workers that in- flation is a blessing for them. Who else could do it better for the capitalists than Mr. Green, than Mr. Norman Thomas? Norman Thomas is really one of the first pioneers in the fight for inflation. A year ago he tried to convince the workers that inflation would improve their conditions. Only a few months ago in the January 21st issue of the New Leader. Thomas wrote: “Far better than yoluntary piece-meal inflation, under which scrip facilitates the primitive method of barter, would be the CON- TROLLED INFLATION (our emphasis) provided by the Socialist plan for granting each unemployed worker a maintenance wage with which to buy why , he most needs.” (Our emphasis.) To bes are te retain his mask as Jeader of the workers, he calls it “controlled inflation.” But even Mr. Roosevelt and the capitalist press, inorder ¢o fool the workers as to the danger of inflation, also speak of @ controlled iwfiation and “controlled currency.” 7 § Mr. Green delivered yesterday a speech at the New York Board of | rade. In that speech we find Mr. Green in full accord, meturally, with e basic ideas expressed by the socialist, Norman Thomas. md: “There must be an increase in wages and commodity prices before unemployment can be overcome.” Here Green openly favors a rise in commodity prices. In other words he favors inflation which instantly raises first of all the prices of the first necessities of the workers. Of course in order to appear as a labor leader he treacherously speaks in the same breath of an “increase in wages” and a “rise in commodity prices.” It is a well established fact hat whenever currency is inflated the rise in wages always lags far behind the rise in commodity prices. Even if there could be an increase in wages, the rise in prices would immediately wipe it out. Isn't it clear that in order to fight this new and fiercer attack of the bosses on the standard of living of the masses, it is necessary to fight their agents in the ranks of the working class? Isn’t it clear that if the working class is not to surrender to this attack of the Roosevelt admin- istration it must rid itself of the agents of the bosses, the Norman Thom- ases and the Greens? The Press and Banking Crisis Te nation-wide banking crisis has once more revealed in fashion the role of the capitalist press. Up till the last minute these mouthpieces of the bosses were busy nying that a bank “holiday” would be declared. Now they are con- ‘flee the barrage of lies and evasions to prepare the ground for the striking ‘w Wall Street hunger drive. They are hiding the fact that plans are uh foot to swindle millions of workers, farmers, small business and pro- fessional people out of a large part of their deposits. They are hiding the fact that the inflationary measures now being put through by the Roosevelt government at the dictation of the bankers will sharply raise the cost of living and result in sweeping wage- and relief-cuts for the overwhelining majority of the population. The banking crists has also brought sharply to the foreground the role of the workers’ press. The Daily Worker is the only daily paper in English that from the very beginning of the “holiday” epidemic exposed the swindle plans of the bankers and called for organized struggle to protect the deposits and living standards of the masses of this coun- try. ‘The Daily Worker has been compelled to carry on this work under the handicap of a daily bitter struggle for its own existence. The cam~ paign to raise a $35,000 fund to save ihe “Daily” was made necessary by an acute financial situation that was threatening to crush if. The Communist Party and every worker has reason to feel proud that de- spite the terrific impoverishment of the masses, nearly $17,000 has been raised in the campaign so far. Yet we must point out that this is far from the sum needed to meet the immediate pressing needs of the paper. The sharp drop in con- tributions during recent days and the banking crisis, which has made it impossible for. the “Daily” to cash about $1,000 received in checks, makes necessary drastic measures to keep the Daily Worker alive. The National Daily Worker Tag Days this Saturday and Sunday, Merch 11 and 1%, must make up for the deficiencies so far. This is a political task, not rymply 2 money-raising proposition. The Tag Days will be successful only if the Party apparatus in every \Astrict throws its full energies into putting them over. They will be dkccessful only if every sympathetic organization rallies its membership for active participation. ‘They will be successful only if every reader of the “Daily” sets aside Saturday and Sunday’ for house-to-house can- vassing and street collections to save his fighting paper. The emergency is very great. Now more than ever is the leadership of the Daily Worker needed. Let us put all our efforts into raising thousands of dollars for the “Daily” on Saturday and Sunday, Negro Workers Refuse To Scab at “Mission” YORK.—Six Negro iasoe| oO brought to-the Jane Street y” mission to do forced labor in jince of paid relief workers, refused to work after they were approached by the House Committee. This soli- darity of these workers is a spur to ‘ne general demonstration of marine April Ist, of the mission by March 15, tk Tribune, Mark Sulli- | .” Sullivan also points | Mr. Green | workers in New York on March 29, against the hunger decree of the Haight Comm'ittee to stop relief on Fifteen men were taken off relief by Captain Page at the Jane Street mission as a chailenge to the workers there. Tomorrow's Daily will report what action took place last night as these seamen signified their inten- tion not to meekly submit. Page is trying to stagger all the 200 men out f } 1-Demand Your Full Wages in Old Currency Values; 2-For Raise in Pay and Jobless | Aid, Against Food Price Rise; 3-Small Depositors Demand Repayment at Full Value Dail Central ——s (Section of the Communist International) Vol. X, No. 59 -gp> Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at New York, N. ¥., vider the Act of March 8, 1879. NEW YORK, FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1933 orker Orford the-OS inunist Party U.S.A. CITY EDITION Price 3 ‘Cents ONLY BY SUCCESSFUL TAG DAYS CAN “DAILY” APPEAR MONDAY! To All Readers and Friends of the Daily Worker: W E do not want to supend tie Daily Worker. Now when the capitalist crisis has plunged to new depths, when the Wall Street bankers, through their government at Washington, are planning a new onslaught on the living standards of the masses, it would be criminal to allow the “Daily” to go under. Receipts in the financial drive have dropped disas- trously—ony $155 Wednesday and $268 yesterday. ele The banking crisis has struck a serious blow at the ‘Daily’: about $1,200 received in checks cannot be cashed. Not enough funds are on hand to pay for paper, press work, composition, etc., and the people we owe this money to refuse to wait any longer. Readers and friends, the situation is so critical that we do not know whether there will be any Daily Worker Monday. £ O assure the appearance of the “Daily” on Monday and the following days, the National Daily Worker Tag Days tomorrow and Sunday must-be made an overwhelming suc- CONGRESS PLANS: HUNGER DRIVE Roosevelt Demogogy As Cover WASHINGTON, March 9.—Con- | gress opened at noon today with an address of President Roosevelt to both houses, which is a definite call to action for carrying out the fierc- est attacks against the toiling masses. With his customary demagogy, Roosevelt, in his message tries, to make the people believe that the action of the government in helping the big bankers and owners of in- dustry impose greater burdens upon the workers and farmers and im- poverished masses generally — are Forewarned of Roosevelt’s plan- ned attack on the toilers the ‘for- gotten men’ of the U. S. demon- strated against hunger on inaugur- ation day. Photo shows section of the 40,000 in New York. measures for their benefit. Becomes Banking Dictator. ‘There is no doubt that the puppets of Wall Streets who make up the congress and senate will approve without question the proposals of Roosevelt, the most outstanding of which is to give the executive full power over the banks, Inflation Will Be Rushed. Roosevelt proposed ainendments to the federal reserve act to enable inflation of the cturrency. He des- cribes this as providing “such ad- ditional currency, adequately secured, as it may become necessary to issue.” This will result in immediate in- crease in prices that have already begun to soar and will force on to hunger rations additional millions of men, women and children. ANOTHER BONUS MARCH PLANNED WASHINGTON, March 9.—Vet- erans throughout the country will join in another bonus march to Washington, to converge in the capi- tol on May 12. Announcement of plans for the new march has just been made by the Veterans National Liaison Committee, the rank and file body elected by the last bonus march- ers’ conference, held December 8. The Liaison Committee announced that the march was decided on after 250,000 veterans had been consulted directly and many more thousands indirectly. The overwhelming senti- ment of these veterans was for the cess. The Tag Days must make up for the slowing down of the drive. We appeal to every reader to get out on the streets to- morrow and Sunday for intensive collections for the Daily Worker. We appeal to every sympathetic organization to rally its membership for the Tag Days. We appeal to the Communist Party leadership in eve- ry district to throw all its forces into the Tag Day collections and mobilize the widest possible participation, Funds are needed at once to enable the “Daily” to ap- pear Monday. Bring collected money immediately or speed money orders to the Daily Worker, 50 E. 13th St.. New York City. EMERGENCY COMMITTEE OF CENTRAL COMMITTEE TO SAVE THE DAILY WORKER. Received Yesterday $268.54 Robert Minor William Weiner Cc. A. Hathaway Total to Date $17,043.45 New Masses of Workers Are Laid Off As Food — POLICE ASSAULT Prices Rise in Big Inflation Drive of Bankers) TOILERS HIT BY FOOD PRICE RISE Workers “Must Fight. New Attacks NEW YORK, March 9.—With tn- flation certain as a result of the new currency policy of the U. S. Treasury, the cost of living is showing an irreg- ular but definite upward tendency, Added to this is the deliberate effort of the produce and food cpmpanies to withhold foodstuffs from the mar- ket for the purpose of creating a food shortage and an excuse for price boosting. ‘The fact that currency has been bottled up in the banks and that masses of workers have received their pay in checks which they have been unable to cash or have received no pay at all, has temporarily delayed IB UNE (Continued from page one) phe Join prices by noting that normal wholesale prices Int New York @e one pound by While most. of the capitalist press is trying to suppress the above fact the above headline in the N. Y. Herald Tribune lets the cat ont of the bag. the inevitable sharp rise in food prices, yet the immediate necessaries of life, such as meat, butter, vege- tables and fruits moved higher yes- terday in the retail and wholesale markets, Coffee sugar and tea have risen in price in many sections of the city in the past few days, and wholesalers predict a general price advance. Wholesale canners are not quoting nrices on canned goods, expecting to zouge the working masses for all they can as soon as money is released. Unemployed workers living on the starvation doles of the relief agen- cies, as well as employed workers, will find their food supplies dwindling each week as the attacks of the gov- ernment and the bosses on their liv- ing standards increase. The march will be organized around the following chief demands: (1) im- mediate payment of the balance due on the adjusted compensation certif- icates (bonus); (2) no cuts in dis- ability compensation or allowances; (3) inunediate remedial relief for un~ isk Forcing Peeple Holding Gold to Turn It Ove | to the Bankers Wall St. Gov’t of Roosevelt Using Mailed Fist On Bankers’ Victims Zz ic] = od So i] a = 3 a — 2 iE L & = & > 2 > eo 7 ¢ 2 3 ment will turn out a special issue of not less than two billion dollars in new currency, backed by so-called liquid deposits, | which means further inflation going on for several weeks. rising, while industry is throwing additional masses of workers out of jobs. The situation demands the most drastic action on the part of all the unemployed and part-time workers, the farmers, the impoverished intel- lectual. and the bankrupt depositors to compel the government and the employers to come through with em- ergency relief. Banks Grab Gold. It is announced that since the first of the week the New York Federal Reserve Bank has received from member banks the sum of $35,000,000 in gold and gold certificates. Drastic steps are being taken to force people holding gold or currency to turn it over to the banks. News from Washington that the Federal Reserve Board is compiling lists of those who have withdrawn gold during the past two years and that the government will, under the} “trading with the enemy” act fine those who “hoard gold” is being used to help the bankers get their clutches on more gold. However, they cannot trace such withdrawals and their threats are so much bluff. Statements are issued to the effect Prices of necessaries of life are 7 Canese on top of that which has heen) that these new deposits can be drawn} out at any time, but many with a! few dollars are very wary of such; promises, as they realize that all the government needs to do to help the bankers pillage these depositors is to declare another “holiday” and then start the skin game all over again. More Wall Street “Divorces.” In addition to the action of the National City Bank, until recently headed by the crooked Charles H. Mitchell, in “divorcing” itself from its creature and affiliate, the National City Company, the Chase National,| the biggest bank in America, has “divorced” itself from its security af- filiate, the Chase National Securities Corporation. This action was taken because the Chase National is in > Yr) | admitted in imperialist | French imperialists a new scheme for | about the same fix as the National City. | In a statement, Winthrop W. Al- drich, chainman of the governing | board of Chase National, delivered 2 broadside against smaller banks, | proposing that all of them be put un-| der the federal reserve, with the gov-| ernment responsible for guaranteeing the uninterrupted flow of dividends | to Wall Street and the use of the ithe bankers. | CLOAK JOINT BOARD DELEGATES EXPOSE CHIEFS AT WED. MEETING Cooper Points to Piece Work, Wage Cuts Put Over by Treacheries of I.L.G.W. Leaders NEW YORK.—Left wing delegates of Locals 9 and 1 of the International Ladies Garment Workers made a bitter fight Wednesday in the cloak- makers’ joint board against the treachery and open sell-out carried through by the Joint Board officials, which have reduced the conditions of the workers in the cloak trade to abject slavery. In a powerful speech, Cooper, manager of Local 9, and other delegates exposed the fact that piece work is widespread in the trade, that the wages of the workers have reached a starvation point, that the bosses are merciless in carrying through wage cuts, and that the Joint board imnarsa all the complaints of the workers to the extent that the workers have lost all confidence and no longer regard the joint board as a union. The only activity carried on by the joint board is the collec- tion of dues, thus taking away the last few pennies from the workers for the privilege of working in the shops. He. informed them that the left wing delegates of Local 9 will not activities, that they will expose the | Tole of the officials before the mem~- | bers and mobilize the workers in the cloak trade in struggle against these bureaucrats, who are serving the in- terests of the bosses, and mobilize them for a real struggle for the establishment of week work and union | situations mailed fist against the victims of} be m cover up or keep quiet about these | “DISARM” MEET ‘COLLAPSES AGAIN \MacDonald Runs to) France for “Formula” GENEVA, March 9- It is generally circles here conference is on the point} of collapse, al- though the’ Brit- ish Prime Minis- 3 MacDonald, } Wi is leading a fran- that the “disarmament” inue this colossal swindle of the toiling masses who bear the burden and misery of im~ MacDonald perialist Wars. MacDonald and the British Foreign Minister, Sir John Simon, are re- ported on their way to Paris in an at- tempt to concoct together with the “disarmament. | For some time now, the imperial-! ist powers have found it increasingly | difficult to keep up the swindle, in| view of recent revelations of frantic war preparations by all the imperial- | ist powers and the developing war between Japan and the! United States in the r East and the French and Italian blocs in Europe,| as well as the armed struggle U. S. and British imperialists are waged in through their puppet blocs in South} America, It is stated by League of Nations officials here that no attempt will| > to renew the supposed “ar- maments truce” which expired on| March 1. The “truce” was supposed | | to prevent that very armament race| which has been going on frantically all along. The disarmament proposals of the Soviet Union have been persistently rejected by the imperialist powers. ‘Bedacht, Hathaway, Speakers at Marx Meeting, Sunday | NEW YORK. ax Bedacht, of the | Central Committee of the Commu- | nist Party; C. A. Hathaway, District organizer of the Party, will be the main speakers at the Fiftieth An- niversary Memorial meeting of the death of Karl Marx. The meeting will be Sunday at 7.30 p. m. in St. Nicholas Arena, 66 St. and Columbus Ave. Charles Alexander will be chairman, Marx, the founder of Scientific Socialism, the theory on the basis of | which all successful workers’ revolu- tionary action is founded, has in the Communist Parties of all lands his pupils and successors. The New York | District of the Party asks all workers’ organizations to eagh come in a body to the mass meeting in honor of | Marx FOLTIS-FISCHER PICKET PARADE Club Viciously In Effort To Enforce No-Strike Edict NEW YORK.—With clubs 50 police mounted and on foot bri through a mass picket line in fri of the Foltis-Fischer cafeteria 34th Street at 6 p. 5 yesterday wh all around the cafet were pol cars in which were tear gas machine guns. ‘The workers started m: Seventh Avenue on 34th even before they reac teria they were at y many's uniformed asters who brutally strusk the militant workers and tore up some of their signs. The workers then mobilized on 8th Avenue and 34th Street and again started to march towards the cafe~ teria. The mounted police then charged onto the side walk and tried to run the workers down. The foot police also began to club, singling out those that carried signs Fight Contempt Writ This demonstration was held in protest to the jailing, on trumped up charges, of a number of active strike workers and several patrons of the restaurant who sympathized with the strikers at the tim workers were called out to strike. It was also in protest of the Cotnempt of Court action which as been brought against a number of the union lead- The charge by this ace | tion was taken the d ordered the union to sto) eting the cafeterias which ¢ bankruptcy under the receivership of the Irving Trust Co. This the union refused to do and in consequence many of the union leaders were held in contempt of court This action is of importance not | only to the workers invoved in this | strike, but to the entire labor move- ment. If these contempt proceedings should be carried through and a judgment brought against these union leaders, it will mean that any firm | finding itself in a similar position will be able to put itself in a similar position and thus prevent the work~ | ers from striking and picketing | Sentences | The actions, both civil and criminal, | are being taken against Sam Kram- berg, the strike leader, Jay Rubin, the secretary of the union, Peter Leo, | J. Lerbscher, Aneglo Rares and others. One worker, Fred Burns, was sentenced to six months for disord- erly conduct. His crime was sym< pathizing with the strikers, Jack Cory was given a three month sen- tence on the same charge. J. Klein, L. Doran and other workers involved in the strike were given three month sentences, Fight Goes On A committee has been appointed to organize ® movement against this contempt action. This committee in- cludes Jay Rubin and Sam Kramberg of the Food Workers Industrial Union, A. Overgard of the Trade Bnion Puity Council of Greater M. XS iy 1 d