The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 27, 1933, Page 3

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, MARCH 27, 1933 ee Page ‘Three “Down With the Fascist Reaction and Terror Against the Working Class!” “Organize the United and Militant Front of the Whole Working Class!” ““Workers of the World Unite Against O » PULLMAN INC. PAYS ITS DIVIDENDS AFTER SLASH 4 epee IN WAGES AND LAYOFFS Pays Out of Accumulated Profits Although Crisis Forced Operation at a Loss Can Continue This for 7 Years Yet; Firm Has Pullman, Inc.—a_ holding | Record of Savage Exploitation concern for the Pullman Co., the Pullman Car and Manufacturing Co. and other industries— declared a dividend of $11,460,540 for 1932, the holding com- pany made this payment from its surplus (the accumulated profit of previous years), because this year it suffered a loss from carrier and manufactur- ing operations of $5,294,000. The Pullm concerns are in the operation sleeping and dihing cars and in the manufacture of cars and equip- ment. This is the same concern that called out the federal troops in 1894 hen its workers struck under the ship of Bugene V. Debs. This year's losses were ascribed by David A. Crawford, president, to the un- paralleled contradiction in passenger travel to the level of 1900 and to the practical suspension of manufacturing operations in American plants. Drastic Lay-offs, Wage-Cuts Crawford declared that for the first time in nearly two thirds of a century the Pullman carrier business was operated at a loss in spite of drastic retrenchments (lay-offs and wage-cuts). These losses, however, didn’t pre- of vent the Pullman companies from paying dividends because they had forewarned themselves against just such an emergency as the present by piling up a surplus of excess profits of $112,565,684. Pullman, Inc., can still continue paying dividends at the present rate for six or seven years even though all operations of the companies be at a standstill. The balance sheet, of course, makes no provision for Pullman Co. em- ployees thrown out of work by the depression. Cut Wages, Not Dividends. Instead of cutting into the divi- dends paid to its stockholders, the Pullman company has preferred to place the burden of the depression on its workers. The Pullman Com- pany has laid off hundreds of work- ers and cut the wages of those re- maining, in spite of the fact that it was their work that created this sur- plus in the Pullman treasury. ONE-FIFTH 1287 FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS, OF TOTAL, CLOSED The Federal Reserve announces that 1287 of its member banks are still shut, not having received licenses to reopen As there are 5,945 banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System this means that more than 20 percent of the banks in it are in such poor shape that they may never reopen or at best be “reorganized” in such fashion as to wipe out the small depositors. oe The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank | not stood up any better during the reports in addition that 278 non- member banks are still closed. It is interesting to note that the Federal Reserve System Banks have depression than the other banks al- though at the time of their creation, in 1913,-they were declared panic and depression-proof. MOONEY’S MOTHER HANKS WORKERS Tells of Aid to Son By U.S.S.R. Labor SAN FRANCISCO, March 26.—‘I want to thank the workers aj! over the world who have been demanding a new trial for Tom,” declared Mary Mooney, the 84-year-old mother of the labor prisoner when informed that efforts to win a second trial for her son had succeeded. “I returned not long ago from a tour of the United States, Europe and the Soviet Union for my boy Tom,” she said. “When I saw how all those workers and friends of lobor were fighting for Tom I felt that soon some action would have to be taken for him. “After Tom is tried and acquitted, I know it ought to be impossible for 200 SHOE WORKERS STRIKE DERRY, N. H., March 26.—Two hundred shoe workers employed by the Holland Bros. Shoe Co. and West- ern Slippers Co. went on strike for the demand of an increase in wages. 4,000 TANNERS STRIKE LYNN, Mass., March 26.—Five more tanneries are on strike. Four tan- neries in Peabody and one in Dan- vers. The strike, which started in Lynn and Salem, now involves about 4,000 workers. them to keep on holding him in jail.” Mrs. Mooney recently returned from @ tour of Europe and the Soviet Union following scores of Mooney- Scottsboro meetings which she ad- dressed thruout the United States. Richard B. Moore, who dealt especi- ally with the Scottsboro frame-up, accompanied her on the American tour which was arranged by the In- ternational Labor Defense. What They Call a “Fair Trial” “The boys had a fair trial. it necessary to protect them. They will have 2 fair trial. —Statement by Attorney General Thomas E. Knight, Jr., of Alabama, I will call oat the entire militia of the state Negro Press Columnist in Moving Appeal for the Scottsboro Boys ATLANTA, Ga—“Do not let the blood of nine lads be on your hands. If the fight should be lost for lack of funds, the State of Alabama will not be one-half as guilty as you or I.” That is the statement of the col- umnist writing, “Items in Review,” which appears in a score of Negro newspapers throughout the South, in devoting his entire space for one is- sue to an appeal for funds for the International Labor Defense to carry on its fight to save the lives of the boys. “Dear Readers,” the column begins. “Previous to this time you have never seen any touch of the personal in this column. Its editor has just been an individual, any individual; its con- tents have been to no one in par- ticular, to everyone in general, But this is being written under the stress 20,000 PROTEST GERMAN FASCISM (CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE) Whitehall and South Sts. from where the march on the consulate started at 11:30 am, The air was full of placards denouncing Nazi atrocities against the Jewish people and the brutal attacks upon the revolution- ary worker-leaders and demanding the release of all arrested political prisoners. Sea of Fists In front of the consulate later, the arrival of thousands of workers swelled the numbers to over 20,000 A surging sea of fists made the building officials drop the steel shut- ters on the side entrances. The lobby was full of cops. The windows of the second floor were filled with men in kahki uniforms, who had machine guns trained on the crowd. It was not possible to determine if these men were soldiers. Mounted police tried to push the demonstrators into the square on) the far side of the building. They | failed due to the militant spirit of the workers who surged around the speakers’ stand. Dety Police After the delegation, representing 24 workers’ organizations, returned to the demonstration and reported that the consul had spoken to them The United Youth Conference Against Fascism. called on the initia- tive of the Rand School Student As- sociation, has encountered opposition from the City Executive Committee of the Young Peoples Socialist League. At the meeting, March 11, of the United Front Committee, a member of the Y. P. S. L. city com- mittee refused to support the work of the conference on the ground that the city committee had not been “officially informed” of the confer- ence and was in no position to accept participation without considering the entire stand of the United Youth Conference, ‘That this attitude of the leadership of the Y. P. 8S. L. is only camouflage to wreck the efforts at unity, is clear- ly exposed by the following commu- nication addressed to the United Youth Conference meeting, at its Sunday session, March 12, by a dele- ate from the Washington Heishts ranch of the Y. P. S. L. who had articipated in all of the problems cing the Conference, In_ obedience to instructions issued vesterday by the executive i of the Young Peonle’s resign from this United Front Com- mittee. “T want to thank the United Front Committee for permitting me to participate in what I am con- vinced is a sincere effort to pre- pare for a United Front Anti- Fascist Demonstration.” There can be no misconception of che desire of the ¥Y P. S. L. top lead- srship to prevent the United Front action of young workers and stu- jents. If this were otherwise, wh; jid not the leadership of the Y. P, approve of the delegate remain- after her explanation of the work action of are, Young Socialist Landers Order A Split in United Fight on Fascism the leaders to bludgeon their mem~- bership into the position of resigning from a United Front Struggle Against Fascism “in obedience to instruc- tions” is a willful attempt to prevent any genuine movement of the Youth to_unite. That the Communists are sincerely opposed to the splitting of the unity of the Struggle Against Fascism is evidenced by their support of a mo- tion to send a statement of the posi- tion of the United Youth Confer- ence Against Fascism to the City Committee of the Y. P. S. L. and . delegation to urge their collabora- ion, No Illusions In supporting this motion they are under no illusions as to the sincerity of the Y. P. S. L. leadership to act in accordance with the wishes of their membership. The leadership has deliberately invented excuses and accusations (such as they were not “officially informed”), and they will maneuver to resist the pressure of their membership. They will utilize any trick to split the unity of the Communist and Socialist workers and students. With this warning and knowledge, we nevertheless support the decision of the conference. Yet, as an independent force, maintaining the right of advocating their own posttion beyond that of the United Front, the Communists call upon the honest young workers in the Y¥. P. 8. L, to successfully defeat the attempts of their leaders to stifle the mounting determination for unity and to repudiate the policies that compel them “in obedience to in- structions” to sacrifice their working- ly | class principles and their duty to the in struggle. The will of the member- ship is for unity! This powerful desire for unity ts apparent when we realize that all kinds of pressure were exerted by the 8. P. and Y. P. 8. L. leaders upon the Rand School delegates to with- draw from the United Front Youth Conference that they themselves called. This pressure expressed itself in an ultimatum issued by the Rand School delegates to the United Front | Committee on March 15. In brief, they demanded that the Communists repudiate their belief that the Social- Democratic leaders are Social-Fas- cists, traitors to the working class of the world. However, the need for immediate action against Fascism forced the delegates to see that our theory of Social-Fascism must not be a block to the mass struggle. They consented to remain in the United Front Conference. In contrast to this action of the sincere workers and students in the Rand School Association, what has been the position of the City Execu- tive of the Y. P. S. L.? At their meeting, Saturday, March 18, a dele- gation from the United Youth Con- ference Against Fascism called upon them to support the work of the Con- ference, and send representatives to the enlarged Conference to be held on Friday, March 24. They, the leadership of the Y. P. S. L., refused to support the United Front Against Fascism. We are compelled to state that from all indications the United Front Call of the Second Interna- tional is but a scrap of paper. In spite of this open refusal to rally its organization behind the work of the United Youth Conference Against. Fascism, the preparations for a dem- onstration on April 1, at 11 a.m., in front of the German Consulate, are ig with determination on the | bound proceedin, part of the initiators of ference. the Con- through a closed door in an evasive manner, the demonstrators roared approval of a motion to march back uptown despite the lack of a permit. Singing and shouting anti-fascist slogans, the marchers started up Broadway. The police tried to stop it and demanded a permit. The workers brushed the police and their cars aside. A seaman in the first ranks told the cops that, “the permit for this march is written on the con- crete under our feet.” The marchers’ ranks were swelled by two or three thousand more as they proceeded back to Union Sq. Swinging off to the west side water- front, they received the approval of dock and harbor workers who swarmed out of the docks and ship- ping offices to watch them, In Union Sq. the ranks broke in orderly fashion, of an émergency, and it is to be de- cidedly personal, a personal letter to YOU from ME. “There is nothing new now about the Scottsboro case. The veriest school child knows all of the sordid details; knows how a hungry, home- less, job seeking bunch of innocent boys, the youngest of them thirteen or fourteen years of age and all of them less than twenty, were taken off a freight train upon which they | were hoboing and clapped into jail! on a charge of raping two prostitutes! whom they had never seen... « “Tt is not my purpose to remind you of these things; you know them as well as I do. What I am doing is presenting to you something that you may not know: That the fate of these innocent children now rests en- tirely with you. The state of Ala- bama has recently done its worst when it sentenced them to death; there is nothing worse now that it can do. It might repeat the sen- | tence, or it may sentence them to life imprisonment, which, if I am any judge of Southern penal methods, means death practically anyway: BUT HOW FAR THE STATE OF ALABAMA MAY GO IS UP TO YOU. “Nine boys—and they might have been your boys—are appealing to all that is human to save them from a horrible death. Don’t let them appeal in vain. “One thing more and I shall have finished. If this case should be lost, Jook out! There are thousands of unjailed miscreants and _ potential murderers like those in Alabama who will be all to eager to serve you or your son like they are trying to serve those boys if they are shown by the results of this case that they can get away with it. If you and J, and the twelve million other Negroes in this country allow those boys to be legally lynched for stealing a ride on freight train, we might all just as well bid goodbye to any sense of safety and security we have ever had. “That is all my good friends. The address is International Labor De~ fense, Room 430, 80 East llth St., New York City, and the time to send it is this minute. Don’t let the ghosts of nine murdered boys haunt you the rest of your life because you were too mean, too self-contented, or too thoughtless to send a dollar or a dime to save them. Goodbye.” FARM BILL PASSAGE IS HELD UP BY CLASH OF CONFLICTING INTERESTS Wallace, Secretary of Passage, at Senate WASHINGTON, March 26,—Insistence on prompt action by forthcoming in passing the administration farm President Roosevelt, it was indicated ing by the Senate Agricultural Committee which heard Henry A. Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture. With opposition to the bill gaining in momentum in the Senate as a result of conflicting interests of. yarious big farm and marketing groups, Wallace made a strenuous de~ fense of the administration measure and declared that “Congress must trust for a solution of the present emergency to the exercise of sound discretion by the Chief Executive and those who carry out his p' ig The Senate Agricultural Commit- tee heard, in addition to Wallace, John A. Simpson, the high-salaried president of the National Farmers’ Union, who objected to the bill on the ground that “it would require a force of 200,000 to administer its provisions.” When the committee re-convenes tomorrow it will hear representatives of millers, packers and other proces- sors. Meanwhile, in an effort to push the bill <hrough the Senate, ad- ministration leaders are discussing a plan to hook onto it as a “rider” a mortgage “re-financing” plan. This is a scheme for a $3,000,000,000 bond issue to aid mortgage-holders and thus protect them from any losses to develop as the movement for outright cancellation of farm in- debtedness grows among the farmers, Agriculture, Insists on Committee Hearing | the Senate | bill will be fe soon from here today, following a lengthy hear- oe — “C.8.” LAW USED TO JAIL FARMER BALDWIN, Mich, March 26.— George Casper, member of the Na- tional Committee of the United Farmers League was yesterday ar- rested and held under $5,000 bail on a charge of criminal syndicalism. His arrest is a direct consequence of his activity in organizing farmers against foreclosure actions and for immediate relief. Casper was a candidate for congress on the Communist ticket in the recent elections. Farmers are mobilizing behind the defense of these men, and are urging that protests demanding their release be rushed to Sheriff Wilkam Bird, sheriff of Newaygo county; Stanley Streeter, prosecuting attorney, White- cloud, Mich, and Attorney-General O'Brien, Lansing, Mich. ‘ ttensive ot Capital and Fascism!” ——~ _____HFROM THE APPEAL OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL 520 DELEGATES TAMMANY OUTLAWS RENT STRIKES: AT UNITED MAY Prepare Biggest May eee : & | NEW YORK—The right of wor Day in New York _| ing ciass tenants of New York clty to any’s Gift to La sistance; I. L. D. : 2 fight against high rents and bad con- History ditions in their houses has been de- aes illegal by the Tammany gov- NEW YORK— | rough Corporation Coun- thirty delegates rep! ganizations were pre ited May Day Conferer at the Manhattan 4th Street. Their were Workers Clubs, Uner Veterans, Women Fraternal and other represented. Among th from the Workmen's Circle and F. of L. locals. The con’ “There is no such thing known to Jaw as a t strike’” announced Hilly, “and it foll that what would be peaceful in labor dis- ites cannot be resorted to in the holly unlawful rent strike.” It would seem from this that Tam- many approves of “lawful labor strikes” but draws a distinction be- called by the Provisional United May| tween “unlawful ‘non-labor’ strikes” Day Committee. | such as rent strikes. This is unvar- Hathaway Speaks nished hypocrisy. Tammany’s clubs The tone of the conference was set | do not sanction any strikes! by C. A, Hathaway, district organizer) of the Communist P; who made the main address. Hathaway poi out the original purpose of May Day back in the 80's for the 8 hour day no longer suffices for today. Steps Toward United Front A spirited discussion followed Fee aeons ‘and. mlitical| 1ord’s Protective Association took the opinion participating. One of the| lead in getting Tammany to put steps suggested by Hathaway to t through this brazen decision that United Fromt was letters to be sent| Says in effect “ the sky is the limit in by the conference to ti | the rents you can charge, we are your mittee of the Socialist imble servants to serve you to this men’s Circle and others invitin: to join the United Front May demonstration. Hathaway pointed} out the past actions of the these organizatiors in pre united front action and said that t conference would have to make tact with the rank and file of t organizations to force their lead bring the organizations in the Un Front, | PRODUCTION IN. Passed For Landlords Hilly has conveniently manufact- ed a law for the landlords of New The direct hand of the land- is evident in this latest move to put an end to the mount- ing fight of the workers against ex- horbitant rentals. The Bronx Land- Harlem in Unity Action to Free Scottsboro Boys NEW YORK—The holding of a se- ¢ of parades, mass meetings and outdoor demonstrations in this city, especii in Harlem, in protest ~) end DOWNWARD DROP | | again: tempts by the Alabama | authorities to railroad the nine guilt- Scottsboro Boys to death was in- NEW YORK, 24.—Every | less branch of production in the United) ied in a program of action adopt- States continues its downward|ed by 130 delegates from Negro and plunge. For the week ended March white organizations at a Scottsboro United Front Conference at St. Lukes 18, steel operations declined from 15 ‘ to 18.5 per cent of capacity. Electric| Hall, Harlem, Friday. Power production declined from the] 4 telegram sent by the Conference Previous week snd is now 10.6 Per! to Governor B. M. Miller, of Alabama, cent below the corresponding week! Gemanded that Negroes be allowed Kise to serve on the jury trying the boys, Automobile production has suf-| fun protection of the boys from fered the most devastating decline} iynch-mobs, change of venue to Bir- cone aes beginning of the crisis,’ mingham, and the release of all nine ig an y level for 17 years “ During the week ended March’ 1eth| Samed Negro: boys, Te reer ot there were only 10,600 units produced} gam Weinstein was also demanded for the whole country. The previous} in resolutions adopted by the dele- week the number of unils produced} gatos. was 18,300. The week before that|/~ * (ended March 4) 33,200 cars left the| assembly lines. The index number de-/} clined from 37 to 33. Farm Production Still Falls. | ‘The Annalist’s February farm pro- duction index shows a fall in | production far below the pre-war] level. With the figure 100 indicating | the average from August, 1909, to| July, 1914, the February figures snow! a decline to 49. The figure for Jai uary was 51, and a year ago it w 60 per cent. In the four years since February, 1929, when it stood at 136 it has fallen 34 per cent. ‘The purchasing power of the farm- er has fallen 46.6 per cent since Feb- Tuary, 1929, and, at 47, is now 53 per cent below the pre-war level. The fascist reign of terror in Ger- many was sharply condemned in a resolution which pointed out that the “Angriff,” chief Hitler organ had op- posed demonstrations in Germany a- gainst the framing of the Scottsboro Boys, and had published statements to the effect that “the boys are un- doubtedly guilty.” Called by the Scottsboro Unity De- fense Committee, the Conference was endorsed by prominent Negro writers and artists, and by large number of Negro and white organizations. Full endorsement of the Scottsboro Tag Day Drive now being conducted by the N, Y. District International Labor Defense was unanimously voted by the Conference. WORKERS ARE PREPARED TO FIGHT ndlords Will Meet Re- to Fight in Court |The landlords are overjoyed. Bloomfield a rent robber member of the Bronx Landlord's Protective As- | sociation expressed himself as fol- |Jows: “I am thankful to the autho- rities, and so is the Association I represent, that the authorities have mbodied in Section 58 of the Penal Law which says ‘ two or more persons conspire to pre- j Vent another from excercising a law- ful trade or calling, or doing any other lawful act, by force threats or intimidation, or by interfering o: | threatening to interfere with tools implement or property belonging to or used by another or with the em- ployment thereof each is guilty of misdemeanor.” The “lawful act” in this case is the robber nts charged and the evic- ion of unemployed. The unlawful act is to fight this. The landlords and the willing servants of Tammany Hall have counted without their host in this case. The tenants of New York are unable and refused to be fleeced of their small earnings by a gang of legal robbers. They have struck and will continue to strike for lower rents. The International Labor Defense has taken up the battle and will car- ry it into court while the workers of New York will resist with all their might this brazen attempt to outlay their most elementary right to struggle for the right to a roof over thelr heads. UNITED FRONT OF YOUTH AGAINST __ FASCISM APRIL 1 Demonstrate. at_N. Y, German Consulate; Many Groups | NEW YORK.—The United Front | Youth Conference Against German Fascism which was held on March 26-26, has issued @ call for a mass demonstration of youth, as well as all others, against German Fascism. ‘The demonstration will take pisce on this Saturday, April 1 at 11 a. m. al South and Whitehall Streets. From there, the demonstrators will march to the German CBnsulate. About 45 organizations partici- pated in the United Front Youth Conference. Among these are in- cluded delegates representing the Rand School Association, the League for Industrial Democracy, the Brook- wood Labor College, the Brookwood Fellowship, the Workers Sports Club Fischte, the Ghandi Youth Club, the TUUC and various of its affiliated unions, the Young Communist Lea- gue, various coilege groups, étc. Though invitations and delegations were sent to the Young People’s So- clalist League City Committee, the latter leadership failed to send del- egates. (A full statement on the confer- ence of youth organizations against German fascism will be issued soon by the Young Communist League and appear in the Daily Worker.) ° In Speech Before Joint Committee, Points Out Green’s Treacherous Role; Condemns Especially Military Features; WASHINGTON, D. C., March 26. | —Herbert Benjamin, national or- | to say a word for unemployment in-| ganizer of the Unemployed Coun- | ceils denounced the Roosevelt ad- ministration’s forced labor camp | leaders’ sabotage of insurance, in a speech at the present session of the | q@ongressional committee. He was not allowed to finish his statement, but a portion of it follows: “Mr, William Green, who claims to represent Labor, has stated here, that the sponsors of this forced labor and starvation bill, are motivated by sincere, humanitarian considerations. We disagree with this viewpoint and feel certain that in this as in the whole position of Mr. Green, he rep- resents not the workers, but the high- salaried officials of the A. F. of L., who act as agents of the ruling class in the ranks of labor. “The workers whose interests are attacked by this bill and by the whole hunger program of which it is a part, take no such charitable view of the aims and purpose of its sponsors. We consider it important to establish that those who sponsor this monstrous measure are delibe- rately carrying out the will, program and orders of the bosses who are de- termined to reduce even further our already miserable living standards, Green Did It Before “Mr. Green is playing the tradi- tional role of his kind. he and the whole official of the A. F. of L. joined with Hooyer in the agreement that there would be no strikes against wage-cuts. That is why they so bitterly opposed even the principle of unemployment in- surance. That is also why, he fails surance today, even though he now pretends to fayor it in principle. Green's attempt to discredit the Soviet Union, by describing the plan | to establish forced labor camps as & form of Sovietism, is but another in- | stance of the despicable services to | which Green lends himself. We the American workers would be happy indeed» to Mve under such labor con- ditions as prevail in the Soviet Union. The U.S.S.R. is the land of the most advanced workingclass democracy. ‘The workers of that country and of all countries know that Sovietism means; no unemployment; no forced labor; no starvation amidst riches. Every form of social insurance for which we are fighting and which Green is atempting to defeat, already prevails in the Soviet Union. For Real Publis Works “We desire also to place on record our view on the question of public works. In answer to the question which you haye directed to me, we can state, that we favor and demand the most extensive program of pub- lic works, We however are uncondi- tionally opposed to what Mr. Roose- velt calls a public works program. We favor the building of homes,| schools, hospitals and playgrounds for the workers. We favor flood-con- trol and similar necessary projects. | We demand that the slum tenements in which workers are now forced to dwell shall be torn down and re- placed by new, modern, sanitary dwellings. We demand that fire trap schools shall be abandoned and re- piaced by safe and sanitary buildings. But, We are opposed to increase of Jobless to Fight On ilitary and naval expenditures under the guise of ‘relief projects.’ | “Mr. Green claims that such meas- ures for regimentation and militarl- zation of the unemployed are not. necessary in ‘peace times. He im- plies that he would not even make ® gesture of opposition if it were a war time measure. We declare that we are especially opposed to this Bill, precisely because it is & war meas- ure; we demand all war funds for relief and insurance. “We will continue to mobilize our forces to not only compel you to make a few insignificant and decep- tive amendments as Mr. Green pro- poses you shall do. Our fight is and will be directed to the defeat of both your hunger war and your imperialist wars, “I am representing here, not only the several hundred thousand work- ers who are already organized in Un- employed Councils that exist in more than 500 cities. I believe that the position we have taken here, repe resents the interests of over seven- teen million totally unemployed work- ers; of the millions more who are starving on part-time earnings; of the whole toiling population of this country and of all other victims of mass unemployment and the capital- ist crisis. “We will fight against forced laber and starvation wages whether you pass this or similar bills. We demand that the government shall proceed to fulfill the promises which Roosevrélt made to the forgotten man by pro- viding adequate cash relief and un- employment insurance for all work- . ers who are unemplored through ne fault of their own.” ’ \