The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 1, 1933, Page 1

| EDITORIALS | Breaking Thru Southern Slave Traditions For the first time in history Negroes sit on the witness stand in a court of white lynch-justice and accuse their ex- ploiters of violation of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fif- teenth amendments to the constitution of the United States. What is happening today in the court room of the provincial town of Decatur, Alabama, is far more than a mere question of the enforcement of the ruling class constitution. The events transpiring there are a gauge of the deep ferment that is surging through the ranks of the Negro and white workers, share croppers and tenant farmers of the Black Belt. The appearance on the witness stand of Negroes who accuse the ruling class of systematically depriving them of civil rights, shatters many of the traditions and illusions fostered by the slave holders’ South. These witnesses, rep- vesentative of the Negro masses, who have appeared and will appear in the further course of the second trial of the Scottsboro boys have, by their action, hurled defiance at the brutal ruling class and its age-old tradition of intimida- tion and terror. They fearlessly go on the witness stand to expose before the world the practices of the lynch rulers because they know that they do not stand alone. They have seen during these past few years of struggle for Negro rights under the leadership of the Communist Party and:the International Labor Defense, the zrowing solidarity of the Negro masses, the growing unity of Negro and white workers and farmers against the common enemy—the bosses and the landlords. They saw the case of these nine innocent victims of the Scottsboro and Alabama lynch gangs taken up by the white and Negro workers of the United States, they heard the roar of protest that re-echoed around the world; they saw these boys, condemned to die, snatched from the hands of the executioner; they know that it was not worship of the constitution, but the retreat before the fury of the aroused masses that forced the Supreme Court of the United States to order a new trial. While this campaign was getting under way they saw the first resistance of the share-croppers at Camp Hill, to be followed a year and a half later by the de- termined struggle in Tallapoosa county. The Negroes of that part of the South see in this growing movement the guarantee of united defense against the lynch fiends. It is the herald of mighty struggles ahead. The ruling class rages under mingled fear and hate. They know that they are standing before the toiling masses of the world whose action has compelled them-to listen to those they have regarded as slaves accuse them to their faces of the crimes that have become a part of their very existence. The white lynch ruling class has been forced to retreat. But they are capable of any monstrous crime if for one moment they imagine that the mass movement has ceas- ed to advance against them. In this situation it would be the greatest error and re- sult in. the most terrible tragedy for the workers and farm- ers to succumb for one instant to any illusions that these boys can be freed by purely legalistic action. While every legal defense must and will be utilizéd, we must never forget that the freedom of the Scottsboro boys can be achieved only by deepening and broadening the mass movement, -by fighting for Negro rights, against jim-crowism, segrega- tion and for the self-determination of the suppressed nation, the Negro majority in the Black Belt of the South. Only through following up every advance made with more determined struggle will it be possible to achieve com- plete victory and compel the slave-holders and their political lackeys to open the prison doors and admit the Scottsboro boys to freedom and safety. Articles, Features in the “Daily” of Vital Interest HEADERS of the Daily Worker have, during the past week, undoubtedly taken note of the first-hand reports of the Scottsboro trial in Decatur, which have come from our cor- respondent there. A special page on the trial, with articles giving the background of the case and its relation to the whole question of national oppression of the Negroes in the South, will be published in Tuesday’s issue of the Daily Worker. The ar- ticles, which will appear on the back page of the: paper, will be illustrated with original drawings of the Scottsboro boys made by our staff artist now at the trial. A special feature will be an exclusive interview with the innocent Negro boys in the Decatur jail, by our corres- pondent. On Wednesday, the first of a series of five articles by M. Howard, dealing with the present bank and financial situ- ation will appear. The articles will deal with the financial outlook, with special reference to currency inflation. They will at the same time contain an analysis of the proposed banking reforms of the New Republic, and of the Socialist Party leader, Norman Thomas. In view of the propaganda now being emitted by the capitalist press hailing the ‘“‘suc- cessful solution” of the crisis, these articles are of especial importance. On Monday the Daily Worker will start publishing a series of three articles on conditions in the Soviet Union by its European correspondent, N. Buchwald. The first article will tell how the workers of Moscow run their city. Don’t miss these articles or the cables by Buchwald which appear almost daily. They tell the truth about the Workers’ Re- public and effectively expose the lies of the capitalist press. What did the Railroad Brotherhood chiefs do about the pay donation plan of the Illinois Central? Read the expose of their role in putting over this scheme, to appear in Wed- nesday’s issue. The “Daily” will also publish on page 3 re- gularly news of struggles of various industries. On Tuesday, the Daily Worker will publish a series of two articles, giving the background of Roosevelt’s cuts ir veterans’ benefits and pointing out the action that veterans throughout the country must take to stop them. The ar- ticles are by H. E. Briggs, a rank and file veteran, membe’ of the Workers Ex-Servicemen’s League. These vitally important articles, taken together witl the novel, “Barricades in Berlin,” now running serially anc the smashing expose of forced labor in the United States by Walter Wilson, should be a powerful incentive to all read ers of the “Daily” to spread its influence among the workers. There Must Be No Slackening! Raising the last $10,000 is the crucial task of the “Daily” drive, There must be no slackening now! Dail Central Organ ee (Section of the Communist cea avila Vol. a No. Batered as second- 78 GB BNew York, N. ¥,, 0 matter at the Post Office jer the Act of March 8, 1879. at NEW YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL Al 1933 GERMAN S.P. QUITS 2ND INTERNAT'L Otto Wels Also Quits International’s Executive KNEELING TO HITLER Want Place In “The Third Empire” BULLETIN BERLIN, March 31—The Social- Democratic Party of Germany, one of the founders of the Second Inter- national, today announced its with- drawal from their international or- ganization of socialist parties. Otto Wels, the party’s national chairman, likewise published his re- signation from the International’s Executive Bureau. The “reason” announced by Wels for the Social Democratic Party’s withdrawal is that the Bureau of the Second International, meeting at Paris, adopted a resolution on the sit- uation in Germany with no repre- sentative of the German Party pre- sent, Ue ie aes ‘This marks nearly the final step in the German Socialist leaders’ abject abdication before the Fascist Hitler regime, First, their cowardly atti- tude during the Reichstag fire epi- sode, then the letters sent by Wels and th Party Central Committee to Colonel von Papen, imploring him to protect the Socialist Party and re- ferring to the party’s “patriotic re- cord during the World War,” and now complete severence of all relations with the Labor and Socialist Inter- national, 3 There is but one step.needed..to make the Socialist betrayal of the fighting German working class com- plete, and this step is already fore- shadowed by the New York Times correspondent in Berlin. The Times writes that the Social Democratic Party is undergoing “a transformation that will bring it more nearly into harmony with the new order of things.” It adds: “It is now up to the party to discover a formula that will insure it a place in the Third Reich.” ATTENTION! UNIT /OR- GANIZERS! ALL SEC- TIONS! All unit organizers of all sec- tions are to report to their res- pective section headquarters TO- DAY (SATURDAY), at 3 p. m. sharp (note exceptions below). Section 4 Unit Organizers You are to report at 3 p.m. to the usual place (not the section headquarters). Section 15 All Unit FUNCTIONARIES are to report to the section headquar- ters at 2 p.m. Section 2 All Unit Organizers, Unit Buro Members, Fraction Secretaries, Speakers and Group Captains of Section 2 are called to an emer- gency functionaries’ meeting at 2 pm. today at the section head- quarters, 56 W. 25th St. All Members of Section 2, C.P., all members of Mass Organiza- tions in Section 2. RED SUNDAY —this Sunday, April 2, at 10 a.m. All Party members and all mem- bers of mass otganizations are urged to respond in full force to the following stations: WEST SIDE, 419 W. 53rd St. (headquar- ters of West Side Unemployed Council) and 56 W. 25th St. EAST SIDE, 519 Second Avenue (East Side Unemployed Council) for house to house canvass in re- News Flash MUTINY IN JUGOSLAVIAN NAV? VIENNA, March 31.—The newspa- per Nachtfunk received reports tc day from Ljubljana that a mutir had broken out on Jugoslavian wa! ships in harbors at Spalato, Dalm: tia and Kotor. ‘apanese Ship Loads Munitions in Bosto BOSTON, Mass.—Despite the tc f an embargo, Japanese imperiali: $ continuing to get munitions fre he United States for its war agair he Chinese people. A Japan: hip, loaded with gunpowder a for Yokohama and ot! orts, arrived here recently to lc Nore munitions —By Marine Werke. » orker the-Co Hynist Party U.S.A. Send in Your Half-Dollar! A half-dollar each 20,000 workers will save the “Daily.” Send yours in today! from CITY EDITION _ Price 3 Cents Forward for Final Effort /“3ou™ READERS:— We make this appeal as the rece‘pis to the Daily Worker drive tumbled yesterday to below the $200 mark. You have kept the Daily Worker alive so f and given unstintingly. Now, when less than $10,000 “Daily” on solid ground, we know you wi! not fail. Wrap a half dollar in a piece of paper and mail it today. from a friend and send it in. Let there be a flood of half dollars pouring into the “Daily.” Forward for the final effort to save our fighting paper! DAILY WORKER MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE RECEIVED YESTERDAY $' 159.03TOTAL TO DATE Speed Funds to the Daily Mean x East =. Bt New York, You have made sacrifices needed to put the Get a half dollar 5,994.54 Negroes Back Anti- Fascist Meeting SCOTTSBORO BODY} PLEDGES SUPPORT: OF GARDEN MEET Workers’ Groups Rally Members for Mighty Protest Wednesday NEW YORK.—Members of the Scottsboro Unity Defense Committee, meeting in Harlem Thursday night | pledged their support to the mass meeting against German fascist ter- ror, to be held at Madison Square Garden, Wednesday evening, April 5, at 7 p.m, The support of this or- Banization, which includes among its membership such well known Negro writers, ministers and _intellectuals.as Countee Oullen, Langston Hughes, S. Clayton Powell and Augusta Savage, came as a fecogriition of the close connection between Nazi deeds of horror and those like the attempted Scottsboro legal lynching perpetrated against the Negro in this country. Widespread Negro support of the Garden meeting. is following the ex- posure of such statements as that contained in the Hitlerite organ,, Na- tional-Sozialistische Monatshefte. This paper not only characterized the Negro as “the latent brute who can be tamed neither by slavery nor civilization” but came boldly to the defense of the American ruling class with the statement: of the Negroes who are lynched do not merit any regret.” An even larger number of militant organizations are announcing their support of this mighty protest dem- onstration. The Friends of the Soviet Union, recognizing that “Fascism in Germany ... brings to a close focus the war threat against the USSR,” calls on all its members and friends to rally and march in a body to the Garden on Wednesday. The New York District of the In- ternational Labor Defense, in an ap- peal for support for the meeting, de- Clares that “the bloody Hitler fascist terror not only menaces workers, na- tional minorities and intellectuals in Germany, but immediately concerns ; every American worker,” and. points! out the connection between the Nazi | outrages and the capitalist terror in the United States. “Icor,” represening tens of thou- sands of the Jewish people, has rallied to the support of “this decisive fight against fascist atrocities.” A statement reaching the Daily Worker from the Group Theatre, one of New York’s foremost organizations, characterizes the German fascist re- gime as “a threat, not only to racial ee political groups, but to culture it- self.” “Of course, most, | in the German fascists. similar acts agcins: Square Garden this ¥ Negro People here. Fascism:and Ku re Klan Unite in Germany This photo, which was just received from Berlin, shows the induction of a candidate for membership The picture strikingly illustrates the unity of the German Nazi terrorists who carry ou: pogroms on the Jewish People, with the rorerunners of American fascism, the K.K.K., who lead Jews, Negroes, workers and others are expected to jam Madison dnesday evening to protest German fascism. UNITED FRONT YOUTH PROTEST ON FASCISM AT CONSULATE TODAY NEW YORK.-—Today, the workers and students of Ne} ork will show their resentment against the fascist terror thrust on the workers and Jewish people of Ger- many, by demonstrating at 11 a.m. at South and Whitehall streets. sored by Youth Committee Against German Fascism, the committee re- ‘cently set up at a Conference in which 109 delegates representing 57 youth organizations participated. Though every effort was made to involve the City Committee of the Young Peoples Socialist Leagug, the Rand School Association Definitely Groups Massing at South and Whitehall young This demonstration is being spon- | Joins leadership of the latter organization | refused to participate. They with- drew in spite of the fact that numer- ous circles of the Y.P.S.L. sent in resolutions to the City Committee calling on it to participate in this movement. Note:—In a previous press release, it was stated that the Rand School Association withdrew from the Uni- ted Youth Anti-Fascist Struggle. Although it appeared that they would withdraw, we are glad to state that the Rand School Association is de- finitely participating in the eenba stration today. REGAL HOLIDAY MAY 1, CROSBY Communist Mayor to | Issue Proclamation ST. PAUL, Minn., March 31. |Emil Nygard, Communist mayor of Crosby, who arrived here today for a state confer- ence of mayors, said in an in- terview with the Daily Worker representative that he will is- sue a proclamation soon declar- ing May First a legal holiday jin Crosby and call for demon- strations that day. Judge in Scottsboro Trial Moves to Halt Evidence on Exclusion of Negroes from Service on Juries BULLETIN DECATUR, Ala., March 31.— 100 veniremen were being sworn in this afternoon. They are all white, half ve farmers, 12 workers and the rest ousiness men. One out of each three yave already admitted prejudice yainst defendants. It is rumored that 50 men from gostaboro are here to “get” Liebow- 2 if he succeeds in getting any Ne- 2es on the jury. | (By Our Special Correspondent) DECATUR, Ala., March 31.—At the d of the fourth day of concentrated tack by lawyers for the Interna- mal Labor Defense on Alabama’s dective jury system” which bars ‘groes ‘0 boys, late today announced that has “heard about enough evidence ng this line.” “he defense motion to dismiss the ‘ictments against the innocent Ne- ) boys on the ground that no Ne- 28 sat on the grand jury, having 2n denied. by Judge Horton, At- vey Letbowita for the ILD, had|s. proceeded to demand that the entire venire of 150 from’ which the jury is to be picked to try Haywood Pat- terson. be dismissed—for the same good cause, Many Negro Witnesses To support the claim that Negroes are systematically excluded from jury service, the defense has called a score of Negro witnesses to prove that they had never known of any one of their race serving as a juror in Morgan County. Yesterday—for the first time in the history of the state of Alabama—the huge red book in which the names of prospective jurymen are kept, was | brought into court on the demand’ of the defense which said it was ready ,| to call 150 more witnesses to prove its. charge of Negro exclusion on juries. “Are You a Communist?” Failing to discredit the testimony of the Negro witnesses, Attorney Gen- eral Knight, son of Alabama's chief justice who wrote the opinion sus- taining the original Scottsboro frame- up, barked at the Rev. W. J. Wilson, 9 Negro minister, “Are you mem, ber of the Communist Party?” Wil- son replied in the negative, and on redirect examination it was brought out that the witness was a Republi- can. After the defense had put Sheriff Davis on the witness stand, and he admitted that. he was unable to find a single Negro among the 1,500 on the Morgan County jury roll, Judge Hor- ton placed the burden of proof on the prosecution to show that “the state had performed its duty accord~ ing to the law.” Earlier in the ses- sion the defense had called to the stand Captain Burleson of the na- tional guard stationed here, who too admitted that he was unable to find the name of a single Negro from his Part of the county on the roll. Admit “Prima Facie” Case So effective was the defense of the Alabama jury method—part and par- cel of the whole system of the na- tional oppression of the Negroes of the south—that the judge was com- Pelled to admit, in response to a di- rect question by Attorney Leibowitz, that the defense had “made a prima facie” eage and that % was up to the prosecution to show that Negroes were not discriminated against. Called to the stand by the prosecu- tion, J, Tidwell, Commissioner of Jurors, wriggled uncomfortably un- der the fire of defense questioning. Later, asked “Who would you con- sider a leading Negro citizen of Mor- gan County, Tidwell replied, “Don't know any.” Leibowitz's question, “Is there a single Negro in Morgan County hav- ing the qualifications for jury ser- vice?” the commissioner answered: “No.” In seeking to prove that the entire venire is illegal—and a direct viola- tion of the rights of the defendants under the fourteenth amendment to the U. S. constitution—defense at- torneys threatened to call as witness- es every person on the jury roll— which numbers altogether about 2,000 —who is not conceded by the state or commission to be white. Barriers for Negro Voters Late this afternoon Judge Horton had told Leibowitz that the defense WContioned en Page Threat \CONGRES SS NOT TO |EXCLUDE ANY OF WORKING CLASS ORGANIZATIONS NEW YORK rch 31.— The Trade Union Unity League, through its general secretary, William Z. Foster, has issued the following state- ment: “To the Arrangeme Committee for the Conti 1 PSS; ies to the Party, the and the C.P.L.A. “Brothers: W acquainted througt your proposed Cc to be held in Was May 5 and 6 of this “The call mz | copies of the | be sent to all | We have as ye calls nor have an: Dz C., on affiliated 1 organizations. er, is not entirely sur) yur call was worded as to pr y indicate that our org: > not in- vited. This further strengthene at in your call such litical or ganizations as the s' taxers are invited while you exc the Com- munist Party of the U. S., which en- joys great influence among large Sections of the masses of this coun- try. othwithstanding this intention on your part, in the interests of really building up the widest possible fighting front of wo farmers, we are propos Continental Congress all inclusive gathering of all workers, of employed and unemployed, that is trade unions and unemployed or- ganizations, that all the organiza- tions of poor farmers be invited, that the different workers political parties including the Communist Party be invited, and that all other organiza- tions as war veterans, fraternal or- ganizations be invited. We propose that every effort be made also to secure for the support and participa. tion of this conference, the American Federation of Labor and Conference for Progressive Labor Action, For United Action “We believe that toi more than ever the need for united action is most urgent. The attacks on the living standards of the masses, the growing danger of fascism through- jout the world, the growth of the danger of another world imperialist war, all this places a heavy respon- sibility upon all those who at this critical hour refuse to build or stand in the way of the united action of laboring masses. “We of course cannot for ® mo- ment forget that a united front to be in the interests of the masses must be for a definite program in the interests of the toiling masses, We are of the opinion that it would be much more effective to lay down the basis for a minimum program of united a n upon which all groups could prior to the Cons gress. This would not rob the Con- Bress of any of its rights. But such a@ procedure would make it possible to mobilize the masses on a program which they will recognize as one up- on which they wish to unite and fight immediately, and would greatly stimulate the enthusiasm and mobil- ization for the Congress, Program “Such a prosram should consist of at least the following points: 1. Against any cuts in wages, For increases in wages, for the shorter work day without reduction in pay, for a minimum wage. 2. For adequate local and federal relief to the unemployed; for federal unemployment insurance. Against the Roosevelt forced labor measures, 3. For relief to the poor and starw ing farmers; again(: foreclosures, 4. For the payment of the veter= ans bonus. Against the cuts im vet. erans allowances. 5. For equal rights for the Negro masses. Against lynching, and aff forms of discrimination. 6. Against all forms of terror against the masses; for the right to organize and strike, for free speech and assemblage, against deportations, against injunctions, 7. Against fascist terror and anti- Semitism in Germany. For the re lease of all anti-fascist fighters, 8. Against the intervention prove- cation against the Soviet Union; for eer ee of the Soviet Union by the U. against the menace of @ new imper! alist world slaughter, We urge further that in the ine terests of united action to meet the vresent situation that you: arrange ‘or a meeting of your committee with our representatives in order to dig« cuss how to really make the Con- ‘inental Congress a forward step to he struggle of the lacie SPECIAL R. R. NEWS The Daily Worker will publish special column of railroad labor news regularly every Monday. Watch for it, Have your correspondemes im say om Thursday, q 4a ° ae)