The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 5, 1933, Page 3

} } DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, W. ED YESDAY, APRIL 5, 1933 Page Three Organize Strikes on Every Forced Labor Job; Demand Full Union Pay STATE “RESTS” IN TRIAL OF FIRST OF SCOTTSBORO BOYS Roosevelt Makes Forced Labor A National Policy Very soon the full effects of the Roosevelt forced labor bill) passed by congress will be felt by the workers. Forced labor is | nothing new. The unemployed in every state have known it for | the past few years. In practically all states forced labor is required in return for getting relief. In many factories workers sign away their future wages for the relief the company gives them now. All of this is forced labor. But now the Wall Street, government through its president and congress has officially decided upon adopting forced labor as the national policy. What must the vorkers do about this? Both the employed and unemployed. In the columns of the Daily Worker the| answer can be found. To emphasize again we repeat the fol-| lowing immediate actions which should be taken up by the em-} ployed and unemployed: 1) Organize strikes on every forced labor project demanding union rates of wages. ) Set up committees on these projects to demand improve- ments in living conditions while working on these jobs, with no discrimination against Negro or foreign-born workers. An example of this action is shown by the strike on the forced labor project at High Point, N. C. Organize a struggle against every attempt to remove a worker from the relief lists for refusal to go to the forced labor camps, whether it be the head of a family or single men or women. Prepare demonstrations at the recruiting stations estab- lished for the forced labor camp in your city. Organize united struggles of all workers; the Unemployed Councils, Unemployed Leagues, organized and unor« tized for joint activities against these measures and for in- creasing cash relief and the adoption of the Workers’ Un- employment Insurance Bill. Members of the A. F. of L. take this up at your local union meeting. Adopt resolutions against carrying into effect the forced labor measures and send copies to President Roosevelt and to the Executive Council of the Aa Bothy Members of the I. A. of M. demand through your inter- national that Robert Fechner resign as forced labor camp head and if he refuses he be expelled. DRIVE FIRST 25,000 JOBLESS TO FORCED LABOR CAMPS THIS WEEK Fechner, National Head of “Camps, Is Vice- President of Machinists Union, A.F.L. WASHINGTON, April 4—Twenty-five thousand unemployed workers will be sent to the forests on forced labor projects by the end of the week according to reports from the white house. This will be the first contingent of men to be employed at a dollar a day on the basis of the “Reforestration Bill” passed by congress last week. A. F. OF L. LEADER HEADS CAMPS. President Roosevelt selected a leading official of the American Federation of Labor as national head of the s—————————_____ forced labor camps. The man chosen is. Robert Fechner, vice-president of the International Association of Ma- chinists. Fechner has long been as- sociated with the bureaucracy of the A. F. of L., as long ago as 1910 he was secretary-treasurer of the Georgia Federation of Labor. With this se- lection it is clear as to the reasons for the secret conference of Frances Petkins, Secretary of Labor with the officials of the trade unions last Fri- day. It was called specifically to get 2 full confirmation of these men in carrying out this measure. Together with Fechner a committee has been appointed which includes a member of the army general staff and a representative of the Red Cross. The men assigned to the camps will first go through a rigid military examina- tion. They will be transferred from their home cities by the war depart- ment and put through two weeks of “physical exercise” which amounts to a military drilling. JOBLESS TRY TO COMMIT SUICIDE Unemployed Worker Takes Gas NEW YORK.—An unemployed farlem Hosp. Group | to Place Charges at Estimate Board | ‘MEW YORK.—The following letter as been sent to Mayor O’Brien by the Peoples Committee fighting the Tammany dictatorship in Harlem Hospital: “A delegation of 25 people, repre- senting a number of Negro and white organizations of Harlem, elected by these organizations to represent them in this matter, and who are organ- ized by the Peoples Committee Against Discrimination in Harlem Hospital, will appeat before the Board of Estimate at their meeting on Fri- day, April 7, 1933. “This delegation, which is ed by many thousands of Negro id white residents of Harlem, demands that you put an immediate stop to the discriminatory practices carried | on against Negroes by the adminis- trators of Harlem Hospital, that the slipshod methods and genera! ineffi- ciency of the hospital staff, which has already caused the death of thousands of Negroes through CRIM~ INAL NEGLIGENCE, be immediately stopped. “Our demands will be presented to the Board of Estimate in concrete form and are approyed by the major- ity of the residents of Harlem, Negro and white. We will ask that this Board take measures to remove Doc~ tors Connors and Wright as chief physicians in that institution, and all of the present administration, and are prepared to back these demands with specific charges. “We insist that you will give this matter your immediate attention ana that you will inform us by return mail at what hour the Board will worker, Ernest Kraft, 35, tried to commit suicide by turning on the gas in his room at 236 Fifty-fourth St., Brooklyn, He said that this action was caused because he had no work and had no means of living. NEW YORK —Grace Camel, 22, swallowed poison tablets in a taxi cab which she had just hired. The driver rushed her to Bellevue hospi- tal, where it was found that she was homeless. NEW YORK.—A man leaped in front of an Eighth Avenue subway train in an attempt to commit sui- cide. The swift applying of the brakes by the motorman saved his life. Killing of Negroes Put Memphis in Lead in World’s Murders|: MEMPHIS, een, April 4.— Leading the world in killings, Mel had 54.2 homicide deaths per 100,000 population in 1932, as receive our delegation, compared to 52.2 for 1931, a re- “In case we do not hear from you,| | ¢Mt survey indicates. One hun- we will be at this meeting at eleven | | dred and forty-eight s were o'clock Friday morning.” veer in this survey for the LLD. MEETINGS OFF FOR GAR-| | reyon Criloch young teen (DEN BALLS worker shot down by police this NEW YORK.—‘he New York Dis- irict of the International Labor De- fense has asked the Harlem and Yorkville sections to call off their meetings scheduled for tonight, in‘ order to attend the anti-fascist meeting in the Madison Square Gar- den, tion disability allowances; no discrimi- nation in hospitalization, year, go to swell this total,” the International Labor Defense points out, “although there are many such murders which undoubtedly are never reported. Though such figures are not yet are mi parade the 1929 survey al indica‘ hat the oppres- sion of the Negro people forms the basis for this damning murder rate. At that time the rate for the Negro population was 144.2 per 100,000 population, while the white rate was 11.8. Feeble, Contradictory “Evidence” Compels Prosecution to Close Its Frame-Up Case; Leibowitz Threatened in Court {CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE) put to him by Leibowitz. Arthur Woodall of Stevenson, Ala., merchant and deputy sheriff, had re- plied to a question concerning the removal of the Scottsboro boys from the train on which the alleged at- tack took place. Knight clapped his hands as Woodall stepped from the witness stand, Leibowitz angrily asked for the mistrial declaration, but Knight apologized to the court and asked the jury to “disregard” his actions. Woodall, incidentally, had admit-| ted that all he found upon searching the boys at the time of their arrest was two knives and fifty cents, thus contradicting Victoria Price’s story yesterday, of “many knives and guns.” In demanding a mistrial, the de- fense attorney said that such action is “unprecedented in a courtroom, especially by the chief prosecutor of the State.” Continuing, Leibowitz said sarcastically: “Knight told me he is interestd in getting a ‘fair trial’ for the boys, but his action doesn’t show it!” A tense scene took place in the courtroom yesterday at the height of the cross-examination of Vir- ginia Price by the defense lawyer, when a man arose, and muttered: “LET'S GET LEIBOWITZ.” He was searched for arms and es- corted outside by several national guardsmen before the incident was generally noticed. Today a fight be- tween two spectators over the issues of the case brought more guards in the courtroom. Mrs. Patterson In Court When the morning session opened, Mrs, Claude Patterson, mother of the Negro boy on trial, was seated beside her son near the defense table. The crowd began to gather around the courthouse as early as six o'clock in the morning, and the courtroom was jammed throughout the day. Negroes from Decatur and the vicinity con- tinued to come to the court in large numbers, W. H. Hill, depot agent of Paint Rock, was the first state witness to- day. He claimed that he saw the Negro boys and the white girls com- ing off the same car, and declared that he heard the girls complain they were raped. Under cross-examination by Leibo- witz it was brought out that Hill never before testified in previous trials, indicating clearly that he was carefully coached by the prosecution. Moreover, Hill’s testimony exposed sharp contradictions with the testi- mony yesterday by Victoria Price and the other witnesses of the previ- ous trials at Scottsboro. Recalled to the stand later, Hill said in answer to questioning by the defense, that “two boys came off the train at Paint Rock.” Liars Contradict Each Other Rom Rousseu, the second witness called today by the state, declared that he saw the Negro boys running along the top of freight cars at Paint Rock and getting off at different cars, thus flatly contradicting Hill’s testimony and supporting the defense claim that the boys were on differ- ent cars and did not know what was happening. Significant also is the fact that Rousseau described the girls as wearing coats, while Hill declared they wore only overalls. Despite Victoria Price’s testimony that she fell off the freight car at Paint Rock, becoming unconscious, Hill said on the witness stand that he saw her standing by the cars. Lee Adams, a farmer of Stevenson, Ala., followed Rousseau on the stand. He confined himself to stating that he saw the Negro boys and two white boys thrown off the freight cars near Stevenson. As testimony of the state witness proceeded it became evident that the prosecution was busying it- self entirely with refurbishing the already discredited testimony of Vic- toria Price. Still Another Version bins, of Stevenson also, testified that he saw one of the Negro boys “keep a girl from jumping off a moving train, a short distance the other side of Stevenson.” Using Dobbins’ testimony at the previous frame-up trial, defense at- torney Leibowitz showed glaring con- tradictions with his present story. At the previous trial, the attorney showed, Dobbins said he saw two girls—now one, At that time he tes- tified that he was.standing about 100 yards from the railroad track upon|them government bonds for their which the freight train was passing | mortgages. —this time it was 30 yards. At the previous trial, too, he saw a white boy on the train—now he saw none. Moreover, photos presented by the defense show that it is impossible to see what Dobbins claims to have NEGRO CROPPERS’ TRIAL SET FOR APRIL7 — DADEVILLE, Ala—April 7th has been definitely set as the date for jury. The croppers ing the attack upon them last fall by deputy sheriffs trying to seize the property of Cliff James who was mur- dered with three other Negroes in the battle. A manhunt {s on for 14 other crop- pers, Irving Schwab, of the Interna- tional Labor Defense, who is defend- 1. Immediate, unconditional re- lease of these ninc innocent Ne- gro boys. 2. Disbanding of boss gangs around Decatur. 5 3. Protection of Scottsboro boys tion of defense corps of white and Negro workers against boss lynch terror. and defense witnesses—for forma- 4. For Negroes on the jury—for white workers on the jury. 5. No reliance on lynch courts —for mass action! 6. A united struggle of white and Negro workers against capi- talist-landlord terror and starva- tion, 7. Mass meetings and street demonstrations—Protest of Gov- ernor of Alabama. lynch seen from the place where he stood. Arrested For Collecting Defense Funds Immediately following the morn- ing adjournment William A. Christal, a Negro worker, authorized to collect funds for the Scottsboro defense by the Birmingham (Ala.) I.L.D., who was arrested Saturday night by De- catur police, was called before Judge Horton. Yielding the opportunity of tmucting a sanctimonious speech re- primanding Christal, the judge or- Gered that the papers taken from him at the time of his arrest be returned to him. Just before court adjourned yes- terday, Dr. K. R. Bridges, a prosecu- tion witness admitted without hesi- tation under cross-examination, that all he could say from the examination of Victoria Price and Ruby Bates an hour or so after they were taken off the train was that they “had intercourse sometime during the last two or three days—with how many I cannot tell.” Dr, Bridges, who was the last wit- ness for the day, testified further that he found no lacerations—only a few bruises and scratches which might have been a few days old and which might have been gotten by bumps from climbing box cars, etc. A detailed medical discussion carried on betwesn Bridges and Leibowitz showed that the doctor's testimony could easily bear out the defense contention that the two girls had previous relations with white men just before the arrest of the Scotts- boro boys. ria Tam NEW YORK —Continuing tts drive to mobilize mass pressure for the safety and release of the nine Scotts- boro boys, now being tried in Deca- tur, Ala., on a framed-up charge of |rape, the Harlem Section, N. Y. Dis- trict International Labor Defense will hold a Scottsboro mass meeting this Thursday, at 8 p.m., at St. Lukes Hall, 125 W. 130th st. Patterson To Speak William Patterson, National Sec- | retary I.L.D., one of the main speak- |ers at this meeting, will call on all Negro and white workers to form a united front for the immediate and safe release of the Scottsboro boys from the clutches of the southern lynch bosses. Latest Report on Trial The latest news of the trial will be told at the meeting by Delmas | Steel, of Alabama, just come from the South. Prominent Negro resid- ents of Harlem, including the mayor | of Harlem, will be among the speak- jers, Admission free. SUBSCRIBE yourself fellow workers | Worker, nd get [to read the D: NAVAL AIRSHIP AKRON PLUNGES INTO ATLANTIC OCEAN; 74 DEAD Ship Designed to Strengthen Armed Forces of American Imperialism BULLETIN. NEW YORK.—The navy dirigib! Beachhaven, N. J., while searching of its crew of six were still missing . late le J-3 was wrecked in the sea near yesterday for Akron survivors. Two yesterday afternoon, . NEW YORK.—The Akron, the largest airship in the world, fell into the Atlantic ocean early yesterday morning, There were 77 on board of whom only three are rescued alive. The Akron began descending rapidly before a heavy thunder and light- ning storm, Desperate attempis were the ship so it would reach a higher -— altitude, but it continued its descent. Finally, from an elevation of 1,000 feet it plunged downward, burst in- to flames and broke into pieces as it hit the shurging waters of the ocean, Built for War Purposes, The Akron was owned by the United States navy and was designed to strengthen the naval forces of American imperialism. It was hailed as the first unit of a “new merchant marine of the air,” which was to “carry the American flag to the most distant parts of the world.” Tests were made as to its ability to ride through storms and, if it was proved effective, a number of similar aircraft were to be built to supplement the naval forces. An un- limited number of such craft could be built because none of the arms treaties cover the construction of such naval equipment. Tried to Frame Worker. The Goodyear-Zeppelin company built the Akron and in March of 1931, while still under construction it was revealed that certain parts were weak. Although $6,000,000 was made by unloading ballast to lighten its first voyage. In order to prepare for such an eventuality the depart- ment of justice framed-up and ar- rested a workman, Paul F. Kassay and charged him with plotting to weaken parts of the thing. The case was dismissed. | On May 10th last year two of the |grounding crew of the Akron met death when they were jerked from | the ground as the ship took off. |Teured South American Countries, | One of the first long-distance tests occurred in January of this year when the Akron made a long cruise to South America in order to test the Possibilities of using such craft in | the imperialist drive to despoil the lands and enslave the peoples of those countries. In Pacific Fleet Maneuvers. It had been used earlier, during | June, 1932, for a 10,000 mile cruise |to Pacific waters where it partici- pated in the war maneuvers off the Pacific coast, where the fleet is now concentrated in carrying out policies of American imperialist aggression in the Pacific. BUILD the working class paper for the working cla 08 powerful weapon against the ruling capitalist class. ROOSEVELT PROPOSES BOND ISSUE T0 HELP FARM MORTGAGE HOLDERS the price paid for it there were grave fears that it might crash on WASHINGTON, April 3.—A flotation of a government bond issue of | from two to three billion dollars is proposed by Roosevelt in a message The next prosecution witness, Dob- | to congress today. These bonds are to carry an interest rate of 4 per cent and will be used to refinance farm mortgages, with the farmers paying 4% per cent interest on their in- debtedness to the mortgage sharks./to the farmers who are robbed by Government Protects Sharks. | these agents operating under the de- These bonds will be exchanged | partment of agriculture, which is the tor farm mortgages, most of which| part of the executive apparatus of are now frozen and many of which) the government that preys upon the are far above the price the farms agricultural population in the inter- would bring if sold outright. est of the mortgage holders and the Under present conditions the mort-| bond holders. FOR 3 YEAR TERM text of helping the farmers, the gov- T.U.U.L. Asks Support Then the federal government, through a cabinet member, the sec- retary of agriculture, will be respon- sible for forcing the farmers to pay the 41% interest on the mortgages. Not only will the government! dic- tate to farmers how much land they ernment steps in to help the vultures who prey upon the farmers by giving for So. River Cases SOUTH RIVER, N. J., April 4— Three years at hard labor was the shall sow, what they shall raise, but at each place where farmers sell their produce a government official or some agent of the government (elevator men, grain buyers, etc.) will deduct from money owed ne Hoeailln bot ie snntetahe a id for which he is being railroaded to The New York Journal of Com-| J#il is that of organizing and_pre- merce, commenting upon this, says: | paring the defense of 27 South River “Secretary of Agriculture ‘Wallace | needle trades strikers arrested in will seek to avoid the necessity of | September 1932 on a framed up mur- becoming a policeman to see to it| der charge. The bosses and the South that the terms of the farm relief| River authorities are trying to pre- bill, attributed to him, are carried| Vent organization of the needle out, although he sees falling upon| trades workers by smashing every him the duties of a referee.” union and defense meeting and ar- sentence meted out to Tom Scott, LL.D. field organizer in South River by Judge Lyon in the County Court at New Brunswick, N, J,, this week. Scott was charged with “suborna- tion of perjury,” but the real crime ing the croppers in court. was denied @ private interview with them, Whether he is called a policeman or referee is a matter of indifference up charges. a MINERS OUT | IN SEVERAL COAL FIELDS PITSBURGH, Pa., April 4.—Re- ports are coming in from the coal | fields that miners are responding to | the call of the National Miners’ | Union for struggle in some sections | in the Pennsylvania, and Ohlo coa! | fields and the possibilities for de- | veloping struggles seems favorable. In Ayella five mines are out, in West- moreland County two mines are on strike. In East Ohio, the Willoy Grove Mine struck last Tuesday for | a checkweighman to be elected by | the miners and won this demand, the workers struck again when of the miners was fired. The Rose- j mary mine in this region is also out on strike for local demands. In the Coverdale district the Knot Hole mine | came out today and elected a strike committee. LOCAL 22 PLACES | LEFT WING SLATE Vote On Thursdsay for} New Officials NEW YORK—-The dressmakers of Local 22 International Ladies Gar- ment Workers Union will elect a new j leadership for the next year, Thurs- day night. The left wing group of Local 22 are proposing a slate of the following candidates: For manager, Morris Stamper; for executive board, Max Dranch, Jacob Geison, Meyer Kravitz. Norman Rosenbaum, Morris Rosen- berg, Nathan Silverblatt, Harry Sol- off, Max Sporn, Abe Sommergard. In a special appeal issued to the dressmakers today, the left wing group of local 22 points out that a whole year has past since the pre- sent fake progressive administration under the leadership of Zimmerman has been in power. As a result the dressmakers in the union have re-, ceived a 60 per cent cut in wages, loss of control in the shops, a huge loss in membership with thousands expelled for non-payment of dues, fake strikes, fake agreements, divi- sion in the ranks of the dressmakers, and an increased army of unemploy- ed and hungry dressmakers. “A vote for the present adminis- tration, says the appeal, is a vote for more misery, more starvation, for fur- | ther splits and disunity in the ranks | of the dressmakers.” The program of the left wing can- didates calls for unity of all the dressmakers to secure decent living conditions, and for one general strike to improve the conditions of all the dressmakers, the re-instatement of all workers who have been expelled for non-payment of dues. The plat- form also calls for a struggle for un- employment relief and insurance at the expense of the bosses. All left wing finisher candidates for the executive board have been taken off the ballot. Dressmakers are urged by the left wing group of Local 22 to vote NO against all those re- maining on the ballot as they do not represent the interests of the dress- makers, and to cast their ballot for the left wing slate, for Stamper as | manager, and for one class struggle union. FORM UNITY OF METAL UNIONS Join in Strikes at Two Shops NEW YORK.—The Executive Board of the Metal Spinners Union, an in- dependent union, formed a united front with the Metal Workers’ In- dustrial Union, this week and joined the strike against the Cromwell and Colonial Mfg. Co., bringing out all spinners from the shops. This sig- nificant action by the Metal Spinners has raised the morale and spirit of the strikers who are determined to remain out until they win. The strike is called for recognition of the union, against wage cuts and for division of work. As a result of the action of the Metal Spinners, the Executive Boards of the two unions are now planning a joint campaign to organize all the workers in the silver and holloware section of the trade. A membership meeiing of the silver and holloware section of the Metal Workers’ Industrial Union is called for Wednesday, April 5, at union headquarters, 35 E. 19th St, and all members of the union are expected to be present. Call Troops on Ill. Hunger Marchcrs SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, April 4— Governor Horner instructed all coun- ties of the state to prevent the Hunger March from reaching the capitol on April 7. For this purpose a meeting with sheriffs from nine counties was held in this city, The first attack by the officials was made by arresting Tony Minerich and Kochinsky, both of them popular leaders of the miners who are active in the mine fields of southern Illi- nois. Workers resisted the arrest of two of their leaders and in the at- tack which followed a woman and child were beaten up by the deputies. The indignation of the miners has grown against this attack. Warrants resting all active workers on framed| have been issued to arrest other leaders. ~ ae R. R. Labor Chiefs. Expose Themselves in Ill. Central Cut Railroad Line for Help Want to Save Railroad Line for Owners; Ease Wage Cut Plan The following letter sent by the Big Four Railroad Labor Chiefs to the secretaries and local chairmen of the union divisions and lodges ex~ poses clearly the assistance these misleaders are giving the [linois Central owners in putting over their ten day wage cut plan Chicago, Il., March 15, 1933.. “Dear Sirs and Brothers: “We have each of us received so ms nquiries relative to the request of the management for a donation from the men for the months of Marea and April that we feel i to tell the membership of each of these Brotherhoods just t ran. ed tatement, because we received our information in a joint conference, and ve want all men to have the same understanding. On Friday, March 10th, at 2:00 p. m. we four met Vice-President Patterson of the Illinois Centre! at his request, and without any effort to repeat his language, he said to us in substance: “4 you men very well know, this railroad is in a desperate situation You probably know that the pay checks which should haye been in the hands of the men in Chicago yesterday, have not been delivered. I don’t know when they will be delivered and the reason is that we haven't got the money. My superior officers feel that there is otily one way out, and that is to ask the ployees to keep us, and I have been in- structed to have each employee asked to make a donation of ten days’ pay. In other words to do his usual work, without being paid for it. I have called you men in here to tell you about it, in order that you will have first hand information as to what we are trying to do, and why we are doing it, .I would like to haye your co-operation—at least to have you talk with me about it. e making a join JONSIDER ONLY DONATION.” “It had been intimated to us in a meeting during the forenoon, that something like this was coming, and we had discussed some angles of-it among ourselves. We first asked Mr. Patterson if this was to be a do- nation, or a loan. He said they had no idea what their circumstances would be, and they had not considered any angle save a donation, It was then Suggested, that if he wanted to ask for ten days pa; it might be easier to make it for a five day period in each of two months. He agreed to give consideration to that matter. It was then suggested that in event it was decided to ask the men to work for nothing, instead of making a payroll deduction that each man should be called in his turn, if he wished to go, even though he insisted on being paid for the trip, and this was agreed to. COERCION? “We then pointed out that some men would not be in a position to make this contribution and that those men must not be coerced or intiny+ dated in addition to the difficulties under which they already were labor= ing, and Mr. Patterson quickly assured us that such would not be done. Mr. Patterson told us he had nothing further to say, beyond the fact that he was calling in the chairmen of the other organizations to make the same explanation to them, and they were waiting to go into his office as we came out. We understand the matier was discussed and details dé¢ cided upon in a meeting with the superintendents, who were cailed in the following day. NO PRECEDENT! “We were considerably at a loss to know just what we should do, we were confronted with a situation that was most unusual to say the least, so far as we know, there is no precedent for it. We might easily have taken the attitude that this was a personal matter between employer and em- ployee, in the same sense and to the same degree as though he had signed @ pay roll order for a watch or a meal ticket. We were also conscious of the fact that if this question was new for us, it would also be new for the men and we had an opportunity to get first hand information in the case, and the men in general would not have the opportunity so that we seem to have some duty in the matter in that respect we might insist that ‘the men were paying 10 percent of their wages in order to receive immunity from this sort of thing, and that it must not be done. Over against the argument was the thought, that the Company may be in a position whete this much help will keep them out of receivership. “If we by our actions, made it impossible to receive this help, the Com- pa ~ might have been thrown into a receivership. There was not one of us that cared to assume any part of the responsibility for bringing about condition such as now exists on the Mobile and Ohio. “Another angle which we considered was, that the management might very easily, and without consulting any of us, have reached out and takér the pensions away from each of the approximately 2000 men now on th pension roll. It would have saved them much more money than the pri Posed pay roll deduction will amount to, and there would have been nothi: that we could do to prevent it, we were not unmindful of the fact thi this action on the part of the men now in service might possibly be tp means of preserving the pensions of those 2000 men. SUBMIT TO EXECUTIVES. “After discussing it from every conceivable angle, we decided that we would each of us, submit the matter just as it had happened in a de- tailed statement, to our respective chief executives. this has been done. We do not yet know what will be their position and we have maintained a position for ourselves, which will enable us to act promptly and in con» formity with any instructions which we may receive from our executives. We know in advance that there will be some division officers who will not understand this matter clearly, and neither will they present it to the.men as Mr. Patterson would want it presented. We also know that some of our men are very apt to say things that might be better left unsaid. The pur pose of this letter is not only to advise you of what has happened, but also to suggest that we, each of us, do some careful thinking on both sides of the question. Fraternally yours, Chas, Pearce, General Chairman, B. of L. BE. M. J. Carey, General Chairman, O. R. C. C. A. Tweedy, General Chairman, B. of L. F. and B T. 8. Jackson, General Chairman, B, of R. T.” Another Laundry Joins Strike As Other Is Solid Another laundry came out on strike yesterday. Inside and outside work- ers of Highbridge Laundry, 1347 Cromwell Avenue, Bronx, struck when a women worker was fired be- cause she joined the union. NEW YORK.—The Pretty Laundry strikers in the face of the arrests of Sam Berland, president of the Laun- dry Workers Industrial Union and Leon Blum, general secretary, and despite other arrests and frame-ups, are going ahead undaunted with a full program of activity planned for this week. Berland is still being held under $5,000 bail on a frame up charge of “felonious assault” and the New York Parole Board at the instance of the laundry bosses are trying to railroad th Blun. At a mass meeting in Ambassador Hall, last Sunday, the workers deci- ded to intensify their activities in NEWS BRIEFS | O'Brien's Vote Lowest, | NEW YORK, April 4—The vote for John P. O’Brien for mayor wa only 514 per cent of the total. tie — lowest percentage of vote cast ior a Tammany mayoralty candidate for years, according to the final repory of the board of estimate made pub- lic yesterday Congressman’s Aid Indicted. NEW YORK, April 4.—Morrii | Abrams, confidential secretary tothe |Tammany congressman, Samuel Dickstein, was indicted by a federal grand jury for vote-counting frauds. Indictments were also returned against Lawrence Buckner, demo- |cratic chairman, and Benjamin Wal- \lach, republican inspector, both of whom helped Dickstein steal his elec- on. Foltis Pickets Open air mectings will be held throughout the Bronx this week and | @ mass protest meeting has been) called for Thursday, April 6, at Am-/ the strike and to force the release | : a Outwit Police of Berland and Blum, NEW YORK—Seeing that he bassador Hall, Claremont Parkway and Third Avenue. BUTCHERS WIN 10 STRIKES NEW YORK.— Proving the pos- sibility of winning not only wage increases but also shorter hours by means of strikes during the boss Department of reports ten successiul strikes within two weeks, Workers in ten butcher shops located mainly on First and Second Avenues in Brooklyn raceived | increases of $5 to $10 and shorter hours, The Council of Working Class Women fought shoulder to shoulder with the ‘strikers s Industrial Union | | small army of police men stattoned at the 34th Street Foltis-Fischer res« taurant were too much for their fore ces, the demonstration of 200 Foltis- ‘Fischer strikers outwitted the police | and formed a mass picket line at the 28th Street and 4th Ave. store. The demonstration had been an- |nounced for the 34th Street ‘store yesterday and the police were ready | with riot guns and gas bombs. At 28th Street three workers were arrested after a stiff fight, and held in $500 bail till Thursday: one Negro. food worker and two from the Needle “Trades Industrial Union.