The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 22, 1933, Page 1

7 ROOSEVELT’S RECORD IN SIX WEEKS IS HIGHER LIVING COSTS, WAGE CUTS, FORCED LABOR; EDITORIALS Make This May Day A Landmark of Struggle Preparations for May Day this year are carried out under condi- tions that with every passing day sees a heightening of the hunger and war offensive of American imperialism. To all the direct wage cuts that have been. carried out since the be- ginning of ‘the crisis we now have a general indirect policy of wage cuts through inflation that has already resulted in further-beating down of the standards of life and threatens to be continued if the Roosevelt administration has its way. With the army of unemployed rapidly growing, with farmers being driven down into more unutterable misery, with a reshifting of class forces sending masses of former lower middle class elements into the ranks of the destitute and poverty-stricken, the cry for relief, for bread and shelter re-echoes ever more insistently throughout the land. The Roosevelt’ administration scorns the cry for bread of the hungry masses. Its every act has been directed toward imposing greater burdens upon the workers, the farmers and all sections of the impoverished popu- lation. Help for the bankers, the insurance racketeers, the railroads, the big industrialists, the food trust. Fierce warfare against the standards of life of the workers. Such is its policy. But this policy is being more decisively challenged. All over the country there are increasingly sharp struggles of the unemployed for local demands and for immediate relief and unemployment and social in- surance. Farmers are waging mass fights against evictions, against starvation prices for their produce. The war veterans are fighting against compensation cuts and for the bonus. The struggle against police vio- lence, against frame-ups, against lynch terror and the whole system of capitalist class justice has gone forward and is setting into motion ever larger masses who have never before actively engaged in the class strug- gle. ‘This development toward greater struggles is especially marked in the movement to free the Scottsboro boys and to free Tom Mooney. In spite of all weaknesses in regard to the struggle against imperial- ist war there are increasing actions that are directed toward specifically striking a blow at the war-mongers by stopping the shipments of arms, munitions and other war materials to help in the imperialist war against the Chinese people in the Far East and the conspiracies against the Soviet Union, All these struggles now going forward can and must be raised to a higher level. They can serve as a great impetus to mighty May Day demonstrations all over the United States against the hunger and war program of the Wall Street government. The central point, the central rallying slogans must lead to an un- yielding siruggle against hunger and for unemployment and social insur- ance at the expense of the government and the employers. * * Jn the preparations for May Day, in these last days before May First, there must be carried on the most tireless mobilization of the starving men, women and children in all neighborhoods, the most intense concentration on bringing into action the workers in industry, uniting the erhployed and unemployed in a common fight against hunger. In this, as in every other action, there must be set up the broadest possible united front, embracing organized and unorganized, Negro and white, native- born and foreign-born. An inseparable part of this struggle for May Dhy is to unmask by detailed exposure of their every act of treachery and disruption the lead- ers of the Socialist Party and the labor bureaucrats who are now con- centrating ali their efforts on helping forward the hunger program of Roosevelt by trying to thwart, the elemental desire for unity of ection of the rank and file. An t This May Day draws near amidst the worst. suffering the masses of his country have ever experienced. With tireless activity to make these demonstrations the mightiest in history this May Day can become a land- mark in the struggles of the toiling masses of this country—a. forward step in the gathering together of forces to turn the offensive of the cap~ “italist class against the working class into a counter-offensive. Build Mooney Congress That the world-wide demand for the freedom of Tom Mooney is smashing through barriers is indicated by the fact of his being granted a trial on one of the remaining charges held over from the infamous Pre- paredness Day frame-up in 1916: a wo But sirong as is the likelihood of his acquittal this trial alone will not free Mooney. It will only establish in a California court that which is known to all the world—the incontestable innocence of Mooney and Billings. Freedom for Mooney depends upon the further upsurge of the mass movement that must register a new high point in the “Free Mooney Con- gress” that will convene in Chicago the 30th of this month. This in turn depends upon unceasing activity in carrying out the broadest united front action, embracing Communists and Communist sympathizers, the A. F. of L. and Socialist. Party membership and enlisting the active support of members of organizations fighting for defense of labor and civil liberties. By their infamous actions in trying to cripple this movement and dis- integrate the growing unity. of the. toiling masses in the struggle to free Mooney, the Socialist Party leadership and the A. F. of L. bureaucrats continue the line they have pursued from the beginning of this case— crippling the movement to free Mooney and Billings. An inseparable part of the building of the united front to liberate Meoney is the fight to expose the treachery of those who, in their at- tempts to disrupt any mass movement, do not today hesitate to align themselves ovjectively with Governor Rolfe and the frame-up gang of the stace of California. In the days still intervening until the “Free Mooney Congress” con- venss in Chicago there must be the most intense. activity in going into the shops, the facteries, the mines, the mills, on the railroads into unions and other workers’ organizations everywhere—and mobilizing masses behind this movement. Everyone who is now a-delegate should see to it that not one moment is wasted in rallying support for the Congress, so tfiat there can be developed such determined action and brought to bear such izresistable pressure that the ruling class of California and the United States will not dare longer keep Mooney behind prison bars. Dejend the Heroic Negro ~ §cottsboro Witnesses News comes from the South that lynch gangs are terrorizing the Negro witnesses who testified at the Decatur trial of the Scottsboro boys. Tke house of Lewis, one of the Negro witnesses whose testimony exposed too clearly the perjury of Victoria Price, was completely burned down by Ku Kiuxers. Two other Negro witnesses have been forced under threats of brutal ptnishment, to sign repudiations of their testimony at the trial. Other Negro witnesses have received veiled threats and warnings against testifying at the coming trials of the other boys. ‘The appearance of the Negro witnesses in the lynch court of Decatur, Alabama, was an act of heroic defiance, challenging the centuries-old system of jim-crowism and national oppression. The testimony of the Negro witnesses brought before the eyes of the whole world the cynical violation of every democratic right which is supposed to be the great privilege of American democracy, These elementary democratic rights are guaranteed supposedly by the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. The appearance of the Negro witnesses in an Alabama lynch court exempli- fied the determination of the Negro people to destroy the hideous jim- crow system, That is why the Southern lynchers are letting loose their terrorism against these Negro heroes. The southern ruling class is fully aware of what issues are at stake in the Scottsboro trials. They realize what the challenge of ‘*e Negro witnesses means to their slave-driving domination. And the Southern ruling class is using its traditional weapon against the Negro people—lynch terror. But the heroism of the Negro witnesses at the Decatur. court is part of the heroism of the Neg-o macses, who are rising in resolute strug- gle against the national oppression of the centuries. Send telegrams to Governor Miller of Alabama demanding that the state protect these witnesses. The working class must take these Negro witnesses under their protection! Around these Negro witnesses, as around the Scottsboro boys, we must place an iron ring of defense! y Central (Section of the Communist International) Maunist Party U.S.A. UNITE TO DEMONSTRATE MAY FIRST AGAINST ROOSEVELT’S HUNGER AND HIS WAR PROGRAM! Daily, < The special May Day edition of the Deily Worker will contain articles on many of the prob- lems facing the workers today. An eight-page tabloid size supplement will be included besides the regular four pages. A short time is left. Rush orders immediately fe Daily Worker, Business Office, 50 East 18th St. New York, N. ¥. Vol. X, No. 97 aps ns 27 der the Act of March class matter af the Post Office at 8, 18T8. NEW YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1933 CITY EDITION Price 3 Cents flation WASHINGTON, The Thomas Amendment DONALD HERE TO WAGE FIGHT Britain Takes Action to Raise Tariffs NEW YORK, April 21—With the British press lashing itself into a fury |of denunciation of the abandonment of the gold standard as a measure to attack England’s position in the world market, the British Premier J. Ram- say MacDonald, arrived today and speeded at once to Washington, where |he is to confer with Roosevelt. Peace Talk to Cover Conflict. | | With his customary evasiveness |MacDonald, in reply to questions. by |newspaper men, stated that he was | for full “co-operation” with the | United States and that there would jbe no attempt to carry on a trade war. “Policies of retaliation,” said | MacDonald, would be folly. Policies are desirable.” At the, same time he uttered these | words his own supporters in the Brit- jish government were moving to estab- |lish still higher tariffs against Amer- lican dumping of cheap imports into | England and to try to bring pressure to bear on all those states tied to the pound sterling to aid in the trade war hat has already begun. Herriot in Deep Gloom. | The French envoy, Edouard Her- | riot, speeding toward New York on | the S. S. Ile de France, views the defi- {nite abandonment of gold by the |United States as seriously impairing |possibilities of any fruitful discus- | |sions on questions pertaining to debts, ‘arms limitation and the world econo- |mic conference, France has been proceeding on the theory that the United States was not off gold and countries, the United States France, could reach some working |agreement on that basis. It is reported that Herriot’s advis- ors expressed consternation at the turn and that their opinion was ex- | pressed by one who said: “We might as well turn around and go back home.” Meanwhile France also took steps to raise higher tariff walls against at- commodities on its markets. Try to Defeat Roosevelt Move. While the possibility of even tenta- tive agreements on secondary matters is less remote as a result of the out- break of the trade war MacDonald will remain long enough to lay the |basis for trying to align other powers on the side of Britain against United tates imperialist aggression. The Soviet Union was not invited to the conference. Pay Atlantic City | Teachers in Scrip ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., April 21) —Only 15 per cent of teachers’ and other city employes wages will be, | | paid in cash, the city commission | | decided yesterday. The remaining || 85 per cent will be paid in sorip, | | | which the teacher can trade for, whatever she can get for it, to. whoever will take it. | Editor's Note.—This ts evidently but one of many such attempts to substitute nearly worthless paper scrip for wages earned. We request workers to write to us about other gases that they know. April 21.—Roosevelt is mobilizing all) forces for the passage of the Thomas amendment to the Farm Relief Bill which gives him power to raise commodity prices by | the extension of credit and currency. | | —* reduce the gold backing behind | of reason, co-operation and wisdom | that the two biggest gold-standard | and | tempts’ of the United States to dump | BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CHEAP PAPER MONEY Butter, Meat, Bread, Eggs Rising in Price; Re- lief and Public Works Are Cut Down For Increased Relief and Wages to Meet In- ROOSEVELT 10 ISSUE | | | Prices! gives Roosevelt the power to! | the dollar up to 50 per cent of | | the present required rate, the | Power to issue $3,000,000,000 of paper | currency to be backed by silver which the government is empowered to ac- cept in payment for war debts. | Under the provisions of the Emer- | gency Bank Act which was recently passed, the Roosevelt administration has the complete machinery neces- sary for an indefinite expansion of paper currency. The passage of the Thomas Amendment places in the hands of the Roosevelt Administra- tion the most drastic powers for cur- renev inflation which this» country has ever seen, It is an absolute certainty that the Roosevelt government is going ahead with full speed towards a forced ex- pansion of currency. The cheapen- ing of the dollar and inflation meas- ures have already caused a rise in sa retail prices of everyday necessi- ties. Cheapening the Dollar. The declared purpose of the Roose- velt’ government is to raise prices by cheapening the purchasing power of the dollar. The dolar is now offi- cially off the gold standard, and is declining rapidly in terms of’ other currencies. The dollar has declined to 84 cents in terms Of other curren- cies, The purchase power will also be lowered by the proposed plans to pump into circulation mew paper cur- rency equal to the aiiotints of frozen deposits in the thousands of closed and restricted banks, This is a dir- ect cheapening of the dollar, since the new currency will be backed by nothing but assets for which there is no market, Credit Plan Will Fail. | | The plan of the Thomas amend- | ment is that Roosevelt shall first at- | tempt to force $3,000,00,000 of “lib- eral” credit into industry in order to start production upward. Wherever the government will suc- ceed in making this credit available to business, it will simply mean that the government is bailing out the frozen assets which are in the hands of the creditor class. The govern- ment will assume the losses. of the capitalist class, It 1s the purpose of the Thomas Amendment that if these credit oper- ations do not start production up- | ward, then the government shall | make use of the out and out infla- | tionary machinery which is at hand. The government shall devaluate the dollar by reducing the legal gold content of the dollar, silver will be used as backing for currency, and enormous quantities of paper money will be issued, The proposal to start business by the forced expansion of credit is doomed to failure. The Federal Re- serve under Hoover attempted to force credit {nto business last Sep- | tember, Enormous reserves of avail- | | sble credit were created in the mem- |ber banks by the Federal Reserve purchase of securities in the open | market. The credit, however, w..s of the, slightest use in starting business, | since the use of credit is dependent upon the possibility of making pro- fit. With a complete lack of pur- chasing power on the part of the impoverished masses, the enormous available credit was useless. It 1s, therefore, a certainty that Roosevelt's plan for credit expan- sion through Federal Reserve oper- ations will fail and that Roosevelt will be forced to set in motion the full machinery for inflation now pro- vided by the Emergency Bank Act and the Thomas Amendment, THE, ECONOMIC CONFERENCE OVER THE SITUATION LOOKS TOILERS DEM AND UNION SQUARE FOR MAY FIRST The ‘Tammany administration is again playing the same tactics as it did last year when it thought by all sorts of pretexts to prevent the dem- onstration of the workers on their international day of struggle. ‘As fat back as February of this year, the Communist Party applied for @ permit to demonstrate in Union Square on May First. The police de- partment has not yet granted this permit. The workers of New York have been waiting for three months for the official. permit to demonstrate. We do not propose to surrender our May Day demonstration. The workers of New York must demand that the permit for the demonstration in-Union Square be immediately granted. May Day demonstrations this year will be packed with revolutionary meaning for all workers. Union Square belongs to the workers of New York. Last year, the pressure of the masses. forced the city admin’stration to grant a permit. Demand that the police department grant the permit te demonstrate in | Union Square. rosby Jobless Get 50~ Per Cent Relief Raise Emil Nygard, Communist M yor of the Town, Leads Workers for Their Demands CROSBY, Minn., April 21. (By mail) ; lights and water and the right to —Unemployed workers together with | buy the relief orders in any store} their families demonstrated on Tues-| of the workers’ choosing. The increase day, April 15, before the city ccuncil| in relief amounts to fifty per cent. demanding more relief. When they When a councilman objected to packed the city council, Emil Nygard,| fifteen dollars as too much for a Communist Mayor of the town, was| couple, the mayor attacked the argu- fighting together with them for their demands. They were granted an in-| been demonstrated that whenever crease in relief to $15 a month and|and wherever worekrs struggle $2 additional for each dependant,/ for relief th have made gains. $8 for single men and women, free! otherwise they are forced to starve.” HOURS AFTER INFLATION NEWS Organize Neighborhood Committees to Fight Rise in Prices! NEW YORK.—Food prices rose rapidly on the announcement of the inflationary actions of the government yesterday. Within ten hours, the price of beef rose on primary market 50 cents a bbl., from $11.25 to $11.75; pork also rose 50 cents; butter rose from 21 to 24 cents per pound; wheat from 82 to 85 cents a bushel; flour from $4.60 to $4.70 a barrel; eggs from 14 to 17 cents a dozen. All textiles jumped several points on the wholesale market. Retail prices rose more rapidly than wholesale price wives discovered yesterday morning that over night most e tisen a few cents. nd house- ything had | nt as ridiculous and said, “It has | SCOTTSBORO MARCHERS 10 TAKE TO WASHINGTON BILL TO SECURE NEGRO RIGHTS |Provides -Heavy Penalties for Jim Crowing Discrimination, Peonage, and Lynching Final Plans for March to National Capital to Be Made at Emergency Conference Sunday | | ~~ || NEW YORK.—Marches today in Harlem in a monster protest against | | the Iynch-verdict of Decatur, and in preparation for the mass march | | to Washington to demand that President Roosevelt free the Scottsboro boys and that Congress pass x bill to enforce the 13th, 14th, and 15th | | amendments to the constitution. The local Scottsboro conditions, the | butcher-shop conditions, Jim-crowing, and discrimination im Harlem | and other city hospitals will also be protested in the Harlem March, and | the frame-up of Edward Griffin, Negro boy in Brooklyn. | | The U.N.LA., the Elks, and many other Negro and white organiza- tions will take part in this parade with their banners, uniforms, and | bands, | The following is the line of march today: Mobilizing at 134th Street and Lenox Avenue at 2 p. m., the parade will take the following route: Up Lenox to 140th, West to Seventh Ave., Sonth to 131st, East to Lenox | Ave., Down to 114th, East to Fifth Avenue. | | | NEW YORK.—Putting teeth into the enforcement of the | 13th, 14th and 15th Ammendments to the United States Con- stitution, supposed to guarantee democratic rights to the Ne- | gro people, is the purpose of a “Bill of Civil Rights,” which |-will be presented to Congress by a delegation from the Free | the Scottsboro Boys March to Washington called by the Na- | tional Scottsboro Action Com-®—— | mittee. ‘KKK BURNS HOUSE Final plans for mobilization | for the march will be laid out at the’ 1) second Scottsboro Emergency Confer- i ence, to which between four and five ( A E T hundred representatives of organiza- | tions are expected, at Imperial Lodge | Hall, 160 West 129th St., New York,| ; Sunday aftefnoon at 2 o'clock, | | Drafting of the bill was hailed by William L. Patterson, national seere~ * 7 ipa? | tary of the International Labor De-! Victoria Price’s fense, working class organization in| 7 | the forefront of the struggle to save | Story at Trial the lives of the ScottSboro boys, and | for the democratic rights of Negroes, CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—The ven= as the first concrete move to enact, “cance of the Ku Klux Klan against legislation to free the Negro people| those who fought to cheat the lyn= from economic enslavement since the Chers of their prey in Decatur, Ala, | passage of the 14th Amendment. {reached into Chattanooga, Monday, | White Workers Also | April 17, and while E. L. Lewis, Negro “The tremendous mass movement! Witness for the defense in the Scotts- | developed around the struggle for the| boro case, was attending court at freedom of the Scottsbore boys has! Decatur, waiting to be called in the | spurred the fight for the democratic, trial of Charley Weems, his house tights of Negroes, an issue brought | here, at 2200 Central Ave., was-burned sharply forward in th‘s fight,” Pat-|to the ground, and ali its contents | terson said. “The movement back of | destroyed. this bill is one of the most important| Fiery crosses burned in northern struggles ever developed, not only for! Alabama while this outrage was per= the Negro people, but also for the. petrated. white workers, who are kept in bond-| Lewis was the witness for the Seot~ age by the ‘divide and rule’ policy of | tsboro boys who testified that Vic~ the white ruling class.” | toria Price spent the night before the First Federal Law — arrest at Paint Rock, in the. jungle Heavy penalties are provided for\ at Chattanooga. The girl has said |she spent that night at the home | of “Callie Broochie"—a non-existent | person. | Lewis was able to show that he had N | SPANISH SATLORS |ctciesots So" Sass . — BAS |and two white boys, early in the | morning in the Chattanooga jungle. DEMAND PAY: WIN. Ku Klux Klan threats, both offi- | cially from the organization, and from’ | individual members, have been re= ceived by defense witnesses who tes= ceived by defense witnesses and their /Are on Battleship | Arrived Here Wed. | avyers. | a Already, in Jackson County, (Scote NEW YORK.—Spanish’ sailors on/ ‘sboro), a reign of terror against the the battleship J. Sebastian de Elca, Negro witnesscs who testified for the (a training ship) won a decisive vic- | 2¢fense on the exclusion of Negrdes tory today when they organized a| {70m juries, and two have been tere committee and forced the Captain to|Torized into signing repudiations of give them pay due them Wednesday, | ‘heit testimony. the day the ship docked and to im- prove the food. The Captain refused to pay them when the ship arrived and in two days | (Continued on Page Three) Ohio Farmers’ State | Conference, Today Moody’s commodity index shows that all commodity prices rose — the sailors including petty officers led ‘ from 95.1 to 99.9 in ten hours. by a few militant leaders organized) COLUMBUS, Ohio.—The Ohid The Daily Worker reporter investigated the immediate effect of | themselves for this action that won| Farmers Relief Conference will meeb Roosevelt's inflation policy upon prices for necessities for workers. thelr demangs, esate panera coat i we at her butter bill he PPM AE ETA : reeset , . Hall, In the ase Bronx a housewife shov ed that her butter bill had = gpanysiy ILORS REPORT BIG | 30 West Goodale Ave. tliat gone up ten cents a pound in the last two days. Bread had advanced DEMONSTRATION IN SEVILLE | a one cent a pound. Eggs all over New York have already risen trom one to three cents a dozen. Staple groceries, dried beans, etc., etc., have gone up 30 and 40 cents a hundred pounds. Vegetables will rise in a few days according to produce dealers. The bulk of vegetables are coming from California and it takes a week to move an appreciable amount. NEW YORK.—Spanish _ sailors} fe DAILY WORKER ADVISORY4 aboard the training ship Sebastian de| | COMMITTEE MEETS TODAY IN Elcano, now in New York reported to; | THE WORKERS CENTER, 50 E. the Daily Worker, that a monster! | 13th Street on the second floor at Scottsboro demonstration was held In| |p, m. to assist the editorial staff Seville, Spain, four weeks ago. The (of the “Daily” in making.“ the | workers stormed the American con-| | paper a better mass workers’ sulate and almost succeeded in fir-| | gan, ing it. M ishment from unemployment, On top of the staggering burden of wage cuts, wholesale impover- the Roosevelt administration further smashes down all standards of life of the toiling masses by inflation. Unless the quickest and most decisive action is taken, the working class, the poor farmers, the lower middle class will be reduced to a level of existence that will be more appalling in its wretchedness than anything ever before experienced in this country. There is to be a further increase in the unemployed army. Roosevelt, who in his campaign speeches talked about putting into effect a large public works program now says he regards a 5 or 6 billion dollar program as “silly.” Senator Robinson, the administration leader, says his pro- posed 2 billion dollar public works program will be abandoned. Relief is being cut down at the same time the number of unemployed increases. The election campaign promises about Unemployment Insurance have = been forgotien. With an increased number of unemployed, with the Roo- sevelt administration determined to increase the number of staggered workers, the struggle for Unemployment Insurance is the immediate need of the entire working class. In many sections of the country, the workers are being paid in scrip money while wages are being cut. The reopened banks are still operating on a restricted basis. Over 50 per cent of the State banks and over 25 per cent of the Federal Reserve member banks are still closed. Small depositors nave been robbed of their life savings. The struggle must go on for the payment in full to the smal) bank depositors. Food prices are already mounting. The dollar today is only eighty- three per cent of what it was a week ago. That means that wages and all income has already been reduced 17 cents on the dollar—a seven- teen per cent indirect wage cut. And the dollar still falls. Everywhere, in shops and factories, at relief stations, in the neighbor- > FIGHT FOR LIVING STANDARDS AGAINST ROOSEVELT’S INFLATION ATTACK hoods, there must be the most determined fight against this latest an@ fierce attack, under the slogans: 1,—For increased relief and wages to meet inflation prices! ad 2.—Fight for immediate relief and. unemployment insurance = 3.—Against relief cuts! Against wage cuts. 4.—Against forced labor! x vl 5.—A public works program to tear down the slums, to build sanitary \ houses and hospitals for workers. Unemployed workers employed om public works to be paid regular trade union wages. ‘ 6.—The use of all war funds for relief and unemployment insuranea, 7.—Housewives organize and fight against soaring prices, ss jislansal Workers and farmers! Employed and unemployed!. Organised an@ unorganized! Negro and white! Native-born and foreign-born! Close ranks and fight to beat back this latest-and dieree attack of the hunger government at Washington, Pay