The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 17, 1933, Page 5

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK: § ATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1933 Page Five Roosevelt's ‘National Recovery Bill Is Aimed to Outlaw Strikes by Compulsory Arbitration and to Smash Fighting Unions! Workers: Organize to Fight for Right to Join the Unions of Your Choice! | CONVENTION OF MARINE WORKERS IMPORTANT ~ TO ALL TOWERS To es Held in New York City, July 16 to 18; Delegates from Ships and Docks of the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts By JACK STACHEL The Mariné. Workers Industrial Union will hold its second national convention$nJuly 16, 17 and 18 in she City of New York. Because of the naturéof the industry and the present situation the world over this is to be % convention to which the workers of*the-whole country should give great*\attention and support. Not only this a union of transport workers fiich is of tremendous im- portance -to- the struggles of the workers in gl-industries, but it is a key war industry. Unfortunately we must admit, that the capitalists have | @ better xeglization of the strategic importance..of this industry than the} revolutionaty*"labor movement.. For years the ¥otvy:ment has given heavy Subsidies to _the ship owners in an effort to“K@spthe industry fit bs movement has not yet grasped the-imporjgnce of supporting the work of thes Marine Workers Indus- cs We ‘must make the the “remaining period of ion prevarations one in not onty come to the sup- the national convention which is in iteolf a gpepy effort for ‘the union, { bit also ty -eiucate the membership ions, and the revolu- r*tmovement as a whoie logs. SuDPOrs to the work wr 's Industrial The Afigu-at Staglisht Park The wozkeysof Nef York will have occasion to some real support to the convettion by attending and bring others. to theevAnti-War Fes- livel ot Starlight PMvic on Sunday Afternoon the'25th of June at which in additionts~many Tmportant feat-! Earl~ Browder will sveak on fhe ,Situatiof in Germany andthe P, it War Situation. To a certain extent. the success of this af- fair will determine the success of the coming con¥ention of the union. To really maké this convention national in character, the union is confronted with transporting to and from the Sontvemtion: the delegates from the Coast, the Gulf (New Or- cs) Cs cveston, etc.) and other in- ediate. points. But not only the workers of New ‘York but the workers all over the country and-in the first place the ‘TUUL unions! and other sections of the» revolutionary labor movement must: support the union in Bringing the problehts'of the union before the workers, it{*thelping the union fin- ancially ir ofder to organize the con- vention carry on the increasing tasks of the union in the fight for the improvément of the conditions ef the marifie workers, Only UniowFighting for Marine Say Workers t Althoug™;!he Marine Workers In- dustrial Unic.has not yet become a big. mass organization it is the only organization~of the marine workers that defends their daily interests, that organizes the marine workers in struggle inst the shipowners. Since its organization in the sum- mer of 1930 the union has carried on many <iniportant struggles. Es- pecially inte past months the union’ has shown @ greater activity in Aight- ing for ‘the unemployed seamen that are thrown on the beaches and denied any relief from the city and state goverments. The union has led many militant demonstrations of the unemployed in all parts of the coun- try. It has Championed the cause of the unemployed seamen before the federal pore tnect before the Labor Department in Washington. It led demonstrations at the various sea- men’s institutes and won relief for the unemployed. In these struggles the union _has especially fought against the@iscrimination of Negro seamen and: foreign born. Led Important Ship Struggtes One of thesmost encouraging signs in the work"of the union are the beginnings -of> the development of strikes on the ships. Many ship struggles were led by the union in the past months. In many cases the demands of sthe seamen were won. ‘This, of course, has had its repercus- pened ey up the seamen on other One of the most important Meats was' conducted on the Point Gorda. This.struggle lasted for many weeks and was continued thru many ports. The. union has especially been successftil in gaining some foot- hold on the ships of the Munson line with the perspective oP Se argaei ‘mass strikes on this line, In the past 8 months “stout a dozen Bruges were developedon the Munson Line. The union while it has not yet suc- ceeded in deyeloping independent struggles of eth Jongshoremen has perucipated “in ‘many of the strikes the workers organized in the In- feenationsl” Longshoremen’s Assn. ‘These strikes were for the most part organized ove? the heads of the lead- ers. Our union stimulated the op- position to the bureaucrats, and gave ures Comrade 1 the lead to. workers, The work ‘among thi joremen remain however as ‘the weakest phase of the work of the union, Fight Agaixist: Imperialist War The Marine “Workers Industrial Union has been in the forefront in the struggle,y t imperialist war and for tite Mlefense of the Soviet ; ied a union in carrying thru} i | against the marine workers. Union, It made some beginning: | the fight for the stopping of muni- tion shipments, it gave support to the work in the colonial countries | especially in the Latin and South American countries. The union mo- bilized its forces against the Hitler- ites and in support of the German proletariat The union mobilized sup- port against Japanese imperialism and for the struggles of the Chinese peoples for emancipation. Marine Workers Voice One of the biggest achievements of | the union which was made possible only thru great sacrifices in the reg- ular publication of the official organ of the union—the Marine Workers Voice. This paper has to a certain extent become one of the most im- portant weapons of the marine work- ers in the fight against the ship owners. We can also record that it is one of the best papers published by the TUUL unions. The union also in the course of the last years pub- lished a number of important pam- phiets, and large quantities of leai- jets on numerous questions, Fight Against Reformist Leaders The union has taken the first steps in work within the ILA and ISU and| in exposing the Ryans and Furuseths who are openly allied with the ship owners and with the government But it must be admitted that this still re- mains a very weak phase of the work! of the union. The union as a whole has not yet grasped the fact that one of the prerequisites for the develop- | ment of the mass struggle of the sea- men and longshoremen is the build- ing of strong oppositions within the reformist controlled organizations, and the exposure of the role of the labor bureaucrats. The convention will devote much time to the discus- sion of this question. An effort is being made to secure fraternal de- legates from the A. F. of L. locals to the convention. Consolidation of the Union One of the principal tasks of the convention will be to consolidate the present positions of the union for the purpose of strengthening the strik- ing force of the union in the develop- ing struggles for the needs of the employed and unemployed seamen and longshoremen. As yet there is too much looseness in the organiza- tion. The financial policies of the union must be strengthened in the di- rection of building up a regular dues paying organization. Greater at- tention must be given to building the united front action committees on the ships and on the docks. The ship delegates system must be further de- veloped and made part of the very life of the union. The union has developed some excellent cadres in the course of the struggles it has conducted. They must be better trained and consolidated. Perspectives _ The union is establishing as its immediate perspective the develop- ment‘of mass struggles on the ships and docks among the unemployed and employed. One of the most es- sential problems that faces the union in the development of these strug- gles is the exposure cf the govern- inent role in general in this industry, and especially now the Industrial Recovery Bill, The problem of de- veloping the united front of the workers in the various unions and the unorganized is another key prob- Jem. Concentration which the union is attempting to carry thru must re- ceive more systematic attention. The problems of formulating demands, raising the most essential and vital issues of both the employed and un- ployed must received much of the at- tention of the convention, While it is true that there are numerous issues agitating the marine workers, such as workaways, pay- ment of wages on time, etc., the question of wapes hours, speed-up must be in the very center of the work of the union. While the union must develop its work with the per- spective of a fight for an agreement on a@ definite minimum wage and im- proved conditions, the first steps to achieve this require the carrying thru of individual, local, and com- pany struggles for the purpose of strengthening the organization, to build contacts, to lay the basis for @ gigantic national struggle which would inevitably be facing the union in its effort to carry thru such na- tional agreement. At present this can only be presented in the form of a goal. It can not become the im- it | mediate perspective of the union in such a way that it is counterposed to the immediate development of the local struggles. Again Support Again let me emphasize that it is necessary for the whole revolution- ary labor movement to become better acquainted with the work of the Marine Workers Industrial Union, to give more support in the building of the union. And especially in con- nection with the carrying thru of the convention which in the light of the deepening crisis, the whole interna- tional situation, places heavy respon- sibilities upon all of us. To take the situation in all its seriousness, cer- tainly we can not for a moment fail to appreciate the importance of work in this key war industry. | HATCHED! | By KARL RADEK The meaning of the speech which Mr. Norman Davis, the American representative, delivered on May 22 at the Geneva Disarmament Confer- ence, can be summed up briefly as follows: America does not undertake to.en- ter into war against the violators of peace agreements, but it pledges it- self not to offer any resistance to economic and political boycott against the aggressor, that is to say, it pledges itself to take part in such a boycott. of this declaration we must call to mind what President Wilson declared in December, 1914, some months after the outbreak of the world war: “We haye nothing to do with this war; its causes do not concern us.” The United States, after having taken part in the war which did not concern it, refused to put its signa- | ture to the Treaty of Versailles and kept out of the League of Nations in order not to be pledged to interfere }in European affairs. “The United States cannot subordinate its de- cisions to anybody standing higher than its own authority’—that was the main argument of the Senate. In the year 1930, at the Naval Disarma- ment Conference in London, when Stimson declared himself ready, pro- vided France supported the decisions, to take part in a consultative pact, he was openly disavowed by Hoover. And now the United States wishes to undertake to participate in an eco- nomic boycott against an attacking country! What are the causes of this change in American policy? U. S. Economic Interests Make for War. | In the comprehensive literature on the most recent history of America, we find almost nothing about the causes which led the United States to take part in the world war. The writers represent the matter as if America had been concerned about the fate of democracy, as if it en- tered the war as a protest against the inhuman manner in which Ger- many conducted submarine warfare. In reality, America’s decision to en- ter the war was determined by the fact that the British fleet had suc- ceeded in cutting Germany off from the American market. America’s powerful industry, developed still ;|further during the war, was working at full pressure for the Entente Pow- ers, When the Entente Powers had exhausted their stocks of gold, their foreign bills and their shares in American undértakings, they received huge credits from the American banks. When Germany had built so many submarines that it could com- mence to blockade England and France, the United States was faced with the alternative, either to take part in the war on the side of the Entente, or to lose the credits granted to England and France, to let industry come to a standstill, Le., to be involved in a tremendous eco- nomic crisis as the price for avoid- ing war. America’s Creditor Position. ‘The United States decided for war. It emerged from this war not only with a powerful industry, with a modern fleet, but also as a creditor nation, The petty-bourgeois masses, disappointed by the war, demanded that America should refuse to inter- fere any further in European af- fairs. Of course, this was not the reason why the American capitalists abandoned European politics. If the leaders of American finance capital succeeded in drawing Amer- ica into the war, they could also have drawn America into the League of Nations. The leaders of American finance capital thought, however, that they had got the whole world in their pockets and that they could dictate their conditions to it. They could not, however, submit to the decisions of a body in which Serbs, Czechs, Lithuanians, etc., also had a say, not to speak of Chile and Peru, which were the objects of Ameriean policy. Apart from the war debts, the various countries owe America 17,000 million dollars so- called commercial debts. Of this sum Europe owes dig te cece Can- ada 4,400 million, Sout America rage In order to judge the significance | Rizr Re---a15 America Intervening i in European Affairs 3,000 million, Central America about ;mands the guns. 3,000 millions and Australia 1,000 million, The United States did not abandon world politics, but it worked in the first place with the dollar, in the consciousness that the dollar is more powerful than guns, for it com- This also explains the reason why, before Japan's attack on China, the United States possessed a fleet which, proved to be inadequate. America did not carry out Wilson's naval pro- gram. At the Washington Confer- A Manual on the Policy of the United Front A Review of June Communist Reviewed by V. J. Jerome The problems in connection with the correct application of the united front tactic have brought sharply to the fore some of the most funda- mental Leninist principles of working class organization. Having as its central objective the winning of the toiling masses for the revolutionary struggle under the leadership of the Communist Party, the united front demands of us a clear grasp of Bol- shevik strategy and tactics. On the United Front Aptly, therefore, “The Communist” for June cevotes two important ar- ticles that deal spectfically with the question of the united front. In the first of these articles, “A Warning Against Opportunist Distortions of the United Front Tactic” by Com- rade Hathaway, the problem is lu- cidly presented to us in its two-fold aspect: the eagerness of the masses for the joint front of struggle, due to the deepening crisis, and the block- ing of maneuvers of the reformist Jéaders. For the further development of the united front, which carries with it the exposure of the mislead- ers, Comrade Hathaway points out, we must develop struggles around the day-to-day needs of all toilers, which means that our main work for the building of the united front must necessarily be in the factories, in the trade unions, and among the unem~- ployed. Comrade Hathaway takes up specific instances of recent date that demonstrate the open and wily sabo- tage of the Old Guard and the self- styled militants in the Socialist Party leadership. He points out our frequent unreadiness to react with revolutionary strategy to these trick- sters—an unreadiness that constitutes a Right danger, the main danger in our united front activity. He cites, too, a number of typical “Left” er- rors, which lead essentially to the same results—the separation of our Party from the masses. In the second of the aforemen- tioned articles, “The Communist Parties of the Capitalist Countries in the Struggle for the United Front,” by Comrade Piatnitsky, the united front problems are set forth in their international aspect. After showing conclusively that efforts at establishing a fighting united front are not a new policy of the Com- munist International and the Red In- ternatfonal of Labor Unions, but were put forward by them as early as 1922, Comrade Piatnitsky cites vari- ous instances that demonstrate only too clearly the obstructionist policy of the reformist bureaucrats. He brings evidence after evidence to show how the pressure of the ranks from below compelled the leadership in the parties and unions of the Second and Amsterdam Internation- als to make united front declara- tions, which invariably turned out to be demagogic gestures followed by roundabout maneuvers to keep the working-class masses from entering into a joint front against the capi- talist enemy. Comrade Piatnitsky's article is a crushing indictment of the splitting tactics of the Second International and Reformist union leaderships, ‘The editorial, entitled “The Rising Strike Movement,” analyzes the main peo that have given rise to the ading strike movement in the United States, Tt discusses the spe cific features of the current strikes— the large proportion of spontaneous strikes, the advancing strike-leader- ship of the T.U.U.L. unions, and, as the outstanding characteristic, the victorious outcome of the great ma- jority of the strikes. The editorial shows against. the revolutionary leadership of the Trade Union Unity League the reactionary leadership of the American Federation of Labor and the Socialist Party. It shows the strike-breaking role of the govern- ment in its use of military and police force, in its labor departments for conciliation, and, finally, in its fas- cist-featured National Industrial Re- covery Bill (although, it should be stated in criticism, the current issue of “The Communist” contains no ar- ticle that specifically takes to task the Roosevelt hunger program). Of particular importance is the Resolution of the Political Buro, “The Scottsboro Struggle and the Next Steps.” A new stage, the Resolution Points out, has been reached in the liberation struggle of the Negro masses: the ground has been pre- pared for the Negro masses to assert themselves as “an active political force independent of the bourgecis political parties.” Accompanying this manifestation, in logical consequence, is the noticeable struggle of the Ne- gro proletariat for leadership within the Negro movement. The Resolution analyzes our united front tactics in the course of the Scottsboro struggle and draws at- tention, through telling examples, to the Right (the main) danger in our application of the basically correct Party line of the united front, The Right errors, as well as the “Left” opportunist mistakes, the Resolution correctly points out, reflect, besides general sectarianism, a lack of clarity on the Leninist teachings on the na- tional question—a lack calling for incessant enlightenment and relent- less correction. The rising militancy of the Ameri- can farmers is represented in an in- formative analytical article by Com- rade Puro. “The Ciass Struggle in the American Countryside,” — a survey of the recent militant mass struggles of the American farmers. Excellent is the article of Comrade R. Martinez Villena, “The Rise of the Revolutionary Movement in Cuba.” Besides evidencing a wide- range knowledge of the Cuban situa- tion and of an ability to view that situation as a clear Leninist, Com- rade Villena is gifted with a prose style that is refreshing. (Incidentally, the translation deserves to be com- mended.) As an extension of the Marx Mem- orial Campaign there has been in- cluded in this issue of “The Commu- nist” a reprint of the valuable In- troduction by the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute to the new edition of Karl Marx's “Critique of the Gotha Pro- gram,” recently published in English by International Publishers. In addition t! current issue con- tains Jan Relling’s very useful ar- ticle, “The Political Connections of the International Armament Firms” and the concluding section of Com- rade Olgin’s thoroughgoing and in- structive review of the two new Lenin volumes, “Towards the Seizure of Power,” which, incidentally, era Olgin translated from the ence in 1922, America obtained the right to possess the same strength |in ships of the line as England, At he London Conference in the year | 1930, the same right was extended to ex rs. As a matter of fact the strength of the American fleet at the present time is somewhere he- tween 60 and 70 per cent of the | British, In Washington the United} States, through the pressure of the} | dollar, succeeded in dissolving the} | Anglo-Japanese alliance. America| | Was convinced that, through the fur-| | ther pressure of the dollar, in the} janes of the debts, it would in- duce .England to act together with| lit in the Far East. It had such con-! | fidence in the dollar that it ne- | glected to develop naval bases in the| 8 |Pacific Ocean, America’s naval] |power did» not extend beyond the| | Hawaiian Islands; what lay beyond} | was delivered over to the attacks of Japan. America’s omissions in re- gard to naval armaments are not to be attributed to any pacifist illu- sions, but to unbounded confidence} in the power of the dollar. So long as China was an open door for all capitalisis, the inde- pendence of China meant dependence | upon the dollar, as everything was dependent upon the dollar at that | time. When, however, the dollar feil| sick, Japan annexed Manchuria.) When America declared that Japan's action had rendered the Washington Agreement invs and that it would | now arm in the Far East, it was| already too late. Of what use was | it that the Angio-Japanese alliance had been dissolved. England avoid-| ed t action with the United | States; it would demand a high) price for doing so. Trusting in its financial power, America invested huge sums in Eu- rope. In Germany alone it has in- vested 4,200 million, in long-term} loans, in addition to the millions of short-term loans, and not calculat- ing the sums invested in shares. The United States thought: France can |rattle the sabre, we will rattle the gold. America did not foresee the consequences of a crisis, the impossi- bility of creating markets for the rationalized German industry; nor | did it realize that vast masses of the petty bourgeoisie would be mobilized under the flag of nationalism. America is now trembling lest the warlike collisions which are possible in Europe should endanger its huge capital investments. The United States 1s fighting on two fronts: against Japan, which prevents its expansion in Asia, and | competing against it in South Amer- ica. In a war with England the| United States could only rely on} France, but on the other hand, ow-| ing to its investments in Germany, | it has to oppose France, U.S. Drawn Into European Conflicts. | In this situation, therefore, Amer- ica is foreed to abandon its attitude of proud reserve and interfere in’ European affairs in order, as far as possible, to protect its interests. Therefore America need the League of Nations to adopt decisions which are directed against Japan, namely, not to, recognize Manchukuo, whereby very little was achieved. It wishes now to set up an authorita- tive body to which one can appeal in the event of an aggression, includ- ing an act of aggression on the part of Japan. Negotiations are going on behind the scenes regarding neutral- ity and boycott. Germany is to leave France in peace and France is to leave Germany in peace. The debts to America are not to be en- dangered. It is probable, however, that America hopes in these nego- tiations to achieve something against Japan. NAVY APPROVES NEW DIRIGIBLE WASHINGTON, June 16. — The special trial board observing the test flights: of the Macon, sister ship of the dirigible Akron, that fell into the ocean, has recommended its accept- ance by the navy. The ship has only taken the air in fair weather and at no time has been subjected to tests in weather such as brought the THE STRIKEBREAKING FORERUNNERS OF THE RECOVERY BICL ew Bill Modeled on War Labor Board and Protocol of 1910 By HY KRAVIF. ARTICLE I There is nothing startling new in| the anti-working-class sec | National Recovery Act. They are, fact a 1933 version of the fa: Protocol of 1910 drawn up by the| 2ne language and the tho meee Supreme Cou t dustlce Louls| tet which ee ee . Brandies for the cloak and suit are these contentions when it | jor of the bosses, they say, are “reputable” and “want to be fair” to he workers, it is only a few that are disreputable, that are “unfair com~- titors” and who are to blame for |the low level of the workers’ wage: jin September, against England which is keenly| ® industry and the War Labor Board of 1918. While the Protocol of 1910 was confined to one industry alone the War Labor Board just as present Roosevelt Act extended its control over all industries and foist- ed upon the workers anti-labor meas- | ures which were to be enforced by the power of the Federal Goverr ment. Recovery Act—A War Measure That the Roosevelt Act was or- ganized along the line of the Labor Board to function as an ir strument for conduct of war was ad- mitted by Senator Wagner at the Senate hearings on the bill when he said “We had the same sort of power during the war.” Similarly Secretary of the Inte’ Ickes, de- clared that the oil Should be passed because “Oil is necessary to us in times of peace and essential to us in times of war.” Roosevelt himself was a member of the War Labor Policies Board as a representative of the Navy Depart- ment and sat on the Committee of Labor Adjustment together with Louis Howe, his present socretary. istrators of the Recovery Act were connected with the former War In- dustries Board and helped to draft the present act, in fact, Bernard M: Baruch, Wall Street financier, the “brains” behind the Recovery Plan was chairman of this board. “Protocol” Class Collaboration Measure Old time needle trades workers who recall the Protocol established 1910, in New York City’s cloak and suit industry remem- {ber clearly the trickery involved in jthe plan which was the basis of the agreement signed by the Joint Board {of Cloak and Skirt Makers Unions and the Cloak, Suit, and Skirt Man- ufacturers Protective Association. The Protocol came after the first big he- action to keep this growing force in check. And this is how they did it. They set up a Grievance Board, a | Board of Arbitration and a Joint Board of Sanitation on which unions and manufacturers were represented and the so-called “public, tablished the class collabora chinery. No Right to Strike Julius Henry Cohen who acted as lawyer for the manufactu 0 elation and an impor {the execution of the Protocol jed its effects in a book published i 1918 called Law and Order in Tadéa- try and listed among the gains to| the employers therfact that the gen- | eral strike had been eliminated. In| other words the right to strike was |given up as long as the protocol was \in force. The most powerful econo- mic weapon which the workers held, the right to strike, had been for- felted, Charles H. Winslow, in recounting the “Limitations Imposed by the Pro- tocol Upon the Unions” in a govern- ernment pamphlet pointed out Protocol served as an instrument in forcing the union to assume control and discipline of the workers in the shop. “Formerly the spirit prevail- ing in a shop,” he writes, “sometimes made it impossible for an employer to control his men without risking serious loss involved in a strike or lockout but now under such circum- stances the union is bound to main-| tain order.” And Cohen emphasized this approvingly when he wrote that} “the strong power of the workers’ or- ganization must be welded into some sort of a police department for the There is only one way in It industry.” which to describe such a plan. meant enslavement—enslavement the workers and their organizations) to the capitalists. How closely this approximates the anti-working class sections of the| Roosevelt Act is seen from the fact that the Recovery Act says nothing} about the right of the workers to jstrike. At the hearings, when this} question was put to Donald Richberg, one of the authors of the Act who is now officially part of the Admin- istration to carry out its purposes, he evaded the question. Enforcing “Discipline” This “labor” lawyer refused to acknowledge the workers’ request to strike. press his opinion as to what would happen if the workers asked for higher wages and threatened to strike under the Act, the labor lawyer an- swered, “You may not expect to find broken contracts with responsible la- bor organizations.” What does this mean? It means that the A. F. of L. officialdom, which is to carry out the dictates of the government, will “live up to the contract,” and that the workers will be forced to do so no matter what the provocation. As in the case of the working of the Protocol, the A. F. of L. bureaucracy would enforce that discipline and or- der which would result in virtual en- slayement for the workers. Under the Protocol which has as its basic purpose the consolidation of the organization of the clothing and garment manufacturers to absorb or drive out the sweatshops and at the Akron down into the stormy waters of the Atlantic. the workers, much was made of the arguments we hear today. The ma- through the U I the! dustry: bill | Many of the present leading admin-! roic struggle of 60,000 needle workers | whieh challenged the bosses to some | hich es-{ n the; of} Finally, when pressed to ex-| same time keep a firm hand over lized that the employers who | employ the majority of the employ- Jers, these so-called “reputable” — are such firms as the U. 8. | Stecl, the General Electric, the Am- jerican Telephone and Telegraph, | General Motors, Ford, and a host of other companies. It is these large | exploiters of labor who are the most | vicious in their anti-labor ’ policies. | But it is because these employers_may |vely on the Roosevelt government jand the A. F. of L. “leaders” to im- post their own company union pol- licies on the workers, that they igi |the most outstanding supporters of the Roosevelt Recovery Act. Right of “Collective Bargaining” On Paper | The right of “collective bargaining” which the A. F, of L. officials hail as assuring the right to organize has been confirmed so many times be- fore on paper, although never carried out in practice, that it is meaning- less, unless the workers themselves fight to enforce it. For example, the National War Labor Board also said: “The right of the workers to organize in trade unions and to bargain col- lectively through chosen representa- tives, is recognized and affirmed.” Almost identical is the language of the Roosevelt Act! Yet arbitration was substituted during the war per- iod and workers who revolted ‘were | savagely attacked by the armed forces of the government. Just so, under the Protocol of 1910, “collective bar- gaining” was used for class collabor- ation. John L. Lewis, President of. the | United Mine Workers assured. the employers at the Senate hearings that they “need not be alarmed .. . there is nothing in Section 7 that will destroy the company union as it now exists in any plant.” Defend- ing the provisions in Section 7, he said, “If the employees of that plant want to remain members of the com- pany union, all there is in it, is that he Bethlehem Steel Company can- ot, as a condition of employment, force those join a com- pany union or disc ge them or pesitee them, if they refuse to do | This labor misleader did not. even attempt to oppose company unions. a? Ae tried to persuade the em- | plo ef» that precisely because com- | pany unions would be permitted to | exist under the Act, the bosses should jbe for it. In our next article, we {shall see how the Roosevelt Act. fol- lows closely the plan of the 1910 Pro- col on the issue of the closed union | shop. Gov’tCost Data Is Basis for Hunger Wages | The Roosevelt government is say- ing a great deat about the minimum | wage which will be established ‘when the Recovery Act goes into effect. It | as been announced “cost of living’ figures are now being studied for | this purpose. How these figures will | be used to set the lowest is revealed in an article appearing in the Rail- |road Trainman, a Railroad Brother- hood Journal, by Ethelbert Stewart, former head of the U. S. Bureau of | Labor Statistics. Stewart, a staunch supporter of the capitalist system, | protested against the lying reports jof the Hoover government which | underestimated the number of un- | employed and was dismissed from a hatin job he had held for 15 ears, “Cost of Living” Figures No Standard | Denouncing the use of cost of lix- | ing figures to cht wages as a “crime, a.fraud and an outrage, Stew§rt shows that the present cost of a figures furnished by the it were prepared in 1918 on the basis of a study made in 92 industrial centers. Over 12,000 workers’ families were studied at that time. But*says Stewart: “The study never said nor meant to indicate that the conditions it found were to be set up as a stan- dard or to be considered even nor- mal, mech less ideal. The Burean's prices are the present prices of things it found in the homes of working men’s families in 1918 ... As a matter of fact the stan- dards of living and social levels have very materially changed since 1918.” Measurement of wages by the cost of living standard, says Stewart, ts based on the theory that “wages must be the lowest amount upon which a worker can live and repro- duce another worker to take bia guace place when his life ended or his power was exhausted.” But what the workers must realize is that this-con- dition will not be changed as Stew- art seems to imply through of the capitalists and the that they will share their profits with the workers. Only to the extent 1 he workers struggle will they to force a their wage National ae li