The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 15, 1933, Page 3

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1933 Our Trade Union Work and _ Misleader of Die the Recruiting Drive Figures Districts Do Not Try | te to Get Union Members Into the Party ARTICLE i. By K& EDWARDS Dee ee erick we ane (at criticiam of the carrying out of the | Party aisha. Were furnished by overcome them. Letter and the decisions the i7th plenum of the Central Committee seriously emphasized the necessity of building up and develop- ing systematic daily work of party fractions in the revolutionary trade unions and systematic work in the reformist trade unions. Undoubtedly, the figures showing the recruiting of members of revolutionary and of re- formist unions into the Party are @ certain gauge for our trade union work. Certainly not the only one; but everybody will agree that the more actively and persistently the Communists work in the T.U.UL. unions and in the reformist unions, the better they build up the frac- tions, the more systematically they develop a broad opposition movement in the reformist trade unions, the more successful will be the recruiting of workers from. the revolutionary and from the reformist unions for the Party. From this point of view a us investigate the Party recruit- of the five concentration districts for the last five weeks. No Fractions in Unions In Cleyeland, 87 members were won for the Party during this period, among them two A. F. of L. workers and no worker from revolutionary trade unions. What do these figures show? In spite of all decisions we cannot see any beginning of work in the reformist unions. The absolute separation of Party and trade union work, in the sense that a few com- Tades work in the leadership of the revolutionary trade unions, while no attempts are made to build up frac- tions in these unions, apparently con- tinues to exist. These weaknesses were acknowledged at the last dis- trict plenum. But the above-men- toned figures do nct yet show the vf | Peenrtaii hte state of affairs. New York; During the same period | 512 new members were recruited in New York, 163 of these were mem~ bers of T.U.U.L. unions and 84 mem- ;members were organized in trade unions, and 16 per cent of these in reformist trade unions, | We all know that really functioning | fractions in the T.U.U.L. organiza- | tions hardly exist. And we know jalso that we have only started to develop systematic work in the re- formist trade unions. But already the very first steps which the New York cistrict took in this direction, are refiected in the above recruiting figures, Detroit: Of 61 new members, 13 were organized in the revolutionary trade unions and exactly three in the reformist unions, These figures ab- solutely confirm the correctness of the self-criticism which the district plenum about five weeks ago made of its activity, But unfortunately, these figures do not yet show that this self - criticism has already brought about positive results during these five weeks. Pittsburgh: 55 new Party members were recruited during the past five weeks, among these 29 from the revo- lutionary trade unions. This is rela- tively not a bad percentage, but the absolute number of new members is so shockingly small that not much can be done with this good percent- age. But how about the A. F. of L., where we deal mainly with miners, with the development of the opposi- tion in the U.M.W.A.? During the whole five weeks the district recruit- ed one A. F. of L. worker, a steel worker into the party; but not a single miner from the United Mine Workers! This seems so incredible that we might doubt the correctness of these figures. But these are the figures, black on white, furnished by the district itself. If the district it- self had analyzed its figures it would undoubtedly be alarmed. Chicago: Of the 170 new Party members, 26 were organized in revo- lutionary trade unions and 22 tn reformist trade unions. These also reflect the continuing big weakness of our trade union work in Chicago, the non-existence of systematic frac- tion work, although during the last CAMP NIT Beacon, N. Y. The Only Workers’ Camp Open All Year HOTEL WITH 60 ROOMS Siam Heat, Hot and Cold Munning Water in Each Room, Wholesome Food, Sports, Cultural Activities Best Place to Rest Price: $14.00 Per Wee! Private cars leave daily at 10:30 a.m. from the Cooperative Restaurant, 2700 Bronx Park East Estabrook 8-5141 GED AIGET Phone: Beacon 731 Ie (Gncluding press tax) 6th ANNIV. CANTON COMMUNE "RED CHIN A” A realistic play of Chinese revolution acted by a Chinese cast NBGRO JAZZ ORCH.—FLOOR SHOW—DANCE Chinese Refreshments at Proletarian Prices Sunday, Dec. 17 at 6:30 p. m. Program starts 8 p. m, sharp IRVING PLAZA Tickets: 356 om sale at door: 45¢ IRVING PL. and 15th ST. at Worker? Book Shop 50 E. 13th ST. Auspices: Chinese Vanguard First Anniversary of L’UNITA’ Drama — Chorus — — Spaghetti — OPERAIA Ballet — Dance Refreshment — SUNDAY, DEC. 17, 8 P. M. to1 A. M. STUYVESANT CASINO 140-142 SECOND AVE., N. Y. C. Admission 30c, at the Door 35¢ CHICAGO SUNDAY, December 24th (Christmas Eve) THE DANCE OF THE SEASON! RED PRESS BALL DAILY WORKER : MORNING FREIHEIT Tae (Ballroom) 15th care & Wabash Ave. + YOUNG WORKER ADMISSION age bea 300 SE ESE El Ni Bat SR MORNING SATURDAY December 16th COLORLITE DANCING To be gotten—Freiheit Office 8951 12th Street FREIHEIT MASQUERADE BALL ar FT. WAYNE HOTEL Temple at Cass Prizes for the Most Original Masks these LARGE ORCHESTRA Tickets at the door 35¢ In Advance 25e | bers of reformist unions. That means | |that about 50 per cent of the new) —* of overcoming such an| Still Fail to Develop Union Fractions and Opposition Groups few weeks the district has begun to take up this question practically. Small Number of Union Members What is the total result for the last flve weeks recruiting in the five | concentration districts as far as the trade union membership of new mem~ bers is concerned? Of altogether 884 new members, about 360 (39 per cent) were organ- ized in trade unions. This percent- age is absolutely and relatively too small: 248 workers (27 per cent) were members of revolutionary trade unions, 112 (12 per cent) were mem- bers of reformist unions. From these figures the following conclusions must be drawn: 1. There is not yet a decisive turn in the question of regular function- ing of Communist fractions in the revolutionary trade unions. This is a big danger, because without a sys- tematic and correct functioning of the Communist fractions in the rev- olutionary trade unions we will not strengthen and broaden these unions. This causes the danger that, as we have frequently seen in the past, the revolutionary trade unions cannot face all difficulties and after a period of progress, suffer serious setbacks. 2. The beginning of systematic opposition work in the reformist trade unions, which is of tremendous importance, especially in the present situation, progresses very slowly and irregularly. Cleveland, for instance, practically ignored the Party deci- sions on this question, until now. A number of successes in this work in other districts during the last few weeks, shows the great possibilities for success. What conclusions must the Party. draw from this for the present re- cruiting campaign? This campaign. must be utilized in order to over~ come our weaknesses and strength- en our influence in the reformist trade unions as well as improve the. work in the revolutionary trade unions. The leadership must convince every Communist who can join a trade union, to join one and must at the same time, multiply ten-fold our ef- forts to make Communists the best workers in the reformist and in the revolutionary trade unions. Force School to Open Basement to Childcen CHICAGO.—The basement of Doo- little School at 35th and Vincennes Sts, is now being kept open at eight o’clock so that the children can keep warm until the bell rings at ten min- utes to nine, as a result of action taken by the Neighborhood Commit- for free hot lunches, shoes and win- ter clothing for children of jobless parents. National Events Ward to Give Three Talks On Soviet Union Dr. Harry F. Ward, head of Union Theological Seminary and author of “In Place of Profit,” who has travelled in the Soviet Union, will speak on “What We Can Learn from the Soviet Union,” in three meetings at the fol- lowing places; Tonight—New Haven, Conn., Little ' Art Semina, 3814 Howe St, Saturday—Boston, 100 Arlington St. Sunday—Providence, Swedish Work- ers Hall, 59 Chestnut St, All the meetings are held under the auspices of the Friends of the Soviet Union and will start at 8 p. m. Rush Your Order for 24-Page Anniversary Daily Worker! tee. This committee will fight next | Makers Strike Is Exposed in Debate \Can’t Defend His Role As Strikebreaker So Atiacks Reds DETROIT, Mich—Matthew Smith, secretary of the Mechanics Educa- tional Society and leader of the re- cent historic strike of 17,000 tool and diemakers, revealed his true colors on Sunday, when in a debate with John Schmies, dist: organizer of the Communist Party, he indulged n @ red-baiting tirade against the Party that would have put to shame Matthew Woll, Ham Fish and other professional Red-hounds, The debate, held at the Deutsches Haus, 8200 Mack Ave., was supposedly on the subject: “Resolved, That the Tactics Used in the Tool and Die- makers’ Strike Were Correct,” with Smith taking the affirmative and Schmies the negative, Actually, how- ever, Smith said almost nothing about the tactics, but immediately Jaunched into a virulent attack on the Communist Party. The attack was particularly significant in view of the fact that throughout the strike Smith succeeded in deluding; many militant workers into thinking he was a real radical because of his “revolutionary” talk. Smith was not particularly original in his attack; he repeated the old slanders of the capitalist. press that Communists go into strikes not for the purpose of improving the condi- tions of the workers, but in order to create “mass psychology for revo- lution”; also that Phil Raymond, sec- retary of the militant Auto Workers’ Union, had advocated provoking the police into clubbing women and chil- dren on the pciket lines. In the course of his tirade Smith made vicious personal attacks on rank and file members of his union who are also members of the Party, mention- ing them by name. He also serene the N. R. A., declaring it ha ished child labor. In opening his reply, Schmies pointed out that Smith had failed to discuss the tactics of the strike, but instead had used the debate in order to inform the police who the Communists in the Mechanics Edu- cational Society are. He laid bare Smith’s true role as a bitter opponent of rank and file control of the strike and the M. FE. S., a bureaucratic in- triguer and defender of the N. R. A. He exposed the strikebreaking char- acter of the N. R. A. and showed what Communists were doing in the Soviet Union and what they are do- ing in the struggles in this country. He called on the tool and diemakers | to defeat the misleaders and to join with the production workers in build- \ ing an industrial union on a united front basis. Instal Delegates to T. U.U.C. at Mass Meeting Tonight All Workers Invited, to Attend! to Pick New Officers NEW YORK.—Newly elected dele- gates to the Trade Union Unity Council will be installed Friday at a mass meeting to be held at Manhat- tan Lyceum, 66 East Fourth St., at 7:30 p. m, All workers are invited to attend this meeting. The delegates will be installed by a representative of the national bu- reau of the Trade Union Unity Coun- cil and representatives of the leading unions in New York City. The order of business will include @ discussion of the constitution of the T.U.U.C., a report of the past six months, and the. election of an executive board and officers, The T.U.U.C. is the central body of the militant unions of New York City. Nine Children Dead in Bus Crash CRESCENT CITY, Fla., Dec. 14— Nine children were killed and forty were injured when a bus taking them to school was smsshed by a locome tive at a crossing.. It is said that every occupant of the bus, which holds fifty, were hurt or injured. News Briefs Baby Found Dead in Swamp NEW YORK, Dec. 14.—An eight months old baby was found dead in @ swamp in Staten Island. It was) reported the bi had died of pois oning. Elsie Smith, alleged to be the mother, is being held. Bank Robbers Get “$100, po CHICAGO, Dec. 14.—A seven thugs held up the Unity Sav- ings Bank in broad daylight today and escaped with $100,000 taken from safe deposit vaults. They hada in a car outside the bank would have informed them of police calls. Slaying NEW YORK, Dec. 14—Mrs. Margie Crichock, found strangled yesterday in her apartment, was the victim of ® Trevenge slaying, police said today. A year ago she gave information leading to the arrest of two men in @ murder a. PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Dec. 14.—The Lindberghs left here for Porto Rico this morning, a distance of 760 mil Air Mail Plane and Pilot Missing CHARLOTTE, N. ©., Dee, 14.—A mail plane and its pilot were reported missing by the Eastern Air Transport Officials today. He was due two days ago Spanish Tanker Sinks BUCHAREST, Dec. 14—The Span- ish tanker, Zarofa, sank in a violent storm on the Black Sea. None of the crew was saved. any |i Lindberghs Off to Puerto Rico H Line to Frame Up 8 Striking Seamen Directs His Attack! Against Communist | Leader they refuse: cent of th them to coll on strike for their b made the victims of y engineered Woman Strangled in Revenge | ™ own, While King 3s being questioned by the police , Goodman, a “Red Squad” ed the courtroom and whis~ pered to the ser; “He’s a mem- ber of the Comm: t Party.” J line of questioni chi anged, the judge’ “impartiality hed. At the con- rial, no sooner was the out of the prosecutor's ‘and imposed a fine of $20 on each. After trying for half an hour to get the to make up the bondsman’s the I.L.D. representative was told that the case was not over yet! The judge once more came into the courtroom, and two new actors a peared on the scene: a lawyer for the an associate of m attorney “respectfully ” a motion—to the effect that the “whole trouble” was caused by King, that the seamen would be taken care of by the associate of Mr. Lowrance, and that therefore he pro- posed that the sentences of the de- Pittsburgh to Hold =| Scottsboro Parade Workers Unite to Hit Lynch Verdicts PITTSBURGH, Pa., Dec.12.—Pre- parations for the huge Scottsboro parade to be held in here, Saturday, Dec. 16, are going forward with all working class orgar!zations in Pitts- burgh and surrounding cities and boroughs, co-operating to make this the most important afd most im- pressive demonstration of its kind ever held in Pittsburgh. The Unemployed Councils of Al- legheny County, the League of Strug- gle for Negro Rights, and other or- Banizations have set up special com- mittees to insure a complete mobi- lization for the parade. The parade at its terminating point will march into Greenlee Field at 2400 Bedford Ave. where a huge mass meeting will be held with Prominent speakers representing various organizations co-operating in the Scottsboro defense and in the struggle for Negro rights. | On the evening of Saturday, Dec. 16, following the parade, “there will be & huge Scottsboro ball held in the Labor Lyceum, 35 Miller St. Small Home Owner to Be Evicted Today in Mineola, Long Island NEW YORK.—The complete failure of the N. R. A., the Federal Home Loan Act and the New York State Mortagge Relief Bill to protect the worker will be show today at Mineola, L. I, when the family of Waclaw Wisnieski is evicted from its modest home, The mortgagee vefused the phoney Government bonds and says “We want the cash or the house.” Wisnieski bought the house in 1923, | paying $2,400 cash and giving a mort- gage of $2,000. He now owes $190 in taxes and interest, and because he is unemployed will lose everything. The family is in dispair. Mrs, Wisnieski has been bed ridden for four years, one daughter is a cripple and the other is, like her father, unemnloyed. The Workers Ex-service Men League and the Unemployed Councils have interested themselves in the ease and will be present at the eviction that is to take place at ten clock today. All comrades in the vicinity are w'ged to gather at the premises, fendants—with the exception of King —be suspended. The judge declared that a lawyer (Lowrance) was en- titled to a “reasonable fee,” piously ressing the hope that the men got} prceiere tar es ftting that| decisive sections of the steel and|© their money, and after admitting that ie crew had had a perfect right to {fire the 20 per cent lawyer, granted the motion. However, the strike has had the ef- fect of tying up the Munrio for a day and a half, the skipper is unable to get a crew in Boston due to the ef- forts of the M.W.I.U., which led the strike. Pontiac Auto Auto Union Led by Socialists Will Have . Delegates at United Front Meet in Detroit DETROIT, Mich.—The Chamber of Labor of Pontiac, X » & union of auto workers under socialist leader- ship, is sending delegates to the big United Front Auto Workers Confer- ence Sunday, Dec. 17, at 10 am. in Finnish Hall, 5969 14th St., near Mc- Graw. This union was formerly Federation of Auto- and was organized about a half y ago. The United Front Conference has | been calied by the Auto Workers Union for the purpose of preparing @ united struggle against wage cuts, speed up and mass layoffs, and for relief and unemployment insurance. It is called at a time when produc- tion in the auto industry is lower then it was at this and unemployme:¢; greater than last year, with the manufacturers them- Selves admitting that they do not ex- pect any substantial pick up until the end of January or beginning of known as the Automobile chanics Educational occtet w., other Mi , the LW. the Unemployed Seaie and unemployed organizations, workers’ fraternal organizations, and shops and neighborhood groups are Fraternal ufged to send delegates. organization se s de! the first term men additional ten or thereof. fraction major Amalgamate Shoe Unions on Line of Class Struggle, T. U. U. L. Urges National Committee’s Convention Urges Rank and File Shoe Workers to Form Own Union NEW YORK.—The Trade Union Unity League, through its national of- fice, has issued a letter to all dele- gates now at the Shoe Amalgama- tion Convention in Boston outlining ts toward the building of a the convention—a in convention Boston. The Shoe and Leather Industrial Union, affiliated T.U.U.L., has decided to be- part of the movement to build fighting union of the shoe e letter declares, The letter states that the wage cuts contained in the arbitration award, the new layoffs, the growing strike- breaking activity of the N.R.A, and government, has taken place in all industries as well as the shoe in- pe conditions and against the at- tempts of the A. F. of L. and other labor bureaucrats, to deliver the shoe workers to the mercy of the em- ployers. These bureaucrats, who par- [ero in the convention because of the pressure of the renk and file, are ¥ Letter to the Boston! now trying to sabotage the move for unity, and divert the convention away from struggle and into the Boot and Shoe Union (A. F. of L.), What Kind of Uinon? The letter, discussing what kind of @ union should be built, then con- tinues, in part: “In the first place the new or- ganization must be based squarely on the principle of the irreconcilable class struggle of the workers against the bosses. Any attempt to base the union on the principle of class col- Jaboration would make out of the union a new Boot and Shoe Union no matter what the name or label that the union would adopt, The union must declare itself against any attempt of the N. R. A. or any other agency to direct the life of the organization in any form. It must declare itself against any of the union representatives becoming part of the N, R. A, machinery which is being used to break the strikes, to worsen the conditions of the work- ers. To demand, like William Green does, representation on the N. R. A. boards, is like demanding represen- tation on a committee of scabs and Pinkertons during a strike. The union must declare itself definitely against compulsory arbitration in any form and for the UNCONDITIONAL RIGHT TO STRIKE, at any time and for any reason decided upon by the membership of the union. Rank and File, Industrial Union “If the new organization is to be able to meet the attacks of the em-~- ployers, who are strongly organized, it must be an all inclusive INDUS- ‘TRIAL UNION. This means that it must take in all workers connected with the shoe and leather industry. It means that the workers in @ shop must be united in a local, irrespec- tive of craft. “The new organization must guar- antee real democracy to the rank and file. This requires that we set up the system of delegates from all shops in a given city as the leading body uniting the rank and file and expressing their will. “It is necessary that the dues and initiations be low enough to make it possible for every worker in the industry to belong to the union; that the salaries of the officials shall he limited to the average wages of the workers in the industry; that toe leadership shall be at all times under the strictest control of the workers in the shops. Misleaders Would Send Unions to A. F. of L, “Naturally those workers should be elected to leadership at the conven- tion who have fully demonstrated their capacity and loyalty to fight for such a program, All those who at this late hour give the pledge to carry out this policy can not be trusted if refer not to the rank and file work- ers but primarily to the old leaders who have exposed themselves in the past. “The union in our opinion should at all times show its readiness to co- operate and struggle jointly with all workers including those that for the present still remain organized in the Boot and Shoe Union. But the union should avoid and resist all efforts that would drag it back into the American Federation of Labor. The new union will not be able to grow, will not be able to win the unorgan- ized and the workers still in the Boot and Shoe if it im any way flirts with the idea of affiliation to the A. F. of L. The majority of the workers represented at the convention are against such affiliation. We know that there are elements who are working underground to lay the basis either at the convention or after the convention to drag the union into the A. F, of L. “There are leaders, among them Zimmerman, who belongs to a politi- cal tendency (Lovestone) which in its publication stated categorically that there is no room for any organiza- tion outside of the A. F. of L. in this they take a position no differ- ent from William Green, who has declared that the A. F. of L. will not permit the existence of any unions outside of the A. F. of L. “In the last year while the A. F. of L, has enrolled some 500,000 workers, the A, F. of L, unions at the same time recorded a loss of over 400,000 of the old members, And at the same time the T.U.U.L, unions have grown |Small F armers Caught Join in Conference time last year) Judge Aids Munson' A A A Has Added to Farmer’s Wallace ing Price | e tariff r qua to enter tt cept a co: 8s of its fore to permit 8} 1e of imports or it must ac- and permanent Secretary A. Wallace de- port to Presi- if that were | es Roosevelt, Steel Union Nat'l Executive Meets in| Pittsburgh Sunday, Plan Future Work and| Calling of Union Convention | PITTSBURGH, Pa, Dec. l4— Members of the National Executive Committee of the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union will meet in Pittsburgh from all districts of the unfon on Saturday and Sun- day, Dec. 16 and 17. Aside from members of the committee there will be delegates present from the mills and shops representing many metal industry. The National Executive Commit- tee hes been call led into Pittsburgh to review the a ity of the or- | ganization during the past months and to plan for the Sec- ond National Convention, scheduled for Pittsburgh next February. Since the last meeting of the National Executive Committee of the union, the organization has grown tremendously, having led and won some of the outstanding struggles of the workers in steel | d metal, and having gained rec- | ognition and prestige among tens of thousands of workers in the mills and shops nationally, All committee members and rep- resentatives of locals and groups | to the N.EC. meeting are to report to the National Office of the S.M.W.1I.U, upon arriving in Pitts- burgh, Steel Trust’s Hand Seen in Rushing of | Ambridge Trials PITTSBURGH, Pa., Deo, 14—The Beaver County district attorney, after agreeing to postpone the Am- bridge steel strike case trials, sud- denly yesterday demanded that the trials proceed at once in the County Court today. Three strikers and one woman sympathizer were charged with “incit- ing to riot, assault and battery, mis- chief and disorderly conduct.” The workers were arrested aftdr the steel trust gunmen in the early part of last October murdered pick- ets and wounded over 40. The steel trust now is demanding heavy sentences in all cases. The appeal of Jim Egan, outstand- ing leader in the strike and official dustrial Union, was postponed until the April term of court. Flood in Venezuela RIO CHICO, Ven., Dec. 14.—This city yesterday suffered the worst flood in its history. Five persons were drowned, , Dec. 14.—An over- »|pends greatly on our tariff policy. of the Steel and Metal Workers’ In- | Page‘ Three Burden, Admits fopviate it permanently. Mantfestly the issue is of supreme im to agriculture, which remains one of |our principal exporting industries. It will probably be necessary, in any event, to count on some permanent | reduction in the export demand for @ | agricultural products; but how large the necessary reduction will be, de- We cannot go on selling abroad ithe out buying abroad.” Wallace admits that under the Roosevelt program the farmer has had to pay relatively much more for 7 what *° bought than what he te- G3 ceived ior his products. “Farm commodity prices from mid-March to mid-October rose 4% per cent. There was not so great a gain, only 22 per cent, in the exchange value of farm products, because prices paid by farmers ad-. vanced considerably.” He also admits that the National | Recovery Act has been the means of | raising prices to the worker-consumer way out of proportion to even the nominal raise in wages. “There has been some tendency. for manufacturers and business groups to pyramid increased costs in consumers’ prices. Many com- modities are selling today at prices much higher than would be neces-.. sary to meet the expense involved. in raising wages and shortening. | hours.” Agriculture has no quarrel with science, Wallace declares. “It is.es- sentially a problem of distribution,” his report says, without any fundamental solution. And there he stops. “We have surpluses, in in- dustry as well as in agriculture, largely because the laws that govern the distribution of income cause & | polarization of wealth and poverty a piling up of purchasing power at have satisfied their wants, while a _ minority satisfy their wants long be- © fore they have spent their money There results an unemployed block of purchasing power which tends to be ° transformed into capttel and to g>° back into production instead of en- ° tering the market for consumable goods. This makes the surplus situ- « ation worse.” And there he stops. Protect Profits 5 Wallace admits the oft repeated | charge of the militant farmers that 1 the processing taxes are protecting - distributors’ profits. “Public hear- ings and investigations have revealed + instances of excessive’ distribution » charges, collusion of producers and distributors, control from superor- + ganizations, and even ‘rackets’ of one $ form or another. “Large daily corporations have noi shared with the producers and con- ¢ |sumers the major sdeniieey that , they have had from large scale oper- - ation and resulting lower operating ; costs. These advantages instead have been reflected tn large execu- tive salaries and in liberal stock divi- dends on capitalizations that too | frequently do not rest upon intrinsic | values in plant and equipment.” ~ Great Increase of Farm Debts | Total farm indebtedness in “I exceeded $14,000,000,000, bares pe Fg Wallace. “By 1932 the mortgage in f debtedness had been reduced tc} about $8,500,000,000, and the total of © other forms of farm (ndebtedness hac > been reduced also, Ordinarily, a re- © duction of indebtedness is a favorable ~ sign, an indication that debtors arc = improving their financial position # Sometimes, however, it is an unfavor- able sign. This is, in large part, the d case with the decline of farm in-° debtedness in this country since 1928 & It is largely a result, not of norma y liquidation, but of foreclosures, bank: ¢ ruptcies, and forced sales, and of the > inability of local banks and othe: y credit agencies to lend. Forced sale: - in 1932 constituted 37 per cent of all transfers, as compared with 7if per cent in 1928, Moreover, the re- ~ duced carrying charge represents thi: y year a much greater proportion oj the gross farm income than did thr @ larger payments in 1928. Mortgage yt carrying charges alone will take thi: ; year something like 13 per cent of :- the gross farm income.” Secretary Wallace says nothing about cancelling the farmers’. mort. gages. However, he endorses..“con: j¢ 5 TE h carrying 150 Chinese soldiers was rammed by a river steamer today. Fifty were drowned. | de sue to Fight N. by 100,000 new workers, and other unions, independent of the A. F. of L., including also the National Shoe and the Shoe Workers Protective, have grown by more than 150,000 | members, perhaps even a much larger figure. This certainly shows that there is a labor movement that is growing outside of the A. F. of L, T.U.U.L. Urges Affiliation “The next question that the con- vention and the union faces is: Can your organization remain a real class struggle union without édentifying it- self with the rest of the militant la- bor movement? The development of the independent miners union in Il- linois, the Progressive Miners, proves this to be well nigh impossible in the long run. We extend to your organtza~ tion the invitation to collaborate with the T.U.U.L,, which has in its ranks unions of @ mass character in many important industries. We believe that with the added strength of your or- ganization and the many other inde- pendent unions that can be brought together in collaboration with the T.U.U.L., that we can organize a more powerful militant trade union center than even the T.U.U.L, is today. “We believe, therefore, that a de- cision by your convention to affiliate to the T.U.U.L. would be not only a step in the interests of the shoe work- Resist Compulsory Arbitration Proposals” of A. F. of L. Leaders trolled inflation as a means of pro- 7. moting social justice through ¢ jn . fairer distribution of national in. ¢ come,” % ? % if R. A. Attacks and WORGGMR SBT ERESSEES SERGE. tT eRe ee fects in the labor movement of th country. Our National Board stands ready to send a sentative to your convention to plac a before you our proposals, or to mee. with any committee your eonventio’ may select to discuss the whole ques tion of affiliation and collaboration “In deciding upon the participa; tion of the Shoe and Leather Work! ers Industrial Union in your con| vention we decided that the union shall abide by all decisions. the convention on the question of filiation provided that the con tion adopts a program of milli class struggle and decides against filiation to the A. F. of L. In same spirit should the majority the convention be convinced ing affiliation to the T. U. U. L, At the present time we extend’ you an invitation to cooperate with on whatever questions you desire f¢ the purpose of strengthening own organization and pee th, ign struggles of the workers in dustries. We on our part will the struggles of the shoe we support the struggles ers no matter where ized, A. F. of L., pendent unions, Even cumstances we hope th vention will extend