The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 18, 1933, Page 3

Ds NRA Fires Mabel Byrd; Facts Compiled By Her Hit Attacks on Negroes “Fundamental Fact Is| it And at eulied im aitticat N.R.A. Helps Bosses memorandum on certain discrimina- i Ay tions involving a legal point, it was Against Workers By MARGUERITE YOUNG sent to # legal expert. He replied in @ memorandum that Negro labor was ‘inefficient anyway.’ I returned it to him wiht a memorandum ask- (Dally Worker Washington Bureau) | ing for the scientific basis, if any, WASHINGTON, D. ©., Dec. 17.—| for his assertion. There were, of ‘The N.R.A. has fired Mabel Byrd, the} course, many instances of this kind. ‘Negro-problems expert, first jim- “When I was informed of the dis- cre ved and then stymied in her work} continuance of my unit, I pointed of gathering statistics on the effects| out to Mr. Azeliski that I didn’t see of the New Deal on the Negro. Fri- | how economic planning and research day was her last day with the|on the effect of N. R. A. in general N.R.A. could be accomplished without con- Miss Byrd's explanation, given to|tinuing my work with respect to a the Daily Worker, is:— very substantial part of the produc- . “IS goes back to the fundemental|ing population—for if you leave out fact that the N. R. A. never had anyjone of the factors in production, intention, nor has it any mow, of}labor, you cannot do your job of disturbing the unjust relations exist-| planning. ing between capital and labor. I in-| «r pointed out that under the pre- sisted upon getting at these funda-|sent set-up we have government and mentals. T have no doubt it was not capital ranged together against labor. appreciated. He admitted that. I argued that it ‘It {s also true that the N R. A.| certainly was not fair to labor or has no intention of attacking-special | to the research division to have capi- Negro problems at their base. tal and land only represented. He “As for the official reasoris given] agreed to all this, but still said that, me, Victor Szeliski, Acting Assistant] nevertheless, Unit 10 must go.” Chief of the Division of Planning and} Miss Byrd was the only Negro in Research, in which I was.a unit,/an executive or advisory capacity number 10, informed me verbally two} among the 1,500 personnel of the N. weeks ago that the special problems which had been the province-of my unit, that is, Negro problems, were not within the function of the divi- R. A. ry A Over 200 Families in sion and therefore after December 15, unit 10 would be discontinued.” McKees Rocks Order Protests against the action have Bey, « been made in telegrams from the Anniversary Daily” Joint Committee on National Re- covery and the National Organization rege ees for the Advancement of Colored on ene Peopic. They have been ignored. They were sent to Secretary of Com- merce Roper, who reeently acquired @ special “Negro a@rtsor” for trade matiess: and to N. R. A. Adminis treater Genéfel Hugh S. Johnson. Sine came to Washington las*. August from the University of Chi- c Miss Byrd has been waging ® R. St personai Daily Worker: Dear Comrades: Workers in McKees Rocks hail the Tenth Anniversary of the Daily Worker by canvassing house to house for readers for the special Anniversary edition of Jan. 6th. We have already received orders from over 200 houses we have canvassed. We are determined to have t her andj jorders for more than 500 copies agai criminations| | in this little town. This will help der the N. R||@ real development of the labor activities in building our Union, Unemployed Coundils, and in or- ganizing both Negro and white workers in our community, We hove all towns and cities dopt the same method of wider ribution of our paper. Comradely yours, M. C. C. Police Arrest 15 in Portland Meet PORTLAND, Ore—‘I am going to see who is running Portland,” shouted Lawson, Chief of Police, to a com- mittee of three, after he had arrested 12 workers at a demonstration of 600 led by the Multnomah County Fed- eration of Unemployed recently. He then arrested the committee, to show his determination to smash demon- strations of workers here. All fifteen workers were brought to court, charged with blocking traf- fic in front of the country relief of- fice. This is just a framed-up charge, attempting to intimidate the workers demanding more relief. One speaker after another mounted the platform, defying the police chief ruling of “no demonstration,” and was promptly arrested by police. The crowd was orderly and well discip- n office for which she was in which Negro dy had been jim- al study of Negro field was called off m decided it would be t e it made by a Byrd's activities were hucting esearch as ld here, and writing oranda about it. Reports Suppressed morands, however, told 2 ry of the increased burdsas of Negroes under the New Deal—of special discriminations in the effect of N. R. A. codes. of whole- sale and still_rapidiy increasing dis- ylacement of Negroes by whites dur- ing tae economic crisis, of deliberate end concerted violations of codes and intimidation of Negroes to~ prevent iheir even attempting to organize and fizh*. “T nau {ror: a scionti uring “1 cor prokiems in because Jol Negro. limited These m damning cd the problems le bas’ Miss Byrd OUT OF TOWN AFFAIRS FOR TRr speakers, making no attempt to drive the workers away because they blocked traffic. Those arrested include Dirk De Jonge, Communist candidate for Mayor in the last election; Reverend Ross W. Anderson, President of the Federation; Richard Lovelace, Belle Taub and a number of veterans, Wilmington, Del. Dee. 20th: Soviet Film showing of “War Against the Oenturies,” alos 2 Charley Chap- in comedy at Eden Hall, 208 W. 10th Street, Los ‘Angeles, Calif. Entertainment Food : : Games AT THE UNITED WORKERS PRESS BAZAAR PRIDAY SATURDAY | SUNDAY MONDAY DEC. DEC. 28 i DEC. 24 | DEC. 35 WORKERS CENTER 22 2=10§ ANGELES ALL FUNDS FOR Datly Worker : Western Worker : Morning Freiheit Working Woman : Hunger Fighter : Lucha Obrera Bargains : MASS MEETING Welcome Our Workers’ Delegation Just Returned from « Two-Month Stay in U. 8. 5. R. BATS JONS6, N. Y. Marine Worker; TOM AUSTIN, Minneapolis Tool & Dye Maker; JOHN GARREY, Navy Yard Worker MONDAY, DEC. 18th, 8 P.M. IRVING PLAZA Aémisston 180; Unemployed free 18th ST. & IRVING PL. Auspices: Friends of the Soviet Union Workers Cooperative Colony 2700-2800 BRONX PARK EAST has now REDUCED THE RENT (OPPOSITE BRONX PARK) ON THE APARTMENTS AND SINGLE ROOMS CULTURAL ACTIVITIES Kindergarden; Classes for Adults and Children; Library; Gymnaciem; Ctubs and Other Privileges NO INVESTMENTS REQUIRED SEVERAL GOOD APARTMENTS & SINGLE ROOMB AVAILABLE Lexington Avenue train te White] Offices open daily Plains Road. Stop at AMerton Avenue] Friday & Satardey Station, Tel. Estabrook 8-1400—1401/ Sunday Pam. to 8 pm. Pam. to 5 p.m. 10 a.m. to 2 pum, lined. ‘The police arrested only the | 1°. DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1933 Cotton Strikers of South Blacklisted Through NRA Edict Protests Made Against Decision for the Stretch-Out Daily Worker Washington Bureau WASHINGTON, Dec. 15.—Direct demands for investigation of the National Cotton Textile Board’s decision in the strike at Brookside Cotton Mill in Knoxville, Tennes- see, have been received by President Roosevelt, N. R. A. Administrator General Hugh S. Johnson, Secretary of Labor Perkins, Chairman Wag- ner of the National Labor Board and William Green of the Americ: Federation of Labor. The Board recently ordered the several thousand strikers to go back to work under the very same con- ditions—including a terrific stretch- out and wages reduced below the pre-code levels—against which they had struck. The decision said strik- ers on the payroll when the strike began would be taken back. Lewis, secretary of the local union of the United Textile Workers (A. F. of L.) into which the Brookside workers organized, wrote to officials here that the workers voted “to comply with the decision, pending further adjust- ments,” but that it is now evident that it is “very unlikely that the majority of the strikers will ever get back to work on their jobs.” “The company is using the of- ficers of the law, and their own gate-keepers, to prohibit the strik- ers from applying at the office for their jobs,” the letter said, “tell- ing them either that they have no jobs, or that if they are ever needed, they will be sent for. The inten- tions are obviously to get rid of the leaders and potential leaders of our organization so that there will be no representatives of the em- ployes to keep check on any viola- tions of the code, placing the com- pany ina position to take advantage of those employees who are taken! back. “We are convinced that further steps are necessary before a final adjustment is reached.” The letter said the workers voted to comply with the decision “owing to the fact that our representatives (A, F, of L. International represen- tatives) had promised to abide by it. It also declared that although the workers had appealed to the Cotton Textile Board, before the ‘strike was called, Chairman Robert Bruere of the Board held a con- ference with Brookside officials in Boston, but failed to respond direct to the workers. US. Court to Disbar Fuel Lee Attorney BALTIMORE, Md., Dec. 17-—Broad preparations are being made by the International Labor Defense to de- tend Bernard Ades, T. L. D. attorney, from disbarment in Federal Court. for having conducted the legal defense of Buel Lee. Charles Houston, Negro lawyer, and Dean of Howard Law School at Washington, has agreed to head the staff of defense counsel. Prominent lawyers from New York, ineluding Osmund K, Fraenkel and Carol Weiss King, have agreed to serve, as well as David Levinson, I. L. D. attorney from Philadelphia. Levinson was associate counsel with Ades in the defense of The entire legal staff of the I. L. D. in New York, as well as the Interna- tional Juridical Association, joined in the defense, which is held to mark the beginning of a campaign of Iegal- izing workingclass defense in political trials in the United States. Bar asso- ciations the country over are being enlisted in the protest. Judge Coleman of Federal Court here has already received many pro- In an answer prepared by Ades for presentation at the first hearing in the case, set for Dec. 23 by Judge Coleman, who acts both as prosecutor and judge in this case, the whole illegal basis of the charges against him is exposed. Wallace Argues jor Applying the By NATHANIEL BUCHWALD L One is almost tempted to present ‘without comment the telling passages of Mr, Wallace’s report to the Presi- dent. Despite the opposite intention of its author, the report is a damning indictment of the New Deal slavery eml for the farmers in the A.A.A. (Agricultural Adjustment Act) and in the inflation policies of the Roosevelt administration. Though Mr, Wallace is mainly concerned with his “baloney” on the Roose~ velt farm policy, he, nevertheless, blurts out, here and there, a few significant facts about the present condition of the American farmers, these facts completely belie the claims of the New Deal demagogues that the farmers today are better off than they were before the present ‘an | lt elie delphia in the downtown business district of Phila- are shown attacking the picket lines of the Philadelphia tax strikers. The police were protecting scabs, Twenty-five strikers were arrested. The picket | line marched to the P.R.T at which it was shown that the National Labor Board had taken no action. A number were injured. | s from a mass meeting. LL. D. to Appeal | Illegal Arrest and! Jailing of 5 Workers Miners’ Leaders Jailed | for Presence in Jersey City | JERSEY CITY, Dec. 17.—Appeals are being taken by the International Labor Defense against the 90-day sentences imposed here on Tony| Minerich, Ben Carreathers, Pete C&appa, and A. Rivera, workers’ lead- ers from the Pennsylvania mine- fields, for the crime of being workers’ leaders and passing through town, it was announced today. ey City on to Pittsburgh from New! stopped to ask their way.| |A policeman immediately searched} | and arrested them. On November 4 they were tried and comnvicted on the sole testimony of the policeman, | who said he could find no legitimate reason for their presence in Jersey . appeal to the state me court will challenge the con- stitutionality of the lew under which the five were sentenced, in that it gives police officers judiciary powe: A mass campaign to force the re- lease of the prisoners, and the repeal of the law under which they were | sentenced, will be supported by legal moves, the I, L, D. announced. At the same time a campaign to provide | funds to fight the case to the U. 8. | Supreme Court, if necessary, is being initiated by the n: |I. L. D., Room 430, 80 E. 11th St. \20 Join Council When Amter Speaks Before | 100 in Bridgeport BRIDGEPORT, Conn.—Despite the | bitter cold weather, over a hundred | unemployed ‘Ss, many lacking adequate clothing, came to Columbus school last Monday night to hear I. Amter, national secretary of the Un- employed Councils, present a pro-| gram for unemployment relief based on the taxation of the wealthy | The program of unemployment in- |surance met with hearty approval | and several times Amter was stopped | because of the applause of the work- ers who seemed ready to organize and fight for their immediate de- mands and for unemployment insur- ance, Over a score gave their names to the unemployed council, stating they wished to become connected | | with the activities of the council. A call was sounded for a city-wide con- ference in order to elect and send delegates to the Mass National Con- vention to Washington, Although the Socialist Mayor Mc- Levy was invited to speak or send a representative, no one spoke up when the chairman called for the repre- sentative of the city administration. McLevy has time to speak to Fascist organizations, to the Kiwanis, io manufacturers, to church groups, etc., but he has no time for the unem- ployed. | | years... . The stability not merely of agriculture but also of business hung in the balance . . . The de- Pression robbed the farmers of their independence , . . and thereby weakened the foundation of our whole economic system.” By describing this situation in the past’ tense, Mr. Wallace seeks to create the impression that the trouble is over and that “now it can be told.” But when he takes up the various aspects of agriculture, he cannot help admitting that the situation today is little, if at all, better than it was in March. The present facts, as ad- mitted by the Secretary of Agricul- Let us quote from the Report: administration embarked on its pro- gram of crop reduction, inflation and slayery codes, Mr. Wallace Resorts to a Grammatical ‘Trick Writing in the comforting past tense, the Secretary of Agriculture thus characterizes the condition of agriculture in the United States: “Agriculture, in short, was very sick, and the disease from which it suffered, threatened also the entire community, Ruinous low farm earn- ings tended to separate farm opera- tion from farm ownership and to degrade farmers into virtual serf- dom. The collapse of farm prices caused a heavy loss in farm valua- tions, in which farmers’ equities were destroyed. . . . Average mort- gage debt per acre was nearly three times greater than in the pre-war “One out of seven rural families now receives relief.” “As to the results of the whole campaign (of cotton crop reducing) it is too early to speak, . . . The situation in the cotton belt remains critical” (Our emphasis). “A fair exchange value (for farm Products) at this writing is not In sight.” (Our emphasis). “Farm incomes from livestock Products and from poultry and eggs in 1933 seems likely to be about the Same as it was in 1932.” “If improvement continues to the end of the year, the gross income from the dairy products should equal that of 1932.” “Some farmers, notably the beef- cattle men, lost purchasing power between March and October.” There are more of such tell-ale facts mal office of the | ny in 1912.” 'To be sure, there were some reductions in taxes, but for Mr, News Briefs Unemployed Worker Commits Suicide in Hotel KLAMATH FALLS, Oregon, Dec. 17.—Frenk Hibbard, an. unemployed worker, despondent at not being abie | to get a job, committed suicide at the | Merrill Hotel here sterday. Schooner Burns in North Atlantic HALIFAX, N. Dee, 17.—The fishing schooner Ellen Marshall was burned to the water's edge yesterday near here, resulting in the death of| Education of New York City was|+ Nineiéen of the/ ordered to fill the 1576 high school! at least three men. crew have been saved and rescue par- ties are seeking four men who are missing. Machine Gun Bandits Hold Up Store CHICAGO, Ill, Dec. —Seven bandits, armed with machine guns, held up the offices of Butler Bros., here today and escaped with $2,800 in cash, 2 Die in Kentucky MORGANFIELD, Ky., Two lost their severely burned when Capital Hotel here was enveloped by fire. The damage was estimated at $45,000. Three C.C.C. Boys Killed COUDERSPORT, Pa.—Two young workers in the Civilian Conse! tion Corps camp at Conrad, Pi were killed, and 15 others wei hurt, when a C.C.C. truck ove! turned near re, Saturday night. jured youths may y. : Theodore Engl 18, and Marion Dow, 18, Three of the injured, who have fractured skulls are as yet unidentified, while the cther injured youths’. nam are not as yet known, for. they are all new reery Author Found Burned to Death NEW YORK, Dec. 17-Gohis Jo- seph Vance, popular aittor, © w: burned to death today in his apari- ment when he feil asleep -with. a cigarette in his hand and~set fire to the chair in which he-was sitting: His writings did much to popu- larize the gentlemaniy and--roman- tic type of criminal, whose crimes and plunders were ally” justified. Jail for Murder, Death for Self Defense—All Depends on Skin-Color NEW YORK, Dec. 16=May Haz son, 39, white, of Rockford;.IV. sentenced by an Illinois jury today |to 14 years in prison for Murdering | troit, her divorced husband. . Shé- poured a can of gasoline on him “aiid then set fire to him as he was sitting in his car. On Dee. 12, in Jackson, Miss., Anna) May Harmon, a 17-year-old colored girl, was sentenced to hang When she killed her husband in self-defense, after he had attacked and threatened to kill her. Hotel Fire | }|ing out Joleen Teas Win Court Ruling | for School Work | Will Continue Mass Fight to Force N. Board to Give Jobs YORK, Dec. NEW 15.—In a cision handed down by the Supreme hi |Court on ‘Thursday, the Board of egular teacher ap- | pointmenis. is ruling wes the re- sult of a court case initiated by the Unemployed Teachers Association in | Vacancies with re] its stru; e for jobs for the unem- ployed teachers. | For two years the Board of Edu- cation has maintained a policy of filling v ics in the high schools | with sul S who were paid about jhalf the ry of regular teachers. There is no doubt that the Board | will appeal the decision of the Sta |subterfuge in order to avoid carr he order of the court. Al- |ready, in anticipation of a decision jthat might rable, the Board de plan that 1 and at the same time with the major portion of 6 vacancies. Unemployed Teachers Asso s that the court ruling is jonly a 1 victory, and will carry on a mass fight to defeat all at- mpts of the Board to avoid giving! the unemployed teachers work | Detroit Threatens to Close Schools, |Workers Demand Funds from State DETROIT, Dec. 17.—With the| schools of Detroit threatened. with| closing in March, the movement is growing to compel the state govern- ment to appropriate funds to keep them going. | A mass meeting has ben called by | |the Save Our Schools Emergency | Committee for Monday, Dec. 18, at \8 pm. in Northern High School, | Woodward at Clairmont, to consider action to prevent the shutdown. The |Emergency Committee consists of the Highland Park Classroom Teach- | ers, the Classroom Teachers of De- Northwest Detroit Co-opera- | tive, students’ groups, parents’ and other groups. The movement is receiving the sup- | | port of the Communist Party, the! Trade Union Unity League, and the} Auto Wi rs’ Union. Various A. F.| de- | of Supreme Court and will seek other | | Detroit | Steel Mill Plan Death Rate Growing Under NRA Regime WASHINGTON of the Bureau 4 rose in 7 out which sent in a Ni h rate. In several week of the 10 cities in: TO of t nt de: e cities 16 to 25 per cent e Negro of died within birth. ease definitely shows hins imposed upon the and especially upon the > masses by Roosevelt and is N. R.A ionth Force Postponement of Small Home Owner Eviction in Mineola NEW YORK ignant land, frightez The mass pressure workers of Mirieola, of | Lon, |to postpone the threatened eviction esterday of Waclaw Wisnieski from home hecause of inability to pay $190 in taxes and interest hi f saw the temper ers 's League and the | Un: ed Council, he announced the eviction would be postponed until five days late: The W and Unemployed Council ® mobilizing the workers lin Mineo! to prevent the eviction. |Pr grams should be sent to Judge Johnston, Mineola, N. Y. Auto Workers News: Becomes Bi-Weekly Improved Issue Has Vew Features militant Auto begins In the past the red irregularly. we s ade by Board of the union Executive part of a as o-months’ organization drive it has It was felt that in order | launched to give leadership to the automobile workers of this country in face of the attacks being made against them by the powerful auto corporations, a fighting paper, appearing every two weeks, was essential. sue of the Auto Work- ers News is greatly improved in con- tent and appearance. It contains | news from workers in all the lead- ing automo! plants, including an article exposing an increase in speed- up of 65 per cent in one department in the Ford River Rouge plant. A new feature is a column of Facts for Auto Workers; the leading editorial s on the Se oro case. The issue also contains the call for the United Front Auto Workers Conference, to The new | be held in Detroit Dee. 17, A. B. Magil, former editor of the Michigan Worker, has become editor of the Auto Workers News, working with a committee of automobile workers that has been set up. The }paper sells for 2 cents a copy; ; bundle orders at 1 cent a copy can be secured from the Auto Workers Union, 4210 Woodward Ave., room 16, $5 FROM ILLINOIS UNIT EVANSTON, Ill—Unit No. 401, of L. ns, among them the Typo- | graphical Union, have also declared | | their support of the struggle to pre-| 'yent the closing of the schools. i Distributors, Grain Speculators, Railroad | and Bankers Pr and figures in the Report, which | points out that the farm-mortgage indebtedness in 1928 amounted. to $9,500,000,00 and that the reduction of this debt by about one billion dollars in 1932 “4s largely the result, not of nor- mal liquidation, but of forecloseures, bankruptcies, and forced sales . Mortgage carrying charges alone will take this year something like ture, completely destroy the illusion, 13 per cent of the gross farm of an improvement in the situation] income.” and show that Mr, Wallace's past} and here is another “bright” tense is not-so-subtie subterfuge. feature: “Mortgage interest is in arrears on thousands of farms that have not yet been brought under the hammer.” “Not yet,” but presumably there is “hope” of bringing also these thous- ands of farms under the hammer. Just give the New Deal a chance! Nor is the situation any brighter with respect to taxes. Mr. Wallace admits that “land values fell more rapidly than did taxes, with the re- ult that in 1932 taxes amounted: to . nearly three times as much as “the average tax reductions, though substantial, have béen very unevenly distributed among tax- payers. Many have had no reduc- tions from the 1929 level.” ~ Tt would be inconvenient, of course, ofit By It —e | truth about tax reductions, for that | would reveal systematic reductions for | the benefit of land barons and kulaks. ‘The “many” who have had “no redue- tions from the 1928 jevel,” are the| poor, halfruined or completely expro- | priated farmers driven by the tens of | thousands from their land. Mr. Wallace “Explains” the Hopeless | The Secretary of Agriculture struts | out in the full armor of the phrase- ology and the demagogic catch-penny slogans of the Roosevelt administra- tion, But he soon finds himself enmeshed in the inherent contradic- tions of capitalist economy. Pity the plight of the New Deal champion who wants at the same time to prove that profits must be protected and that excessive profits are a menace to the very existence of the profit system. The “baloney” holds together as long as Mr. Wallace inflates it with thetoric, but the minute he brings it in contact with the facts—bang goes the “baloney”! We are told that “As part of the general recovery program the Federal government has undertaken to raise the gen- eral level af prices through the control of credit and currency and through industrial codes designed to raise wages, increase employ- ment and improve labor conditions.” We are assured that “The Agricultural Act recognizes Wallace to tell the whole the interests of both the producers sent a contribution of $5 to heip raise the $40,000 needed to assure the immediate existence of the Daily Worker, and to help meet| the expenses of the new, modern press. and the consumers. It contemplates raising the purchasing power of farm commodities . . . while pro- tecting the consumer against ex- tortion.” We are even treated to a “revolu- tionary” observation that “It may be necessary to review very critically the influence of ex- cessive profits on ovr economic life.” And there is even frowning at “the laws that govern the distri- bution of income (which) cause a polarization of weaith and poverty, @ piling up of purchasing power at one end of the social scale.” But “Processors, distributors and others, however, hold a strong position in the economic system. . » » In seeking the cooperation of processors and distributors in ar- rangements to pay increased prices to farmers, the administration must allow these groups a profit.” Who Gets the “Spread”? Mr. Wallace is very eloquent on the subject of the processing tax and other measures “designed” to raise the income of the farmers, but when it comes to measuring the actual in- crease in the income, the supposed improvsment of the condition of the farmers, the Secretary of Agriculture is found mumbling that “We cannot judge what is essen- tially a long-time program from its initial results” “eventually most of our raw- material prices should rise to the etxent to which gold in the dollar is reduced. It may take certain od Sheriff Wade | ed by the Work- | to appear) Page Three 100 From Pittsburgh s Meet to — Work in Unions | Delegates from Lead- ing Plants Report at SMWIU Conference PITTSBURGH, At the call of he Committee of Pittsburgh district, enting locals and committees of the t in conference at the Wal- Pittsburgh on Sunday, De 10. Delegates were present from the following mills; Jones and Laughlin (south side plant), Jones and Laugh- lin (Alliquipa), Pressed Steel Car Co. | McKees Rocks, from Homestead Car- | Regie mills (blooming mill, 140 ine mill), Carnegie Steel, Duquesne; Wal- | worth Foundry, Greensburgh; Edger |Thompson Steel, Braddock; Union | Switch and Signal, Swissvale; Mc- Clintoc Marshall Co., Rankin; Jone: foe Laughlin coke plant, Hazelwood Westinghouse Electric, Turtle Creek | Eliza Founry (J. & L.), National Tube Corp., McKeesport; McKeesport ‘Tin plate Co., McKeesport; Copperweld , Glassport; Columbia Steel, Car- gie; Pittsburgh Water Heater, Eas ttsburgh; Central Tube, Ambridge; ican Brisge, Ambridge. Aside from the delegates represent jing the S.M.W.LU, directly from the locals and organizational committees, ten delegates from the opposition in the Amalgamated Association of Iron Steel and Tin Workers attended and participated in the conference. The District Conference reviewed jthe past period in the district and jlaid the tasks for the next steps of |the union. This was stressed in the |main report, given by Jim Egan, | District President, now out on a one | Year sentence appeal for his activi- jes in the union and the unemployed struggles in which he is a leader. Egan stressed especially the lessons of the Ambridge strike, pointing out its weaknesses and positive sides |from which the district must draw |éts lessons in future battles with the | Steel Trust. The Conference was opened by Pai Chairman of the National | Board, who was followed by John Meldon, National Secretary - Treas- urer, who gave greetings to the con~ | ference and reported on the activities }of the S.W.W.I.U. nationally and the | Situation in the industry. | John Zalonko, Chairman of Mc- | Kees Rocks Local No, 1, was elected |chairman of the conference, and Brother Thompson, | vice-chairman. Following the reports, workers from all sections of the districts took the |floor in discussion, A strong note | of militancy ran through all speeches, | With many of the delegates calling for a campaign throughout the win- |ter period to consolidate the union |in strategic mills to be followed by & whole series of strikes culminating in local major strikes in the Spring period. The discussion also stressed the need for united action between the miners, who utilize April Ist of each year for their strike movements, and the steel workers. Frank Bortch, leader of the miners and secretary of the National Miners Union, addressed the conference, bringing greetings and experiences of the miners A report on opposition work within the Amalgamated Association of Iron Steel and Tin Workers was made by Brother R. D., active member of the AAIS.T.W. He called for the for- mation of opposition groups in all locals of the A.AIS.T.W. Throughout the whole discussion careful attention was paid to an an- alysis of the organizational forms of the union, particularly the depart-" ment form of organization. Emphasis was placed by the reporters and del- egates on the necessity of rooting the union in the mills and shops on a functioning basis, fighting daily A plan of work was submitted and adopted by the conference which called for a combination of open mass | activity in the steel towns and ter- ritortes and careful activity in the Steel Trust mills. Local conferences were outlined to carry the decisions down to the localities and into prac- | tice by the membership. Resolutions were passed and sent demanding the release of the Leipzig | trial defendants, the Scottsboro boys |and Tom Mooney, A letter of greet- ings was sent to Mooney, who is Honorary Chairman of the 8. M. W. Lv. Poison of the New Deal to Sick Agriculture ° |Food Prices Foreed Up and Manufacturers, | years fully to reflect the change.” Yet some of the results of the “New Deal” have been very definite and very quick in manifesting themselves, For instance—the rise in the cost of living. Mr. Wallace admits that “many commodities are selling to- day at prices much higher would be necessary to meet expense involved in raising and shortening hours,” He also admits that there is a “spread” between the prices the sumers pay for farm-products the prices the farmers receive. “in order that the consumer know that he is really helping culture when he pays a little for milk or bread or cotton, Agricultaral Adjustment Adminis- ie Es ies Hi Yet this information is very conspi- cuous by its absence in the Report. Only by indirection can we infer from it, that the manufacturers, distribu. tors, grain speculators, railroads and bankers get the lion’s share of the inerease in food prices. The report admits that in the past “mantfacturers and distributors took a steadily increasing share of the consumer’s dollar, . . . In the case of milk, the share increased from 56 to 62 per cent, in the case of bread—from 74 to 81 per cent.” Now, if the income from dairy prod- ucts this year “should equal that of 1932” (if all goes well), you can figure out for yourself who has from the increase in the retail of milk. Certainly not the dairy Products a year, or even several Piao, farmer!