The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 1, 1934, Page 4

Past Four DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, JANUARY 1, 1934 1,012 Join I. W. O. in 13th Week of Membership Drive in Drive; Results Due to Active Members Membership Books We finally have achieved it. the 13th week drive of our Ir or Order we have r d exceeded 1,000 new mem be exact, the 13th week of our drive brought in 1,012 applications f new members and 1 applications dren. This brings the total achievement of the drive up to 8665 new mem bers and 1,797 childre: The splendid results of our drive Which are embodied in these figures are the accomplishment of our ac- tive members. They are the fruit of the enthusiastic work which was done by our branches, the branch execu- tives, the language committees, the City Central Committees and the membership. They are an indica- tion of the possibilities of growth which our Order has. The best work this week was done by the Ukrainian Section. With a weekly quota of 93, our Ukrainian comrades achieved 166 new members in this 13th week of the drive. The , too, expected quota of 58 and has 75 applications to its credit in the 13th week. The Jewish Section marched in front, as usual, with 372 applications, against the weekly quota of 154. The Hungarian Section maintained its pace with 127 new members. For the second time during the campaign, our Slovak Section ex- ceeded its weekly quota of 115 by bringing in 166 new members. The average weekly achievement during the whole campaign of the Slovak Section is 81 new members. The campaign has now three more will end on January hese remaining weeks the results of the 13th S from the districts expectation. There successful as success. ogress of the campaign eS our comrades with confidence they can achieve still more. As sult, reports come from most centration districts of a voluntary rease of their quotas. ago shouts at New York a for a 50 per cent increase quota. New York accepts alienge and goes at the last mpaign weeks with a will. Cleve- and Deiroit report increased joes Pittsburgh. to a total of mew members at the end of “sign. We can do it. We accomplished it already. English Branches same old complaint, but t may be, it és still valid. The weak noint of our he slow growth of the Ole By MAX BEDACHT | The 13th week of the campaign, Inj cut of a total of 1,012 applications, he membership | brought only 41 applicants for Eng- Workers | lish branches. This is 4 per cent of the total. During the whole cam- paign, the 462 members won for the English speaking branches are just 5 per cent of the total of 8,665. If the campaign would be con- ducted in France or Germany, it would be natural that only 5 per cent of the total members won, were recruited for English branches. But the campaign is conducted in Amer- ica. Here this result is not so self- explanatory. We see from this result that the attention paid to the building of the English section is negligible. This means that our campaign has no conscious political perspective. To overcome this weakness re- quires some propaganda. The Na- tional Executive Committee recog- nizes this. Therefore it has decided to initiate special efforts in the com- ing Spring to propagandize the mem- bership and to educate it to an un- derstanding of the importance of the growth of the Order among the American workers. This propaganda campaign will be connected with an organizational effort to strengthen our existing English branches. Membership Books ‘The membership books decided upon by our Convention are now ready for shipment. They are a combination of by-laws and mem- bership book. In order to overcome any confu- sion arising with regard to benefits to which members are entitled, the membership book provides for the insertion by the Secretary of the benefit classes and option that the member holds. ‘The membership books for the old members have to be made out by the secretaries. For every new mem- ber won by the branch or assigned to the branch after January Ist, a membership book will be sent to the branch from the national office. All of owr comrades should ac- quaint themselves intimately with the Order and it will avoid any conflict or confusion. WORKERS WARNED OF CHECK FORGERIES NEW YORK.—Workers and their organizations are warned of an in- dividual called Benjamin I. Cooper, also known as Jack Korson, who claims to be a member of the Retail Liquor Dealers’ Association and makes donations by check to mass organizations. Many checks have been returned by the bank with the notice that they have no such ac- count. Cooper, or Korson, also attempts to “cash” checks of members of or- ganizations. He has issued a num- ber of his checks in the vicinity of 14th Street. Ve have previously printed etter from some comrades Massachusetts, telling how popularize the red press ~igh a series of “endless chain” arties in workers’ homes. An sting letter advocating a simi- \ethod comes from New York and we are printing this too e it offers further suggestions, 2cords fine concrete results: Comrades: I submit to the women com- @ practical way of increasing cwation of the Daily Worker? ¢@ Endless Chain of Indoor Meetings” s invited to speak to a read- “le and to choose my own v0k the Scottsboro Case, 2 prejudice most of the 3 feel against the Ne- ed my material care- is the outline of the Risdy. \ sduction:\ The Class Struggle. ‘nal : Situation in ¥ compared to the situation yeiet Union on the minority The trial in Decatur, & few statistics. aston: The attitude of the st press on the Scottsboro 4 the fight for the boys’ free- at the Daily Worker put up, ath the ILD. Concrete Results it out of the ten women sub- bed to the Daily Worker and tin advance for one or two iths. Ten penny leaflets on the Scotis- Case were sold, no one wanting change back. (Total, 76c.) il my remaining literature away, recipients promising to to new workers. ‘Tiree of the women responded iy appeal to offer their homes i tea and cakes) for meetings new circles of friends will hear ssage. ‘Tneed to add that I encouraged all to join us in the fight? f them. spoke an excellent Eng- of them are kind-hearted, y ambitions, and intel- alert. their attention to Profes- “s impertinent advice to nm: “They all speak too much, ‘ore women should learn music @ their excess energy.” This “they all resented, and feel ‘that if women who do have a time and energy would @ about conditions and have concrete to fight for, their d be filled usefully. It is er when the fight is for feliow! conclude with the words “The working class must ity out of elements of every calbrie. Never truer than today. lets, CONDUCTED m) TELEX LUKE Can You Make ’em Yourself? Something new, sure to appeal to the busy housewife—a ‘house-dress with apron to match. And how a few such sets would sell at the In- ternational Labor Defense Bazaar next February! Pattern 1743 is available in sizes 14, 16, 18, 20, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 and 44. Size 16 takes 414 yards 36 inch fabric and 5 yards binding. Mlustrated step-by-step sewing in- structions included, Send FIFTEEN CENTS (l5c) in coins or stamps (coins preferred) for this Anne Adams pattern. Write plainly name, address and style num- ber, BY SURE TO STATE SIZE. Address orders to Daily Worker Pattern Department, 243 West 17th! Street, New York City 1} nucleus, No Christmas Cheer|“‘Selling Cost” Plan Used to for the Payless | Speed Up Workers at Gimbel By a Worker Correspondent EY, Wa. Va.—While the holy saints were handing out sugar {coating to ti workers’ children, the workers were picketing the C. W. A. Office to force release of their checks. Ab: 5 p: m:. in the afternoon, the offic force prepared to leave the ice. When they opened the door, they were met with “You can’t go, we haven’t our checks yet.” They then closed the door, and went upstairs, and were w i] seen looking out at the demonstra- tion of angry men, like wild beasts in cages. In a few minutes the State, County and City police began to ar- rive at the scene. The lines held solid for hours. While the lines weakened on the rear of the office to see the excitement at the front, the office force, with an equal num- ber of thugs, slipped out the back alley. As the demonstration followed the office f 1 blocks, we saw Captain K. E. Moss, of the Salva- tion Army, preaching peace on earth and a merry Christmas to all. But I will leave it to the reader to decide how a hungry man can have a merry Christmas. We proceeded to the Western Un- ion office and wired our protest to Washington, D. C. This demonstra- tion was unorganized, but I think the revolutionary spirit is here. Portland C. W. A. Workers Win Pay ' by Demonstration | By a Worker Correspondent PORTLAND, Maine—tThe C. W. A. of Portland took 800 people off the city’s relief list and put them to work on different jobs around town like digging ditches, tearing hills down, fixing sewers, etc., but 600 new ones applied for help in the meantime. On the North Street job, where j the largest crew of men is working, conditions are the worst. Here men work upon a hill exposed to the sea breezes in the bitter cold with pick and shovel. The foremen are slave drivers. It is not allowed to talk on the job. Two men were trans- ferred to work on the dump for “too much talking.” The first week they received $11, the second week only $9 and they had to run around before they got their pay. On Saturday, Dec. 9, the men as-| stables in the} A com-| sembled at the city bitter cold, started a riot. mittee was elected to demand “the pay on the job,” and that a shanty be built on the job as a shelter for the workers where they shall be able to have their dinner protected | from the wind. A petition was circulated and 300 ! signatures collected. When the riot broke out, the police were called, but the workers pushed the cops into a corner and kept them there. Last week every worker received from $18 to $22. At the mass meet- ing we held here Thursday, Dec. 14, resolutions were accepted against the fascist Leipzig trial and for the liberation of the Scottsboro boys. Rush your orders for the Jan. 6 Tenth Anniversary issue of the Daily Worker. 24 pages. The big- gest and best Daily Worker in the history of our paper, ——s______. \y WHY SHOP PAPERS? By ROBERT FROST What! Issue a shop paper? Never —that would be terrible—it would | spoil everything—it would expose our | unit to the boss—it would raise a “red seare’—it would connect the Party with the union—etc., ete. Many com- { rades are willing for shop papers to } be issued in all shops except their ! own. “The principle is correct, but sour shop is an exception; the boss ds liberal; he lets us sell pamphlets lt the workers, he even allows the , Daily Worker to be sold in the shop.” : We have heard these arguments given ,» from @ number of small shops. | Let us examine these objections in | the light of our experince with the «Many shops where shop papers were , issued. Let us examine them with | the perspective given us by the Open \ Letter. The Extraordinary Party Conference gave us the sharpest and most critical analysis of shop work, laying down as the basis for correct agitation the issuing of monthly shop papers. First, in the shops where papers have been appearing regularly, the shop paper has been the voice of the shop nucleus in its efforts to interest the workers in the program of action | presented by the nucleus. The work- ers will read and discuss this pro- gram, if presented in the popular language of the shop; they rec- ognize that a force is alive in the shop to champion their interests in the struggles with the boss on every grievance. The workers react to the interpretation the paper gives of these struggles as part of the struggle of the entire working class against the capitalist class. In past numbers of the Party Or- ganizer there have appeared reports . a8 follows: “After issuing the first number of our shen paper, four more { workers were sic 4 1 up, because the ' paper was discus.‘ in the shop and our members were there to bring ; them to the meeting.” This is only jone quotation picked at random ; Showing the value of the shop as an organizer and recruiting instru- “ment in the hands of the shop 8,665 Members, 1,797 Children, Joined Order }} (. W. A. Workers | Fired at On ce If Their Sales Don’t Come Up| to a Certain Percentage Above Pay | (By a White Collar Worker Cor- respondent) | NEW YORK.—I am a former Gi | bel worker, On Saturday, along about 2,000 other workers, I was greeted with a Merry Xmas, a blue slip and my practically empty pay | envelope. I said to the floor man- | ager: “Thanks for the Xmas pres- ent.” He said, “Don’t thank me. I had nothing to do with it. It was j counts. If that’s too high, | fired, that’s all.” | What is this selling cost? It is the key to the whole damnable speed-up system in department stores. Sales- people are rated according to the amounts they bring in and their wage. In other words, Gimbel’s works out to a fraction just what the sales- person cost the firm—that is, exactly how much they exploit you. If your selling cost is 3 for example, you are considered as sufficiently exploited and kept. But if your selling cost is higher you are just told to get out. you're automatic. It’s your selling cost that | Gimbel’s has made much of the fact that it’s on the N.R.A. All sales- people were compelled to answer questionnaires on the great good the N.R.A. has done and how Gimbel’s has done its part by hiring so many more workers, paying higher wages and giving us shorter hours. But this is what I know: That for several weeks for Xmas, all of us worked from 48 to 52 hours @ week, and that we didn’t get an extra cent for these extra hours, that Gimbel’s has cut its wages con- tantly—and is now paying almost all of its workers the absolute minimum wage; that Gimbel’s is violating the N.R.A, minimum wage by keeping on as “regular employes” a force of con- tingents who are called in only in rush times and whose weekly wage averaged $3 to $5. And lastly, that Gimbel’s is still keeping up to the traditional depart- ment store policy of wholesale firing without reason, notice, or cash bonus. What the NRA Has Done to Bakery Workers in Detroit (By a Worker Correspondent) DETROIT, Mich.—Since the advent | of the N.R.A. into Detroit bakeries the bakery workers certainly under~ | Stand the national slogan, “Do Your Part,” as they have done to the ex- tent of accepting wage slashes, being | forced to sign false statements about working conditions, sanitary condi- | tions in bakeries getting worse, and | the increased speed-up instituted by big company efficiency experts. An investigation of the five largest bakeries in Detroit revealed the fol- lowing facts: Winkeler's Bakeries, with nine branches in the city, was one of the first to fly the blue buzzard. Bakers working 80 hours per week at $15. Girls working 80 hours per week at | $11. There were seven complaints to local N.R.A, officials with no results. The state law in Michigan says no woman can work more than 54 hours per week yet this employer has been getting away with this for five years. Recently he came to employes and told them if they did not sign a paper stating they were working only 54 hours per week, he would fire them. Angell bakery where workers slave 80 hours per week for $12 with no sanitary conditions of any kind for | workers. Kroger Baking Company raised wages 5 cents an hour after signing the code, then one week later took 5 cents off the average wage before the code. $10 to $12 for 80 Hours Consolidated Baking Company be- fore the code was paying workers $15 | per week for 70 hours. They are now paying 10 to $12 for 80 hours. Gordon Baking Company has not increased wages since signing the code. They formerly paid 50 cents | an hour and are now hiring at 35 cents an hour. Workers are forced to belong to a recently formed com- pany union whose leading officials are Picked by the bosses. an Crest | The paper has other definite uses. It can and must expose the dema- ; gogy of the Roosevelt Program, of the N.R.A,, it must bring sharply be- fore the workers the connection be- tween their miserable conditions in the shop and the rotten living con- ditions at home, stating clearly what must be done, how to fight against the boss in the shop, and his grafting servant, the politician in the city hall and in the White House. It must push the organization of the union in the shop, develop a plan of how to organize, present demands and instruct the workers in clear language how to win these demands. This ancient argument that the shop paper “would expose our unit” is clearly a rationalization of the resistance of such a unit to shop work generally, Fear of exposure expresses itself in a willingness to sell “safe” pamphlets. In other words, to sell pamphlets dealing with anything but the organization of the workers in the shop. This argument also serves to justify the isolation of the shop unit and prevents the unit from making any connection what- ever with the workers in the shop. Today, with the forces of reaction working so fiercely to prevent the workers from understanding the real cétuation, the drive toward open fa- scism, with newspapers on every hand spewing out demagogy, with reformist leaders openly helping these dark forces of reaction, there is no reason for bickering about exposing ourselves to the boss. Any unit that carries any activity in the shon, that leads the workers in their struggles must necessarily make itself known as @ force to be dealt with. There are methods for safeguarding the individual comrades in this work, methods of work and distribution which must be discussed for pre- venting the spies and stool-pigeons of the boss from disrupting the work of the shop unit. But tf the unit is to lay down on its job for fear of exposure, then it will never ac- complish its duty as the leader of the workers in the shop. ‘The shop paper is the organ of the Communist Party in the shop. It becomes an effective weapon in the Wages Cut, Hours Lengthened, While Com- plaints to Officials Are Ignored bakery before the N.R.A. paid work- ers $25 to $35 per week. They are now getting $12 to 15 per week, with not a single new employe hired. in- stead they have installed a new ma- chine which was the cause of a num- ber of workers being fired. The bakery workers in Detroit do not want to organize under the A. F. of L. as this organization has been trying for the last five years to or- ganize Detroit, and has only got 100 members in their three locals and there are 2,000 or more bakery work- ers in Detroit. What is needed is a new bakers’ union under the mili- tant leadership of the Trade Union Unity League. Laid Off for 30 Days After 2 Weeks Work (By a Negro Worker Correspondent) INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Here is where President Roosevelt has put 7,000 back at work and they work them one to two wecks and then lay them off, then tell them they would have to live for 30 days before they could get anything from the county. But a worker can’t live on what he has made for two weeks. I haven't workei for four years and the relief agent refused to give me relief. ON ELLIS ISLAND (By a Worker Correspondent) ELLIS ISLAND, N. Y.—On Noy. 20 and Dec. 23, one hundred workers deported from all varts of the U. S., came after a few days of transit to this desolate island for the final de- parture to all countries of the world. Many of these workers from the capitalism of America, sailing, with- out any resources, only have desper- ate remembrances, after a few years of hard life, One man died while being trans- ferred on account of the rotten food received from the government. hands of the unit only as it expresses the will of the workers in their Struggles vith the boss. It creates confidence in the minds of the work- ers that their struggles can be won. At the same time it develops the confidence of the workers in the lead- ership of the shop unit, in these conflicts with the boss. The “voice of the Party” becomes the voice of the workers in the shop. Sometimes fear is expressed that the Party may be mixed up with the union, that if the shop paper calls for the organization of the union it will mean that the union is “red” or that the leaders of the union are really Communists in the guise of union organizers. This must be met by a clear understanding of the role of the Party as fostering the or- ganization of the workers into strong industrial unions. Our aim has al- ways been the establishing of reai functioning shop committees as a basis for a strong union organize- tion, One of the principal tasks of the shop paper must be to explain this role of the Party, There is no reason why the workers need fear the leadership of a Communist union or- ganizer. He must show that he can organize and lead in struggles, and then this boss-fostered fear will dis- appear. We must remind the comrades that it is no easy task to explain these things to the workers. Comrades who are best fitted to deal with such problems should undertake the task of editing the shop paper. The com- rades must be acquainted with the resolutions of the Party on the work of the shop nucleus and must clearly understand the policy of their union, They must at all times be in touch with the Section Agit-Prop for guid- ance in this important work. Get- ting out a shop paper requires pa- tient, urate editorial work. It requires 4 certain amount of tech- nical in mimeographing and making of the paper. Instruction and technical help must be given to all shop its in this work by the Section District Agit-Prop com- mittees, committees must be ready at time to send a mem- Food Endangers Mt. Sinai Hospital Workers’ Health By a Medical Worker Correspondent NEW YORK.—The workers in the Mount Sanai Hospital, 100th St. and Madison Ave., are forced to eat the | food given to them, because $7 a week is deducted from their salaries | for this purpose, whether they lke it |or not, and they can’t afford to eat elsewhere. The dietician of the hos- pital receives a bonus of a few hun- dred dollars every Christmas to keep | the food expense as low as possible, jeven to the extent of feeding poison | to the workers! On Dec. 19, 1933, between 5 and |6 pm., a supper was served consist- jing of chopped meat mixed with spaghetti, potatoes, milk and canned apple sauce. During the night a number of workers were seized with excruciating abdominal cramps and diarrhea which required immediate medical attention. In the morning, @ large number of additional work- ers were seized with very severe cramps and diarrhea. The number of workers stricken were between 120 and 130. Of course, the hospital authorities will try to keep this affair quiet. You know @ ‘medical institution stands for cleanliness and quality. But I won't keep quiet! Not as long as there is a Daily Worker to expose this treatment that endangers our very lives and helps us to fight it! EMPLOYE, Mt. Sinai Hospital. Roulston’s Keeps Clerks Working 62 Hours a Week By a Worker Correspondent STATEN ISLAND, N. Y—I am employed by Roulston’s who display the Blue Eagle in all their store windows. The clerks are supposed to work 48 hours a week. The managers receive a large cir- cular letter from Brooklyn every morning telling us how to attract and bleed all the pennies we can, especially from the women custom- ers. In this cireular is a warning not to work the clerks according to the NRA code; but Superintendent Ross and his assi>.ants tell the man- agers to keep the clerks working in- cluding noon hour. The result is that the non-militant clerks are working 62 hours a week. There was a complaint made to the NRA about a young lad who was being overworked in their store on Watchogue Road. In a few days, the lad was fired. —Militant Clerk. Work 10 Hours, Paid for 8 Hours in Box Factory in Berkley (By a Negro Worker Correspondent) BERKLEY, Va.— From a Negro housewife in Berkley:—I want to tell you about the rotten conditions and how the men haye to work at the E. H. Barnes Box Factory. They are working under a hurry-up system, and working 10 hours a day, but only get paid for 8 hours, never making More than $8 and $9 a week. They must pay 10 cents a week for in- surance out of that. It will take organization to break down such a mess as this, so my plea to the workers is to organize and fight against such a system, : ber of their committee to any shop calling for such assistance. Shep papers are beginning to ap- } pear again in most districts. This is {a favorable sign of the seriousnes: with which the Party nuclei in these districts are awakening to the needs i for popular papers inside the sho: to carry on their work. Yet these } new batches of papers reveal great gaps in many important industries. Such industries as Mining, Railroad ‘and Textile Show very poorly against the other less basic industries. We ¥aust have more shep papers from our concentration shops. We muct have mere shop papers from shops in the basic industries, We have concentration districts which do not yet realize the im- Portance of shop papers. How these districts hope to carry on concen- tration work in basic shops without shop papers is one question we should like brought up at their bu- Teau meetings. The Party press always faces the danger of being driven underground. It_is most urgent that these small “Daily Workers” in the shop be ready to take on the extra responsibility at short notice. The great necessity for preparing this work by starting . to issue shop papers NOW must not, be underestimated. It is true that many of these new papers may con- tain mistakes of all sorts. For this reason the District Agit-Prop must prepare committees which can be called upon if necessary to help any unit in the district to issue its shop Paper. All units are urged to send for instructions on how to issue a good shop paper. We recommend the use of the “Shop Paper Manual” issued by the Central Committee in 1930. This booklet, written by Ger- ‘trude Haessler, who is now review- ing shop papers in the Daily Worker, is the best handbook yet issued for the comrades active in shop paper work. The National Office also will Provide any guidance asked for by units issuing a shop paper, In the Daily Worker there are now appearing weekly reviews of shop Papers. These reviews will continue to appear every Monday. We urge all shop nuclei to read and file these reviews for reference in issuing their own shop papers. The reviews con- tain material helpful to all shop Paper editors. They contain explana- tions and criticisms of faulty ap- proach and give examples of how to correct these mistakes. The reviews have already received the hearty re- sponse of units issuing shop papers. It is hoped that they will foster the we ee Wl PARTY LIFE It is encouraging io read the fol- lowing letter, which indicates that this column is read and dis- cussed by members of our Party, The question raised in this let- ter—the problem of unit leader- ship—is the subject of an article in the December issue of the “Party Organizer,” which has just been is- sued. We advise every comrade, and particularly members of unit bureaus, to study and discuss this article. Pre Se The Party Life Section of our Daily is perhaps the most read and digested part of the paper. I came to that conclusion after asking com- rades if they had read this or that in the Party Life Section. They al- ways answered that they had and they immediately proved it by start- ing a discussion on some point dis- cussed in the article referred to. I part of our paper. I offer a few Suggestions that should be consid- ered, I believe. To start with, I want to point out that most of our organizational prob- Jems in the Party have their begin- nings in the Units. For example, as quickly as a comrade shows his the line and do most of the work himself, he is drawn into the Sec- tion. The Unit membership as a whole do not develop as they should. Mainly this is because the Unit Bu- reaus do not meet before unit meet-. ings. There are no concrete plans laid before the Units. There are no definite assignments to comrades. ‘There is no real check-up on the ac- tivity of the comrades within the Units. Perhaps the most feared deviation by Unit Bureaus is bu- reaucracy. Often this simmers down to one comrade of the Bureau taking full charge and then any proposal by him seems like a bureaucratic tactic. Too Many Inner Meetings Of all the failings within the Units, I believe the lack of Unit Bu- reau meetings is the most serious. It means three nights a week for the organizer without other activity. First the organizers’ meeting with the Section, then the Unit Bureau meeting and then the Unit meeting. The Agit-Prop also has it almost as hard, with Section Agit-Prop meet- ings every other week. The finan- cial secretary, too, has the same number of meetings. When we con- sider that the Bureaus also are sup- posed to take a part in the mass work of the Units to “live” with its Name Street hope this Section will continue as a | desire for activity he is put on the | Unit Bureau. If he is able to follow , Nor is this an easy problem to solve. | Join the Communist Party 35 EAST 12th STREET, NEW YORK CITY Lack of Unit Buro Mee Brings Unhealthy Un*’ Unit Buro Members Forced“to 4 Many Meets, Excluding Employec Pm ncaee, membership..and get © tirst-hand view of the Unit's problems, we can see that the problem of a function- ing Unit’ Bureau can not be glossed over or tackled in a mechanical way. Orientation Toward Shops Often we seem to approach our problems ffomi two’ different angles jat the same time and miss both times. We know the Units that ar responsible’ for shop work are st” | posed to draw in employed comrac |and those that show the abi | to lead, to-miake functionaries. Ne ally those!comrades will land on. Bureau. | I will state right here that they will not He able to give their best because of the too numerous meet~ ings that will sap ‘their vitality if not their enthusiasm;:' Our present | plan gf organization seems to be on the assumption that Unit Bureaus | must all be unemployed. and can get a few winks in the morning. How- ever, if we are to make the turn ac- cording to the Open Letter, as we should, we should: have employed Bureaus to turn the activity towards the shops. For fromemployed com- rades we will be better able to orien< tate ourselves in that task. At any rate our Bureaus’ tasks should be so ar- ranged that it is not necessary for them to be full time functionaries. I do not’ assume that all the com< rades onthe Bureaus must be em- ployed. Ido assume that they should {have theif place there if they show the ability... Proposes a Solution I have,.no, easy solution. I map state thaf Unit meetings every twe | weeks, at which real reports ate } given and real work assigned, will help, Af present the tendency to j make the Unit meeting a task and not an unloading and reloading point ‘for tasks as it should be. If Unie Bureaus can meet and not fall asleep because .of too many meetings, they will be ,able to plan an efficien® meeting,.wheremn real political dise cussion will take place. Now wetake too much time explaining why we were unable to get started to do our assigned tasks and explaining . why this task should have had more time for its completion, to get very far in a political: discussion. 5 In the. Party Life Section I be- lieve we should have more discussion on organizational problems. When we solve some of these so-called minor, minute details of “unit Mfe” problems, we will find fluctuation on the decline. We will find our Party more sensitive to directives and our campaign plans will be fulfilled, vo Gomradely, | J.8., Please send me more information on the Communist Party. By PAUL LUTTINGER, M.D. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Werkmen’s Compensation Law— Choice of Physician Machinist, Brooklyn:—You have the right to choose your own phy- sician, no matter what your em- ployer tells you. It is true that in many states, the énsurance com- panies were able to insert clauses in the laws which gave the employer the right to dictate as to medical service. In Massachusetts, Rhode Island and North Dakota, the em- ployee has had the right to choose his own physician from the very in- ception of compensation legislation. The contention of your boss that since he pays the bill, he has the sole right to choose the physician to whom it should be paid, is neither logical nor legal. The money is neither his, nor does it belong to the insurance company. to the injured workman and to no-j body else. As a matter of fact the} employer does not even pay the cost‘ of the insurance, His insurance premium is a part of his cost of production which he passes on to the consumer who pays for every~ thing. Nor is it true that private phy- sicians would increase the bills and, therefore, the premium. As a rule the physicians employed by the in- surance ies are not of the highest type. (There are exceptions, of course.) This is common knowl- edge and recent disclosures during the Jimmie Walker administration have fixed it in the mind of the people. For the sake of cutting down expenses, the panies often employ inferior medical services. From every dollar the stock company receives as premium, it keeps 42 cents, the injured worker gets 38 cents in cash and the balance of 20 cents is uséd for surgical treat- ment. Why the companies should be entitled to 42 per cent of the premium paid by the employer is beyond our understanding. The law obliges the employer to be insured and the com- panies, therefore, do not have to ad- yertise for this kind of business. Nevertheless, they claim that 17.5 per” cent of their profit represents “ac- quisition costs,” in other words, ad- the stock companies have It belongs . compensation com-~ asked for a'10 to 25 per cent increase “in the premiums, because of the in- creased “cost of operation.” This consists mainly tn hiring expensive “lowyers to prevent the dnjured work- ingman from getting his due, while the medical service they provide gets poorer and‘ poorer, As to the’ hew Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, which covers the four million men and women. to be hired (maybe!) under the Federal Civil Works Administration, ite operation must perforce be open to abuses, As in the case of the War Veterans, the government will un- doubtedly try. to prove that the in. jury or disease was “not sustained in the performance of duty,” or will minimize, as the degree of disability, ..Under the new law, an employee has the right to choose his own physician, but the geverm- ment will not pay the bin. 5 . : . . Venereal Warts—Correction W. S., Montreal. Canada—In out reply to you, the compositor left out three words. The mixture for veneral are should be a 10 per cent solution of salicyclic acid, im acetic acid, Salicylic acid alone fs ; tion, but when mixed witi acetic acid | Mot glacial) acedie acid) a precipi- + tation takes place which makes mixture looklike precipitated ae Rae S. T. E.,.Fallon, Ney.—From your description, ‘it seems that the young woman is suffering. from lack of ovarian sedretion. Such cases are due either to a congenital condition (from birth) or to some sickness such as scarlet fever or mumps which causes an ‘inflammation and later an atrophy (wasting) of the ovaries. In- jections ain ovarian extracte seem to fre many of these con- { Thanks for the cont -Daily Worker .