The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 19, 1934, Page 4

y Page Four DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1934 ‘| Police Mobilized to Fight C.W. A. Workers in Detroit Stoolpigeons Also Used to Prevent Struggle When Officials Break Promises | we were surrounded by 8 pack of wolves. Stoolpigeons (By a C. W. A. Correspondent) Davis Jackson got busy | § and started to point out who| Brush, we found 2 thought the ring leaders Detroit’s polic or who they thought they could get | rid of because they did not buy them | S, accusing them all as| mained for at an hour left, and all the rest of the d: were scout Ca) chasing th gh 01 Four more were taken in| hour. Police were doing special d' on special beats through the alley streets keep-| At the station, the workers were | ing an eye on C. W. A. workers, | bawled out for not being Democrats expecting, I se a strike. And|and for demanding what they were | here is why they expected a strike. promised. They were then told that | © ne here is the same | they were fired, and to go back to the | as most other C. W. A. jobs (pick| Welfare. These four immediately | went down to C. W. A. headquarters | and shovel) yet most workers are | d and demanded to see some one at} skilled men such as, specialized auto | body workers, carpenters, draftsmen,|the head of C. W. A. projects in auto mechanics, skilled mi ine | Detroit. After telling their story, the hands, tool and die makers and ev bosses finally decided to put them | preachers are slated as laborers, get- work, to avoid a possible ting 50 cents per hour. When these C. W. A. jobs began,| In the meantime the police kept | we can all well remember the promise | guard all day on the job. When the of $16.80 per week and then found | afternoon shift was coming on to out that we receive only $15 per week, | work, an extra force of police were IF weather permi! on guard for the rest of the day. Well most men, as you can see by| Wm. Wright was still held, the their previous line of work, are not | bosses were still trying to find some used to such work, so the bosses on} knife, or at least some witnesses, the job promised the men 60 and| but when they heard that the work- 65 cents per hour, for those who/ers dared tell the truth, they finally wuold work on the concrete mixer, or | let Wright go. But they would not around the mixer, such as spread-| take Wright back to work again. ing the concrete, pushing the wheel- Police Keep on Guard barrow, with cement or gravel, which} On Thursday morning they still is extra heavy work. They also prom-|had the police on guard to beat ised the hammer men 65 cents per|down any attempt of the workers hour. Men who swing heavy ham-|to strike for the release of Wm. mers to break concrete, which is| Wright (the men did not yet know hard work too. | that Wright was to be released that Pay Day Brings 50 Cents an Hour|morning). Later they moved the But when pay day came (after | police guard into a nearby alley working hard and hearty) they found| where they could not be seen, but out that they only received 50 cents | ready for a possible emergency call. per hour, again being fooled. Is there} Fellow workers, the use of the po- any wonder why the police force|lice so suddenly and so brutally is were on the job the next day, just a | alone proof enough of how they fear day after pay day, just a day after|to have the workers organized. the men found out how they were} So let us organize into a union and fooled? |elect a grievance committee on the Stoolpigeons Collins, Jackson and| job. Show the bosses that we are Davis and their flun! were busy |human beings and have a right to bringing in information as to how | live, show them that we can and the feeling was among the workers. | will organize. to strike, On Wednesday morning a new} Stop all this police brutality, strike bully (boss) was imported on the | for the reinstatement of Wm. Wright, job. He immediately began to get| On Thursday morning they still hard, although the men did not | strike for the higher wages that have know who he was. A fire w ted | been promised us, for the removal of n a barrel as usual, the bully came | the police guard off the job. We are aver and kicked the barrel over,/no chain gang to have police guards which fell on a worker standing near | over us. ; not knowing who| Only if we organize solidly can we his new bo: as, made a pass at | win any of our demands, for better him. Then stoolpigeon Collins went | conditions. Only through a struggle to call the police. They then tried | can we obtain what ts rightfully ours. to frame un a story of using a knife|This can be seen from the little but, of course, no knife was to be | struggle we had, that the bully now found. Just the same they locked | permits us to have fires on the job him up (Wm. Wright), because Wm.|and has cooled down to a certain Wright happens to be a Negro. | extent. Only by organizing soldly re- The workers then began to gather | gardless of political or religious be- and discuss the matter of refus- | liefs, regardless of color or nation- ing to go to work until Wm. Wright | ality, native or foreign born, can is released. But like a streak of| concessions be obtained. |Chicago Postal Workers’ Protest March Wins Demands For Extra Christmas Jobs A Letter from the Waterfront Jobless Council’ (By a Marine Worker Gorrespondent) ay | NEW YORK.—Here is a letter I} Black Maria to the Canfield sta-| am addressing to Mr. Harry L. Hop-| gdod’ “hope; | Kins, Federal Relief Administrator, at | more working hours during the Xmas Washington, D. C.: { Mr. Hopkins: How would you like| to eat 3 book? How would you like| to sleep on a book? Yet your answer to our letter concerning food andj lodging was a form letter saying that| the ©.W.A. office in New York was to be found at a certain address and} a booklet, No. 10, of Regulations of | the C. W. A. | Mr. Hopkins, we do not eat books, we eat bread and meat and vege-| tables, by preference. At present we | are not eating those things in any| large quantity, we unemployed sea- men on federal relief in New York, as we told you in the letter you an- swered pointlessly with a book. Mr. Hopkins, we unemployed sea- men sent you a letter, endorsed by | several thousand unemployed seamen on federal relief, protesting against the inadequate relief doled out and} the manner of the dolin~. We ro-eat | that protest, Mr. Hopkins, and the charge that a major part of the relief still goes to “overhead” payments for the benefit of the same gang of thugs and grafters who have lived fat on the funds collected for relief of des- titute seamen since the beginning of the crisis and before. Mr. Hopkins, | those charges of insufficiency of diet | and diversion of funds have not been met either with your book, or with| the certificates men are forced to| sign, saying they are satisfied with | the amount of relief doled out in the | Seamen's Church Institute and other charity rackets now living on federal | relief. An Insult and a Challenge | Mr. Hopkins, we look on your book- let of instructions, and your form letter as an insult and a challenge. | We are accepting the challenge, to| go out and get better. We are going out to get better, by organized strength. We are organizing the seamen against these charity rackets, to fight for a dollar a day relief for| every unemployed seaman, and for unemployment insurance for every unemployed seaman, and for unem- Ployment insurance for every unem- ployed worker. We are endorsing the demand of the Marine Workers In- dustrial Union to the code authority to guarantee to every seaman a yearly Wage of at least $620, whether the shipowners can profit by using his labor or not, and we are electing our representatives to the National Con- jVention Against Hunger, which the CONDUCTED BY HELEN LUKE Continuing from yesterday, po os ay ee or Lane . . * nt lons' we indicated ie the directions for making and | position et te Ses ie using a fireless cooker, Com-/} cooker, both the stationary one rade Irene writes: “This well- | and the remoyable one (in which the insulated cooking box is all you really food is placed), with dotted lines. need for the cooking of most things, | Saher te ee eee but it will make the cooker even | it y ~ more convenient if you get hold of | +. Fa eet er aeecan ee tached to the box, not to the pails, | a discarded stove lid which will slip into the cooker. “Try it in the inner container of | Wear (be sure it is not chipped) or} a high-grade aluminum kettle would } be safer than the tin lard pail for a | National Unemployed Councils are | holding in Washington, on Feb. 3, to | fight for unemployment insurance. | Mr. Hopkins, you will hear more from us, in an organized form which cannot be ignored or dodged by send- jing out stupid form letters and books, | Mr. Hopkins, you invite us to eat a book. We will now bend our efforts toward making you swallow a little printed matter too—the text of the! Workers Social Insurance Law, which | we intend to use every power we have | to force into the statute books as law. | | —The Waterfront Unem. Council, 0. J. Valeri, Secy. | hours out of the | heart.” |and organized a march inside the | industries—post office, About 75 to Join in Demonstration (By a Post Office Worker Correspondent) CHICAGO, Ill.—For the last twelve moniths, we, the regular subs of the Chicago Post-Office, have been aver- aging less than $8 a week. But all this’ time only one thing gave us the promise of getting Tush. ‘When Christmas came, however, we were utterly disappointed. Instead of working 8 to 10 hours each day as we were ‘promised, we were not getting more than four hours a day. While this was going on, the political subs (temporary workers, hired with the aid of local politicians), were getting from 8 to 10 hours a day. This situation created quite a great deal of discontent among the day set, which was affected by it. But there was no leadership to give direction and guidance to this discontentment. A few of us, more class-conscious workers, got together on a day when one of the bosses granted us five We got ourselves together | Post Office—right through the work |xooms, under the eyes of the bosses and the other workers, direct to the office of the Superintendent of the Delivery Division. Almost the entire day set (about 75 in all), participated in this protest march, “goodness of his| | When the Big Shots in the Super- | intendent’s office saw the crowd of |angry faces, they became panic- stricken. They hurriedly asked us | who our spokesman was. We imme- diately elected two spokesmen from | our midst to represent us—while the | Test of us waited outside—in front of | the office. A few minutes later our | spokesman came out and told us our demands were granted. From that day on we all got 10 hours a day | throughout the entire rush period. This shows what organized action can do. It's the first time that such a thing has happened in the history of the Chicago P. O., inasmuch as each year for the past four years, subs haye been taking this sort of treatment submissively, By this we see clearly the need for militant rank and file action to get our demands! Make BMT Keep Promise, Urges Subway Worker |By a Subway Worker Correspondent | NEW YORK.—About a year and a half year ago, all B.M.T, workers re- ceived a 10 per cent wage cut. But the bosses were afraid that we would protest and perhaps organize. They promised us, therefore, that when earnings increased, our basic rates would be restored. For the first 10 months of 1933 the B.M.T. reported the largest earnings in {ts history: $5,780,000, Have the bosses kept their promise to restore our 10 per cent cut? No. The policy of the B.M.T. is: Greater profits at our cxpense, through frrther wage cuts and speed-up. The conditions in our shop are becoming more and more unbearable. Fore- men are made and broken almost every day, so that we are always working at breakneck speed. The company has eliminated all depot repair shops. Ouz shop at Ave. Y is the only train repair shop in Brooklyn. WE must now do ALL the work that was formerly done by five or six repair shops—and at less pay. ‘The company representatives are the bosses’ men and they will do nothing for us. WE OURSELVES must do it. We must organize. —A B.M.T. WORKER. NOTE We publish letters every Friday from workers in the transportation and communications industries— railroad, marine, surface lines, sub- way, elevated lines, express com- panies, truck drivers, taxi drivers, ete—and from the communications telephone, telegraph, etc. We urge workers from these in- dustries to write us of their condi- tions of work and their struggles to - for making cereal and boiled beef in cooking vessel, if obtainable. | Can You Make "Em Yourself? Pattern 1753 is available in sizes 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 and 42. Size 16 takes 4% yards 39-inch fabric and % yard contrast- ing. Illustrated step-by-step sewing cooker ad be sure there ts room >). CUSHION GOES IN Keep Coastwise and Deepwater Workers Divided (By a Marine Worker Correspondent) PHILADELPHIA, Pa—The Moore- | instructions included. HOME-MADE cooKER SCRIBED BY COMRADE AS DE: IRENE Ht | | for it under the cooking kettle. Then | | going, has coastwise men working |coastwise ships, and deepwater men working ocean-going vessels, both | organized in the International Long~ | Shoremen’s Association | water local; 1260 coastwise and car gang local). Dick Curl, head foreman for the Letters from N. ¥. L L. D. SETS UP_ SPEAKERS BURO TO AVOID FUTURE MISHAPS Dear Comrade Editor: One of our present tasks is the re- building of the Sacco-Vanzetti Eng- lish-speaking branch of the I. L. D. in Ossining. At the first re-organ- |izational business meeting, at which | six members were present, plans and arrangements were made for a Scotts- bore Anti-Lynching Meeting at the Pull Gospel Tabernacle, a Negro Church in Ossining, which was ob- tained tnrough the efforts of a Negro and white delegation, The night of the meeting, Dec. 21, about fifty people turned up at company, hires get some one to bore some holes eae cae pele Biss er ear the edge and fasten in loops of hires his favorites with the support — a An rte cay the plate of the LL.A. officials, who, in turn, when . Now to use the urge the men to have Local 1260 but- ng Beans deepwater, “This guarentee: Wea g guaran the of- “In the morning wash and sort ficials, Polly Beker and company, @ut the bad ones from the amount double pay for dues, of beans you usually cook and place ‘This discrimination hits the Ne- them in the kettle, with all the groes hardest, due to the little work water you want them to have when and many men, ane ye ee The bosses and 1. L. A. officials ee is wee, acs Ropar desiring division among the workers, to be soaked, though you can if you actu ~peprecisha foes, (ieee wish. Put these on the regular stove tae tee sale See in cold water and bring them to a!| i 1s the lid on the cooker, and cushion, and fasten the ‘ight. Forget the beans half an hour before time | . Then take them out, re- and put in the seasoning ler. They should be done to aRBeg TE: which requires long, | in boiling water is im- | the use of ths type of} cooker, and you have no idea how | ‘much time it saves.” Comrade Irene also sent methods : postpone the use Send FIFTEEN CENTS (45c) in | coins or stamps (coins preferred), for this Anne Adams pattern. Write plainly name, address and style num- ber. BE SURE TO STATE SIZE. Address orders to Daily Worker, from this, and has a pair useful soapstones in it, Will e this later and give some information about such cook- sketch I have made is not | 1260), but utilize every means to direct the fight among the nation- alities and races as to job, rates of pay, etc. This fight between the two locals 1s the big weapon to lower the standard of living of both deepwater and coastwise men. When the deep- water men refuse to work coastwise ships for 60 cents per hour they are blacklisted from all ships of the company. Deepwater pay is 85 cents per hour. ‘The fight between the foreman, Dick, and the truck driver, Bobbie, against the L.L.A. officials for greater graft is @ long one. When there is no compromise and Polly Baker is trying to settle the matter in order not to expose the rackets, Kurtz berger, the knife artist and strong- arm body guard of Polly Baker, who has also cut several of our com- rades in 1931, steps up behind Polly Baker at 98 and stabs “Bobbie” with- out warning. Donald Krutzberger is under $5,000 bond waiting in jail for trial. Bobbie is in the hospital crit- ically wounded. Krutzberger, delegate for both lo- cals, 1s hated by both rank and file LL.A. locals. He is known as a crim- tern Department, 243 West 17th Sect, New York City. will Comrade Irene please the church, many of whom were old members of the I. L. D. who had drifted away from the organization, and several potential I. L. D. mem- bers from among the church con- gregation. Our appointed chairman opened the meeting while another comrade went to the train to get the I. L. D. | Speaker, who was due at 8:25 but who didn’t show up. The chairman con- tinued with her talk, hoping that the speaker would turn up on the 9:18 train—but he did not! This was @ keen disappointment to the sym- pathetic audience and to our com- rades who had worked hard to get these people together. We noticed in the “Daily” that the I, L. D. had two rallies in Brooklyn on Thursday, Dec. 21, and Friday, Dec, 22, for which they managed to corral a great many of their best speakers, but they could not manage to get us one. One of our com- rades was in the I. L. D. office over & week before the meeting to arrange for a speaker; a letter was sent Dec. 18, informing the I. L. D. office of the definite meeting place, and again asking them to arrange for a speaker, also stressing the importance of hav- ing a speaker there, and on the day before the meeting, the comrade again visited the I. L. D. office and was assured that there would be a speaker at the meeting. There was no excuse for the fail- ure of the speaker to appear, par- ticularly when the I. L. D. office had had three reminders of the occasion, and thé importance of rebuilding this branch was stressed in all commu- nications and conversations. inal racketeer and gunman with a Jong record of betrayals, At this meeting, thirteen Labor De- fenders were sold besides some pam- ‘Demand Pay for | Messenger Boy (By a Messenger Correspondent) NEW YORK.— Among the many bad conditions that we messengers have to contend with, there is one, which we must as soon as possible do away with. That is the question of idle time. ‘We messengers sit every day on the benches, waiting for calls on the average of about four hours a day, not receiving one penny during that time. During this time. we wear the companies’ uniform, and we are sup- posedly working, but not receiving one cent for compensation. The question is this: Are we, or are we not working during the time that we wait for calls or deliveries? Definitely we are. Then why are we not getting paid for that time. That time should not be classified as non- working time, because we are still wearing the company uniform, and because we are still subject to their orders. The fact that we are idle is not our fault. We should be com- pensated by the company for that time. Of course all this revolves about this terrible “piece-work” system, of which we are slaves. The company must be made to check our time coming in, and going out, and pay us on the basis of 20 fcents per hour each day. This de- mand is a fair one, one which has been denied us for so long a time, one which, by directed struggle, we can attain. The messengers must unite to fight for this condition of idle time to be done away with. Let our slogan be: “Down with the evil of idle time.” organize. Please get these letters to us by Tuesday of each week. Our Readers phlets on the Scottsboro and Negro questions, The I. L. D. admits its weakness where speakers are concerned. When are they going to do something to correct this? Helen Michaels. The district office of the I. L. D. agrees with the writer that they stili have no functioning spakers buro. To correct this, the following steps have been taken: 1) A list of speakers and the dates they are available is being repared. ” Self-addressed enveloped will be sent to speakers, enabling them to answer requests immediately. 3) A responsible comrade will be im charge of the speakers’ buro hereafter. District Org. Dept, I. L. D. REGARDING DAVID PLATT’S MOVIE REVIEWS New York. Dear Editor: Comrade Platt’s brief review of the past year’s doings in the movie in- dustry deserves unquestionable praise. It was concise, clear in its altogether too brief pungency, and as uncom- primising as is expected. Still, I am slightly displeased with the criticism of “Washington Merry- Go-Round.” If I remember cor- rectly, Maxwell Anderson bitterly as- sailed the Senatorial villain and gave the lobbyists the’: ,ust desserts, and if there was urything about “pan- handling” it was certainly exterior to the central theme. Truth to tell, the bonus marchers were given the final swing at the fade-out, and the Senator was prop- erly subdued by the embattled Con- gressman, who was the hero of the bonus-marchers. Of course we know that their gain was nothing, but to say that Anderson’s trick was to de- pict the marchers as panhandlers is not uncompromising, but slight dis- tortion to say the least. At any rate I think it wouldn't be out of place for our comrade to continue with a more comprehensive review, including the foreign film scene as well, with natural shamefully uninformed. GEORGE GEHR, | the workers th | “Idle Time,” Says | | Anger of Subs at Favoritism by Politicians Leads | Brooklyn Postal Subs, Victims of | Bosses’ Politics By a Post Office Correspondent NEW YORK.—The substitute work- 's of the main post office in Brook- yn were given a swell Christmas sent when they reported for work he day after Christmas. They were aid off and told not to report until Jan. 2, The reason given for the lay-off by the supervisor was that all the substitute time allotted for the quarter (Sept. 1—Dec, 1) had been used up. This does not mean that there was no work for the subs; just the op- posite. The Christmas rush had as yet not entirely died down and there was plenty to do, But there was no money appropriated for the sub, with the result that the sub was laid off and the regular men given three hours overtimee nightly. A committee appointed to see the postmaster in Brooklyn was told the postal authorities cut the appropria- tions for the quarteer to economize. Ecoomy, hell! The substitutees get about 59 cents an hour for night work; the regular, whenever he is jealled upon to work overtime, makes |from 80 to 85 cents per hour. Where is the economy when the government lays off its substitutes and pays the regulars more money for working overtime? The public also suffers because the mail is delayed. Two Answers Of course, when the subs were laid off and given time to think the whole thing over, they found two answers to the question. The first answer was that too many hours were given to the temporary help used during the Christmas rush. These “temps,” many of whom were politically active in the last city elec- tion, had to be rewarded by the Brooklyn postmaster who has much influence in boro politics. The more hours given to the temps meant less hours given to the sub. The second answer which suggests iself is also a political one. Post- master Sinnott is a Democrat; his assistant postmasters are Repub- licans, Naturally, Mr. Sinnott would like to bring some of his personal friends (also Democrats) into the post office and have them take the places of the Republicans. The lat- ter he could only get rid of by point- ng to their inefficiency. If the mail could not be gotten out in time, then he has a case of inefficiency against his Republican assistants. By laying the subs off and thus delaying the mail, the postmaster has some grounds for their removal. And while this is going on, the subs have to suffer. What is to be done? It can be readily seen that nothing can be ex- pected from the major political par- ties. Only action on the part of the men themselves can help the pitiful plight of the sub. This may be brought about by the building of a militant trade union to force the au- thorities to give the substitute what he needs. Organization in the Brook- lyn post office is now very weak. When these men will realize the role of @ militant union then they will unite and fight against any such oc- currence which took place last Christ- mas. Company Unions Help in Firing Railroad’ Workers By a Railroad Worker Correspondent NEW YORK.—Iin the Morris Park engine house, shops and yards is an example. A check-up is kept of the speediest workers, driven to the point of exhaustion, and then this time record is held up to the workers as the specified time in which certain work should be done. | Unless the worker gives in to every | whim of the boss and takes abuse, | and cheers every remark of the yellow-dog union committee, he is ushered into the office for a state- ment. He is asked to sign a state- ment in which the worker is always wrong. These are the first steps in railroading a worker out of his job, This the boss calls a reprimand, and the worker is given to under- stand that he is being let off easy without getting fired. But the speed- up and abuse continues. The worker protests. Already the company union committee is passing the word around that this worker is no good, that he is only a trouble maker. Another week rolls by. The worker is told that he is furloughed because another man furloughed somewhere else bumped him, Coordinator of Railroads Joseph B. Eastman, in accordance with B, stated that there would be no further layoffs after May 1, 1933. However, the layoffs continue through a steady process of elimina- tion. On the D. L. & W. R. R. the work- ers pay 35 cents a month dues to the company union, On the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad the workers pay 50 cents a month. On the Pennsylvania railroad and the Long Island Railroad these same yellow-dog union committees are de- manding that workers pay in $1 a month dues to sustain the company unions. These company unions hold conference with Eastman, Railroad Coordinator, and use terroristic tac- tics to force the workers to line up and remain in the company unions, with such remarks as, “You know what to expect if you drop out of the company union.” L. H. Davis is general chairman of these company unions, elected by W. W. Atterbury, president of the Penn- sylvania Railroad. Any agreements entered into with the companies or tees will not be considered binding by jemselves, PARTY LIFE In yesterday’s column we spoke | of the Bolshevik self-criticism car- ried out by Section 5, Chicago, and of the thorough-going analysis undertaken by the section of the entire work of the units, Today the Section Organizer tells of the results of this criticism and the resulting discussion in the units. ace ran: Our section Committee does not feel that we can win out in our un- dertaking simpiy by “drawing up Communist decrees.” If we did, we would be suffering from what Lenin called, “Communist vanity.” We pointed out to the comrades, that the present high fluctuation in the Party was due mainly to the lax- ity and apathy which existed in units; that this condition existed because of the bickering, the pointless discus- sions over routine questions, the gen- eral looseness and the failure to de- velop mass struggles in the neighbor- hoods for the immmediaate interests of the workers. fact that when a unit on the North West Side actually developed a mass Struggle for free speech during the summer months—during a period of real decline in our movement, this unit, at that time one of the worst units in our Section actually vibrated with a new life and drew the com- rades away from their inner Party orientation — to the masses — to struggles! Every unit in our Section has read the Letter from the Section Com- mittee. Special meetings are being called by units on days other than the regular meeting night. Just as in the Section Committee, each member of the unit, starting with the Buro, joins in the discussion, starting with himself. These discus- sions inevitabiy bring out into the open every tendency which before existed, but was hidden. Who of us will readily admit that there is any- thing at all wrong with ourselves? Is it not much easier to point the finger at the other fellow? It is important to note that while a unit when seen from the minutes seems quite good to the reader there is often a different picture presented when you examine carefully its com- position—tts work—its outlook. We have already learned that going be- low with the comrades helps us to understand their problems better. In one unit, at such a meeting, we found the following: One, comrade refused to attend the meeting if a certain comrade was present. An- other demanded a transfer because he couldn’t get along with the com- rades. Another one dropped the Party because she couldn’t stand the gossip. The financial secretary did not attend to her business for four weeks—but the unit did nothing about it. The Unit Buro did not really try to solve the problem—decided that only the Section could solve such a hopeless mess, as they themselves termed it, At this meeting, one old Party member made the following state- ment to a comparatively new mem- ber: “I, as an old Bolshevik, don’t give @ snap for your opinion!” One member of the unit, who was a func- tionary in another Section and at one time in Section Five said: “While T'm not acquainted with this mess, Tm glad to say I’m out of it en- tirely.” And yet these comrades with the “higher understanding” were in this unit all the time and permitted things to reach the stage they did! As a result of this meeting the Unit elected a new Buro—straightened out the comrades engaged in petty squabbles—and worked out some con- crete steps to improve the situation Action, Not Merely Decrees, Needed to Activize the Units Chicago West Side Unit: Which Developed Real Mass Fight for Free Speech Is Cited We reminded the comrades of the} in the neighborhood. All the com- rades expressed great satisfaction with this procedure. While this unit presented an exceptionally bad situa- | tion, we find a great need for similar action in our other units. The very fact that our Section is showing signs of growth, in spite of these shortcomings, proves the cor- rectness of the Open Letter, that the workers are ready for organization— | for struggle—for leadership. Wher- |ever our Party members, working in | the shops, do correct work, they find workers who are ready to join the |Party. Our five new shop nuclei (or- ganized within the past two months) have all sprung up ss a result of the initiative of our Party members working inside. ‘The main current of the Open Letter has not yet been felt by our concentration units; shop concentra- tion still remains an abstract phrase: Our Party membership in the main is still not convinced that the work- ers are ready for struggle. They cling to the belief that the C. W. A. illusions must first crack before we can organize the workers to struggle. They as yet fail to see that on the ©. W. A. jobs open revolts are taking place daily and because we are not alert to them we are not yet lead~ ing.these workers in their daily strug gles, for their immediate interests. We have made a beginning by this discussion, ‘but’ it is necessary to finish the job. We are not aiming at any idealistic perfection in the Party—but at a practical improves ment in our work, Every member Should realize the tremendous task ‘before us in the present period—we ‘Thust now begin to really understand the. Historic Role of our Party and Steel, ourselves to become the Bol- sheviks Lenin called the Vanguard! Comrade Stalin, in his book, “Lenin- ism” says, “a combination of revolu- tionary zeal with the practical spirit constitutes the essence of Leninism in Party and Public work.” Where we: have made a beginning, in the units, with which we have met, we have fist of all drawn in to the Buros the best forces. At the same time we have sent into our concen~ tration units the best forces in our Section, not merely to act as reps, but~to work consistently with the peomrades. “Tn our Section Committee there is more clarity on the question of our relationship with our membership and on our approach to the work, In the units we are making our mem- bership feel that this is not a mere gesture because we are actually going below and working more closely with the comrades. We feel confident that we have “eccidentally” struck the main artery of the Open Letter and that by arming ourselves with these organizational measures and follow- ing it through to the end that our Section will greatly improve its work at the shops of concentration and aniong the masses of workers in our neighborhoods. JOIN THE Communist Party 35 KE. 12th STREET, N. Y. C. Please send me more informa- tion on the Communist Party. 1 Name RABhet snacks esthcaexcrecune ey ‘ity dee eeoeeeceeseccascecccs ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Cauliflower Nose on your photograph marked “x” we were unable to detect any redness, The only thing we could suggest is that @ few x-ray treatments might help your condition. You ought to consult the. nearest dermatologist and let us know his opinion before you take any treatment. . 8 6 Contact with Havana Physicians Sonia W., Havana.—You failed to give us your address; but we will get in touch with the physician comrade the|you mentioned and also with the Railroad Labor Act, Section 7-A and | other doctor, We are also writing you a letter in care of the Professor. There is very little material on the subject of health in the Soviet Union. We have one small pamphlet which was published a few years ago and which is now out of print. The only book we could reco) es is lew- sholme and John A. Kingsbury, pub- lished by Doubleday, Doran at $2.50 per copy. Sic as Ale Ortho-Gynol B. 8. Brooklyn—Neither Ortho- Gynol nor lactic acid jelly are 100 per cent desirable, The claims made for both of these preparations are exaggerated. Of the two, we prefer lactic acid as being cheaper and less likely to injure the Hssues, . 8 Wasserman ee Precipitation 0. C., South Carolina.—tIf you really got 200 injections of 606, mercury and bismuth, you ought to be cured by this time. If the Wasserman test hhas been negative for the last year, there is very little likelihood of any germs being present in your blood. ‘The Kahn Precipitation test is often By PAUL LUTTINGER, M.D, too sensitive and has to be discarded ina number of cases. We advise to have a Wasserman test done your spinal fluid, by your nearest Board of Health. spinal fluid is negative, worry. If you wish, we to. examine it for you, if_you send us a portion of ‘fluid (one or two teaspoonfuls enough) in a well corked test or other glass container, recy eae St ~» » “Girl Friend” vs, “Wife? o¥. L, Rickford, il—We use the eae ere 5 tee @ _*\ Lost Faith in Our Greatness Anonymous, hear that y greatness ice Wwe published our ctiticisms of the advertisements in “Physical Culture.” We are flattered af.course, that you have been buying the Daily Worker just for the sake of our column, but even this will not induce us to retreat one iota of what we-said. If you continue to read the Daily Worker you may, in time, con- |Yince yourself of the correctness of our views. padaing from your letter, ‘seem ave known us long ch not to doubt. our ‘ Vaginal Swelling “8, °S, Bloomfield, Conn—We can nol diagnose your case without a physical examination. If you can raise the amount of the railroad fare to New York, we should be glad to examine you free of charge, + le ns sessment