The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 6, 1934, Page 3

DAILY WORKER, NE vy YORK, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1934 Page Three DEMAND CONGRESS PASS WORKERS JOBLESS INSURANCE. BILL! Convention of J obless| Sends 9 Delegations to Government Officials + Capital Resounds With Demand for Jobless Insurance Bill By CARL REEVE WASHINGTON, Feb. 5.—A tre- mendous ovation greeted the reading of the letter to the Convention of William Z. Foster, National Secretary of the T..U. U. L., who is recovering from a serious illness. The Resolu- tions Committee was instructed to draft a reply and bring it before the convention. After analyzing the New Deal, the inflationary policy of Roosevelt and its effects, the wage-cutting drive of the N. R. A., the war prevarations, and the impoverishment of the work- ers, and describing success to the So- viet Union, Foster's letter declared: “The central demand of the whole working class remains unemployment and social insurance at the expense of the employers and the govern- ment. It can and must be done now.” “Comrades, this convention must mark the beginning of the greatest campaign for unemployment and social insurance that we have ever seen, We must unite all the unem- ployed: organizations. into one. Marching together, employed and unemployed, organized and unorgan- ized, we can and we will force the United -States government and the bosses to enact the Workers’ Unem- ployment and Social Insurance Bill. T.U.U.L. Pledges Support “The Trade Union Unity League and its affiliated unions have carried on the struggle for the workers’ bill. I pledge to you that in the coming campaign the T. U. U. L., together with the militant rank and file of the reformist unions, will be fighting shoulder to shoulder with you in the attainment of our goal. “Map out your campaign. Build up your forces. Go bravely into the struggle and you will win.” The report for the youth confer- ence, which was attended by 175 youth delegates, was made to the convention by Louis Bannish, a young delegate from a C. C. C. camp. ‘The convention adopted a statement and demands upon Robert Fechner, head ‘of the C. C. C., which were to be presented to him today. The statement to Fechner said: “Why: have vou, Mr. Fechner, who call yourself a ‘leader of the A. F. of L” and of ‘organized labor, done every- thing possible to prevent the organ- ization of the boys in the C. C. C. camps and used sharp methods of expulsion from the camps ..,.. for those.who dare organize themselves?” Abolition of Camps The demands made by the conven- tion included: Abolition of camps and transfer of all appropriated funds for the upkeep of the C. OG. C. and transient camps to a fund for Unem- ployment Insurance for the youth. Meanwhile, hourly. wages equiva- Tent to those paid at C. W. A. dis- placement. of military apparatus by committees elected by the boys, the boys being given jobs near their homes, not on military work, but building real public works beneficial to the workers; the right to organize, no hazardous or unhealthy see. bet ter living quarters, comvensation for injury or death, no deductions from pay for support of families, no more Jim Crow. An appeal to the work- ing class youth of the country was adopted by the youth convention. Forced Labor The convention declared: “The transient camps, established by the government, are aimed at further re- pression of the unemployed youth. ‘The whole force of the law has been directed against the hundreds of thousands of homeless youths who hhave been forced out of their poverty- stricken homes and onto the high- ways. ‘These are corralled into camps ‘where they undergo forced labor with rates of pay amounting to 90 cents & week. Pe The convention adopted a. call to action to the erican workers. ‘The call to action said in part: “We de- clare to Roosevelt, you promised that no one would starve—you are cutting the miserable relief we forced you to. grant. You promised us jobs—now you are throwing even the C. W. A. out to starve. In the election cam- paign you promised us unemployment insurance—instead you bring forward fake job reserve plans. You talked about our rights—now you are at- over and run the new deal. You talked against war, but are spending billions preparing for war.” ‘The Only Safeguard . “We workers demand the right to live. We demand that the govern- ment and employers furnish each and every worker with unemployment and insurance as our only safe- working class—the demand for which the unemployed, the i Sia) in the shops, and mills of peg a ees hoe velybae sat our ranks. e listed a series of de- program .nands for all sections of the unem- t The new draft constitution for theatstrict Two Miners | -—2 ANS el \\ Drawn by William Gropper. Fred Sider and John Smoody, Pennsylvania mine delegates to the National Unemployment Conven- tion. National Unemployment Council, formed at this convention, was unan- imously adopted last night by the convention after the report of Philip Prankfeldt, chairman of the Consti- tution Committee, and a thorough discussion. Two Sections taking up organizational points were referred back to the Constitution Committee for revision. The preamble of the new draft constitution, unanimously adopted by the convention states that, “this Third National Convention decides to Councils of the U.S.A. to embrace all unemployed and part time work- ers’ organizations of the working class, such as trade unions, fraternal Societies, farmers organizations, vet- erans groups, together with all un- employed workers’ organizations on the basis of a militant, united pro- gram of action and struggle for re- lief and for adoption by the Federal Government of the Workers Unem- Ployment and Social Insurance Bill. “The National Unemployment Council of the U. S. A. declares openly to the masses of impoverished workers and farmers that the only way in which permanent security and prosperity will be obtained is when the workers and farmers who have built and created the wealth of this country, will take complete control of the country in their own interests.” Thirty veterans who attended the convention held a conference outlin- ing the program for veterans in sup- port of the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill and decided to pre- sent it for adoption in all veteran organizations. The conference of veterans de- clared, “while they will fight, for their immediate relief due them because of existing veteran legislation (only in some states) at the same time the veterans through their organizations will fight together with all other un- employed for immediate relief in or- der to prevent the separation of the veterans from the rest of the em- ployed and unemployed.” Against “Economy Bill” A resolution supporting the repeal of the-economy bill and the imme- diate cash payment of the “bonus” was adopted, The veterans at this conference included delegates from the national office of the W.ES.L. and the Pitts- burgh Veterans Rank and File Com- mittee. Some of the veterans were members in the V.EF., the DAV., the American Legion and ‘the Purple Heart. The convention adopted the report of the veterans conference. An indication of the mass support this powerful and militant convention has brought forth is seen in the tele- gram received by the Convention to- day, from Congressman Francis Shoe- maker, Farm-Labor Representative from Minnesota. Shoemaker’s tele- gram, read'to the Convention just be- fore the delegations left to visit Roosevelt officials with their demands, stated, “Fraternal greetings and sin- cere good wishes to National Un- employment Conference. P emphatic- ally endorse Unemployment Insur- ance, old age pensions, maternity benefits and other proposals for relief of workers. Regret my Congressional duties prevent attending, but shall back your measure introduced by Representative.” After a speech by Herbert Benja- min, the Convention decided to ask the Congressmen who are now being visited, a series of questions which will force them either to fight for the Workers Unem) it ce Bill or expose themselves as dem- agogues. The pels oar the question to Shoemaker, are: “Do you intend to support the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill, or the fake bills which parade under the name of ‘Unem- ployment Insurance,’ will you fight for the enactment of this bill, publicly and openly?” Benjamin stated, of the bill intro- duced by Lundeen in the House, “Al- though the bill as presented to Con- Sress does not exactly correspond with the bill proposed by the Unemployed. Councils,—it does not provide for ue surance for all workers irrespective citizenship, and does not demand the use of all war funds for unemploy- Anna Schultz, ene secretary to Ernst rson trial defendant, will ‘Speak, Feb. 10, at ines , Wabash and test Developments in Nazi Fo ene NEC EL Cn aoeny gee ah FASCISM. Pht bd Mpg be held, Fe Feb. 10 and 11, at Abraham Tinceln, oars 700 N. Oakwood under Of ‘Antes League Against War Speakers include B. K. Gebert, organizer of Communist Party. set up the National Unemployment | * Wagner-Lewis Bill! Jobless Insurance Wants to Split Fight Into 48 Separate Struggles WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 5.— While delegates at the National Con- vention Against Unemployment are formulatingdtheir plans for a united struggle for the enactment of the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill, the Roosevelt administration is planning to strangle the workers’ de- mands by dividing the fight into 48 separate struggles, The Wagner-Lewis State Unem- ployment Insurance Bill, introduced into Congress yesterday, aims to set up state insurance funds to. be fin- anced principally by the workers, provides no insurance for the 17,000,- 000 unemployed today, and limits the insurance to ‘systematic weekly ben- efits of at least $7, or else 20 hours earnings for at least ten weeks.” In a joint statement issued yes- terday by Senator Wagner of New York, and Representative Lewis of Maryland, co-authors of the bill, it was said, “This means that each of the 48 states may become an ex- perimental laboratory for the testing of the wisdom of particular pro- posals for the relief of the unem- ployed.” The Workers’ Unemployment In- surance Bill specifically states that funds will be “raised by the govern- ment from funds now set aside for War preparations, and by taxation upon incomes over $5,000 a year. “The W: Bill proposes a federal ontrol of insurance funds, one of the principal stipulations of the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill, is totally emasculated. by the Wagner-Lewis Bill. Instead, this bill provides for “state administration or supervision with joint advisory com- mittees assisting.” No provision is made for the part- time workers thrown out of employ- ment through old age or sickness, and nothing for the millions of work- ers now unemployed. By its limita- tions, no workers would be given un- employment insurance for a period of more than ten weeks, Chinese Workers Give Support to National Unemployed Convention NEW YORK.—At a special mem- bership meeting of th Chinese’ Un- employed Alliance held on Jan. 22, a resolution was passed to send a del- egate to the National Convention Against Unemployment, and to mobilize the entire membership of the Alliance to popularize the con- vention among the Chinese workers of New York, linking up the con- vention with the struggles of the Chinesg workers. The Alliance wholeheartedly sup- ports the National Convention, and placed the following demands on the Roosevelt government for the. con- sideration of the convention del- egates: to stop the further shipment of the $50,000,000 wheat and cotton Joan to the Nanking government, which is being used to finance a murderous campaign against the Chinese people and not to feed the starving Chinese masses; and to de- mand the withdrawal of American armed forces from China; against Aimsto KillWorkers | | By MARGUERITE YOUNG NE of the first prints of the Work- ers’ Unemployment and Social In- surance Bills before him, Representa- tive Ernest Lundeen of Minnesote proudly examined it today and asked, “How does it look?” “Swell,” he was told. “I’m proud to have introduced it be- cause it represents things that-I be- leye in,” he said. “And I not only introduced it. I'll fight for it.’ “To the exclusion of substitutes?” “Well, I wouldn’t say that,” he re- plied. “I will vote for any bill that promises unemployment relief. But of course, this bill is what we’ve got to come to.” ‘The same Workers’ Unemployment, Insurance Bill was introduced in the Minnesota Legislature by a Farmer- Labor member — and the Farmer- “abor machine in that body, led bv Farmer-Governor Floyd B, Olson, let it die in committee by refusing tc support it. “I intend to speak on unemploy-, ment on the floor of the House,” Lun- den said. Herbert Benjamin, Unem- ployed Council Organizer who was sit- ting in, interjected, “Don’t you think, Congressman Lundeen, that Congress will act favorably on our bill only when they are forced to do so by mass pressure?” The Congressman didn’t want to make a public statement about that. But labor in Minnesota already has spoken—and acted—on this matter. The ranks of the working class, par- ticularly in Minnesota, are astir. They ‘lected a Communist Mayor in the town of Crosby. In Minneapolis, in Lundeen’s district, they joined in the Unemployed Council’s agitation for the Workers Insurance Bill until the na Council of Minneapolis endorsed Yeon of a minister, Representative Lundeen was born in South Dakota. He practiced law in Minnesota after graduating from the state university, and soon he was serving two terms in the state Legislature. In those days he was a Progressive Republican, closely associated with the LaFol- lettes and the elder Lindbergh. He was a delegate to the Republican na- tional conventions in 1912 and in 1916. His anti-war record is unequalled by that of any other member of Con- gress. His was the first voice raised in Congress in defense of the Soviet Union; he castigated Woodrow Wil- son for American intervention while the doughboys were still on Soviet soil, at a time when such a position meant being mobbed by red-baiters. This 55-year-old lawyer-Represen- tative takes pride, however, in being a practical politician. No doubt he would’ strenotisly object to being ac- cused of opportunism, but like other public figures of the status quo, he has more than a bowing acquaintance with the word expediency. He will tell you it’s a matter of principle with the partition of China by the im- perialist powers; and against im- Perialist. wars. (Daily Worker Washington Bureau) | Benjamin Talks to Lundeen of Workers Social Insurance Bill To Maintain Slave Unemployment Bill =" H.R. 7598 IS TRE NOUS# OF REPREMATATIVEX Pomme $3008 fs Lamm trae tern WN: ih wv bed Com (ito Later ant ered A BILL > rcovide Go the anablishment of mowmployment send avin! inurance, und for other parpom eit enacted by th Sonate ont Houm of Repreetr ‘io 0f the Uriied Staten of Ameria ja Congrem cxenbie! ‘That thia Act shall be bowen by the tle * The Warr Unerpioyrent and Rectal Tnmuranoe Act Sea. 9. The Beerwtary of Lalor fe tes entrar! od dined to provide for the immediate ctablihnmet of 1 tem W uneroployicet and sowialinwurce fr Ube pir ome of providing inate fer all worker and fermert oo: ceaplosed through ne fant of tir own ia amants el 19 vera Jal wages. Gach inmuranon shal by adler Facsimile of the House of Repre- sentatives’ publication of the Work- ers Unemployment and Social In- surance Bill which was introduced inte the lower house of Congress several days ago. him to “serve the people—but to keep in hailing and in hearing distance of them.” The fact is that the Farmer- Labor party, represented by Lundeen, is a stop-gap for mass rebellion, It is, in truth often behind the ranks of the working class. ‘S OFFICIAL biography in the Congressional Directory tells you he served as a private in Company B, Twelfth Regiment Minnesota Volun- teers, in the Spanish-American war; held a commission in the Minnesota National Guard; was a member of the U. 8. national championship rifle team in 1919. He is‘a Mason and a Methodist. A tall, sturdy fellow, clean-shaven and clearcut, he is ever on the alert to tell you about his record as a defender of the Soviet Union. And with justifi- Ask C. W. A. Workers to Help Pay Expenses of Roosevelt Dance CLEVELAND, Ohio.—C. W. A. workers on Project No. 3 were called together, and after a lec- ture on the generosity of Presi- dent Roosevelt in providing them with jobs, were told to show their appreciation by donating part of their meager pay to help pay the expenses of a dance given in Roosevelt's honor. Part of the C. W. A. workers’ donations were to go for Roose- velt’s pet fund for Marm Springs Foundation, Ga. Nothing was said about -the lay- offs of C, W. A. workers and wage cuts that have taken place at the order of Roosevelt. Humor and I Fighting! Spirit Stands Out At Every Turn By MARGUERITE YOUNG | (Daily Worker Washington Bureau) WASHINGTON, Feb, 5.—Just cast a glance over the nine hundred del- egates to the First National Conven- tion Against Unemployment in the United States; Negro and white. A diamond cutter, teachers, pack- ing house butchers, laundresses, farmers, housewives, as well as steel puddlers, longshoremen, miners, silk weavers and railroad. men. Neat young metropolitan students and rangy Texas oil drillers, aesthetic looking architects (with canes) and solid looking little-home owners, Here are the backbone of the Amer- ican working class. Two things stand out at every turn in the great rectangular Audi- torium; humor and a fighting spirit. Nearly every speaker has a taunt and a joffe to fling at all who deny their needs, as well as a fist to raise. And the bursts of laughter that punctuate solemn note-taking weld this mass together. There’s a lift in this atmosphere. Emil Nygard, the blond boyish- faced, blue-sweatered former Com- munist Mayor of Crosby, Minn., stands on the platform telling a of | story: “Out in Minnesota there was a poor farmer who had an old Ford. He was rattling along, one day, but the Ford gave out of water. He saw & pump besides the road and got out and worked for an hour to draw one pail of water. Just then somebody came out on the hilltop spotted and hollered down, ‘Hey, that’s pri- vate property; what’re you doing?”, the farmer answered, ‘just drawing water—and it took me an hour to get a pail full.’ The fellow on the hill called out, ‘sure; I had a plumber ane that pump for me so that every time anybody draws a pail down there, it pumps me a ¢tankful, up\ here, This is private property’; and he laughed. Well, fellows, that’s what we're up against; every time we draw a pail for ourselves, the fellow thatrowns the pump gets a tankful.” : The platform on the velvet-cur- tained stage of the Masonic Farmer-Labor Congressman, Discussing the Workers Insurance Bill with Jobless Leader, Friendly, But Might Vote for “Substitute” jeation. He sent for a bound book of the Congressional Record of the War Congress, thumbed through to the re- port of January 4, 1919, and pointed to a resolution he introduced on that day. “It doesn’t take any nerve to say these things now,” he said, “but I it was fashionable.” ae ae HE declared also that full responsi- bility for the killing of Amer: icans | in Russia to protect bondholders here | and abroad devolved upon Woodrow Wilson, “who, while he writes golden| begun. “You know, that Wilson— deen exclaimed, “There's just one who can beat him,” Benjam ininterrupted. “That's Fra: lin D. Roosevelt.” “You think so?” the Congressman responded. And he returned to the subject of Russia. “I was very glad to travel in Russia in 1927 and 1928, and when I came Lun- North demanding recognition. I was scoffed at, laughed at, and, I presume, sneered at—but I notice that the American government has finally rec- ognized the Soviet Union, a thing I said was bound to happen. And I'm very glad the record is clear as to where I stood all the time.” Lundeen was the one member of the War Congress who yoted against entering war against Austria. He was one of 56 who voted against war with Germany. Negroes Hardest Hit By Unemployment, Federal Report Shows NEW YORK.—Although Negro families constitute only 4.5 per cent of the total families of New York City, 13.3 per cent of all the fam- ilies on the New York relief rolls are Negro families, according to a report by Corrington ‘Gill, chief of the Federal Emergency Relief Ad- ministration research and statistics division. * Gill's. report, stating that 21,803 Negro families are on relief in New York City, plainly shows that the Negro is the hardest hit bby Se crisis. Potash Fields Boom As War Plans Grow (By a Worker Correspondent.) ROSWELL, N. M.—The hurry up clamor for more potash to make explosives is causing a boom in the potash fields here, and now a new branch line has been built out to the Carlsbad fields and hundreds of cars are being shipped. Now the core drills are on the road from Electra to drill in this field here 25 miles from us ‘at Acme. The Carisbad fields work ybout 400 to 500 men and are closely and jealously guarded by she Potash Co. was saying them back there, before} words and speaks with a silver tongue, | acts exactly contrary to his promises | and countermarches every movement} back I delivered many speeches in the | New CWA Plan Seeks Status of Neg groes Negro and White Unity | Drawn by Willlam Gropper ker delegates to the Na- a. Two wor tional Unemployment Conven’ BS Collaborate to Force | Workers into AFL “Recognized Unions to Fill All CWA | Skilled Jobs NEW YORK—Arrangements 1 which C.W.A. and A. F. of L. officials will collaborate to force all skilled workers on C. Eat jobs to join A. F. of unions concluded in a meeting bet n executives of both groups Satur . The negotiations were carried on between George. Meaney, vice-pres dent of the State Federation of La- bor; James Quinn, secretary of the Central Trade and Labor Council; Harry L. Hopkins, national admin- istrator of the C.W.A. and A. H. |Schoellkopf, state administrator. By their arrangements, “recogn unions” will be asked to supply skilled workers for C.W.A. wo. | New York. Experiences on C.W.A. jobs in other parts of the ‘coun notably in Clevéland;* Ohio, ha shown that such an arrangement with the A. F. ;of L. officials has resulted against all independent and volutionary unions, the establishment of and job fees, which the employed .for the s, have been forced to pay into the union treasuries. Saturday's negotiations were con- ducted with only A. F. of L.Jabor Officials, Representatives of indepen- dent and revolutionary trade unions were not consulted, By this maneuver workers’ “who have been dropped fromthe A. F. of L. unions will be forced to fill the unions’ treasuries in order to be eligible for employment. as skilled workers on O,W.A. jobs. Send to the Daily Worker, 50 E. 13th St. New York City, names of those you know who are not read- ers of the “Daily,” but who would be interested in reading it. \To Farm Out As Maids 200 Negro Women, Cut Off, Relief, Better Jobs NEW YORK.—Unemployed Negro women workers, denied relief on their own right, are to be farmed out to unemployed white families, accord- ing to the latest plan of the CAVA. The local C. W. A. servicé™an- nounced yesterday it had received special permission from the federal government for the employment of 200 Negro housemaids “as visiting housekeepers to be sent into the homes of men whose wives are ill and unable to care for their chil- dren.” Only Negro women are tobe used for this work by the ©. W."A, h at the same time discriminates against Negroes in the higher cate- gories of jobs. The women, will be ~ | given 24 hours a week work, at950 ‘ABI L, CWA Officials cents an hour, or $12 a week, With no additional provision for those with dependents. In view of the C. W. A. refusal te place Negroes in the higher cate- | gories of jobs, it is obvious that this | move. is aimed at maintaining’ the status of the Negroes as a class*of | helots on the lowest’ rung of capi- talist society. The plan was drawn up with the aid of the New York and Brooklyn Urban Leagues, which are ; to have control of the selection of | | | || Legionnaire’s Eyes those who are to be employed. In announcing its plan, the ‘lotal |C. W. A: service admits that there are many homes crippled by illness: “Many such families, where the fathers are out all day. looking for work, have six or seven neglected, ‘tn- dernourished and perhaps ill chil- dren.” No provision is made for milk and other nutritious food for these children, or for employment of their admittedly unemployed fathers. Moreover, the maid service 1s to. be confined to white unemployed fam- ilies. No consideration is to be given Negro families in the same straits. NEW BEDFORD ©. W. A. MEST NEW BEDFORD, Mass.—O. W. A. and wi- employed workers will meet today at Mount Royal Hall, corner of Acushnet and Kenyon Streets. Opened by “Daily” New York, Dear Editor: As a first reader of the Daily Worker I was, stunned to see be- fore me'a paper that had the gall to criticize the Roosevelt admin- istration. As an American of three gen- erations, also a member of an American Legion Post, I was taught to be a supporter of Amer- icanism regardless of conditions. Well, from now on, I'm seeing things differently, thanks to that girl that sold me the “Daily” in my house. In the future, I’m go- ing to bring the “Daily” to the members of my post and to the workers at my trade as a. steam- fitter. Carry on this good work. RYAN, ae committee, elected from the va- rious groups of delegates. Two big req and white banners spread across the back curtains: Outstanding Slogans “All war funds for Unemployment Insurance;” and “We demand Un- employment Insurance.” Back, along @ small balcony, more slogans: “For one united movement for struggle against hunger;” “A job at decent Wages or adequate cash relief to every worker,” To the left, across the tall windows also velvet-draped (the Masons furnished their Auditorium well) “Cash relief for the single and homeless—not forced labor camps.” And over the entrance, right: “Relief without discrimination against Negro workers.” ~ Two floors up in the big building there’s a cafeteria, where the dele- gates eat every meal—and where separate group conferences are held, the women, the youth, the trade unions, the professionals, the home- owners and the rest. It’s in these lit- big Hall is almost filled by the presid- tle meetings you get a. reflection of the day-by-day fight for relief and in- surance and against race and sex discrimination that is being put up in every section, Here you see how the American melting pot is simmer- ing. In @ corner’ room, off the audi- torium, a first-aid station receives those who need treatment for minor mishaps. It doesn’t lack customers either, for hundreds of delegates have travelled hard to get here. As Joseph Paskvan, youthful farmer- labor club representative of Eveleth, dom. Even “Jerry the Greek” (John Apostilitis), most infamous of the en- tire red-squad of the district of Columbia, honors the convention uniformed police sit nearby—and their ears prick up at the thunder of cheer that greets the reading of “Bill” Foster's greeting to the con- vention. “Who's Foster?” plain clothes man. Paul Lineburg, head of the red-squad, is downstairs adh galt Sn pte with all the rest of “crime prevention” boys— but there’s nothing for them to do, eitieex, here; the convention is orderly as, though much more spon- taneous than, a Baptist youg people's union meeting, The cops stand on one foot, disgusted looking. Women Organize Though the women meet separate- ly, the theme of their discussion !s unity with men in the Unemployed Councils. A pretty former waitress, Barbara Davis, of Cleveland, now the mother of five children, the wife of a college man who's been an unem- ployed railroad worker for several years, is describing pitched battle between herself and three other women against seven cops, “We've had to keep our children home from school because they had no clothes,” she says. “My little girl failed because she was absent So much; I'll tell you these are the things that Take women fight. And we do fight in Cleveland. it were at home with us. I was sick. A bailiff came to get my radio and washer. “He put his foot inside the door when my little girl opened it. All of us women rushed to the door and closed it. It had a glass top. The bailiff shook his fist and pushed it Tight through the glass and shouted, “We'll get that radio and the washer too. I'll get some more to help me.’ Soon six cops did arrive, and all seven piled into our narrow hall. The other women stood around, and the cops said, ‘Go on home, you; get out of here.’ I asked the cops, ‘W/0's paying rent here’? and then the fight began. Yes, we had a free-for-all. Finally somebody hit me in the stom- ach—and when I came to, they had taken the radio and slunk out the | through the back yard—but they didn’t dare stop for the washer and the other women fought to the end. Now I'm suing the city for damages, and our council is backing it up one hundred per cent.” A woman from Scranton, Pa., told how she organized 700 others. Juliet Stewart Poyntz, educational director Mid-West Farm Delegates of the Women’s Department’ of the | Trade Union Unity League, heard all eagerly. They drafted a resolution declaring that unemployment “falls with special severity upon the women of the working cl: ’ and that: the | tered by Sunday represent 32 states, | Porto Rico and Canada, the biggest and from Louisiana, six from Indi- ana, some from Idaho, North and South Dakota, and more were still being signed formally, Georgia. and Alabama just having arrived. Occupationally?” A roster shows this order: Bookkeeper, furworker, printer, cigarmaker, “car- penter, plumber, cook, waitress, elec- tric welder, auto mechanic, teacher, architect, chemist, plasterer, chauffeur, artist, laundress, electrician, tractor mechanic, cement pourer, shoemaker baker, steel pud- dler, diamond cutter—you can pick out 30 to 40 trades and a hundred occupations. ‘Then there are imion representa- tives: ‘Progressive Miners Union mem- bers from Illinois; A. F. of L. quarry- men, representing four Maine locals; A. F: of L. ‘textile trimmers from New York; the United Front Farm- ers’ National Committee for Action, at least a dozen of them; seyeral from are represented. The League of East. . Order, Imagine, then the variety of cos- too busy to notice. A stout Southern Negro’ woman in cotton print dress and sweater exchanges a grin of ap- proval with the girl in the next chair, a@ pretty, young, white professional, apparently, in furred red coat and hat. Around the literature table, in- struggles in which women’ have carried on militantly side by side with men against unemployment, against the "NR.A., against threat of fascism and war “have only begun.” | They detailed plans for reinforcing their battle. |. The. 814 delegates formally regis- | group from Pen ‘ania, but a group_of ten from Wisconsin, 32) from Ohio, 47 from: Illinois, four| glance at the} the Small Home Owners’ League of | the Ohio, which has 17,000 members in| “Potamkin’—the spark that set off Cleveland alone. Detroit Polish Clubs; the Odessa revolt for 1905. He Struggle for Negro Rights has dele- | Navy, gates from the South as well as the | | cries were crossed lightning. A thun- And there are many others,|derclap of applause rolled and rum- fraternal delegates from the Interna-| bled through the convention, the tional Labor Defense, the John Reed | delegates stamping, shouting, “ubs, the Internatiorial Workers’ | ling, clapping until the film endea | Unemployment ‘Convention Is Cross-Section of U. S. Workers [Delegates 1 Tell. Their Experiences in Fight on Unemployment for “Us Veterans,” published by th National Rank and File Veterans’ Committee in Pittsburgh, “The Daily Worker,” and many pamphlets. Pittsburgh is on the platform speaking again, a middle-aged Negro woman in neat working clothes, say- ing on behalf of the Women’s Coun- cil on Unemployment: “I tell you. | We can all go back from here and tell the thousands that sent us—we | can tell them something. I know I from Colorado, as many from Texas | Ct? Sav the Unemployed Counell ts powerful organization: I learned that while I was here. And I've learned more every day. I just joined the Unemployed Council recently, so I didn’t feel up in Pittsburgh that’ it was so strong. I feel it’s stronger every day that I'm here. I feel stronger every day I'm here—I feel like I'm young and can fight. I even feel so young that I could join the Young Communist League.” And from the back of the hall comes a sharp call as if in » revivel meeting: “Tell it to ‘em, sister.” Late Sunday afternoon the dele- gates had a surprise. The Russian film masterpiece, “Potamkin,” was shown. About 600 saw it for the first time. The hall was throughout. Then came a news reel of the hunger march of 1931; ..At ‘sight of the hundreds of police mo- | bilized, shoulder to shoulder, to bar the marchers from Capitol Hill, some delegate’s thoughts flashed back to mutiny aboard the cruiser outed: “Remember . the. Remember Potamkin.” The whist- and hundreds rose and sang the In- ternational, tumes—something the delegates are! To how many millions this will travel back with the cot delegates is hard to guess. Conven- tion leaders’ do know today, Esato that 661 Of the approximately 900 have presented credentials showing that they represent groups with i: total _ signed-up scoming delegates quietly step forward | 3,022.29