The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 12, 1934, Page 1

ee AST AOEOOET Sc AONB mas WOON 8 —— CIRCULATION DRIVE NEW SUBS RECEIVED SATURDAY: WON Bios evens cecene 49 Saturday 106 Total to date .... 1,789 Total 1,007 > * Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at Vol. XI, No. 61 New York, N. ¥., under the Act of March 8, 187 Daily <QWorker CENTRAL ORGAN COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. (SECTION OF COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL) NEW “YORK, MONDAY, ARCH 12, 1934 AMERICA’S ONLY WORKING CLASS DAILY NEWSPAPER WEATHER: Fair rising temper- (Eight Pages) Price 3 Cents NRA SKYROCKETS FOOD PRICES 20 P.C. OVER LAST YEAR }HackmenRej ectPlan Fired CWA ‘Cuban Workers Defy Ban Fr Do Not “Transfer C. W. A. Load to Relief ” Ts Order of C. Of Mrs. Herrick to Men to Be on Unions; U.S.-Mendieta Giant Loan Kept from Gov’t Recruits Fascists Break Taxi Strike Panken Attempts To Oust Militant; Gold Cheered by Drivers NEW YORK.—Cabs were stopped and all Parmelee garages were picketed during the week-end. The strike of | & over 4,000 New York taxi/ @ drivers remains firm, with strikers and union leaders turning down the proposals of Mrs. Elinore Herrick, | Regional Labor Board Chairman, to ® Relief List “Fire “Trouble Makers First’ Is C.W.A. Instruction FEDERALBLACKLIST | Deny Even ‘Hearing’ to) Those Fired Off CWA By CARL REEVE Marine Union Moves To Halt New Scab Cargo from Cuba NEW YORK.—To halt the un- loading of goods loaded by scab labor in Havana on the S. S. Oriente, a Ward Liner, the Ma- rine Workers Industrial Union issued a call yesterday to long- shoremen and seamen to refus2 to handle the goods when the ship arrives here Tuesday morn- ing. There were 42,000 crates of to- matoes, okra, peppers and citrus fruits loaded on the Oriente in Terror Grows as Regime return to work and settle the strike later. Strikérs at meetings took up the question of electing a broader rank and file strike committee as pro-/ posed by the Taxi Drivers Union and | | NEW YORK.—Are workers fired from the C. W. A. to be automatically transferred to local relief or “work relief” rolls? On the contrary, the Havana on March 10. while troops with machine guns and rifles guarded the docks. The Cuban longshoremen are striking in sympathy with agriculture and tobacco workers and have refused suggested editorially by the Daily Worker. According to the proposal, thev should elect one man from each garage to function on the strike committee. On Saturday a delegation of 50 drivers. headed by Sam Orner, presi- dent of the union. went to the City Hall to demand thet all points of the agreement of the recent general taxi sirike. be carried out. The who was reported to be in the Citv Hall at the time, did not see the drivers, but sent Bornard s ident of the Boara 0 speak to the men No Arbitrators For a while the discussion re- velved erovnd the question of ar- ro‘ion, The position of the strik- nin. thi ‘The matter of settlement + be taken uo between the union end the compeny. The bosses will have to get in touch with the union to settle the strike.” Ernst and LaGuardia, having lost 3] the drivers vers in the recent strike. have now turned the job of Sstrikebreaking over to Mr. Deutsch. Deutsch’s con- duct at the hearing made it obvious that he is attempting to put him- celf over as the “impartial” arbitra- (Continued on Page 3) Postal Workers Hit New Pay Cut Send Letter to Farley ‘2zen sell-out maneu- | whole plan of Roosevelt for “de- mobilization” of C.W.A. workers de- liberately includes provisions for PRESIDENT MENDIETA Wall Stret’s lackey in Cuba who is following in the bloody foot- steps of Butcher Machado in sup- pressing the strikes of the Cuban workers and peasants by murder and torture. Budd Men Get ‘Co.Union;NRA | By Company Union; Workers Threatened PHILADELPHIA. Pa. March 11. —Budd Auto Body workers here were shamelessly shackled with a company union, through an N.R.A. | National Labor Board election hoax held here at the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company’s plant Saturday. According to the poll tabulated by accountants well-paid by the company, of 5,762 workers, includ- ing foremen and other agents of voted “for company union.” Aga: the: company union, 2,256 ba to vote entirely in the frame-up | elections. The travesty of an election was | held on the decision of the Na- | tional Labor Board. It was en- the bosses, 50 per cent, or 3,152 | 4 were cast; and 354 workers refused tirely in the hands of 19 officials of | keeping as many fired C.W.A. work- {ers as possible off local relief lists, to fire and blacklist all militant C.W.A. workers from both th: C.W.A. and relief, and to lower wage jlevels. This is shown in instruc- jtions sent out by state C.W.A. ad- ministrations. which are admittedly |based on orders from Washington. “It is useless to transfer the C.W.A. load to the Relief if no econ- omy is to be effected,” says a letter just sent out to all county C.W.A. heads by the Federal Civil Works Administration for Illinois, and signed by Frank Chase, Illinois C. W.A. administrator. In other words, in demobilizing C.W.A. workers (firing them) effect “economies” on relief by transferring as few work- jers.as possible to relief. Last: This letter of Chase says that the “de- (Continued on Page 2) Workers Protest (CWASoy and Black- List Questionnaire CWA Workers Call Uni- ted Front Conference for Tonight | NEW YORK.—The C.W.A. work- ers, on project after project, are | holding mass meetings, electing delegations and passing resolutions against the “pauper’s oath” ques- ilar suits would be brought against | tionnaire, which C. W. A. Adminis- to touch the carer “The seamen /f 1 longshore- men of New York must not al- low this stuff to land,” said Roy Hudson, national chairman of the MW.1.U. The union issued a leafiet yesterday calling on all seamen and longshoremen to re- fuse to unload all cargo coming to New York from the port of || Havana. | Tax Suits Agains Mellon, Walker Is NewDealStagePlay | Rooseyelt Regime Hel»s Mellon and Morgan Break Strikes WASHINGTON, March 11.—An- drew Mellon, whose family controls a $10,000,000.000 fortune, former treasurer of the United States, and ‘James J. Walker, ex-Mayor of New York City, will have ‘ax evasion | Suits instituted against them, the Department of Justice declared yesterday. These stage plays are atranged to counter-balance the bad effect on Roosevelt's pose as enemy of the | “money changers,” crea‘ed. by his jrecent N. R. A. speech. In. that speech he enthusiastically greeted the wholehearted support from the American Bankers’ Association. Attorney General Cummings an- ‘nounced last night also that sim- Thomas S. Lamont, partner in the trator DeLamater admitted has the | firm of J. P. Morgan & Co., and! on Payless Furloughs | the company union, agents of the | employers. Ps were terrorized and threatened. For days the ,workers purpose of cutting down the C.W.A. ry oS , and relief rolls, contains 402 sepa- eee 5 Wg Present Wile WASHINGTON, March 11.— Pro- testing against further postal eco- nomies at the expense of the work- ers, three organizations of postal workers sent a letter to Postmaster General Farley pointing out that these would conflict “harsh and unwarrantable” burdens on them. The organizations protesting are the National Association of Letter Carriers, National Federation of Postoffice Clerks, and the Railway Mail Association. Since July, 1932, the ital work- ers have had their mines reduced through cuts and payless furloughs and suspension of promotion. The letter pointed out that $80,000,000 | Tate questions, DeLamater has an- When they came in to punch the nounced that every C.W.A. worker time clock on Saturday morning,| who refuses to sign this question- company union aes handed | naire is automatically fired. them circulars practic: ordering them to vote for the company | orn epee ee es union at the threat of losing their jobs, Seven reasons were listed why the workers should vote for the company union, but the main rea- son was told to the workers by the foremen—that voting against the company union means “voting your- j self out of a job.” Bar Workers from Vote ‘ At the same time, 1,500 -workers who were fired for striking last fall were barred from voting entirely. In the elections, 1,995 of the has come out of the postal workers | workers, in the face of threats of pay. The government is now pro-| posing a new series of payless| vacations. (Continued on Page 2) ——————EESSE— In the Daily Worker Today PAGE 2 Sports, by Sam Ross, PAGE 3 Republic Steel Union Meet Hears Powerful United Front Appeal. PAGE 4 Pre-Convention Discussion. PAGE 5 Statement of the Austrian Com- munist Party on Heroic Armed Struggle Against Fascism. “Austrian Workers Break Thru 18 Years of Baner Treach- ery,” by Karl Radek. PAGE 6 Letters From Workers. “Party Life.” “Dr. Luttinger Advises.” “In the Home.” PAGE 7 “Change the World,” by Sender Garlin. “The Ivory Tower,” by Maxwell Bodenheim. “Several Years In Chain Gangs,” by John L. Spivak. PAGE 8 Fditorials Foreign News. | ionnaire, aside from securing the firing of many workers, is the establishment of a gigantic spy and black-list system against the unem- ployed. The questionnaire humili- ates the worker by forcing him to sign before a notary public the amount of debts owed, past employ- ers, employers of members of his family. It paves the way for tak- \ing the insurance from the worker jand forcing him to sell it by ask- |ing detailed questions regarding in- surance policies owned. It asks (Continued on Page 2) | son’s Secretary of War. millionaires, as well as others, are evading income taxes, if the suits are instituted they will not be prosecuted with the speed that the | National Labor Board breaks strikes. While Mellon was treasurer of the | United States he ladled out billions | of dollars in income tax returns to | himself and friends. The charge against him now is that he failed | to report a million dollar payment of taxes due. The Roosevelt government, at the | same time, never hesitates to come |to Mellon and Morgan’s aids in using the government to break strikes for them in the aluminum, ‘coal and steel industry, While % is clear that these) Wars With Arms on All Unions sie | HAVANA, March 11.—Under the} direction of U. S. Ambassador Jef- | |ferson Caffery, the Mendieta gov- }ernment has moved toward open fascism in response to the gigantic |mass movement of Cuban workers jon strike against the governmen 's open war on the workers. | A decree proclaimed yesterday | outlaws all trade unions which re- | main on strike, thus in practice out- | lawing all unionism by extending the laws to make all strikes illegal. | Army Guards Dock Scabs | Meanwhile an army company with machine guns and bavonets | | took over the docks and protected | 200 strike-breskers who Iorded the | Werd liner Oriente with 42.900 crates | of fruits and vegetables from New| York. | More than 100 workers, chiefly |Communict leaders, have been ar- rested in Havena in the past 48/| hours. | At the same time. sections of the army began once more to reveal | their sympa‘hy with the striking workers and veasants, and a mutiny was reported at Holsuin, in Orien‘e | | Province. |. Despite Saturday's decree order- | |ing the immediate dissolution of all junions which violated the strike- eaking laws, the , telenhon? and truck workers’ strikes remained solid, and barbers, butchers and other trades came out on atrike yes- terday. The genera) strike now tnvolves more than 309900. workers throuch- | out the island, | Bakers, iop-men and emtployes. of | |the Americ*n-owned Cuber Mee- | | tric Co. are.:now preparing to strike | once more. | Following a government decree forbidding all municipal and state | employes to belong to unions, 200 employes of the Departme: of) Communications were fired v-~'cr- day. Fines of $500 to ‘$5.900 ere provided for violations of this de- cree. Five trade unions were ordered suspended by the Governor of | Camaguey Province. | | 2 | | | | xt Anti - Wrner'eh st Dp Grom Urges F For Cuban Masses Eastman Plan Would | Aid Bankers, Create | Call Mass Meeting; Protests to Roosevelt and Mendieta NEW YORK.—Responding to the militant actions of the Cuban work- ers, and the terroristic repressive measures of the U. S.-Mendicta | government, the Anti-Imperialist | League has outlined a program of action, and called on ell Amezicen workers, farmers, students and in- tellectuals to undertake actions in support of the Cuban masses. A mass meeting in New York is to be called in the next few days and postcards are being prep2red, containing the demends of the League, which > to be signed end | mailed to Wasi.ngton. | Meanwhile, the League has wired | to President Roosevelt and to Presi- | dent Medieta, | \ To Inflated To Build Air Force of “First Micgnitude, for Instant Action” | MATCH VINSON BILL Britain Seeks Strategic India Sea Island PARIS, March 11.— The French Government has presented to the Food Prices Up; Less Sold; A. & P. Reports For February Show NEW YORK.—Sales by the largest retailer of food in Amer- ica, the A. & P. Stores, were lower in February, 1934, than in February, 1933, the company’s reports for last month show. The A. & P. is one of the few |] chains reporting tonnage as well as dollar sales, Of course with price increases, dollar sales were higher; but sales in tons, the actual amount of food used by millions, decreased. The for the two Chamber of Deputies a three-billion | france wer prcgrem to match Amer- | ’s billion-dollar war prepara- fund and the Vinson biggest | bill. A bill to raise three-billion francs | | pr by a bond issue, in addition to the immense war preparations’ appro- tions in the current budget, has been introduced in the Chamber. The first section, calling for 980,- 009.900 francs for new war planes ed by the is for an “alr magnitude, for instant Another 75,000,000 for new action. gas mecks for the army was also appropriated by the Chamber. It was reported to the Chamber thet France considers war so im- minent that elreedy “25.000 bomb- proof shelters have been construc- | ted in Paris. . LONDON. March 1!.—Great Brit- ain is neg-'i2ting to buy the island of Timor, between Singapore and Austratig, from. Portucal and Hol- land, ea7h of wich owns & por-) tion of it. day Dispct between $25,090,909 and £50,000.000 has been made, and both countries are willing to sell. ‘The purchase of this island is an- other step in the British war pre- perations in the Ea: Timor island ec: ios an ex strategic po- sition on the route from India to Australia. According to the “Sun- | Acks Gov't Control 0)? Teangnortat on For Trusts, War More Unemployment .” an offer somewhere tonnage months in the two years were: for Feb-uary, 1933, 409,632 tons; and for February, 1934, 377,782 tons. Cake Air Mail WarLessons— Roosevelt Says Private Contracts| Will Provide Army Cooperation WASHINGTON, D.°C: March 11.) —Military lessons have been taught us during the past few wee de- clared President Roosevelt in a let- ter yesterday to Secretary of War Dern, ordering the curtailment of army air mail flying, and proposing the making of contracts with the air meil corporations who would} cooperate with the army. The “military lessons” were ob-| tained at the cost of killing 10 army fliers. W. A. Administration ench Add T)amand Wages Rise to Meet the War Budget New Deal Prices Workers Buying Less By 7 P.C. Now Than In Big Bank Crisis PRICES GO UP MORE Results in Slash In Real Wages for All Workers By HARRY GANNES NEW YORK. — Another heavy blow delivered at the American workers’ stomach by the Roosevelt government in the form of a sharp 2.4 per cent increase in food prices for the two weeks, ending Feb. 13, has just been reported by the Bureau of La- bor Statistics in its bulletin of March 10th. Food prices today, nearly nine months after the passage of the R. A. are 20 per cent higher th-n they were last year. The rise in food prices is more acute and more rapid than at any previous period. The result is a precipitous lowering of the real wages, or the amount of purchas- ing power of pay under the N.R.A. | codes. 7 Per Cent Less Goods Sold. Despite the vaunted “improve- ment” in employment, Federal Re- serve Bank reports from depart- ment and chein stores.show that the American workers are eating and wearing -7 per cent less food |and clothing than they did last year. before the passage of the N. R. A, Every item of food needed by the workers has increased in price. Price raises were particularly severe in the most necessary food products | such as butter, potatoes, beef cuts, leg of lamb, rice, hens, rolled oats, canned tomatoes, fresh milk, ficur. nork chops, pork and beans, and suger. A few items showed either no change or very small declines. The present food price index of “As you know,” said Roosevelt’s letter, “the period of emergency} | will end as soon as the n: y | leg: nd | new contracts can be obtaincd.” ‘The new contrac’ outright war subs! to the Mor- gan-controlled air lines. The orig- inal order revoking contracts was based on exposures of wholesale graft and corruption in air mail) agreements with the Post Office Department. Ro It, to pave the for more efficient war prep- WASHINGTON, March 11—Gov- | ¥@Y ernment regulation of all transpor- tation, rail, water, motor and air, was recommended yesterday by Joseph B. Eastman, Federal rail co- ordinator. Eastman declared that competition is becoming ruinous, indicating that “Federal control” would lead to trustification, “and mobilization of the transportation systems for war. This has already resulted in J. P. Morgan acquiring the - $2.000,000,000 Van Sweringen railroad system, In a report submitted to Con- gress, accompanying bills to carry out his prcposals, Eastman declared that “there is necd for Federal leg- islation to regulate other trans- portation agencies and to promote the proper coordination of all means of transpori.” arations and greater economy, dered the army, to fly the mai Since the death of ten army avia-) tors has been utilized by the air mail companies, more interested in their individual graft, to force the speedy conclusion of new contracts, Roosevelt is now complying with their own requests. “Because military lessons have been tauzht us during the past few weeks,” he declared in his letter to Secretary of War Dorn, “I request that you consult im- mediately with the Postmaster General and the Secretary of Commerce in order that addi- tional training mzy b> given to army air pilots throuzh coopera- | tion with private comvaries who later on will fly the mails.” Open Session To Hear Keynote Speech Of Browder CLEVELAND, Ohio, March 11.— The Eighth National Convention of the Communist Party, U. 8, A. opens in Cleveland on April 2, fol- lowing district and section conven- tions of the Party in all districts throughout the country. The Eighth Convention of the Communist Party meets in the period of a re- newed and spreading wave of strike struggles, and the growing demand of the masses for the enactment of the Workers Unemployment Insur- ance Bill, Extensive preparations for wel- coming the Eighth National Con- vention of the Communist Party to Cleveland have been begun by the Arrangements Committee and are meeting with an enthusiastic re- sponse, It is planned to make the 7 Eighth Convention of Communist Party Opens April 2nd in Cleveland mass opening meeting on April 2; Women’s Clubs 300, and the Young the largest Communist meeting that Cleveland has ever seen. For this purpose the Public Autorium (Mu- sic Hall) has hired for the first time by a rs’ organization and a mass chorus of 400 voices will greet the delegates and visitors. Speakers Earl Browder, national secretary of the Communist Party, will de- liver the main speech at the open- ing meeting—a keynote speech which will bring out the historical importance of this convention to the whole working class movement. Other national party leaders who will speak include Robert Minor, Max Bedacht, James W. Ford, Jack Stachel and Clarence Hathaway. All workers’ organizations in Cleveland are being urged to join in greeting the 500 worker and farmer delegates expected at the convention, and to support the opening mass meeting. Three or- ganizations have already ordered tickets in advance, the Interna- Communist League 100. Other or- ganizations, such as the Russian Mutual Aid Society, the Interna- tional Labor Defense and the Un- employment Councils, have also de- CHICAGO Ill, March 11—The Chicago District Convention of the Communist Party, taking place here on April 1, marks the close of the recruiting drive of the party now going on in the district. The lest district committee meeting under- took to recruit 500 new members into the Party by the opening of the district convention. In the first five weeks of the re- cruiting drive 340 new members were recruited into the Party. Dur- ing the first week of March alone, 94 members were recruited, includ- ing one from the mining field; ten from the A. F. of L.; 18 from the tional Workers Order taking 500 tickets, the Federation of Working, unions. Of the 94 recruited last | TUUL., and 3 from independent Chicago District Convention of Communist Party on April Ist week, 32 are Negro workers. Of the total recruits for the five weeks, 23 are from the steel in- dustry, 28 from mcetal, 40 mincrs. 7 packing, 13 railroad, 61 from the A. F. of L., 40 from the T.U.U.L. unions, and 26 from the independent unions. Sixty-five are Negro work- ers. The successful conclusion of the drive will be celebrated at the open- ing of the district convention at a mass rally in the Coliseum Hall on April 1, at 8 p.m. at which dele- gates from the basic industries of the cistrict will report and Com- rade Earl Browder, General Secre- Party In Cleyeland Prepares To Greet Delegates cided to order tickets for their members, Ticket Stations Following are the stations in Cleveland where tickets will be placed on sale beginning March 12: New York Appetizer, 501 East 105th St. Liberty Cap Company, 8106 St. Clair, Workers Center, 756 East 105:h St. Krinsky’s Key Shop, 5ist St. & Woodland Ave. Workers Cultural Home, 14101 (Continued on Page 8) 00Defy Storm -~ oO Protest Meet Mexican Writers, Artists Demand Release of Scottsboro Boys BULLETIN. NEW YORK.—A benefit formance of “They Shall Not Die,” John Wexley’s play, based on the Scottsboro Case, produced by the Theatre Guild, witl be given for the Scettsboro defense, under the ausp'ees of the National Commit- tee for the Defense of Political Prisoners on March 26, it was an+ nounced yesterday. Tickets should be secured from the District Of- fice of the LL. D. oe BALTIMORE, March 11. — Over |500 Negro and vitite workers, who | defied the snow and slush to attend jlast Thursday’s protest meeting at the New Albert Hall, unanimously adopted resolutions of protest egainst Judge Callahan’s latest Scottsboro lynch ruling, against the attemnt of the U. S. Federal Court to di Bernard Ades, Interna- ionctl Labor Defense Attorney, for militant defense of Negro vic- tims of the courts, and against the frame-up trial being prepared by the Nazi butchers against Ernst Thaelmznn, leader of the heroic German Cummunist Party. MEXICO CITY, Mex., March 11. .aiiy well-known Mexican writ- ers, meinbers of the Mexican League Uj Bore, 111424 Buckeye. Rosefield Oil Co., 2671 Wood- Hill Road, Dr. Lee, 9001 Broadway. Workers Book Shop, 1522 Pros- pect Ave. Woitowitch Barber Shop, Fleet Ave. Yetta Land, Building. Dr. Simon, 922 East 79th St. N. D. Davis, 442 Engineers Building. Ukrainian Labor Temple, 1051 Auburn Ave. Silverman Shoe Store, 105th St. Hungarian Daily Kinsman, Rally and Concert to Open N, Y. District C. P. Conyention in B’x NEW YORK—The New York dis- trict convention of the Communist Party will open with a giant rally and concert on Friday night, March 33, at the Bronx Coliscum, All or- ganizations are requested not to ar- range any efiairs for March 23 so 808 Engineers that all workers will be able to mobilize for this demonstration. of Revolutionary Writers and Art- ists, have addressed a protest against the logal lynch verdicts passed on the Scottsboro boys, to | the U. S, Ambassador in Mexico. The writers and artists signing the protest are: P. Mendoza, P. Zenteno Pino, Leo- poldo Arenal, Lyon Rouge, Perfecto Palacios, Santiago R. Martin, M. Lebato O., Enrique Navarro, Igna- cio Aguirro G. Victor Fabian, Concha Michel, M. Arroya, F. Diaz A, G. List Arzubide, J. Z.uala, B. Banuelos, A. Hernandez, Leopoldo Mendez, Luis Arenal B., T. Correa, Jose Pomzr, Nelly Morgan, M. Servin, Julio Marin, Alicia E. Reyes, Gaston Lafarga, Jose Lopez, A. tary of the Communist Party, will greet the convention, Lakeview Workers Center, 1021 Lakeview Road. “ Watch the Daily Worker for fur- ther details. Avila, A. Domingues, and R, Rames Pedrueza » nr