The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 28, 1934, Page 6

Page Six ¥ \LY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 1934 epee arta to United Shoe and Leather Union Local in ight 5% Silk Pay Cut Grows . e Z Maine Refuses to Be Split By “Red Scare” Reduction us Oe br A. F. L. Is Only a Part, ‘ Must Work Like Hell for Living at PARTY LIFE | | HowWork Among Fishermen, | Cannery Workers Is Improved ‘Dress Local No. 22. Of ILGWU Helps N.T.W.U. Warns; Union Conference Called By a Silk Worker Correspondent ,and understand the class struggle. PATERSON, J—On Saturday,| Lately, the workers in the Weide- March 17, there was a silk workers’ |Mann dye finishing department saw conference for all workers, silk and | What happens when the workers in Paul McKeon and Frank Costello, A. F. L. Mis- leaders, Also Fail to Put Over Their No-Strike Poison Correction of Mechanical Approach to Workers Brings Improved Results both A. F. of L. and|a department get together and tell | their U. T. W. leaders of the A. F. of L. to go to hell, and march in a body to the office to demand action of the boss This refers to the com- | mittee that went into the office to tell the boss that if he does not get the night bosses to lay off starting their machines they would go out on strike. The boss called in the A. F. of L. union leaders to ask them about it. ‘extile Workers’ Union members, at the Roseland Ballroom. Moe M. Brown, secretary of the N. a “ chairmen. The main speakers were John J Ballam of the National Office, N. T. W. U., and Juliet Stuart Poyntz, organizer of the Trade Union Unity League, for y and action to stop the wage eu John J. Ballam explained and an- What happened? | | | | (By a Shoe Worker Correspondent) | AUBURNE, Me,—It was very dis- | appionting for us, the shoe workers ets $14 to of Local 27, of the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union when “rep- resentatives” of the Co-ordinating Committee appeared, the brothers Paul McKeon and Frank Costello. We expected them to report to us on the struggles of the shoe MIDDLETOWN, N. Y.—Here are Workers in Haverhill, Nashua and Dundee Textile Good Week 15. for 4-Loom Day Weavers | | By a Worker Correspondent | claim that strikes are un-American. | Brother Costello was introduced as a staunch fighter against the foreign element and the “red” men- ace in the Boston convention, and he did his best to show himself as this, even if he did get mixed up once and admitted that you can’t find the Communists in the Cham- ber of Commerce and other bosses’ organizations. But they did not} Boss Cut Wages The Fishermen and Cannery| Workers Industrial Union was or- ganized in our city in August, 1933. | We recruited the local organizer into} calling another special meeting, and then told me he was ready to join the Party. Now Have Fraction “Forget ThisTimeAbout | the Party. At present the union has| We now have a small fraction in Settling the Dress, Says Business Agent (By a Needle Trades Worker Correspondent) meetings fell off from 200 to prac- tically nothing. Our organizer was| gradually isolated from the rank} and file; and an active, non-Party | member gained the leading influ- ¢5 | about 400 members, most of them | the union as one of our Party mem- | cannery workers, The attendance at| bers joined it. We have overcome the personal differences between Mr. Y. and our Party organizer in the union, by conzentrating on activity and dividing up the work. The last meeting showed a definite turn; over | succeed in putting over here, things a a 4 swered questions about the 3 per|The A. F. of L. leaders naturally | . ;- | other parts of the country, and give|that they are afraid to bring u NEW YORK—I was working as a | ence in the union. We were in dan-| a dozen fishermen and 50 cannery cent wage cut which the United |tell the bosses not to worry, that |the conditions at the Dundee Tex suggestions from their own experi-| in Boson, on Haverhill. SUE aeiaher cui: diedes dor valet a | ger of losing this union when, after | workers showing up: A membership tile Corp. in Middletown, N. Y. You must be a friend or relative to the boss to get a good job. The boss and his three or four sons | work there, and more relatives. One | is a day foreman, one is night fore- man, one is a loomfixer, and one | daughter weaves. The boss has a they would take care to see that no | strike takes place. The workers | told them that they would strike in spite of the A. F. of L. leaders! | The results? The bosses had to take their slimy night bosses off the machines. Are the A. F. of L.| un leaders mad! Textile Workers’ leaders of the A. F. of L. put over the silk workers of Paterson. The rank and file of the A. F. of L. voiced themselves against the wage cut and about the ence about the best way to or- ganize the union. But it is too much to expect such things from them, They showed themselves up as no better than the A. F. of L. reformist leaders. In direct defiance of the consti- i -| month at the Nodle & Goldin shop, |@ dance where a chauvinist out-| committee was organized out of this oe Rae ce teal 147 W. 24th St. Prices were go break occurred, the executive com-| meeting to make personal calls on lit they came to split the union into| told till it was time to give the | mittee voted to discontinue meetings | members, and this committee has |racial and political groups, they | ti¢kets for the pay. Work was re-| at our hall. A foolish attempt had | doubled in size in the last week. In | could get out. fused to be shared by old workers, | been made to gain control of the! the meantime, we have as a small We |as I was a new girl. union through the organization of | fraction, agreed on recruiting @ cer- the shoe] 1 went to Union Local 22, Inter-|# Youth section by the Y.C.L. This| tain number into the Party in a ding a union to fight y its rank and manufacturers; not the | tion for a shop e in two weeks, , and N. T. W. U. membe: all Shop Chairmen and delegates are to attend, to take th st step towards building one powerful silk and dye workers’ union. What good is a union that helps the bosses to cut our wages? The bosses can cut our wages without a union, or, without us paying big wages to Schweitzer, Keller and other such people. A leadership that proposes and votes for wage- cuts must be thrown out. Only a Beginning The bosses, together with the U. T. W. leaders, tell the workers to accept the 3 per cent cut, as it is only a small cut; as it only amounts to $3 or $4 a month, but the work- ers realize that the $3 or $4 can help pay the rent. The bosses and A. F. of L. leaders also point out to the workers that the National Tex- tile Workers’ Union is making en- tirely too much noise about such a little 3 per cent cut, that they only want to make trouble for the work: ers and to call strikes. But thi did not say anything about their own union only helping the bosses against the workers. The N. T. W. U. leaders know that if the workers take this cut without a fight the bosses and A. F. of L. leaders will put over an- other cut bigger than this one a little later. That is why the N. T. U. leaders tell the workers to ight this cut. If the A. F. of L. leaders would have made a lot of noise, as they call it, about the wage cut, as the N.T.W.U. did, the workers wouldn't |® lot of their workers have short | have to take the wage cut, but the workers would have gotten a raise in their pay instead. The N.T.W.U. has always led the workers in their Struggles against the boss class and will always do so, because their | choke on it, because it is no good | of the boss, but if you are you have Jeaders come from the rank and file This shows how the Communists | and other honest, fearless workers do it when it comes to fighting for better conditions. The committee ought to go into the office again to demand of the boss that he give to |each worker running a machine a | helper, instead of as they now have |it, one helper for four machines. This will give employment to more | workers and reduce the speed-up of those now working. Less speed-up | means longer life and better health. Let's tell it to the bosses and their friends and the A. F. of L. leaders, that the workers will get what they want. Let the workers try it again; it worked once, it must work again. Dye House Department The assistant dyers and their joverlords have always considered |themselves “Big Shots” who didn’t |meed a union. They think differ- ently now, at least the assistant dyers do. They used to get 60 cents an hour and didn’t have to run the dye tub machines. Now they are made to do the helpers’ work, run- jning dye tub machines, and only getting 57% cents an hour. The | helpers were laid off and they hear that more are to go as soon as the bosses and more assistants are broken in again to run the dye tub machines, Noble, a U. T. W. leader of the A. F. of L., may fix them up to get helpers’ pay for them before they |are through. They work only five |hours a day, because they speed-up eight hours’ work in five hours. No wonder the company just de- clared its annual dividend to their stockholders while at the same time | time, and the rest of their workers | are walking the streets looking for work. What a nice, big Blue Eagle }we have in this country for the capitalist class! They ought to ‘for the working class. Day to Day and Year to Year Struggle The struggle of the Women’s Councils against the high cost of “living, which has been going on suc- ~ cessfully in the Bronx since last fall, =-feaches a higher stage in its de- velopment. A mass conference is being called “for April 14, at Ambassador Hall, 3875 Third Ave., by the Committee of Twenty-Five which nas led the struggle thus far. This conference will review the work accomplished, “>take stock of the presen: situation, and map out further activity. All Bronx housewives are urged to be present. The attendance need “hot be limited, though, to residents of the Bronx. We suggest that ~~women from all parts of the city interested in lowering living costs and desirous of acquiring the tech- nique of doing so, go to this meet- ing and observe the methods that -have already been successful. Meeting convenes at 1 p. m. Make sure to be on time so the conference can complete its discussion and ad- journ in time to iet te women be home to feed their families. And, of Course—Spinach! Croquettes may find favor with those who do not ordinarily like this beneficial green. Wash and lightly steam the spinach in the usual way (in only the water re- maining on it after washing). Chop, and add salt and a beaten egg. ‘Mix, and add enough cracker-meal to be able to form mixture into ‘Small cakes. Brown in hot fat. Grated cheese may be included, or sprinkled on top. OF OUR AILITANT WOMEN Edith Berkman _. Came to America in 1921. of 15 took job in knitting mills in “Cleveland, Ohio. Saw and expe- aienced unhappy lot of workers— -low wages, speed-up, and displace- -ment by machinery. ~ Later went to California with family. There joined American Fed- eration of Labor; was delegate from “tihion to Central Labor Council, Grew conscious of freachery of A. ‘F. of L. leadership. Watched care- filly strike struggles and studied _Bubject of strike strategy. Helped raise funds for striking _ textile workers of Passaic, N. J. Observed that a new union, the National Textile Workers’ Union, formed in 1928 during strike of New -Bedford Textile Workers, won par- tial victory for workers. Decided to devote herself to busid- _ing N. T. W. U. After 1929, Gas- tonia textile strike, N. T. W. U. eaders were framed, arrested, and ( At age ERD as CRORE APN SO SE the He LondLv sed BY LUKE union christened “The Red Union.” Edith left California, found job in New York, joined “Red Union.” In 1930 sent by National office to Lawrence to build union there. Lived with workers, quietly organ- izing for several months. Commit- |tee of iive formed in one mill. N, tf. W. U. backed workers of this mill against provosed lay-offs and EDITH BERKMAN ARRESTED AT LAWRENCE, MASS. speed-ups by various mills, N. T. W. U. in 3 days organized sympathy strike of 10,000 workers to support one department of 40 workers who struck. This stormy strike lasted 10 days. Edith arrested. Defended by work- ers and I. L, D. Released on bail. Strike won partial victory: “effi- ciency experts” removed from mills. A. F. of L. officials brought to Lawrence by bosses, Tried to win workers from N. T. W. U. Gen- eral wage-cut of 10 per cent an- nounced, Twenty-three thousand workers struck. Edith again arrested. Or- dered deported to fascist Poland. Held nine months in prison at East Boston. Contracted tuberculosis, Removed to sanatorium, Deportation order protested every- where. Stay of deportation for one year granted by Frances Perkins. Eqith now reieased from hospital, now out on bail, but is still held for deportation. Workers! Working-women! Raise the issue of tne freedom of Edith Berk:nan—now two years a prisoner -—and demand her complete release, through all organizations. Send protest telegrams to Miss Perkins, Secretary of Labor. Send us names of those you know who are not readers of the Daily Worker but who would be interested in reading it. Address: Daily Worker, 50 E. 13th St, | tution of the U. S. and L. W. U,, that guarantees to everybody with- | out discrimination in regards to} race, religion or political opinion, | the same rights in the organization, | they launched an attack against the | Communist Party, the militant ele-| ment in our organization which is trying to make the union a fighting organization. They also attacked the organizers of strikes, claiming again that they are against strikes. I suppose they can’t forgive the militant fighters in Haverhill for defying the Labor Board. | They! nice soft chair in the office. Weavers have to work like hell | |to make a living in this mill. A four loom weaver can make about | $14 to $15 per week, if he has a |good week, that is for day weav- jers. The night weavers make a | little more than the day weavers |because they get a 10 per cent | bonus, but you have to work every night to make this bonus. That |is just one of the bosses’ schemes |so that the workers will work every |night, if not you lose the bonus |for all week. They don’t give a workers, even if we are not of the| same political opinions. It was also | brought out that strikes are the only weapon that the worker has| and must use to better his condi- tions. It was also proposed and ap- | plauded by the workers that we ex- press solidarity with the Haverhill | strikers in their defiance of the La- | bor Board. I would like to ask the rank and file members in Boston if they in- structed their representatives to show them in such a light, and will | they stand for it? | | | damn if you are sick. To them workers are not supposed to be sick. Crepe pays 1*% cent for one thou- sand picks. Sand crepe pays 1% cents for one thousand picks, Cela- nese pays 2 cents for one thousand | picks. Winders are supposed to make $13, but they always get a Shoe Workers, Sold Out By Old Union, Join in U.S.L.U. day or a half a day off, so that the boss does not have to pay the mini- Winders are supposed to run 100 spools. But most of the |time the workers have to run to |keep the spools running. | You are not supposed to have a |float as big as a pinhead or any | kind of a mark in the cloth. Some- times marks in the cloth are un- avoidable because of the old looms. Most of the time you have a loom- fixer, and let me tell you that the | loomfixer is so busy that the weaver |has to wait from 1 to 2 hours to |have his machine fixed. They have jtwo loomfixers for 100 looms, and |that is too much work for two| parker Murphy attacked the organ- |men, when they have junk to work | izer in the local press and attempted jon. The day weavers cannot make | tg split the workers. At one time much more than $13 per week. [he stated that “outside organizers Most of the day weavers run four | are not needed in Lowell. I, as the |looms. On working days when you | representative of labor in this city, {run a warp out you have to wait | will organize and call the shoe |from one day to a week to put it | workers out on strike when I think in. That is, if you are not a friend | it necessary.” However, the shoe workers did not wait for Mr. Murphy, but called in the old Shoe Workers’ Protective Union and proceeded to organize and strike at the same time. The curious fact is that while the shoe strike was at its height, Mr. Murphy procured a loan from C. V. Watson. I am wondering why C. V. Watson should make a loan to Murphy at this particular time? Perhaps the (By a Shoe Worker Correspondent) LOWELL, Mass—C. V. Watson, president of the C. V. Watson Shoe} Co., is suing Parker Murphy, presi- | dent of the Lowell Trades and Labor | Council (A. F. L.), for the sum of $500 made on a promissory note dated May 6, 1933. The reason I call your attention to this is to make clear the fact that during the big- gest shoe strike in the history of Lowell, Mass., which started April 6 and continued until June, 1933, this Parker Murphy did all he could to break the strike and send the shoe workers back to the sweatshops. At the beginning of this strike, |mum wage. it put in right away. Warpers make from $13 to $16.60 a week, but the | silk is so rotten that they just can’t make much at it. The boss tries to | tell us that anyone can run a warp, but he should have to run some of \the warps that they put in the looms for the weavers to run. NOTE! | We publish letters from textile, | editors could comment on this, needle, shoe and leather workers Only a few workers from the C. V. Watson Shoe Co. came out on strike with the other shops of this city. Eventually, this shop moved out of town to Auburn, Maine, and invited all the loyal help to follow. This these weak-sisters did, and much to their sorrow, for as soon as the workers and their families were settled in Auburn, C. V. Wat- son proceeded to cut the wages of his loyal help by 25 per cent. Now these workers are drifting | back to Lowell and are signing up with the United Shoe and Leather Workers’ Union, which has replaced the S. W. P. U. through amalgama- tion. They've learned their lesson and are now aware of how “loyal help” is taken care of by the bosses. At a meeting of Local 70, of the U. S. and L. W., held last Monday, the Local voted to send $100 to the shoe workers on strike in Haver- hill, Mass., and further voted to assess all members of Local 70 the sum of 25 cents each per week for the duration of the strike. This money will be given to the Haver- hill shoe workers every week. The Lowell shoe workers are standing back of our brothers in Haverhill and will help them in every way possible. The shoe work- ers here are on the alert and will| see to it that no Haverhill shoes will | be made in Lowell, i | every Wednesday. Workers in those industries are urged to write us of their conditions of work, and of their struggles to organize. Get the letters to us by Saturday of each week, | Letters from “THEY AIN'T SO DUMB IN JOHNSTOWN” Johnstown, Pa. Inviting questions from his audi- ence and then refusing to answer {them when questions were asked in |3 step by step way to expose the ;demagogy of his speech to about fifty Johnstown, Pa., people, who had turned out to hear him speak on “The New Deal,” August Claes- jsens, a Socialist Party spellbinder, showed his true social-fascist role | in Charlie Schwab's steel town. The old customary practice of the | Socialists, pointing to the Postal Department of the government as “classical socialism,” was not, over- looked. However, Claessens did not point to the air mail scandal, nor to the old lobbying stunt of other days by the Curtis Publishing Co., whereby the public was compelled to pay the freight for the Saturday Evening Post and other junk of that publishing house which went through the mails. The dry “humor” with which Claessens tried to handle the crisis and the serious economic problems of the workers, probably thinking he could get them to laugh the wrinkles out of their empty bellies, suddenly took another turn when our barrage of questions hit their mark. Unsuccessfully he tried to provoke a miniature Madison Square Garden affair, but being “half pint” himself in size, his thumping of the table with his fist and the facial contortions he made availed him only a laugh of derision, and the sight of even the few seats that were filled being emptied. He declared his willingness to kiss every socialist comrade policeman in Bridgeport and Milwaukee for clubbing the hungry unemployed workers, who sought relief, classing them as “fascists” and “enemies of workers.” He even declared, thump- ing his fist as he did so, that from now on he will advocate only brutal terror against any Communist — anywhere. We walked up to his platform to give him his chance, but all we got was a “shower bath,” as he spat his venom. After that we had to go home to take a bath. Claessens boasted of the new socialist Lord-Mayor of London, England, and we expected him to Picture the creature in his medieval attire and the draped hat, but he failed to do so. He denied the existence, even, of a socialist gov- ernment in England as well as in Germany and tried desperately to excuse the traitorous actions of SIZE. Bauer and Adler in Austria. But Address orders to Daily Worker|he did try to take credit, for the Pattern Department, 243 West 17th| Austrian Socialists, for the fact that Can You Make ’Em Yourself? Pattern 1807 is available in sizes 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40. Size 16 takes 4 yards 39 inch fabric and % yard con- trasting. Illustrated step-by-step sewing instructions included. | Send FIFTEEN CENTS (15c.) in coins or stamps (coins preferred) for this Anne Adams pattern. Write plainly name, address and style number, BE SURE TO STATE Street, New York City. Vienna was a beautiful city, Our Readers When he got through thumping his fist and twisting his eyes and face better than any Notre Dame Hunchback could think of doing, the hall was empty, except for the handful of neighboring town—364 day Socialists and election day Democrats and Republicans, (ac- cording to the price received), and left without a recruit with which to start a branch of the S. P. in a town which he admitted at present does not have a single member. Of course, Claessens classed the Johns- town workers as dumb because of this fact. That fact, however, should prove conclusively that — “they ain’t so dumb in Johnstown— after all.” | —Tom Myerscough. SHORT STORY CONTEST New York City. Editor: I realize that the content and quality of the “Daily” has improved tremendously. However, it is far from ideal and [ wish to add a little constructive criticism. In the first place your editorials aie entirely too long and drawn out. Make them shorter and more con- cise. This brevity will make for in- terest and attention. Propaganda is like medicine and it is often necessary to sweeten for flavoring. Theoretical Marxism must | be made concrete and brought to| the every day struggle of the masses. | Stories, like the picket story of Bo- denheim, must become a Daily Worker feature. We necd more like Spivak, Gold, and Garlin. In connection with short story daily feature, I think it would be| advisable to inaugurate a short story contest dealing with human misery | under the capitalistic order. Mem- bers of the N. S. L., F. S. U. and Y..C. L. should be urged to con- tribute. Readers of the “Daily” and Socialists of Y. P. S. L. and L. I. D. should also be asked to contribute to the daily story feature. The new illustrated edition of Karl Marx would be quite apropos as a prize. A series of drawings showing slum areas of the city and its hu- man misery, would act as a splendid countermove to drawings of New York City in the “Sun.” Perhaps a few drawings of rodel Soviet hous- ing would serve as a contrast to the dilapidated and superanuated fire- trap tenements. An example of what I'm trying to express would be a daily feature article with titles like “News the Papers Failed to Print.” The col- umn would begin with an extract from a bourgeois. paper and be fol- lowed by revelatory news behind the news. This would emphasize the in- |of the fact that the finishers and |came in and I demanded a price | cares about the workers is that they national Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, of which I am a member, and made a complaint. The girl at the complaint window told me to ask the boss the reason. I did. He| gave me a bawling out like which I) never really heard before. | I told the boss that I was aware the pressers work till 6 and 7 o’clock in the evening and therefore I have nothing to do when I come to work. To that he told me, to go to the union and let them come to share the work for me. The week I left, a new lot of work from which I could make a living. Most naturally he refused, so I went to the business agent and he said not to start on the new lot till he comes to settle it for me. I went several times. I also told Mr. Mar- golis about it and all told me to wait. Finally the day approached for the business agent to come. He vanished. An excuse was given that something happened in the family —so the boss finally discharged me. | Myself and another girl were strik- ing while the rest were working. He also took up new workers. We told that to the chairlady but she paid no attention, Well, finall I got a business agent, Mr. Ushelovsy, who went with me to the shop, He re-instated me, but he said, “forget this time about set- tling the dress, wait for another time, then we'll see what we can do.” Imagine the boss hearing him say that! The previous day the boss had told me that he always had a good laugh at the union, “I always do what I please.” And no wonder, from what I’ve seen and heard of since I’m a mem- ber of the union—from which I hope to withdraw. It is only the workers’ fault. They would jump at each others’ throats if possible, so how in the world are we going to win the militant class struggle? I recently worked at a place, Samuel Hilzenrath, 153 W. 26th St., where they don’t use N. R. A. labels on dresses and the boss balks at the N. R. A. code. He also says that he will not take workers from the union as they aim to become part- ners in his business. eee oe. Editor's Note:—This state of af- fairs is not “the workers’ fault” but is the fault of the treacherous Lovestonite leadership in Local 22, which discourages workers from standing up for their rights. This worker should get in touch with militant members of Local 22 and learn how to organize workers in | the shop where she happens to be working so that conditions can be enforced, even if the busi- ness agent refuses to do anything about it, Boot, Shoe Union Fails to Protect Shoe Worker’s Job (By a Shoe Worker Correspondent) LONG ISLAND CITY—Things are getting worse instead of better with the Boot and Shoe Union. in the I. Miller shoe factory. At one time, when I heard a few people say that the Boot and Shoe was a racketeer- ing agency, I thought they said it for personal reasons, but now I see it all very clear. A friend of mine was fired a few days ago, the work was satisfactory and the amount of work for the day was above the average. I was wondering why the chair- man kept quiet about this affair and soon found out that he had nothing to say. T also inquired about this matter of the collector, and all he could Say was “I’m just the collector.” In other words, all the Boot and Shoe pay the dues, and if a worker is fired. well he’s just fired and that’s that, as far as they are concerned. I really wish something does occur so that Miller and the Boot and Shoe racketeers won’t be able to carry on these dreadful schemes. A Worker in the I. Miller Shop. eee gee Editor’s Note: There are, no doubt, many other workers in the I. Miller plant, who were forced to join the Boot and Shoe Union, and who resent its policies of pro- tecting the employer rather than the worker. These workers should form themselves into a rank and file opposition group to force the Boot and Shoe to set up a worker- controlled shop organization in the I. Miller, and force the leaders to protect the jobs of the workers. Such a group of workers can get advice and assistance from the Rank and File A. F. of L. Com- mittee at 1 Union Square, New York City. adequacy of the conservative press. Here’s hoping your paper grows in influence and power. Comradely yours, —L, M. was the devisive factor in the at- tempt to pull away from our Work- ers Center and the Party. | Realizing the seriousness of the| situation, although I had never worked among fishermen before, I ses out to correct it. Through our} Party member, who had been shoved into the background, I met Mr. Y,} the leader in the union. He out-| lined the situation, telling me his grievances; objecting strenuously to the attempt to gain control of the union through the Y.C.L. He also opposed the attempts to recruit among the union members into the Party. Finally, he privately in- formed me that he was getting no help from our Party member in the union who had ceased his personal relations with him since joining the Party, and who had gone to the united front meetings as a delegate of the Party and not the union. Furthermore, he showed me numer- ous examples where the Party mem- ber had failed to be responsible for work in the union. I then briefiy explained to Mr. Y. that the Communist Party was go- ing to make a serious attempt to gain influence and leadership in the} union. Going into this carefully, I} showed him that our policy was not} mechanical control, but leadership by collective activity and leading the workers into struggle. I explained | to him that recruiting Party mem- bers from the union was not only a right, but a serious duty. Then I} offered to help get a union paper) published, but that it must be a col-| lective product. Also, I carefully ex- plained to him our methods of work- ing through fractions. We discussed a meeting he intended to call, and I warned him not to call the meet- ing because the preparations were insufficient. He went ahead any- how; and seeing he was determined, I tried to help him as much as pos- sible. But he stubbornly kept every- thing about the meeting to himself. As I predicted, the meeting was a flat failure. However, instead of looking at it in that way, our com- rades approached the few workers who came and brought to them the questions of organization and made appointments for the leading work- ers to come to our Party headquar- ters. Mr. Y. then came to me and arranged for a personal discussion. The next day we went over every- thing together. I told him, then after pointing out where I agreed with him on our mistakes and where I thought he was wrong; that it was not necessary for him to join the) Party, but if he did, we could tackle | the problems more effectively. I did not press him on this point; but took up a plan of action to build up the union meetings. On the basis of this plan, another meeting was called; and with the help of a few comrades, we got out leaflets and several hundred letters. This meeting was a little better than the first one, but Mr. Y. failed to carry through our proposals. After the meeting, we got together and analyzed the weaknesses and mis- takes. During the meeting I had gotten aside a well-informed fisher- man, and on the basis of his criti- cism, I made some additional pro- posals to Mr Y. He consented to given time. In the meantime, I went to a Spanish contact in the union with a letter from the Cannery and Agri- cultural Workers Industrial Union, written in Spanish. By getting this letter translated and discussing it with her and her husband, who is a member of the A. F. of L., I had a good opportunity to bring up the matter of our Party, explaining I was a member. He said. “Maybe if you tell us more about the Commu- nists, we will join.” I have talked to them both since; and I think they will both join. Through this woman, I made additional contacts with cannery workers and fishermen. I have turned over to the League four or five contacts among the cannery workers. It is surprising how rapidly the work is going now. Mr. (now com- rade) Y. attended our section con- vention as a fraternal delegate and was elected to the District Conven- tion as a section delegate. Summarizing: Our previous mis- takes were mechanical approach; failure to provide day to day con- crete guidance; exposing our only Party member; trying to force re- sults; lack of intimate knowledge of the conditions of the fishermen and cannery workers. The correct line lies in personal contact, concrete proposals of ac- tion; full discussion on all propos- als; giving real help instead of just advice; bringing out the Party with- out hesitation but carefully explain- ing the role of the Party; careful study of all the conditions and prob- lems, as only this can justify an at- tempt to make proposals of value. It is too early to show all the re- sults, but undoubtedly we are now on the right track; and I am sure we will soon have Party fractions in the big canneries and among the fish- ermen. Since the fishermen are mostly Italians, Portuguese, Czechoslovak- ians, Japanese, Armenian, etc., our big problem is to develop leaders among these workers from their own ranks, instead of trying to organize them through our own comrades whom they do not understand or fully trust. Since the cannery workers are mostly Mexicans, we must build a Spanish fraction immediately. We have the contacts now; the rest is up to us. Peculiarly enough, the way to the fishermen, we have learned, is by concentrating on the canneries where dozens of wives and youth of the fishermen, who talk good Eng- lish, are employed. G. G., San Diego, Cal. Join the Communist Party 35 E. 12th STREET, N. Y. C. Please send me more informa- tion on the Communist Party. Name Street By PAUL LUT’ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS A Sure Cure for Incurable Diseases We have a number of patients who have remained incurable, in spite of our best efforts. We donot mean patients afflicted with a really incurable disease, such as cancer, matrimony, etc., but those suffering from a form of neurasthenia, mainly due to either a sedentary life or too much Party activities. We keep urging them s take up some form of physical exercise; but they evade us by claiming lack of ‘ime, of in- clination or of opportunity. We are, ourself, one of those procras- tinators and our good wife has threatened to divorce us, unless we take up some kind of sport: boxing, tennis, baseball or anything that will add some zest to our flagging spirits. Well, here is our opportunity, at last! Thursday, March 29, the most stupendous basketball game will be played at the St. Nicholas Arena, betwen a galaxy of profes- sional and former college stars, on one hand, and the Renais- sance Club (the World’s Negro Champions) on the other; the proceeds of the game going to the Scottsboro Defense Fund. If you want to feel your blood tingling through your finger tips (and toes); if you yearn to feel the primordial rhythm coursing through your veins; if you desire to feel re- juvenated and forget the petty physical and mental annoyances which beset you in your daily rut; ‘TINGER, M.D. of the glorious game without hav- ing to stir from your seat, then you should not fail to buy a ticket for this extraordinary spectacle. It combines the benefits of Greek dramatic catharsis with the vicari- ous sublimation of Freud's libido and, as such, we recommend it to every reader of this column. We'll be there ourself because of a pecu- ‘liar disease of our “bread-basket,” for which basketball has been rec- ommended to us by a naturo-chiro- homeopath who had studied medi- cine for nearly ten weeks. Mona, our wistful monkey, will be there, too Printed Matter On Medicine In the U. S. S. R. R. Gonzalez, Tampa, Fla.—We re- gret that we have no printed mat- ter on this subject. The ‘only pam- phlet that we \.ow of, which ap- peared in English, is called “The Care of Public Health In the Soviet Union.” It was printed in 1931, in Russia; but it is out of print now. If you can afford to buy the book, “Red Medicine,” by Arthur News- holme and John A. Kingsbury, which is published by Doubleday Doran at $2.50, you'll find a good deal of information on medicine in the U. S. S. R. If you cannot af- ford to buy the book, look up some of the back numbers of the Daily Worker and you'll find a good deal of information on medicine in So- viet Russia in our column. We are planning to publish a pamphlet on this subject in the summertime, when we are not so rushed with our if you wish to get all the benefits professional duties