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

| | i DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1934 Page Three Dr. Moton Endorsed Drive for Lower Pay For Negro Workers Besses in Nation-Wide Wage-Cuting Drive on | Harrassed Negro Toilers By CYRIL BRIGGS | BALTIMORE, April 5—Secret suppert by Dr. Robert | R. Moton, Negro reformist head of Tuskegee Institute, Ala- bama, of a campaign by Southern and Northern manufac- turers to further cut the starvation wages of Negro workers under the discriminatory N. vealed in a Washington dis- patch to the Baltimore Afro- American. The paper reports discovery ret documents in Washington i ing upon still lower wages for Negro workers, and a letter from Dr. Moton endorsing the demand of the Southland Manufacturing Co. of Montgomery, Ala., for an N.R.A. code differential based on race, with lower wage payments for its Negro employes. The Southland bosses had asked for “further ex- tension of relief,” at the expense of its already underpaid Negro workers. Moton in his letter de- clared: “I am conyinced that the management is making an honest effort to conform to the N. R. A. code in the industry.” Paper Attempts to Whitewash Moton The Afro-American, which .pub- lishes these sensational revelations, attempts to whitewash Moton with the statement “it is felt by many that Dr. Moton was an unwitting aide to a scheme aimed at defraud- ing thousands of workers through- out the South of their rightful earnings.” Thus the Afro-Ameri- can gives indirect support to the very conditions against which it raves. . The Southland Manufacturing Co. employs some 300 women, and wanted to pay its Negro workers $9 a week instead of the $12 wage specified in the code as a minimum, but which in actual practice has become the average wage. Manufacturer Calls for “Sub- Normal” Code for Negroes Among the secret documents re- ported by the Afro-American is one from J. F. Ames, owner of factories in Selma, Ala., and Cleveland, Ohio, urging the manufacturers, North and South, to stick togeether in their insistence upon lower wages for Negro workers. Ames calls for a “sub-normal” code for all Negro workers, on the grounds that since they have been kept at the bottom of capitalist society they should be forced down into still deeper mis- ery, or, as he chauvinistically puts it, since they are “‘at the bottom of worthwhile accomplishment in the affairs of the world since the be- ginning of time.” , Ames has circularized other man- ufacturers with many letters slan- dering the Negro workers and their capacity for equal performance of work, One such letter declares that “unfortunately, the African Negro must be placed very low in the scale of intelligence.” It sets forth purported figures from the U. 5. War Department Intelligence tests taken during the war, in an attempt to prove Negroes inferior. Admits and Endorses Boss Discrim- ination Policy Another of his circular letters ad- mits and endorses the general dis- crimination practiced by capitalist enterprises against Negro workers, declaring: ‘ “It is an established fact over the entire nation that, generally, «colored man or woman should be and is paid less than a white man or woman, the reason being that their performance, respon- sibility and capability are less. This fact has been established since the beginning of time,” he ieclares in his bumptious ignor- ance, concluding with a call to his fellow bosses to further force down the standard of living of the Negro masses as a capitalist Way ont of the crisis: “At a crisis tke we are passing through, it certainly will prove disastrous to Lod to consider what this means.” Proposes a wage of $9.50 for ® 40-hour week for Negroes in the We Invite All Students & Teachers to the Amalgamation Ball. itoo ‘Workers inthe roe, and Leather Industry Saturday, April 7th —8PrM — Central Opera House 67th St. and Third Ave. New York District United Shoe & Leather Workers ion Cel —OHICAGO, Td.— KARL MARX DRAMATIC CLUB presents — “WHAT A WORLD” Pmaey April 8, 8:30 p.m. eoples’ Lyceum 2733 Hirsch Street DANCING AFTER THE PLAY - COHEN’S ORCHARD STREET Sa beanp steance sere tals EYES EXAMINED By Pr. Joseph Lax Wholesale Opticians Tel. ORchard 4-4520 Factory on Premises ' i R. A. differential codes is re- South, and of $10.50 for Negroes in the North, with a further differ- ential against Negro women of $8/ per week in the South, and $9 in the North. Negro child laborers he would limit to $6 per week, South, and $7 per week, North. Workers Pack Court, Force Release of Roth NEW YORK, April 5.—C. Roth and Mary Smith, who were beaten and arrested on March 9 in Tombs court for protesting the arrest of the nine ‘ workers who were on trial for dem- onstrating before the Home Relief Bureau, were given suspended sen- tences yesterday by Magistrate Au- gust Dreyer. Workers packed the court room during the trial, and many tele- grams’ protesting the arrest of Roth and Smith were sent by workers’ delegates. Musicians Union Leaders in Fight Against Self Gov't Refuse to Carry Out Demands Voted on by Membership | .NEW YORK.—Since the members of Local 802, American Federation ;of Musicians have continued their militant 13-year fight for local auto- | nomy (self-government) their offi-| cials have spent. sleepless nights try- ing to figure out the best methods of breaking the spirit of the mem- bers, victimizing the rank and file} leaders, and killing the fight for local autonomy. The newest tactic of Eddie Can- avan and his understrappers (gov- erning board) should make every thinking musician take action against such infamy. The govern- ing Board flatly refused to carry out the demands of the unanimous j membership vote of March 19, and ; conduct @ special meeting on April 2, for consideration of the by-laws revisions, The by-laws committee therefore arranged to hold a meet- ing at the Lyceum across the street from the local. They notified every member of the local. The governing board sent out a letter of intimidation to all the members telling them that they would be disciplined or expelled if they attended tne meeting. Use Spotters Fearing the success of the meet- ing they put Jimmy Canavan in front of the Lyceum to “rat” on any ;member who entered the building. George (Sellout) Brenner used the more filthy method of spreading false rumors on the floor of the union. He kept away quite a few weakened members by telling them that the meeting was illegal. The honest member should ask himself the following: 1. Does anyone fight against autonomy. better than Weisman and the “yellow” board members who voted unanimously with Can- avan for delay wutil June, and for | expulsion and discipline for mem- bers who went to the meeting? 2. Does Weisman represent the members who elected him when he voted against the resolution passed unanimously by the mem- bers March 19? 3. Who are the leaders who | boldly face all the obstacles and cannot be intimidated? 4, What right has Joseph Weber te deny members of 802 the con- stitutional rights of all citizens of free speech and free assembly? _ 5. Why is the N. R. A. Labor Board silent? The musicians must solidly pack | the next membership meeting April 9 and militantly support the actions of those leaders who have been in the forefront of the fight for auto- nomy to date. (Classified ) GIRL comrade can obtain good home in exchange for some light household ser- vices. Green, 238 Kings Highway, Ben- sonhurst 6-4490. GOING away, selling dishes, lamps, lamp- shades, blankets, drapes, fireplace set, chairs, tables, miscellaneous. No reason- able offer refused. Chelsea 3-0812. a NEWLY decorated light front room, steam, electric, shower, bath, private hall. With laundry $4 per week; 526 B. 8ist St. Apt. 4. Co Ne ae oasis Naas To WANTED portable typewriter, con- dition, reasonable. Box 15, Daily wos — VOLUNTEER typist wanted at Film and Photo League, 12 E. i7th St., Friday and Saturday. PERSONAL HARRY IGH or West call LOUDERBOUGH Harry Springer at Orchard 4-9889. WORKERS COOPERATIVE COLONY 2100-2800 BRONX PARK EAST has reduced the rent, several good apartments available. Cultural Activities for Adults, Youth and Children. Telephone: Estabrook 8-1400—8-1401 Trains. Stop at Allerton Ave. station Office open daily from ® a.m. to 8 p.m. Direction: Lexington A\ Priday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |ten years. |anti-war committees aboard ship |and we will exert all our energy to White Plains}day, the chairman attempted to Pm | keep Bertha Marshall from speak- ing, but he was forced to give ‘her Haywood Reports to 8th Party Convention Action Demanded by (Continued from Page 1) By CARL REEVE was removed from office as State Secretary of the Socialist Party by the Social Fascist state leaders, be- | cause he voted for the united front, and the united action of the work- | ers forced a public trial. “We) investigated the Socialist Party misleaders and we found plenty.| We gave these misleaders more ac- tion than they had seen in the last In fact, we gave them | so much action that they are now | suffering from a relapse.” | The membership of the Socialist Party dropped, he said, from 1,200 to 800 in California as a result of | this united front appeal of the) Communists. | “We won over about 70 per cent} of the Socialist Party’s most active members and local leaders. I want to emphasize the distinction be- tween the local leaders and the state and national leaders of the Socialist Party. We often make the mistake of attacking the local leaders of the S. P, in general terms of condemnation. Many of these local S. P. leaders are sincere rank and filers. When they are indis- criminately condemned they are lost to us. We lost one important S. P. local because we made an un- warranted attack on one such sin- |} cere local leader. The fact that 350 | S. P. members out of 1,200 joined | our Party proves that these rank | and file Socialists and many of the | local leaders are sincere and are in| the S. P. because they believe it is working to bring about Socialism. With a correct application of the united front in other districts, re- sults as good as in California can Anti-War Work Stressed A great ovation was given to Roy Hudson, fighting head of the Ma- rine Workers’ Industrial Union, upon his election as chairman of| the evening session. The progress of the Party in de- veloping struggles in the shops in| the heavy industries, in drawing Negro workers into these struggles, in developing the fights for the un- employed, and the struggle against war and fascism, ran through the speeches of the delegates, most of them shop workers, in last night's session. | “Last week the first anti-war | committee was built on a ship in Baltimore,” said the delegate, elected from the Young Communist League steel nucleus in Sparrews Point, | Maryland. | After the young steel worker fin- ished speaking, Hudson commented: “On this ship 29 seamen signed a} petition calling for struggle against capitalist war and fascism and then asked, ‘What do we do now?’ This anti-war committee has now de- cided to organize on shipboard a} meeting on May First to fignt | against war and fascism.” The con- vention rang with applause, Young Workers Lead Strikes Many of the delegates from the Party concentration points brought | out the leading role of the youth in leading the strikes and struggles | of the workers. In Sparrows Point, a steel plant of 12,000 workers man- } ufacturing armor plate and barbed wire for war, there are 2,000 young workers and 3,000 Negroes, said the Y. C. L. comrade. “The union is- | sues a weekly shop paper. The} Steel and Metal Workers’ Indus- | trial Union has prevented a wage cut and carried through other struggles for immediate demands, “The young workers are in lead- ing positions and active in this union work, Sparrows’ Point sent ten delegates to the U. 8. Congress Against War and Fascism. Youth Clubs are being “built among the young steel workers. We can also report that one Y.C.L. shop nucleus has been built aboard ship, from Baltimore. I pledge that I am go- ing back after this Convention and put every ounce of energy I’ve got into the. revolutionary movement,” the steel worker concluded. “We have set ourselves the task of build- ing three more shop nuclei and five carry this out. “We pledge to you that we will organize and carry out actions for the stopping of shipment of war munitions from the Port of Balti- more,” he added as the delegates re- sponded with prolonged applause. The delegate from the Baltimore water front told of the successful struggles led by the Marine Workers Industrial Union, for relief for the unemployed seamen. In this fight, he said, the water front Unemploy- ment Council has won recognition o of its committee, which is in charge of relief distribution, and has won much more relief. |e The weaknesses of this struggle were that the seamen did not begin |F quickly enough to spread the strug- gle to the other industries timore, and the relief heads tried to isolate the seamen bribing them with more relief, spreading the red scare at the same time. Now a conference has been called by the seamen for all industries, in order .to spread the victories on the water- front to other industries and sec- tions. Jim Crowism Smashed “The Jim Crow has been smashed on the water front,” the Baltimore marine delegate declared. “In this Jim Crow town a Negro worker can now eat in the restaurants on the waterfront without discrimination because of our struggles against Jim Crow, We now have 300 marine workers in our local. “We have built the Party from a unit of five to a unit of over 70, and these new forces are active. We have built a new Y.C.L. unit of 30 members which is concentrating on two steamship lines. We out from the port of Baliimore.” Integrate Independent Uneins Comrade Burlak, national secre- tary of the National Textile Work- ers Industrial Union, spoke of the lessons in dealing with independent unions and of the united front in the textile industry. These inde- pendent unions grew up, she de- clared, because of the urgent need | of the workers for organization, be- | cause they were disillusioned by the A. F. of L. leaders’ treachery and because in many cases our union was not in the fleld. “These independent unions will disintegrate and degenerate if they stand alone and if we are afraid to inject into them our revolution- ary policy,’ said Comrade Burlak. Due to our neglect, the union drifted from the revolutionary line. In the national silk strike the in- dependent unions joined in the united front with the N. T. W. U. The chief mistake in this strike, Comrade Burlak said, was that we fought for unity from the outside but did not sufficiently penetrate into the A. F. of L, locals, The fight for the independent federa- tion of labor, with a class struggle line, raised by Comrades Browder and Stachel, is especially important for the textile industry, because here the independent unions have doubled the membership of the N. T. W. U. In the concentration points in New Bedford and Lawrence, the union has not succeeded in developing struggles as yet, Comrade Burlak said. In conclusion, Comrade Bur- lak called for a greater effort to draw women into the ranks of the Party and into leading Party posi- tions. Haywood Reports The center of Comrade Heywood’s report for the Central Committee on the work among the Negro masses was the fight of the Party against deviations from the Party line on two fronts, against white chauvinism, and against the growing petty bourgeois nationalism, Comrade Heywood analyses thor- oughly the role of the Negro re- formists and the petty bourgeois na- tionalist leaders. “Their role,” he said, “is to head off the growing mass movement of the Negro masses against reaction, in order to behead it. They put forward reactionary Utopias, such as back-to-Africa, to create illusions as to the “peaceful way” out of the crisis. Unless we are able to isolate these misleaders, to liberate the masses from their counter-revolutionary influence, we will not be able to carry through the great tasks imposed upon us by the present situation, we will not be able to weld that unbreakable solidarity of the working class which is a pre-condition for beating back the imperialist forces of fascism and war and prepare the masses for the revolutionary seizure of power. Fight On Two Fronts “The upsurge of petty bourgeois nationalism and the spread of white chauvinism calls for the strength- ening of the fight on two fronts within the Party and the revolu- tionary movement—against white chauvinism as the main danger and at the same time more persistent combatting of the influences of petty bourgeois nationalism in our ranks.” Comrade Heywood spoke of the strengthened fight against white chauvinism and of the necessity of @ more vigorous fight against it. He showed that the petty bourgeois national tendencies had influenced even some Party members. These tendencies, Comracie Heywood said, in Bal-|f have | stopped discrimination in shipping |: { | Communist Leader & f | Harry Haywood, Communist | | leader, whose speech on the strug- | gle for Negro rights received | stermy applause at C. P. Conven- tion in Cieveland, | | inelude permission régarding pos- | Sibilities of developing solidarity be-| tween the white and Negro workers. | He gave as an example the wrong} | tendencies in the struggle in Har-| lem for jobs for Negro workers, { where some comrades opposed the| ; demands for shorter hours for white | Workers and did not understand that this fight was a part of the fight for the solidarity of the Negro |and white workers. Comrade Hey- wood said, “the most dangerous| form of petty bourgeois nationalism | influences within the Party is not} its open expression. It is concealed! and hidden forms of petty bourgeois | nationalism that are the most dan-; gerous, the kind that does not dare| to come out in the open, but works/ under cover. How? Through subtle! insinuation, fostering distrust and suspicion among less developed com-| rades, as to the integrity of the} Party and its leaders in regard to} the Negro question. Veiled infer-| ences are made that leading Negro comrades, those who are seriously striving to carry out the -line of the Party among the Negro masses, are capitulating, are Uncle Toms. The difficulties of the Party, all shortcomings are made use of too, for the purpose of disruption and factionalism. An example of this is seen in the activities of Comrade} Noel. of Detroit. The C. C. has definite, conclusive information that} Comrade Noel has established him-)| self as a hidden center around which petty bourgeois national tendencies in the Party gravitate, a center where all such sentiments find ready support, where less developed com- rades who have tendencies in the} direction of petty bourgeois nation- alism find the greatest encourage-| | ment and support. | Scores Disruptive Activities of | Comrade Noel | This activity of Comrade Noel is not confined to Detroit, but seeks | to influence other comrades in other | places. Comrade Noel’s activity served only the purpose of de- moralizing our Negro comrades, of | making it impossible for the mobili- zation of the Party forces for the carrying through of ow’ work. It serves, indirectly, our class enemy; such activity has no place in our ranks. The question of Comrade | Noel is not only a question of petty- | bourgeois nationalism. It is a ques- | tion of political dishonesty, of | double book-keeping, of factional- ism of the worst sort and most un- principled kind which has no place in the ranks of our Communist Party. The Convention must de- mand a clear-cut open answer from Comrade Noel in regard to his dis- ruptive and factional work, as well as frank self-criticism as regards to his petty-bourgeois national views. In such a situation, where our Party is being subjected to the most vi- cious attacks by the class enemies— at such time the Party cannot tolerate such disruptive activity in its ranks.” At this point there was stormy applause by the delegates. Such Tendencies Aid Class Enemy | Comrade Heywood then gave asj a warning to Noel the example of a former Party member, Padmore, who could not shake off his petty- bourgeois past and tendencies, and whose wrong line finally brought! | said. into the ca’ Party, a him ap of the ener of our -Steel Workers at Amalgamated Meet ders had sunk into the swamp utionary _—petty- Amalgamated Association Leaders Try to Squash Delegates’ Demand for Struggle of our Party in its work an Negro masses—the buildipg of L. 8. N. R. fractions in the refc ist organizations, the work to en | Negro masses in the trade unions }and the unemployed coun the | — APR i TEES building of the circulation of the By FRANK ROGERS ani ich ee he fight| CLEVELAND —The District Six “Organizing Conven- main danger, the recruiting of ad-| tion” of the Amalgamated Association (A. F. of L. steel ditional Negro masses into the| ynion), held last Saturday, March 31st at Monroe, Mich. shows the growing militancy of the steel workers for strike “action as the only way to win |better wages and union ree- ate, economic needs the Negro masses leadership in t struggle. Call Newark Laundry Kentucky ‘Miners Join, Party Conference Sunday |ognition for the steel workers How the Party gained 200) £ ricky after tt igan. The 200 members in Kentucky after the ter-| ‘convention, the hich followed the defeat of the an - from Monroe, all demanded condemned the “hesitat- g ions of Newark for|ing and waiting” policy as expressed |Sunday, April 8, at 1 px by the A. F. of L. bureaucrats in to this | Yxrainian Hall, 59 Beacon St , New-|the auto industry. Especially mil- there, was described by | conference of another young worker delegate to|, the Convention from the Y.C.L. Kentucky. “I bring greetings j|Convention from the Kentucky|ar wg. nt delegations came from Cleve- miners,” he declared. The wages granted by the Fed-|/@nd, Canton and the Lower Lakes’ “The miners who were at oneleral and Codes. for inside The Cleveland time affected by e@ red scare are 7 from Otis Steel will pre- learning that the ‘New Deal’ is the 0 | union recognition same old dir rifles, mac! Se Michigan dele- less their union py the steel companies deal of high powered @ and shot guns,” he d. “The miners of Kentucky are bosses t per day learning to stop their. feuds and|that the 1 ip tor | ge eee Will teke instead of turning their guns|25 or 30 he first bp eee against each other, to turn them|three days. For the balance of the| ‘Wild Cat” Miller, national vice~ against their real enemies, in the|week most of them are laid off,| President of the A. A., so-called by the rank and file of the A. A. for peace) ~|his betrayal and condemnation of and there would have been a dif-|the heroic strike of _the Weirton of the establishment of a new Party | {Tent story. operas aad ing nucleus in Louisville, and the act ion | “But we did not concentrate in| seed 2 eee one, mee Se of the members of the Socialist | Starting the actions in this key|™#nd of the delegates at this con- pasty eto Feagre the | Pittsburgh plant.” |vention for militant action. He con- “s SOEING| in joining the _ 2 tinued his slanders against the Communist Party after the sell-out ; | Eagan said that one of the short- | Weirton steel workers that they by the Socialist leaders of the Aus-| comings of the union, which a de- 9 |“had no business” to go on strike trian orkers. Oppositionists are be-| termined effort is now being made] without the Okay of the A, A. ing built inside the U.M.W.A., he|to overcome, is the recruiting of| bureaucrats. Miller continuously said, and now exist in two of the| Negro steel workers into the union | quoted the A. A. constitution until key mines in Bell County. The | Out of about 6,000 members only|the delegates became so tired and committees of unemployed organ-| around forty were Negroes, Eagan jangry at the constitution of the A.A. ized under the leadership of the|stated. The union is now paying|as an obstacle in their way to gain Party have won relief from the| more attention to recruiting Ne-!improved conditions that a delegate county authorities in Bell County. | groes, who are concentrated in the|named Erwin of Canton, Ohio, led In one case where the workers| heaviest work in the largest mills.|@ fight against the constitution and were refused food by the County} jmoved that it be scrapped. He they began to help themselves and} | showed brilliantly how the constitu- then the County came across with! tion was “out of date” and put to relief. A woman's committee has |Shame Miller by knowing the eon- been built in Bell County to fight |stitution better than the national for the demands of the unemployed. | jVice-president. The motion to re- “One of the achievements of the | Racers igh heetge te tigiteh cng da Party has been the organization in| ¢ 5 unanimously and will be referred Everts, Kentucky, ofa Party unit| high among the workers. |to the National Convention of the of 16 former members of the T.W.W.| ‘THe ntarine workers of Norfolk, |A-A Which meets in. Pittsburgh, Ps, is his : town,” stated. | V@, present to this convention a|0n Apr: 7 Fe aa ee ne een | net! Dacty “Galt Wa tae Water front | Delegates Demand Action Honor Simms’ Memory | Miller tried his best to sidetrack After the Kentucky spirit given us by Comrades Stalin and Browder.” The young Kentucky miner told} The union has led 43. strikes and won many of them, he stated. More work in the Amalgamated Association, the A, F, of L. Union, especially in connection with the April 17 A. A. Convention, is nec- essary. The prestige of the union | of Norfolk, the oldest member being | delegate’s | thirty-one years old,” said the del-|the issue. of wages. But delegate speech, Hudson spoke of the work|egate from the Norfolk water fro: after delegate demanded immediate of Harry Simms, Y.C.L. organizer) a Negro marine worker. “On May | action by the Union to present de- Killed by the Kentucky gun thugs| First we aim to turn our demon- | mands for more pay to meet the in the Kentucky strike. The Con-| stration into a strike meeting for | Constantly rising cost of ving. Af- vention rose and stood one minute | the demands of the marine workers |teT much maneuvering a motion in silence in honor of Simms. | on six docks, as a result of the work | Was passed to instruct Mike Tighe, “The steel workers are on thé|of the Marine Workers Industrial|the national president, to send a verge of another strike wave,” | Union,” |letter to the Steel Institute “for James Eagan, head of the Steel and | : i : oe satisfactory reply regarding wages Metal Workers’ Industrial Unior | (Rea ae | before June 30.” It is quite evident “The workers are in the mood} The Norfolk delegate told of the! that this delay is the same game for organization and strike. The 10| beginnings made in the water front/that the A. F. of L. bureaucrats per cent increase given them by) Work by the fight for the demands | played on the auto. workers to de- the Steel Trust as a concession to|0¥ the unemployed. The M..W.|feat and betray their demands for prevent struggle was not enough| 1. U. won relief for the unemployed. | wage increases and union recogni-~ even to keep pace with higher living| Then work was carried on in the) tion. Undoubtedly by June 30 thou- costs. The chief grievance of the | International Longshoremen’s Asso- | sands of steel workers will be laid iteel workers is the intense speed-| ciation and the s gles were led|off as already indicated by a de- up. The small concession of 10 per | SO successfully that in the I. L. A.| cline in steel production. cent increase will not hold the} local a whole rank and file slate] Frank X. Martell, representing workers in check.” was elected as officers of the I.|the Detroit Federation of Labor, Eagan analyzed the lessons of the|L. A. local, Norfolk is an important|was given the task to attack the recent strikes led by the S.M.W.1U.,| War industry town, with Navy yard, | militants at the Convention and in especially Ambridge. powder works, and other key war/the union, He stated that those “Our chief mistake was that we | industries.” | Who do not obey the orders and did not build the Communist Party} “We are going to fight and fight|}commands of the A.A. leaders are in Ambridge during the strike, and| to win the demands of the long- | greater enemies that the steel trust. did not build groups and depart-|shoremen and marine work@#s now Most Fight Bureaucrats ment committees of the union in}so that we will be successful and % i the mill. Therefore.the terror pre-| not have to say later, ‘we made that | Convenient Be ape vented us from organizing for some| shortcoming and we made this | rie delegates rtist thlse sharply time after the strike was broken. | shortcoming. |and fight not only for the revision We did not sufficiently introduce] 1, 5, N. R. Wins Relief for Negroes | of the A.A. constitution to permit Sines inte ante ean A young Negro woman delegate |rank and file democracy in the brought in to ‘Ambridge pecanaa the | from Pittsburgh described the| Union, but must fight to kick out bosses knew they would not be able| struggles of the L. S. N. R. for the} the bureauerats Miller, Tighe & Co, fpitwaric throtigh’ out unidn “Inaders rights of the Negro workers in| who have a record of bétrayal since 5 | Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh restau-| the 1919 steel strike. The delegates ship as they did through the Amal- rf neg 0 i i ¢ “ gaiiated-Assotiation in: Welton and | fants, she said, even in the Negro|must repudiate the official “no ie z sale | Section on the Hill, the Jim Crow!strike”’ policy of the A.A. (as ex- ara oek Raclahtnle elas A. offitials is increasingly practiced. At at|pressed by Miller, Tighe, etc.) and fi 5 Ng open hearing conducted by the L. S./to go on record for strike action Cites Shortcomings |N. R. the Mayor of Pittsburgh was|as the main weapon in the fight to Eagan declared that the union| invited to hear the demands of the|raise the living standards of the had not followed out the policy of | Nero workers. He refused to come steel workers and to win union con- concentration sufficiently. “We con-| but sent his secrtary. The workers, | ditions in the mills. The delegates centrated for strike in places where| both white and Negro, booed this| must fight for the endorsement and it was easier to organize, like Am-| politician off the platform because | enactment of the Workers Unem- bridge and Greensburg,” he said, “if|of his chauvinistic remarks. The) ployment Insurance Bill (H.R. 7598) we had concentrated all our forces| L. S. N. R. has won relief for more | by all lodges. on striking the J. and L, in Pitts-| than sixty families on the Hill who burgh then the smaller mills out- side Pittsburgh would have followed For effective and successful strug- gles against the steel trust, the dele~ | Sates must demand and go on rec- (Continued on Page 6) 1,500 Farmers Spurn Wallace Plan to Dump Milk BENTZLEY, MARSHALL SPEECHES ROUSE FARMERS; FORCE WALLACE OFFICIALS TO RETREAT ® PHILADELPHIA, April 5.— The efforts of Secretary of Agriculture Wallace to force through his new milk-destroying program was deci- sively defeated here at the conclu- sion of the six-day conference at- tended by over 1,500 dairy farmers from all over the state today. His proposals to destroy 10 per cent of the country’s milk supply in order to raise prices and «profits of the league producers were swept aside by the assembled farmers who heard with great enthusiasm the at- tacks on Wallace's proposals made by Lewis Bentzley, militant farm leader, and Bertha Marshall, farm woman who spoke for the Joint Committee of Milk Drivers, Farm- ers and Consumers, Bentzley spoke yesterday for 30 minutes in a magnificent speech at- tacking Wallace’s proposals as measures in the interests of the Milk trusts and the rich farmers, (Farmers desiring copies of this speech should write to Farmers’ Na- tional Committee for Action, 1627 North 16th St., Philadelphia.) To- ord for the broadest united front actions of all steel workers for higher wages and Union conditions, The Steel and Metal Workers In- dustrial Union pledges the fullest support to the rank and file of the A.A, in their fight against the A.A, bureaucrats and for militant strike action to improve the conditions of all the workers in the steel industrge the floor by the vote of the farmers at the meeting. “I represent more than 15,000 workers and farmers,” she said. “Our committee represents the small impoverished farmers. Now we shall consider the angle of the working-class consumer. “The plan for taxing butter is to start the tax at 1 cents per Ib. on butter fat and raise it gradually to 5 cents a lb. It was stated here yesterday that this tax would amount to about 75 cents per fam- ily per month. All consumers will share equally in this. The Rocke- feller, Morgan and Mellon fam- ilies will pay just as much tax per Ib. as the unemployed or part- time employed worker. Since the working-class consumer is in the vast majority, it is he who will have to bear the brunt of this tax. Butter will be taxed completely out of his ability to purchase it. “And thi8 is proposed in the face of conditions as revealed by the fol- lowing report issued by the U. 8. Children’s Bureau: The percentage of school and pre-school children 13.5 per cent in 1927-1929 to 21.1 per cent in 1932-33.” Continuing amid applause, Bertha Marshall said: “Mr. Wallace admitted here yes- terday that the profits of the dis- 40,000Phila.Children Suffering Lack of Milk, Expert States PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—At the conference today where Secretary of Agriculture Wallace proposed to destroy 10 per cent of the country’s milk supply, a leading expert in child welfare, Alexan- der Fleisher, showed today that 40,000 children in this city are now suffering from anemia and starvation due to lack of milk and food. He also showed that milk con- sumption has dropped more than 30 per cent in the last four years since the crisis began. This means that at least 8 per cent of the school children are suffering from lack of milk. that are undernourished rose from tributors here in Philadelphia were abnormally high. Why doesn’t the administration consider a plan to} tax those profits? Why doesn’t the now unemployed, provide the means for their buying food, auto- matically opening up a fertile market for the farmer, Court Declares ‘ administration consider a plan to eliminate these profits instead of curtailing necessities from the mouths of the millions of hungry, starved and poorly fed consumers? “The Joint Committee maintains that there is no surplus of food products. The A. A. A. admits this when it points out that if the na- tion were adequately fed there would be @ shortage of 15,000,000 cows. It seems nothing short of insanity in the face of these facts to speak of curtailing production in the dairy industry. “I want to know why doesn’t the A, A. A. adopt the proposal to buy milk directly from the farm- ers at cost of production (5 cents per quart) and distribute it free to the starving children of the cities? “If the administration wants to put purchasing power into the hands of the farmers and work- ers, why doesn’t it support the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill, H.R. 7598, which will take care of the millions of workers \ } | stead to feed the hungry millions} “Why doesn’t the A. A. A. pro- pose that funds now being used for| preparations for war, be used in-| who were forced to fight the wars in the past and who will be called upon to fight the wars of the in- dustrialists in the future? “The Joint Committee reiterates} here its determined opposition to} this Production Control Plan. “We heartily endorse the pro- posals made by Mr. Bentzley of the United Farmers Protéctive Associa- tion and pledge our united support to any of our groups adopting the method of mass action to oppose its fulfillment,” she concluded. At this point the officials running the government conference quickly adjourned the conference without taking any vote. All local papers) carry headlines stating: “Farmers Reject Wallace Program.” Protests should be sent to Secre-| tary of Agriculture Wallace, Wash- ington, D. C., demanding the end of the plan to destroy milk to raise prices, Sam Stein ‘Guilty’ One of Four Arrested at Scottsboro Rally NEW YORK, April 5—Sam Stein, one of the four white and workers arrested when police broke up the Mar. 17 Scottsboro demon- stration, was found “guilty” Tues- day by Judge Earl Smith in trate’s Court at 161st St. and Brook Ave., of “refusing to move on when ordered.” With workers packing the court and openly registering their pro- tests to the verdict, the judge im- posed @ suspended sentence on Stein. Stein, acting in his own defense with the aid of Attorney Alexander of the International Labor Defense, denounced the police to disrupt the growing unity of Negro and white workers. Trial of the other three defend ants is set for next week,