The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 23, 1934, Page 4

Page Four DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, APRIL 23, 1934 S. P. Leaders Try to Crush Any Mention of H.R. 7598 | Attempt to Hush Up Mention of Workers’ Insurance Bill on Picket Line Hall. The local I be Single Women’s Ll already loyment endorsed ance Bill H. R anything gram to the Coj Central Comn cals how to proceed. Som: folded hands waiting for that Au-| gust Body to also approve the Workers’ Bill Well, to get back to what I was writing about, we were told to come} out to City Hall. A delegation would go inside to plead our plight. The| picket line included members of the Young People’s Socialist League and Socialists. Pathe News men stood nearby with cameras poised. This} was the be-all and end-all of the leadership's desires—Publicity—get | pictures into the papers, movies, etc. | We began to shout. Some func-| tionaries of the Socialist Party led us in general slogans as “We Want Work.” and some slogans put forth by revolutionary workers such as “Scrap the Bankers’ Agreement!” A YP.S.L.Jled us in shouting, “Min- neapolis Yesterday—New York To- morrow!” I had my doubts whether the Barbers’ Union Head Backs Lewis Henchman | By a Worker Correspondent | BELLEVILLE, Ill—I am send-| ing you a letter that was mailed | to all barbers and locals, telling) the workers that they should vote) for Walter Nesbit for Congress- | man. This Congressman is well| known as a labor skate who was| one of the henchmen of John| Lewis and who is now being sup-| ported by Pearcy of the P. M. A, to sell out the miners to Lewis and the bosses. Mr. J. C. Shanessy, who has raised his salary from $8,000 to $12,000 a year two years ago, is sending these letters out in Bt. Clair County, where, in the city of Belleville, all the 65 barbers to- gether are not making $12,000 a year. I would like to ask our Interna-| tional president why he should | use the International treasury for this labor skate. Why doesn’t he, the president, propose a fight for unemployment insurance? A MINER AND BARBER. | leadership intended to make this come true. Then they shouted “We Demand Unemployment Insurance!” and naturally I shouted “We Do y| Not Want Any Old Kind—We De- mand That LaGuardia Endorse the Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Bill H. R. 7598!” Instead of this slogan meeting with favor, an S. P. functionary came over to me and in full view of sev- eral hundred people began to argue and threaten me, not to shout this slogan. I told him our organization had endorsed this measure and I| was there for the express purpose of publicizing the only real Unem- ployment Insurance Bill. | The S. P. leaders acted as if I was a cancer to their picket line,| and they just didn’t know what to do about it. Finally I asked one of the leaders, why don’t they lead the| workers in shouting for H. R. 7598? The answer was—the workers didn’t| know about it or they didn’t want) to. This only shows how deliber-| ately the Socialists, even in their} unemployed groups, are aiding the LaGuardia and Roosevelt Govern- ment by not explaining and edu- cating the workers to fight for this measure, and how bitterly they op-| ent commanders of these organiza-| Projects. pose anyone who does. 6th National Y.CL. ‘Convention to Be Held in New York NEW YORK.—New York City will be the host to the Sixth National Convention of the Young Commu-} nist League on June 15. The Con- vention will open on that date with a large open meeting at the St. Nicholas Arena. At this meeting, Earl Browder, General Secretary of the Commu- nist Party; Gil Green, National Sec- retary of the Young Communist League, and Ben Gold, militant leader of the Fur Workers Industrial Union will speak. Included as well on the program will be a group of dances by the Ukrainian Dancers, revolutionary songs by the Lithuanian chorus, a program of music by the I.W.0. Symphony Orchestra and a gym- nastic exhibtion by the Labor Sports Union, The convention discussion will center around the growing strike wave, in which youth is taking an ever increasing part, and the dan- ger of imperialist war. HELEN BROWNSVILLE’S HOUSEWIVES ANGERED BY ALDERMAN’S. | DODGE Continuing the campaign against the high prices of da products, the Brownsville Women’s Councils called a dcsionstration on Wednes- | day of last week before the home| of the Brownsville Alderman, Mr. | Hart, a meeting which had a huge} attendance, including many women| of the neighborhood who are not members of the Women’s Councils. | More than 500 workers were present. Mr. Hart had been notified by| letter that the 25 delegates of the| women would be there for an in-| terview, but evidently, afraid to| listen to their demand for support) of their campaign to lower prices, he had made his escape to Atlantic City. This insult thoroughly angered the workers at the demonstration: they promptly elected a Committee of Action to plan immediate steps for an active stsggle, which will no doubt be along the lines of the resolution adopted by the recent Bronx Conference against the high cost of living. A sizeable collection was also made at this demonstra- tion. | Both the Brownsville and Bronx | sections of the Councils are mak- ing a determined effort to bring | down the price of all dairy prod- ucts of the Sheffield and Borden companies, and are at present re- fraining from using the milk of these two companies. They call upon all working class women to support the campaign to lower grocery costs. An Inguiry A letter just received asks for aid in making a decision concerning a household problem. It says: “Deat Comrade: “I really don’t know whether you answer all questions which seem rather important to the one that asks them. I have been getting Sheffield's milk for a number of years and I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t know whether this company is unionized or not. As I was approached by a worker from the Morrisania milk company and told that his company is unionized while Sheffield’s is not, and that I should therefore patronize the com- pany he represents, I'd be much obliged for a suggestion. “Comradely yours, “E. J.” REPLY.—Sheffield’s is not union- ized, as the salesman said. As to the other company, I can’t say im- mediately whether the union there (if any) is a “company union” or not, but am looking it up and will send a letter in the self-addressed stamped envelope you sent. Aside from the question of the unionization of these companies, if you have not yet decided whether or not to make a change, you might get in touch with the United Coun- | ceils of Working Class Women for) further clarification or suggestion, (Street, New York City. Send Copy At Once! CONDUCTED BY LUKE We wish to emphasize now, though, that all working class women should make an immediate effort to fight the high price of all milk—which, according to the an- nouncement in the “Times” of last Friday, is to be raised a cent a quart. We therefore urge the women to} give full support to the effort of| the Women’s Councils te bring down | food prices. Can You Make ’Em Yourself? Pattern 1824 is available in sizes 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16. Size 6 takes 194 yards 36 inch fabric. Send FIFTEEN CENTS (l5c) in coins or stamps (coins preferred) for this Anne Adams pattern. Write Plainly name, address and _ style number. BE SURE TO STATE SIZE. Add: orders to Daily Worker | us is spent we shall still be without | | have become impoverished. The Fighting Creamery Order Boys | Work 75 Hours A Week Vets By H. E. BRIGGS FACING THE FACTS THERE are 3,500,000 veterans hold- ing World War adjusted service certificates, commonly called the Bonus. They represent approxi- mately 15,000,000 consumers. If the amount, $2,400,000,000, were placed in the hands of these poor consum-/} ers; the capitalist wolves of hunger and poverty could be kept away from the door a little longer. This money which Congress admits is due the ex-servicemen is to be paid in 1945. However, there is a little joker as always, in capitalist trans-| actions, known in this case as com-| pound interest. It is admitted by| authorities that 3,000,000 ex-service- men have already been forced to borrow half their bonus. | This “generous” loan was made by Uncle Shylock with the proviso that if this was not paid back by 1945 the balance due (?) would be wiped out by the interest charges. The average Bonus amounts to $1,500.| Those who have borrowed $700 will} receive in 1945 approximately $30. In the meantime if you are gulli- ble enough to believe the misleaders of the American Legion, V. F. W. and D. A. V. you will be left hold- ing the bag. It is the duty of these leaders to pretend that they are working for the interests of the vets. However, the past and pres- | | tions have in every way spiked the) | rank and file demand for the Bonus. | | They have sabotaged mass marches, | discouraged demonstrations and| supported the Economy Act. | The results of this have been no| bonus, loss of hospitalization and | compensation and increasing misery for the ex-servicemen. The time has come when the rank and file are convinced that only through their own organized mass action will they get what is coming to them. The veterans are uniting as never before with the only rank and file! veterans organization, the Workers’ | Ex-Servicemen’s League. This or-| ganization always alert and in the forefront of the struggle for the veterans’ demands was the first to endorse the call of the Veterans National Rank and File Committee in Washington. The W.ES.L. is mobilizing on a national scale for the coming Bonus Compensation March. It supports the three point program laid down in Washington last summer at the rank and file convention. The last point in this program is of special} importance to the veterans. That | point is the passage of the Workers | Unemployment Insurance Bill | known as H. R. 7598. This bill in- sures all workers against unem- ployment. We veterans know that the many bills we have to pay will not be taken care of by the bonus only. Therefore when the measly sum due work and face to face with the bill| collector. This is reason enough |for any veteran to fight for its passage. On to Washington—Fight | for the 3-Point Program! | Today we are in the fifth year of the crisis. Millions of workers Hun-| dreds of thousands of small home owners and farmers have lost their | small homes and farms. Hundreds of thousand of small shop keepers | have become bankrupt. Mass misery exists among the professional class. | The Economy Bill took the pen- sions and small allowances from} hundreds of thousands of ex-serv- icemen of the military forces of the | United States Army and Navy. 30,- 000 veterans were forced into the streets of the nation due to this |act in order to economize by the closing down of Veteran Hospitals. Veterans have been shunted to mu-} nicapl lodging houses and cther in-| stitutions of such sort. | The Federal Government has re-| fused consistently to pay the Ad-| justed Service Certificates (Bonus).| With all this misery facing the population of the United States, the Federal Government has refused to enact the Workers Unemployment and Social Insurance Bill (H. R. 7598). ee French Veterans Take Note | The French veter- | ans have received a cut. The ex- | cuse is the same as America’s “bal- ancing the budget.” This cut also affects the Federal employees and workers in general. | However, the French veterans j have learned a lesson from their | American buddies. They are up in | arms, literally and figuratively. They | are going to do their best to see that these cuts are rescinded. Fear of the mass pressure of the French veterans and workers has already | limited the government drive | against them. Their cut as yet only The American veterans have al- | ready won certain restorations and will not stop until they repeal the Economy Act. pee a In view of these circumstances and conditions the Rank and File Veterans of the Nation wi!l assem- ble in Washington on May 10 in answer to the call of the Veterans National Rank and File Committee for another Rank and File Conven- tion to be held in that city. This Convention will petition Congress for the following demands. 1. Immediate payment of the balance on the Adjusted Service Certificates, 2. The repeal of the Economy Act. 3. Immediate remedial relief for the unemployed and farmers (passage of H. R. 7598). Therefore we ...... veterans and workers gathered in a meeting at - call upon you as .... . .to see that the vet- erans who will be in Washington for the duration of The Veterans Rank and File Convention be housed and fed by the government. We request that immediate action be taken for their welfare and that immediate steps be taken in that direction. The above petition should be sent by all organizations to Speaker Rainey, President Roosevelt, Sen- Pattern Dcr-rtment, 243 West 17th 4 ater Wagner, Serrtor Copeland and Vice President Garner, Health Undermined on Roxbury by Constant Heavy Lifting Jobs in Dorchester and By a Worker Correpondent BOSTON, Mass.—The most ploited group of young workers in the vicinity of Boston (e. g, Rox- bury) are the order boys, especially those employed in the M. Winter Creameries and the Rabinovitz chain stores. The boys start work at eight in the mort and work until they get through, or until the manager feels as though they can go home. These young workers put in an average of 75 hours a week under conditions of absolute slavery. The job itself is filthy, undermines AFL Leaders Help Politicians Make Money Out of PWA By a Worker Correspondent ST. LOUIS, Mo—All the me- chanics were laid off here in St. Louis two weeks ago. They worked fourteen weeks on the C. W. A.) Some of the members of! the unions No. 1 and No. 2 paid/ fines to $10 a week in their back) dues. Some of the workers not doing any work for over three years had to pay still more. This was all! in the A. F. of L. union racket. Now comes the P. W. A., still a bigger racket than the C. W. A. These jobs are supposed to be union jobs, but for the mechanics to get these jobs, they must go to the Democrat politiicans and tell the political parasites that they will vote for them in the next election, All A. F. of L., members, join the Rank and File movement in your local headquarters and make the leading racketeers cough up the dues you paid up after starving three years on charity slop put out by the city charity racketeers. Your leaders are staying awake at night trying to think up ways and means to rob your treasury; selling you out to the politicians is the first step. The next will be ab- sconding with the money, and, with the politicians backing the leaders, they will go free while you workers starve. < | heavy lifting, and besides that the j the health of the boys by constant bullying of the managers and sup- | erintendents adds to make their life | is a source of misery. On Thursdays | the boys put in about 14 hours. Sat- | urday, which is the end of a beau- | tiful week, calls for 16 hours. They | work from & in the morning until 2 or 3 o'clock the next Sunday morn- | ing! | ways fixed up, for the boys are afraid | to lose their jobs. During zero and below zero weather they are found delivering heavy loads on snow covered streets. | Saturdays the boys work like chat- tel slaves with no stop except an hour off for lunch and 15 minutes off for supper. During the last Pass- over the boys worked all day and night into the next morning and for that received a day off with no extra pay. Some of the boys go around days without eating since there is no one working at home and they have to contribute their whole pay! The pay averages $5 to $10 a week. The boys are supposed to work Now and then the state in-/| spector comes around but it is al-| AFL Dues Hound Robs Penniless | Carpenter of Job | By a Worker Correspondent CHICAGO, Il.—My first job in three years, I received the assign- ment from the Grovehill Illinois Emergency Relief for the work as | carpenter in Jackson Park Lagoon, | building the runways for the la- borers, which doesn‘t even belong to the carpenter trade. | I belong to the Carpenters’ Union 242, but my dues are not paid up to date, as I have been on relief for |2 years. The business agent from) the local union No. 141, Mark D. Tayjor, tried to stop me and an- other two men from working on account of our dues not being paid. This was Monday, April 2. I re- fused to stop on his dictating, until Mr. J. D. Ball issued his orders. So on this afternoon, he came in again with three sluggers, He is- sued orders that we should not come Tuesday, April 3. I answered back that I am willing to pay my back dues as soon as I get paid, or if it is a steady job, I am willing to sign @ note to pay so much a week. I insisted to keep on working. He had another five carpenters which are in good standing. He wouldn’t let them work until I was fired; so I was fired without get- ting any pay. They sent me to the Park Suprjntendent George Eh- mann. He sent me downtown to 54 hours a week under the N.R.A., but the code has no more effect | here than it has in the rest of the) country. Order boys of. Roxbury and Dor- chester in the M. Winer and Rabino- witz stores! Organize for decent conditions! You can forces these slave-drivers to grant you a living wage with decent hours if you are willing to fight for them! Don’t take it lying down! Organize under a fighting union! Comrade Weinfeld Dies After Operation NEW YORK. — Comrade Max| Weinfeld, a member of the Party, an active member of the Amalga- mated Rank and File Committee, an active member of the Amalga- mated Br, 82 I.W.O., and a leader in the opposition against the Hill- man crew in Cutters’ Local 4, died Thursday evening as the result of an appendicitis operation. Build English Speaking Group, Present Task Facing the [WO T PRESENT the International; Workers Order is making spe- cial efforts to build its English- speaking section. As an Amer- ican workers organization our Or- der must work for, as its basic membership, a predominant mass of American workers. The win- ning of these American workers is the task of the tens of thou- sands of members we have already in our ranks, We are always emphasizing the character of our Order as a work- ing class organization. Here we have a chance to prove that we are serious in claiming a work- ing class character for our Order. If we have a specific and con- scious orientation toward the in- terests of the working class, we cannot leave the growth of the Order to chance; we cannot leave it to chance whether workers join the Order in the main, or non workers; we cannot leave it to chance whether the Order remains | primarily an organization of for- eign-born workers, or whether it becomes an American workers’ or- ganization, representative in com- position of the American working class. If we do not leave these things to chance, we must have a policy. A policy is of no value if it is not a definite guide to the ac- tivities of the organization and of its members. Make I.W.O. American Workers Organization Well, the policy of the Interna- tional Workers Order is to become an American workers mass fra- ternal organization. Its aim is to challenge bourgeois leadership in the field of American fraternal or- | ganizations over many millions of workers. Its purpose is to win these millions for proletarian lead- ership in our proletarian fraternal order, the International Workers Order. The problem now is to make this policy the guide of our actions. The problem is to achieve our aim and to accomplish our purpose. This requires definite steps. One of these steps is to bring masses of native American workers into the iks of our Order. To win mi s of young workers and to organize tens of thousands of chil- dren into our Junior Section is another of these steps. We cannot make these steps if we do not mobilize our whole mem. bership and all. of our language sections for them. That is why the National Executive Committee of the Order some time ago de- cided to have a special campaign this Spring to build our English, our Youth and Children Section. Our English Section at this mo- ment has 2,300 members. This makes it the fifth strongest sec- tion in our Order. It must be- come the first, the strongest sec- tion. During the ten weeks pro- vided for the campaign, we should have gotten into the Order not less than 100 American workers per week. Actually we have only taken in an average of 71 English applicants per week during the past seven weeks of the campaign, out of an average total of 503 new members per week taken in dur- ing this period. This is a weak- ness which only special efforts can overcome. The growth of the Youth Sec- tion shows even a more serious failure. Only oan average of 33 youth were taken in weekly during this period. Of course, the solu- tion is not in the letting up of recruiting Jewish and Hungarian and all other foreign-born workers. The solution is to take in Amer- ican workers as well as foreign- born. The solution is a little ad- dition to our recruiting activities, Our foreign-born members con- fine their recruiting activities to their neighbors, their fellow mem- bers in the organizations they be- Jong to, and to relatives and friends. Since they usually move in the comparatively narrow circles of workers of their own nationality, they have little chance to reach the native American workers. This can be changed if our mem- bers orientate to the shop. In the shop they meet their native Amer- ican class brother alongside of their foreign-born class brother. They need not let up at all in their re- cruiting among their neighbors and friends. All they have to do is to add to these activities a little re- cruiting in the shop. On the way to the shop, on the way from the shop, as well as at lunch time, the workers discuss among themselves their problems, their thoughts, their needs. All we must do is raise in these discussions the problems of proletarian fraternalism. We have countless opportunities to speak to the American workers there. We have numberless subjects supplied by our common problem in the shop. Every one of these problems can become the base for propagan- dizing our native born fellow work- ers, as well as all of our fellow workers in the shop, about the I. Ww. O. The National Executive Commit- tee has decided to extend the period for the special campaign to build our English Section from the months of March and April over to May and June. All branches of the Order should discuss at once this problem of building the English- speaking section. They should stimulate the efforts of all of our members to approach native Amer- ican workers’ and to bring them into the Order. Organize Negro Workers When we carry through such a concentration, we cannot help but see the need of winning the Negro masses for our Order and of build- ing the Youth Section. After all, the division of the workers into Ne- gro and white, into adult and youth, is a capitalist policy. For us there is no such division. We see the working class as a whole and surely the Negroes and the young work- ers are an integral part of the working class. Of course the capitalist policy of dividing the workers into Negro and white, into adult and youth, into foreign born and native born, creates political differences in the problems of the Negro, the youth, the foreign born, etc. We must see these differences. We must meet them’ by different approaches, pro- posals and activity. But we make no difference in the need of ap- proaching any and all these sec- tions of the workers. If we recognize this and orientate our efforts accordingly, we can build the American membership of our Order into the basic, predominant section. In doing this we will natur- ally be directed toward the winning of masses of Negroes as well as masses of youth into our Order. Let us tackle this problem seri- ously. Let us win a minimum of 100 American workers per week into the ranks of our Order in the coming months, 1319 S. Michigan, and I visited every floor in the building to get a right authority to look into this. At last they sent me to the 8th floor to Mr. Harvey, the one who made the most fun of me. I was sent to the 7th floor to Mr. Werts but I think a man could see Hitler easier than he could see him. About 50 per cent of the union men in Chicago are behind with their dues. They would like to see some way that the matter would be adjusted for them, so these men would not bother them when they get relief jobs. Graft On CWA Jobs: In Providence, R. 1. By a Worker Correspondent PROVIDENCE, R. I—This br- ticle taken from the Evening Bul- letin gives you an idea of the poli- tical racket going on in this city and state. (NOTE: The clipping told of how William H. Sullivan, ‘member of the Fifth Ward Democratic Com- mittee, was found to have been a bus driver of the United Electric Railway Co. by night and a super- visor of painting and construction work on C. W. A. projects by day.) The Right To Live Club is right on the job, and can give a whole lot more information on the same kind of work which we have tried to do. Every complaint sent in to the “State Head” of C. W. A. goes to the pigeon-holé or the waste- basket. It is not to be expected that he is going to jeopardize him- self or any of his pals. If all the charges we can prove call for in- vestigation there’ll be something doing before Congress. There are rats on the C. W. A. jobs who don’t do an hour’s work a week, self appointed water boys who get only one pail of water a day and spend most of the time snoozing in a sedan while the others work in all kinds of weather. stand in good one must be in with some tin horn politician. A police record for such “honorable” of- fenses as wife beating, cruelty, drunkenness or some of the “high brow” crimes stands good. One of the rats got 10 days for wife beat- ing and he is the type who stands pat with Reidy. We are plugging for H. R. 7598. That is our fight. Get 15-Cent Meal, But Are Forced to Sign Vouchers for $1.25 By a Worker Correspondent BIHMINGHAM, Ala. — Coming through Flomation, Ala., we were surrounded with one-armed Kelley and his gang of kid chiselers, who pick up everybody they can get who come in on the L, & N. Railroad. They told us to get off, and we were taken over to a little one-horse calaboose (47 all told)—held in a three-cell room all night. At 12 or 1 o’clock was taken over to Mrs.*Kelley’s Restaurant to a 15c meal, as they call it. We ali signed a Government voucher that a fellow made out for two meals and a bed, which would, of course, be $1.25. We only got the lunch. Conditions exist like this all along the L. & N. Railroad system, from New Orleans to Birmingham. I made it my business to get the low-down on all of it for the Daily Worker. The calaboose at Flomation, Ala., is lousy, so is One-armed Kelley and the town bull whose name we could not find out. We stood up all night and at 15 minutes to five were lined up and told to get on the freights going North or South at 6.35 a. m., which of course we did, without breakfast, Five Negro Workers Killed At Lancaster Cotton Mills in S. C. By a Worker Correspondent LANCASTER, S. C., April 16 (By Mail) —Five Negro workers were killed last Saturday at the Lan- caster Cotton Mills here, when a badly built scaffold on which they were working gave way. They were installing a new boiler, and all the workers were crushed to death. Their names are not known. The local boss press have refused to print a single word on the case. This mill is one of a chain in northern South Carolina which is owned by Springs, who also has large plantations and owns a rail- road here. The death of these workers is the direct result of the greed of the comp-ny which would not c'low To | pare PARTY LIFE Councils Results The rapid growth of Women’s Councils in and around Los Angeles in a short time and through the work of only a few comrades, shows the possibilities of organizing women around immediate issues. Many of us do not realize the extent of the sufferings of the housewife and mother in the present unprece- dented economic crisis, and there is a widespread underestimation of the readiness of women in the shops and homes to organize for struggle. Los Angeles was known to have a Woman’s Council (Jewish speak- ing) for the last twelve years, or- ganized in the struggle at that time against the high cost of bread. It has functioned since as an auxiliary to all mass organizations in the city. It has done splendid work, but failed to develop the women’s coun- cil into a mass organization. As a result of such activities the organ- ization stagnated, was looked upon by the whole mtvement as cooks for all big affairs, and collectors of money, and not as an important factor in the struggle for better con- ditions, and as indispensable in time of war and the seizure of power by the working class. This attitude of the whole movement toward the councils (partly the fault of the council's incorrect policies) led to a situation where women who consid- ‘ered themselves capable of more than ordinary kitchen-work left the council or did not come in at all; considering the Women’s Councils a second rate activity to the extent that even members of the Party refused to accept Council work as an assignment. With the above conditions prevail- ing, I was given the tsak four months ago of organizing councils. With very few comrades to help, in only some parts of the city, in the most haphazard manner, without guidance, experience, forces, and no publicity except word of mouth, we have built up at present two very promising Spanish speaking coun- cils, five English speaking councils, | Letters from ON THE Y. M. C. A. New York. I stood in the lobby of the Bow- ery Branch Y. M. C. A. at 8 E. Third St. and Third Ave. one evening last week, when a young chap came rushing in from the street, crossed over to the regi- stration counter and in a very polite manner urged the desk sec- retary on duty to call the police headquarters, asking it to direct a scout car to the corner of Third St. and Third Ave. in order to pick up a pedestrian who had stumbled on the curb, hitting his face against the fire hydrant, con- sequently knocking himself un- conscious. But to my utmost surprise the desk secretary refused to call over the telephone, and instead har- assed this young chap for no ap- ent reason at all. He first looked bewildered, then finally ex- claimed as he walked out, “Is this Christianity?” Somehow I got interested and went up to the said corner, where I saw a prostrated form sprawl- ing in the gutter. I have always been of the opin- jon that the Y. M. C. A. was a Christian organization and I al- ways imagined the Y. M. C. A. in the spirit of the good-hearted Samaritan of the good old bible, because after all this is their cam- paign slogan .when driving for Reports Growth of Women’s Councils in Los Angeles, Cal. More Responsible Attitude Toward Building in Rapid Increase two in the city and three out of | wood; two Jewish speaking branches pend two branches in the process of | formation. |. A conference of these councils has been called, with invitations to other womens’ organizations, to organize a women’s organizations, to coordi- nate and guide the work, and to in- crease the forces in organizing the working women and housewives. During the short time they have functioned, the new councils can already report a number of relief struggles carried on and won. They led large committees to relief sta- tions and got relief for families that had been denied help for many months. They won relief for a Negro mother and child who were to be evicted, having been discrimi- nated against because of their race. Both Jewish speaking councils in joint action won back the free lunches for C.W.A. workers children in the Harrison St. school. We have increased our bundle order of “Working Woman” from 100 to 200, We are arranging three mass meet- ings in different parts of the city for International Women’s Day. These activities and others, such as their help on the picket lines in the milk strike, shows of what value the Women’s Councils can be in time of struggle if they are given proper support. —S. G., WOMENS COUNCIL ORGANIZER, L. A. Join the Communist Party 35 E. 12th STREET, N. Y. C. Please send me more informa- tion on the Communist Party. Name Street City .. Our Readers this I, too, had to exclaim, “Is this Christianity?” OBSERVER, URGES ORGANIZATION OF WORKERS’ DEFENSE CORPS Brooklyn, N. Y. Comrade Editor: Reading today’s “Daily,” April 12, 1934, I see the Chicago com- rades are talking about organizing Workers’ Defense Groups. Well, comrade, it is high time to do so. The comrades only talk about building defense groups, but never carry out their decision. Not long ago here in New York we were at- tacked and then the com- rades talked about organizing de- fense groups. I hope they have done so, Let’s have action, not words, A WORKER, LITERATURE IS IMPORTANT Bagby, Cal, Editor: I am herewith sending names and addresses of a few workers I have been giving copies of my “Dailies” from time to time. I find that some of my friends have already sub- scribed. But there are others it seems require the services of a lin- guist, which I don’t happen to be. My method therefore is to select suitable literature in the form of pamphlets and booklets in hope to get them interested in reading rev- olutionary literature and eventually take part in the daily ee Be funds and contributions. But after ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Stuttering (Continued) We know of some children who be- gan to stutter as a result of the silly quarrels and bickerings of their parents. In one case a boy of nine who always used to be made the “goat” by his older playmates, be- gan to stutter as a protest for the continual “knockdowns.” There are children who will begin to stammer when they are not allowed to have a good cry. Scoldings from either parent and continual admonitions to “shut-up” has often resulted in cases of “incurable” stammering. Forcing children to study, play the piano or violin, learn languages or tax their mental capacities, is an- other fruitful cause of vocal impedi- ment. Stuttering is not merely a simple speech disorder; analysis of most stuttering cases showing that it is most often a disturbance in the so- cial adjustment of the handicapped child’s emotional life. The child's energy outlets are blocked and there is a conflict between the desire to speak and the nearly equally strong tendency not to speak. The result is, therefore, an attempt to speak accompanied by an invariabie in- hibition of speech. The speech dis- turbance is thus simply an outward manifestation of an inner conflict. It is very difficult for parents to discover the causes of the conflict because very often they themselves happen to be one of the factors in this conflict. Exceptionally intelli- gent parents can ‘sometimes solve the problem, unaided, but in most instances an expert in child guid- time to build a proper scaffold, ance or a specialist have to be cone By PAUL LUTTINGER, M.D. ————————— sulted. The vocal drills and exer- cises in speech articulation and in pronunciation which some physi- cians and intelligent laymen adopt for the cure of stammering, is more harmful than useful. It only serves in centering the victim’s attention on his manner of speech and fur- ther increases the feeling of in- feriority and futility. Continual nagging or coaxing or scolding, sometimes accompanied by threats of punishment, in order to shame the stutterer or to force him into talking normally, is of no avail. Nor is the exhibition of sugar-coated sympathy, pity or over-anxiety to help of any permanent benefit. On the contrary, these “methods” are often more harmful than the vocal drills. If the child is below the age of nine, its attention should never be focused on his handicap. About half an hour to an hour of conver- sation or reading or story-telling after supper, when the child is not taken away from his games, should constitute all the vocal training that a child of his age should receive. The subjcet of the conversation should, of course, be one in which the child is interested. He should never be made aware of the fact that he is being trained in his speech. With older children, the cause of stammering as a conflict of feelings, or of thwarting of the desires, can be discussed. The daily hour of practice in speaking and reading should be explained to them as an opportunity for their free ex- pression of thought and feelings and not for the purpose of improving their articulation or pronunciation, (To Be Continued) town, one just organized in Holly- , PPS, See a