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

7) ) j NO MATTER HOW SMALL! Order a Daily Worker Bundle for Sale To Those You Know SSS Vol. XI, No. 114 > * Botered ak stctanl-cless mutter at fife Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 4 1878. Daily ~<QWorker CENTRAL ORGAN COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. (SECTION OF COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL) NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 12, 1934 WEATHER: Fatr AMERICA’S ONLY WORKING CLASS DAILY NEWSPAPER ( Pages) Price 3 Cents 20,000 DETROIT AUTO MEN OUT; BUICK PLANT CLOSES { Against Alabama Serve Drastic Writ ~ Ore Mine Pickets < [ 1 A 2! Ore Stitkers Refused] Right to Meet, or Picket REIGN OF TERROR Negro Strikers Arrested | By State Troopers | BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May| 9 (By Mail).—Following on) the killing of two iron ore strike pickets at Ishkooda, by | Tennessee Coal and Iron Com-| pany gun thugs, the Jefferson County Circuit Court has is-| sued a most drastic injunction for- | bidding Republic Steel Co. strikers from picketing. The vicious injunc- | tion, issued by Judge Richard Evans outlaws all picketing and strike ac- tivity of the members or officials of the International Mine, Mill and} Smelter Workers Union. The re-| quest of the steel company for the injunction was based on the blood- shed carried out by the company gangsters. The injunction “com- mands and enjoins you (members of the union) from in any manner whatsoever, picketing the Thomas) plant of the company or any of its| mines or other plants in Jefferson County, or the public or private roads, or approaches thereto, or in} the vicinity thereof.” All picketing in the ore mine fields has been outlawed. The officials of the union in a statement on the murder of the two Negro miners, at the same time “of- fer co-operation” to the national) guard troops whieh Governor Miller has called out. The statement, signed by V. C. Finch, state repre- sentative of the A. F. of L. and George Coles, international vice- president of the union, says in part: “The statements of all the pick- ets, white and colored, are to the ef- fect that they were fired on without (Continued on Page 2) Open Air Meetings’ in N. Y. Monday to HitAlabamaTerror The Communist Party, TUUL, ILD, Issue Call for Mighty Protest NEW YORK.—In a combined call issued yesterday by the N. Y. Dis- trict of the Communist Party, the Trade Union Unity League and the International Labor Defense, New York workers were again urged to turn out in mass in protest demon- Strations in every borough and neighborhood on Monday, May 14, against the brutal murder of strik- ing ore and coal miners by J. P. Morgan thugs and government troops in Birmingham, Ala. In issuing this call, the exact dates and locations of the protest meetings were listed as follows, to- gether with the speakers at each place: Monday noon at 36th St. and 8th Ave.—Andrew Overgaard, secretary| of the Trade Union Unity Council and Irving Potash of the Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union Will be the main speakers. Tenth St. and Second Ave., at 7:30 p.m.—aAlfred Wagenknecht, National Secretary of the Workers Interna- tional Relief-and I. Rosenberg, Sec- retary of the United Shoe and Leather Union. Columbus Circle at 7:30 p.m— Max Bedacht, National Secretary of the International Workers Order and Bill Albertson, the leader of the Food Workers Industrial Union. Crown Heights at 7:30 p.m. at the corner of Fulton and Lewis Sts.— ‘William L. Patterson, National Sec- retary of the International Labor Defense. Harlem at 7:30 at the corner of (Continued on Page 2) Trooper Kills Brother; 7 Dead in Athens Strike ATHENS, May 11.—A trooper un- knowingly killed his brother here yesterday when government machine-gunners mowed down the striking dockers, seven workers be- ing killed, in all. They were killed for protesting the speed-up insti- tuted with new conveyers. The troops, however, could not disperse the crowd of strikers. A sympathetic strike movement is growing as a result of these murders. Even the capitalist press odmits thet they were wanton and un- Raney The government, of course, “ ss heh timed announced an “investi Mrs. Viola Montgomery, mother of one of the Scottsboro boys, who Jeaves today with four of the other mothers for Washington to see President Roosevelt, Negro Mothers Off Today For Washington Roosevelt's Secretary) Denies Request for Interview NEW YORK.—The five Scotts- bore mothers and a small com- mittee representing the Interna- tional. Labor Defense prepared to leave early this afternoon for Washington to see President Roose- velt in spite of the refusal of their request for an interview. The mothers will demand that Roosevelt intercede to free their innocent boys who are being kept in the Alabama prison. The ILD. received a telegram from Roosevelt's secretary yester- day, after they had sent many com- munications including a long dis- tance telephone call which read as follows: “The case to which you refer. . . ‘is one over which the State of Ala- bama has jurisdiction. I must therefore respectfully decline your request.” The request of the I.L.D. was just for an interview with the president. In Washington a small group will accompany the Scottsboro mothers to the White House. A mass send-off meeting to the mothers was held last night in the St. Nicholas Arena. A full account of the meeting will appear in Mon- day’s Daily Worker. 4,000 Airplane Strikers Demand Their Tools Back BUFFALO, N. ¥Y.—Four thousand airplane strikers and sympathetic workers massed in front of the Cur- tis Airplane plant here today de- manding that the company turn over their tools to them. This is in answer to the ultimatum of the company to return to work immedi- ately. The strikers marched to the plant from union headquarters. As this is written, the strikers are removing their tools from the plant. The’ spirit of the strikers is high and they are determined to con- tinue their strike. PARIS MAY DAY Part of the French workers who demonstrated in Paris and later streets, salute the Communist Party with raised fists. | fought police for the right to the Me " zhinsky Death Great Loss For USSR |Was a Staunch Leader | in the Fight Against | Counter-Reyolution Direct All War Orders Of Battleship Steel Be Kept Strict Secret}; NEW YORK. — The Inter- || national Nickle Corporation and its affiliated Canadian Steel Cor- poration have issued internal |) directives to keep secret all in- formation on exports. This: is due to the sharp rise in inter- national trading in nickle-steel for battleships. Militia In Tear Gas Attack On Kansas Jobless Wholesale Arrests Follow Attack by | Troops, Police | | By VERN SMITH | (Special to the Daily Worker) | MOSCOW, May 11 (By Radio).— | Death has torn from the foremost | ranks of the fighters for the cause | of the construction of socialism, | | Viacheslav Menzhinsky. Although Menzhinsky had been sick a tone | time, and there was no hope that he | would recover and return to work, | nevertheless, the news of his death | was a great blow for all. } Irrevocably lost is the head of the | fighting organ of the proletarian | dictatorship, the chairman of the} United State Political Department | (OGPU), a loyal and unswerving | disciple of Lenin and Stalin, the This information came to the Daily Worker Correspondent by an employee of the New York rffice of International Nickle. Fittingly, this office is located Use Torture To Frame-Up | Thaelmann & Wotkers Re-Arrested nearest colleague of the iron Felix Deerjinsky. | The brilliant life of the revolu-| tionary fighter has been broken off. | The son of a teacher, a lawyer by| rere s education, Comrade Menzhinsky, at} PARIS, May 11—In a bestial ef- the very beginning of the century, | fort to rush through the execution joined the revolutionary movement |°f Ernst _Thaelmann, heroic leader and without hesitation became af the Communist Party of Ger- member of the Bolshevik Party. A|™any, the Gestapo (Secret Nazi man of action, not words, he chose | Police) are not only torturing Thael- the most dangerous section of Party |™ann, but are attempting to frame work, going Wherever the class en- | him up on the killing of Horst Wes-| lemy stood directly before him, | sel, Nazi scoundrel who was shot) where he could see and direct the|S0me time before Hitler came to result of his work and struggle. | Power In the 1905 revolution, and the| Four workers who were at first first years after it, Menzhinsky| released from jail in the matter of worked in the military organization | the Horst Wessel killing were again arrested recently. They were tor- tured by Nazi agents in an effort to get them to sign a confession stat- ing that the shooting of Wessel was carried through upon the personal request of Thaelmann. The worker accused of killing Wessel was of- ficially admitted to have been tor- tured to death in a Nazi prison. The four workers refused to sign sentimental” regard for motherhood,| the Nazi concocted confession and} Dr. Howard W. Haggard of Yale| denied any connection with the in-| University pointed out Thursday) cident. They were thereupon sav-| that a flower on Mother's Day is|agely maltreated. The same trick! But Refuse to Sign False ‘‘Confession”’ (Continued on Page 5) Calls Mother’s Day Hypocritical Gesture in Face of Deaths NEW YORK.—Scoring the “soppy, WICHITA, Kansas, May 11.—Po-} lice, swinging clubs, three companies | of National Guard infantry, and one {company of National Guard cavalry | |led a tear gas attack upon a meet-/| |ing of unemployed and striking re-| | lief workers here yesterday. Fol- lowing the attack by armed troops | and police, 58 men and three women | were jailed by the police. More mass arrests were threatened. Acting under the orders of Gov- ernor Landon at the request of the Wichita -police, relief and city offi- | ¢cials, troops were sent yesterday af- ter the strikers had successfully re- sisted the attacks by the combined | force of police and firemen, and had marched on the relief projects pull- ing out the workers solidly. \ San Francisco Seamen Vote Unanimously To Back Up Strike Of Longshoremen Militant ‘Sirike Gains As M.W.LU. Pledges Full Support ‘ON TO THE DOCKS!” Stevedores Break Police Lines in Enthusiastic Demonstration BULLETIN SAN FRANCISCO, May 11.— Striking longshoremen were aroused to a high pitch of anger today when heavily armed de- tachments of police brought gangs of strike-breakers to the piers. Th longshoremen are strength- ening their ranks to meet the threat of federal government au- thorities to take over the docks in an attempt to force the strikers to accept the strike-breaking Roosevelt Arbitration Board. eel alice (Special to the Daily Worker.) SAN FRANCISCO, May 11. —Three hundred and twenty- five seamen representing a total of 750 from the ships’ voted unanimously last night) to declare a strike in support of the longshoremen. The seamen voted to strike} under the leadership of the Marine Workers Industrial Union. | Already the crews of several steam | schooners are striking and seven! crews from the larger ships have pledged to walk out. The strikers voted solidly for a walk-out on Wednesday unless their | demands for a living wage were met. | ERS ace? | CINCINNATI, Ohio, May 11.—j Nearly 15,000 relief workers are on strike in 14 counties in Ohio, de-| manding a minimum wage for all workers, whether on public or pri- vate job projects, of 50 cents an! hour. In Butler County, 1,300 work | relief strikers are entering their! third week of strike with the active | support of steel workers in Middle- town and Hamilton. Several thousand workers in pri- vately owned plants have struck in other parts of Ohio in support of relief work strikers. About 1,500 clay workers in the Uhrichsville district, 700 bakers in Akron, and 400 cement. workers in Osborne have joined the walkout. ane tees 3 2,000 Strike in Des Moines DES MOINES, Ia. (F.P.)—About 2,000 Des Moines relief workers struck when the local relief bureaus instituted cash payment for grocery relief with a 25 per cent slash in the amounts received. The seamen have requested to sit on the longshoremen’s strike com- mittee to coordinate the action along the waterfront. Very few | scabs are working as the strike gains (Continued on Page 2) Hitler Seeks Air War Pact Against USSR Sends Agent to Sound) Out British; Build Many War Planes LONDON, May 11.—Hitler’s agent | here, General Joachim von Ribben- trop, has proposed a three-power air force treaty with Britain and France, providing for supporting the heavy ariplane armament program Crews of Two Ships Strike in Support of Longshoremen SAN PEDRO, Cal., Crews of the steamsh cade and Sagadohoc uck to- day under the leadership of the Marine Workers Industrial Union in support of the longshoremen’s strike and for the code of the MW. TU, Six seamen were arrested while picketing the docks. May 11.— is Cas- Indu strialists Seek to Outlaw Strike Actions | Based on Auto Sellout, Would Strangle Strike At Start 6,200 Strike in Fisher Body; Tie Up Buick Factory DILLON IS ABSENT Demand No Wage Cut, No Speed-Up of Men, No Firing iw Workor) FLINT, Mich., May 11. Over 20,000 workers were out here today after the strike of 6.200 auto workers of the Fisher Body plant forced the Buick Motor Company plant here to close down. The Fisher Body plant supplies the Buick auto bodies. Both plants were completely tied up as a result of the 100 per cent walkout The strike. at the Fisher Body plant followed the slashing of piece rates by 25 to 40 per cent, and a |drive to speed-up the workers. The (Snecial to the D- NEW YORK. — Avowedly taking | workers at the plant, members of their inspiration from the Roosevelt | the American Federation of Labor sell-out of the automobile strike, the | Federal Auto Union, went on strike National Association of Manufac-| while Dillon, A. F. of L. leader, was turers today projected a plan for strangling every strike at its incep- | tion. | In its essentials, the plan pro-| poses to “settle disputes where the; originate in the plant and .. . se cure the adjustment of labor dis- putes without interruption of ser-| vice in each plant and industry.” The object of the plan, sponsored by the Manufacturers’ Association and drafted by the heads of the Peoria Cordage Co., the American Rolling Mills of Middletown, Ohio, the Bridgeport Brass Company, etc., \is to strengthen company unions, force through arbitration with “im- partial” company representation on ‘arbitration” boards, localize all strike actions, force the men to re- main at work while “disputes are settled,” limit settlement only to | the grievances specified, and to pre- vent all sympathetic actions by | workers in other industries or in jother branches of the same in- dustry. Worker representation by this manufacturers’ plan would exclude |any committee which the workers | might elect, but would limit “work- ers’ representation based upon the |membership of each organization | |claiming to speak for employes in | the industry.” Any organization “claiming to | speak for employes” can only mean | vesting all power in the settlement of strikes squarely in the hands of | the manufacturers themselves, | strengthening company unions, and placing final decision in the hands | | of such bodies as the National Auto- | |mobile Board as in the automobile | strike. scant satisfaction to the mother in| Was tried on other arrested work- | the face of some 10,000 needless ma-| rs | accused of the shooting of two ternity deaths in this country each’ police officers on the Buelowplatz. year due to ignorance. | No fiendish attempt to murder Speaking betore a joint meeting| Thaelmann is too low for the Nazi of the Maternity Center Association) butchers: The life of Thaelmann is! and the Henry Street Nursing Ser-| now in the greatest danger. Only! vice at the Waldorf Astoria, he) world-wide protests can save him. called the commercialized sentiment) Hitler, Goering and Goebbels should | of Mother’s Day “a hypocritical ges-| be flooded with protests. Delega-| ture typical of a people who believe! tions should be sent to all Nazi! Wheat Gamblers Speculate on Bad Crop Next Harvest of the Nazis, with the direct object) Paris Cops Kill Worker they can replace a deep obligation by a shallow sentimental flourish.” Drought Ravages Mid-West; Speculators Are Jubilant By BILL ANDREWS (Daily Worker Midwest Bureau) CHICAGO, May 11—The Middle ‘West is in the grip of a howling dust storm as farmers’ fields, bare and dry as a result of the unprece- dented drought this Spring, are swept by winds that are, in many places, tearing the top soil and newly planted seeds from the ground. Reports from Hecla, South Da- kota, and other places throughout the central part of the country, tell of cattle dying of thirst as shallow wells and country brooks dry up. The hay crop is almost a total loss, and except where farmers are or- ganized strongly enough to force relief to distribute hay, fodder is almost unattainable by poor farm- ere. Speculators in wheat and other grains are profiting mightily from} the destruction of cvops by the drought. Wheat went up the maxi- mum five cents allowed by law yes- terday on the Chicago Board of Trade. In Chicago and other places, the light rain of yesterday, the first in twenty-eight days, was not suffi- cient to prevent further storms of dust that blanketed the city like a dense fog. The full horror of what is hap- pening is just beginning to be felt. Farmers are demanding from gov- ernment officials the right to plant food crops on the land withdrawn from production by the crop reduc- tion program of the A.A.A. Officials in Washington, refusing to make this concession, cynically tell the farmers it would not do any good, since the plants would not grow in the arid soil. Speculators with warehouses full of grains, and rich farmers who have deep wells and money for fod- der are jubilant at the situation. ‘The Chicago capitalist press, speak- ing for these groups, is carrying stories and cartoons telling what a farmers, since it raises prices. that have reached the Daily Worker Midwest Bureau, how- ever, tell a very different story. The poor farmers, with their wells dry, and the crops. ruined at the outset of the season, face not only the loss of crops and cattle, buf bankruptcy, foreclosure and hunger, ~ fine thing this drought is for the) | counsels in. this country demanding the release of Thaelmann and hold- |ing them responsible for his safety. Workers’ delegations in all countries should be organized to go to Berlin | stopped. European workers’ dele- | gations have already gone to Berlin. bei Thaelmann’s life must be save Order Detroit Dicks from Workers Center DETROIT, Mich. May 11.—Two red squad dicks, Masisuk and Makuliak, were told to keep out of the Workers Hall at 5659 Four- teenth Ave., when they were caught Snooping inside the building. When caught they gave the filmsy excuse that they wanted to find out if the Communist /Party which has established its new district head- quarters at this address was organ- izing the march of veterans to Washington. William Weinstone, district or- ganizer of the Party when he saw them snooping around the building formed them they had no right to | enter the Workers Building and they must keep out. They said the | National Government wanted in- |formation about the vererans' march and came to the Party for it, after which the dicks left. The Communist Party is filing protest with Mayor against this in- vasion of Workers Hall by police, and demand the right to see Thael-| mann and insist that torture be| called them into his office and in-| Admit Sowing in USSR Ahead of Last Year: | Expect Bumper Crop | LONDON, May 11.—All negotia- | tions for wheat export agreements jappear to have broken down here today, with a wild scramble for world markets, speculating on a world shortage of wheat due to drought and rust. The American and European crop, outside of the Soviet Union, is far below all pre- vious estimates; while in the Soviet Union the reports are that wheat acreage is greater than ever before, and even considering bad weather, a bigger crop is expected than last year. Argentina refused to join with other wheat producers to regulate markets, or come to a minimum price agreement. Unless an agree- ment is unanimous, all efforts at negotiation break down. Drought in the Middle Western wheat belt of the United States, plus the deliberate cutting down of acre- age by the Roosevelt government, |has caused a di} in forecasts o! | 170,000,000 bushels. For the Amer- | ican farmers it means many of them} will have no crop at all or very little to sell, even at the increased prices, | Exporters here admit that the So-| | viet Union is ahead with its cd land expects a bumper crop. but are praying for bad weather to cut down | the huge harvest expected. of attacking the Soviet Union. The proposal was conveyed to Sir |John Simon, foreign secretary by | |General Ribbentrop, who is Hitler's | | special envoy here, discussing Brit- | |ish support to the fascist air plans. | British and American aircraft | manufacturers have been supplying Hitler with airplanes. The Nazi | budget: provides for 210,000,000 marks for war aviation construction. Who Fights Fascists PARIS, May 11.—One worker was | shot to death and 15 others were in- jured Wednesday night when police fired into a group of worker who were fighting with fascists at Livry Gargen, a suburb of this city. The ' police arrested a number of workers. General Johnson Cut Wages, Smashed Union In Own Shop NEW YORK.—Charges that Gen- eral Hugh 8. Johnson, National Recovery Administrator, was aware of and approved “a campaign under the N. R. A. to smash a union” in the factory of which Johnson is president and _part- owner in Newark, N. J., and that) wages were cut after Johnson be-| came code administrator, are con-| tained in a story appearing in this| week's “New Masses,” published} Friday. The article titled “General John- son’s Private Code,” by Anne Aleen Barten, gives the name of the au- | tomobile carpet factory of which Mr. Johnson is the head as the Lea Fabrics, Inc., and its address as 768) Frelinghuysen Avenue, Newark, N. J.) “Wages of the workers in John-| son’s own plant in Newark were cut! 3 to $6 a week with the reduction f the work-hour week from 48 to 40 hours, with no raise in hourly pay,” the story asserts in referring to what happened aficr the went into effect. Th issuance, it is stated, of a bulletin zy Johnson saying “The employers’ part is to act at once to shorten hours and raise wages.” The story charges that campaign to wreck am independent) 2. > 5 cods) * union called the International Car- pet Workers Union which the work- ers formed, Hérbert Smalley, an employee of four years’ standing, “was fired with the approval of Hugh Samuel Johnson for protest- ing the pay cut and for actively organizing a union to fight it.” “His dismissal,” the story con- tinues, “was part of a campaign under the N. R. A. to smash a union in Johnson's backyard. The | wrecking job was successfully car- |ried through by Ellery K. Files, vice president and general manager of Lea Fabrics, Inc. controlling stock in the company and the final touches were made by the local N. R. A. board, working snug- ger than a glove with Johnson's! company.” The “New Masses” article further asserts Smalley was dismissed im- mediately after protesting, on be- half of the newly-formed union, inst reduction of pay in the fac- t An appeal to the N. R. A Board resulted, the article says, in a star-chamber proceeding uphold- ing the dismissal of Smalley. It is also charged that at present aged at the plant |in Washington. The strikers demand the follow- ing: 1, No reduction in wages. 2.No speed-up. 3.Immediate re-hiring of workers fired for protesting the cut }in piece work rates. | The strike is completely holding |up production of bodies for the new Model 40 low-priced Buick car, which the company announced to- day. Two hundred workers paraded through the various departments of the Fisher Body plant, calling all men on strike, closing the plant. This took place following two stop- pages, where men sat down and let the lines go by without working on them. Large picket lines thrown around the plant The workers in the Fisher Body plant. in Pontiac indicated today that they would refuse to work if the work of the struck plant at Flint were transferred to the Pontiac shop. While the strike was already in progress, the Automobile Labor Board held a conference with Knud- sen, vice-president of General Mo- tors, of which Fisher Body is a have been | subsidiary, at the General Motors Building. Copper Miners in Butte, Mont. Strike Against NRA Code Thousands of Miners, Allied Trades Out; Tie Up Industry BUTTE, Mont. (By Mail).—Over 5.000 copper miners and other em- ployees of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. here walked out on strike yesterday against the pro- visions of the N. R. A. Copper Code which would further reduce the starvation wages paid the miners. The mines are demandiny a mini- mum of $1.90 an hour and a 30-heur week, abolition of the contract svs- tem and the company one-man system The strike was called by the local of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Employees. The | teamsters, blacksmith and electrical junions have also joined in the strike. These workers are joining the picket lines at the mines. The N. R. A. officials at Wash- | ington and Governor Cooney of |Montana have made every attempt |to postpone the strike. The miners |have answered these attempts with the strike. The miners at An‘ conda and Great Falls ere also pected to come out for in | pay and in sol | Strike. ‘ | The companies are repairing the |barracks used to house militiamen in former strikes and are making the same military preparations as were made in 1917. Promises of $6 a day and board are being made by the company to | induce scabs to come to Butte. Despite these preparations it is expected that the whole copper in- dustry in the state will be tied up. 2d rity with the Butte WAGES CUT AS RUICK PRICES i DROPS | DETROIT (F.F.)—With the ane nouncement that Buick is to sell a | cheaper car came a cut in pay for in the! a company union is being encour-| oil sanders from 95 cents an hour to 65 cents