The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 22, 1934, Page 1

Demonstrate NO MATTER HOW SMALL! Order a Daily Worker Bundle for Sale To Those You Know Vol. XI, . 122 ->* New ‘York, N. ¥., under Daily <QWorker CENTRAL ORGAN COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. (SECTION OF COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL ) Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at the Act of March 8, 1879. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, MAY 22, 1934 WEATHER: Proba See Page Two AMERICA’S ONLY WORKING CLASS DAILY NEWSPAPER Price 3 Cents 30,000 MINNEAPOLIS WORKERS IN N SYMPATHY STRIKE 'Siéel: Unions Rush Preparations for Nation-Wide Strike NRA Report Confirms Fascist Gangs Threaten| 6 Ala. Defendants Freed Communist By Nation-Wide Protest Analysis Gov't Trying To Hide} Real Meaning of Darrow Findings ———- | BULLETIN WASHINGTON, May 21.—The Darrow Board is getting too hot form of administration that mo- The White House announced | late today that the Board will be abolshed by May 31, Sas gps H WASHINGTON—Clarence Dar- | row turned today upon Johnson | and Richberg of the N. R, A., who attacked him yesterday for his | bitter assault on the monopoly | character of the N. R. A., and re~ | turned their assaults with inter- | est. | He did more. He threatened | that he would make public ma- terial even more startling than that already made public by his Board. Charging that Johnson and Richberg has completely evaded his charges, Darrow retorted: “It is exceedingly unseemly for a man occupying a public position in this | country to assume that the nation | is his personal property, and any criticism as a personal affront,” with Richberg and Johnson ob- viously as the point of his attack. He urged the N. R. A. to retain its “expert evasionists” to write fur- ther answers to the charges. By MILTON HOWARD Through the Darrow report, | the immense, sharp claws of | the Blue Eagle now stare the’ masses in the face. It is no longer the amiable, Rooseveltian bird that was supposed to wing the masses of the people to the noon-day of another “prosperity.” It is a savage, predatory, beast | which has fastened its knife-like talons into the throat of the work- ing class, and the “little man.” the shop-keeper, the petty-bourgeois. The N. R. A. Blue Eagle is the vulture of Wall Street monopoly capital. And on its back rides the smiling Roosevelt. * * # Ra little more than a year the Roosevelt honeymoon has been going on. During this year, so filled with rotten promises, 810 of the biggest Wall Street corporations showed the fattest profits since the crisis broke in 1929, profits of $410,000,000. During this year, the working class saw the cost of its daily neces- sities soar from 15 to 150 per cent. It saw its wages held down by the use of the N. R. A. codes while prices Tose. During this year, the toiling farm Population saw its meagre income dwindle before the terrific rise in the cost of raw materials, chemicals, fertilizer, machines. The Darrow report reveals some of the reasons for ths joyous honey- moon of Wall Street profits. The Roosevelt-N.R.A. honeymoon is over. ee poe ee THOMAS called the N. N. R. A. codes part of a “planned economy.” The Communist Party proclaimed that the whole Roose- velt N. R. A. program was directed toward intensifying the wage slave exploitation of the Wall Street monopolies. The Darrow report confirms this to the hilt: “To give sanction of the gov- ernment to sustain profits is not @ planned economy, but a regi- mentation for exploitation.” Yes, precisely that is what the whole N. R. A. program of Roose- velt is—to regiment through an in- treasing reactionary terrorism the whole working class “for exploita- tion.” + 8 * eae described his price “adjustment of the market” to a step toward “social control.” e Socialist leaders hailed this control” as a “Socialist measure.” ere is what the Darrow report says f Roosevelt's “social control:” “The control of a market which is obained by force of monopoly maintains profits by diminishing or restricting production, that is, by decreasing wealth and lower- ing standards of living, It main- tains profits by lowering costs of production, that is, by lowering | carried a story from Birming- peals for Strengthen- ing Fight on Terror BULLETIN (Special to the Daily Worker) | BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 21.—Six of the revo- lutionary workers arrested | in the Alabama terror were | released here this after- | noon, while over them hung the threat of the White Legion fascists. This does not mean that the Alabama terror is ended. | Twelve to fifteen of the | strikers are still in prison. | The protests against the terror must be continued. By JOHN HOWARD LAWSON Yesterday’s Daily Worker | ham telling of the immediate peril to the lives of six mil- itant workers held in Jeffer- | son. County. jail. It must he realized that this jdanger is hourly becoming | more threatening and that! | only the most vigorous pro-! | test can save these impris- ;oned Communists from tor- ture and probable death. It must be realized that the White |Legion is a fascist band of degen- jerate gangsters who are under di- rect orders of the reactionary rulers of Alabama; that these gunmen are in close contact with the police and give the police orders—the White Legion will stop at nothing in their effort to wipe out Communism in Alabama. No amount of terrorism can stop the growth of Communism, because it is rooted in the bst elements of the awakened Negro and white masses—but the ignorant fascists of Birmingham are completely un- aware of the meaning and strength of the working class movement. They labor under the delusion that the fighting solidarity of the Negro and white workers is due to the activity of a few “Northern agitators,” and that a campaign of terror and murder will enable them to boast of having “stopped Com- munism.” : In view of the urgency of the situation, I suggest the immediate formation of a Committee of in- tellectuals to investigate the il- legal activity of the White Legion in Alabama, and to report on the fascist terror which is being launched against the working class. It must be observed that fascist violence is breaking out in many sections of the United States, as part of the frantic effort of the ruling class to break the solidarity of the workers. In San Francisco, Galveston, San Pedro, Buffalo, the demands of striking workers have been answered by fascist oppression. I therefore suggest a committee to combat the open spread of American Fascism, with immediate reference to the Noted Playwright Ap-| Emanuel Levin, chairman of the Workers Ex-Servicemen’s League, and a leader of the veterans in their fight for the bonus and Three-Point Program. Vets Pledge Support Of 3-Point Plan Fight for Jobless Insurance BY SEYMOUR WALDMAN (Daily Worker Washington Bureau) chairmen representing the rank and file of all veterans’ organizations united today in repulsing the first attack on the veterans’ “three-point program” in the Veterans’ National Rank and File Convention. after Emanuel Levin, member of the National Rank and File Committee and Chairman of the Workers’ Ex- | Servicemen’s League, presented the committee’s report. The report, first business to come before the veterans assembled in the Washing- ton Auditorium, came out strongly for the program—‘“immediate cash payment of the adjusted service cer- tificates; repeal of the Economy Act; and immediate remedial relief to the unemployed and farmers.” Jim Beatty; of New York, former marine sergeant, known among the veterans as “The Booming Boiler- maker,” was elected chairman for today’s proceedings. Beatty told the veterans: “Don't split your ranks. This is the place to thrash out disagreements,” and then proceeded to attack the com- mittee report. He argued for the narrowing of the veterans’ program to the bonus demand, and declared chauvinistically that the ex-soldiers should consider only “The American Vet.” Robert Cowan, spokesman for the Cleveland, Ohio, W. E. S. L. con- tingent, the third largest in the convention, was the first group chairman to reject Beatty’s reac- tionary proposal. Most of the leaders of contin- gents who followed Cowan joined in vigorously rejecting Beatty’s pro- (Continued on Page 2) posal, Call Mass Pro (Special to the Daily Worker) DETROIT, Mich. May 21.—The ternational Labor Defense and League of Struggle for Negro Rights have taken over defense of James Victory, Negro worker and war vet- eran, who is being held on $50,000 bond on framed up charge of hav- ing slashed a Southern white wo- man living here, Mrs. Kaye, with a razor. Victory was arrested last Monday in connection with a terroristic hunt organized against Negro mass- es by Police Department and city Officials. About 40 Negroess were arrested in a man hunt, which was whipped up by capitalist press. A mass protest meeting is being held 8 p. m, tomorrow at the Israel Bap- tist Church, 3900 Russell corner Le- land, under the auspices of the I. L. D. and L, 8, N. R. Speakers include (Continued on Page 2) Harry Haywood, National Secretary L. S. N, R., Tony Gerlach, District test in Detroit Tonight on Frame-up of Negro Secretary I. L. D., Rev. McGahan of Israel Baptist Church, Frank Sykes, local L. S. N, R. Secretary, William Weinstone, District Organi- zer Communist Party, and Rev. John Bollens, American Civil Liberties Union, who will be chairman. The I. L. D. has issued a state- ment exposing frame-up character of the arrest of Victory. The state- ment points out that workers, pro- fessionals, merchants, business peo- ple who know Victory well have been interviewed and have testified to his unimpeachable character. The statement demands: Immediate release of Victory; end to terror against Negroes; imme- diate withdrawal of police details in Negro neighborhoods; no discrim- ination against Negro on jobs or relief; no interference with civil rights of Negroes; freedom of speech and of movement for Ne- groes in all parts of city, | Rebuff Attempt to Drop) | WASHINGTON, May 21.—Group | The attack was made immediately | Lawson at Protest | Meeting on May 28 || NEW YORK.—John H. Lawson, well-known playwright, who. has just returned from Birmingham, Ala., will speak at a mass protest meeting against the terror now raging in the coal and iron ore fields there, at Irving Plaza, 15th St. and Irving Place on Monday, May 28, 8.30 p. m., under the aus- pices of the New Masses and the National Committee for the De- || fense of Political Prisoners, LaFollette GroupForm New Party, \Main Object To Stop| | Masses from Going | Communist (Special to the Daily Worker) MILWAUKEE, Wis., May 21— Saturday marked the end of an era in Wisconsin political history, when after 40 years the progressive fac- tion of the Republican Pariy for- mally split away and formed a so- called third party officially known as the Progressive Party. In 1894 Robert M. LaFollette, Sr. taking advantage of the agrarian popula- | tion’s discontent with the bosses’ | Tule, founded the Progressive fac- j tion of the Republican Party. For | | 31 years, until his death in 1925, he held the leadership firmly’ and for four decades it was the predom- inating influence in Wisconsin poli- tics. The birthplace of the “new” party was Fond Du Lac. The county of the same name and the town of Ripon was the birthplace of the Republican Party in February, 1854. Aware of the discontent of the masses of workers and farmers and their movement to the left, with | thousands finding their way into| | the ranks of the vanguard of the | workers and poor farmers, the Com- | munist Party, and many more thou- | sands voting for the candidates of the Communist Party, the bour- geoisie has found it necessary to create the Progressive Party to jcheck this movement by an or- | ganized political group with the| |demagogic appeal and platform they have put forward. | 1 | It is naively stated, “Since Third Party advocates expect to draw strength from Socialists and Communists to make up for loss of votes which will remain in the Republican ranks, many of the Policies of Socialists and Commu- nists are expected to be built into the platform.” By a vote of 252 to 44 the dele- gates voted to organize the party; | by 236 to 59 they decided to call it! the “Progressive” Party. The same old faces with the same old tactics steamrollered the convention thru in the old approved fashion. Will- iam Evjue, editor of the Madison LaFollette organ, wielded the gavel. Philip F. LaFollette, former Gov- ernor, was the tally clerk. Herman L, Ekern and other faithful veter- ans of the LaFollette movement were on the platform. Senator Robert M. LaFollette, who will campaign for re-election this year on the new party ticket, was the principal speaker. On the sidelines were such figures as Wal- ter Singler, president of the Milk Pool that sold out the farmers in three Wisconsin milk strikes, the numerous officials of the State Fed- eration of Labor and the Socialist Party. Battle Over Name The sharpest battle of the day was over the choice of a name, and out of this was revealed the real character of the new party. The Farmer-Labor Parties and groups of Minnesota and Michigan sent telegrams urging the name Farmer- Labor Party be chosen. One tele- gram came from Governor Olson of Minnesota requesting unity and sending congratulations. John Handley, president of the State Fed- (Continued on Page 2) Open Letter to S. P. Members in Next Saturday’s ‘‘Daily’’ Next Saturday’s Daily Worker will publish an Open Letter by the Central Committee of the Communist Party addressed to Socialist workers and delegates to the coming Socialist Party con- vention. The Open Letter will give the Communist position on the united front, and its attitude toward the growing left trend among the lings through | speed-up, and in general have low- Strike Action Follows Bloody Police Steel and Metal Union| Urges Unity of All | Steel Men | MAKE DEMANDS | Joint Committees in All| Mills Needed PITTSBURGH, Pa. May 21.—The Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union to- day broadcast a call, in many thousands of copies, for im- mediate preparation of mass | strikes in the stecl industry. The S. M. W. I. U. calls for joint action of all unorganized workers, | members of the Amalgamated Asso-| ciation of Iron, Steel and Tin Work- | ers (A. F. of L.) and of its own| union, to win six demands from we companies. These six demands were to be| presented today to the steel com- panies by the Amalgamated Asso- ciation Lodges and the S. M. W. I.) U, locals. The cali of the S. M. W. I, U. called for joint action not} only in the presenting of the de- | mands but in the preparation of | the coming strike struggles. | The text of the S. M. W. I. ted call follows: | ee National see lary: Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union To all steel workers, organized and unorganized, irrespective of union affiliation: Brothers and Fellow Workers: The time for action has come. We can wait no longer. Everywhere the workers are striking for better con- ditions. They are fighting for higher wages, shorter hours, the right to organize and for union recognition. All steel workers must join in the fight for these demands. Through five years of depression the employers have cut our earn- lay-offs, part-time work, wage cuts, and through the ered our standards of living while the cost of living has been increased, and the employers have increased their profits. To this we must call an imme-| diate halt. This can only be done} |through organization and _ strike. Every steel worker knows and agrees this is so. Strike Sentiment Grows Steel workers everywhere are talk- ing strike. The probability of a strike involving even more workers than the great strike of 1919 is now on the order of the day. The 1919 strike, so well organized and led by that great militant leader, Wm. Z. Foster, was sabotaged and thereby defeated by the officials of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers (A. F. of L.) and the officialdom of the A. F. of L. ‘These. same officials have since helped to maintain the intolerable conditions in the industry and have made no serious efforts to organize the steel workers. With the coming of the N. R. A., these same leaders told the steel workers not to fight. but to rely on the N. R. A. Labor Board and the President for improvement of their conditions. Today every steel worker can see this was a betrayal of our interest. Every steel worker knows what the code for the steel industry. signed by the A. F. of L. leaders and the government, brought to the steel workers. Especially do the Weirton workers know what to expect from the N. R. A. and the President. The N. R. A. legalized starvation wages, increased the speed-up for the workers, was responsible for the growth of the company unions, and the increased terror in strikes. The small increases in wages that have been won by the steel workers were only won through the threats of strikes, and the militant strikes led by the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union, in Ambridge, Mc- Kees Rocks. Buffalo, and other cen- ters, as well as through the strikes of the rank and file of the A. A. in Weirton and Clairton. But al- ready the bosses have taken away these gains through the high prices the New Deal has brought. The employers have used many schemes to keep us from organizing, they have set up company unions, rank and file Socialist workers. (Continued on Page 3) 1, 6-hour day — | . Recognition of the Union. . Abolition of Differential North and South. .» Unemployment Insurance Bill H. R. 7598. . Equal rights for Negro Workers, 7. Against the Speed-Up. Join The Steel and Metal FIGHT IN ished pe nial ALL STEEL prema DROD-BERGER PRINTING CO, 1524 CENTRE ci a 8 Front page of the ell for united strike action, issued in thousands | of copies by the Stee’ nd Metal Workers Industrial Union, The seven demands of the stecl workers are given above. Workers Industrial Union ! Fight Against|2,000Walk ‘Smith Grows In Auto Union Dock Strikes M.E.S.A. Mesibers Vote| Militants to Coming | Convention (Special to the Daily Worker) | DETROIT, Mich, May 21. —} Struggle against expulsion and the splitting policies of Matthew Smith, | general secretary of the eee Educational Society of America, | and his machine is growing as the Constitutional Convention of the organization, to be held here ‘Thursday, May 24, approaches. At a meeting Friday night of Lo- cal 7, which the previous week had repudiated suspension of John An- derson, leader of Progressives, Smith’s henchmen tried to keep} Anderson out. Anderson, however, forced his way in, just in time to see Smith sneaking out the back door. About 70 per cent of the workers remained, while some of those that | went out returned. A new chairman was elected and the meeting pro- ceeded. Election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention took place and Anderson was elected practically unanimously — another decisive repudiation of Smith's anti-red drive. It is reported that Smith, having been defeated at Lo- cal 7, is planning to transfer its funds to Local 1 and to break up Local 7. A published statement of Ander- son and Mack exposes concretely the reactionary onolicies of the Smith clique, and calls on the mem- bership to unite against these poli- cies around the program of: 1. Relief for unemployed and struggle for passage of Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill (HLR. 7598). . Against low wages and wage cuts; 3. Fight against company unions and discrimination and for right to organize in unions of own choice; 4. Against N.R.A. and arbitra- tion schemes, against police vio- Out In New Orleans San Francisco Strikers | Reject Lewis Offer To Break Strike | BULLETI NEW ORLEANS. — Longshore- men assisted by dock loaders and unloaders of freight and barges, Locals 856 and 1318 numbering approximately 2,000, have tied up New Orleans ports completely. Guns roared when police brought | strike breakers to dock. Vessel | owners say they have all men needed but no ships are being handled nevertheless. The men ask 75 cents an hour and overtime after eight hours, abolition of company union, recog- nition of the original unions (I: L. | A.) restoration of dues collected | by the company union allegedly | under force, and a 40-hour week. | Pickets white and colored swarm | the docks and are approaching all | persons in proximity of docks, who are being searched for weapons. Police are arresting strikers espe- | cially. | Special te the Daily Worker | SAN FRANCISCO, May 21.— Striking longshoremen voted down| a proposal of Wm. Lewis, District President of the International Long- shoremen’s Association, to give full) power to union officials to settle the strike. After a three-hour effort on the part of the officials to take the situation in their own hands, long- shoremen from all locals voted un-/ (Continued on Page 2 lence against strikers and at- tempts to outlaw strikes; 5. For Trade Union Democracy in M.E.S.A. and against A. F. of L. policies; 6. For struggle against A. F. of L. leadership. for united action with A. F. of L. rank and file Auto Workers Union, as well as with unorganized, aromas jlice terror will be: | fought the nolice. | mest militant in the strike |tween the strike: | Olsen. who \the truck-owners. |break the strike. | endeavoring | Labor Board to arbitrate |all workers in Minneapolis, |ized as well as unorganized. Attack on Teamsters; Steel Workers ‘Put Wage Demands to Employers | Building Trades Work- ers Join Walk-out; Other Unions to Act 30 ARE INJURED Sosa fon General Strike Grows MINNEAPOLIS, Minn, May 21.—Following a bloody police tack on striking truck drivers, 35,000 members of the Minneapolis Building Trades Council voted to go out on a sympathy strike to- day in supp of the trv The sympathy action acainst po- n at 5 p.m. to- ack and will pz y in this cit resentatives of other unions for late today to plans for a general strike. Scab drivers. who attemvted to break through the picket 1 with police help. were bea o | the contents of their trucks dumped 5 day week, | » $1.00 per hour minimum wage, other trades in- creased proportionally. into the street. The city had depu- tized 1.600 armed thugs. Police swung their clubs at strik- ing truck-drivers in the city mar- |ket today in an effort to get the jtrucks with perishable vegetables | moving. The truck-drivers valiantly Over 30 nersons |were iniured, of whom half were police. It was only when the police rushed to their wagons and pulled out stot guns that the strikers with- drew, waiting for picket reinforce- |ments. After the battle nearly 5,000 strikers and sympathizers were massed in the preduce market, Women and youth were among the ’ ranks today. Battles have been going on be- and police for the past three days. Yesterday 15 |women were clubbed and sent to the hospital. Sentiment for a general strike is developing amon the workers throughout the city. Communists and members of the unemployment council led in the picket line, while | A. F. of L, leaders, and their Trot- skyite hangers-on, are trying to eliminete Communist participation |from the strike. Five workers were arrested on line charge of causing the disturb- ance in the produce market. Farmer-Labor Governor Floyd B. veral days ago threat- ened to call out the militia. to break today negotiated with The workers are refusing to arbitrate so long as the police make efforts to heln the scabs Governor Olsen is use the Regional in the usu jal manner, that is, by sending the | workers back without granting their demand. and then forcing them to accept the results of the arbitra- tion after the strike is broken. The Communist Party today Iis- sued a call for a general strike of organ |the strike, to They call on the workers to an- Governor Olsen’s threats of ca out the armed forces to breek the strike by urging all work- ers to join a general walk-out. The Stzel end Metal Workers In- dustrial Union of Minneanolis is issuing a call to all metal shops for a mass meeting on Wednesday night at 329 Cedar Ave., to decide on a strike. The Regional Labor Board itself, | meanwhile, is bringing pressure to force strike-breaking arbitration, as they fear the temper of the work- ers is being aroused to a high pitch against the terror. The response of the 35,000 building trades workers was made through an appeal of the truck-drivers for assistance in their strike, and against the terror. The companies refuse to deal with the union en the question of hours and wages. 800 Taxicab Drivers Strike In Columbus COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 21— Taxicabs were off the streets in | this city today as 800 striking driv- ers set forth demands for a $15 | weekly minimum salary and against | the system of renting them cabs, The offer of the owners to reduce the rental to $2 a day has been rejected swer ia a G Saturday Against Forced Labor, Relief Cuts!