The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 13, 1934, Page 3

Page Three = “War Maneuvers just Plain Hell; Nerves Go DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY. JUNE 12,1979 ° = They Won't Have To Do the Fighting Strike at Virginia Beach Ritle Range ry Won Improvements Story of 1920 Struggle Against Louse-Ridden | Barracks and Garbag Who Was in in Striking Company JN 1920 Virginia Beach Rifle Range was the scene of a strike e Food Told by Man against louse-ridden barracks and food that was too rotten even for the sailors who had been hardened by the garbage jadled out in detention camp! widely known that a company a shot on the range because the company preceding them had staged a minor but effec- | tive mutiny! | I was in the company fol- | lowing and knew some of the boys | who took part in the strike. I'd} watched them line up for chow in| the mess hall of the detention | camp. That chow was pretty bad. | Some of the newcomers found it| hard to eat, and heard the usual | counsel: “Better like it, sailor; you're going to get lots of it.” In} other words, these men were willing | to take a lot without complaining. The company went off to rifle range singing: “You're in the Navy now; Yon've got to eat their chow... .” | ok pep teck | (Cs eee company, which was to have | been the next to go to Virginia Beach, got on with ite work, under the questionable direction of a GC. P, ©. (chief petty officer), whose | temper was oftentimes saturated in alcohol. We were fast learning what it meant to be in the U. 8.) It wouldn’t do to let it be too in the U. S, Navy never fired ‘New York Reception Is Just to Make Us Forget the Strain” By a Sailor Correspondent—U. S. S. New York NEW YORK.—The great re- ception that the gobs are get- ting in New York is just to make us forget the strain we were put through on the way here. Most of us spent many sleepless nights and the few winks we did get once in a while were inter- rupted by special calls. In Haiti we made a langing on shore in our white suits. We had to march through swamp and underbrush just as if we had in- vaded the island, and boy, were we dirty when we got back aboard ship! The maneuvers we went through were meant to im- press the natives In the West Indies with the power of Uncle Sam. I'm studying for my exams to become a Seaman, Ist, but during the entire trip I didn't President Roosevelt, Secretary of Navy Clande A, Swanson (Left) and ex-Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels (Right), reviewing the fleet in the recent naval parade in New York harbor, Haywire, He’s Seeing the W orld He Was Out of From a Sailor in the I Sleepless Nights at Carib Maneuvers Says U.S.S. Louisville Man By a Sailor on the U.S.S. Louisville Declares Lad Who Joined the N avy Because Work S. Fleet Says Gob Through a Porthole, Navy. The ©. P. O's idea of straighten-| ing out the line in company for-| and provisions made for clothing Eanaan Enemy of Men in Uniform *"siernse's: |: get a second in which to study, and then they talk about the “opportunity” to advance. month? per per “(8). Increase base pay to $30 $32.40 mation was to come down the} a month, ranks, slicing his sabre along the} “(4). Ret: yf s‘hippi yer’ line of noses—just in*case any stuck | | ¥ sae la ea Bad And Labor Is the Capitalist Class allowances. Navy Department Uses | > “We support your fight terests and ours are the same are all workers and we must together, out too far. Another day he had/ us fx bayonets, double time across | the drill field, and shouted orders | so fast that they couldn’t possibly have been followed, even by trained cadets. Two faces were injured in that melee, one by the point of a} bayonet, the other by the butt of a Your in- We stick Sailors for Repairing Instead of Yard Men By a Sailor On the U.S.S. Whitney N YORK.—I have read jn s and Marines!/arations while their conditions ar Marines Didn’t Like Mobilization i in San rat Wn in Uniform,” | cetting worse, and thousands of leaflet issued by the Communist | 5, Ag i 3 ov | . 2 workers and farmers over the coun- Diego, Cal., May Ist Pxz.iscm.somg, communis tr, including "their "amie ar 9 Vieteg anv ie oteande in the U Ss. Navy. | striking for more money and better other Federal employees. The of- ficers’ lobby in Congress got what | it was after—return of automatic | promotion. You were thrown a bone of $1.05 per month, “Organize and fight capitalist. wars. “Defend the Soviet Union and So- against all the gun. We were pretty sore and | i conditions and getting shot for their} (2), Our dollar buys only 60 | yiet China. talked a lot about it, but couldn't) Didn’t Think Marines | Yortine tase to Greetings | of | te | demands. cents worth, Prices rise daily. soca iecuniiviapane oie determine on any plan of action. . |just returned from maneuvers of| “(1). Your pay of $18.90 per | Those of you who are married | a in uniform and workers in the | wy, Besides, we were out of the camo) Were for Use Against war preparation,, and informs them| month (base pay) is the lowest | can’t get the bare necessities of | factories! : as No ‘sooner we r shortly and the new ©, P. O. wasn't | Own Pi 1 that workers are backing them) since the world war. Five per cent | life for your families, For the 7 | : ‘ York harbor and tied st | fs bad at all, just an enlisted man like | ul 4 against the raw deal they are get-| of the cut has been returned due | Single man it means no money to | _ “All war funds for unemployment St. than we had to go to work. | 0'\Y Pt ourselves. The former C. P. 0, had | ting from an administration that| to the extreme discontent and | Spend during overnight or week- relief! This is a and recreation | But, if I forgotten his origin. SAN DIEGO, Cal.—For the first | has pillions to spend on war prep-| protest among servicemen and | nd leaves, “Forward to a Workers’ and/| cruise,” but it’s different for this| state of affairs I dor In the new unit we were intro-| time in many years the entire out- | “(3), No shipping over bonus, Farmers’ Government in this coun- | boat. We started work on one of | wouig have signed * duced to the subleties of bayonet| fit of marines in San Diego base | ———————————-——— reduction in clothing allowance, | ‘TY! the tin-cans (destroyer ie Husk Hinbe <a drill and taught how to shoot rifles, | was re eae, ao | | gunners’ pay, etc, Pei peeled pe Rao an atels A eoey ent dive t ard $8 We had the rifles and went through | against a workers’ gathering. Ar-/ IC b M Fi h B is “(4), € TY, § and repa ee F ‘ . i the motions, but without bullets | Fanged-by ‘the Communist, Party, | CLOQLIL asses ig { bankers Paarl cpr va | “YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE, ng the The Daily Worker gives you the What the hell! Why weren’t we on | a May Day Meeting of 300 work-/| |ers was held in Newton Park, | | It was later discovered why | that many of you passed exam- | work of yard workmen (U.S. 8. heise is should be done in truth about the Soviet Union, the | the range? Pretty soon the boys Who C P ( j S Wi 17 inations for higher rates. Many | “35 East 12th Street, N. Y, C ig gs truth about working-class strikes from the company preceding ours| Where all present endorsed the | ut ay oO oe orrKers of you do the work of first class | | 2: eet, MN. XO Ol yard by yard ih the United ‘bidtes’ and shen: returned from Virginia. Beach,| measures proposed by the Party pil clasts Seles P, O.’s and receive third class pay. | “All enlisted men are urged to | one of the w Salecsibe. to the Dally works flushed with victory. The rifle| to struggle against fascism, and | S(O n inlined. meni idolig ‘ihe | out ne. Comminisy Panty andl the) the expense ot the yére aily range had been condemned by the | against war prepaations. | Young Communist Leagu' | and the sailors, \ today, Bureau of Navigation! OW did this happen? Was it un-American, as the bosses like to tell us militancy invariably 1s? It was not. This is the story. Late in May or early in June, 1920, the company went to the rifle | range prepared for rotten condi- tions. They had learned that such conditions were the rule and not) the exception in the training sta-| tions of the navy. There didn’t seem much to do about them. You were im and you couldn’t get out. To tht the lousy conditions was to with court martial. The com- pany knew that. Nevertheless, con- ditions at Virginia Beach were so bay that they couldn’t stand for it. Some overstayed leave for the sake of a decent meal and living quar- ters that were habitable. They were thrown in the brig. The men) grumbled among themselves about the food, about the louse-ridden barracks, precisely as the enlisted men grumbled on the ship Potem- kin. They didn’t map out a revolt. They wanted to strike, strike against the rotten chow, against the living conditions! They wanted to wrest from the officialdom of the navy decent living conditions for them- selves and for their fellow sailors. ‘There wasn’t time to organize, to figure out the best way to strike. What happened was that some of the men saved bullets from rifle range. There was a quick and spontaneous uprising. No one was kkilled. No one was bedly hurt. But where was the morale of “our navy!” The sailors of that com- pany could have told you where it _ was, and would have added that thet was just where it belonged. Half the company was under ar- rest, the militants thrown into the brig, but what did that matter? ‘The strike had been a success. The Virginia Beach rifle range was con- demned. The next company to go to rifle range would find the grub edible, the barracks livable. How is the range now? Aren't ere sailors in the fleet who can the Shipmates’ Voice first- hand stories of conditions at Hamp- tor Roads and other training sta- tions? The gobs from the fleet anchored off the shores of New York will be given a rousing welcome by the capitalist class, the class which ex- to use these men as cannon ider in the next war. President’s Cruise Is Double Duty for Men @£ the U.S.S. Houston a Sailor In the U. S. Fleet YORK.—A lot is being writ- ‘about the coming Presidential th the Panama Canal on cruiser U. S. S. Houston. All are playing up just how ident is going to live, and he is going to do for amuse- . "To us gobs on the Houston it’Means double duty. Having the Commander-in-Chief on board means that everything has to be done twice as good, and as promptly ae age While Franklin Delano “ be penderime over the various. | there were no marines seen on| the streets of San Diego around May Day. From 5 p. m., April 30, until noon, May 2, all marines | were restricted from leaving the Marine Base. Four hundred and thirty marines were held in their | barracks, equipped with full battle equipment, ready to be called out | on a moment's notice. Rifles and ammunition were | distributed, hand grenade squads | were ready, squads with gas guns) were prepared, and four airplanes loaded with explosive and incen-/ diary bombs were held in readiness | in hangars, All was prepared for | civil war against the working class. There was much dissatisfaction among the marines. Although there was no official notice that all this preparation, the most elabo- |rate in the history of the local | Marine Base, was for May Day, | there was not a single marine who does not clearly understand what | it was for. Following are a few statements from different marines: “I thought the marine corps was for duty in foreign lands. If I had thought we were to be used against our) own people I would never have enlisted.” | “My parents are on the county welfare and are plenty sore at | their short rations and treatment | by the county welfare department. For all I know they may be plan- ning to demonstrate with the Reds, and I'll be damned if I'll shoot down my own people.” | “This was the first time I realized that the marine corps was | political. They were ready to order us to shoot at people from the breadlines, and yet many of us) marines have relatives and friends | in the breadlin | A marine asked a sailor why he | was on liberty while the marines were held in their barracks. The sailor answered. They don’t trust the boys in the navy after the 15 i per cent cut, and the cut in ra- | tions from 64 to 42 cents a day. They are afraid that if they give | us rifles and pistols to shoot the Reds that we'll shoot the other way,” Neches Lads Fueled Ships Day and Night During Stay in Haiti By a Sailor On the U.S.S. Neches NEW YORK—The crew of our) boat worked right straight through | during our stay in Haiti. We kept on fueling ships all day and all night long. Both the port and star- board watch were kept going all the time. There was hardly any time at all to rest. This is something different than all the stories you hear of gobs liv- ing the “life of Riley.” It’s cer- tainly not the case on the U. S. 5S. Neches (tanker), | varieties of tropical fish we gobs| will be sweating our heads off under the broiling tropical sun so that nothing offensive gets in Franklin’s view. B. &. 5. HOUSTON, To the Men of US Fleet Engaged in Maneouvres Carribbean Waters To the Men of the US Vessels Stationed at Havana and Guantanamo: AMERICAN SAILORS AND MARINES! Refuse to fight the Cuban Working People, who are struggling for bread and freedom! Let us join hands against the rcbbing bankers who exploit and eppress the American and Cuban workers and farmers! We want to speak to you in the name of many hundreds of thousands of Cuban workers, farmers, soldiers, sailors and revo lutionary students, You must hear what we have to say, hecause you yourselves are sons of. workers and farmers and at any ti Reproduction of a leaflet distributed to the men of the American fleet by members of the Cuban Communist Party and Young Commu~- nist League, Cuban Cousmuniaie Rinioin to American Sailors Why Fleet Was Sent to Island GUANTANAMO, Cuba.—During the war maneuvers of the U. 8. Fleet in the Carribbean, when the sailors landed at the American naval base in Cuba here, the Communist Party and the Young Com~- munist League of Cuba, in a leaflet distributed in thousands of copies, called on the sailors to fraternize with the toiling Cuban people. The leaflet told the American sailors why Yankee imperialism is carrying on war maneuvers in the Carribbean Sea, and how the navy is used to keep Cuba enslaved to Wall Street. The leaflet, which was well received by the sailors, said, in part: “We are fighting against the same bankers and capitalists who have brought unemployment, wage cuts and uncertainty for tomor- row, to your own families at home. The same Wall Street sharks who are forcing the poor farmers off the land and loading them up with debts. We are fighting against the same capitalist class which has forced many of you to chose between the navy and a bread line or jail. “We are fighting to free ourselves from the capitalist class of your country, which under the banner of Roosevelt's New Deal is rushing the way of Fascism, the way of bloody Hitler in Germany toward the establishment of the open rule of violence of the big corporations and bankers against the working class, “You cannot let yourself be used by those who are responsible for the misery of your own brothers and sisters. “You must talk this over among your most trusted shipmates and prepare to refuse to shoot against your Cuban feliow workers when ordered to do so. Prepare to follow the example of the heroic U. S. marines who went over to the side of Sandino in Nicaragua! Prepare to fraternize with your Cuban class brothers, turn your guns against the capitalist class of your own country. ‘Down with intervention! For the withdrawal of ©. 8. warships from Cuban waters! “Long live the international solidarity of the working class! “Down with Yankee imperialism! “Forward to a workers’ and farmers’ government in the U. S, A.! “Support the struggle fer the Cuban people for their liberation from the yoke of Wall Street!” » ! Missippi during modernization) .” “Many of you receive letters from home telling you how bad things are. Wages are lower and the cost of living is sky-rocketing. The folks | have to speed up and work faster, producing more than ever before. The same capitalists who pay low wages, foreclose farm mortgages, are the ones who make millions on | armament contracts, building bat- tleships, etc. They get billions from | the government while we get pay-| cuts. “Our enemies are the capitalists, the exploiters of our folks, the men | who make the wars, cut our pay. Throughout the nation hundreds of thousands of workers, farmers are | striking for more money, better con- | ditions. The workers have learned | that only by organizing can they | | win better conditions. Soon we will| | \have to do the same strikebreaking | for capitalists as the National) | Guard is doing in Toledo. We will have to do in the U. S. A. what we did in Cuba, Nicaragua and China. | “Our needs are directly opposed | |to the needs of the bosses. We) | must depend on ourselves and fight | | for our demands, “The capitalists want: war—to| |make profits; a large army and| navy (the bosses own the munition factories which supply the armed | forces); greater PROFITS, which |means harder work, terrific speed- | Up. | “The workers want: Peace, | | Bread, Freedom. All war funds to go to feed the starving; to increase pay for all workers, those | in uniforms ds those in overalls; | higher wages, shorter hours—a | better standard of living. _“You have read about Soviet Rus- sia. The workers there, helped by |the farmers, the army, the navy, overthrew the Czarist government and drove the capitalists out. Now the working class rules the country. There are no jobless in the Soviet Union. The workers enjoy a seven- | hour day and a five-day week. They |have no bosses, no masters, no fas- cism, no Hitlers. In the Red Navy, the men and officers eat the same food, sleep in the same quarters, have the same privileges. “What happened in Russia is now happening in China. One-sixth of China has turned Red. The work- | ing class of Cuba is trying to do |the same thing. The rulers of the capitalist world send troops, fleets and munitions to threaten inter- vention and destroy these innocent workers, They also prepare an at- tack on the Soviet Union. “Comrades! Fellow workers in uniform! If sent to war on Soviet Russia—remember this. The work- ers are building a country without bosses. None of you‘stand to gain from such a war. Only capitalists j and politicians gain from war. “The Communist Party points | these things out to you because we |are the only Party leading the working class in the fight for bet- ter conditions, security. The Com- munist Party is your Party. “We workers of New York City, at many meetings of our organizations, | have passed resolutions for the fol- lowing demands for servicemen: “(1). Restoration of all pay ents in the Army and Navy. (2) —Restoration of 1932 cloth- ine allowance for Marine Corps r ge soil is plowed...... the crop is planted .-.-. He stands aside and waits .-.-; Now Time must have full ploy .-... And then—the good harvest. So, too, with Jacob Ruppert's Beer. We choose fine grains —hops— yeast. We brew carefully. Then we, too, stand aside while Nature, calling upon Time, provides that ripening which brings the goodness of sacos AUPPEATS BEER MELLOW WITH AGE This advertisement not intended to apply in Stat es where sale tr ae of Mquor is mie © 1%, Jocob Ruppert MADE Ine AMERICA'S BINEST . \