The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 3, 1934, Page 3

er H. Benjamin to Start Organizational Tour For Councils July 28 SPOKANE TacOne SPORTLAND fBUTTE POCATELLO : ome ¢) SALT BLAKE CITY DENVER - {SAN FRANSISCO LITTLE SY. PAUL MILWAUKEE HA, ° CHICAGO NORFOI Ke CHARLOTTE K MEMPHIS TATLANTA «=— “DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1934 * (22ChicagoAFL ‘Locals In Meet, On Social Bill Will Present Rank and File Program at Nat'l | A.F.L. Convention i] (Daily Worker Midwest Bureau) CHICAG, July 2.—Twenty-seven | |locals of American Federation of | Labor Unions and Railroad Brother- | | hoods united in the struggle for the | Workers Unemployment Insurance | {Bill at a trade union conference | here Sunday. Seventy delegates, representing |the local unions, unanimously en- |dorsed the Workers Bill and made |plans for the carrying forward of the fight for its passage. An ac- |tion committee composed of repre- sentatives of every local present at the conference Sunday was set up |to carry on the fight. | Large committees of 20 to 50 members were elected to demand} endorsement of the Workers Bill) from the City Council and the Chi-| cago Federation of Labor. A del-| legation was also instructed to at-| tend the A. F. of L. convention in National Tour of 23 States to Coincide With |5# Francisco to work for endorse- State Unemployment Conventions NEW YORK.—Herbert Benjamin, ; national organizer of the Unem- ployment Councils, will make a speaking tour beginning July 28 at Pittsburgh, and covering 23 states and at least 33 cities. In most cases, Benjamin’s arrival is timed with state unmeployment conventions. In addition, Unemployment Coun- cils, trade unions, fraternal, mass, veterans and all other working class organizations are being used to arrange mass meetngs at which Benjamin will speak. In addition to arranging mass meetings, workers are urged to ar- range meetings at which the fight will be launched for the coming | Congressional elections on the basis of the struggle for adequate relief and for the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bili The state conventions or confer- ences of the unemployed at which Benjamin will speak will set up functioning state committees and | organizations. At these state con- | ventions, all Unemployment Coun- cils, all other and local unem- ployed organizations, and all possi- ble unions, Negro organizations, veterans groups and all other or- ganizations thet can be induced to join in a state-wide organization should be represented. Representa- tion should be on the basis of one delegate for the first 25 members and one delegate for each addition- al 50 members. City, Council and State bodies should he entitled to one to three delegates, according to | directives of the National Unem- | ployed Council. Itinerary for National Tour of Herbert Benjamin ity and Vicinity Arrive Leave Pittsburgh, Pa. July 28 at 8 A.M. July 28 at 10:55 P.M. Chicago, Tl. July 29 at 7:30 A.M July 31 at 9 AM. Milwaukee, Wis. July Aug. 3 at 12:45 AM. Twin Cities Aug. Aug. 5 at 11:20 P.M, Des Moines, Ia. Aug. Aug. 9 at 8 A.M. Omaha, Neb. Aug. Aug. 11 at 1:05 P.M, Lincoln, Neb. ‘Aug. Aug. 12 at 1:15 P.M. Denver, Colo. Aug. Aug. 14 at 8 A.M. Colo. Springs Aug. Aug. 15 at 4:40 P.M. Pueblo Aug. Aug. 16 at 11:25 A.M Salt Lake City Aug. Aug. 20 at 7:45 A.M. Pocatello, Ia. Aug. Ang. 21 at 2 A.M. Butte, Mont. Aug. Aug. 22 at 7:35 A.M. Spokane, Wash. ‘Aug. Aug, 23 at 9:35 P.M. Seattle, Wash. Aug. Aug. 27 at 4:20 P.M. Tacoma, Wash. Aug. Aug. 28 at 9:40 A.M. Portland, Ore. Aug. Aug. 30 San Francisco Sept. Sept. 5 at 9:40 P.M. Los Angeles Sept. 11 Gallup, N. M. Sept. 13 at 9:30 A.M Albuquerque, N. M, Sept. 15 at 12:01 A.M. Clovis, N. M. Sept. 16 at 9:35 A.M. Amarillo. Texas Sept. 16 at 10 P.M. Oklahoma City Sept. 20 at 7:45 A.M. Fort Worth, Texas Cushing, Okla Little Rock, Ark. Memphis, Tenn, Birmingham, Ala. Ationta, Ga. Charlotte, N. C. Norfolk, Va. Richmond, Va. Leave via Shawnee Sept. 28 at 9 A.M Sept. 29 at 11 P.M. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. 9 Des Moines Relief Strike Solid in Second Wesk DES MOINES, Ia—Over 2,000 rblief workers, who struck two weeks ago demanding adequate relief and against discrimination and favorit- ism are still out solidly in: the sec- ond relief strike here in the past three months. The strikers, who recently as- sumed rank and file control, are de- manding a 24 hour week at. union rates not less than 55 cents an hour, plus additional relief for large families, single workers to receive not less than 12 hours work a week. Through mass pressure, the City Council has been forced to with- hold all city supervision on work projects until the demands are granted. Politicians and local un- employed self-styled leaders are joining forces in an attempt to smash the strike. Police Chief Alber, at the request of the notorious anti-labor organi- zation, the Central Civie Club, has Me ‘The Communist world revo- lutionary organization promotes civil strife, not stoppng at as- sassination, wholesale ‘2nd indi- vidual, as evidenced in indus- trial districts where wage earn- ers and their families have al- ready suffered intolerable mis- ery through strikes and battles brought on by Communist agi- tators.” William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor, in a 178-page doc- ument submitted to Presi- ment Roosevelt on Nov. 15, 1933. “Communists grow on street violence. Their papers are full of accounts of such incidents.” —Professor Moley in “To- day” for May 26. “The gravity of this situation is intensified by the unfortunate fact that our government has no secret service enabling it to know anything about what the Third International is doing here in violation of the Litvi- noff pledges . . . the govern- ment at Washington . . . is without a scintilla of power to protect the life of our nation against the destructive forces seeking its overthrow.” —Matthew Woll, Vice- President of the A. F. of L. and Acting President of the National Civic Federation in an open letter to Secre- tary of State Hull made public Feb. 14. _ “Nothing was said about the Amtorg in the agreement Com- missar Litvinoff signed, but our secret agents have good reason to believe that the Russian-con- threatened to jail permanently and drive from town all Communist leaders of the unemployed. eee To Enroll 160,000 in C.C.C. As Thousands Desert WASHINGTON, D. C., July 2.— | An announcement by Robert Fech- recruits would be enlisied in the militaristic CCC camps beginning yesterday, showed that 40,309 young workers had deserted the camps in the past six months. Of the 160,000 to be enrolled, 70,- 000 will replace those discharged for Jeading strikes and struggles and those whose enlistment term ex- conditions, bad food and intimida- tion by the officers, had deserted, and 50,000 will be recruited from the drought areas of the farm belt. It was announced that 173 camps will be established in the drought area. Corporation has been financing many of the principal ‘red’ agi- tators in recent years.” “Have Communistic demon- strations and activities dimin- ished since Noy. 16? An hour's talk with Federal operatives and police officials who check re- ports from all over the country proves illuminating. The an- swer is that agitation is pro- eeeding on about the same scale “as before. Organizers and speakers continue to tour from city to city, attempting to stir up unrest among the poorer classes.” —Matthew Woll, quoting | former) George Durno, Washington corraspondent of the New York Post. From the above quotations it is clear first of all that President Wil- liam Green, Vice-president Matthew Woll, other heads of the anti-work- ing class National Civic Federation, Professor Raymond Moley, “Presi- dent Roosevelt's most intimate ad- viser,” are kindred spirits, They are of one mind in regard to provocation against and suppres- sion of the Communist Party. It is likewise clear that the above statements, all made prior to the LaGuardia-O’Ryan assaults on the unemployed and their leaders, are part of the campaign against the unemployed we have seen in action both on the Atlantic and Pacific Coast. This campaign of espionage, provocation and suppression is a part of the New Deal that preceded the passage of the National Recov- ery Act. Moley, the author of the report on crime with its recommendations trolled New York City Trading |ner, CCC director, that 169,000 new | Ppired, and 40,000 will replace those who, unable to stand the military | ment of the bill there. | ‘The Conference approved the work of the A. F. of L. Rank and File |Committee for Unemployment In- surance unanimously. Delegates after delegates took the | \floor during discussion and told |stories of the vicious attempts of |A. F. of L. leaders to crush any) |movement for genuine unemploy- | {ment insurance. A typical example | of these reports was made by a del- egate of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Local 144. j He told how five locals of the A.| C. W. endorsed the Workers Bill} and then found themselves faced | with the opposition of the Joint | Board. | Other unions were threatened with | explusion if they sent delegates to} Sunday{s conference. The whole | | discussion showed that throughout) the trade union movement in Chi-| cago the rank and file sentiment | | for the bill was overwhelming, but |the leadership was using terrorism | |to keep that sentiment from being | expressed. A partial list of unions repre- | | sented at the conference is: 2 rail- | road brotherhood lodges, 4 painters | locals, 2 machinists locals, 2 of the | bakers, 2 upholsters locals, 6 car-} penters’ locals, granite cutters, me- | tal polishers and a dozen other) union groups. symposium on the Workers Unem- | ployment Insurance Bill with con- | gressional candidates of every poli- tical party asked to state their views were made. Also it was de-| cided to demand the use of the chi- | | cago Federation of Labor radio | Station, W. C. F. L. for a one hour | debate on the relative merits of the | Wagner and Workers Bill. A resolution was passed de- manding the immediate release of Thaelmann, leader of the German working class. i} | Jail 7 in Hancock, Mich. | Relief Workers Strike HANCOCK, Mich.—Seven work- ers, four of whom are meinbers of the General Strike Commitiee of 23 | |which is leading the Houghton | County Relief workers strike, were | arrested here on June 22. Among} them are Richard Hirvonen, W.| |Haataja, and five other strikers. | | With the exception of Hirvonen, | who is charged with “assault and | |battery,” all are charged with | “molestation and intimidation,” and | are out on $300 bail for Hirvonen, | | $i00 each for the others. Mass meetings are cing held in| all localities in the territory. In| | Calurnet 500 workers attended the | eeting on June 20. couny-wide strike couierence was |held July 1 MINOR TO SPEAK IN CHICAGO | CHICAGO, Tl—Robert Minor, coming | here from a tour of the steel ‘districts, | will be the principal speaker at the Com- munist Party picnic here on July 4th at | Birutes Grove, 79th St. and Archer. | ‘The picnic will have the combined char- acter of a demonstration against war and fascism and a Red election rally. Com- munist candidates for office in the Fall elections will attend. By BILL police force with special powers— Political pclice—is a bedfellow of Green and Woll, who appeal openly and covertly for the establishment of the same kind of special federal Suppressive organization. All of them are greatly worried, they claim, by the “impotence” of the federal government in regard to Communist activities. But it is plain from the Durno quotation that the federal govern- ment is maintaining a spy service against workers’ organizations. Therefore, what Moley, Woll and Green want is more of it. The pro- vocative attempts to raise the o'd issue of “Moscow gold” and hold the Soviet government responsible \for the great and growing mass struggles in this country is on a par with the rest of their hints, in- sinuations and demands for legal and violent suppression of these mass struggles and of the Commu- nist Party. These gentlemen want the fed- eral government to take hold of and direct the. scores of armed at- tacks on and arbitrary jailings of workers and farmers, Negro and white, native and foreign born, Professor Moley complains that the Communist press is “full of ac- counts” of “street violence.” But any cub reporter knows that it is impossible today to write truthfully about the attempts of American workers to defeat the capitalist drive against their living standards and basic political rights without telling about the ceaseless violent attacks by police and special bodies of gangsters and fascist elements; without reciting the almost endless list of arrests and jail sentences for for the creation of a new federal workers and their leaders. Of those Murdered by Hidden High-Tension Wire Eugene Domagalski, Milwaukee street car striker, did not die by accident despite persistent efforts of company officials and Socialist city officials tomake it appear that Domagalhki was elec- troeuted when he struck an iron bar into an exposed power line near one of the power houses picketed during the strike. Friends yesterday testified Sub Quotas Set at 4,000; 142 to Date Districts Must Marshal All Forces in Drive for Readers Quotas on new subscriptions and the number received from all dis- tricts in the present drive for 20,000 new readers are published today. The total subscription quota is 4,000. This first report shows a receipt of 142 new subscribers for the first | two weeks of the current drive. | This is 3.6 per cent of the total quota of 4,000 new subscribers for the 26 districts. Distric: 4 is in the lead, with 13.3 per cent of its quota. Districts 18, 20, 22, 23 and 25 have shown a loss since the drive started on June 19th. Only an immediate and intensified marshalling of all totals jump. Here are the tables: SUBSCRIPTIONS SINCE JUNE 19 Quota New Subs Per Cent if of o Since District | New Subs June 19 Quota 1—Boston 250 9 3.6 2—N. ¥. 215 22 8.0 3—Phila 400 22 5.5 4—Buffalo 5 10 13.3 5—Pittsburg 100 4 4.0 6—Cleveland 350 8 2.3 7—Detroit 300 8 2.7 &—Chicago 500 si 34 9—Minn. 200 a 35 10—Kansas City 70 4 U1 11—N, Dakota 80 1 12 12—Seattle 150 6 4.0 13—Calif. 250 5 2.0 14—Newark 200 8 4.0 15—Conn. 100 1 1.0 16—N, Carolina 50 1 2.0 17—Birmingham 75 1 13 18—Milwaukee 150 = -- 19—Denver 1% 5 6.7 20—Ft. Worth 50 za ee 21—St. Louis 50 1 2.0 22—W. Va 50 — pcs 23—Kentucky 50 = eS 24—Louisiana 50 1 2.0 25—Plorida 50 Es 26—So. Dak. 50 2.0 TOTAL — 4,000 142 3.6 ILGWU Leaders Move Against Left Wing Is Discovered In Local NEW YORK.—A recent executive board meeting of Local 60 of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union is reported to have decided to use force and other means to wipe out the left wing group from the local. The move afoot is said to have been launched by Charles Cherkes, organization manager of the local. Max Cohen, notorious for his anti-labor acts, is also of the clique which is planning the DUNNE arrested, sentenced and imprisoned, the overwhelming majority are Communists. The widespread scope of the cam- paign of violence and suppression by so-called legal means is evidence of its organized character. It in- cludes practically every state in the Union. LaGuardia, O’Ryan, Moley, Green and Woll have been actively engaged in trying to create a moral justification for the use of violence against workers on a scale hereto- fore unprecedented in the United States. The following headlines have been picked at random from the Daily Worker: On June 17 these headlines challenged attention— “Mother Bloor Jailed in Ne- braska as Thugs Attack Strike Meet” —“Violence Threatened Against Strikers in California Or- chards’—Police Shoot Picket at SKF—Injure Many” (Philadelphia). On June 18: “LaGuardia Cops Armed With Guns, Smash Jobless Meet”__ “Frame Steel Strikers on Murder Charge” (Birmingham) — “Negro Who Walked With White Girl Lynched in Texas”—“Police Fire on Seamen Putting Up Stickers” (Philadelphia). On June 21; “Grand Jury Indicts Five May 26 Demonstrators; Ask Heavy Bail; All Jailed.” On June 19: “Police Charge Mert Protesting Attack on Chicago Negro.” June 20: “General Johnson Fires Gov't Worker for Union Work in NRA.” “Anti-Strike Edict Defended by Judge” (New Jersey), “Thirteen part | c dey that Domagalski carried no bar, Report Strike of Ala.Ore Men: Terminated | 14 Negro Strikers os] Trial Charged With Murderous Assault (Special to the Daily Worker) BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Ten-| nessee Coal and Iron Company and the International Mine Mill and Smelter Workers’ Union officials have reached an agreement, it is reported, ending the strike of the 8,000 ore miners, on since May 4, in| which the national guards were called and four strikers killed. Ratification was announced by the I. M. M.S, W. U. by three locals in the Wenonah, Ishkooda and Muscoda mines, scenes of the most | militant picketing, and of the con-! centration of the national guard | and company gunmen’s terror. The Plans for the holding of a great| forogs can make these subscription | skilled workers are to get an in- crease of from three to five ‘cents an hour, it is reported, and the| | unskilled workers no increase at all. Other terms of the agreement are | not yet known. Provocative Bombings C. L. Richardson, Department of | Labor representative, who conducted | the negotiations, declared he ex- | pected agreements with the Wood- ward Iron Co., the Republic Steel Co., the Slass Sheffield Steel and | Iron ©o., to follow, thus sending | back 8,500 ore miners. Meanwhile provocative bombings, | |on which are based arrest and ter- | | rorization of miners, continued, with | \a blast in the yard of a Republic | Steel Co. special deputy at the Rai- | mund mine. Significantly, no dam-} | age was done. The T. C. I. deputies | | also reported the “finding” of un-/| | exploded dynamite on the highline | | railroad used to transport scab ore. | | J. H. Powell, Bessemer, Ala.,/ | worker, has been arrested charged | with bombing a deputy’s home. Fourteen Negro workers, charged with assault with intent to murder | | for alleged beating of a scab, came | to preliminary trial yesterday be- | fore Judge Ball. | drive against the left wing. | Members of the local have been | advised by the left wing to be on | guard against any attempts of the | Cherkes gang to attack the rank and file. SECTION 10 MEETING TONIGHT | miners | railroad and auto woczkers. | carried on a campaign to have the | Miners Elect Milwaukee Strike Rank and File InThree Locals Homer City, Curtissville and Russeltown Locals Defeat Machine By TONY MINERICH PITTSBURGH, Pa—The rank] and file opposition. a the United Mine Workers is begi ng to bet- ter organize its forces. This can be seen in the local union elections that are now taking place. Most of these take place in the last meet- ing of the month, but some of the locals have already elected. Of these | three have elected supporters of the rank and file opposition. In the Curtissville mine of the Ford Collieries, the rank and file elected their slate. The same was true of the Russellton mine, and some of the rank and | file supporters were elected at the Homer City local. These are the answers of the coal miners to the Lewis machine and to the wage-cutting campaign | of the N. R. A. and General John- son. Many of the miners thought that Rocsevelt and the N. R. A were going to solve the prob- lems, as Lewis, Murray and the other U. M. W. A. leaders prom- ised. In the year that has passed the miners found out that these hopes were useless. The coal miners recall how their pay was raised last April. The agreement expired, as did those of the steel, auto and railroad work- | ers. There was much talk of a/| joint strike. The miners agreement was the first to expire. They were Settled B With “A Mass Action of Workers Won Car Strike, buf A. F. of L. Leaders Dropped Demands for Recognition of Union Page Thr y Padway bitration’ By ARTHUR NEWTON i hoe meeting of striking workers of the Milwaukee Ei tric Company, at which the agreement reached bet A. F. of L. officials and the company bosses was ratified, instructive in the tactics of the Federation bureaucracy. Here was a situation where the entire mass of worker, in Milwaukee, joined by nu- merous middle-class elements, through an intense militancy which took the A. F. of L. | misleaders completely by surprise, had piaced the workers in a position to win real gains. No Wage Demands But with this extremely favorable set-up confronting them, the A. F. of L. officials refrained from raising any demands whatever for wage in- sreases. This vital angle is left to negotiation, the union to be repre- sented by these same bungling leaders.” And the negotiations are not to begin at once, while the temper and spirit of the rank and file are strong. Instead, a committee of three “disinterested” individuals is to make “arrangements” for collective bargaining. Just what ments” from the standpoint of the workers are needed is a mystery. But one can offer a good guess. getting ready to march on the| This committee is comprised of two steel workers, and later on the} bosses and the A. F. of L. leaders were panicky. Something had to be done. The new agreement was signed. And) the miners received the 7-hour day and the 5-day week, with an| increase in wages. This was to} keep them from fighting for the 6-hour day and the 5-day week) and the $6 basic wage scale. It} was effective. Waze Cuts Under the N. R. A. The minezs went to work. They | found out that the increase in| pay did not help 90 per cent of} the miners very much. These were the loaders and the machine men. | Not long afterward the wages of the Alabama miners were cut by the differential. There was a} bitter strike, in which the N. R. A.| and the U. M. W. A. officials “did | their pa:t.” The results were ex-| tension of the wage cut, the killing| of some miners and the return to the pits. After that Federal Judge Charles I, Dawson of the U. S. Court at) Louisville handed down an injunc- tion to keep the “federal author-| $4.60 | ities” from enforcing the wage scale. The scale was reduced to $4. So the N. R. A. did its part) in cutting the Kentucky pay. There | was talk of strike, but it did not| take place. On June 4, General Johnson is- | sued another order cutting the pay | of the miners of Arkansas, Okla-| homa, Missquri and Kansas from| $4.35 to $4 a day. Again the N. R.| | A. was “doing its part.” All of this was put over with | the help of the U. M. W. A. offi- | cials. In most cases they are ap-| pointees of John L. Lewis. For} this they have also received “re-| wards” in more than money. John | L. Lewis was appointed by the| great “liberal,” Mrs. Perkins, as| Conference at Geneva. aS/ from the floor. the representative of the govern-| Attorney Joseph Padway, who com- | ment to the International Labor | monly represents A. F. of L. unions | | in injunction cases, etc., and who| “mediators” from the National La-| The | bor Board—an outfit which has been notorious for its ability to stall | for time, to dilly-dally in a manner which checks exactly with the de-| sires of the company. And the third member—prepare for the best of all—is a local capi- talist, Julius Heil, who heads both an open shop concern and the Mil- waukee N.R.A. compliance board. This. committee, we predict, aided and abetted by the A. F. of L. bu- reaucrats, is the agency by which the collective bargaining “victory” won by the militant strikers and sympathizers may be turned into a victory for the company. Company Pleased Quite accurately the president of the Electric Compariy closes an ad- vertisement, entitled “For Law and Order,” with the statement: “This method of arbitration preserves the spirit and substan- tially the form of that which has been in effect for 16 years under the continuing contract between Employes’ Mutual Benefit Asso- ciation (the company union) and the Company.” Thus, we have it from the “de- feated” company that it feels as- sured of obtaining an “arrange- ment” which will be the equivalent to the existing company union. Could Communists ask for any better substantiation of our asser- tions that A. F. of L. “leaders” habitually enter into class-collabo- rating “arrangements” which amount to company unionism? The way in which the mass meeting called to ratify the “settle- ment” was conducted lends further support to the Communist view. The first remarks of E. J. Brown, local head of the electricians’ union and chairman of the meeting, gave the lead to what followed. He an- nounced that the meeting was called “to ratify the settlement.” No hint of need for discussion or debate He was followed by The “Coal Digger,” paper of the| just now is active in playing both rank and file coal miners, has | ends against the middie in an effort to win the Democratic nomination NEW YORK. —Section 10, District 2, rank and file oust the Lewis hench-| for Congress from the northern half | Communist Party, will hold’ a Section| | Membership Meeting on Tuesday, July} 3rd, 7:30 p.m., at Masonic Club, 4196 58th | £t.,, Woodside, Long Island. All members | of the Section must attend this very important meeting; admission by member- ! ship card only. The “Red Seare” in the Technique of Terror Workers Arrested Sunday for | Picketing” (New York). | June 22: “Tilinois Court Refuses Writ | for 11 in Jail. Arrested Demon- strations of Farmers and Workers Had Wrested Several Relief Con- cessions from Authorities.” June 25: “Jail Newspapermen and Strike | Pickets in Hague Barony” (New | Jersey). | “Courts Banish Five Seamen from Baltimore Port—Walter Stack, Seamen Leader, Four Oth- ers Banished Forever.” June 26: “Negro Worker Lynched; His Body Mutilated—8 Killers Who | Invaded Negro Dance Are Not In- dicted” (Tennessee). “No Strikes Allowed,’ Mayor Hague” (New Jersey). “Farm Workers Met Thugs ‘a Attack on Seabrook Strikers” (New Jersey). June 27: “Dickstein Threatens Raid on Unemployed Workers’ Quarters” (New York). “Dockers, Seamen Keep Port closed in Face of Armed Cops, Gangsters” (California). “Thugs Sent to Milwaukee.” June 28: “Toledo Fascists, Cops Attack Pickets At Governor's Hotel.” “Philly Horse Cops Ride Into Picket Line at SKF Plant—Sur- round Factory for Five Blocks.” “Mayor McLevy Helps Convict Two Jpbless—-Bridgeport Select- man Says 8. P. Mayor Held Up Pay.” June 29: i “Jail 61 in ‘Socialist? City for Picketing.” Says men. This fight is carried into all| of the city. Padway hyrriedly read | of the mining distiticts. The Te-| turns from the Curtisville, Russell- | the agreement, without a word of explanation. Several of the clauses ton and Homer City locals is proof | Were obviously vague and open to that it is being carried out. | | We repeat that these headlines are picked at random from various | recent issues of the Daily Worker. Were one to make a survey of the| principal capitalist dailies for one! week and pick out the news stories | reporting the use of violence and Suppression against workers, em- ployed and unemployed, strikers and demonstrators, one would get a pic- ture which, in most other capitalist countries would mean the existence | of civil war, In this country, still the richest in the world, organization and Struggle for even the smallest de- mands and reforms is met with open and organized force by the various official and semi-official | government agencies. Police vio-| lence has long been a commonplace. | | did he get this information? several interpretations. Says Closed Shop “Illegal” Padway having completed his Brown jumped up and | asked for a motion “to ratify the | agreement,” | railroading which was in process | became a little too open. Workers) | called out from all over the hall for | But at this stage the further explanation. Several de- manded why union recognition and the closed shop were not included in the settlement. Brown, clearly surprised and confused, stammered lamely for several minutes and then asked that Padway “explain” the situation, Thereupon Padway indulged in some of the oratory for which he is noted. First he contended that the closed shop is illegal under Sec- tion 7-A of the N.R.A. And where He did not tell, but here was an ad- mission which corresponds to the Communist interpretation of the meaning of these so-called “labor clauses.” For generations even the capitalist courts have regarded the closed (that is, the unionized) shop as legal. But N.R.A. is enacted, and Today it is evident in more brutal| lo and behold, this “pro-labor” law form in the smallest struggles of/iakes away a legal status which workers. This violence is ruling class vio- Ience. Defense by workers of them- selves and their organizations | has | 1ulled | assuming that, since he is a “labor | attorney,” he “ought to know the long existed. The workers, by Padway’s oily speech and against these attacks is branded as/| law,” were for the most part per- treason by Professor Moley and the suaded to accept this explanation. anti-working-class officials, of the | government | whom he advises. The “red scare” | is one of the most impo: it parts | of the technique of suppression, Brown arbitrarily announced that and of the unions,| remarks from the floor would be limited to five minutes—this after he and Padway had worn down the crowd with their unlimited wind- Is President,Roosevelt unaware of | jamming misinformation. | what is being done in the name of to} front. “sacred American institutions” One rank and filer came to the He declared: “The only dif- Communists, to militant workers} ference I can see between E.M.B.A throughout this country? In the hext article we will show that almost a year ago President Roosevelt had the in- disputable facts of the rising campaign of brutality and sup- pression, of the systematic denial of workers’ rights laid before (company union) and this A. F, of *) LS set-up that is being dished out | to us is that the initials of the A. F. of L. contain one less letter.” The vote was taken and there | were a few scattered “nos.” A com- mittee of three was nominated to | notify Way, president of the com- pany, and it was symptomatic of rank and file understanding of who “arrange- | e had really played a major role the concessions so far wrung fi the company that one member the committee was among the nums ber reinstated after being disc! for union activity and another hag — been the most aggressively mi union advocate among the street cag workers. ‘There followed more speech-makea ing (with no time limit) from Pade way. His time was mainly takeg up with a rather painfully vulgar eulogy of the various union mis« leaders and National Labor Board entatives who sat on the plate —not forgetting to pay special | compliments to his poker-playing © capitalist crony, Julius Heil, His ¥ appreciation of what the workerg themselves had accomplished iggy | bringing the company to its kn i was brief. The militancy of ples Pa |ers and sympathizers was pa: S | over with hardly any mention—une# less the studied disclaimer for th@ | “disorder” which had occurred mag be so regarded. And in this con< nection the best that Padway could offer was to deny responsibility fo | the mass militancy which had so unexpectedly developed and without | which the strike would have beert a complete flop. Praises Boss Way Then orator Padway proceeded to his most amazing performance of the evening. He began to dwell on the good qualities of Way, famous in the city as a union-labor hating die-hard. Mr. Way, after all, had a very difficult job—he has the Electric Company to manage, so much harder than a motorman’s job of operating a street car. He was responsible to his stockholders as well as to the workers. Besides, Mr. Way was generous at heart, And then Padway launched into an irr@evant account of how Way had agreed to a settlement for $5,000 for; a pedestrian who was killed by @ street car—much more, Padway claimed, than was necessary. : At this point, one remembered something. It is that one of the most lucrative sources of Padway’s large income is the settlement of accident cases and that much of this involves intimate negotiations with the Electric Company. Mass Action Won Strike Not a word was said that it would |do no harm to keep a close watch |on Way's maneuvers and that the company might see fit, under the | benevolent approval of “impartial” | open-shopper capitalist Heil, ably assisted by the two Labor Board men, to bring back “collective bar= gaining” on the pattern of the dis= /” | credited E.M.B.A. Not that Way or his fellow capi« talists in Milwaukee have been serene all the time during the past few days. Far from it. They be- | came obviously frightened. What | they called the “mob” was “out of | hand.” The Milwaukee Sentinel on | the morning following the strike, editorializes: “That our city, one of the great cities of America, was in a state of virtual revolution can now be said.” That is not strictly ~~ correct, but it indicates the state | of jitters which had permeated the | ruling class. e | Significantly, this same emotional — state characterized the officialdom | of the A. F. of L. They were just as seared as their capitalist partners, They had entered a strike with ab- solutely no preparation. Evidently they had thought to indulge in suf- ficient of a make-believe strike to | provide the basis for one of those long drawn out arbitrations under NRA. And then the unexpected: the working class of the city, especially the youth, jumped in and proceeded | to win the strike—the public utility | had the public against it, and mili= | tantly so. Hence, the feverish effort | to get a quick settlement; and hence | the kind of settlement and for the | reasons indicated above. At the moment Way and his fel~ low “executives” may have reason to be serene. But it is more than Possible that a factor may operate that they have not appraised suf- ficiently. The rank and file about whom Brown and Padway were 86 uneasy last night may decide that this collective bargaining they are | supposed to have obtainedSshall | mean something—and quickly. Sym- — bolic of what is still latent among the workers is a happening which took place during the mass mecting, Brown was called to the telephone and soon he hurriedly returned, say= ing: “I want three volunteers to go out to West Allis and tell the crowd of 6,000 around the sub-sta- tion that the strike is over and they are to go home.” This four hours after it had been e over the city that the strike was o West Allis workers, for reasons of their own, may have sensed that all was not well. 7 Mediator Moore has b2en quoted about the new “light” which pene= trated Mr. Way's “soul.” In a more” candid moment when a reporter asked him what were the “deter. mining factors in the sudden end of the strike which was not even in prospect 18 hours before.” His answer: “The electrocution | of Eugene Domagalski at the | Lakeside power plant Thursday night, and the tomporary inter= ruption to power Friday noon.” .. . Here we doubtless | the true explanation of how “soul” of a capitalist sees a light.” ——_ \