The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 17, 1934, Page 1

ORKERS of New York: Join forces in a mighty demonstration in support of the great general strike of San Francisco workers at Union Square Thursday, July 19, at 5:30 P.M. The San Francisco labor movement is out on general strike in defense of the heroic dock workers’ struggle against company unionism and for the right to establish union condi- tions. The elementary rights of the labor movement of the whole country are at stake, the right to organ- Francisco general strike conditions of workers th unions! strikers win their demand: tion, to bring all available Make This Figure Grow PRESS RUN YESTERDAY. 40,000 ize, to strike and to picket. The outcome of the San will seriously affect the roughout the length and breadth of the country. Brothers of the A. F. of L., of the Independent Unions and of the T.U.U.L. Let us stand together shoulder to shoulder as they are doing in San Francisco and help the dock s. Let us rally to a broad united front of all labor forces, regardless of affilia- resources and funds to aid ' DEMONSTRATE IN SUPPORT OF FRISCO STRIKERS THURSDAY, 5:30 P.M. the West Coast strikers in dealing a crushing blow to the powerful open shop forces of San Francisco. * * * * PROVISIONAL committee of the New York labor movement, composed of representatives of the A. F. of L. unions, independent unions and T. U. U. L. unions hasbeen organized in support of the West Coast strike. The committee is sending a call to all unions to join with it and elect delegates to Daily <QWorker CENTRAL ORGAN COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. (SECTION OF COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL ) meet on Wednesday, July 18, 4 P.M., at the office of Carpenters’ Local 2090, 243 East 84th St., to plan the mighty demonstration in Union Square and fur- ther support of the great general strike of the San Francisco workers. Workers of New York, mobilize for a mighty demonstration on Union Square on Thursday, July 19th, at 5:30 P.M. —PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE IN SUPPORT OF THE WEST COAST STRIKE. I & Bail Is Needed. Will Be Returned. Rush Cash or Liberty Bonds to International Labor Defense, 80 East llth Street, New York City. DAYS Only Are Left to Save ANEGELO HERNDON from the Chain Gang. $15,000 It Vol. XI, No. 170 >* Entered as second-class mattér at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 8, 1879. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1934 WEATHER: Fair, cooler. (Six Pages) Price 3 Cents GENERAL STRIKE SOLIDARITY TIES UP SAN FRANCISCO; _ WALL ST. GOV'T MASSES TROOPS AGAINST WORKERS ‘s. French Communists and nd Socialists Unite Against Fascism NewGenersl, Strike Call Sounds in Minneapolis Laundry Workers Union Will Vote to Join Truck Drivers (Special to the Daily Worker) MINNEAPOLIS, July 16.— The stirring cry of “General Strike!” echoed through the streets of this midwestern metropolis today as laundry workers swung to the sup- port of 6,000 truckmen who are scheduled to quit work at mid- night tonight. Nothing that the Farmer-Labor Party governor, Floyd B, Olsen, could do could stem this movement. second in power and significance only to the history-making actions on the Pacific Coast. Nor were the anti-strike “conciliatory” efforts of Federal Conciliator E. H. Dun- nigan successful in the face of the militancy of the rank and file truckmen. The Laundry Workers Union planned to meet this evening to vote on the strike call. An over- whelming vote in fayor was pre- dicted by one of the leaders, who said that “condiitons among the laundry workers are even worse than among the truck drivers. Some of the 400 women employees work ten and twelve hours a day for $3 a week, and then don’t get paid. Em- ployers are now five weeks behind in paying wages.” Meanwhile, efforts were being | made to enlist other unions of Offer on War, Fascism Socialist Party Accepts Communist United Front Plan Joint Actions “In Struggle in Defense of| Labor and Democratic Liberties” PARIS, July 16—The united front of Communists and Socialists against fascism is now an accomplished fact in France. Following the action of the Paris District of the Socialist Party in coming. to an agreement with the Com- munist’Party of the same district for united front struggles, —*the French Socialists’ Na- Secret Trish. Gore cae ce Committee of the Communist Party Death Feared For Thalmann of France for united action “in the struggle against fascism and in de- fense of labor and democratic | liberties.” Phila. Toilers in Stormy Protest Before Nazi Consulate Within a few days leaders of the Communist and Socialist parties will meet to lay down concrete plans of action, and work out details of the agreement on the united front. The greatest pressure from the rank and file of the Socialist Party of France, who for months have joined in united front actions with Communists, was brought to bear on the Socialist leadership to enter the united front appeals. The Com- munist Party had been issuing NEW YORK.—Hitler’s hangmen “judges” of the so-called “People’s Court” were sworn in last Satur- day morning. The court was sup- posed to begin functioning today, with Ernst Thaelmann, heroic leader of the German anti-fas- cists and Ernst Torgler, acquitted Reichstag defendant, against whom “new charges” have been brought, slated to be among the first vic- tims of the new murder courts, The courts are empowered to numerous appeals to the Socialist leadership for the united front. Under this pressure, the Paris Section of the Socialist Party on June 26, came to an understanding for united front actions with the Communist Party. It was this action finally that forced Leon Blum, Louis Frossard, Paul Faure and other Socialist lead- Tush through death sentences and ers to admit that the united front executions within 24 hours and by | secret trials, No word has been heard of Thaelmann, The fate of Thael- Minneapolis into strike action, to | mann and thousands of other spread the strike throughout the city. If other unions join the truck- men in a_ sympathetic general walk-out, and there is strong likeli- hood that this will occur, some- thing over 25,000 additional work- ers will be on strike here. As in San Francisco, owners of automobiles were buying up all available gasoline in preparation for such a siege as will exist Mayor A. G. Bainbridge was ex- pected to call in the National Guard. He hinted as much, in un- official statements, today. Red Builder Goes On Trial Today for Selling on Subways NEW YORK.—Typical of the mination being shown in the d 20,000 new readers, Joe Rogers has been selling the Daily Worker in the 'r., Lexth LR.T., ston Ave. Line, between ith St. and 125th St. The second night on the job, a guard told Jee to et off the subway, but he stuck to the job until his bundle was sold. The cht. he was threatened by a the third was denied. He then demanded a jury counsel, He further in to be ee JOE ROGERS in rice ats Workers are urged to pack ‘the court- room. This is another instance where the boss corporations and the boss are attempting to shock the id distribution of pally Mirror and American.) ily expects to win his case, discrimination against jail; le has been selling 75 papers in about three and one-half hours each night. The night he was arrested, the boy with the News only sold 20 papers in the same time. and militancy among workers on a 2,000-mile battle front. anti-fascist fighters is shrouded in a fog of silence and censorship by | the Nazi authorities. Only the most determined world-wide fight for the freedom (Continued on Page 2) was necessary with the Communists in order to beat back the alarming danger of fascism. The united front agreement finally arrived at is having a tremendous effect in France, and is rallying the | workers for gigantic common ac- tions against fascism, against wage cuts, against all forms of terror and for the protection of the workers’ rights which are being (Continued on Page 3) ® HARRY BRIDGES, longshore . leader and member of the San Francisco General Strike Com- amittee. Sen. Wagner Speeds To Kill Strike Rushes to ’Frisco On Roosevelt’s Orders WASHINGTON, D. C., July 16. —Patrick Donohue, a member of | the staff of President Roosevelt's new National Labor Relations Board, was ordered to San Fran- cisco late today. The official ex- | planation was that he “has been | requested by the Longshoremen’s Board.” It is well known here that he is to join the strike- breaking forces which will be co- ordinated by Senator Wagner. Wey ae By MARGUERITE YOUNG (Daily Worker Washington Bureau) WASHINGTON, D. C., July 16— At the command of President Roosevelt, Senator Robert F. Wag- ner, former National Labor Board chairman, who recently declared, “T'll go the limit to prevent strikes,” raced by airplane to Portland, Ore., | today to take charge of the gov-| ernment strikebreaking machinery (Centinued on Page 2) Strike Move » Spreads to Nearby Towns; People Back Strikers Working Men and Women! All Forces Behind the General Strike! AN EDITORIAL | fakit ie along the entire West Coast of the United States and part of Canada, the great general strike which began in San Francisco, is sweeping with tremendous force over all barriers set in its way by the capitalists and the government. It is drawing tight the brakes of Labor on the wheels of industry. The factories, the water and land transport service, all industry in the San Francisco area, stands eerie and silent, and paralysis is creeping over the factories and transport in every Pacific Coast city and town, American working’ men have entered into the greatest fight in the history of American labor. The ruling class—the bankers, shipowners, coupon clippers, factory owners, editors of capitalist papers, Mr. Roosevelt and his N.R.A. ufiderstrappers, Republican and Democratic Party politicians, governors of States and mayors of cities and towns—those who live in lavish luxury by exploiting workmen and workwomen, are shouting in frantic frenzy, cooking up mythical stories of revolution and violence, raising 101 varieties of the red boogy-boo, while they mobilize additional troops, police and thugs in a concerted attempt to break the strike. Mayor Rossi of San Francisco, conveniently overlooking the fact that the strike is a fight for the most elementary needs of the working class, has let out a bray that has been repeated from coast to coast in the capitalist press, claiming that the radical element has seized control of the longshoremen and is aiming at revolution in the “Golden State.” NY sensible, sane and honest person knows that there is no revolu- tion on the West Coast. The aim of labor in this situation, the aim of the general strike is not to seize political power, but to force the shipowners to grant the maritime workers’ three demands: (1) (Continued on Page 6) Special General Strike Issue Thursday NEW YORK.—Thursday’s issue of the Daily Worker will be de- voted especially to the general strike situation on the West Coast. Special feature articles from the strike area by Bill Dunne and other correspondents, his- torical background of the strike, a review of great strikes in American history, and other arti- cles of special interest to all workers will appear in this eight-page issue. All units of the Communist Party are called upon to put the matter of gaining the widest dis- tribution for Thursday's issue on the order of business at the next meeting. ;Communist Party Holds Many Big Meetings, | Covers City With Leaflets; Urges Complete | Rank and File Strike Control BULLETIN PORTLAND, Ore., July 16.—With 60 unions here heving already voted in favor of a general strike and more unions voting tonight, there is every indication that 20,000 Portland workers will be on strike by Wednesday. Special to the Daily Worker SAN FRANCISCO, July 16.—The general strike is spreading from the Frisco area to the nearby towns. The Oakland general strike is scheduled for tomorrow. The workers in Contra Costa are expected to walk out Wednesday. Sentiment for the general strike is spreading in other nearby cities as troops, including the 143rd artillery regiment,, are being sent sent the Stockton where cargo is being unloaded. Special to the Daily Worker SAN FRANCISCO. — Seventy-five thousand working men and women answered the general strike call this morn- ing at 8 o’clock and brought about the most far reaching industrial tie-up in the history of American Labor. The general strike in support of the maritime workers is spreading rapidly along the entire Pacific Coast. Troops on the waterfront have been augmented by new detachments of National Guard 2nd now number 7,000. Among the strike-breaking forces to be rushed to the strike area is a section of the tank corps which was loaded on flat cars at Salinas. Motorized and horse artillery is also |on its way to San Francisco. The federal government has announced that it has 13,000 soldiers in the Ninth Corps Area which embraces California, and threats have been made to send these troops to the bay region. But troops and threats of troops have only made the strikers redouble their efforts to make the walkout. com- | plete along the entire coast. | The strike went into effect in all the San Francisco area. | The region affected included the suburban districts across | the bay on the hills surround-® chap The Mision “slerolanee aac jing the city. The entire sociation voted to recommend that wholesale and business district of|stores in the Mission District, the city is at a standstill. strongly unionized, close. Practically Even the storekeepers are closing}75 per cent of the stores have (Special to the Daily Worker) SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 15.—Today the whole West Coast from Vancouver to San Diego rocks to a wave of gar- gantuan laughter. This laughter, roaring and echoing down the traffic-barren streets of San Francisco, which surges over silent docks and rattles the chains of a thousand an- chored ships, comes from two places—the living dead in the prison dungeons of West Coast capitalism, and from the graves of those who died in the historic struggles that marked the upward surge of labor for a whole generation on the Pacific Coast. American capitalism, not only on the West Coast but in the entire nation, is scared stiff not only by the homeric mirth of Tom Mooney, J. B. McNamara and Matt Schmidt in San Quentin, but by the eerie laughter from the graves of Wesley Everest, the workers’ leaders slaughtered in Wheatland and Everett, from the Communists who died in Imperial Valley that a labor movement might live. They have a right to laugh, these shock troopers of labor, for the very thing they were framed, jailed and mur- dered to prevent has come to pass—the development of unity They hoped for it, they preached it and fought for it, and it was long in coming; but it is here. In spite of the combination of offieial treachexy faom » ' 2 West Coast Labor, Freeing Itself from the Shackles of Class Collaboration, Battles on a 2,000 Mile Front By BILL DUNNE w thin an@ the threat of state force from without nothing moves without the conesent of the strike committee in San Francisco—that shining storehouse of the Pacific on whose steps stands Roosevelt shaking his fist at the rebellious millons of workers and peasants in the Orient. Clearer than ever before is the fact that N. R. A. ad- ministration looks upon this great struggle correctly as test of the main principle on which it is based, namely class collaboration. This fact is indisputable since the statement of Archbishop Hanna, chairman of Roosevelt’s mediation board, late yesterday in which he said: “It is the policy of the United States, declared in the N. R. A., to induce and maintain united action of labor and management, and to remove obstructions to the free flow of interstate and foreign commerce.” What this means for labor is seen in the issuing of secret instructions to the police fer the round-up of radicals of all.shades beginning, of course, with Communists. Mayor Rossi has declared an emergency. The police force has been reorganized. The Crime Prevention Bureau has now been made over into the “Anti-Radical and Crime Prevention | Bureau.” The outstanding San Francisco Lodge of the Knights of Columbus, Loyola Council 2615, has passed a resolution placing itself at the disposal of Chairman Hanna and the police ata The Police force wes increased | b yesterday by 500 men with additional equipment to cost a minimum of $180,000 per month. In spite of all stalling by the so-called “sane and) conservative” leaders of unions, the number on strike in- creases daily. The present position of these leaders is politically untenable. More and more they must depend on the various government agencies to limit the strike. One hundred and seventy-five unions are affected by the strike | call, but there are many unions on strike in this area that | no one but those directly involved ever knew existed. In this State capital, center of one of the richest farm- ing districts of the whole world, business is practically at a standstill. Strikers are stopping all produce trucks Frisco-bound, but nevertheless, the farmers here express the greatest sympathy for the strike. It is impossible at this stage to predict the actual out- come of the strike, but one thing seems certain: Roosevelt | is not likely to agree to any demands of the workers with- out their abandoning their strike and putting themselves at the mercy of his board, This estimate is given great credence by the confident tone of the local press and the obvious fact that the em- ployers and the Hanna board expect the “sane” leaders to| be able t6 make enough of a split in the ranks to force | over compulsory arbitration. Today it is clear that the, bulk of the workers think quite differently, ‘ stopped doing business. Pickets patrolled the streets | throughout the day on foot and in touring-cars. There was hardly any other traffic on the streets except vehicles of the National Guard. The capitalist newspapers have launched into a series of frantic appeals to the people to “remain | calm end stand by the government.” | But the residents of the Bey | Region have not been greatly moved | by the provocative appeals in the press, the cry of revolution and so forth. The greatest portion of the citizenry cre sympathetic with the | strikers and merely grin confronted by official proclamations telling of mythical red plots to starve the | Population and immediately over throw the government. People Understand Most of the people understand that this is a fight for the imme- | diate needs of the marine workers, |@ general strike to force the ship- | owners to give the maritime work- ers control of the hiring halls, to recognize their unions and improve their conditions. It is clear to the majority of the folks here that there is no revolution going on, but a stubborn and determined strike —the greatest that this country has ever seen—and Mayor Rossi and his understrappers is kidding very few people when he shouts long and loud about an uprising. The strike, strong and dramatic, has captured the general publica All sorts of people can be heard td say that they hope the strikers lick the shipowners. Indecd, the city responds quickly to the moods of the strikers. The general strike grew out of @ strike of longshorernen and seamen | which has tied ed up tt the ports from (Continued on . on ze 6) . 2. PNR ARS SWS WEEMS PR ARSARINOSE YASS MET RARE SAREE UY SRR