The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 15, 1934, Page 1

Negro and White Workers of New York Will Honor Angelo Herndon at Rockiand Palace Tonight Only $2,327 has been contributed to date to the $15,000 defense fund for the appeais of Angelo Herndon and the Scottsboro boys. Only 17 days are left. See blank on page four of this issue. Rush contributions to International Labor Defense, 80 E. lith St., New York City. Vol. XI, No 195 Daily ,QWorker Gy MBiered 25 second-class matter at the Post Office at New York, N. ¥., under the Act of March 8, 1879. NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1934 CENTRAL ORGAN COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. (SECTION OF COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL) Make This Figure Grow PRESS RUN YESTERDAY. WEATHER: Fair. Six Pages) 42, 600 Price 3 Cents ROOSEVELT UPHOLDS AAA DESTRUCTION PLAN Bridgeport Se Socialist list Mayor I Battles les Against | Own Rank and File LOCALS PRESS FOR ACTION AT TEXTILE CONVENTION Problems Leaders Still Evade the Strike Issue In Their Speeches | GROWTH REPORTED Red Scare Is Raised by McMahon Against Unity Pleas By CARL REEVE NEW YORK.—More than 100 resolutions had been in- troduced into the national | convention of the United Tex- tile Workers of America, re- flecting the most burning problems now facing the tex- | tile workers ‘of the country. In- cluded are many resolutions calling for a general strike in the textile industry. One resolution called upon the U.T.W. officials to withdraw from collaboration with the NRA. boards, which have reduced the tex- tile workers’ living standards. This resolution lays down a policy for the union of strike action to secure better conditions. Other resolutions called for en- dorsement of the Workers Unem- ployment Insurance Bill; against company unions; against the wage differential; for a 30-hour week in the textile industry; against injunc- tions; for the release of Tom Moo- ney; against the stretch out, and for higher minimum wages. Five hundred and seventy-three new locals with 230,000 members were reported by Secretary-Trea- surer Starr since the last national conyention of the union. Starr, in his report, did not make any recom- mendations regarding the strike struggles now facing the textile workers, nor did he take any posi- tion on the question of declara- tion of a general strike. which is uppermost in the minds of the dele- gates. Starr Approves N.R.A. Starr put forward the demand of the five-day week, six-hour day in the textile industry, but said this did not include the silk mills, where he advocated the eight-hour day and five-day week. Starr’s report dealt chiefly with the New Deal. He claimed that the discrimination against union mem- bers and the low wages and stretch- out which are now rampant in the textile industry are brought about by those who violate the code pro- visions and the N.R.A. He did not bring out the fact that it is under the New Deal itself that these con- ditions have come about, and that the N.R.A. ushered in and is re- sponsible for these conditions. The N.R.A. is carrying forward the low- ering of the textile workers’ living standards. Starr admitted that un- der the N.R.A. the “minimum wage has been made the maximum,” but blamed this on “unfair employers.” Thomas MacMahon, president of the union, raised the “red scare” when the question of greetings to the knitgoods strikers came up. The original motion was to send greet- ings and give support only to those knitgoods strikers who are affiliated to the A. F. of L. union. But a yank and file delegate made a mo- tion to send greetings and support all of the knitgoods strikers. This rank and file delegate advocated {I (Continued on Page 2) Party Functionaries Meet in Center Today NEW YORK.—All leading func- tionaries and bureaus of Commu- nist Party fractions in revolution- ary unions will meet today at 5:30 pm, at the Workers Center to dis- cuss a matter of great importance. Due to the Angelo Herndon mass meeting in Rockland Center, the functionaries’ meeting has been called early and will begin prompt- ly at the stated time. A. F. OF L. FRACTION MEETS meeting of A. F. of L. fraction sec- retaries tomorrow evening at 7:30 o'clock on the second floor of the Workers Center, 50 E. 13th St. ' Resolutions CiteBurning| ® HE drive to get 20,000 new readers | Worker is of tremendous im- portance to every worker and | United States. In view of | the desperate efforts of the ruling class to send the the frantic efforts of the Hit- class violence that suppressed over the top must be im- \pressed on the minds of all | workers, I want to point out that the Scottsboro boys to the chair, | Thaelmann, the fascist ruling | the general strike — the im-| portance of putting the drive | for the Daily | workers’ sympathizer in the | | | ler bloodhounds to kill Ernst | “Daily” has been an indispensable | Had it not been for the publishing factor in the fight for my freedom. |of the campaign for my bail fund | Worker. ‘Daily’ Indispensable Fighter!) By ANGELO HERNDON ANGELO HERNDON j | jby the Daily Worker, there’s no horible Georgia chain gang. cary on the everyday fight of all | workers throughout the country, I |appeal to the Negro people to join |in together with other workers in| | putting this drive over. The “Daily” |is the only paper in this country | tire working class, question but that I would probably have been sent to my death on that The larger the circulation of the) “Daily,” the better it is able to that carries accurate accounts of the miserable lot of the working | class and ths Negro people and at the same time is an organizer and fighter for the interests of the en- | Surely we will not stop until this | drive has overpassed its quota! | Every worker a Red Builder and | shock brigader in the drive for 20,- 000 new readers for America’s only working class daily paper—the Daily Jamaica S. P. Aids Defense Of Popovich NEW YORK.—Brushing aside the efforts of James Oneal, editor of the New Leader, to sidetrack them, the membership of the Socialist Party and the Young People’s So- cialist League of Jamaica has joined with the Popovich Defense Com- mittee, the International Labor De- fense and other militant groups against anti-working class terror in Jamaica. Popovich, an active Communist, was arrested late in July for dis- tributing leaflets announcing the August First anti-war demonstra- tion and sentenced to six months imprisonment by the labor-hating Magistrate Hoffman. The united action was the result of a unanimous vote for a united front against local terror by the Jamaica Circle of the Young People’s Socialist League on Aug. 9. Similar action was taken by the Socialist Party Branch of Jamaica, which is Oneal’s home branch and stronghold. Oneal proposed to re- fer the matter to the City Central Committee, but the workers of the local, aware that this proposal was intended to prevent action, rejected it. The following evening, Leonard Victor, a member of the Young Peoples Socialist League, addressed @ meeting of 300 called by the Ja- maica International Labor Defense and urged unity of action to guar- antee the success of the fight for Popovich’s freedom. ace, 155th Street and Eighth Ave. } | tellectuals of New York, who helped | Browder Will Speak Tonight at Mass Rally for Herndon Thousands W Will Kida Welcome Meeting in Rockland Palace! | NEW YORK.—Angelo Herndon | will speak tonight at Rockland Pal- Negro and white workers and in- | rescue him from immediate torture | and death on the Georgia chain gang, will have their first oppor- tunity to hear this heroic young Ne- gro revolutionary leader, whose de- fiance to the lynch courts has rung around the world: “You may do what you will with Angelo Herndon. You may indict him, You may put him in jail. But there will come thousands of An- gelo Herndons. If you want to really do anything about the case, you must go out and indict the social system. But this you will not do, for your role is to defend the sys- tem under which the toiling masses are robbed and oppressed.” Herndon, who is out on_ bail raised by workers and sympathetic intellectuals throughout the coun- try, will be greeted at the Rockland Palace mass welcome meeting by outstanding leaders of the revolu- tionary movement, including Earl Browder, general secretary of the Communist Party; James W. Ford, organizer of the Harlem Section; Anna Damon of the National Office of the International Labor Defense; Joseph Brodsky, William Fitzgerald, and Israel Amter. Ben Davis, Jr., Herndon’s defense attorney and now | editor of the Negro Liberator, will act as chairman. Rockland Palace can be reached directly by the Sixth and Ninth Ave. elevated lines or by East Side sub- way transferring at 167th or 177th (Continued on Page 2) NTWU Calls § for United | Struggle Against NRA and Bosses By ANN BURLAK National Organizer, National Textile Workers Union The workers everywhere have learned, through numerous expe- riences during the past year, that the National Labor Board and other Government Arbitration Boards, set up by the N. R. A. have been used by the employers as strike-breaking instruments. The Textile Codes NEW YORK.—There will be a/ have definitely been instrumental in reducing the wages of the textile workers both directly and indirectly, making $13 a week the maximum wage instead of the minimum. » \Cuba Linemen Solid as C. P. Backs Strike HAVANA, Aug. 14—With the strike of the telegraph and commu- nications workers solid, all lines here are paralyzed. The Communist Party of Cuba hhas issued a statement of enthusi- astic support of the strike, which is being led by the revolutionary op- position in the Communication Workers Union. Fifty-three mail carriers, includ- ing the militant leader, Escalona, were seized last night by the Men- dieta police, The Communist Party leafiet calls upon the workers to keep the strike in their own control and out of the hands of the union officials and politicians. The leaflet also urges work among the armed forces to get them to drop their arms and refuse to attack the picket lines. Philadelphia Furriers Call General Walkout PHILADELPHIA. Completely tying up the fur industry of this city, furriers poured out of their shops today in response to a call for general strike issued by the Fur | Workers Industrial Union. The union is demanding a 35- hour week, a 10 per cent veeeaneg| in the minimum wage, an unem-/| ployment fund paid by the em- Ployers, no contracting, no overtime, no discharge, and recognition of the union. WorkersHit SOVIET UNION The Policy Ot MeLevy Bridgeport Socialists! Are Bitter at Mayor’s Anti-Labor Tactics | WANT UNITED FRONT| Condemn Executive's Hailing of Nazis Attacks on Jobless | By SI GERSON | BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Aug. 14.—/ | Tomorrow night the Socialist Party | of Bridgepori—the ruling political party of the city—will hold its} membership meeting. Kieve Liskov- sky, Socialist selectman, is up on charges for expulsion from the So- cialist Party, indicted on the | ous charges of “working with the Communists and speaking from a non-Socialist. platform.” Socialist | Mayor Jasper McLevy is Jesding | the attack on Liskovsky. | And thereupon hangs a tale that | is of vital interest not only to the workers of Bridgeport, but to people | all over the country who are won- | dering how a Socialist Mayor gov-| erns a city. Mcevy was swept into office last | Fall, along with a number of other | Socialist officials, on a wave of) popular disgust with the two major | parties. A few weeks after the elec- | tion the Daily Worker interviewed Mayor McLevy. At that time the) Daily Worker correspondent, Carl| Reeve, wrote: “MeLevy made it clear through- out the interview that he wil carry on no fight against the terests of the Bridgeport politi- cians who represent the manufac- turers, and will not fight for the | demands of the unemployed. He will be a ‘safe’ Mayor, a Mayor who fits in well into the city polit- ical machine, and who will not embarrass or disturb the employ- ers of the city and State. He will | ... hide his inaction behind the | city charter and blame his own spineless inaction on the workers, | claiming that they will not follow | him into a fight.” (Daily Worker, Dec. 22, 1934.) : These words, expressing the atti-| tude of the Communist Party on| McLevy, have been proven up to the | hilt by developments in Bridgeport. | Testimony has been piled mountain | high proving that the Daily Worker ‘was correct then and is correct now | in its analysis of McLevy, his poli- cies and the direction that McLevy is taking. | a ete |ASPER McLEVY'S election was | conceived in sin, and it bears the | scarlet letter of shame today. As} one Socialist who was elected to an | unpaid office stated to the writer | recently. “A pre-election deal was} undoubtedly hatched between Mc- Levy and the Republicans, by which, in return for McLevy’s election and the presidency of the Board of Al- | dermen, the Republicans were to}! get posts as the head of or on 4} Buthber of leading city committees.” Confirmation of this is recorded | in a resolution adopted by Senior | (Continued on Page 2) | bcudecgaiy yesterday BEATS DROUGHT, FARMERS RAISE BUMPER CROP U.S. Will GoO On Limiting! Produce to Force Prices s Higher PORK GETS SCARC E Packers Lay in Stocks| to Cash In on Price Rise WASHINGTON, Aug. 14.—| Whatever temporary changes may be finally forced upon the | Roosevelt government in the! matter of relaxing the A.A.A. a| Program of crop destruction, the essential policy of curbing the food supply in order to keep | prices high will remain unchanged, Secretary of Agriculture Wallac: Wallace also emphasized that it has not yet even been decided that | there shall be any government per- mission to increase the crop plant- ings for next year. It all depends on the weather, he said. In the event of a “surplus,” that is to say, a food supply too great to be absorbed by the mar- ket at present prices and profit rates, Wallace made it clear that he is determined to crop control next year.” ‘The A.A.A. farm program has al- ready destroyed more than one- third of the wheat, corn, cotton and tobacco crop. Smallest Meat Supply As a restilt of the destruction of hogs and cows under the A.A.A. | Program, as well as the drought | |devastation, the supply of pork |coming into the market the smallest on record” the Depart- ment of Agriculture declared to- day. The price of meats is expected to reach new peaks this winter and the Wall Street controlled packing companies are already laying in heavy supplies to cash in on the price rises. |McLevy’s Police Aid Seabs In Bridgeport (Special to the Daily Worker) BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Aug. 14— |Mayor McLevy's police massed in |full force today to protect strike- breakers and prevent picketing on relief jobs. A majority of state cases and many city cases total about 700 workers out on strike. Indications are that the strike will spread. Many unemployed organi- |zations in other Connecticut cities have pledged support to the strik- ers. Socialist Party officials con- tinue their suppert of the strike- breaker Edward Leak, a henchman of McLevy, and his defunct organi- | zation. Israel Amter, national secretary of | the Unemployment Councils, will speak here on Thursday night at Remens Hall. after a con-| “continue | “may be | Farmer, Embittered By Order to Ruin Crop, Kills Himself GREENVILLE, S. C., Aug. 14. —Enmbittered and all its instincts outraged by the government or- der that he plow under the three acres of “surplus” cotton on his \} farm, B. B. Medlock, tenant- farmer, shot and killed himself Mond: His cotton crop, the result of || long months of back-breaking || toil, would have been valueless to him under the terms the gov- ernment was forcing upon him under the Bankhead Bill, which makes all “surplus” cotton sub- ject to enormous taxes. Harrassed by the government officials and the big landlords who benefit by the Bankhead Bill, Medlock, unable to get him- self to destroy his crop, seized a shotgun and shot himself through the heart behind the |} barn. i Pe Wonien Plan Welcome To Delegates NEW YORK.—Women's organiza- tions and anti-war groups are to- day mobilizing their membersh: \for a mass reception for 14 Amer: ican women delegates to the Pa Congress Against War and Fascism, | who return tomorrow on the Ile de | France. | ‘The boat will dock at Pier 57,| foot of W. 15th St. | Workers with banners of their or- | |ganizations will be at the pier to| greet the delegates headed by the | jveteran working woman leader, | Mother Ella Reeve Bloor, Repre- sentatives of the Women’s Councils, | American League Against War and | Fascism, Needle Trades Workers In- | |dustrial Union and various anti- | war groups, fraternal and trade unions will welcome the delegates. | Mother Bloor, Equille McKeithen and several of the other delegates | | will speak at a mass meeting Fri- |day, Aug. 24, at Webster Hall, 119 | E. 11th St., called by the New York | Women's Section of the American | League Against War and Fascism. | Unemployed Knitters | Hold Meeting Today NEW YORK. Unemployed workers in the knitgoods industry have been cailed on by the Knit- goods Work Industrial Union to attend a meeting at 11 o'clock this | morning at Irving Plaza Hall, Fif- | |teenth Street and Irving Place, to| | discuss their situation and thetr | | lrelation to the knitgoods strike. Militant Union Fight Urged for Workers’ Textile Code These same codes have introduced the most vicious forms of speed-up and strechout in all sections of the industry. It is therefore significant for the textile workers and especially for the rank and file delegates to the United Textile Workers’ Conven- tion to compare the position of McMahon and other top leaders of the U. T. W. and the National Tex- tile Workers Union on this vital issue. At the time of the first hear- ing on the Textile Code in Wash- ington in June, 1933, the Nationai Textile Workers Union was the only Union that militantly combated the anti-working class nature of the codes. McMahon and the U. T. W. top leaders helped to enforce these slave codes and to this day try to convince the textile workers, that the N. R. A. codes are beneficial to there is a discrepancy, it is due to unfair employezs. - At the time of the first Cotton ;Code hearing, the National Textile Workers Union proposed the follow- ing amendments to the Cotton Tex- tile Code: 1—That industry and the gov- erment assume the responsibility for a fixed minimum weekly and yearly wage for every worker in the industry, This to be achieved through provisions that no worker shall be given less than 40 weeks per year of employment—no less than 30 hours per week and a | maximum of 40 hours per week; that wages shall be set at a min- imum of 60c per hour. This would provide a minimum wage of $720 yearly for every worker. 2—That where the industry does not provide workers with this minimum of yearly earning's, the government shall pay unemploy- ment insurance equal to this amount, and for part time work- ers the difference between the amount ($720) and their actual earnings. 3—That the wages of workers receiving at present above this minimum shall be increased im- mediately by 25 per cent. 4—That wages shall be adjusted for all workers regularly as prices rise so that there shall be no lowering of the living standards due to inflation. 5—That the labor code shall provide for democratically elected shop committees controlled by tho workers in all mills, to be recog- nized by the employers. Those committees to deal with employ- ers in the enforcement of wages, hours, discharges, conditions of labor, etc, The right of the work- ers to belong (o any union of their own choice shall be fully stated. The right of the workers to strike whenever any demands are not granted shall be stated in the code. 6—No night work for women in any part of the country. 7—Same rate of pay for both north and south. 8—No child labor under 16; shorter hours for youth between the ages of 16 and 18; government compensation to those children who !ese employment through this | order. Today, fourteen months after that | first code hearing, these demands, ‘presented by the National Textile | ‘u. T.W. Lnsilees! Is Compared With Militant Line Mahon effectively movement for a national cotton | ment immediately began to o1 Stand, | The U.S.S.R. Organizes All Its Resources to Save Crop co Harvest Is Expected to Surpass Last Year’s Record Yield MOSCOW, Aug. 14. — The entire country is jubilant with the triumphant overcoming of the drought which struck the | biggest grain districts during the planting this summer. When it became apparent |that the drought was endangering the wheat crop, the Soviet govern- ize all its resources to water by i and means, and to or ze a tremen- dous battle against the drought in the stricken districts. The slogan issued by Stalin, “Not to lose a grain of wheat or a seed,” became the inspiration of the whole coun- try. Vast irrigation projects were constructed in record time, and im- mense brigades organized to water the fields and carry out intensive cultivation. The remarkable organizational efficiency of the collective rms reached great heights under the emendous enthusiasm of the peasants, who performed unusual feats of labor in the fight against the drought, and finally conquered its ravages, so that today the Soviet Union will reap a record crop. It is confidently expected that the record crop of 90,000,000 tons of last year will be surpassed this year, |despite the destruction of the drought. Last year’s crop was the greatest in the history of the coun- try. Record Collections Not only has the drought been | Successfully overcome, but the speed lef collecting and harvesting the grain is also reaching records. By the beginning of July more than 17,000,000 hectares had been harvested as compared with 12,- | 000,000 last year, and last year’s harvesting had set the previous record. (A hectare is two and a half acres.) So great has been the victory of the Soviet Government and the col- lective farms over the climatic changes that the Soviet Govern- ment will be able to export as much as last year without lowering the home consumption by one bushel. The price of bread is low and supplies are plentiful as a result of the successful fight against the drought crop destruction. Every effort is being made to increase the crops and acreage in order to provide a steadily rising living standard for every worker and farmer in the Soviet Union, The destruction of crops by the United States government even in the face of the drought destruction are looked upon as a crime against \the needs of the eee tee c /500 Furniture W Workers in N. Y. Strike Today NEW YORK.—Five hundred par= | Jor frame workers will go out on | Strike today under the leadership of the Cabinet Section of the Na- tional Furniture Workers Industrial crushed that | Union, Local 2. The union is appealing to all or- strike, just asthe latter prevented | ganized and unorganized workers in the woolen and worsted strike. the trade to strike together, and to | Only a militant strike led by rank |@ll_ unemployed workers to aid. and file elected strike committees | Strike headquarters around these main demands will def- | Broadway. initely improve the general work- ing conditions of all textile wor jers and help to win the p-e: istrike of the Alabama cotton w ers. The National Textile Wor ers Union calls upon the delegates | ‘to the U. T. W. convention to go are at 812 Jewett City Textile Workers on Strike JEWETT CITY, Conn. Aug. 14, —Five hundred employees are re- Workers Unions still hold good. Two} on record for such strike action im-| ported on strike here today in the |months ago the cotton workers de-| mediately. The National Textile! | Aspinook Co. textile bleachery, manded a national strike for prac- | Workers Union pledges full coopera- | (after they refused to accept a 10 tically the same _ Semands, Me- | tion in such a struggle, 4 Per cent reduction in beteniy 3 oan \ ( \