The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 13, 1934, Page 1

While day-to-day expenses of the Ferrdon-Scottsboro appeal and defense mount, the half-way mark teward the $15,000 needed has heen passed with 37,517 contributed to date. Rush funds te International lith St., New Y Vol. XI, Ne. 220 Laber Defense, 86 E. ork City. Daily <QWorker CENTRAL ORGAN COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. (SECTION OF COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL ) Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at BP 26 New York, N. ¥., under the Act of March 8, 1879. NEW YORK, THU DAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1934. WEATHER: See Campaign Story on Page Three Yesterday’s Receipts . $ 147.67 Total to Date $3845.78 Press Run Yesterday . 56,000 (Six Pages) Price 3 Cents Pair STRIKERS FORCE BACK TROOPS IN BATTLE: ' Shown By Arms Sales Action of Roosevelt To. Militarize Jobless | Is Revealed By Marguerite Young (Special to the Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 12.— | The sale of more than $250,000,000 worth of powder and other war stuff by the DuPont munitions dynasty during the World War, im- perialist holocaust that killed mill- | ions of workers and farmers, was noted today by the Senate arms in- vestigation. The corporations net taxable income averaged around $64,000,000 dollars during the years 1915-1918, while its total invested capital ranged from $128,000,000 to $199,000,000 millions. | From the brothers Lamont. Pierre, Irenee, and their cousin, Felix, the Nye-Vandenberg Committee heard the beginning of the history of an imperialist family fortune—built by war—which now forms a vital part of the bedrock of American capital- | ism. Direct evidence that the Roose-| murdered by police in their attack | demonstrate their solidarity with | yelt government stopped sales of war materials in order to devote all| surpluses to militarizing the unem-| ployed under the fascist Civilian | Conservation Corps program was ir serted in the committee’s record | when the following letter from Burdette S. Wright to C. W. Web-/| ster, both Curtiss-Wright officials, | on April 11, 1933 was read: “Due to the establishment” of | military training for the unem-/ ployed, the Secretary of War has) suspended all sales of surplus) material by the War Department .. .| it is not known just when this ban | will be lifted.” Hardly had this proof of the mili- taristic Roosevelt policies leading toward both Fascism and war been introduced—without benefit of em- phasis by any investigating Senator | ~—when the committee was informed that President Roosevelt last June held a conference with an airplane corporation president and therein discussed the latter's frankly jingo-| istic viewpoint, This was developed | by A. L. Hiss, the committee's in- vestigator, who submitted a mem- orandum which he said he was in- formed had been discussed by Roosevelt and Thomas A. Morgan, president of Curtiss-Wright Corp., president of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce and execu- | tive committee member of the St. | LL HAZLE War Plans Browder Answers Ship Fire Slander Following the report that Dickerson N. Hoover, assistant director | of the Bureau of Navigation, would ask the Department of Justice to “investigate the activities of Communists here and abroad in connec- tion with the Morro Castle fire,” Earl Browder, Secretary of the Com- munist Party, yesterday issued the following statement to the press: “The statement of Dickerson N. Hoover is a Shameless slander designed to cover up the criminal negligence of the Bureau of Navigation, which is helping the Ward Line to hide its respon- sibility for the Morro Castle disaster. “It is well known that the Communist Party in this and in every other country is unalterably opposed to all acts of indi- viduat terror, arson, sabotage, etc. ing the tactics of Hitler and Goering in the Reichstag fire. Mr. Hoover is merely repeat- The Communists have the same role in both these arson cases. They are picked as convenient scapegoats for criminals high in the ranks of government and responsible capitalist society.” Nine Workers Reported Slain By Ariz. Police (Special to the Daily Worker) PHOENIX, Ariz., Sept. 12.—Nine workers are reported to have been on demonstrating unemployed here last Thursday although only one, a Mexican worker named Cota, is known to have been killed. others, including Clay Naff, Com- munist candidate for Governor and unemployed leader, were seriously injured by tear gas and clubs, National Guardsmen are mo- bilized in the armory here about ten blocks from the FE. R. A. offices with full “riot” equipment, includ- ing guns, gas bombs and clubs, Meanwhile workers were prepar- ing to hold a mass protest meeting against the terror today in front of the courthouse. Goyernor Moeur, an ex-Klans- man, is personally pushing the frame-up of 29 workers arrested at the demonstration and seized later when police raided the Workers’ Center. The workers are held on bail ranging from $500 to $1,200 bail on charges of “rioting.” At the arraignment, workers jammed the court room to overflow- ing. County Attorney Renz L. Jen- nings refused to file a complaint against the workers. Without a complaint, the workers could not _38 Labor Committee in Support of the | Fifty Textile Strike consisting of more N.Y. Workers Rally to Aid Textile Strike NEW YORK.—Thousands of New York workers rallied in Union Square late yesterday afternoon to the striking textile workers. The | demonstration was called by the than 20 A. F. of L. locals, T, U. U. L. and independent unions. The threatening weather did not deter the thousands pouring into the square with placards and banners of their respective organigations. Placards carried by the workers demanded the withdrawal of Na-| tional Guard and armed thugs from the textile areas and unlimited right of the strikers to picket and demonstrate. Speakers scored the TON OUT (U.S. Acis to Blame C. P. In Ship Fire : | Federal Official Orders Inquiry in an Effort To Aid ‘Morro’ Owners | NEW YORK.—Co-operation be- | tween the Federal government of- | ficials and the shipowners of the | Ward Ship Company to whitewash | the real story of the Morro Castle | | fire and begin a nation-wide provo- | | cation against the Communist Party | | similar to the notorious Nazi Reich- | stag fire frame-up were revealed yesterday in the announcement by | Dickerson N. Hoover, assistant director of the Bureau of Naviga- | tion, that he had requested the De- | partment of Justice to “investigate |the activities of the Communists \here and at Havana in connection | with the Morro Castle fire.” | | This action was taken yesterday | by the Federal officials, despite the utter absence of the slightest evi- | dence in the testimony to show! any connection of Communists or | |“radicals” with the disaster which | took the lives of 135 passengers and | crew. Whitewash Negligence Also, further preparation to whitewash the criminal negligence of the ship’s command, acting on orders of the company to avoid ex- penses, and to incite a campaign of provocation against Communists, was seen in the hurried attempt by Chief Radio Operator George W. | Rogers to discredit in advance the | testimony of First Assistant Radio | Operator George I. Alagna, who is |now being held incommunicado by the Federal authorities. Alagna had earlier startled the | investigating commission officials |strike-breaking arbitration schemes| with the statement that the “true |of the Roosevelt. government and| story of the Morro Castle remains | urged that the fullest support, mor-| to be told.” \ally, financially and physically, be | given to the demands of the strikers | | | | for decent living conditions. Among the speakers were I. Am- ter, Communist Party candidate for. governor; Louis Weinstock, Secre- tary of the A. F. of L. Committee for Unemployment Insurance and left-wing leader of the recent paint- ers’ strike; Haddock, president of the American Telegraphists’ Asso- ciation; Dave Gordon, organizer of the Paper Plate and Bag Union; be held. Acting under the special | John Masso, Bevelers local of the orders of Governor B. B. Moeur,/A. F. of L.; Sam Stember, leader Attorney General A. T. the governor. | Final Appeal To Listed | Louis post of the Army Ordinance | Association. | Witnesses on the stand, officials of a subsidiary of Curtiss-Wright, | | said they could not confirm Hiss’s | Voters To Go to Polls information but they did not deny | Today Is Issued hy GS P.| it. The memorandum, addressed to Morgan and said to have been| he New York Election Cam- left at the White House by him, | paign Committee of the Communist declared the United States aviation | Party yesterday issued a final ap-| \C. | LaPrade | of the Textile Trimmers’ strike; Moe filed the complaints of “rioting.” | Brown, one of the leaders of the | | LaPrade stated that he would not | Paterson silk strikers; do so but for the special orders of secretary of the Ben Gold, Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union, Bag Makers To Attend Banquet for Hathaway NEW YORK.—Workers of the Blyer Paper Bag Co. are among those who have reserved places at the election campaign banquet for Yesterday, Rogers came to the aid of the Ward Company by de- nouncing Alagna as a “vengeful sort of agitator who tried to incite {a riot on the ship because of the | bad food.” Gives Safe Source | He had not heard Alagna say \this personally, Rogers testified, but was told it by Captain Wilmott. Wilmott died about 12 hours before the fire broke out, and the state- ments attributed to him, can, | naturally no longer be corroborated. | At the same time, the Ward Ship Company was revealed yesterday as making desperate attempts to '| disperse as many of the crew as | possible to ports outside the juris- | diction of the present Federal in- | quiry. Members of the crew have been gagged by orders of the com- pany and shipped on outgoing boats wherever possible. | Meanwhile, the origin of the “Communist incendiary” charges is \seen to have originated directly from the offices of the Ward Ship Line as Captain Harry Stephenson of the Grace Line Santo Rita em- \lockouts during the rf Add IN SOLIDARITY STRIKE ry Ceases and Theatres Close As Workers Support the Textile Strike; Militia Dig Trenches, Murder Striker 70,000 Hosiery Workers Strike in Northern and Southern Mills By Seymour Waldman (Daily Worker Washington Bureau) WASHINGTON, Sept. 12.—About 70,000 hosiery workers went out to- day, Emil Rieve, president of the |American Federation of Hosiery Workers (A. F. of L.), announced this afternoon. “We are calling out on strike non-union seamless mills in the South and ail full-fashioned mills, North or South, which are not paying the fuil union rates or where violations of Section 7a are taking place,” Rieve stated “Because of the unexpectedly |widespread and enthusiastic re- |sponse of the Southern full-fash-| ioned and seamless workers to the strike call of the American Fed- eration of Hosiery workers it has been decided to temporarily stay the call for a walk-out in the Northern full-fashioned mills where union rates are being paid. The original call covered all mills where | no contractual relations between employer and employees are in ex- istence.” Rieve’s excuse for not abiding by the original strike call is that “we are short of trained organizing personnel and _ have found it necessary to concentrate on the Southern situation tem- porarily.” “We wish to emphasize the fact that the strike call di- rected against all mills which have no contractual relations between; employer and employees still stand) and is merely held in abeyance un- til a more advantageous moment} arrives to put it into effect.” This sounds suspiciously like a word sereen for a back door compromise. WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 12— William E. G. Batty, secretary of | the New Bedford Textile Council | (United Textile Workers) brought | word today to strike headquarters here that the striking employees of | Rayon Weavers, Inc., of this city| were granted every one of the| specified wage demands listed| among the demands by the East U. T, W. convention, | This partial victory was part of an agreement which provided for) 36 looms per fixer, an arbitration | board, the check-off, “‘no strikes or life of this agreement,” and employers agree that, membership in the U. T, W. shall be a condition of employment. This agreement, which runs until September 1, 1935, or until the con- tract shall be superseded by any contract entered into by the spe- cial strike committee and the em- ployers’ group, follows the “imper- jative” U. T. W. convention demands only as far as wages and loomage are concerned. Called In By Winant | operators | paper mechanical TIED UP By Si (Special to the Daily Worker) HAZELTON, Pa., Sept workers paraded through the part of the first sympathy strike in the national textile walk- out. The city wide strike, ca every essential service. The sympathy strike movement were the hard-coal miners of District United Mine Workers of America who made up the bulk of march. Although originating withi rank and file of the United Workers, the Central Labor Union | of Hazelton quickly gave its assent | to the parade and together with the officials of District 7, of the U. M. W. A,, called the march, Forty-one local unions closed practically every mine in this dis-| trict and marched in the gigantic procession. Beside the miners pa- raded union bakers, bus drivers, printers, carpenters, painters. plumbers, milkmen, motion pictute and workers in other trades. Not a single copy of the two daily Hazelton papers appeared on the streets as the men of the news- unions of the papers joined the great throng. At the van, of course, were more than IINES, NEWSPAPERS. HUT, ALL TRANSIT Scores Are Injured as Saylesville Strikers Battle Troops PROVIDENC R. Sept. 12. —William Blackvood of Paws tucket, a striker, died of shot wounds and Charles eynski, another striker is dyi as the result of an attack militiamen against the work the § jes mill a noon. L, IN CIrTy Gerson by s at Finishing Company Saylesville late this after« . 12.—Twenty-five thousand streets of this city today as a Ry Carl Reeve | 7,000 jcent of them women The objective of the march was : (Special to the Daily Worker) Ned for 24 hours, has tied up| pRovIDENCE. R. I, Sept. 21.—I heart and soul of the one-day | was at > x and found that 5,000 wor silk workers, almost 40 per | ™assed in the vi expressing a mi spirit in spite of fo show solidarity with the silk| With National Guard tronps | strike, and particularly to organize Later I went into Providence, to close down the large Duplan silk| only about five miles away, and mill here. How deep-going is the | went into the office of the Commu. sentiment for the strike can be seen | nist Part hat the f in the fact that not only was or- | Work ndistributed in ganized labor solid in the parade, | the ence but beside them marched the Vet- in for erans of Foreign Wars, the Ameri- distrik can Legion of McAdoo, Pe., the Hazelton Heights Fire Company |If the bundle }and other organizations. A con-| was increased it was a tingent of unemployed workers. The ironical thing i: | marching behind the banner of the| militant fighters at the Saviesvil Unemployed League, received great | strike front were even deprived of | applause from the thousands of br-| reading the Daily “Wor count | standers, who jammed the main; of their own battle. ha lstreet to watch the parade Daily Worker containin Ninety-two per cent of the silk of the fighting at workers here are out on strike, with every expectation that the few still remaining in the mills will be pulled out before the end of the week. lying unopened in the Part: with several thousand other Workers. There were two Party in the office when I passed members Big Hazelton Strike Cheers Mill Workers By Charles Spencer (Special to the Daily Worker) ALLENTOWN, Pa., Sept. 12.— Silk workers in the Allentown area and throughout the State are fix- ing their eyes on the general strike action in Hazelton, where 20,000 workers of all industries have walked out in sympathy with the silk workers of the Duplan Corpora- tion. Hazleton labor, harking to the glorious traditions associated with the battle of the miners during the Molly Maguire period, will take part in a mighty parade Thursday morn- ing. industry must be helped to build) its exports for the sake of “national| yoters in the State urging upon) defense” because of the more pilots, them the political necessity of vot- | etc., abroad, the more “knowledge” | (foreign military secrets) they would! bring home, | Evidence before the committee | shows, conversely, that the more Americans sell abroad the more American secrets they sell. The Morgan memo also decried “Con- gressional investigations, embargoes, pacifist talk and propaganda.” (Daily Worker Washington Bureau) WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 12— An indication that the Senate In- vestigating Committee is ready to get from under the implications of their own official records came yes- terday—before today’s session opened with startlingly foul evi- dence regarding the American De- partments of State and Commerce's active participation in the war- making activities of the munitions makers. The Senate Committee’s nervous- ness was disclosed when chairman Nye (Rep., North Dakota) wrote to Secretary of State Hull, saying that “the Committee deeply regrets that a false impression may have been created, and that statements made by manufacturers’ agents abroad, although believed by them, may be unfounded—and the Committee re- grets that the opinions of these agents seem to have been construed as necessarily reflecting the opinion of the Committee,” which is one way of casting doubt upon the Commit- tee’s own evidence, And one way, too, of saying that, true or not, the evidentce at this time is not neces- sarily sponsored by the Committee. Fellows Secret Confab This unusual procedure followed a two-hour secret confab between Hull and Nye. The Senators’ let- ter was handed out along with a statement by Hull that he believed in the “righteous nature” of the investigation, wh he declared has (Continued on Page 6), i peal to all enrolled Communist inj u i for their Party candidates in he primaries today, Candidates are to be chosen for | City Controller, Judicial, Assembly, Senate and Board of Aldermen places on the Communist ticket, Only citizens who enrolled under the Communist Party emblem in the registration period preceding the elections last Fall are allowed to vote for the Party candidates. Gout the use of flying squadrons, mass picket lines and mass marches be stopped in the tex- tile strike? If they are stopped, what would be the effect on the strike; how would such a decision influence | the chances of victory? If they are to be continued, what must the workers do to protect themselves from the criminal violence of company thugs, local police, state troop- ers and state militiamen? These are burning questions of strategy in the Present nation-wide textile strike, A few days ago Mr. Francis J. Gorman, the U.T.W. strike leader, answered the first question in the affirmative, that flying squadrons and mass marches be stopped, when he ordered the New Eng- Jand workers not to march on Lawrence. He gave as the justification for his order “a desire to avoid violence.” On Tuesday, John Peel, Southern U.T.W. strike director, following the lead of Mr. Gorman, ordered the flying squadrons “to disperse and not resume activity.” As his reason, he gave out the following: “I knew if they did not disperse it meant slaughter, I issued the order because I had every reason to belicve that the flying squadrons would be practically annihilated.” it is clear, both from Gorman’s action against | . A. Hathaway tomorrow evening. The banquet will be held in the Royal Palace, 16-19 Manhattan Avenue, The Blyer workers have announced that they will present a contribution to the election cam- paign fund at the banquet. phatically denied all reports spread by the press that his ship had been ignited by an “international band of radicals” similar to that which the press alleges was responsible for | arson on the Morro Castle. The program for the event in- No Evidence for Charges cludes Martha Stone, candidate in| As for the officers of the _Ward the 14th Assembly District, and|company who started the “incen- Dominick Fliani, Congressional! diary” charges, all questioning has nominee in the Third District, as/| failed to bring from them the speakers. Del, Daily Worker car- toonist, will offer chalk talks. (Continued on Page 2) AN EDI a march on Lawrence and from Peel's statement to the press, that the U.T.W. strike leadership has definitely decided to abandon flying squadrons, mass marches and, naturally following, mass picket lines also. * HAT would be the effect of such a decision if accepted by the striking workers? Clearly, it would stop the spread of the strike immediately. It would be a step backward. It would be just what the mill owners, waiting to re- open their mills, want at this time. Moreover, under the conditions of terror growing in the mill towns, coupled with the growing need for strike relief, and the growth of passivity which such a policy would stimulate among the strikers, it would lead to a break in the strikers’ ranks in many places, with the newly or weakly organized sectors returning to work. It would lead to a gradual wearing down of the workers’ strength and to the defeat of the strike. Particularly in a strike like the present textile strike, where the strike front reaches through a dozen States from Maine to Alabama, when 4,000 or more mills are involved, it is necessary to main- tain the spreading, sweeping character of the strike. The militancy and determination of the workers “This ought to be an effective | lesson for those who said our de-| mands are impossible,” Batty, who} | was called to Washington by Goy-| lernor Winant of New Hampshire, | chairman of the textile “inquiry” board appointed a few days ago by| | President Roosevelt, told newspaper- | | men. He spoke in the presence of | | Special Strike Com. Chairman Fran- | |cis J. Gorman, whose “strike de- | mands” have consistently ignored the | While U. T. W. leaders at Allen- town tried to play down this mili- tant mass action, silk workers ask tions. U. T. W. leaders like Macri refuse to do anything to organize the strike, Nobody knows what mill is going to be picketed until ten min- utes beforehand. No strike com- mittee has been elected. The work- (Continued on Page 2) (Continued on Page 2) HOW TO END BLOODSHED IN THE TEXTILE STRIKE | TORIAL , must be kept at a high level. No scabs must be | permitted to enter the struck mills; neighboring | | mills now operating or which attempt to operate | must be closed down. This is necessary, not only to maintain the effectiveness of the strike, but also to maintain the morale of the strikers. The fighting spirit of the workers can only be | kept up when they are confident that their strike is spreading, that it is gaining strength, that victory | is assured, } The strike involving 500.000 workers, which no longer spreads, which suffers breaks in the strike front, which loses its militancy, which permits itself to be transformed into an endurance contest with | the bosses, is certain to end in defeat for the workers. The Communist Party, therefore, emphasizes the need of spreading the strike until it becomes 100 per cent effective, until every mill in every branch of the industry (cotton, wool, silk, rayon, hosiery, carpets, etc.) is shut down tight. | And the only way by which the strike can be spread, the militancy and determination of the strikers maintained, and victory assured, is by con- | tinuing and further extending the work of flying squadrons, mass marches, and mass picket lines. | The counter policy of Gorman, Peel & Co, is & | policy which would lead to the defeat of the strike, to still further speed-up, and to still greater slavery. workers, in not made by hired then, agents. The workers tions. Fly the leadership embarrassing ques- | The first point is this: The responsibility for the violence rests squarely on the mill own on the local, state and federal authoriti troopers or militia. In every case, in both the Northern and South- ern textile areas, under-world pressed into service by the bosses, and to maintain troopers and militia are called out to disperse the strikers, who are charged with responsibility for the rioting and the violence started by company This has become the recognized strike- breaking technique, | their rights. They have the recognized right (in words) to strike, to assemble, to picket. the right to persuade other workers to join their strike, to aid them in the fight for improved condi- ing squadrons, mass marches and mass picket lines are merely the most effective methods of exercising the rights of the workers. They are the (Continued on. Page 2) Serikene Flay They said they can't find a distribute the paper and compla. that they must get a permit to ete. If they had taken the Daily .T.W. Leader Worker to Saylesville and set %t down among the 1 five minutes the ers would have snetch: I believe that any exp that Comrade Weber, Part; izer, can make is_ insuffi There is no excuse for Pro with 50,000 on strike in the State, making not even an honest cffert to distribute the paper. Such @ state of affairs is inexcusable, In Danville 2) y | By Harry Raymond (Special to the Daily Worker) CHARLOTTE, N. C., Sept. 12. While flying squadron and picket- ing activities were intensified today in face of an increased number of National Guardsmen and deputy | sheriffs, Mrs. Roxie Dodson, presi- dent of Local 2057 of the United Textile Workers Union, moved to make a breech in the splendid strike front. Late yesterday Mrs. Dodson an- nounced to the press that the strike (Special to the Dally Worker) PROVIDENCE, R. I., Sept. 12.— After more than 12 hours of con- tinuous battling against 500 Na- tional Guard troops, several thou- sand textile strikers are now still massed around the Sayles Mill at Saylesville, a few miles from Provi- at Danville, Va., a key textile ci dence, pressing against the clubs in the northern part of the south- | and onets of the National ern strike area, was called off. |Guards. The troops are digging up the streets with picks and erecting barbed wire entanglements across the streets several blocks from the mill. It took the National Guard 12 hours to push the strikers these few blocks. There are now nearly 2,000 guardsmen in the vicinity of the mill. Scores have been injured in the fighting. After deputy sheriffs shot into the thick of the strikers |last evening, seriously wounding a number of strikers, Governor Fran cis Green called out every National Guard unit in the State and 500 ime mediately went into the mill. Mars tial law now rules Saylesville. The order to shoot to kill has been given to the National Guardsmen this af- ternoon. Nine strikers are arrested {and held under $1,800 bail on charges of rioting and other accusas Mrs. Dodson, in arbitrarily call- ing off the strike, No Vote Taken “Local members of 2057, United Textile Workers of America, after |consulting national headquarters today, hereby call off the strike of the Riverside and Dan River mills lat this time due to the activities of members of the National Textile Workers Union (or Communist or- (Continued on Page 2) UT the question still remains: How can the work- “ONS. i ers meet the violence of the mill owners, of Strikers Repulse Guards their hired thugs, police and militia? ; In the all-night fighting, the ei andes pea strikers, with well disciplined acs tion, put out all lights around the mill, stopped autos in the area and forced them to put out all lights opened fire hydrants and manholes in order to disconnect lighting. Ths strikers beat back an attack of the guards, who used not only tear gaz but strong vomit or nausea gas, which makes the victim deathly sick. In the night fighting they |pushed the National Guards back into the mill’s gates. They broke down one gate of the filtration plant of the mill and surged inside | the mill gates before the guardsmen arrived. Following the arrival of the guardsmen in the evening, the strik- lers during the night again and again |repulsed ferccious attacks by the troops. ~ saree | Troops Fire Gas Bombs Heavy fighting occurred in the Moshassuck Cemetery fronting on Lansdale Avenue near the mill. It took the National Guards several s and . The one instance, have attacked police, provocative attacks have been company thugs, riff raff from the “law and order,” the police, from the outset were entirely within They have | (Continued on Page 2).