The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 16, 1934, Page 4

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1934 Switchmen hoped Ot Time Gary Superintendent Stalls Of Electrical W erkers When They Present Demands By a Steel Worker Correspondent Ind. — Fellow Workers. our conditions in the nm Dept. in the U. 8. re The speed-up and this has been go- some time. But now, last lay offs, it’s even is unbearab! ing on for the you workers know, switchmen to be allowed to stop Even though that the switchmen ineers are supposed to have a inch time at any time m. and Ip.m. on the day on the four o'clock to shift, between the hours of 5 to 7 p.m., and on the midnight shift, between 3 and 5 a.m., you can p at that particular time, yardmasters are any too strict, but, rkers know, every engine t is in the yard works for dif- ferent departments, and the flunkies are the real discriminators. There is a pit fgreman, and a labor fore- man, and on top of all this, a general turn foreman, and even the hook-ons are after the switchman. | This gang of maniacs does not care to see an engine stop for 5 or 10 minutes, and that is how the Transportation Dept. is run in this main steel works. Now, fellow workers, on Sept. 14th, the electrical workers from No. 3 and No. 5 open hearths had called all the charging machine operators and the ladie and hot metal crane | Operators together for a minute in the plant's main office, together with the electrical superintendent, demanding an hourly rate of 9) machine operators, and 85 cents per hour for the crane operators. They | demanded this for the reason that | any time a furnace breaks loose or | Men Fired As They | Become Experienced | By a Worker Corr lent WILLIAMSPORT, — Piece workers are told in the morning how much work they must turn out that day. Men carrying iron and pouring are paid 71 to 73 cents per ton, and told how many tons they must carry that day. Experienced men are not em- ployed here, and as they become skilled they are la off or worked out, and unskilled hired in their places. for Luneh the metal goes through the bottom work there is no tonnage for the But what do you think M son, electrical superintendent ced them? He wanted to know if they e e were demanding these rates, or just cause they had no leadership, they “ were fooled when he told them that he was going to write to Pittsburgh ationa about it, to ask the committee of | wage-adjusters. The answer was to | ¥ a come on Friday, Sept. 21, but the | Fellow workers, the only solution for us is through organization and that’s the Steel and Metal Work- = c yee ers Industrial Union And only Br. & We eener. Coerren i‘ then will we be strong enough to de-| PHILADELPHIA, Pa,— Upon the mand wage increases and better initiative of the National Council conditions. Do not take the word | of the Radio and Metal Workers In- of a gang of renegades that stop at | nothing, just to betray us, the work- ers. Join up with the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union. Our office is located at 1985 Broad- dustrial Union—a national conven- tion of radio and metal workers in- dependent unions was held in Cam-| | den, N. J., on Saturday and Sunday, October 6 and 7. At this convention were present 54 regular delegates, representing organized locals in the R. C, A. Victor, Camden, N. J.; Atwater Kent, Philadelphia; Tool and Die Japanese Buying Dogs for War Purposes Steel Workers Urged to | That Is Cover for By a Worker Correspondent NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The manu- facturers, feeling that the unions in the steel and metal industry have | been sufficiently weakened, are using the company union and the yellow dog contract to put over 10 to 15 per cent wage cut, along with further reducing the buying power | of the dollar by having the food and garment trust raise prices. This} does not tell the whole story. Roosevelt is calling for a truce be- tween capital and labor, the same old rotten gag the Hoover adminis- tration tried, and the so-called rep- | resentatives of labor, the pot-bellied | Greens, Lewises, and Wolls, are again rushing to the rescue. The! | top executives of the A. F. of L. are about to promise to hog-tie the mili- tant rank and file to a no-strike | agreement. | We remember the last agreement |in Hoover's term. Did the bosses | keep their promises of no wage- jeuts? Like hell they did. Before the ink was dry on the no-strike, | | no-wage-cut agreement, the bosses | clamped down with a stretch-out, share the work, and wage-cut By a Worker Correspondent Makers local, Philadelphia-Camden | attack that reduced wages in the | area; R. C. A., Harrison, N. J.; In-| Steel and metal industry over 50 ABERDEEN, Wash.—Recent ships | dependent Union of Radio Workers, | Per cent. loading here from the Coastal ports; Greater New York. |for the home ports of Japan have been endeavoring to purchase y German police pups up months of age (8). A recent Jap freighter had about | New Jersey; 30 aboard and were endeavoring to ©UN8 | following organizations: to eight In addition to}. Did the A. F. of L. top leaders |the regular delegates, fraternal del-| keep their agreement in the face of egates were present representing the| this vicious attack? And how! But | the militant Steel and Metal Work- | Instrument Workers Union, New|@rs Industrial Union grew in | York; Tool & Die Makers Club of | Strength and prestige from a small Allied Wood Workers| OTSanization. Months before the} Union (working in radio cabinet | Wage-cuts, up till the present day, plants) Red Lion, Pa. and also 3) We fought the Greens and the whole| LAYOFF MAKES SPEED-UP WORSE ‘Steel Trust Leads | New Attack on Pay Organize Against Truce Wage Reductions ample for the nation, and we must remember that the first attack in} the Hoover administration also hit} the workers in the metal industry, | first through the unorganized, office help, and then on to the produc- tion men. Roosevelt's speech also states that his administration will also eliminate unemployment, how does he intend to do this? Nothing new, just the same old trick Hoover used. The share-the-work plan, three to six men for every job, | @ 16 to 20-hour week or month on| jail rations, or less, No, Mr. President, labor now is/ more experienced in rank and file struggle, and your plan to drive the workers to the same starvation level as Hoover tried to put over we will fight with all our might. Metal) workers, sign pledges to follow the | leadership of the militant unions} in their struggles. Not a penny off | our wages. Send protests to all the A. F. of L. top leadership and Roose- velt. Flood Washington with pro- tests. Sign the pledges to strike in the steel and metal unions if one penny comes off our wages. No stretch-out, no share - the - work plans, Unemployment Insurance for all unemployed workers, no Hitler forced labor camps here. The widest campaign now must be launched} against wage-cuts and for the Work- ers Unemployment Insurance Bill by all the locals of the S. M. W. I. U. The steel and metal trust has an- nounced its intention to cut wages. Labor must not weaken its unions| and unemployed organizations. All | efforts must be put forward to warn) the workers and to sound the alarm buy more when questioned upon the| fraternal delegates from the New| Metal Trust to get back these wage-| through shop-gate meetings and uses of the dogs and the need of! york District of the Steel & Metal cuts. | them they openly replied that “in-| Workers Industrial Union, cents per hour for the charging! side of 18 months there is going to} be war in Siberia and they need them (the dogs),” sibly dog sleds in the north. IN THE By HELE Woman Candidate Is Veteran Labor Leader The editor of the Working Woman Megazine is among the candidates on the New York Communist ticket | for electign; she is Margaret Cowl, candidate for State Senator (12th District). | Born in Brooklyn, N. Y., she at- | tented parochial school as a child. | Her emergence from this religious background into foremost ranks of | revolutionary Sca>| fighters is most | f)'| interesting, and indicative of ef- | fect of Marxian am) ch eoriesona| | wide-awake, ex-| | ploited worker. | | Unable to finish } chool, Margaret | (third of seven | hildren) went to work in a to- bacco factory at For many years the age of 12. she labored at this unpleasant trade, putting in eleven hours daily fer about a dollar and a half a Week. At a wedding, Margaret made the acquaintance of other young people | with whom she and her chums as- | sociated, attending church affairs | and other “respectable” gatherings, | until new acquaintances took them | to a meeting, where young Miss; Cowl heard expounded Socialist | theories, story of the rise of capi- | talism, development of a revolution- | ary working class, and its historic mission, own life and give a new lease on life to human- | ity generally by destroying that | economic stem (which develops ism, bringing chaos and | ‘Within six months Miss Cowl was | an organizer for the Socialist Party! | This was in 1914, just after war had been declared. | Since then Margaret Cowl has had a long education in the revo- | lutionary labor movement. She, | with others, left the Socialist Party becoming h other “left-wing’ elements, a charter membe~ of the Communist Pa: She has spent | years in organizational work among | miners, closkmakers, and textile | workers. | She has been very active in the | League Against War and Fascism, helping to organize women’s com- mittees, which sent delegates to Paris. She is now directing the women's Party. and as stated, is editor of “Working Woman.” Vote for Marzaret Cowl. Vote Communist for a state sys- tem ef adequate old age pensions, | maternity, accident, and disability | insurance and childhood protection | at the expense of the employers and | the government, } work of the Communist | | | r ; received to the credit of Helen Luke in her Social- ist competition with David Ramsey, Jacob Burck, Del, Harry Gannes, | Mike Gold and the Medical Advis- Here Is My Bit Toward the $60,000! ADDRESS NAME HOME N LUKE would | 2-day session, brought out the wor! presumably | ing conditions in their respective Gorman, the Judas of the) textile workers, has already signed | All delegates present, during the|® truce, to hog-tie the textile work- leaflets. Join the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union. Set up broad rank and file organization| | ers for six months. | of organization to meet the attacks | | of the bosses in the radio and metal | shops. Delegate after delegate from | the various territories also exposed the attempts that are being made by the leaders of the American Fed- eration of Labor to destroy the mil- itant independent unions. The con- | vention unanimously passed the fol- | lowing resolutions: Too Young ory Board, drive for $60,000. Quota—s500. Total to date in the Daily Worker | 1—Endorsing Bill H. R. 7598— | as the only Unemployment In- By a Worker Correspondent surance Bill for the workers, 2— | PITTSBURGH, Pa.—The man- Endorsing and pledging full sup- | @gement of Spang Chalfant & Co., port to the movement for the |Inc., of Ambridge, Sharpsburg and organization of the Independent Federation of Labor in the U. S. 3—A resolution to fight for the 39-hour week, with no reduction in pay nor increase in the speed- up. 4—A resolution demanding the immediate unconditional re- lease of Tom Mooney. 5—A res- olution endorsing the League of Can You Make ’Em | Yourself? Send FIFTEEN CENTS (lic) in coins or stamps (coins pre- ferred) for each Anne Adams pat- tern, THIRTY CENTS (30c) for | both. Write name, address and| Struggle against War and Fas- styl number. BE SURE TO STATE} cism, and pledging cooperation IZE. and support. The following telegrams were also decided upon to be sent: 1—To Governor Miller of Ala- bama demanding the immediate un- conditional release of the Scottsboro Boys. 2—To the German Ambas- sador in Washington demanding the immediate unconditional release of Ernst Thaelmann. 3—To the strike Address orders to Daily Worker, Pattern Department, 243 West 17th} Street, New York City. | Etna, with offices in Pittsburgh, has prided | cordial relations existing between it and its employees in the company propaganda spread among the workers in the three mill towns. | How good these relations really ‘are |is shown by the past and recent | dismissal of old and less efficient | men. | During the summer there occurred a short revival in the pipe industry, |making it necessary to hire more |men. However, a slump soon fol- | lowed and the corporation had more help than it could use profitably. The bosses used this as an oppor- tunity to get rid of some of the older workmen. One case in particular was | brought to my notice... An em- itself frequently upon the | committee of the maritime workers | ployee of the Etna plant for thirty | Pledging support in their struggles. | These delegates represented, ex- | atio: cluding the Steel & Metal Warkers| With an acquaintance of his who Industrial Union, 8,164 organized| acted as interpreter he went to the | Workers in plants employing some; Pittsburgh office, where he asked 18,000 workers. All these delegates|to be brought before the general represented officially recognized unions in their shops. A constitution, recognizing the class struggle, dues system, and books were agreed upon. The Con- vention also decided to begin the publication of a monthly paper—to | be known as the Radio & Metal Worker. All delegates enthusiastically | | tive organizations, urge immediate | affiliation of the independent unions to the Radio & Metal Workers In- | dustrial Union, and to build a Na- | tional militant independent union of | the radio workers throughout the |U. SAL | Arrested Three Times, But Force A Permit For Election Meeting By a Worker Correspondent ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A permit | for outdoor meeting on the Election Campaign was refused. The com- rades decided to go ahead with the meeting. The speakers for the meeting were, Wm. Young, Mayor of Platt, Michigan, running for State Rep- resentative; Edla Seppi, candidate for County Office; Guy Miller, : | County Candidate; Ken Woods, Pattern 2048 is available in sizes| member of the Young Communist 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38,| League. 40 and 42. Size 16 takes 2% yards| The speakers were all arrested. 39 inch fabric. |taken to the station, and released Pattern 2049 is available in waist | immediately. They went back to the sizes 26, 28, 30, 32 and 34. Size 2g|SPot where the meeting was being takes 17% yards 54 inch fabric. Iius-| held, and were again arrested and trated step-by-step sewing instruc-| immediately released, and retvraed tions included with each pattern. | to the spot of the meeting. They wore again taken to the station, and | were given a permit to go on with the meeting. This shows that by persistency we can hold meetings. There were eeount | about 200 present at the meeting, fs | and the crowd was very enthusiastic. | Every day of the Roosevelt New Tear off and mail immediately to DAILY WORKER 50 EAST 13th St. | Deal shows the growing need of the Daily Worker. But the Daily | Worker needs $60,000 to be able to deal more fully with the strug- | gles of the working class. Support the Daily Worker! Send your con- | tribution today to the $60,000 drive. New York, N. Y. | pledged to go back to their respec- | | superintendent, and be given a | chance to present his case. However, the “big shot” was not in, accord- | ing to the office workers. | By a Laundry Worker Correspondent NEW YORK.—The so-called gen- | eral strike which was called by Local 810, Laundry Drivers Union (A. F. of LJ, has dtéveloped into a regular sellout. ‘ | The leaders of the local stopped the rank and file drivers from really forcing the general strike in the Bronx and New York. The officials of Local 810 from the very beginning tried to maneuver to stop the drivers. First, the officials flatly refused to issue a leaflet call- ing for a general strike; secondly, the officials refused to allow mass picketing or any mass_ action. Schacter, Socialist President of the local and other officials, split the ranks of the drivers into small groups. All scabs are allowed to operate without hindrance by strik- ers. The officials have capitulated before the police terror and have completely stopped all strike activ- lity, except canvassing customers to stop the bundles, The following laundries are still on strike: The Cashman and Master Laun- dries in the Bronx; in Manhattan: Surprise, World, Sun, Whitehouse, Eagle, Manhattan, West Side, San- itary and Star. The Hudson Laundry and the World Laundry have signed a ten- tative agreement agrecing to the de- mand of the union for $25 a week guaranteed, 15 per cent commission }and $15 a week. | The conditions among the drivers |ta New York offers a splendid op- | portunity for a real general strike. We cen still do it if the following tacties are applied: 1—Organize flying squads of hun- dreds of drivers, 2—The pulling of the large shops first. such as, National, the May- and action committees in all unions This is not only an attack planned | to organize for struggle. The Blue for message carriers and for pos-/ shops and territories, and the need | ®gainst the metal workers. The U.| Eagle leads the attack. | of o S. Steel Corporation sets the ex-| prepare to fight back. We must Too Old To Keep on Job, for Pension After some strong verbal exchange | with these workers who were of the} opinion that the plant management at Etna had the obligation to take charge of this case, the pair re-| turned to Etna and appeared be- fore Mr. Gibson, head of Social Re- lations Department. The official tried to solve the problem for him- self by saying, “Well it’s not my affair, it’s up to the foremen to place any man on the job that he wants,” but seeing that he could not convince them with this feeble argument he tried to divert their attention from their mission by talking about the keen competition in the pipe business and the dif- ficulty of making sound profits in this depression. Mr. Kitkowski’s acquaintance re- plied that they came, not to discuss competition and profits, but the “raw deal” given to the poor em- |in the Atlantic and Gulf ports, | Years, although he had reported! ployee. Mr. Gibson further added |every day his furnace was in oper-/| that this old worker was inefficient , was not put to work. Finally,/ for the present requirements of the corporation which could use men who are strong and efficient, to com- pete with other pipe manufacturers. At this point W. Kitkowski’s inter- | preter said “Too old for work I guess, but too young for the pen- sion” ($12.50 per month). “That is ‘right.” replied Mr. Gibson. Mass Picket Lines Are Needed. To Strengthen Laundry Strike flower, Stancourt, Carolyn and other large laundries. 3—The establishing of mass picket lines before all laundries, 4—The election of a rank and file strike committee chairman, instead of Izzy Massur, petty. racketeer, 5—Immediate establishing of a united front of the industrial union for pulling of the insiders. 6—Setting up relief committees, as the union is practically broke. The officials of Local 810 have re- fused the floor to Sam Burland, Sec- retary of the Laundry Workers In- dustrial Union. At our meetings, however, as the sell-out becomes clearer to the drivers, the resent- ment is growing and a united front may yet be set up. At the time of writing, the Cash- man Laundry, which is the largest on strike, has 30 trucks on the streets without any action being taken by Local 810. The Manhattan Laundry has 19 trucks on the streets and six on strike, with no attempt being made by Local 810 to stop the scabs. STUDENTS REPLACE PULLMAN WORKERS AT LOWER WAGES By a Worker Correspondent CHICAGO, Ill—The Pullman Car Co. constructed a couple of new Stream line trains and had to re- pair several cars. Therefore the company was compelled to rehire some of the workers of which some were high school graduates. After the work was completed the’ old workers were fired and the high school students were kept to run the machines for starving wages. The old workers, for being loyal to the employer and faithful to the Constitution, now receive patriotic but | bean soup and sleep in Roosevelt Hotel. Only 2 of 6 Pipe Furnaces Working By a Worker Correspondent ETNA, Pa—In the plant where I work we just make pipes. We don’t work steady. We have six pipe furnaces, about two of which work. We work one week and are off for another week, sometimes for two weeks. The plants in this district are doing little, and the unemploy- ment is very bad. Starting to- day, the B. & O. railroad is send- ing freights and trains over the Pandle railroad, McKeesport and Pittsburgh, to New Castle. This will remove over 150 men. I get a copy of Fight Against War and Fascism every month. I speak to my friends against war and fascism every chance I can. Pensions Eliminated By Layoffs By a Worker Correspondent CHICAGO, Ill.—At the Interna- tional Harvester Co., here, in the Jast month or two, we workers have been called to the office to be ques- tioned about our length of service. When we came to the office, our names were called, and we were told to sign our names. That was about our length of service. Some of us who were laid off over two years, regardless of how long we worked for the company before, had to sign that we just started as new men, All the years we worked before are no longer counted towards our vacations and pensions. Some of the workers had worked with the company for over 25 years, and now, when the time came to receive their pensions, because they had been laid off just before, they were robbed by the company. Workers, we did not take that time off, the company laid us off. We are not to blame. We must de- mand that these workers be replaced on the books and given credit for the service they spent with the company, and also those workers who have long service should re- ceive the pension, And now a few questions to the representatives who were elected in the company union elections. All of you were elected by us workers to represent us in the company union. Some of you are represent- ing the company, not us. What are you doing in the Works Council? The Company is taking our rights away, as with this pension business, and all of you must fight to de- fend these rights. Some of the workers told you representatives about the company attack on the workers, Representatives, we de- mand that you, as workers, fight for our rights, and also fight for the workers who have 25 years of serv- ice or over to be pensioned off, and given enough money so that the workers will be able to live. Fellow..workers! That's what we are getting from the company union. When we get old, we are out! We must fight against the company union and have a union of our own choice. The workers’ union: The Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union. NOTE: We publish letters from steel, metal and auto workers every industries to write us of their con- ditions and their efforts to or- ganize. Please get these letters to us by Saturday of each week. LETTERS FROM OUR READERS (Because of the volume of letters re- ceived by the Department, we can print only those that are of general interest to Daily Worker readers, However, all letters received are carefully read by the editors. Suggestions and criticisms a welcome and whenever possible are used for the improvement of the Daily Worker. A WEAPON FOR FASCISM Crosby, Minn. Dear Comrade Editor: At the Interdenominational Mis- sionary rally and conference held at Medicine Lake, Minn. a suburb of Minneapolis, during the week ending August 26, the doctrines in the Jewish Protocol were put before the so-called Christian people as facts that are proved by the scrip- tures. The Protocol is supposed to be a plan formulated over the centuries by the Jewish leaders providing for the final domination of the world by Jews. It has been proven time and again as a fake, but we find that the issue has been raised now in @ very appropriate place, as this can be used as the foundation of an anti-Jewish, fascist movement here. The Jews are accused of deliberately fostering the depression on the world so that economic control may be easier for them, as they are sup- posed to have all of the money. It is only a step from this idea to the persecution of the Jews, and the building of a fascist army. It is up to the workers to expose this false doctrine the moment it starts to crop up in the churches. Jewish workers, learn the lesson of Hitler's fascist Germany. Co- operate with the Communist Party, before it is too late, with the work- ers of Christian, Jewish, Moham- medan, of all religions and races, who can in a united effort push the Fascists off the face of the earth. D. R. The Daily Worker can Better Aid Your Struggles if You Build its Circulation, | him; | Tuesday. We urge workers in these | “Shall I Jump Off the Bridge?” Sitting in the editor’s sanctum | reading letters from workers is a fascinating business. One gets a view of conditions throughout the country that probably could not be obtained in any other way. In the same mail will come letters from the South, from the far West, the middle West, from Canada, New England, the Eastern Coast. These letters tell of the insurmountable difficulties workers are having with their health problems. One’s in- dignation is aroused as one reads of worker mothers unable to feed the children they have, caught in an unwanted pregnancy because a capitalistic society and an ignorant church kept from them knowledge of how to protect themselves from pregnancy and now refuse them the relief of abortion; of parents who cannot obtain needed medical help for their children; of workers made ill by specially hazardous work and thrown on the dump heap, or others broken down from over-work and under-rest and nourishment and unable to obtain the advice they need. Of young workers following out their biolog- ical needs and contracting venereal disease from which a capitalistic society has not protected them ana which now provides for them in- adequate treatment. One could go on indefinitely. Now and then letters in striking contrast come in that make us aware of the human qualities that go to make us up. We select ex- cerpts from two of these for today. One from an old revolutionary “war-horse” of 92 years old who is still a war-horse, still full of courage and “rarin’ to go” and ready to face whatever is ahead of the other from a much younger worker discouraged, miser- able and ready to form a Society of Painless Extermination of the Superfluous. Listen to how Comrade I. N. B., Conneaut, Ohio, the man whom 92 years of living has not got down, puts his problem: “I am a boy who goes on the 92d year. I read your advice to the readers of the Daily Worker every day. I ran a tailor shop in New York some time in 1888-89, In that time there was the Knights of Labor, headed by Powderly, but I and old Samuel Gompers wanted to make it over into a Federation of Labor, so we began to issue a four-page paper under the title of The American Union Tailor. I wrote my two pages in Yiddish from the right to the left and Gompers wrote his in English from the left to the right. Gompers took his Eng- lish acquaintances and I took my Yiddish acquaintances to help and we succeeded. Then Gompers went to Washington so he could sell out all the unions to the bosses in wholesale, but our tai- lors’ union went on a big strike. The strike was lost and because all the manufacturers knew me so well, I could not get.a penny’s- worth of work in New York to save my life, so I came to this lit- tle town of Conneaut, Ohio, and opened a tailor shop which my boys run today. “In the little paper mentioned above, I never was dramatic. I tried hard to turn drama into sa- tire. I wanted to make people laugh rather than cry, but now, I, myself, cry all the time! I cry even when I heartily laugh. That is, my eyes run all the time and I feel worse when I read the D. W., but I must read it. I can’t stop reading it as it would seem to me as if I was dead al- ready if I would stop reading the D. W. “Don’t think that I did not try to do everything possible to stop my crying. I used patent-medi- cine eye-baths and. my doctor friends all tell me that my eyes are full of dust, but they can’t stop my crying and it seems as they want me to hire a man with WORKERS’ HEALTH Conducted by the Daily Worker Medical Advisory Board a shovel to clean out the mud from my eyes. “Now if you think you can ad- vise a man of 92 how to stop such a bad habit, please say so. I have confidence in you and may be cured, but if you think there is no help for it, just say that my eyes will stop running when I will be in Hell, I mean, deep un- der the ground. That is Hell! You may have thanks for saying the truth from under my Maza- | voh.” We print this not because Com- rade I.N.B.’s problem is of genera! interest—we will write him per- sonally about that—but to show the “guts” the comrade has, in contrast with another comrade who does not sign his name and who has al- lowed capitalistic society to “get him”: “What do you think of the idea of forming a Society for the Painless Extermination of Super- fluous People, by which I mean neither those whom the capital- ists or the workers consider su- perfluous but rather those who are disgusted with everything (particularly themselves) and yet lack the courage to put an end to it all? “It's easy enough to philose- phize and say that I don’t want to live and if I drown or hang myself it will only be painful about five minutes, while if I continue to live I'll not only feel wretched all the time, but prob- ably will eventually develop rheumatism or some other painful disease and suffer for longer than the few minutes it takes to com- mit suicide, but all this philoso- phizing doesn’t make it any easier to jump off the bridge... . ” The idea proposed by this une known comrade may be amusing but he himself is not to be laughed at. He is terribly unhappy and his unhappiness can be understood. He finds no place for himself. No- where is he wanted. Life becomes merely a physical living from day to day without purpose. And the tragedy of it is that it is all quite true. Not a one of us but has felt it to some degree. Comrade X% is not wanted; there is no place for him; and his life in a capitalistic society has no purpose and can have no purpose that he can justify. But Comrade X, while he would seem to consider himself a comrade in the revolutionary movement, is really thinking in the terms of his life as affected by a capitalistic so- ciety. In these terms hé is right and the society he suggests forming might be justified. But within this capitalistic society there is a reyo- lutionary movement and it is in terms of his relationship to that that he should be thinking. Com- rade X has talents or abilities of some kind. Of that we can be sure. Every individual has. They may not be great but whatever they are they are there. And every talent, and every ability, no matter how small—the comrade can at least write—is needed in @ revolutionary movement. There is a place for him, he is needed, he is wanted, and his life, joined with the lives of other revolutionaries of both great and small talent, can have @ very definite purpose. Before he jumps off the bridge or forms his Society for the Painless Extermina- ~ tion of the Superfluous he should stop fussing about his place in a capitalitic society, for he has none, and attempt to find his place in the revolutionary movement where he has one. If as the result of continued living he develops rheum- atism, the Medical Advisory Board will help him out. And has the comrade considered that if he forms his Society he will have to live in order to run it—so where does that Jes him out? Contributions received te the credit of the Medical Advisory Board in its Socialist competition with Del, Mike Gold, Harry Gannes, Jacob Burck, David Ramsey and Helen Luke, in the Daily Worker drive for $60,000. Quota—$1,500. Total to date $136.18 Alteration Painters Call On Workers To Contribute ENDING in six dollars to the Daily Worker's drive, six members of the Alteration Painters Union, working in the Gurin shop in New York, call upon their fellow painters to follow their example. Another contributor points out that the Daily Worker constantly struggles against the corrupt Zausner machine. Seattle, which so far has been the seat of little activity, takes the lead in today's contributions. Sixty dollars is its total. New York is second. a Received Oct. 18, 1934 3157.13) J. Harto 1 ved 197,344.52 i hs eect ————| total oct. 13, 1994 Total to date $17,501.65 Total to date 41,61 DISTRICT 1 (Boston) DISTRICT 9 (Minnesota) Theo Johnson $1.00) Unit 3, Mt. Iron Unit 05, Ivan Wilson 2.00 ee Goo | Total Oct, 13, 1094 ; t% Total Oct. 13, . i Total to date $901.69 DISTRICT 2 (New York City) $5.00 Jacob Fradin $1.00 Galinsky J J snow 30 A friend 1.00 | Total Oct. 13, 1934 35.00 ‘Anonymous 2.99 Cohen -25| Total to date $25.10 Anonymous 1.00 Prospect Club 1.55 DISTRICT 1), (No, Dakota) Coll by Gurin of J Burach 1.00 Pin, Wkrs Ped, LF Dibble 1.00 Painters Union x¥ 1.00) Vandalia, Wd Husa 1.00 Lifshitz 1.99 A Hopchurd 1.00] Mont. $2.00 I Issaacson 1.00 Klein 1.00 Abe Fares 5.00 Schank 25 Chas Hill 100 Grimberg 1.00 L Marsh 1.00| 3oll. by. Rose A FP Husa 30 Starr ten J. Diclewick Simanich 2.35 J.: P "Husa 30 Bryer 1.00 collection 10.30 Total Oct. 12 1934 60, Total Oct, 13, 1934 $32.60 | Total to date $21.60 Total to date $8,000.71 DISTRICT 12% (Seattle) DISTRICT 4 (Buffalo) Sec 1 $5.60 Astoria Finn. District $20.00 | Anacortes Sec 10.00 Club 2.76 Pt Angeles 10.80 Taft, Ore: Total Oct. 13, 1934 $20.00 | Astoria 20.75 Women's C. 5.00 Total to date 175.67 | Aberdeen. 4.50 Astoria Finn. 1.00 - DISTRICT 7 (Detroit) F Shepard, Grand Rapids Total Oct. 13, 1984 $1.50 J Gebert, Grand Rapids P Rinkevich, Grand Rapids 28 Total Oct. 13, 1934 $2.00 Total to date $683.09 DISTRICT 8 (Chicago) M Welle $1.00 25| Total to date DISTRICT 19 (Denver) A O Herring Denver Sec Total Oct. 13, 1934 915.98 Total to date $256.32 et