The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 21, 1934, Page 3

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1934 Page 3 _ Chicago Conference Maps Plans for Huge March Relief Slash Withdrawal Is Main Demand Delegates Vote To Rally Members For Saturday Demonstration CHICAGO, Nov. 20.—A total of 437 delegates, representing 273 or-| ganizationns with a membership of more than 65,00, met at the united front conference at Mirror Hall last >‘urday, and unanimously voted to organize a gigantic dem- onstr g . and parade on Saturday, Nov. to force the Illinois Emer- gency Relief Commission to imme- diately withdraw the sweeping re- let it put into effect on No- vember 1. In addition to the demand for the withdrawal of the 10 to 35 per cent relief slash, the conference voted an eleven-point program of de- mands, which include the follow- ing: Enactment of the Workers’ Un- employment Insurance Bill, weekly cash relief of $8 for single persons, $13 for a family of two and $3 for each dependent, recognition of all committees at the relief stations, for an extensive system of public works to include building of sub- ways, workers’ homes, schools and Playgrounds with union wages and conditions; for the unqualified right of organization, against eviction and foreclosures, against discrimi- nation of the Negro people, youth and foreign-born; all war funds to be used for unemployment relief. One of the largest single delega-~ tions was from the unions of the A. F. of L. with thirty delegates representing a membership of 15,290 workers in seventeen union locals. Other organizations represented at the conference were forty-eight branches of the Unemployment Councils, twenty-nine locals of the Chicago Workers’ Committee on Unemployment, twenty locals of the usjions of the Trade Union Unity League and independent unions. The Pilgrim Baptist Church (Ne- gro) with 8,000 members, was also represented, as was the Scandina- vian Workers’ Unity League with a membership of 11,000. The Commu- nist Party and Young Communist League were officially represented, as were two locals of the Socialist Party and a circle of the Young Peoples Socialist League. The conference elected Frank McCollough of the Chicago Work- ers’ Committee on Unemployment as chairman, with A. Guss of the Unemployment Counciis and Edw. Doty of the American Consolidated Trades Council as the vice-chair- men, The secretaries of the confer- ence were Elmer Johnson of the Chicago A. F. of L. Rank and File Committee for Unemployment In- surance and Relief, and Simon Tro- jer of the Chicago Workers’ Com- mittee on Unemployment. Reports were given by Karl Dockner for the Unemployment Councils and Paul Herman for the Chicago Workers’ Committee on Unemployment. Bill Gebert, district organizer of the Communist Party, received a tremendous ovation from the dele- gates when he made a pledge for full mobilization of the Party be-| hind the march and demands and pointed out that the militant fight- ing united front, fighting today for immediate demands, will lead to- ward the struggle against capital- ism, for the overthrow of capital- ism, for a workers’ government. A. Guss read a telegram received from Herbert Benjamin o* the Ar- rangements Committee for the Na- tional Congress for Social and Un- employment Insurance in Wash- ington, on January 5, 6 and 7, which urged the election of delegates in all organizations, stating that the reason no proposal was made at this conference to endorse the Washing- ton Congress is because a number of organizations, especially the Chi- cago Workers Committee on Unem- ployment, are not ready at this time to endorse the Washington Con- gress. A delegation of fifty has been elected to go to the City Council meeting tomorrow at 2 p.m, at the City Hall, demanding a permit for the march, The conference likewise appeals to the workers of Chicago to ¢ome en mass to the City Hall on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Although the Jewish Trade Union Federation endorsed the conference and donated $15 for the prepara- tions for the march, they sent no delegates to the conference. Likewise, the Cook County Ex- ecutive Committee of the Socialist Party, which endorsed the march and conference, seat no official delegates to the conference and only two locals of the Socialist Party and one circle of the Young People’s Socialist League officially sent dele- gates and participated in the de- liberations of th. conference. The ist Party, McDowell, spoke at the conference, not in the name of the Socialist Party, but as a member of the Chicago Workers’ Committee on ent. In the closing remarks, Karl Lockner, Communist candidate for mayor in the Spring, 1935, elec- tions, and outstanding leader of the unemployed in Chicago, made a stirring appeal to the delegates, urging mobilization for the demon- stration next Saturday, and de- clared that the demonstration and parade will take place, permit or no permit. This was enthusiastically greeted by the delegates ‘The march will begin on Satur- day, November 24, 10 a.m. sharp, from the following points: North- west Side from Union Park, Ogden and Randolph Streets, and the South Side from Twenty-second and Wentworth Streets, and pro- ceed to the City Hall and the Illi- nois Emergency Relief Commission at 1319 South Michigan Boulevard. Mass Railroad Layoffs Hit Workers in Chicago ry Northwestern Road | though those now ati full =:|Philadelphia Pleads Economy in Firing Men CHICAGO, Il, Nov. 20. — The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad has again initiated a campaign of mags layoffs of shopmen, mainten- ance, and other workers. It is ru- mored that this attack of the com- pany is due to the fact that the government, which has loaned them over $30,000,000 which has been used to pay dividends and interest on their highly watered stock, de- mands a drastic efficiency program before it will grant them money for wages to take care of the equipment which has already been neglected to the point where the safety of both passengers and employes is endangered. These layoff econo- mies can only be effected through intensifying the speed-up and by violations of the working agree- ments. Since the first of November the road, which had called some men back to work has day after day posted new layofis till the shops and round houses are working with minimum crews. Forces Reduced At Proviso the force is reduced to about the minimum Sunday schedule. At the Chicago Ave. roundhouse a new layoff of 57 added to the past layoff of 16 makes over 70 machinists, boilermakers, pipe fitters, laborers and helpers cut off. At the Crawford Ave. shops in ad- dition to the large layoffs of the first of the mont hsome 119 were cut off on Wednesday, November 14th. The Galena roundhouse was closed one day, gatemen are reported laid off; the Ravenswood General Of- fice has laid off 80; entire section gangs have been laid off, and at other points only the foreman and one man kept on; while at the Chicago depot station employes are being cut off despite the pick-up of work, which begins at this time of the year and lasts till Christmas. The same drastic cutting off is tak- ing place at Omaha, Madison, Mil- waukee, and other points. These layoffs find the equipment already dangerous from neglect and past layoffs. The operating department, which has not been so hardly hit in the past, is not being hit and will suffer much more in the future if the economies are put over. Two sub- urban runs have been taken off the Galena division. A gas motor has been put on the Freeport run. Omaha trains Nos. 5 and 21 are being doubled up. Trainmen, engine- men and switchmen are thus being affected and will also become victims of the proposed economies. “Sharing the Work” At some places meetings have been called to discuss “Sharing the work.” This has occurred at Craw- ford Ave .and at Chicago Ave. Some of the workers have been won to this program of general starvation By HARRY YARIS ! The five years of crisis have been productive of devious schemes and) patent-medicine cures for the pre- vention of future catastrophes. | Just as quack doctors spring up| and thrive during an epidemic, so have the ‘economic and political quacks, fakirs and what-nots thrived and grown fat upon the misery of the past years. Lately a “New Messiah” has ap- peared upon the scene—Dr. F. E. } Townsend. As the originators of many other utopian schemes, EPICS, etc., he comes from the State of California, home of many a faker and charlatan. His scheme is known as the Old Age Revolving Pensions, which at present is get- ting considerable publicity, and has even acquired a following. Alleged Aid to Aged The plan proposes to take all people over the age of 60 out of productive work and supply them with $200 a month. The only con- dition for receiving this stipend is that the entire $200 must be spent every month. Quite a seductive proposal, and the simple-minded are beginning to fall for it. The plan itself is a-great deal more ambitious than it appears to be at first glance. Pensioning of the aged is only a means to an end. The end, in the words of Dr. Town- send, is: 1—Do away with unemployment. 2—Do away with crime. 3—To bring back prosperity. 4—To abolish poverty. 5.—To cause greedy accumulation to disappear. Just a slight examination of the economic and political theories and philosophy of Dr. Townsend will show that they have about the same possibility of realization as the theories of the biblical “Mes- siah.” No Criticism of Capitalism The O. A. R. P. (as the Town- send Plan is known) has no criti- cism to make of capitalism. On the contrary, the plan depends upon the continued existence of capital- ism. “The plan interferes in no way with our present form of gov- ernment, profit system of business or change of specie in our economic set up.” (Dr. Townsend). This statement is the basis of the utopianism of all phases of the plan. Without doing away with | capitalism, none of the things the Plan professes to want can be achieved. | Because of its faith-in capital- ism, the O. A. R. P. has been em- cannot properly care for their fami- lies. There are others who, while opposed to the “share-the-work” are opposed to any action. For in- stance at different times the Four- Point Program has been discussed at the meetings of the Local Board (Crawford Avenue) but so far this has been all and no action has been taken by the board, though all of the lodges involved have been hit by the cutting. This opposition to any action at all is serving the pur- pose of demoralizing the men and splitting their ranks, which is just what the company desires, and whill if persisted in will enable them to put over their full econ- omy program at the expense of the | men, There is strong sentiment among the men for action but this is at present unorganized. The drive for economy and efficiency a la com- peny ideas will speed up the men and result in more layoffs and fur- ther violations of the agreements. To combat the moves of the com- pany the Railroad Brotherhood’s Unity Movement on the C. and N. W. is proposing a Four-Point Pro- gram as follows: (1) A six-hour day, thirty hour week, with no reduction in monthly earnings. (2) Stopping of the speed up through control of distribution of work by local committees and an organized slow down on the job. (3) Establishment of relief com- mittees in every lodge to immedi- ately demand relief for all laid off men from the relief commission and to demand that the company sup- plement the “minimum subsistence budget” of the commission by the payment of a cash compensation during each month of lay-off and the retention of passes by all who hold seniority. (4) Demanding the adoption of the Workers’ Unemployment and Social Insurance Bill, which pro- vides average wages to all unem- ployed with a minimum of $10 for each unemployed worker and an additional $3 for each dependent. As a means of organizing the fight to enforce the above Four-Point Program it is proposed that every member of all lodges constitute themselves a committee of the rank and file to push the Local Board delegates into action and to sup- port them when they do act to present demands and stop violations of their agreements. Our working conditions depend on the interpretation and enforce- ment of our working agreements. | The favorable interpretation of the agreements in turn depends upon organized rank and file vigilance and pressure. SOVIET FILM IN HAMTRAMCK HAMTRAMCK, Mich., Nov. 20.—| “Sentenced to Health,” Soviet film, will play at Yemans Hall, 3014 Ye- mans St. Monday, Nov. 26th 8 p.m. |mained in the shop. They received for a meeting place. 15c. |their pay checks after a five-hour | financial aid is already coming to (One showing only) Adm. Benefit for the Daily Worker. number of defenders of capitalism, from Mrs. Roosevelt, wife of the President, to Governor Merriam in California, who sees in this plan a safe way of counteracting the mass demand for social insurance. In its publicity, O. A. R. P. claims that thousands of business men are sup- porting the plan and that Wall Street is betting six to one that the plan will become law by January. Why should the business men not support tem, and even if it were to go into effect the burden of paying for it would be on the shoulders of the wide mass of workers and farmers, Sales Tax Robbery Since there are some 8,000,000 people past the age of 60 who would be eligible to receive this pension, the sum needed for the first month’s pension would be around $1,600,000,000. The O. A. R. P. pro- peses to raise this large sum by a 10 per cent sales tax, since such a tax is “the only fair system of taxa- tion,” and everybody should “be compelled to carry his share of the costs just in proportion to his abil- ity to do so; that is in proportion to his ability to spend money.” The sales tax is the hope of every capitalist in these days, for in it he sees the possibility of decreas- ing his share of taxation by re- ducing taxes on incomes and prop- erty and spreading the burden among the wide mass of consumers, the workers and farmers. Such a tax would mean that the workers and farmers would have to pay the greatest part of the money raised for this pension. The talk about it being “in proportion to ability to spend” is so much nonsense. The worker can spend only so much— his wages, if he has a job—and such a scheme would see that he would pay a tax on every cent he earns, because he must spend it all. The capitalist, on the other hand, spends only part of his income, and an- other part is accumulated, re-in- vested in industry, used for specu- lation, or placed away for safekeep- ing in banks, etc. The capitalist, whose ability to spend is propor- tionately much greater than the amount he does spend, would have to pay a tax only on what he spends, not on his entire income. Is it any wonder that this plan re- ceives the support of the capitalist? The sales tax means increased bur- dens and lower living standards for the worker and lower taxation for the capitalist. The Townsend Plan proposes a were not very severe, interest rates/|talism and his inability to sce the braced and endorsed by a large/ sales tax as high as 10 per cent.| were not high, and a gzeat deal of | crisis as a normal phase in capitalist it? The plan offers no_ danger to their beloved profit sys- | Jobless Act ‘On Relief Cuts) PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Nov. 19.— A series of city-wide mass meetings | and actions have been called by the | Unemployment Councils here to} fight the new starvation budget sys- | tem put into effect here on Nov. 14.| In the Kensington section, the Unemployment Councils are issuing Ithaca Relief "Daily’ Drive Quota Strikers Plan Flying Squads | Women and Students Picket Bureau ITHACA, N. Y., Nov. 20.—Plans for the continuation of a mass picketing were made Saturday night by a strike meeting of more than} been out on strike since last Thurs- | day in protest against a 20 per cent} wage cut and the layoff of 350 work- | ers. Flying squadrons of Negro| and white relief workers were as- signed to projects where the walk} out has not been complete. | Spread Rapidly | leaflets and mobilizing. the neigh- | the relief station at Amber and| Wishart Streets on Friday, Nov. 30, | at 10 am. to demand that the| clothing and blankets which the | | welfare department has stored in| warehouses be distributed to the} needy. On the evening of Nov. 30, work- | ers will gather at Lithuanian Hall, Tilton and Allegheny Avenue, at a mass public hearing on the welfare department. Representatives of the Welfare Department, local City Councilmen, and leaders of the Un- employment Council will speak. In West Philadelphia the Councils | are mobilizing for a public hearing on relief to be held Thursday, Nov. 29, at 8 pm., at 4901 Thompson Street. Doctors and nurses will testify in behalf of the workers families on the relief lists. On Dec. | 7, at 2 p.m., workers in West Phila- delphia will assemble at the relief | station, 3110 Market Street, demand- ing Winter clothing and increased relief. | The five locals of the Unemploy- ment Councils in South Philadelphia are mobilizing for a mass ‘public hearing on relief to be held Thurs- day, Nov. 29, at 8 p.m. Everett Cannery Girls | Force Pay by Strike EVERETT, Wash., Nov. 20.—Mil- itant action forced the C. & H. Packing Company here to abandon their plan of withholding the pay of 400 girl employees until their! steck of canned goods had been sold. Members of the Fishermen and | Cannery Workers Industrial Union | formed a committee and after con- sultation with the workers in the plant issued a strike call after the plan was announced. | The employers tried to counter jan hour earlier than the time an- {nounced for the strike. The work- ers, however, quit work at the hour | The strikers’ representative, | bankers and business men’s organi- 'the strike move by a lockout set for | zations are united to break the | The strike movement developed | ministration slashed wages from the fifty cent rate to forty cents an hour. The wage slash was put through when only two members| of the three man committee weze present. One member voted against | the wage cut, and the only appro- ving vote came from David Perry, general manager of the Morse| Chain Co., at which plant forty} cent hourly wages are in effect. This obvious attempt by big busi- ness to drive still lower the wages both, in the shops and on the relief jobs was clearly exposed by the strike leaders. Morse Chain Co. workers are now discussing strike} action against the low wages and! speed up. The most recent scheme of the relief officials to break the strike} was the setting up of a grievance} committee to hear the question.} Sam Abbott, communist candidate for| Congress in the last elections, was| refused recognition as the represen- tative of organized labor, and the | building superintendent of city buildings was arbitrarily chosen, The workers answered this maneu- ver, which was put over by the banker-administrator, William A. Boyd, of the First National Bank of Ithaca, who picked the committee, by refusing to have anything to do with the sell-out scheme. Mass Picketing Mass picketing of the relief bureau and the relief jobs continues with women and students adding their numbers to the striking relief work- | ers. A second march is being) planned by the men following the mass march on the relief bureau) last Friday, when the workers’ com- | mittee met with the relief official Oakley. Permission for the march | has»been wrung from Mayor Smith, who had previously refused to allow meetings. Local politicians, industrialists, | strike by refusing to grant the strikers a meeting place. Plans are now being made to set up a large announced for the lockout, but re- ‘wait. would be far from sufficient to raise the first $1,600,000,000. The, sales tax bases itself on total sales. To raise that sum monthly, with a tax rate of 10 per cent, sales must average about $16,000,000,000 | monthly, or $192,000,000,000 a year, | a sum which cannot even be vis- | ualized under present conditions. | In 1928, which was better than ay- | erage, the total sales were only $46,000,000,000, or about 23 per cent of what is necessary to raise the sum needed for Townsend Plan Pensions. Even if the entire national in- |come, and not sales alone, was | taxed the rate would have to be | over 20 per cent to reach the sum | needed. Total sales would have to | be four times greater than they are | before the proposed tax would raise the necessary fund for the | first month of the Townsend Old | Age Pension. Such a rise is im- | Possible under capitalism, since, through low wages and permanent | unemployment, the tendency is to- | ward limiting rather than increas- ing the growth of sales. If the tax were lowered to five per cent, as some supporters of O. A. R. P. advocate, the possibility of making that plan work would | become still more doubtful. The whole purpose of the Town- | send Plan is to increase the volume | of business by increasing the amount of money in circulation. This is more or less similar to the theories of Roosevelt. However, the desired result does not always fol- low. Despite the rising volume of expenditures of the government, the volume of business has not been | rising, and for the past few months it has even been falling. Inflationary Character Placing more money in circula- tion, aS proposed by the plan, | would mean the introduction of in- flationary measures and a rise in| prices. No amount of argument will prevent a rise in prices in the event | that monthly expenditures of the government are increased by the issuance of $1,600,000,000 of new money. Inev2ased prices, rather than helpizz to increase the vol- ume of business, will have the | tendency of limiting consumption, | |and, therefore, limiting production. | cause of the crisis. The exact opposite was the case! in 1929. The restrictions on credit | | Germany during its period of post- jvital problem of our society, but ‘profitable to prevent consumption by destruction of foods and natural ,goods produced, and this problem |interest of the toiling masses, this | tent upon a lot owned by a worker Food and Will Be Fulfilled, Says Dakota Leader Help Strikers Mass | eaeeailinke Calls On North-West Workers To Collect Daily Wo The End o Calling upon the district to carry |300 relief workers here who have|OUt the decision of the Central Committee by completing its quota before the end of the month, Kay Heikkila, Communist Party District Organizer of North Dakota, yester- day declared that North Dakota's $250 quota is “not too great to ful- fill.” “While the North Dakota-Mon- tana district has been in the heart of the drought area,” his full state- borhood for a demonstration before |rapidly when the local relief ad- | ment read, “with the crops burned out and the masses of toilers on relief, we feel that the District quota of $250 is not too great to fulfill. At the same time we realize that many of the outlying units (some are 1,200 miles from the District office) have not been mo- paign as they should have been in order to put it over the top. Many have reported lately that they have collected funds and are sending them in. “The District Committee calls upon every unit to immediately send in all funds raised for the ‘Daily’ and exert every effort to fill our quota before the drive ends. Especially in this widely scattered area is the Daily Worker of the utmost importance as an organizer and propagandist. addition to raising funds for the ‘Daily’ we call upon the units to begin establishing the reading of the Daily Worker for educational work in order that the members learn more of the Party. “Comrades, we must go over the top in the drive before Dec. 1 and then begin the spreading of the ‘Daily’ throughout the Dis- trict to every town and village.” Chicago Section Has Plan In Chicago, the Buro of Section 4 has developed a plan of getting the lagging units in its territory into action. Chief among the points is an emergency committee of two which will work with every such unit. The tasks of this com- mittee will be the following: 1—To see that every sympa- thizer or business man in the territory of the Unit is visited or approached for donation. 2—To find a member or sym- pathizer who is willing to arrange in his or her house a card, bunco the Daily Worker. 3—To place one or more of the punch boards in the hands of some one who is willing to do some work for the Daily Worker. Don’t limit yourselves to Party members only. “These steps apply especially,” the support of the strikers. It is an example that may well bilized for the Daily Worker Cam- | In | rker Fund Before f November be followed by other throughout the country. From the Hill section of the Pitts- burgh district, which has already raised 75 per cent of its $275 quota, comes a call to every other section in Pittsburgh to take emergency measures to raise their quotas on | time. In this section, six units have already gone over the top. The Jewish organizations in its territory have already completed 70 per cent of their allotment. Newark Section Challenges In New Jersey, the Newark sec- tion, which has already completed 139 per cent of its quota, challenges | all other sections, particularly Hud- son County, to beat it before Dec. 1 It promises to mobilize the whole Party membership for the Daily sections Nov. 24 and 25. | Less than ten days remain to Dec. 1. The examples of activity throughout the country if the drive is to end successfully at the time set by the Central Committee. Not | one district must let up in its work. Ship Owners | Foree ‘Fink’ Halls in West SEATTLE, Wash., Nov. 19. — Northwest ship owners refuse to ‘carry out the settlement award of the longshoremen’s arbitration board and insist that the men hire out only through the “fink” halls, although joint hiring halls were de- |cided on, | In Everett several ships left port without cargo, thus locking out the workers who refuse to register with jthe blacklisting agency of the jbosses. Finally, unable to get work- ers through their own hiring hall, the employers have agreed to abol- jish the “fink” hall and there is a conference now between workers and employers for arranging a joint hiring hall. The Seattle officials of the union propose a do-nothing or any other kind of a party for (policy, but the rank and file looks| to San Francisco where militant leadership is challenging this at- tempt of the employers to try again to smash the union. Led by the Marine Workers In- dustrial Union, the Juneau, Alaska, llongshoremen won 85 cents per the announcement of the section, “to winning the International Long- | test Seainst it. rf Units 407, 408, 409, 411, 416 and 419.” shoremen’s Association rate and to-| Of the authorities of the city of wards unity along the coast. ties of investment. | broke in 1929, The loosening up of | credits will not alleviate the dilemma which capitalist industry finds itself | in—excess capacity in the face of a nrarowing market—but will tend rather to deepen this predicament by increasing industrial capacity. Increasing the amount of money in circulation will increase con- sumption and “consumption of the products of the farm and factory | is the vital problem now facing our} nation.” All inflationists use the/ above argument, and the example of war inflation is a good example of | its falseness. The amount of money in circulation there increased tre- mendously, but consumption de- creased steadily as the cost of living rose because of inflation. Ignores Basis of Crisis It is not consumption which is the production and the relationships which have sprung up around the system of production. The problem of consumption could readily be solved if the limitations placed upon the development of consumption were abolished. It is the private appropriation of the goods produced socially that prevents the consump- tion of the product of American farms and factories. Capitalism is production for profit and it is more resources, thus creating an artificial scazcity and high monopoly prices and profits, than to allow lower prices which would mean increased consumption. Abolish capitalism, thus, making it possible for the millions who today suffer for the lack of the} necessities of life to consume the would be solved. But under capital- ism, any solution of this problem is impossible. In the Soviet Union, where in- dustry is run by the state in the} problem has been -solved. Instead of production for profit, there is production to satisfy the needs of the masses and to build up socialist industry. As a result, it has been possible to institute planning, and overproduction — that plague of rising living standards. ! Linked up with his faith in capi- nius” for the widespread unemplo} ment and surplus of products, However, it is not the inventors nor their machines which are responsi- | ble for unemployment, but the use to which these are put under capi- | talism. It is because of the failure to understand this that we have such proposals as that made by Sir Josiah Stamp, leading British capi- talist, to declaze a moratorium on inventions. It is but another sign of the decadence of capitalism. At no other time in history and in no other country, has there been such a great development of inven- tive creation and growth of indus- trialization at such rapid pace, as at present in the Soviet Union. However, these conditions, strangely enough, do not cause either a sur- plus of workers or of products, but rather a shortage of both. The shortage of goods is only temporary, arising out of the necessity rapidly to industrialize the country and from the backwardness of the country when it was taken over from Czarism. Every new machine installed, every new factory opened is helping to overcome this shortage. Under capitalism, machines in- crease production and cheapen the output, thus creating competitive advantages for the individual indus- trialist; they displace labor in order to cheapen production costs, thus making possible the realization of larger profits; they intensify the labor process and thereby increase the surplus value wrung from the workers; the increased output re- sulting from greater use of ma- chinery takes place in face of a narrowing market; the socially pro- duced commodities are privately appropriated, creating the condi- tions which lead to overproduction. In the Soviet Union, these condi- tions are lacking and therefoze the result is different. Will Give No Benefits The Townsend Plan, because of its implicit faith in capitalism, cannot, therefore, achieve those things in which it professes to believe. Even if capitalism would like to do away with unemployment in its present sharp form, it would never agree to the complete abolition of unemploy- ment, which in any event is im- | The whole theory of Townsend is |capitalism—is impossible. Planning | possible under capitalism. A reserve |in accord with the belief that re-|in the Soviet Union does not result} army of unemployed is a necessity striction of credit was the chief |in limitation of production, but in| f apitalism in order to make pos- | steadily increasing production and/sibie any further expansion of in-| dustry, and in order to use unem- ployment as a threat against the employed workers, to lower their wages and to increase their hours. CAN THE TOWNSEND OLD AGE PENSION PLAN WORK?| But even this relatively high tax; money was idle for lack of possibili- | development, Dr. Townsend blames | Capitalism derives too great a profit | Yet the crisis|the “machine” and “inventive ge-j|from unemployment to agree to its | of attorneys, literature, etc., call for complete abolition. The Townsend Plan stoops to the vilest sort of chauvinism in its efforts to peddle its pro-capitalist ideology. The Plan proposes that the pension apply only to “Ameri- cans”; and non-citizens, or the un- dentally or otherwise may survive past the age of 60 would not be eligible for this Pension. Since the sales tax which is to raise the money for this Pension is to be uni- versal, the foreign-born workers, of whom there are still many millions in the U. S, are to have the privilege of paying this tax while not receiving any benefits from it. Benefits of Workers Bill Despite the fallacies and unfeasi- bility of the proposed Townsend | Old Age Pension Plan, the necessity of making provisions for the “old” workers is becoming increasingly jurgent. The development of ration- | alization and speed-up in capitalist industry is prematurely aging the workers, and today workers only past 40 are considered too old to work in many industries. The re- sult is that fewer gray and bald | heads are seen among the working class. The provisions to care for these men and women are outlined in the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill (H.R. 7598). This Bill provides that those who are too “old” to find employment in industry should receive benefits regardless of whether they are foreign born or native born. Both foreign and native-born workers have contributed to building up the wealth’ of this country, have been equally exploited in the mines, mills and factories, and should therefore share equally in any sys- tem of sccial insurance. The Bill jopposes any such scheme as the sales tax, which would throw the burden upon those who can least carry it—the workers and farmers— and would exempt the rich. It op- poses any contributions by the work- ers and demands, instead, that the necessa>y funds be raised through increasing the taxes on the higher incomes and properties, plus con- tributions by the government. It Proposes not a 10 per cent sales tax but a tax on the wealth of the millionaires like Ford, Rockefeller, Mellon, Morgan, and the like. In that way, the fund needed for social jimsurance could easily be raised without increasing the already heavy burden carried by the workers and the poor, Worker Tag Days in the district, | |cited above must be multiplied | lucky foreign-born worker who acci- | |Anti- Fascists | Ask for Aid rom Prison Are Held In Boston for Demonstration at Nazi Ship BOSTON, Mass., Nov, 20—From prison cells, the 16 young workers and students fe appeal will be heard next y, Nov. 20, in the Suffolk Superior Court in this city, have sued the following appeal to the entire working class to rally to the fight against fascism and for the rescue of its imprisoned opponents: “Those of us who followed the course of the trial last May will re- call that the Nazi cruiser Karlsruhe came over from Germany at the behest of Hitler to act as Nazi propaganda in line with his deter- minated attempts to win mass sup- port in this country for his murder regime. The thousands of workers and students who demonstrated in City Square, Charleston, in the name of the oppressed German workers and persecuted intellectuals and Jews effectively neutralized any Nazi propaganda value Hitler may have expected to derive from this | visit of the Karlsruhe. City Officials Ordered Attack “Tt will also be recalled that the demonstration was finally broken up by unprecedented police brutal- ity with mass arrests, which were afterward proved in court to have been done by direct orders of the |city authorities of Boston. The | tremendous student participation in | this demonstration indicated clearly | the rising anti-Fascist sentiment in | the student bodies of the schools jand colleges of Boston. Savage |sentences of from six to eight months in jail at hard labor were jmeted out to the Karlsruhe de- | fendants, this initiating a deter- | mined and concerted drive on the part of the authorities to quell the growing anti-Fascist sentiment with | Fascist methods. “The Karlsruhe case was only the opening gun for the dealing out of | sentences equally vicious to anyone | who dared to resist actively in any way the spread of Nazi propaganda in Boston and vicinity. We cite notably the cases of the seven workers and students who are now serving sentences of six months at |hard labor for daring to demon- strate against the opening of the doors of Harvard to Hitler’s chief | propaganda agent, Hanfstaengl. | Ask Funds for Defense | “The appeals of the Karlsruhe | defendants come up now at a time when the drive to stamp out all opposition to Nazi propaganda is in | full sWing. All sincere opponents of | Hitler and the reactionary, bloody program that he stands for, are | urged to rally to the defense of those arrested workers and stu- is hour. This is a further step towards | dents who dared to voice their pro= The ruthless drive Boston must be met with a wave of protest in the form of letters, tele- grams, resolutions to District At- torney William J. Foley, Pemberton Square Court, Boston, Mass. “The campaign for the freedom | of the Karlsruhe defendants is very | sorely in need of funds. The sub- poenaing of city authorities to the trial, the court expenses, expenses | the immediate support of all those | opposed to the spread of Fascism, | Send all contributions to the Karls | ruhe Defense Fund, care of the In- | ternational Labor Defense, 12 Haye | ward Place, Boston, Mass. ‘INTERNATIONAL’ SUNG IN CHURCH s SEATTLE, Nov. 20.—For the first |time in Seattle's religious hisory |the “International” has been sung |in church! It happened last Sun- day at Rey. Fred Shorter’s Church | of the People as part of the Armise | tice anti-war service. AFFAIRS FOR THE DAILY WORKER Philadelphia, Pa. Thanksgiving Eve Dance, Wed., Now 28 at State Dance Hall, 20th ane Market Sts. Good Dance Orchestra. Come in costume. Prizes for best costumes. | Chicago, Ill. Gala Dance and Entertainment, Sate urday, Nov. 24. Workers Lyceum, 2733. Hirsch St. Auspices: Wigging Br. ¥.C.L. 9 and C.P, 512. Gala Affair and Dance given by Rus= sian Organizations on Saturday, Nov. 24 at Douglas Auditorium, Kedzie and Ogden Aves. Affair-given by Unit 302 and 309 af 2817 Clifton Park Ave. Saturday, Nov. 24th. Refreshments, dancing. Dance given by Sec. 11 ©.P. Stocks yard Section, Sunday, Nov. 25, a6 322 E. 43rd St. 9 p.m. Adm. 15¢. Affair given by Russian Organizas tions, Saturday, Nov. 24 at Peoples Auditorium. Newark, N. J. : House Part: n by LW.O. Br. 512 at 111 So. ve St., Irvington. Sun= v. 25 at 6 p.m. Real turkey dinner will be served. Adm, 2S¢, House Party at home of Estelle Hoff | man, 321 Lestie St., Sunday, Nov. 25. Concert and entertainment, Sundéeg, Nov, 18 at 162 Lincoln Pl, Garfield. Concert and Entertainment given by Passaic Unit, Saturday, Dec. 1 at Maciacs Hall, 40 Third St., Passaic. Adm. 20c in advance; 25¢ at door, WHAT’S ON Chicago, Ill. = First Annual Dance given by Painters: Br, 565 LW.O. Saturday, Dec. 8 at Mirror Hall, 1186 N. Western Ave, Adm. 25¢ in adv., 35¢ at door. Ten Theatre Groups in action. Second ‘Midwest Festival of League of Work= ers Theatre. Performances by ‘Tri-Cities, Milwaukee and Groups. Peoples Auditorium, 2457 Chicago Ave. Friday, Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. Adm. 35¢,