The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 1, 1934, Page 8

Page 8 DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1934 Daily <QWorker Only Working Class Daily Newspaper” FOUNDED 1924 PUBLISHED DAILY, EXCEPT SUNDAY, BY THE COMPRODAILY PUBLISHING CO., INC., 50 E. 13th Street, New York, N. Y. “America’s hone: ALgonquin 4-795 4, Daiwork w York, N. Y¥. Press Building, National 7910. m 705, Chicago, Hl. nbseription Mates: and Bronx), 1 year, $6.00; month, 0.75 cents. Canada: 1 year, $89.00; $3.00. tmonthiy, 3S. cents SATURDAY, DECEMBER, 1, 1934 —= | Hopkins’ Work Program EDERAL RELIEF ADMINISTRATOR F HOPKINS’ plan to stop all direct relief, alled “unemployables” onto throw the s the local welfare units, and launch a fan- tastic “building program” is another step forward in the Roosevelt attacks upon the living standards of the masses. It meats the underwriting of the profits of the ction magnates by the Federal government, er deep cut into the starvation living stand- ards of the unemployed, and is the essence of the drive against the wage rates of the present em- ployed Briefly, Hopkins’ plan, which, according to press dispatches will be discussed with Roose t Warm Springs today, calls for setting up a fantastic “pbuilding program,” an end to direct relief, and the regimentation of the present unemployed into vast homestead sites. It follows closely upon the announced abandonment of the minimum wage rates on work relief and official announcements that wage rates must be lowered on construction work as a prelude to a general wage reduction. Hopkins’ plan for the unemployed calls for “re- habilitation” to enable the unemployed to obtain “land, tools and seed” as loans to be repaid. Any money expended would be merely “loaned” by the government. Sugar-coated with the promise of more work, the entire set-up has been accompanied by an intense drive toward forced labor at subsistence wage levels on work relief; outspoken demands that wage rates in private industry be slashed; and covers the real driving force behind the entire program—abandonment of the “unemployables,” regimented and isolated communities of the present unemployed, evasion of the Roosevelt promises of unemployment insurance, and a concerted drive to lower the wage rates of the present working pop- ulation in the interest of the profits of the bosses. Roosevelt’s drive against the unemployed and his evasions of a federal system of unemployment insurance must be answered with increased ac- tivity, mass meetings at the relief stations and strikes and stoppages on the relief jobs at any attempt to cut relief or slash work relief wages, and broad representation of all employed and un- employed workers at the National Congress for Un- employment Insurance which will meet in Wash- ington on Jan. 5-7. What Next for the Miners? ANY local unions of the United Mine M Workers of America have endorsed the program and candidates of the Rank and File, in the national, district and local elec- tions, which take place on Dec. 11. John L. Lewis has arbitrarily ruled off the ballot the Rank and File national candidates. Lewis, in fact, has never won an honest election in all his years as misleader of the United Mine Workers of America. The question which the miners are now asking is—WHAT NEXT? What are the next steps in the fight of the miners for better conditions? First, the Rank and File in the U.M.W.A. should elect as many Rank and File candidates in the district and local slates as possible. Protest resolu- tions against the barring of the national Rank and File candidates should be passed. Second. The miners in all local unions, not only in the U.M.W.A., but in the independent unions, should now prepare their forces for the struggles and strikes for the demands of the Rank and File. The Rank and File demands include the demand for the $6 a day, six-hour-day, five-day-week, with abolition of differentials between North and South; for a national one-year agreement and a miners’ referendum on all agreements, The demands call for a fight for the Workers’ Unemployment and Social Insurance Bill; for the right to strike, against forced arbitration, and for abolition of the penalty Clause and withdrawal of all U.M.W.A. officials from the N.R.A. and Labor Boards. The program calls for fight against discrimina- tion against Negroes; equal rights for the young miners; for rank and file democracy in the union, and against the appointive power; against the use of armed forces in strikes, and against war and fas- cism; against the Lewis expulsion policy and for Yeinstatement of all expelled for their working class activities. The Rank and File in the U.M.W.A. calls for the unity of the rank and file in all unions—for one union of all coal miners in the industry. Local struggles for these demands should be developed in every local union, led by elected Rank and File Committees, . * . A BIG struggle looms on April 1 when the present agreement expires. Lewis has shown that he will never lead a struggle for the miners’ demands, but on the contrary, will again cooperate with the N.R.A. and the Roosevelt Boards to try to behead Such a struggle. -Lewis will again try to prevent the miners from striking. If he can't do that, he will try to defeat their strike’ through no-strike agreements with thé government's compulsory ar- bitration boards. The Rank and File must organize their forces to lead their own strike on April 1. This means that in every local, Rank and File Committees should be set up to lead the fight of the miners. The fight for the right to elect their own rank and file leaders, of which Lewis is now robbing the miners by his appointments and election steals, must be continued, The elected Rank and File Committees of the Miners must lead the April 1 strike. The elected Rank and File Committees must have charge of all negotiations and of the settlement, The en- tire membership must have the right te vote on any settlement reached. This is the way that Lewis can and must be defeated, STRONG Communist Party in the mining fields will greatly strengthen the entire fight of the miners, The members of the Communist Party have for years led the fight against Lewis, and have been in the forefront of every miners’ strike. The members of the Communist Party bring out all the issues involved in the struggle of the miners— the role of the government in breaking strikes through terror and through conipulsory arbitration, no-strike boards. The Communist Party has carried out a constant exposure of the role of the Lewises and Greens at the leadership of the A. F. of L., who aid the bosses in defeating the demands of the miners and who seek to strangle the will of the rank and file. The Communist Party carries on the daily fight for the economic needs and the elementary rights of the miners. But, in addition, the Communist Party points to the only real solution of the crisis— how the workers will be able to end poverty and starvation and war by taking the revolutionary way out of the crisis, The Communist Party points to the Soviet Union as the inspiration to the workers of the world, where the workers have set up their own govern- ment, where the miners have the six-hour-day and constantly rising wages, where there is no unem- ployment. The Communist Party prepares the workers and farmers of the United States to take this way out of the crisis, to smash up the entire capitalist society and state here, and to set up in the United States a Soviet, workers’ government. This is the road to end poverty for all time. The building of a strong Communist Party in the mining fields will assure a more effective fight for all the present economic demands of the miners and will bring nearer the day when the workers of this country can abolish the rotten starvation system of capitalism forever. The Communist Party therefore invites the miners to join its ranks, to build the Communist Party, and make possible a better organized and stronger fight for the miners’ demands, Prepare the strike for April 1. Hlect Rank and File Committees to lead the miners’ fight. Join and build the Communist Party in the mine fields. For a Wider Fight Against The Sales Tax! PPOSITION against the sales tax in New York City is growing. Workers and small business men of New York, already staggering under the burdens of the crisis, are fighting back at this new load as never before, Hundreds of thousands of people are beginning to see through the LaGuardia shamming, They are beginning to see the Wall Street bankers as the actual string pullers of the puppet mayor and the puppet aldermen. But the opposition to the sales tax must grow a hundred-fold if this robber levy is to be defeated. Delegation upon delegation must visit local alder- men demanding that they rescind their votes in favor of the sales tax. Resolutions and telegrams should be sent Mayor LaGuardia demanding that he veto the bill when it comes before him Wed- nesday. Above all the cry must ring out, clear and strong: Tax the bankers! Tax the large corporations! Tax wealth! * * . |, Panes LAGUARDIA and his Tammany “oppo- nents,” under pressure of the masses of the city, decided to cover their trail somewhat. They there- fore proposed to strike a nice balance: they would tax the masses $40,000,000 and then tax the utilities $15,000,000 and inheritances $3,000,000. This was designed to show how beautifully impartial Mr. LaGuardia and the Board of Aldermen were. They would “soak the rich,” too! The Communist Party and its central organ, the Daily Worker, have already commented on this bluff. Suffice it to repeat here: the utilities intend either to pass the tax onto the consumers or hold it up through endless lawsuits. This is already openly hinted at in the capitalist press. Actually, therefore, the main weight of the tax burden will fall on the masses of the city. It will mean lower purchasing power and thus literally less food for workers and their families. * + * ‘HE transit tax, that is, the 7 cent fare, has not yet been defeated. Not by a long shot. LaGuardia, Tammany and the bankers are sim- ply keeping this in the background for a while. When the masses become thoroughly disgusted with the sales taxes and constant relief crises—such is the Strategy of the bankers and the administration— then will be the proper time to trot out the transit tax. It will be placed before the masses of the city of New York exactly in the same fashion as the brigand places a revolver at the temple of his vic- tim, “Pay—or else... .” Subway riders, the ma- jority of whom are workers and unemployed, will be told that unless they pay an increased fare the unemployed will starve. “Pay—or else... .” * * * ya these plans of Wall Street and its city govern- ment can be defeated by organized, united action of the masses, A united front of the people of the city of New York, of workers, professionals, little business men, small homeowners, people of all shades 0” political opinion, can defeat the sales, transit or any other such tax. A united fight can compel LaGuardia to place the tax burdens on the banks, and the profit-swollen corporations. A united fight of mass proportions can compel the administration to take the approximately $180,000,000 set aside in the 1925 budget for interest and principal to the bankers and use it. for unemployment relief. That united fight is the need of the hour. In every neighborhood, in every shop, in every fraternal organization, that fight should be taken up imme- diately. The opposition to the Wall Street-La- Guardia-Tammany tax plans must gTow a hun- dred-fold. | Party Life | Unit Group System | Initiates Better | Work in Harlem (oO doubt in the recent months, | there has been a decided change in the work of our Y.C.L, in Harlem, both in the inner life and in the mass campaigns around the League | organizations. We have been suc-| cessful in leading a number of | struggles which haye resulted in us| winning our demands. The Y.CLL. | led a fight at the Salvation Army on 124th Street near 7th Avenue, for | better conditions for the young men | on the inside and against terror | that was existing there against the | | fellows. Here we won better food | and were able to draw about 20 to 30 young fellows into the Y.C.L. We also were in the forefront of the | struggle at the Empire Cafeteria | | where the Young Liberator organ-| | zation of 100 to 150 young workers | was built, the most advanced of these young fellows being drawn in- | to the Y.C.L. These are only two of the many struggles that the! Y.C.L, is and has been involved in | during the recent period and proves | | conclusively that the Y.C.L. can be | built among the Negro youth in Harlem when we go out and lead | them in struggle for their day-!o- | day needs. Some one may ask, then why is it that we do not have a mass Y.C.L. | that is rooted among the Negro | Youth? The reasons are as follows: (1) Our work is not properly organized. We still rely to a certain extent up- on spontaneity, (2) There is incon- sistency in our work, jumping from one campaign to another, not be- ing able to link one campaign with another, (3) There is a lack of sys- tematic campaign for the Marx- Leninist education of our units, All of this results in a big turn- over, and fluctuation, which is one of the biggest problems that is fac- ing the League today. We have hundreds of young Negro workers who have come into our organization duzing the Scottsboro upsurge or in | our struggle for relief or other! struggles and only stay in the League a very short time. New Methods Improve Unit Life Since the question of fluctuation is one of the basic weaknesses in | connection with our work, it is nec- essary to understand here how our League is dealing with the ques- tion. Take for example unit 402. In this unit two classes will be held, one class for beginners, which will | | deal more or less with current prob- | |lems, and explain to the newer | comrades in the Y.C.L. actually| | what the Y. C. L. is. The other class | which is for more advanced com- | rades will deal with the Communist | position on the Negro question, and the more basic questions. We have divided our unit into squads, where a closer check-up and assistance can be given to each comrade. This method recently has been very in- strumental in stopping the fiuctua- tion in our Y.C.L. unit. In the sec- tion as a whole, this method is be- ing carried out, and in my opinion. | will be a great aid in changing the | existing situation. H Another great weakness in carry- ing out our work, was a lack of any contact whatsoever with the bourgeois controlled organizations and the Negro petty bourgeois na- | tionalist organizations. Thus we | were not able to carry on any work | inside these organizations exposing | their leaders and winning these | youth for our program. In this also we have made a change, by assign- | ing some of our leading comrades to | work in these organizations. | I think, in order to get a clear} understanding of the work of the Y.C.L. we must also understand the | relation of the Party to the Y.C.L. jin the section. While on the whole there is a healthy attitude on the part of the Party leadership towards the Y.C.L. it is not al- |together true in regard to a number jof the rank and file Party mem- bers, who look at all of the short- comings of the Y. C. L. and see | none of the achievements, thereby | using this negative side in order to center an attack against the Y.C.L., instead of explaining to the Y.C.L. comrades through real consructive bolshevik criticism, helping the com- ;rades to overcome these mistakes | and go forward to other victories, if | the decision of the recent conven- tion is studied and carried out by every Party member in the lowe: units in connection with building the Y. C. L., we will be able to go forward to a mass Y.C.L. in the | Harlem section. By J, A. Harlem Section, New York. Asheville Police Seize 54 Transients in Raid On Unemployed Camp | ASHEVILLE, N. C., Nov. 30—Po- | lice Tuesday arrested and finger- ‘printed fifty-four residents of the |Federal Transient. Relief Bureau here, and booked all on charges of vagrancy. Their finger-prints were jtaken and sent to Washington by airplane for reports on their “crim- inal records.” Officers explained that they wanted to know if there were “any known criminals” in the camp. Court To Act On Dock Writ (Continued from Page 1) York.” He commended the ship- owners for their “tact” in main- taining friendly relations with la- bor. and “avoiding such a calamity.” The Senator's time was chiefly devoted to proving that the case of the shipping companies do not be- long in a state court, but should go to the Federal Shipping Board! 1 which he claims is designed to pro- tect the shipping interests. He cited laws to show that a labor union could be enjoined on the basis of Shipping Board decisions, and those who violate its provisions are laible to $5,000 fine or five years’ im- prisonment. The attorney for the shipowsers, Mr. Allan, in answer to Walter Gordon Merritt, attorney for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and 32 merchants and lumber com- panies who filed the complaint and who insisted that the shipowners too should be enjoined for not ser ing the public declared: “There wil! be no trouble with the carriers if your honor enjoins the unions anal clears up the basis of the entire controversy.” He charged that if the complaint had not been brought in the situation would “straighten it- self out,” claiming that so long as the West coast arvitration decision was pending, and a contract was negotiated heve, Joseph P. Ryan, president of the I.L.A., needed the help of the teamsters. But he in- ated, naw that the contract was od, it could be expected that 2 two imovcriant unions will itizens had to organize 5; et the agreement to heip each rrsments, is wa other to unioni the waterfront. to tat preg He also deplored that Merritt} m'uded loyal lavor leader, Joseph avoided to answer if he thinks the time is ripe now to risk a general strike. Ryan Praised Merritt in his concluding re- marks stated very definitely that the “loss incurred as a result of a general strike should not be bal- anced with the rights of citizens.” Merritt praised Joseph P. Ryan as a “progressive minded loyal la- bor leader” who can be depended upen. “In 1920 when a similer in- action ws issued,” he: steted, |in the Agrarian Revolution which | Ryan.” Burck will give the o iginal drawing of HALF-WAY TO HOME! It’s Burck’s day. He leads the fi P?"=PARING THE FASCIST BREW! his cartoon to the leld and reaches the $500 mark, or one-half of his $1,000 quota. Rochester Sec. .. $ 16.03 Total ... by Burck|} a highest contributor each day towards his quota of $1,000, y Oberlin Unit, v Previously Rec'd. ... Y. C. L. 3.00 + 481.50 5,000 Embattled Peasant Families Push Cuban Agrarian Revolution IN the hilly region toward the | eastern end of the island of Cuba, | within 25 miles of the Guantanamo Naval Base, there is taking place the most important episode to date | has begun in Cube. In the zone} known as “Realengo 18”* over five thousand embattled peasant fa- milies are at grips with the govern- ment, which is attempting to carry out an order of expulsion granted to the Royal Bank of Canada. In response to Colonel Baptista’s | declaration that the “deslinde” (re- surveying) of the land preparatory | to the expropriation of the peasants “would be carried out at all costs” the peasants have armed themselves and established their own control over the territory. Anyone seeking to enter the zone known as Real- engo 18 is confronted by armed peasant sentinels who ask what his business may be and allow him to pass only with the approval of the Central Committee of Struggle. Tension became great as reports arrived that Baptista was preparing a military assault on Realengo 18 | to dislodge its occupants, and that | special mountain artillery was be- ing made ready for the purpose. Gets Broad Support The movement has already had its immediate repercussion in ex- pressions of support from peasants of neighboring regions, such as Caujeri and Monte Rouge, as well as from the trade unions in Guan- tanamo, Santiago and Havana. The recent general strike (October 8th) called by the revolutionary National Confederation of Labor in which over two hundred thousand workers all over the island took part, had as one of its chief slogans “Support for the peasants of Realengo 18.” Events Weli Known The events of Nov. 8 to 12 are already well known. Government troops, under the command of Cap- tain Piquero were actually sent to attack the peasants. They num- bered over 200 men, including cav- alry and mountain artillery, and counted on the aid of two corsair planes. Piquero issued an ultimatum to the effect that if the peasants did not hand over their arms and repudiate their Communist leader- ship, they would be bombarded. The peasants answered by intensifying their preparations for armed de- fense, sending -detachments ‘in search of more arms and declaring that they were “ready to pay dearly for their lands.” Simultaneously with the defiant stand. of the Realengans there arose tremendous waves of working class and popular protest, developed by the Commu- nist Party of Cuba against the threatened massacre. The Govern- ment was forced to concede. On Monday Noy. 12 there remained no more troops in the hills neighboring Realengo History of the Realengos Realengo 18 and its inhabitants have had a stirring history of dogged combat with old oppressors and new ones. The main body of the Realengans settled in 1877. They were soldiers in the “Ten Years War” against the rule, of Spain. Popularly known as the “Mambis,” they made up the armies of the great Negro generals Maceo and Guillermo Moncada. In their great majority they were Negroes. The Spanish government unable to destroy the front of the patriotic insurrectionists wes forced to offer @ truce and subsequently to grant various concessions. As part of these concessions, the Spanish general, Martinez Campos, offered the Cuban soldiers a piece of sovern- ment land and one peso each upon 18 passed from the hands of the Spanish Crown to the heroic Mam- bis. But no sooner were the veterans established on their lands than the battle began against new enemies for the retention of these lands. The first aggressors were greedy neighboring landowners. The land- owner Francisco Almedia came by with the claim that there never existed such a Realengo and that the Jand fell within the boundary of his hacienda, The extreme fer- tility and richness of the earth in Realengo was the motive for Al- media’s claim (today it is claimed that it has the most productive coffee land in Cuba). Very soon after it fell under the eye of the new masters of the Cuban land, the invading Yankee sugar com- panies, which blustered along, grabbing up vast stretches of land for the formation of sugar cen- trals, ousting small landowner and poor peasant cultivators by meth- ods “legal” and otherwise. The peasants declare that the government agents who had been charged with defending the Cuban government's title to the lands against the foreign company, ac- tually destroyed documents prov- ing the government’s ownership rights. The expropriation was not carried out during Menocal’s time because of the threat of armed resistance of the peasants. Suc- ceeding governments wavered be- fore the possibility of such resist- ance, leaving well enough alone. Finally, in 1927 the right of the peasants to the land was again of- ficialy recognized, But two years ago the Machado government, in a decision of the Supreme Tribunal ruled against the peassnts, this time in favor of the “Coralillo Sugar Company” acting as agent for the Royal Bank of Canada Machado fell and the Grau San Martin government, which had in- dulged in widespread demagogy about land distribution and Agra- rian reform, not only failed to act in favor of the Realengans, but passed a law which tended to facili- tate the “deslinde” and conse- quently the expropriation It fell to the “patriotic” and “100 per cent” Cuban government of Ba- tista and Mendieta to attempt to carry out the decisions of Machado’s courts against the veterans on he- half of the foreign bankers. On September 10, 1934, a survey party guarded ‘by a squadron of nine soldiers, entered Realengo. Werd spread rapidly through the hills and in a short while the surveyors and soldiers were surrounded by scores of armed and hostile peas- ents. They declared that under no laying down their arms. In this way the Realengans came into possession of their lands. Realengo f conditions would they permit the survey to take place; that with the survey the Imperialist Company would already place one foot upon their lands, which would ease its bringing down the other. The sur- veyors fled to save their lives, The |peasants wanted to disarm and thrash the soldiers. A corporal in charge of the detachment pleaded that they be left alone. He stated that sooner would he tear off his uniform than shoot upon honest laboring peasants. (Before the mili- tancy and display of force of the peasants, he could hardly have taken any other stand.) Survey At All Costs The rest of September and the month of October passed in prep- aration for a greater conflict. Ba- tista declared that the survey “would be carried out at all costs.” The peasants, rejecting the inter- : Some of the members of the executive committee of the “Realengo 18” peasant association, which has seized the land, and is arming to resist any government invasion. The Negro peasant with the straw hat and cigar is Lino Alvarez, secretary of the crganization. vention of corrupt and demagogic local politicians and lawyers, ac- cepted the counsel of the Commu- nists that they had no other guar- antee for their lands but their rifles and the support of the pro- jletariat and the peasantry of other regions. A delegation of Realengan peasants Was sent hundreds of miles to Havana to ask advice and support of the CNOC, revolutionary trade union center. Their present victory, although it can by no means be considered that the threat of massacre and expropriation has definitely passed has shown that the Communists were in the right and as the Cuban peasant masses learn and apply iXe lesson of Realengo 18 the bourgeoisie, the landlords and the safety of their regime, and the imminence of the Agrarian-Anti- Imperialist Revolution and a Soyiet Cuba, *Realengo is the term applied during the time of the Spanish rule in Cuba after the division of lands had been made among the Spanish feudal landlords whom the king had favored with land grants in the Cuban colony. According to Spanish lew, two- thirds of such unclaimed land was class*‘ed as “Realengo” (prop- erty of the king) and passed automatically into the hands of the government, while the re- maining third fell to the person who discovered the existence of the unclaimed land. In Realengo 18 there are at present more than five thousand families with a total population exceeding 30,000. The region is a vast one, comprising at least 6,000 caballerias (the Cuban land measure, each caballeria being equivalent to about 33 1-3 acres), ie., totalling 528,000 acres. The peasant properties are Small, not exceeding 1 or 1% caballerias. The Realengans cultivate coffee, fruits and vegetables. / ref imperialist rulers may well fear for , ‘World Front ——By HARRY GANNES -——' Where the Sun Never Sets The Lira in a Bad Way “China Today” HEN one thinks of war preparations by the capi- talist powers, the countries that spring to mind are the United States, Japan, Great Britain, Germany and other great powers. But they are not alone by a long shot. Some of the countries which were “neutral” in the last world war, are now arming to take part in the next world slaughter with a vengeance— especially if the fire is directed against the workers’ fatherland. For the last few months war councils have been active in Nor- way, Sweden, Denmark and Fin- land. They discussed joint military action, and even alliances and the formation of a military block. A certain Norwegian army cap- tain, Kvam, writing in the Nor- wegian newspaper “Janus,” sees the development of war moves against the Soviet Union. The main issues, he thinks, will be decided in the Baltic region, and that in this sit- uation the Scandinavian countries cannot remain neutral. ae pay “DRAVDA,” official organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, commenting on the project for a Northern European military alliance, declared: “The fact that the question of Dano-German disagreements has been raised in this connection is enough to show that the proposed coalition has an essentially German bias. There can be no doubt that the Scandinavian Press campaign is far from being a spontaneous one, “It is well known, for instance, that the militarization of the Alland Islands was suggested first of all in the ‘Berliner Boersenzeitung.” Fin- jand, also, is no stranger to these warlike projects; under the aegis of the newly created Special De- fense Commission, with General Mannerheim in the chair, she is increasing the amount of her armaments. “The links connecting the milit« arist of Finland with Fascist-mil- itarist circles in Germany are equally plain. It may be said that Finland constitutes the most im- portant link between the Scandi- navian bloc and the Reich. “It is not difficult to see against. whom these alliances and coalitions are aimed. Fascist Germany sup- ports these projects because she is hoping, with the help of the Scan- dinavian countries, to transform the Baltic into a German Sea.” The war moves that originate with the militarists in the land of the rising sun have their comple- ment in the lands of the midnight sun. In short, the sun never sets on the war plans against the work- ers’ fatherland. ae ae NE thing Mussolini’s censorship cannot hide. That is, the fright- ful financial crisis of the Fascist regime. How bad it really is no one can tell just now, Because Mus- solini has juggled the figures in order to attempt to hide it. A writer in a recent issue of Current History declared that the financial crisis of the Italian Fascist regime is the worst of any capitalist country in the world, and that’s saying a lot these days. This year the Mussolini govern- ment’s deficit is at least $900,000,000, Try as he wiil to take the deficit out of the hide of the masses, Mussolini cannot cure the growing financial and economic disease of Italian Fascism, Ow sce ECENTLY he attempted to nego- tiate for a gold reserve fund in France to keep up the lira, Noth- ing seems to have come of it, as the lira from the latest reports is sinking very rapidly. “Paris sees danger in decline of the lira; fears new restrictions on flow of gold,” says a New York Times headline on a Paris cable dispatch. The gold block countries are cracking in two places, Belgium and Italy. It is certain that they will not be able to hold out much longer, with tremendous repercussions throughout the world. A new spurt to inflation will be given to all countries, and a new crack of the whip’ to the class struggle. eet Dies E want to inform our readers that the Dec. issue of “China Today” is out. A review of it will be published in a later issue of the Daily Worker. But no one can afford to miss this issue in view of the great developments taking place now in China. Among other things “China Today” contains the follow- ing articles: “The Canton Uprising and Soviet China,” by Dr. Hansu Chan; “Chiang Kei-shek’s Dictator- ‘ship Stumbles,” by Frederick Spen- cer; “Blue Jackets in China,” by J. W. Phillips. There are many other splendid features. Copies can be obtained at 15 cents each from Friends of the Chinese People, 168 West 23rd Street, New \ York City. “World Front” to date has received $307.72 in the Daily Worker drive. Survey in California Reveals Rise in Food Costs Over Last Year LOS ANGELES, Cal., Nov. 30.— It costs a worker here one-sixth more now to buy the necessities of life than it did a year ago. This is revealed in a survey published by the Southern California Business Review of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Southern California, under the die rectorship of Dr. Thurston H. Ross. More significant is the statement At the present time there is about a five per cent increase in the cost of meat over a year ago. Dairy products have risen by about 33 per cent in the past year. Fruits have increased 10 per cent