The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 12, 1934, Page 1

— Have You Cast Your Vote Yet for Unemployment Insurance? See Workers’ Bill Ballot on Page 2 DON’T DELAY SENDING PROCEEDS OF AFFAIRS FOR “DAILY” Yesterday's receipts Still Needed to Complete Drive «$8 300.55 $6,669.45 Press Run Yesterday—43,700 SSS FECL ES Daily .Q Worker CENTRAL ORGAN COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. (SECTION OF COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL) NATIONAL EDITION Vol. XI, No. 296 > Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 8, 1879, NEW YORK, WED ESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1934 x Pages) Price 3 Cents GROUPS SWING TO SURETY PARLEY U. S. Connives at Graft i in Arms Sales COUGHLIN PROGRAM CONCEALS HIS AID TO BIG CAPITAL o CORRUPTION 1S ADMITTED BY BIG FIRMS Workers Burdened With Taxes To ‘Grease’ the Officials and Agents WASHINGTON, D. D: C., Dec, 11.— Widespread graft, with the conniv- ance of the U. S. State Department, | in the sale of munitions to Mexico, Latin America, China and European | countries, was uncovered by the Senate Committee investigating the munitions industry. Leading American companies in- volved in paying graft to army and government officials are the du Ponts and the Remington Arms Company, the du Ponts admitting the payment of “‘only four per cent” on all sales of gunpowder to Chinese army officers in 1929. Government Aids Continuous paying of “grease” to Latin-American countries to ease large arms purchases for war prep- arations was revealed in the testi- | mony of C. K. Davis of the Reming- | ton Arms Company and H. J. Mon- aghan: of the Westchester Rifle Company. A letter from Monaghan to his firm declared that the “State De- partment is willing to shut its eyes | to small graft,” but interfered only | when one of the firms was trying | to sell the Dominican government | $10 rifles for $60 a piece. | The way in which the workers of | all capitalist countries are milked | through heavy taxes to pay for the huge graft and war expenditures | was shown in a letter describing the | method used by a typical agent of | the munitions firms: How It Is Done “He goes to the country and he says: ‘You need so much material. | Till provide you with this whole lot | and give you so much graft and Ti) lend you the money to buy it with.’ Then he will go to a local Geanee | or merchant and he will say this: | ‘We will make a loan through Mr. So-and-So to the government and this loan will bring to you a very | large interest and we will give so much commission to the Minister of Finance, and he will promise to col- lect enough taxes to pay this loan and he does not get the commission | until the loan is paid back. | “He gets the money from these | various people. The government pays Vickers the full amount less the discount which goes to some in- | termediary. In time the government | collects taxes, pays back the people | who made the loan and all in the game pocket the profits.” Heavy graft by the du Ponts in | selling munitions to Poland were also shown. The du Ponts are en- | thusiastic supporters of the Roose- | velt New Deal. 13 Face Court inPhiladelphia This Morning PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Dec. 11. — The Unemployment Councils have called upon all workers to pack the | city court, room 625, at City Hall, Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock when thirteen workers, who formed part of a delegation of one hun- dred to City Hall last week, come up for trial. ‘The delegation, which went to the City Hall last Thursday to protest the police murder of William Heat- erly, an unemployed Negro, while they were carrying out an eviction, demanded that the city pass an or- dinance against evictions. Police hidden in the City Hall attacked the delegation as it entered. When the thirteen Negro and white workers were arraigned be- fore Magistrate Roberts last Fri- day, twelve were ordered held in bail of $500 each, and one in bail of $800. The first defendant, an Irish woman, who although pregnant was beaten by the police, explained that she was delegated by the Irish Workers Club to serve on the com- mittee. A few hours before this, the city coroner had exonerated Anderson, | the policeman who had murdered In addition to packing the court trial Wednesday morning, the Coun- | cils have asked that all workers and | their organizations send immediate | protest resolutions to Mayor Moore Aims To Keep Masses! Under Influence of Capitalist Parties This is the second of a series of articles analyzing the program of Father Coughlin, the “radio priest,’ whose speeches have led many workers to believe that Coughlin is to be trusted as a leader of the fight against the capitalists and for the needs of the masses. The main emphasis of the ar- ticles will be an examination of Coughlin’s ideas as they affect the needs of the working class now. pve By Milton Howard 'E SAW in the first article that Father Coughlin’s career is re- markable for the fact that he has an economic and political platform welcomed by many workers as a “radical” program, against Wall Street, while at the same time Wall Street capitalists are gladly shelling out good money to finance the ac- tivities of this Coughlin. We saw that many workers sup- port Coughlin as an enemy of the capitalist bosses they hate, while these capitalist bosses support Coughlin against the workers whom they fear. Today we shall begin to examine , the platform upon which Coughlin calls to the workers to follow him, the platform of the National Union for Social Justice into whose ranks Coughlin every Sunday urges the poverty-stricken, debt-ridden masses of the country to enter as the place where they can strike a blow at the chains which bind them. This platform of the Union for Social Justice contains sixteen points covering Coughlin’s ideas on money, war, property, taxes, trade unions, unemployment, banks, wages, and the farmer. Cunning Self-Contradictions Although we shall examine these : ideas separately, we think that it is important to give them in their entirety. They comprise a cunning, self-contradictory, reactionary mix- |ture of ideas that sound very radi- cal and bold only in order to con- ceal from the workers the fact these jideas will not give the working class ‘a single measure of relief from their present burdens, will not settle a single problem of the crisis in the interests of the masses, but on the contrary will protect the rule and |the domination of private capital concentrated in the Wall Street banks and monopolies. Here is Coughlin’s “radical” plat- form for his Union for Social Jus- tice: 1. I believe in the right of liberty of conscience and liberty of educa- tion, not permitting the state to dictate either my worship to my God or my chosen avocation in life. 2. I believe that every citizen willing to work and capable of working shall receive a just and living anual wage which will en- able him to maintain and educate his family according to the stand- ards of American decency. 3. I believe in nationalizing those (Continued on Page 2) |put your paper’s campaign over the Only 3 Days Left! | Only three days are left! New York still needs $1,135. | Chicago needs $1,332. Cleveland, $293. Pittsburgh, $261. Seattle, California and Milwaukee did not send a penny yesterday. This is the picture that now pre- sents itself in the Daily Worker drive. The $6,669 that is still lacking must be raised! A concentrated effort by every district which has not yet filled its quota will do the trick. It is especially necessary for the | large districts enumerated above to | carry out their tasks fully, to show | that they have carried aloft the flag of the Daily Worker! Comrades, see that the Daily | | Worker does not lack the full fi- | /nancial support that it needs! Districts—rush every available | penny! Workers! Send what you can to top! STRIKE FIRM AT LODGE IN DETROIT A. B. Magil (Special to the Daily Worker) DETROIT, Dec. 11.—The strike of the workers at Fisher Lodge, mu- nicipal flophouse where nearly 2,000 unemployed single men are quar- tered, new in its second week, is gathering strength each day. The men are striking against | forced labor once every two weeks | for a dollar a day. They are de- | manding eight dollars a week cash on work relief or six dollars direct relief. The walkout is being led by the Unemployment Councils. The office of the County Welfare Commission, 176 East Jefferson Ave., is being picketed daily. Seven squads of nine men each are as- signed each day for picket duty. Members of the strike committee | informed your correspondent that | one of the group captains was yes- terday approached by Roy Du- quette, Supervisor of Fisher Lodge, with a proposal of ten hours work a week at fifty cents an hour. The group captain told him to conduct his negotiations through the rank and file strike committee. Because of the strength of the strike, Duquette has not dared to evict any of the men from the Lodge or cut off the miserable slop that is handed to them as food. The strike committee urgently appeals te all working class organ- izations to back their struggle and donate funds and food for the | pickets. Strike headquarters are | at the Greek Workers Educational ‘Club, 1413 Randolph St. estimate of the number killed in | of several celebrations held by legis- running through the halls pound- | jing on | caved in,” 40 ARE DEAD IN HOTEL FIRE IN MICHIGAN | Bellboy Saves Many, Is! Killed—100 Are Still Missing LANSING, Mich., Dec. 11.—The the fire which destroyed the Kerns Hotel here early this morning is rising rapidly, with more than forty | accounted dead by the police and more than 100 missing. | Witnesses told ghastly stories of a large group of guests huddled on a roof which collapsed into the roar- | ing fire before they could escape. Among the dead are several mem- | |bers of the Michigan State legisla- | |ture. The hotel was frequented by | |many members of the legislature | during sessions. The fire spread rapidly and many ;occupants of the hotel rooms had to choose between jumping into the | icy rapids of the Grand River or |death by flames as their escape was cut off. Fire inspectors said late today that they would investigate reports Jators last night in.the hotel, Bell Hop Saved Many S. L. Colburn, of Cassopolis, one | of the survivors, told of the hero- ism of an unnamed bell-hop who met his death in the flames by one door after another, | sounding the warning against the spreading flames. “I don’t know who he was,” Mr. Colburn stated, “put he was responsible for the| escape of more than 50 per cent of those who were saved. He had plenty of time to get out, but in- stead ran from room to room, knocking on doors and shouting to guests. I last saw him running up a blazing stairway and he was in the building when the first wall | strike. | 1,600 LOS ANGELES CAR STRIKE MAY SPREAD Walkout ‘Expected To Paralyze Movement Of All Traffic LOS ANGELES, C Cal., Dec. 11—| Spread of the Los Angeles Railway | Company strike to the Pacific Elec-|_ WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 11— tric System, which connects the | Unanimous endorsement of the Na- ‘ tional C 1 downtown district with the suburbs, EERE oe Gee loomed today, as D. A. Mackenzie, |the Civil Liberties Conference on the International Vice-President of the|New Deal, which met here yester- | Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, | day. | announced that the union may with-) ‘The Civil Liberties Conference was draw the order to postpone the| composed of representatives of the . following organizations: The Federal mediators here were} american Federation of Teachers; informed by the trainmen that un-| american Indian Defense Associa- less, the company was ordered t0| tion: Church League for Industrial meet wage increase and shorter hour | Hemocracy; Committee for the Pro- demands, peck will be called. 1an | tection of the Foreign Born; Com- addition, the union announces that| mittee on Militarism in Education; its members in the freight stations Emergency Committee for Strikers of the two transcontinental systems | Relief: Farmers National Committee here may likewise be called out t0/on Action; Fellowship of Reconcil- paralyze freight. movements, iation; General Defense Committee; The Pacific Electric lines serve International Juridical Association; 150,000 commuters daily, and employ International Labor Defence; League workers, Mackenzie likewise | for Industrial Democracy; Methodist stated that if a zero hour is set for | Federation for Social Service; Na- a strike this time it will not be an- tional Association for the Advance- nounced in advance. If the P. E.'ment of Colored People; National workers join the 2,100 stretcar men Jeague for American Citizenship; American | Washington Cbilteatees | Of Many Bodies Votes To Back Congress iPrathienve S.P. Sends Delegate: Civil Liberties Session Ts Unanimous for the Congress —— Pennsylvaria Miners Endorsements of Congress Support of the National Con- gress for Unemployment Insur- ance, which will meet in Wash- Meet to Organize upport for Event PROVIDENCE, R. I., Dec. IL Overriding the barriers toward unity which have been erected around the ington, D. C., on Jan. 5 to 7, wi united front by the National Execue given yesterday by the following || tive Committee of the Socialist organizations Party, the Socialist Party here has Kensington, (Pa.), Cent sent a delegate to join the local arrangements committee for the Na- tional Congress for Unemployment Insurance. William O’Conneil, pres- ident of the Rhode Island State Federation of Labor, was also a rep- resentative to the ference. Earl P. Ormsbee, the official dele- gate from the Socialist Party elected secretary of the spor committee, when 35 delegat of ms and organiza tions met here last Sunday to plan for other Cc Foreign Bo ism in Education, tee for Strikers Relief, € n at the Na- tional Committee of A ional Con, second ses of Reconciliation sion of the local sponsoring commit- Committee, I sociation, Int League for Ind Federati tee will be t t Sunday after- noon at 2 o'clock at the Building Trades Council Hall, 281 Weybosset Street. Among those shasta las' for American rican Birth Control League, Could Not Reach Exits | Many of the occupants could not reach any fire escapes, as there | were none at the back of the hotel facing the river, and many died leaping into the icy currents. A full list of the guests was de- | | stroyed in the flames, and it will | | be several days before the bodies will be dislodged from the wreck- | age. Many who leaped into the | streets were killed or severely in- | jured. | The hotel was built twenty-six | years ago. Seamen’s Union Head Makes Threat to Scab | On West Coast Strike, (Special to the Daily Worker) SEATTLE, Wash., Dec. 11—Victor Olander, National Secretary of the International Seamen's Union wired the seamen striking three Lucken- | bach ships here, that unless they | return to work the union will send men to replace them. The strikers held a meeting and unanimously rejected Olander’s pro- posal. The strikers remain solid and determined to stay out. Pickets are |on constant duty at the piers. The Marine Workers Industrial Union is calling for the spread of the s Strike to all ports. t out now, all transportation in Los! American Birth Control Angeles County will be tied up. Right Chinese Militants Face! Death Verdict Yu Chi Chuan, Chinese anti-im- perialist leader, and seven other Chinese militants held with him are in immediate danger of execu- tion by the Kuominatng police, ac- cording to a cable received by the | «we believe further that this leg- International Seamen’s Union, wired others are Tsao Sung Hsu, Lin Tze Min, Lin Sung Wu, Lin Yu Ying. Chen Sui Yang, Wang Chin Sen and |Chen Yu Lung. The eight anti-imperialists were ‘arrested on June 26 by the Nanking ‘police for sponsoring and leading the movement for national armed | self-defense against the invasion of | Japanese imperialism. They have | been held since that time in a Nan- king prison. The arrest and threatened execu- tion of the eight. Chinese militants fs part of the joint terror campaign of the Kuomintang and the im | perialists against the growing anti- | imperialist movement in China. The I L. D. today issued an ap- peal to all organizations to send wires to Chiang Kai-shek, Nanking, China, and to Dr. Alfred Sze, Chi- nese Embassy, Washington, D.°C., | | protesting the threatened execution ‘of Yw Chi Chuan and his com- panions and demanding their im- mediate release. TEACHERS ON STRIKE SCRANTON, Pa. Dec. 11—A strike of 66 school teachers, affect- ing more than 2,500 pupils, went into effect here yesterday in Jessup Borough. The teachers are fight- ing for the immediate payment of eight months back pay. League; National Student Federation; Na- tional Urban League; Peoples Lobby; | United Farmers League; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Cite Poverty of Farmers “In the opinion of the committee,” |the report stated, “the problem of | | securing civil liberties for farm la-| borers, workers in agricultural in-| |dustries, share croppers and tenant | |farmers is closely bound up with | jand dependent upon the improve-/} |ment of their depressed economic | condition. Accordingly we believe that any realistic program for civil liberties must rest upon fundamental economic legislation. tional Student Federation, N: Urban League, Peoples Lobby, United Farmers League, Women’s International |] League for Peace and Freedom TO SUPPORT NEW YORK.—Mass demonsira- | tions throughout the country are being planned on behalf of the Workers Unemployment and Social Insurance Bill by the committees sponsoring the National Congress for Unemployment and Social In- surance to be held in Washington D. C. on Jan. 5, 6 and 7. The demonstrations will take place simul- taneously with the presentation of the demand for the bill before the United States Congress. Unem- ployment o:ganizations, unions, fra- ternal, Negro, youth, church or- ganizations, etc., will be mobilized for the demonstrations. islation cannot be fitted into the) scheme of the present Agricultural Adjustment Act, but requires an jentirely different approach to and |conception of the problem. We be- lieve that the ruthless policy of crop reduction attempted by the present administration inevitably reduces the standard of living for all work- ers, both agricultural and indus- | trial, “We believe that maintenance and improvement of the standard of living can be attained.only by the |fullest utilization of all the means \of production for the benefit of the producers. This in turn can be jaccomplished only by legislation |which will assure an income to | workers, employed and unemployed, | sufficient to enable them to enjoy the standards which already have been set up by the Departments of | Agriculture and Labor in their ‘lib- eral budgets’ as the American stan- \dard of living. “Legislation of this nature and in |keeping with the conclusions of this lcommittee is to be more fully con- sidered by the National Congress for Unemployment and Social In- surance. We therefore urge that the | program of this National Consress |receive the endorsement of this con- vention and of organizations inter- | Tested in the rights of workers.” An intensified campaign for the Workers’ Bill is urged by the Na- tional Sponsoring Committee for the Congress. “In the preparations for the demonstrations,” the National Committee declared in a statement issued yesterday, “resolutions should be adopted in all possible working class organizations endorsing the Workers Unemployment and Social Insurance Bill. “Special efforts should be made to get Central Labor Bodies and State Federations of Labor to en- dorse the Workers’ Bill and National Congress. resolutions should be sent to Pres- ident Roosevelt and to your con- gressmen and senators, (Continued on Page 2) Rally All A. F. of L. Loeals, the Socialist Organizations And Unemployment Groups for Insurance Congress, Jan. 5-7 Pn Washingion, Jan. 5 to 7. The efforts of the Socialist and A. F. of L. lead- ers to prevent a united workers’ struggle for social insurance are failing in the face of the workers’ growing determination to achieve unity. The actions of the Socialist branches, locals and even State bodies are daily refuting the claim of Norman Thomas and Louis Waldman that they were expressing the sentiment of their Party mem- bership when they shelved the united front issue until the next national convention of the Socialist Party—to be held in 1936! The following developments since the Boston N. E. C. meeting show that the Socialist workers at City Hail. are pressing forward to the actual realization of the | united working class front for unemployment surance is being forged in the preparations now going on for the National Congress for Un- employment and Social Insurance to be held in ership: that New Jersey, struggle. Thus far six State organizations of the Socialist Party have endorsed the united front of struggie for social insurance (as well as on other issues) and decided to participate in the preparations for the Washington congress and in the congress itself. These include New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennes- see, Kentucky, Alabama and Arkansas. The fact dering on the reactionary-controlled New York organizations, votes to join with the five Southern States in furthering the united front is testimony to the tremendous and increasing sentimeni for united At the same time local organizations are begin- ning to take action. pation of the Party's State Secretary was the first local Socialist body, foliowing the N. E. C. meeting, an important industrial state bor- Portland, Me., with the partici- AN EDITORIAL united front despite the sabotage of the top leader- to throw its weight behind the united front. In New Orleans the Socialist stood squarely for united action for some weeks. The same is true of Newark, where, on a number of local issues, united action between Socialists and Communists has been maturing. Yesterday the Providence local tives to the local preparatory conference on social insurance, declaring their support congress. In addition, throughout the entire country, hun- dreds of Socialist werkers are actively working for for Social Insurance. All of these developments show that the demand for real social insurance, for a system of social in- surance such as is embodied in the Workers’ Un- employment and Social Insurance Bill, is gaining | tremendous momentum. They further show a grow- ing conscicusness on the part of the masses that only a united mass struggle can force the adoption | of the Workers’ Bill. organization has sent representa- for the January cipal stress in all the preparatory work for the Washington congress. The united front, the draw- the congress either as individuals or as representa- ing in of the broadest masses of workers, trade tives of unions or workers’ bodies under Socialist unicnists, Socialists, unorganized workers, is the influence. R key to the next stage of the fight for sociel insur- Finally, the Washington conference of the American Civil Liberties Union, Socialist-controlled organizations terday unanimously endorsed the National Congress with a number of ance; the creation of a closcly-knit, wod-organized, effectively-led, nation-wide mass movement cf the represented, yes- (Continued on Page 2) SOCIAL BILL the | Copies of the demanding | These facts must determine the point of prin- | nce cretary of the Rh: Cou neil for Old Age Se ating the Soci ‘ale d Hawthorne, of the | Bric 3 Union; William O’Con- nell, president of the State Federa- , tion of Labor; Walter Petraska, of | the Polish Chamber of Commerce; | John Weber, of the Communist | Party; Roderick McGarry, of the Building Trades Council. Virtually every Polish club in the State is behind the National Con- for Unemployment In: her this representat Pawtucket Polish Ciubs will meet Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Miners Represented PITTSBURGH, Pa. Dec. 11— Forty delegates from locals of the United Mine Workers of America were present as regular delegates at a conference on unemployment in- surance held here ir pport of the National Congress for Unemploy- ment Insurance. Already, two strong rank and file locals of the U.M.W.A., the Export and the Yukon locals, both in West- moreland county, have elected offi- cial delegates to the National Con- gress, In the same county, the Jeanette Central Labor Union has endorsed the Congress call and elected an official delegate. Sounding the call for all trade unions in Western Pennsylvania to do likewise, the Rank and File Com- mittee of District Five of the United Mine Workers has gone on record endorsing the National Congress on Unemployment and Social Insur- ance in Washington, Jan. 5-7, and is urging all local unions of the U.M, W.A. to immediately elect delegates and lay plans for having a full quota of miners’ representatives at the national meeting. The latest issue of The Coal Digger, organ of the rank and file in the fight to oust the meéchine, although a special elections issue, carries an appeal to all local unions for attendance at the Washington congress. Enact- ment of the Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Bill, is one of the central | points on the rank and file program. | WILKES-BARRE, Pa., Dec. 11— One hundred and twelve delegates, representing 13.490 trade unionists and unemployed, mes here Sunday |in a broad united front conference | to formulate local pians in super | of the National Congress for Une! | ployment Insurance. Delegates representing forty-three |local organizations — seven local unions of the Anthracite Miners of | Pennsylvania, two locals of the | United Mine Workers, three Unem= | ployed League branches, several co= | Operative erganizations, seven locals | of the Unemployment Councils, and others from fraternal and mass or= ganizations. per county committee of twenty-six was elected to continue the work and | to ob’ain further affiliations and ion of delegates to the National ress for Unemployment Insure The full committee from Luzerne | County will meet Sunday afternoon, } Dec, 16, at 2:39 o'clock, at Crystal Ballroom, 325 East Market Street, Wilkes-Barre, ata