The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 15, 1934, Page 3

Eastern Ohio Miners Unite Behind National Congress Lasting U nity A.F.L. Textile De Pledged By 52 Vote To Give S Organizations Socialist Party Backs Parley—UMWA Locals Represented (Daily Worker Ohio Bureau) CLEVELAND, Ohio, Dec. 14— Forming a permanent delegated body to carry on the struggle for relief and the enactment of the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill, the Unemployment Insurance Conference in Bellaire, Ohio, last/ Sunday decided to send 15 delegates to the National Congress for Un- employment Insurance to be held in Washington on Jan. 5, 6 and 7. In spite of the deep snow and heavy storm 148 delegates braved the hazards of -the treacherous mountain roads of East Ohio and ‘West Virginia to participate in the conference called by the Elm Grove Unemployed League, Locals 926 and 3917 of the United Mine Workers of America, the Polish National Al- liance Group No. 2004, Interna- tional Workers Order branches and other organizations in Bellaire and Shadyside. The delegates officially represent- ed 52 organizations from 21 cities in East Ohio and West Virginia, including 16 United Mine Workers of America locals, two branches of the Eagles, one branch of the For- esters and one of the Elks, three ‘Unemployed Leagues and many Un- employment Councils, International Workers Order branches and other fraternal organizations. The So- cialist Party and the Communist Party were also officially repre- sented. Matusik, a miner, was elected chairman, and Stark, a Negro miner representing Local 459 of the United Mine Workers of America in Laugh- erty, Ohio, was elected vice-chair- man. For secretary Rose Podmaka was elected. Tremendous enthusiasm was manifested at the conference for the Workers Unemployment and So- cial Insurance Bill. The delegates, representing a total membership of 15,000 miners and workers in other industries, one after the other voiced their determination to carry on the fight until the Bill is passed. Besides sending 15 delegates to the Washington Congress, the con- ference decided to form a perma- nent delegated body to carry on the struggle for relief for the miners and steel workers in that region. The question of the relief is very | acute in East Ohio where the max- imum relief for families is $14 per month, with the majority getting much less.than that. ~ WHAT’S ON Philadelphia, Pa. Lecture by Louis Weinstock, National Secretary A. F. of L. Trade Union Comm. for Unemployment Insurance on “The Two A. F. of L. Oonven- tions,” Sunday, Dec. 16, 8 p. m. at 138 8. 8th St., 3rd floor. Canton Commune Commemoration, Saturday, Dec. 15 at 8 p.m. at Girard Manor, 911 W. Girard Ave, Speakers: | Hansu Chan, editor China Today; Mother Bloor; also Workers Mandolin Orchestra, Workers Chorus and Play by Nature Friends. Commemoration Event under auspices of LL.D. Adm. 2c. Tickets at the door. Film and Photo League of Phila. presents Eisenstein’s masterpiece “Potemkin,” also Dredging-Canoe Rythm; Littoral-Film Sketch; Tom/ers at the door who told him, Mooney; Cannon Fodder; Sunday, | “Weinstock listen speec! Dec. 16, three shows: 7, 9, 11 p.m. ee ee SON a f at Federation Building, 1206 Walnut St. Adm, 25c. Philadelphia District 1.L.D. Conven- tion Saturday, Dec. 15, starting at 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 16, starting at 10 a.m. at 1033 Girard Ave. See that your organization is represented. Anna Demon, acting national organi- zational secretary, will report. Grand opening dance at Park Manor Hall, 32nd & Montgomery, Saturday, Dec. 15, 8:30 p. m. Ausplees: Park Manor ‘Workers Club. Come and celebrate at our splendid new head- quarters. House party celebrating official open- ing of F. S. U. Headquarters and Return of Delegate from U. 8. 8. R. Saturday, Dec. 15, 8 p. m. at 126 S. Eighth St. Auspices: F. 8. U. Subscription 15c. Corliss Lamont will lecture on “The Soviet Union and Religion,” Friday, Dec, 21, 8 p. m. at Musicians Hall, 120 N, 18th St. Admisison 30¢ at door, Paterson Lecture by Dr. 8. Littman on “Health of the Worker,"’ Sunday, Dec. 16, 8:30 p.m. at Junion Order Hall, Union and Smith Sts. BAILY WORKER, 'W YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 1934 _ To Surety Congress Representatives of Lecals Open Drive On the Blacklist TAFIVILLE, Conn.—Fifty dele- gates, representing locals of the | United Textile Workers in Con- hecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode | Island, were present here Sunday afternoon at the conference called by the Interstate Anti-Stretchout and Anti-Discrimination Council of | the United Textile Workers. The purpose of the conference was to extend the fight to force miliowners in New England to re- instate former strikers without dis- crimination, and for the elimination of the stretchout evil, which in- | creases the number of machines for | | those workers who were taken back | after the recent strike. | Hundreds Blacklisted Delegates reported that in every | mii town there are hundreds who are refused jobs because they are | known to be members of the union, | or to have taken an active part in the strike. They reported that there is @ general sentiment to restrike. By unanimous vote, a resolution was adopted calling upon every U. T. W. local to elect delegates to the Washington Congress for Unemployment Insurance to take place on Jan. 5 to 7, and that these same delegates should like- wise see the International offi- | cials of the U. T. W. and the Na- tional Textile Labor Relations Board to demand immediate ac- tion on the deplorable situation for the workers in the industry. A second resolution called for all locals of the U. T. W. which have not yet affiliated with the Inter- state Council, to do so. There are 40 locals now affiliated with the! Council. An attempt to interfere with the work of the Council was made by Dern, president of the Connecticut State Federation of Labor, who is also an organizer for the U. T. W. |He stated that the textile workers have nothing against the employ- ers; that the workers are fighting each other, and the general strike was lost because too many workers | Scabbed. This antagonized the del- egates, and he was showered with | questions, but declined to give any | | answers. | Weinstock Speaks Dern was followed by Louis Wein- stock, National Secretary of the A. F. of L. Committee for Unemploy- |ment Insurance, who was invited to speak at the conference. Wein- stock quoted from the speech of | Francis Gorman, made at the re- cent national convention of the A. F. of L. He told the workers that the conditions described by them | are considered by Gorman as the “greatest victory in the history of the American labor movement.” In the midst of Weinstock’s | speech, Dern jumped to his feet, shouted that Weinstock is a Com- | munist and proceeded to walk out. | But his exit was blocked by work- | Now you'll listen to him.” He was | forced to remain, although at the | first opportunity he sneaked out. | The workers received Weinstock’s | speech with full approval, and passed a motion to apologize for the “unbecoming action of their Presi- | dent of the State Federation.” Another conference is scheduled for Dec. 22. Philadelphia Groups Conduct Conference On Fascism and War PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Dec. 12— |Fitty organizations were represented jat a united front conference under | the auspices of the American League Against War and Fascism held at the Hosiery Workers Hall here on/ Sunday. The Hosiery Workers Union donated the hall, and Huffnagle, an County Commissioners. | Siig whe | use of the hall was the likelihood legates up port D.A-R. Seeks To Block Talk By Mike Gold Tear Gas Threatened By| Cincinnati ‘Patriots’ to Stop Lecture BULLETIN (Special to the Daily Worker) CINCINNATI, Ohio, Dec. 14.— Hamilton County Commissioners | yesterday voted two-to-one to | deny the use of Memorial Hall to | the Pen and Hammer Club for an address next Monday by Michael Gold. The Pen and Hammer is moy- ing to file injunction proceedings te prevent abrogation of their | contract for the hall, and has also caHed for protests to the | CINCINNATI, Ohio, Dec. 14—A veiled threat to use tear gas to dis- rupt the meeting at which Michael Gold will lecture here on Monday on “The Crisis in Literature,” was made by Alfred Gus Karger, re- serve officer and chairman of the American True Facts Commitiee at a@ meeting of the Hamilton County Commissioners today. Karger had appeared before the Commissioners together with repre- sentatives of the D.A.R. and other so-called “patriotic” organizations to protest the use of Memorial Hall, Grant and Elm Streets, by the Pen and Hammer Club which is spon- soring Gold’s lecture in Cincinnati. One of the grounds on which! Karger opposed Pen and Hammer’s of trouble. “There will be no trouble,” David Levison, secretary of Pen and Hammer, assured thé County Commissioners, “unless Karger uses the tear-gas bombs we know he has in his possession.” | “Have you got tear-gas bombs?” a reporter then asked Karger. “You're——right, we've got them, and we can use them, too,” Karger answered. | This admission confirmed the re- sults of an investigation made by Pen and Hammer's secretary of preparations being made by reac-} tionary groups to enter upon a campaign of violence and intimida- tion against labor, liberal and rad- ical groups. Karger charged that Pen and Hammer was a Communist organi- zation and that he had been threat- ened by the Communists who, he said, were bloody revolutionists, and were not recognized as a polit- ical party. Karger’s attack against Mike Gold and the Pen and Hammer | Club was seconded by Mrs. Lowell Hobart, National Defense chairman of the D.A.R. who said that her or- ganization “believes in free speech but not in its abuse.” The protesters at today’s mecting of the commissioners are the same! group that conducted a violent) campaign against the use of Stowe | School by the Communist Party/ during the election campaign and against its use by the International Labor Defense for a Herndon-| Scottsboro meeting in October. They were defeated then, as they | will be defeated now, by the mass; pressure of indignant Cincinnati) workers and intellectuals, aroused by the growing attempts at fascist suppression of free speech and as- sembly. As a result of the Karger-D.AR. fight against use of the hall, a tre- mendous turn-out is expected to greet Gold when he speaks in Cin- VOTE for the Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Bul H.R. 7598 This ballot is sponsored by the Daily aera oneas COMMENT PANTY BS »~QWorker {Steno oF comevsrr rrenesriomas) America’s Only Working Class Daily Newspaper 50 East 1 New (Cut out and sign BAL 3th Street York this ballot today) LOT I have read the Workers’ Unemployment and Social Insurance Bi” and vote FOR Name AGAINST O Tl 2 ORME Sie hes Vote without delay and ret urn your ballot at once to the worker who gave it to you, or mail it to the “Daily Worker” Blind and Aged | Cut Off Relief In Cleveland Sweeping Slash Aimed | To Bludgeon Through New Taxation By Daily Worker Ohio Bureau CLEVELAND, Ohio, Dec. 14.— Seven blind men were refused re- | lief and all future tubercular, in- sane and indigent hospital patients would be turned down, according to a recent decision of the Cuyahoga | County Commissioners. With the 4.5 | mills additional tax levy over-| whelmingly defeated at the last elections the commissioners intend to railroad it through at the March special elections by playing politics | with the sufferings of the needy. Claiming that statutory relief ob- ligations in 1934 exceeded estimates by $550,000 and an anticipated defi- cit of $6,000,000 for the coming year, James A. Reynold, president of the Board of County Commission- ers, declared that: “We can’t ap- prove any more relief applications until we see our way clear for 1935.” 'To force through the 4.5 mills real estate tax-levy, throwing additional burdens on the small home-owners, it is even contemplated to throw the seven hundred children at pres- ent under care of the County Child Welfare Board on the streets ac- | drive C. P. Is Given Ouster Order In Cleveland Eviction Notice Follows Public Hearing on Civil Rights By SANDOR VOROS (Daily Worker Ohio Burean) CLEVELAND, O., Dec. 14.—The initiated by Mayor Davis against the Communist Party was given momentum when the Com- munist Party District Office re- ceived notice from Steelar and Co., renting agents, to move out of the building by January Ist. The notice followed immediately the Public Hearing on Civil Rights held last Monday when speakers of the Com- |munist Party challenged Mayor Davis’ plan to remove the free speech rostrum from Public Square. Following the mayor's public threats that received full backing by the American Legion and the |Joint Veterans Association and his jannounced intention of forming |gangs to “fight Communism” cer- tain tenants of the building, occu- pied by the District Offices of the Communist “Party, 1514 Prospect Avenue demanded of the man- agement the eviction of the Com- munist Party Headquarters. Needless to say the management closely affiliated with the Cleveland Trust Co. was eager to carry out cording to the admission of William I. Lacy, assistant director of the Welfare Federation. Seven new applications of blind people investigated and approved were turned down by the Board of County Commissioners: “They should have the money,” admitted James A. Reynold, chair- man of the County Commissioners, “but if would be foolish to grant these new requests, when after the first of the year, the 400 blind cases now on pension will be cut off.” The blind are receiving $15 a month on the average, Only half of the $3,000,000 ap- | propriated for old age pensions will be paid out, M. L. Brown, chief of the Division of Aid for the Aged, announced at Columbus. In Cuya- hoga County only about 6,500 of the aa applications will be taken care of The Unemployment Councils and the Small Home Owners are organ- izing a gigantic City Wide Relief March for Saturday, Dec. 22, start- ing at 1 p.m. on Public Square, to demand emergency cash relief, to protest against the suspension of welfare services, and for increased cinnati on Monday evening. Rank and File A.F.L. Steel Workers Fight cash relief for all unemployed. | the wishes of some of these tenants. | The gentleman doing business for |the “Marchant Calculating Machine | Co.” while refusing to give his name {was frank in admitting that he |doesn’t like to have the Commu- \nists around. Pressed for reasons jhe finally blurted out the aston- ishing economic discovery that the \erisis is due to “Communist agita- tion” and prosperity will not come back until this agitation is stopped. The Communist Party is going to fight stubbornly every move of the Davis machine against the revolu- tionary movement in Cleveland, Cleveland Police Attack Striking Charwoman | CLEVELAND, Ohio, Dec. 14—Po- | lice this morning attacked and dis- persed striking charwomen picket- ing the Terminal Tower and Mid- land Bank Building. The women organized into the Building Maintenance’ Industrial Union of the I. W. W., are striking for the reduction of their present 48-hour week to 36 hours with the present wages maintained. By Police Ohio C.P. Sets Quotas in Vote For H.R. 7598) Membership Meeting Is | Called in Cleveland Around Drive CLEVELAND, O., Dec. 14,—An emergency mobilization of the Com- munist Party and all organizations that have endorsed the Workers’) Unemployment Insurance Bill has been decided bere to obtain 175,000 votes in the campaign instituted by the Daily Worker. The Communist Party is calling a general membership meeting for this purpose. Besides setting a quota of ten signatures for each member, | the Party is organizing a special shock brigade of volunteers to ob- |tain a hundred or more signatures each by the end of next week. Leaders of the Unemployment | Councils, Small Home and Land- owners Federation, International Workers Order and other fraternal and language organizations are also | mobilizing their membership to} secure in the shortest possible time a minimum of 40,000 votes in Cleve- land alone while the rest of the] State is making preparations to secure another 35,000, bringing the total vote up to 75,000. | Voting centers are going to be| set up in every Worker's Center to speed up and facilitate the voting, | | Relief Workers Union) Of Anderson, Ind., Acts| On National Congress) ANDERSON, Ind., Dec, 14.—The | sending a large delegation to Wash- | ington for the National Congress | on Unemployment and Social In- surance. This won its spurs. On Nov. 7, over 250) of its members marched through a | pouring rain to the relief bureau | and demanded increased relief. | Workers here are receiving as low | as $4.80 a week and have been | threatened with a return to the} basket system. In answer to the claim of the relief officials, that no one is starv- ing, the Relief Workers Union brought forward proof that one | aged woman had been without food | or fuel for three days, and when | these same officials said that they | did not have the time to meet with | workers’ committees the union re- | plied that the whole membership would pay them a visit if their committees were not recognized. It | was this pressure that fnally forced a State investigation of conditions on the relief work projects where | the foremen are consistently drunk | and drive the men to exhaustion. organization has already | Unemployed Workers To Protest Terrorism CANNONSBERG, Pa., Dec. 14—A meeting to protest the anti-red ac- tivities of Chief of Police Addis and | his thugs, will take place here at 2 p. m., Sunday. | The drive against militant work- ers under the leadership of the chief | of police has reached a new level with the breaking up of an Unem- ployment Council meeting last Sun- day afternoon, and the arrest of Elmer French, leader of the un-/ employed workers here. Theater Bombing U in Boston To Incite ‘Red Scare’ ® | Facts Reveal No Labor Groups Involved in Explosions By EUGENE GORDON BOSTON, Mass. Dec. 14. — Hearst's “Boston American,” which on Tuesday carried screaming head- lines proclaiming the bomb expio- sions in Boston, Lynn and Paw- tucket theatres to be tie work of “Reds” in a general “terz plot,” yesterday printed, along with other Boston papers, what appear to be the real facts in the bombings. At the same time, the District Committee of the Communist Party issued a statement stressing the universally known fact that indi- vidual terrorism is contrary to the aims and principles of the Com- munist Party, and exposing the Hearst slanders as another step in the fascist campaign of the Hearst press against the working class, and its Communist vanguard. Planted By Thugs Statements by the owners of the bombed theatres reveal (1) a fierce, cut-throat competition of- long standing between the so-called in- dependents and the chain theatres; (2) that gangsters employed by rival theatre owners had threatened to blow up all houses operated by a certain group, (3) that the explo- sives were planted. by hired thugs who were paid $250 a bomb,” (4) that no labor group was involved in the bombings. Although the American prints the revised version along with the other capitalist papers, it does not, as some of the others do, openly admit that the Communists were not involved. Boston police lost little time in promoting the red scare set off by the Hearst paper. A worker riding on a trolley car who heard one of the blasts and commented that it | sounded like a bombing was prompt- ly arrested. The fact that he was cant that the “red squad” to work on the bombings. Governor Ely also issued a state- ment yesterday covertly attacking was put tioning them by name. The Ameri- can and all the afternoon papers gave the attack first-page promi- nence, The two Boston theatres which were bombed are operated by F. E. price policy. Both houses were badly damaged, with windows and doors in the lobby blown out and narts of the cellar ripped to pieces. Owners Expose Police E. M. Lowe, owner of the two out- of-town theatres which were bomb- ed, and Lieberman, were both responsible for exposing the police attempts to promote a “red scare,” in the realization that while the police were frittering away their time trying to pin the outrage on the Communists, the real bombers and those who hired them were being left unmolested. The statement issued by the Dis- trict Committee of the Communi: Party points out that Hearst's fas- cist campaign against the working class “was redoubled the moment Hearst returned from his conference with Hitler in Germany and wrote his infamous letter instructing all his papers to carry on a campaign for fascism and against the Com- crushing the struggles of the work- ers, Cites Morro Castle, Reichstag Fires “Not a single disaster or major crime resulting from capitalist cor- rupticn and greed takes place today, | without attempts to use it as an occasion to accuse and attack the Communist Party. The lead in this direction has been given directly by the government. We have only to recall the recent attempt of Mr. Hoover of the Steamboat Inspection Service to cover up the criminal greed of the Ward Line which was sed (Boss Parties | Move To Bar C. P. Ballots Attempt to Side-Track Chicago Workers in City Elections CHICAGO, Ill., Dec. 14—Alarmed at the increasing discontent of Chi- ago workers with the present city administration, Democratic officials are already attempting to supress all working class opposition at the election polls in April by eping all parties but the Democrats and Re- publicans off the ballot | Democratic party leaders who run the city administration are trying to keep voters from signing petitions by warning them that they will lose their right to vote in the primaries. Will Not Deprive However, losing the right to vote in the primaries does not deprive workers of the oppor’ to vote in the April elec’ Com- munist Party poin' day that by signing petitions workers it have an opportunity to vote for real working class candidates in the elec- tions. Voting in the primaries will bar them from signing petitions, 95,000 signatures are needed to put the Communist Party on the ballot, the board of election commissioners have announced. The Communist Party's ticket is led by Karl Lockner, secretary of the county committee of Unemployment Councils, for the office of mayor. |Herbert Newton, young Negro lead- er who is now actively leading a campaign against jim-crowism and segregation on the south side, has {been nominated for city clerk while |Sam Hammersmark, veteran labor leader,’ will run for city treasurer. Side-Tracking Seen | With the opening of the campaign jfor the mayorality by capitalist po- litical parties, indications are that attempts will be made by so-called progressive and third party candi- dates to side-track working clasé discontent with present office hold- ers. Newton Jenkins, a self-styled pros | gressive Republican, will head a city | ticket under the pretense of reform, newly-formed Relief Workers Union | , Communist was used to suggest a 4 Mrs. John Wesley Grey, formerly here, with a membership of 450, is| Communist plot. It 4s also signifi-| With the crooked Thompson and Small machine that was thrown out \of office by aroused workers’ oppo- sition, now has taken over some of \the slogans of the Communist Party jand wants to run city hall as her | the Communists, although not men-|own kitchen with a motto of “No work, no eat.” The Socialist Party has decided to run for mayor Roy E. Burt, Meth- lodist minister and party candidate for governor in 1932. Burt is a gentleman who will paint the So- | Lieberman, on an open shop, cut-|cialists as genuine militants and {workers should be warned against his silver tongue. | Opposition Met | Attempts by the Communist |Party to effect united fronts with Socialists on a workers’ ticket in individual wards have met with op- Position of the leaders, However, rank and file workers in six locals of the Socialist-controlled Chicago Workers Committee on Unemploy- ment have joined with the Commu- nist Party and Unemployment Coun- cils in united front tickets, In the campaign for city-wide offices the Communist Party has is- ;Sued a call foi a workers united front conference to consider the is- sues and candidates in the coming | elections. A broad moyement around the candidates and platform of the |Party will be furmed to present to the working class a program that they can rally around. All organ- izations are urged to send delegates to the conference which will be held the Unemployment Council Hall, at! munist Party as the only method of Sunday, January 13, at Mirror Hall, |1136 N. Western Avenue. | cones : rs | PATERSON, N. J. Dr. S. LITTMAN of the “Daily” Medical Advisory Board will lecture SUNDAY, DEC. 16th, 8 P. M. | at Junior Order Hall Union, corner Smith St. Auspices: © Tom Mooney Br. I. W.O. Adm. 15¢. Proceeds to Daily Worker CHICAGO, Ill. Rockford, Ill. Lecture at S.M.S.P. Hall, 1019 Third Ave., Sunday, Dec. 16, 2:30 p.m. Sub- jofficial of the union presided as chairman, | There were fifteen farmer dele- responsible for the Morro Castle | | fire, by accusing the Communists | _ | of causing the fire. This outrageous For the Rights of Negroes in Mill and Union Ject: “Will Communism Bring Hap-igates from the Agricultural Union | charge (also especially featured by | j ae ges 2 8 Epps ba eet in Vineland and Bridgeton. Ten By CARL REEVE | the Hearst press) has since been! ployed 10c. Unemployed 5¢. Chicago, Ill. Symposuim “Fascist Trends in Middle Class and Trade Unions,” Sunday evening, Dec. 16, 8 p.m, at Pen and Hammer Forum, 20 E. Ontario St. Speakers: Harry Shaw, editor Rail- road Unity News, and Joseph Edel- man, Chicago Comm. to Aid Vic- tims of German Fascism. Adm. 15c. Baltimore, Md. Northwest Unit of Y.C.L. is holding a series of Open Forums at their headquarters, 1308 McCullan Street, Sundays at 3 p.m. starting next Sunday, Dec. 16. Leonard Patterson will speak on “Why Cheltenham Must Be Abolished.” Boston, Mass. Chinese Night to Celebrate 7th An- niversary of Canton Commune Sun- Gay, Dec. 16. At New International Hall, 42 Wenonah St., Roxbury, Mass. Chop Suey. Chow Mein Supper, 8 p.m, sharp. Chinese Music. Enter- tainment. Editor Hsu of Vanguard will speak on “Canton Commune and Red Army.” Subs. 35c. Auspices, Chinese Br. and John Reed Br, I.L.D. AFFAIRS FOR THE DAILY WORKER Columbus, Ohio Dance and Entertainment for Work- ers’ Press—Daily Worker, Uj Elore and Radnik—Saturday, Dec. 15 at 8 p. m. at Ivanoff Hall, 1899% So. Parsons Ave. Adm. 25c. Paul, Minn. Dance and Entertainment given by Unit 1 at St. Paul Labor Lyceum, 57 F. ith St., Sat., Dec. 15. Adm. 10c. Party and Entertainment, Sat., Dec. 15, at 439 Igiehart Ave. Unit 2, 0. P. St. Given by delegates came from the Baltimore Church Federation, A member of |Howard University, a leading Negro institution played an active role at the meeting. Among the unions that were represented were the {Marine Workers Industrial Union, the United Textile, the Hosiery | Workers, the Wool Pullers, the Metal Workers, the Federation of Arch- itects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians, the Garment Workers, and the Carpenters Union. Many fraternal and unemployed organiza- tions were also present. as . 5 Go to Jail in Chicago 2 As Thaelmann Pickets CHICAGO, Ill., Dec, 13.—Arrested last summer for picketing the Ger- man Consulate with banners de- jmanding the freedom of Ernst ; Thaelmann, five workers were given jail sentences yesterday when they refused to pay fines imposed upon them by Judge Jonas. A jury in Municipal Court found them guilty of disorderly conduct despite a plea by the International Labor Defense of the lawful right to picket. Police have arrested every worker who has attempted to picket the German Consulate on Michigan Avenue, and have prevented all demonstrations by surrounding the building with cops. Those who are serving sentences are Max Shain, Olga Lednicki, y Helen Smith, Claude Jones and Benny Nick, all young workers. BRADDOCK, Pa., Dec. 14.—One of the important rank and file mo- tions adopted by the Pittsburgh dis- trict convention of the Amalga- mated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers (A. F. of L.) was for the election of rank and file organ- ization committees to organize the unorganized. The campaign for or- ganization of the unorganized Negro steel workers into the A. A. requires particular attention. The steel companies have taken energetic steps to keep the white and Negro steel workers divided. ‘They have tried especially hard to keep the Negro steel workers from organizing. In this attempt to keep the workers split, the employers have been aided by the Jim Crow policies of Mike Tighe, president of the A. A., and his machine for over a score of years. 2 Negroes Were Barred ‘There was a marked absence of Negro steel workers at the last A. A. national convention. The leadership of Mike Tighe has dis- criminated against and barred Ne- groes from joining or from partici- pation in the union. It was the Steel and Metal Workers In- dustrial Union, and in_ recent months, the rank and file movement in the A. A., which carried on a struggle for the rights of the Ne- gro steel workers. “I have never seen a Negro roller in a steel mill,” one Negro steel worker from the great Thompson rail mill here, told me. “A roller makes from nine to ten dollars a day. My own wage, at present, is $3.87 a day and I work from one to four days a week.” There are about two hundred Negro workers in the Thompson plants which employ a total of about 2,000 workers. There are very few Negroes in the higher paid and more skilled jobs, this worker declared. “The minister of the Negro Bap- tist Church gave a sermon a few Sundays ago on the subject of the problems of the Negro steel work- ers. He had a conference with Slick, the Thompson mill superintendent, before his sermon,” another Negro steel worker told me. “The minister told the Negro steel workers to keep out of the Amalgamated Associa- tion. He told them that no Negro steel worker should go on strike or join the union. He used the argu- ment that in the 1919 steel strike the Negroes got nothing out of the union or out of the strike, as ar argument against the union and against going on strike. A little later the Negro Methodist preacher made the same kind of a sermon.” ers in Braddock in the 1919 steel strike and why some of them stayed at work was related by still another Negro worker who was working in the rod and wire mill here (of the American Steel and Wire Co.) dur- ing 1919, with about forty other Negro workers. “We went to some of the meetings of the Amalga- mated Association before the What the Amalgamated Associa- | ing, only | tion officials did to the Negro work- meetings there was no English spoken, One meeting we went to we heard an A. A. official declare that too many Negroes were given good jobs. He said that the Negro should be put back on common la- bor only, and give them he jobs. The A. A. leaders didn’t make any attempt to organize us. We de- cided to stay at work when the strike was called. We went through the Picket line to work every morn- Ordered from Hall “Then we saw that these fellows on the picket line couldn't win if we stayed at work strikebreaking. We talked it over in the mill and de- cided to march out on strike. We marched in a body to the A. A. hall. We told the A. A. official there that we had come to join the strike and the union. This A. A. official or- dered us out of the hall. He told us they didn’t want Negroes. We argued with him that we wanted to help win the strike. He told us to get out. We then marched back into the mill and went on strikebreak- Now the Negro steel workers can see a force in the Amalgamated As- sociation, the rank and file, which represents not the Jim Crow pol- icies of Mike Tighe, but the Policy | of unity, solidarity, of fight for the | rights of the Negro steel workers, such as William Z. Foster and other | militant organizers tried to effect in the 1919 steel strike. | strike,” he said. “In some of these file organization committees the rank At this time, with its rank and | and file is launching a drive for the organization of the unorgan- ized steel workers. Right from the} beginning, the rank and file in the A. A, makes it clear to the Negro steel workers that an important and basic part of the rank and file pro- | gram is a fight for all the demands of the Negro steel workers. The rank and file in the A. A. fights against the Jim Crow; demands an end of discrimination against Negro workers in the mills in the giving out of jobs, and equal pay for equal work for the Negro steel workers. The last convention of the A. of I, overruled the will of the rank and file delegates and the machine of William Green referred a reso- lution for equal rights for the) Negroes in the unions to the Ex- ecutive Committee for action. The speeches of the Green henchmen defended the Jim Crow and discrim-| ination practiced in some A. F. of | L. unions. The rank and file in the A, A. must and will make it clear to the steel workers that they are| determined to bring to an end for all time the Mike Tighe policy of discrimination against Negroes within the union. The campaign of the rank and file to organize the unorganized} steel workers will succeed only on the oasis of bringing in the Negro steel workers together with their) white brothers to prepare strikes! and other struggles on the basis of complete solidarity, and to fight for the rights of the Negro steel work- ers. | methods of individual terror. methods can be of no use to the! thoroughly exposed by the evidence which has placed the blame defin- itely on the company. “The Communist Party repeats, as it has done and has proved hun- dreds of times before, that it totally rejects and fights against any working class, but are used contin- ually by the capitalists as pzovoca- tion against the workers. The Reichstag Fire, which was set by the Nazis themselves as an excuse for attacking the Communist Party of Germany, was an object lesson for F.| the whole world in this regard. Exposes Ely as Strike Breaker The statement of Governor Ely is another example of the aid given by government officials to the fas- cist campaigns against the workers. The whole statement is an attempt by implication to lay the blame for these atrocious crimes upon those having “radical ideas.” revolutionary ideas have nothing in common with gangsterism, corrup- tion and crime that is typical of American capitalism today. The fascist incitement contained in Gov- ernor Ely’s statement is in complete accord with his use of the State police to attack the Southbridge | strikers—a policy of increased vio- lence in an attempt to crush the struggles of the workers against wage-cuts, stretchout and cutting of unemployment relief. The Communist Party is confident that the workers will not be misled by the fascist incitement of Hearst and Ely.” Such | Radical and | JBAZAAR |] Today and Tomorrow ||] SAT. DEC. 15 - SUN, DEC. 16 | Peoples’ Auditorium 2457 Chicago Avenue GAMES - DANCING - PROGRAM Admission 10c for each night Proceeds for the Defense of Class War Prisoners EUROPA THEA. “ere sere Now Playing Amkino presents the film epic of the |] birth and progress of a great nation | eA Songs About Lenin” Hear Lenin's Voice for the First Time on the Screen Directed by GZEGA VERTOY¥ Music by SHAPORIN ‘| Dr. G. O. Vennesland Dentist Western Avenue 4816 N. LOngbeach 0757 Chicago, Til. i