The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 7, 1935, Page 2

Page 2 DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK. MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 1935 Rank and File Victory Fascists Linked —|Mass Insurance | of Local 802 Musicians Spike Red Scare Drive :vix:vei w= Entire Slate of ‘Blue Ticket’ Swept Into Office— Militants in Union Block Move of Re- actionaries to Expell Members By Al The recent elections in Greater New York, Local 802 Musicians, A. F. of I ] rank and United Member Steele the Associated Musicians of of the American Federation of in a sweeping victory to the p “Blue” Ticket. This vic- sl tory also assumes great importance outside of the boundaries of the local when we realize by voting into office the entire slate of the “Blue Ticket” the member- ship endorsed the program on which hese workers ran This program is a pudiation of the pol the top leaders of and their representatives who follow in the iam Green and company The re- sults of the election prove that the rank and file rejects the attack Green and his followers in the A. F. ‘omp! n 802. in steps of Will- of of M. against all militant workers in the A. F. of L. through his no- torious letter to affiliated unions on August 19, demanding the ex- pulsion of Communists. Officials Blocked Strike Faced with the growing radical- ization, militancy and the readiness to struggle on the part of the work- ers, the top officials of the A. F. of L. blocked whatever strike action they could. Where they couldr they placed themselves at the head of these struggles with the outright aim to betray the workers. To further check this militancy they tried to divide the ranks of the workers by working hand glove with the open agents of the bosses in raising the red scare. It is interesting to note that one of the outstanding supporters of this red scare at the fifty-fourtt convention of the A. F. of L. in San Francisco, was Chauncey A Weaver, one of the International officers of the American Federation of Musicians and member of the Executive Committee. The fact that he was the only official of the A. F. of M. who spoke on the question and that Joseph N. Weber, president of the Federation, present at the convention, did not find it neces- sary to disassociate himself from the views expressed by Weaver, is only additional proof that Weber and the rest of the A. F. of M. offi- cials agreed with him Green's letter was repudiated by a large number. of local unions throughout the country. Large sec- tions of the rank and file and many local leaders of A. F. of L. unions refused to act on the order of the Executive Council. In his speech, Weaver greeted the in “time when Green's order was is-| sued.as “.... an encouraging, thri ing, inspirational hour through the ranks of organized labor. .. .” He contends that the vast ma- jority of the membership of A. F. cof L. unions support the policies ‘pursued by the top officials of the ‘A. F. of L. and their direct repre- sentatives in some of the local tunions. * The best answer to Weaver's ‘speech was given by the membership ‘of the largest local of his own union, ithe New York Local 802 of the A. F. ‘of M. The elections were a complete | repudiation of the program pursued by Weber, Weaver and the rest of the Executive Committee of the A. tF. of M. With the largest vote ever polled in the history of the local in @vbich more than 5,500 votes were feast, toe membership voted into lpffice the complete united member- iship “Bluc Ticket” slate. The “Blue Ticket” represented a “united front of the rank and file of ‘the union in opposition to the cor- ‘rupt administration of the local and ‘included the Conimittee of Fifteen who carried on the fight for local atonom; for years and whos» ex- uision from the wnion on Seotem~- *ber 27th was stayed by a court or- sder on the 29th of October. i This was the first time in 14 years that the membership had an op- ‘portunity to vote for its officers, tthe Executive and Trial Board: twith the exception of the Pres. ident, Edward Canavan, who is the jonly appointed official remaining in ‘the organization. He will remain in office for the next two years wilh @ salary of $10,000 a year. * This right to vote was the culmi- Snation of 14 years of struggle for lo- fecal autonomy. It was only after a qbitter fi ‘sale expulsions and discrimination Jagainst the leaders of this struggle. "that the Executive Committee of the International A. F. of M. at 113 June convention, was forced at last to grant this local autonomy. In addition to retaining Canavan vas its appointee the Execuilve Com- «mittee of the A. F. of M. attached ,other strings to this grant of local ‘autonomy. Among these the Ex- secutive Committee, the local officials, ¢sent out a referendum in August, 21934 on the question as to whether *“Communistic” “Communists” shall be permitted in ‘the union. This referendum was tsent out without the knowledge or | sconsent of the membership. + While Weaver refers to this ref- ‘erendum as proof of repudiation of “Communism and Communists by | the membership, the results of the | «poll were to date as nounced. 5 Space does not permit us to go ‘nto the history of the splendid struggle conducted by the rank and “file of the union. It will suffice to Spresent the program around which the membership of the local rallied in defeating the rule of the Execu- ‘tive Committee through its ap- ‘Dointees headed by “King Edward” 2Canavan. yet not an- » The demands and the pledges | impassioned denunciation of fascism contained in the program put forth cby the “Blue Ticket” which was ‘everwhelmingly endorsed by the} “membership through the elections is “an undisputable repudiation of very contention made by Weaver his speech in San Francisco, ight of long standing, whole- | propaganda or) The new administration of Local 802 was elected into office on the basis of support by the membership of the following demands included in the “Blue Ticket” program: 1, Immediate and uncondifional reinstatement of the Committee of Fifteen and all others prosecuted because of their struggle for local | autonomy, > Se mocra 3. Rigid enforcement of union wage scales on all engagements and improvements of working conditions for members of the union, and, 4. Cessation of ail tnreats, im- timidations, fines and expulsions, and all manner of prosecutions against union members because of political, social and economic opin- ion. Following are the pledges made 1 and complete inner de- in the union. = by the United Membership “Blue | Ticket” in the pre-election cam- paign 1. To continue unabated its fight for complete local autonomy. 2. To extend to every member of the union, regardless of race, color, sex or creed, political, social or economic opinion, full and complete | rights of free speech and free as- semblage. 3. The maintenance of union wage scales and improvement of working conditions. 4. To furnish complete detailed accounts of every penny of income and expense. 5. To always regard the decision | of our membership as the highest law in our local. | 6. To submit to the membership | a new constitution and by-laws, which, after full and complete dis- cussion by the membership, shall be adopted as its collective will and desire, and to abide thereby. a ‘o imsure that all price lists and working conditions shall be de- determined by the membership and not by the officials, | 8. That none of the officials elected under this ticket will, while | they are officials of the union, ever | act as contractors or leaders on| steady engagements nor will they appoint contractors or place mem- bers on any engagements; with re- gard to this we will always strictly | comply with the rules of the mem- | bership. | | 9. To help the unemployed and create work by engaging in a drive for unionization of the entire juris- | diction, | 10. To seek unemployment relief | for unemployed members and use the full strength of our organization for that purpose, without placing the burden therefor on the backs of those employed; in line with | this pledge we will seek to create | a fund which shall be administered under the supervision of the mem- bership for the unemployed mem- in need, this fund to be created #) A drastic reduction of salaries of officers and board members, b) Otherwise reducing overhead expenses in the union wherever pos- sible, and | © Employing every legitimate measure to raise funds. 11. To work jointly with the Allied Theatrical Trades toward the cre- ation of uniformly dated contracts | with employers for the best protec- tion of all concerned. | 12, To devise ways and means to prevent expulsion of members for | inability to pay dues. | whom Hauptmann at first charged While support to this program on the part of the overwhelming ma- jority of the members of Local 802 who partook in the election is a| great victory and constitutes an im- portant step forward for the rank and file movement in the American Federation of Labor, the job as far |as Local 802 is concerned is by far | not completed, | Whether or not the entire mem- | bership of the local will be moved in support of the elected adminis- | tration and whether or not other |locals of the Federation will follow | |the example set by 802, will largely depend on how effectively the pro- gram of the “Blue Ticket” will be put into life. The next step for the rank and | file of 802 is the further struggle for local autonomy, the effective application of the program they were elected on by involving the membership as a whole in these | practical tasks and the winning over | of the rest of the members of the | local and the entire Federation be- hind their program. “Anti-Nazis Battle Foes in the Saar (Continued from Page 1) | that the world’s workers were with | them, supporting them in every pos- sible way. From the United States thousands j of dollars poured in for the plebi- |scite campaign, a certain “Professor |L.” of Harvard University sending ‘a check for $100, From the English {Catholics came $1,250 to swell the | anti-Hitler struggle of the Catholic |German People’s Party, One con- tribution was received, significantly enough, from “a German Storm Trooper.” The Communist Party newspaper of the Saar yesterday published an by Franz Kortas, who fought in the World War with the Richtofen air squadron. Kortas emphasized to the workers of the Saar that the members of the pro-Nazi ‘Deutsche | maping, he did not try to see his | instructions,” | Same time; why was “Red” John- | local | come about that his advertisement | To Kidnap Case (Continued from Page 1) | was an inside job rpetrated with the knowledge and e connivance of members of millionaire aviator's Before Lindbergh can prove that Hauptmann was the soie criminal | ed in the kidnaping, murder « extortion, the Morgan satellite must iron out the following contra- tions in his testir die my: 1. He must refute the statemenis of Federal agents that the ladder \ he alleges Hauptmann used Ww h too weak to hold the de- fe s weight 2. He must ex- plain how one footprint at the win- dow from which he says the Lind- bergh yy was taken could account | for the several steps that would have | had to be taken by a kidnaper—un- | less someone inside the Lindbergh home handed the baby out to the kidnaper. 3. He must explain why police officials were unable to find any fingerprints on the window sill in question, 4. He must explain why he refused to allow State and Fed- eral agents to enter the case until weeks had elapsed and until he had | first used two underworld charac- | Spitale and Bitz, associates of | corrupt capitalist politicians to con- | tact the notorious Purple Gang in Detroit. 5. He must undertake to| explain why, when he arrived at his home on the evening of the kid- sick child who had been alone in his crib for hours. 6. He will have | to admit once more that it seal possible for kidnapers to steal the child and take it from the house without using either window or the | ladder which he says were used. | 7. He will have to answer the ine | sinuations raised by Reilly that the murdered baby was really the off- spring of an extra-marital relation- ship between himself and Betty Gow, the baby’s nurse. 8. He wil have to describe how it was possible | for the baby, whose measurements ! were taken by a leading New York physician seven days before he was | kidnaped, to grow three inches in the week between his examination | | and his kidnaping (the body of the | murdered baby was three inches longer than that of the Lindbergh baby). 9. He will have to explain why he had the baby's body cre- mated instead of buried. 10. He will have to explain why a post card mailed to him in Newark, N. J., on | March 3, two days after the kidnap- ing, stating: “Baby is well. Follow was never given to} the police to be compared to the| ransom notes. | Other Important Questions | If and when Lindbergh explains | the above, he will then have to clear up the following: Why, within a short period after the kidnapping, did Violet Sharpe, a maid at the Morrow home in Englewood, com- mit suicide as she was about to be | questioned by the police a second | time about certain contradictions in | her story of her whereabouts on the | night of the kidnaping; was Ollie Whately, Lindbergh's butler, who died shortly after the kidnaping, a victim of foul play; why did Mrs. Whately, his widow, go to England for a visit after the kidnaping; why did Betty Gow go to Scotland at the son, a friend of Betty Gow’'s, de- ported soon after the kidnaping; | why did “Jafsie,” Dr. Condon, print his advertisement to the kidnapers | in the Bronx Home News, a purely newspaper, and how did it was answered on the following day; | and why did Deputy Chief Inspec- tor Sullivan of New York declare that it was impossible for the kid- naping and murder to have been | committed by one person, | As the role of the Nazi govern- ment and the pro-fascist Hearst in the defense of Hauptmann stand out with greater clarity, it is to be | expected that Reilly will try to di-| vert attention from the pro-Nazi | Hauptmann and try to deflect it on Isidor Fisch, the Jewish furrier | Rave him the fortune in gold notes | that was found in his Bronx ga- rage. Investigation by District Attorney | Foley of the Bronx, as reported in the New York Times, proved con- | clusively, within a few days after | Hauptmann’s arrest on Sept. 20,| that Fisch was not involved in the crime and died penniless in Ger- many of tuberculosis, but Reilly | can be expected to use the dead | man as the nearest thing to a red) herring that he can find to cover| up Hauptmann’s guilt. Laval Confers: With Mussolini | To Make Pact ROME, Jan. 6.—Following a long conversation between the French Foreign Minister Laval and Musso- lini, it Was announced today that the two countries will sponsor a “consultative pact,” which will be open to other nations, The confer- | ence is still proceeding, but the real issues discussed, of course, are not commented on for publication. All Europe recognizes the signifi- cance of this meeting, which will de- termine Italy's future relations to Germany, and will have a great effect on Mussolini’s actions in Ethiopia, Austria, and Jugoslavia. The purpose of the consultative pact between Italy and France is to provide for the independence of Austria. Copies of the pact have been dispatched to London and Ber- lin. Laval was closeted with Mussolini for more than three hours today. While an after dinner reception was going on in the Venice Palace last night, Mussolini, Laval, Fulvio Su- vich, Italian under-secretary for foreign affairs, and Ambassador Hassel of Germany, held a confer- ence, The subject of their discussion was not revealed, Front” were, as a body, opposed to Hitler and his bloody regime, Cc, P. Units—Greet the Daily | Mother Bloor was wanted | into the fight for unemployment in- | | surance. | wage-cuts and the rising price of | There 1s the spirit of the Con- Fight Organized (Continued from Page 1) can they force me to endorse the | infamous Wagner Bill. I will fight to the bitter end for real unem- ployment insurance. I have been glad, at this Congress, to meet many other Socialists who feel as I do.” Class War Prisoners Bill O'Donnell spoke, a stocky, middle-aged man with a trace of @ brogue. He was a former sergeant | of the regular army and then was | a lieutenant of New Jersey State | Troopers for many years. Recently, he was sentenced to six months for activity during the Bridgeton, N. J., farm strike. He went on a hunger strike, and was later released. “It is hard for others to believe that a former State trooper like | myself could become class-conscious | at the age of 47,” he said. “But/ stranger things are happening in America, and people are waking up, some sooner, some later. Perhaps I was a little late, but now I am doing my best.” O'Donnell represented some 60,- 000 workers of New Jersey, who had elected him chairman of their Convention for Unemployment In- | surance a few days after he got out of jail. Dirk De Jonge, representing the | unemployed of Oregon, is another | worker who is facing the fascists. | His danger is more serious, for he | is under a seven-year sentence for criminal syndicalism. A powerful working man in a blue windbreaker, De Jonge spoke quietly and impressively. Another Indictment “This fight for real unemployment | insurance enrages the wealthy rul- ers of America,” he said. “They | are trying to send me to jail, and| they will try to send many more of us. Just before I left for this Con- gress, the ruling class of Oregon were so alarmed at the thought of my coming here that they indicted me on another charge of criminal syndicalism. Our bus was stopped at Minneapolis, and police with a warrant for my arrest came through looking for me. “But I am here. All of us are here. Persecution cannot stop this great fight of the oppressed Amer- ican people for economic security. We refuse to starve. We refuse to lie down and die quietly. We are men, not dogs. We will assert our humanity against all the brutality of the capitalist state.” The chairman announced that in the committee room. It was one of many routine announcements, but imme- diately the whole great auditorium was on its feet, cheering for her and demanding that she speak. Mother Bloor Speaks The grand old veteran who is the Clara Zetkin and Mother Jones of our time walked down the hall, cheered at every step. Her dark youthful eyes sparkled, her face was radiant. How she inspires workers everywhere. I have seen her get up at a farmers’ meeting where she was unknown, and in ‘five minutes all present loved her as though she | had been their friend and mother for a life time. She told the Congress not to for- get their women, and to bring them “When you get back you will be! tired,” she said. “But when your wife asks you about what happened here, don’t say you're tired, or that a woman can’t understand politics. “They do understand. They un- derstand deeply the meaning of food. This is their fight, even more than yours. Without the women, this struggle will not grow. Re- member that, and organize the wo- men and the youth.” Steel Workers Act Several steel workers from the Pittsburgh area preceded her. Big. chesty, dogged men, they told of the fight Mike Tighe and other misleaders in the steel industry are making against unemployment in- surance, “But thousands of steel workers are coming along with us. Every day we gain hundreds of recruits. It surprises us, the tempo of it. We can promise you some great events | soon in steel,” one of the delegates said. A delegate from the United Tex- tile Workers announced that a na- tional rank and file committee in that union is being set up right here | at the Congress. Already some 20,000 textile workers are in this moye- ment. “Without a doubt many of us are putting ourselves in a precarious position in our unions by standing out on this unemployment insur- ance issue,” he said. “But it is our duty to fight for the interests of the workers, regardless of creed or color, against those who mislead them. 2 “What is the alternative? A future only of deeper and deeper suffering for the American workers. We must struggle or go down, and we have chosen to struggle.” Tron Unity | gress, As the sessions continue, a great flame of courage rises out of this mass of workers. They came here as Democrats, Socialists, Re- | publicans, Free Masons, Commu- nists, liberals and churchgoers, A unity is being created that nothing will destroy. The delegates when they leave will go back to their communities much different than when they came. It is the united front that has changed them, and given them new clarity and courage. Indicating the tremendous power of the Congress, Ernest Lundeen, Congressman from Minnesota, felt it necessary to attend the evening session last night and declare, “T now come from the little Congress to the big Congress. In the future, the workers’ organizations, the farmers’ organizations, the labor or- ganizations, organizations every- where must demand the passage of the Workers’ Bill, and then we will get our bills out anyway regardless of the gag rules just placed upon the House. If I am a member of the Labor Committee of this Con- gress, I shall endeavor to see to it that your committees are heard; that your statements are put in the proceedings. Large committees and Worker on its 11th Anniversary! more folks should come down and | Workers, (Continued from Page 1) | his activities became especially acute during the murder of the Austrian workers in To back up the testimony of t acter, Hearst quotes Harold Denny. York Times, on “famine in the Soviet Union.” But how crooked is his quoting! important sentences, he quotes Denny as saying that against the peasants is “of a nature and intensity probably never seen in the world.” But what did Denny actually exactly the opposite! dispatch of July 24: “The struggl ducing THIS YEAR'S SOCIALIST HARVEST IN THE FACE OF AN EARLY DROUGHT is of a nature and intensity, etc., etc... . So it is the Soviet Government's drive to over- come the drought, to provide for the welfare of the people, that is being conducted “with an intensity never before equalled in the world” terrorism” against the peasants, as lyingly insinu- ated by Hearst! Further, Denny, IN THIS VERY SAME AR- TICLE makes Hearst into a record- stating in black and white: “This year's unprecedented campaign has two how he deliberately meanings to their exact opposite! He actually wrote An Editorial objectives. One is to provide bread .. . the other is to establish collective farming, ... Both objec- February, his shady char- of The New | | tives appear to | ure . | American prolet: How he omits | dyed and viciou: twists | For example, the “terrorism” say? He said | in his | le which is pro- tion. The setting w of the country’s condemns them war. "; not “military lous distortions, working cless smashing of the breaking liar by the same time, bi every one of the dozens of collective farm- ers I have spoken to seemed genuinely optimistic.” So William Randolph Hearst stands before the | preserve the rule of his parasite class! | RST'S frantic discussions on the rule of the proletariat only proves that the question of the working class overthrowing capitalism and setting up a Workers’ and Farmers’ Soviet Government in America is becoming every day a more vital ques- ing every day nearer as the only way the majority | which is hurling them to fascism and imperialist So Mr. Hearst, by his stupid, vicious and ridicu- ing the capitalist system and setting up the rule of the proletariat before millions of workers. have been obtained in fair meas- ariat, which he despises, as a deep- is liar, who will stop at nothing to ip of working class power is becom- | population can end the crisis which | to unemployment and misery, and not only fights the advance of the revolutionary movement for the Wall Street profit system, but, at rings the whole question of abolish- fight for the Unemployment Insur- ance Bill.” | Youth Delegate | Lundeen states, “It is up to you people to educate your servants (be- cause that is what they are sup-| posed to be, your servants in Con- gress) so that they willereally serve you. If the Senate, if the House of | Representatives do not carry out your wishes, there is a remedy. Give | them a vacation, and some of you folks go down there and take their seats.” Elizabeth Scott, on behalf of the American Youth Congress which concluded a two-day session of ap- | proximately two hundred and fifty | delegates last night, brought greet- ings and a resolution of support from the Youth Congress. “The American Youth Congress, which is composed of many youth organiza- tions of diverse opinion,” she said, “and whose existence is dependent on the whole-hearted support of all its members, has“sent me here to communicate to your our position on unemployment and social in- surance.” Miss Scott then read a resolution passed by the American Youth Congress which declared the Workers’ Bill superior to all others, Ovation for Negro The great ovation given the speech of Arnold Hill, president of the National Urkgn League, demon- strated that the Congress is deter- mined to wage a fight against dis- crimination against Negro workers, Hill, in his speech, declared that there are five million employables of the Negro race. Hill said, “No program which pretends to offer so- cial security to the masses is worthy of serious consideration unless it guarantees first of all a greater guarantee of security to those work- ers who. are least secure.” “The Negro population constitutes our most handicapped group,” he | said, “that portion of our working masses with least job security and | most in need of unemployment in- surance. The Negroes are almost entirely unskilled and semi-skilled Added to this is bitter and relentless race prejudice. This race prejudice is a carefully planned Program on the part of employers to use black workers as a pawn with which to defeat labor's unity | So that the bosses may bargain more successfully with both white and black workers,” Hill denounced the discrimination against Negroes practiced by lead- ing A. F. of L. officials in many trade unions. Hill attacked the Wisconsin and Wagner-Lewis “re- serves” plan as not solving the prob- lems of the unemployed, and called for “a tremendous and clamorous support for the Workers’ Unemploy- ment Insurance Bill” from the Negro masses. The A.A.A, he pointed out dis- criminates against the Negro farm- er, and showed how the government etc. He demanded compensation for discriminates against Negroes re- garding citizenship, voting rights, the Negroes equal to compensation for whites who are unemployed. The 4,000 persons, workers, farm- ers and professionals present in the opening sessions Saturday, by their ovations to the speeches of Mary Van Kleeck, chairman of the Inter- Professional Association for Social | Insurance; Herbert Benjamin, ex- ecutive secretary of the Sponsoring Committe for the Congress; T. Ar- nold Hill, president of the National Urban League and leader among Negroes, and to the opening speech of Elmer Brown, chairman of the Congress, showed that they are de- termined to intensify this fight. Smiles or Bread Herbert Benjamin, in his report, contrasted the program of Roose- velt’s message to the Seventy- fourth Congress of the United States, representing big business, with the program being mapped out in this Congress of the masses, There was stormy applause when Benjamin declared: “We are here to say that we have seen the genial smile of President Roosevelt for two years, and it has not put bread into our mouths, it has not given milk for our children, it has not insured the existence of the vast population of this country. We cannot and we will not live on smiles. We are de- veloping at this Congress into a more militant, fighting movement for genuine unemployment insur- ance, which will carry forward and win the struggle for unemployment Las ois in spite of Mr. Roose- velt.” Benjamin, in a thorough analysis of Roosevelt's program, showed that Roosevelt has given billions in gifts to the banks and the employers, and for war purposes. He has given the unemployed only empty prom- ises. Benjamin showed that the present message of Roosevelt means relief cuts, forced labor, and no real unemployment insurance, but only promises of “reserves” plans, which do not go to those now unemployed. Exposes Fake Bills Benjamin analyzed the provisions of the Workers’ Bill (H. R, 2827) and exposed the fact that such schemes as the Epic plan of Sin- Roosevelt's “reserves” plans are aimed to divert the workers from @ mass struggle for real unemploy- ment insurance by holding forth | empty promises to confuse the is- sue, The huge packed auditorium was decorated with banners voicing the purpose of the delegates. Across the | top of the stage was spread an im- mense banner with the slogan in white lettersr on a blue background, “We unite in a determined fight for genuine unemployment insurance at expense of the government and em- ployers.” Other banners draped around the hall bore the slogans, “No discrimination against Negroes”; “Demand. Federal Unemployment Insurance”; “Relief and jobs for young workers—not C.C.C. military camps”; “Workers, professionals, unite, ours is a joint struggle”; “Poor farmers are ruined by plow- ing under—while workers in cities starve.” Van Kleek Cheered The great audience rose to its feet and cheered when Mary Van Kleck finished her address in the following words: “This address must | close with an assurance to the work- ers of America that an increasing number of professional workers, sci- entists, and technicians are ready to place at the disposal of the or- ganized labor movement not only the technical, professional and sci- entific knowledge which is needed for the solution of the nation’s prob- lems, but also the devotion and loy- alty of a group to a movement which in all history is alone the source of progressive social change.” Miss Van Kleek’s speech, delivered in the Saturday evening session, was an elaboration of a spsech she had given over the radio earlier in the day. “Security of livelihood must be made the leading aim and obli- gation of the American nation,” Miss Van Kleek began. “The gov- ernment and the economic system must assume this responsibility as the test and objective of all policies. The basis for economic security for the American people is to be found in security of livelihood for all work- ers and their families, who consti- tute the great majority of the Amer- ican people, and whose collective working efficiency is the source of | wealth. Organized Action “Such a movement, after five long years of continued unemployment and increasing pressure to lower standards of living, has a two-fold | cornerstone. First, widespread dis- tress necessitates organized action by the group unon whom the burden has fallen most heavily—that is, the workers, including farmers and those in the professions. Second, the work- ers of America, including the tech- nicians and scientists, are convinced that the productive capacity of the United States is sufficient to insure a comfortable living standard for this country and to contribute our share toward meeting the economic needs of the world. “The Workers’ bill puts forward a new concept of social insurance, that continuity of average income, with an established minimum equal to a living standard, must be as- sured through governmental action as a first charge upon the economic system. This contrasts sharply with past procedures in American his- tory, which have provided no gov- ernmental insurance, but, on the contrary, left the whole burden upon the workers, who are paid only during periods of production. Thus they are forced to maintain them- selves in idleness, awaiting the time when the industrial system will need them for renewed production. “The claim that workers should control the administration of so- cial insurance is a reinforcement of this struggle for a voice of the workers in economic policies and industrial management,” she de- clared. Answers Objections Miss Van Kleek then took up ob- Jections to the Workers’ Bill and answered them. The organization of workers in the U. S. is growing, she declared, “as the strikes of the past year have shown, despite the huge obstacles against it in the company union movement.” The administration of the insurance funds by elected commissions, she said, “would constitute the first genuinely democratic machinery for the economic functions of govern- ment in the United States.” Re- garding the objection that it would cost too much, Miss Van Kleek an- swered: “The Workers’ Bill would cost exactly what is now paid by the whole working class under mass unemployment.” The cost might easily be more than $250,000,000 for the first week, she said, “which is the loss now borne by the American working class and its families.” This continuity of income would in- crease the weekly purchasing power by that sum, she declared. Miss Van Kleek added: “Without a planned society there can be no | day morning before the Ward Line in the budget for education and for public health, to decrease the cost of unemployment insurance by in- suring continuity of income for large groups. When Miss Van Kleek spoke of the necessity for “curtailing the ex- penditures for wars” to raise. the funds, there was great applause. She analyzed the need for higher income taxes on the wealthy and corporations. 200 Abandon Wrecked Liner (Continued from Page 1) with the possibility of unfavorable | publicity. All telephonic communi- except for the routine pier phones was shut off. Anxious friends and relatives of the passengers and crew of the Ha- vana began to gather early yester- offices, at the foot of Wall Street on the East River. With the memory of the grief- stricken and hysterical relatives of “the Morro Castle victims still fresh in their minds, Ward Line officials yesterday set up police cordons to “control” the crowds. E. Sano, ex- ecutive assistant vice-president of the Ward Line, took command and set up a publicity service to sift all material coming through very care- fully. He pledged regular bulletins to the anxiety-crazed relatives who pressed for information. Recalls Morro Castle The haste with which the Ward Line officials and attorneys went. into action yesterday is ascribed to the revelations made during the in- vestigation of the Morro Castle disaster last Fall. Originally charged by seamen through an open hearing organized by the Marine Workers Industrial Union, it was brought out that the Morro Castle had been carrying ex- plosives below decks, had wooden instead of steel bulkheads, and had insufficient men, paying them mis- erably low wages and working them extremely long hours. The loss of the 134 lives in the Morro Castle fire was placed directly at the door of the Ward Line officials by sea- men. Comment that the officers of the Havana, acting under general in- structions from Ward Line owners, waited far longer than they should have before sending out an S.OS., is common among those at the Ward | Line. It was this point, more than anything else, that lent special bit- terness to the anxiety of friends and relatives who were waiting for in- formation through the sombre Sun- day. Unions Map Fight | For Workers’ Bill (Continued from Page 1) zations for united front actions to weld and cement the great strength of the jobless into one fighting or- ganization. A great ovation was accorded Elmer Brown, chairman of the Con- gress and of the Amalgamation Party of the International Typo- graphical Union as he opened the Congress yesterday. An ominous hush fell over the audience as the first words boomed out from the loud speakers: “The broad repre- sentation in this Congress is an in- dication of the growing need and the ever-increasing determination of the American people to establish immediately a genuine Federal Un- employment and Social Insurance system.” Brown continued: “Every dele- gate must be aware of the grave responsibility with which he is charged at this Congress. The Na- tional Sponsoring Committee has endeavored to make this Congress as broad as possible. We want each and every delegate here to feel and know that it is a Congress of the millions of workers all over the country who need and want a gen- uine unemployment and social in- surance system. It is our duty to the organizations which sent us there to make this the greatest and most effective united front of the American workers, who want and need unemployment insurance and social security, ever held in this country.” Brown outlined briefly the char- acter of the Congress and outlined the tasks which face the Congress— to formulate the system of unem- ployment insurance. He concluded, “Our task after having formulated the kind of so- cial insurance we want and need, will be to use every bit of our real security.” She proposed fur- ther a comprehensive housing plan (with profit making eliminated) and a public works’ program (with full clair, the Townsend Plan, and y energy, our talent and our position to mobilize all the workers in Amer- iea to insist that the bill be im- - t a eee Hearst Lies Venomously About Workers’ Rule Youth Hail Fight | For Workers’ Bill (Continued from Page 1) said, “have come together for a de< finite purpose — to fight against hunger, war and fascism. A youth movement must take up the needs jof the youth on a class basis. If j j the students, young workers and jother youth mean to serve an historically progressive aim; they must ally themselves with the workers, Scores Nye “You speak of being ‘non-pai= tisan.’ You can take a non-partisan stand only in the sense that’you en- deavor to bring all the youth into your movement. But you must be definitely partisan in the class strugs gle between workers and capitalists, You must ally yourself with the working class movement as a wholé; with the.class which alone can lead the way to further social progress for all mankind.” 5 Hathaway scored the speech of Senator Nye of the Munitions In- . vestigating Committee, pointing out that the Reosevelt slogan of “tak- 4 ing the profits out of war” was a cloak for its war preparations io make secure the profits of the mon- opolies and plunder the colonial peoples and exploit its own work- ing people. “Mr. Nye speaks of the need of, national defense,” Hathaway said, “but let me ask a question. If -you go into a war, can we term this a defensive war? The American mon- opolies have been driving toward war on every front. They have plundered Latin-America and the Chinese people. They have aided the butcher government of Chiang Kai-shek against the Chinese So- viets. They have waged continuous economic warfare against every im~ Perialist rival—Japan, Great Brit- ain, Frence, etc. If some day these oppressed people, or even. other im- perialist pirates take steps to force American monopolies to keep with- in the confines of their own national boundaries, should the workers be- lieve that American imperialism is waging a ‘defensive war’? It is the opinion of the Communists that’ you should then say to the capitalists, “This is your war, you have brought it on yourselves, and we refuse to fight it. We propose to strive to turn that very war into a mass rev- olutionary struggle of the ‘workers to get political power for themselves: This is the only way, in thé final analysis, that wars can be ended.” For Unity of All Workers — In pointing to the steps and ac~ complishment already made by the Youth Congress, Hathaway con- cluded by stating thet the youth could be a decisive factor in unit- ing all the workers, workezs in the Socialist and Communist Parties and in the American Federation of Labor. In the early sessions yesterday, representatives of the Democratic and Republican parties, and of the Progressive party of Wisconsin also spoke. Representative Will Rogers, Democrat of Oklahoma, ' exhorted the young people “not to “get too impatient about getting out of this depression.” He ended up by beg= ging them to be good Democrats, read some of his own doggerél verse, quoted scripture and Patrick Henry, referred to Roosevelt's “money changers,” and received the tepid applause of courtesy. * Ex-Senator Brookhart made grimaces and urged support of his own panacea—something he termed “co-operative economics.” His half- baked utopias did not even get the tepid courtesy accorded Rogers. hi Representative Vito Marcontonio, a friend of LaGuardia, who was ‘ elected by the people of East Har- lem, where one-fifth are on relief, scored the “New Deal” policy of de- stroying food, and engaged in all the political charlatanism of the New York mayor. is Senator Nye chanted on his past theme, “taking the profits out of war,” and cited profits of astro< nomical figures, including one of 1,143,000 per cent rolled up since 1925 by an unnamed aviation motor company which was subsidized by the government. Again harping on “taking the profits out of war,” he repeated his proposal that the gov- ernment go the whole way and make its own war goods— poison gas, munitions, vessels of war, etc, for “national defense.” E Representative Amlie of Wiscon- sin, a member of the American League Against War and Fascism and of the Friends of the Soviet Union, while declaring that he was “thoroughly in accord with the re- marks of Clarence Hathaway, who preceded him,” stated that he _ “agrees with the Marxian analysis but not its social program”—which means exactly nothing. He further said that all forces should be united © in Racine for the defense of the | Communist Party there, which is ¥ under fascist attack by the com< bined forces of the police and the American Legion. The last session of the Congress, the stormiest, received the report of the credentials committee—83 cities and 13 stwtes represented by a host of groups representing 616,000 young people. - Although the credentials commit tee stated that this was a conservas tive estimate, and was based only upon the reports of the délegates, reasons of economy forced some delegates to represent several groups and a full total was not available, Lovestoneites attempted to “force through a disruptive wedge with the cry of. “overstatement.” at In the final hour, the delegates” voted to support nation-wide dem- onstrations on May 30 against war and fascism; proposed to initiate a wide postcard campaign to C. C. C, Director Fechner, and other pro- Posals. The postcards, which will be drawn up by the Continuation Committee, set forth three demands —an end to military control, no dis- / crimination or Jim-Crow, and work« ers’ control through elections by the ©. C. C. boys. : 7 The youth also demanded free= dom for the Scottsboro boys, op- posed the Olympic games in Berlin next year, and called upon the Con- tinuation Committee to draft a resolution in the strongest ‘terms condemning lynchings, demanding mediately enacted into Federal Ww.” wages for public workers), increase | La’ 4 their end, and.demanding an end of -all: terror against the Negro Lomapo tee me bes Ss *