The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 22, 1935, Page 3

| DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDAY. JANUARY 22, 1935 Page ROOSEVELT CONGRESS MACHINE RUSHES WAGNER-LEWIS BILL IMMEDIATE ACTION | NEEDED TO SPEED H.R. 2827 IN HOUSE! National Head of Mighty Insurance Congress | Blasts Roosevelt “Social Security”’ Schemes—Outlines Mass Campaign By Herbert Benjamin Executive Secretary, National Joint Committee of Action President Roosevelt’s message embodying his so-called “Social-Security Plan” has been followed by an almost panicky rush to railroad the new Wagner-Lewis Bill through the Congressional legislative p: “Speedy and swiftest possible to enact,” these are the terms em-4¢ ployed by all Washington news- paper correspondents to describe the plans and activities of the adminis- tration leaders who are charged with the task of putting Roose- velt’s program over. Why this great haste? Has Roose- | velt suddenly become aware of and | concerned with the plight of the unemployed, the aged, the under- nourished children and the other | victims of economic insecurity? Have | the administration leaders in Con- gress, who year after year turned a deaf ear to the demands of the masses for unemployment and social insurance, suddenly become con- science stricken? Have they sud- denly decided that the millions of workers are entitled to immediate compensation and that such com- pensation must not be withheld an- other moment? The very program Which they are so feverishly planning to enact into law is the best answer to these questions. And this program as em- bodied in the President's message, in the report of his Committee on Economic Security and in the bill framed by his Congressional wheel- horses (Wagner-Lewis) is an em- phatic—NO! Relegated to the Future rocess. “Earliest enactment,” adoption,” “Congress hastens have common sense in that they have been able to rob and possess themselves of the wealth which has been produced by the American toilers. assurance that this plan will cost assurance that this lan will cost them nothing and that it has been planned with a view to “merit the enthusiastic support of citizens of all sorts.” “The system,” says Mr. Roosevelt,” should be self-sustaining in the sense that funds shall not come from the proceeds of general taxation. Where are the funds to come from? From a Federal payroll tax of three per cent to be paid by em- | ployers (who will deduct it from the workers’ pay-envelope and grocery basket). Poor House Old Age Benefits As to the old-age pensions. The Federal Government will subsidize any state that will enact a law to pay all workers who by some miracle are able to reach the age of 65 years, the amount of $30 a month. Since it costs more than that to maintain an aged worker in a poor house, the states will, very likely, enact this measure and thus profit by the saving plus the subsidy of | | 1 This is the second and conclud- ing article on three Congressional Bills which have been introduced | into the House of Representatives under the name of “Workers’ Bills” for unemployment and so- cial insurance. The Workers Unemployment, Old Age and Social Insurance Act, H, RB, 2827, which was drafted and endorsed by the National Congress for Unemployment In- surance, is the Workers’ Bill that is supported by the millions of American workers.—Editor. By Howard Boldt In addition to the House Resolu- tion 10, “The Workers Unemploy- ment and Social Insurance Bill,” which was introduced into Congress | by Representative Celler, two other measures, also termed “workers’ | bills,” were ground in the Congres- | sional mill on the day that the | House of Representatives opened. | The first of these, which was given the House number, H.R. 2859, | was introduced into Congress by Representative Sabath, and is called “The Workers’ Unemployment and Social Insurance Act.” Except that it specifically leaves out all men- tion of farm and agricultural work- ers, does not specify the amounts of the benefits, and does not state that contributions shall not be levied on the workers, it has the same wording as the real Workers’ Bill H. R. 7598. Very obviously, since it makes no mention whatsoever of any amount to be paid, Representative Sabath’s diabolical maneuvers are designed to cloud the issue—genuine unem- ployment insurance as embodied in the Workers Unemployment, Age, and Social Insurance Act, H, R. 2827, His designs are trans- parent—Representative Sabath’s seeks to tip his hat to the workers in his Congressional District by this introduction of a “Workers’ Bill,” and at the same time serve the Old | Fike ‘Workers Bills’ Are Entered in Congress Aimed to Confuse Fight for Jobless Insurance PRAYS FOR CONGRESS Reverend James S, Montgomery, chaplain of the House of Repre- sentatives, is shown on the dais as he prayed for the 74th Congress at its opening. Confronted by a large number of issues like unemploy- ment insurance, old age pensions, relief expenditures and demands for immediate cash payment of the bonus, the chaplain probably thought the members of the House and Senate need prayers to get themselves out of their dilemma, gives not one penny to the millions [the hunger doles of the Roosevelt now unemployed. {relief administration in the South. H. R. 185 was introduced into | Starvation Pay | ive Be Congress by Representative Beiter. | Nor does the South, with its NRA Its name “Workers Unemployment 4 4 lInsurance Act,” is more than a | Wage differentials, stand alone. Fig- received, and the employer to p: two per cent of the entire pay until $100 is accumulated for each | “eligible employee.” But later on, in Section 7, the act reads that “employees and employers shall | permitted to claim full exempt |from taxation of the full amount of their contribution to the fund.” | This can only mean one kind of tax jexemption—income tax—and the | miserable wages of the vast number | of workers today are far below tax- | able standards, | 13 Weeks Only To receive this benefit “for not | jmore than 13 weeks in one calendar | year,” the worker must be employed | for at least six months at an estab- |lishment of at least ten “eligible employees.” All governmental work- ers are excluded from benefits. Section 8 of the “Workers Unem- H. R. 185, ‘all not be- ears after operation liability is limited | The employers’ solely to the reserve fund, and bene- fits cease when it is exhausted. Although the act states that no worker shall be excluded from bene- | fits for refusal to work in place of | strikers or under unsafe or unsan- itary conditions, it does not take exception to governmental forced labor on relief. “The benefits of | this act shall not extend to workers | who refuse to accept bona fide em- |ployment when offered in good |faith,” the act reads in closing. | Nothing about wage rates, nothing | jabout union conditions, but a spe- |cific statement that the worker is compelled to accept work at any | wage “offered in good faith.” Only Workers’ Bill The only Workers’ Bill which | } guarantees to the working popula- |tion of America a measure of se- |curity, is the Workers Unemploy- |ment, Old Age, and Social Insur- ance Bill, H. R. 2827, the Bill draft- | ed and accepted by the National} Congress for Unemployment Insur- | | nal orga |H. R. 2827. |of the Workers’ MASS CONFERENCE IN BROCKTON, MASS. ACTS ON H.R. 2827 Shoe Workers Set Up Local Action Committee— Wide Actions Planned in Support of Workers’ Bill—Browder To Speak BROCKTON, Ma . 21—After the return of the Brockton shoe wo: delegates from the National Congress for Unemployment Insurance delegate Charles Murphy of the Cutters’ Local spoke before several locals and also wrote t Congress. A mass conference was¢ then called by the local sponsoring | committee, headed by Murp! of all local unions of the Brotherhood of the shoe workers and also of fraternal organizations. organizations were present at conference, with f There were thirteen loca the Brotherhood, the Economic League for Justice and five frater- tions present. Charles Murphy reported on tt Congress and the Workers’ B! 8. Winn, state secre- tary of the sponsoring committee, was invited and spoke on the Wag- | ner-Lewis bill. After discussion and questions the report was accepted, the Workers’ Bill endorsed and the following ac- tion taken to continue the work: 1, To set up a local action com- mittee for unemployment and social insurance to work for the passage Unemployment In- surance Bill, H. R. 2827. 2, That the action committee con- sist of one delegate from each or- ganization present at the confer- ence, 3. That the conference wire to President Roosevelt, Congressmen and Senators, urging them to work for the passage of the bill. That all organizations present should do likewise immediately. Sunday, Jan. | Street at 2 p.m. Browder To Speak in Chicago CHICAGO, Ill, Jan, 21.—Eaz! 1 secretary of th will address here Wednesda: . the Albin Hall, Fifty-firr and Michigan Avenue. H y be “Forced Labor ¢ joyment Insurance.” 27, at 113 Dudley Symposium in Detroit DETROIT, Mich. Jan. 21.— ‘What kind of unemployment in surance do the workers need?" | This will be the question to be dis - cussed at a symposium on uner- ployment insurance to be held Sur - day afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, at tr Workers’ Open Forum, 5969 Fou: - teenth Avenue. Speakers will include Matthe~ Smith, general secretary of the Mc chanics Educatioual Society America, an independent union « tool and die-makers; Clyde V. Fe: | ner, president of the large Forge ten Men’s Club, Rabbi Leon Fra of Temple Beth El; John Pace, se - retary of the Michigan Unemplo - ment Councils, and Richard Kroc . secretary of the A. F. of L. Tra > Union Committee for Unemplo: - ment Insurance. Elmont, L. 1, Meeting double purpose of dividing the ft 4 jures released by the FERA during |ance and supported by millions of| 4. That they issue 20,000 post. y Even a superficial examination of $15 per worker which the Federal | workers’ fight. Sabath’s Bill means neers tec ee Le pe habs: es ae 14 ai fete workers. On the basis of the grow- | cards (similar to the national copy, ELMONT, L. i se z ae ri ¥ i government generously grants un- | nothing. It would set up a “system | Bill, the bill initiated by the Com- |% # e families on the relief lists | ing mass demand for this Bill, a|but localized), To flood Congress- | Johnson, unemploye legate sirhilngss pee aaa ae kei) der this plan. of unemployment insurance,” but | munist Party and aired by mil- |in Chicago, some 20,606 families, are | minimum united front program can|men and Senators. That the post| the recent National Congress / haste with which the administra- tion seeks to enact its plan and the time it will take for the destitute masses to get any form of benefits. The very first item of this plan is the so-called “Old-Age Pension.” This, according to the President’s committee, is to be put into effect within a year—‘if possible.” The second phase of the plan, which is called the Compulsory Pension System,” will begin to pay benefits to persons who reach the age of 65 years in about 1947! Twelve years at the very earliest! The third item of the plan, is the So-called “unemployment insur- ance.” The collection of the payroll tax (one per cent at first) is not to begin until Jan. 1, 1936. When the “benefits” are to be paid no one yet knows! Before we begin to consider what benefits this plan will provide, and to whom, one more time element is yet to be noted. When as well as what benefits and to whom, is yet to be determined by still another factor—when (and if) the forty- eight separate states enact a law patterned upon the Wagner-Lewis Bill! But even if payment of compen- sation were to begin immediately what does Roosevelt propose to pay? Nothing for Present Jobless To the sixteen million who are now unemployed—NOTHING! Just that. His Economic Security Com- mittee and the “informed and pub- Tic citizens” who formulated the plan state that it is “especially valuable for those who are ordi- narily steadily employed” (!) Well then. What are those to get who do get it? If they are among the chosen, if they have worked for an employer who employs four or more workers if they live in a state that, has enacted a bill patterned upon the Wagner-Lewis Bill and if they become unemployed after Jan- uary, 1987 and if and after they wait four weeks, such fortunate -workers are to receive not more than 50 per cent of their regular wages and in no case more than $15 per week, for a maximum bene- fit period of 16 weeks in the entire year! That, says Mr. Roosevelt, is a plan that will “appeal to the sound common sense of the American people.” And of course the workers are not in the opinion of Mr. Roose- velt to be included among those who have good common sense. ‘Therefore the appeal is to those who, in the opinion of Hearst and Roosevelt, have proven that they WHAT’S ON Philadelphia, Pa. All organizations keep Feb. 283 open. Scott Nearing, who just returned from Europe, will lecture on “Pas- cism or Communism,” for United ‘Workers’ Organization. ION! The ORGANIZATIONS ATTENTI Friends of the Soviet Union will hold their fifth annual Russian Tea Party on Friday, March 29th, at Broad St. Mansion. Noted celebrities will per- form. Kindly leave this date open. Superior, Wis. Daily Worker Comm. is holding an affair ite 3 at Vasa Hall, llth and ve. Good program, refresh- ae Gancing. Lenin Memorial Meetings Baltimore, Md. Memorial Meeting at Biks Hall, 1528 Madison Ave., cor. McMechen 8t., Friday, Jan. 25 at 8 p. m. Main speaker, Manning Johnson, nation- ally known Negro Labor leader. Pro- gram: Freiheit Singing Society, High. The “Compulsory Pension Plan” is | an even more vicious measure. Under this plan, all workers will be compelled to contribute one- | half from 1 to 5 per cent of their | wages for years so that if they live | to become 65 years by 1947 or thereafter, they may get $30 a month, This is the essence of the Roose- velt “Social Security” plan which is now being rushed through Con- gress as the Wagner-Lewis Bill. The reason for the rush and the reason for the Bill are the same. In the words of the New York Her- ald Tribune which opposes even a gesture of concession to the de- mand of the masses for unemploy- ment and social insurance, it is a choice between signing on the Pres- idential doted line or . . . the Congressional mood is to pass some- thing more spectacular in case the administration plan fails.” Try To Rush Through And that, stating it mildly is the reason for the panic in the ranks of | the government agents of big busi- | ness, That too, is the reason why this fake “Security Plan” of the ruling class is not being submitted to the House Committee on Labor whose chairman and several mem- bers have already declared that they will support the Workers’ Bill. That is the reason why the House Ways and Means Committee will begin perfunctory hearings at once, will try to keep representatives of the indignant masses out of these hear- ings and railroad the bill through Congress by what it frankly de- | Scribes as “strict gag-rules.” Action Needed at Once Our position and our task is therefore clear. We must without a moment's loss of time, develop the most vigorous and broadest protest movement. We must flood the House Ways and Means Committee with telegrams and resolutions of protest from every union, lodge, unemployed and other mass or- ganization. We must demand that representatives of the masses shall be heard by this Committee. We must demand of every Con- gressman that he shall refuse to vote for the Wagner-Lewis fake se- curity bill and shall instead, sup- port actively the immediate enact- ment of the only measure that can provide adequate benefits to all those now unemployed, to all uged workers and farmers, to all victims of economic insecurity—the Work- ers’ Unemployment, Old Age and Social Insurance Bill H. R. 2827. Yes! There is need for haste, for speed, for swift and determined ac- tion by the forces that were repre- sented in our great Congress! Those who need and favor genuine social insurance, must, can and will go into action! Defeat Roosevelt’s vi- cious plan to block the mass move- ment for social insurance. Fight for H. R. 2827, the Workers’ Bill. Terror Fails to Force Miners Into Boss Union BESSEMER, Ala., Jan, 21—In a renewed drive of terror against or- ganized labor in Bessemer, nine Negro employes of the T. ©. I. mine here have been because they refused to join the company union. These militant workers were further penalized by the company, by eviction from their company shacks. More evictions and discharges are threatened, as the workers refuse to join the stool-pigeon company unions. Beatings and raids are on the order of the day, as the com- pany floods the streets of Bessemer | land Vanguards, Acrobatics, Politi Oartoons, W.I.R. Band, with armed thugs, who serve both would not designate the amounts to be paid. Makes Workers Pay House Resolution 185 entitled “Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Act,” however, has not embodied in it the purposeful naivete of Sa- bath’s measure. It is a carefully drawn up piece of legislation which is worded so that the full burden the backs of the working popula- tion. It is an “improved” version serves” Bill which was officially | lions of workers throughout the land, H. R, 2827, jemployed in private industry at | wages below the FERA hunger doles, | and are therefore on the relief lists | be achieved—a united front with the workers in the Socialist Party, the American Federation of Labor, jcards be handled in the shops, through the shop committees. 5. That a committee appear be- Unemployment Insurance, will r port at a mass meeting here Thuy day at the American Legion Dugot blessed by Roosevelt last year. It H. R. 185 calls for the “establish- |for supplementary relief aid. ment of a system of unemployment | H.R. 185 as introduced by Rep- | insurance for the purpose of provid- | resentative Beiter declares that a | ing insurance to all workers unem- | waiting period of four weeks shall |Ployed through no fault of their | pass before benefits shall be paid— own in amounts equal to 50 per|payments then to “eligible em- centum of average local wages: | ployees” will not run for more than | Provided, That such amount shall |13 weeks. of the cost shall be strapped upon | not exceed $15 per week.” It sets a| Who is to pay for these benefits? | | maximum of $15 a week, but no|In carefully veiled legislative ter- |minimum. Thus, “average local | minology the entire burden is placed are five, six or seven dollars a week. |of the act states that the workers Fifty per cent of such wages match | shall pay one per cent of all wages and all workers’ organizations. But the Communists, while fight- | ing for these immediate demands, | point out that no lasting betterment |of the conditions of the workers is | possible under capitalism. While |the demand for genuine unemploy- ment insurance is the immediate | issue before the workers today, the | Communists point the way out—de- | |struction of the capitalist system | of the infamous Wagner-Lewis “Re- | wages” in Southern. textile mills \ upon, the working class. Section 3|and the seizure of power by the workers for the establishment of | Soviet America. Workers of Home State of Scripture To Aid Subscription A Cleveland boy, named vided up with John. The Lord has divided up with a few men in his time—all of them pious ones. The Cleveland District —the state of Ohio—may be said to be one of the tokens of this divi- sion. Iron ore, steel and rubber in- dustries are among the things. He has divided up there, with the Rockefellers, the Morgans, ‘he Firestones, Fricks, Carnegies and Elbert Garys. Ohio is one of the chief manu- facturing centers in the country. Cleveland proper is the greatest iron ore market in the world. It is one of the largest inland ports. Youngstown, Akron, Springfield, Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati— every one of them is an industrial city of major importance. Forty Per cent of the world’s raw rubber comes to Akron to be shaped into salable material. A concentration district for the Communist Party, Ohio is a state whose products our profiteers fondly think about as they plan the next war. It is a district of strikes— past and future. It is a district Where the Rockefellers, the Mor- gans, the Fricks, the Firestones, the Carnegies, the Garys—those Pious, those murderous names— have downed the protests of work- ers with guns, a district like all other districts, where the New Deal seeks ever to aid the profiteers by giving the workers soft words and hard blows. Ohio (the Cleveland District of the Communist Party) is a dis- trict where the Daily Worker must be brought to the forefront. This is the concentration task of the Communist Party in Ohio— and, of course, in every other dis- trict. But the Cleveland District, because it is a concentration dis- trict, because of its particular in- Challenge Rockefeller | By ‘Daily’ Sub Drive Which Tells How He Got His Money “God gave me my money! credit where credit is due, early in the present century, while | dedicating a church. “The earth is mine and all the gold and | silver therein is mine,” saith the Lord, and the Lord Has di- | é Chicago, Ill, Cleveland | Quoting Oil King Girds Drive of Only Paper 6 N. Clark Street, Room 1003. Orchestra Hall. | | | TICKETS: | | THE FRIENDS OF THE SOVIET UNION | (CHICAGO DISTRICT) MISCHA MISCHAKOFF Violinist, Concert Master of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and ANATOL RAPOPORT Prominent Papua Pianist GALA CONCERT OF RUSSIAN CONTEMPORARY AND CLASSICAL MUSIC | FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 8:15 P. M.- ORCHESTRA HALL 35c to $2.20. Available at the office of the Friends of the Soviet Union, Tel. Dearborn 5351, or at the Box Office of the Presents John D. Rockefeller, so gave, dustries, has an added resonsi- bility. It must add thousands of | new readers, subscribers, sup- | | porters, | In the present subscription cam- | paign it has already made its start. Its quota is 800 daily and 1,200 Sat- | urday subs—it has challenged Chi- | cago and Detroit. It has already issued the quotas to its sections. It has already published its first Dis- trict bulletin on the drive. Two of its sections— Sections Three and Seventeen, Cleveland—are already in Socialist competition. Bolshevik Tempo! The Cleveland District calls upon all its units and sections to go hard and fast into the race for | subscriptions. It calls for “Bol- | shevik Tempo” in forming Bol- shevik companies of Red Builders, JACOB BURCK, staff cartoonist Limited! shock brigaders, carriers, can- vassers. | Bolshevik Tempo! Let that be the slogan of every district! The Cleveland section quotas fol- | low: Daily Saturday | Quota Section 1 Cleveland 2 Cleveland 3 Cleveland 11 Cleveland 14 Cleveland 16 Cleveland 17 Cleveland 18 Cleveland 4 Akron 5 Canton 6 Youngstown February 1st. “.. at the top E 7 Toledo 8 Erie 9 Columbus 10 Cincinnati Henri Barbusse Earl Browder William F. Dunne Michael Gold Clarence Hathaway 18 Lorain 15 East Ohio Mansfield Mentor Cambridge 5 Philadelphia Opens School for Councils PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Jan. 21— The City Committee of the Un- employment Councils announced yesterday that a new school for the training of workers for leaders in as stoolpigeons and as terrorists. the Unemployed movement has been established here. } Both members and non-members of the council have been invited to) | attend this school. The class in public speaking will meet every Sunday evening, 6 o'clock at 921 Locust Street and information re- garding classes can be obtained at the District Office of the Unem- Ployment Councils at 919 Locust Street, 8 > @@ Send check or e@ POSTPAID ONLY 84 COPLES LEFT! HUNGER REVOLT: Cartoons by BURCK A pictorial history of the world crisis, as revealed in the power- ful drawings of one of America’s outstanding revolutionary artists, Autographed! This beautiful, De Luxe edition is limited to 100 numbered and signed copies. Printed on heavy art paper, in large folio size and containing 248 pages. HUNGER AND REVOLT will be ready on Orders accepted now! proletarian artists.” WILLIAM F. DUNNE. Chapter Forewords by Marguerite Young be promptly returned to those too late to receive a copy. DAILY WORKER @ 50 E. 13th St. @ for the Daily Worker. of the list among Langston Hughes Corliss Lamont Joseph North John Strachey Seymour Waldman money order today. Money will fore the executive council and make a loan of the necessary funds, and then have local unions and fra- ternal organizations donate their proportionate share. qualified endorsement of the Wor - be | ers Unemployment, Old Age @ 6. That immediate contact \Satial “Taatranse Ack. oes stablished with all other organiza- cia. ye cnet | was made last week by the Unit tions in and around Brockton and seek their affiliation and support | Farmers League Local here after to this work. | careful comparison with | all bi The state sponsoring committee | which puwport to be ‘Worke has arranged a banquet. for all dele- | Bills” and with the Wagner-Lev gates who went to the Congress,| measure and the Groves Act, W:-- and: also some additional trade |consin’s unemployment compens union representatives, to be held on | tion law. MAY DAY MOSCTOWS Win a FREE Trip to the Soviet Unien WHO WILL be the Daily Worker Shock Brigader to stand in the shadow of the Krem- lin and witness the triumphant march of some two million Moscow workers? Hear the roar of solidarity from the vanguard of the world proletariat? See, first hand, the glori- ous achievements in industry and social planning that have raised the Soviet Union to a position of undisputable eminence? YOU Can Compete for This Prize Simply enter the Special Daily Worker Subscription Contest. Visit your friends and fellow-workers; can- vass your neighborhood. Twenty-five yearly subscrip- tions, or their equivalent, makes you eligible to com- pete fer the first prize in this nation-wide competition, Hill Street. Farmers Back H.R. 2827 DAIRYLAND, Wis., Jan. 21.—U-- Ten Prizes for Contest Winners Ten prizes will be awarded to the winners of this contest. In addition to the FREE TRIP TO THE SOVIET UNION, which will be awarded to the worker securing the most subscriptions over twenty-five, nine other prizes are being offered. 1st PRIZE—A Free Trip to the Soviet Union 2ndPRIZE—A Month in Any Workers’ Camp, or $50 cash 38rd PRIZE—Two Weeks in Any Workers’ Camp, or $25 cash 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th PRIZES: One Week in Any Workers’ Camp, or $12 cash. (In the event of a tie, duplicate prizes will be awarded.) The contest closes April 5, 1935 (midnight). Write today for full particulars, or visit the Daily Worker office in your District. In addition to the ten prizes, every contestant will receive a handsome Daily Worker Shock Brigader button upon receipt of his or her first subscription. Tras sae ba Pe e DAILY WORKER 50 EAST 13th STREET NEW YORK, N, ¥.