The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 16, 1935, Page 1

a 4 Report to Congress Signalizes New Drive On All U.S. Labor AN EDITORIAL HE publication yesterday of the report of the Dickstein- MacCormack Committee is an event that must spread a feeling of alarm, and a determination to fight, throughout the whole labor movement. This report is the first signal from Washington for the unleashing of organized terrorism against the Commu- nist Party and the labor movement on a national scale! Ostensibly created to “expose” the Nazis, this com- mittee, controlled by Wall Street backers, has turned the full guns of its attack on the Communist Party, the leader of the fight against the Nazis and fascism. ‘The Dickstein report is not the isolated expression of the Dickstein Tt is the carefully planned culmination of a drive which was se- cretly organized behind closed doors in the meetings of the National Association of Manufacturers in New York, Dec. 5 to 7, and by the secret conference of Wall Street monopolists shortly afterwards at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The Dickstein report is an organic phase of the Hearst-Macfadden propaganda. It is directly connected with the open-shop, union-smash- ing drive of the U. 8. Chamber of Commerce. It is connected with the anti-Communist laws which are appearing rapidly in State Legis- latures throughout the country. The Dickstein Committee exposes ite reactionary purpose by direct- ing its fire against the Communist Party at the moment that the . Communist Party is sounding the call for the defeat of the open-shop auto code, at the moment when the Communist Party is in the front ranks of the fight for Federal unemployment insurance, H. R. 2827, The objective of this organized anti-Communist drive is plain—to break down the resistance to the new wage-cutting offensive, to terror- ize the jobless, to smash the Jabor movement, to cripple and demolish the trade unions, and, finally, to destroy the political rights of the working class. Directed with especial hatred against the Communists, the Dick- stein report confronts the whole American labor movement, including Socialist Party and A. F. of L. unions, with the approaching menace of fascism! * HE report as we now have it does not contain the full program of the committee. The reason is that in the preliminary feelers which the Commit- tee sent put through the press to test how far it could go the Com- mittee was confronted with a determined and growing resistance to this anti-Communist, reactionary drive. The protests flooding into the State legislatures, the victory won in Connecticut by the joint action of Socialists and Communists against such a measure, the resolution of the Cleveland Federation of Labor denouncing such “Red-baiting” reaction, the vote of the Michigan State Conference of A. F. of L. Painters demanding a fight against capitalism—all these brought the Dickstein Committee to the reluctant realization that American labor and its friends are ready to fight for their political rights! Faced with this rising opposition to the anti-Communist propa- ganda, the Dickstein Committee dropped from its final report the following three measures which it had earlier considered: These three measures are as follows: 1. To set up a special Federal police to seize militants and Com- munists. 2. To deprive the Communist Party of the use of the mails. 3. To set up heavy jail penalties and fines for revolutionary ac- tivite: It would be a delusion to assume that these measures have been dropped by the Committee. On the contrary, they are gradually being incorporated in one form or another into the plans of the Roosevelt government. They are planned as the next steps in the steadily advancing march of fascism under the banner of the Roosevelt New Deal. A system of Federal police terrorism against the labor movement, the Communist Party, the Socialist Party and the trade unions, is the very next step in the program of the Roosevelt government. There can be no question about that. The report of the Dickstein Committee is the moral and political preparation for more fascist attacks on the whole labor movement. es aay * * i ba Committee's major and final recommendation is a proposal for a national fight against “sedition.” McCormack states in the report that “Any organized propaganda that seeks to teach the American people that other systems of government that are either Communistic or fascist in character are preferable to our system of government is dangerous to a degree.” Thus, in one fell swoop, this Committee proposes the muzzling and enclavement of the whole population, depriving it even of the elemen- tary right to discuss how and by whom it shall be governed. Lincoln proclaimed that “this country belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of existing government... they can exercise their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.” Bui the Dickstein Committee, taking its orders from Wall Street, flouts this fundamental right—in the name of a fraudulent “American- ism”—and declares that this country belongs to Wall Street and that it is “dangerous” to suggest any other form of government. The “Americanism” of this Committee is revealed as nothing but the brutal defense of the interests 0 fa few of the Wall Street: monopoly cliques who dominate and own the country, . Oe IS Committee has proceeded in a star-chamber manner. It has been branded by Representative Matthew Dunn, chairman of the House sub-committee on labor, as itself grossly “un-American.” Challenged by Earl Browder, secretary of the Communist Party, to state his position before the committee and place it on record, the Dickstein Committee cynically refused. Its vaunted “Americanism” did not even include a public hearing for the party it desires to outlaw. This is because the Committee knows that all its statements about the Communist Party are a pack of lies and slanders. This is because the Committee knows that the Communist Party fights for the interests and welfare of the vast millions who toil in factory and farm, the great toiling majority of the people whose lives are made harsh and bitter by the yoke of Wall Street capital. The Committee, in true Hearst fashion, howls at the “violence advo- cated by the Communist Party.” But it knows that the Communist Party is no party of individual terrorism—thet, on the contrary, the Communist Party struggles to win the majority of the working class for the seizure of power from the capitalist minority. It is only be- cause Wall Street capitalism will resist this action of the majority with bloody violence that the Communist Party exposes the delusions of a “peaceful” abolition of capitalism. It is these very gentry who are so eager to spread propaganda on the “peaceful change of government” who would be the first to unleash unbridled murder and terrorism against the working class, as soon as it, the majority, demanded for itself the right to rule! * s * } | Yate Dickstein report is also the sign that Roosevelt is winding up ‘| | | 4 the machinery of war propaganda, To wage imperialist war, to make sure that the war machine will move its juggernauts over the people without resistance, Wall Street requires that the Communist Party be the main object of attack as the first step in assailing the whole labor movement. The Dickstein report is the advance propaganda for this fascist and war hysteria. Not to see the full implications of this Congressional report is to bury one’s head in the sand. It is literally to give the signal to Ameri- can fascism that the way for its advance is clear. The Communist Party, with all the earnestness at its command, sounds now the call for immediate united front action in defense of the working class, of its wage standards, of its trade unions, and its political rights. Fascism is moving forward. It is a challenge that faces every worker, every toiling farmer, every honest person in the country, } } Daily & Worker Vol. XII, No, 41 CITY-WIDE. TIE-UPLOOMS IN BUILDINGS Will Walk Out Regard- \less ofArbitrationAward, Says Bambrick A city-wide strike of all men in |the building service industry will jbe called Monday, James J. Bam- lorick, president of the Building Service Employes International |Union, Local 32B, announced yes- terday. The walk-out will begin regardless of the decision of the ‘arbitration board headed by Major ‘Henry H. Curran and set up by |\Mayor LaGuardia last November, \Mr. Bambrick said. | Indications point to the possibility that the strike may affect 11,000 apartment houses and office build- lings. Hotels may also be struck. The militancy of the workers, |thoroughly disgusted with arbitra- tion maneuvers, is expressing itself lin a rapid growth of strike sen- jtiment. According to Mr. Bambrick ap- ‘proximately 7,000 owners have lagreed to accept the decision of the board. These owners will not be affected by the strike. Owners who will not comply by the decision, will be struck, he stated. The success of the walk-out in more than 200 buildings in Harlem and Washington Heights, begun Wednesday, is expected to influence the decision of the arbitration board materially. Concessions from the board and the real estate in- \ the strike. Expect. Wage Increases The award of the board is ex- pected to contain substantial wage increases for certain classes of em- ployes. In all probability, however, it will not meet the $35 minimum wage and other demands of the union, The threatened strike may take the form of a series of sectional strikes involving 200 buildings at a | | time or may result in a complete | (Continued from Page 2) TwoGlenAlden Strikers Slain. CENTRAL ORGAN COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. j which the Japanese have so far lost <2 * NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1935 WIDE RISING SEEN AS MANCHURIAN FIGHTING SPREADS pres @ Japanese Bomb Towns Garden Demonstration Defensa Pinvcs No As Rebels Advance Despite Resistance to Hail Anti-Imperialists The revolt of whole battalions of Manchurian soldiers against Japan- ese imperialism and the Action of (Special to the Daily Worker) SHANGHAI, Feb, 15 (By Cable). -Mutinying Manchurian soldiers | and Japanese troops are now fierce- Japanese ly battling in the neighborhood) drive into the Mongolian People’s of Mukden. The entire Chinese} Republic, ultimately aimed as an press is filled with reports of the| attack against the USS.R., will fighting and the stiuation is rapidly taking on the aspect of a widespread Manchurian rebellion against Jap- anese imperialism. take a prominent place at the mass demonstration at’ Madison Square Garden, Feb. 25, against the break- ing off of U. S.-Soviet dedt nego- Five thousand Japanese-Man- tiations churian troops were dispatched The mass meeting will be ad- against the rebels, but were unable| dressed by Congressman Ernest | to stop the progress of the insur- gents. , After a battle lasting all night, the rebels reached the out- skirts of Mukden. Here they were Lundeen, sponsor of the Workers’ | Unemployment Insurance Bill H.R | 2827; Corliss Lamont, formerly pro- | fessor, at Columbia University; met by fresh and powerful Japanese James Waterman Wise, editor of detachments, accompanied by tanks the magazine “Opinion,” who has} and heavy artillery. The rebels were forced to retreat slightly but in the morning a new battle began in traveled widely in the U.S.S.R., and other speakers. Preparations for the meeting are progressing at a rapid pace, the F. S.U. declared. The organization said that it had received many let- 100 killed and an unknown number of wounded. According to the last press re- SECTION OF COMMUNIST INTERWATIONAL ) NATIONAL EDI PION New York, N. ¥., under Mutineers Repel Japanese N ATTORNEYS IN HIGH COURT groes Were Excluded from Jury Service By Ben Davis, Jr. (Editor of the Negro Liberator) | WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.—We are | | in the court chambers of the United States Supreme Court. The justices of the Supreme Court are prepar- ing to hear the appeals of Clarence Norris and Haywood Patterson two of the nine innocent, Scottsboro Negro boys. Perched near the bench is a ‘table containing the forged jury rolls used by the Alabama lynch court | officials. | Negroes Systematically Excluded | The case is called at 3:10 p. m | Attorney Leibowitz begins the argu- ;ment for Haywood Patte:son and | Clarence Norris. He states the facts | of the lower court procedure. He states that Negroes were system- | atically excluded from the entire jury system in Jackson and Morgan |counties. He states that Negroes were systematically excluded from | Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at (Eight he Act of March 4, 1878 HOUSE BODY SEEKS TO BAN ear FASCIST Pages) Price 3 Cents CP. Mukden SCOTTSBORO DICKSTEIN COMMITTEE WHITEWASHES WALL ST. CONSPIRACY Plans Being Made for Permanent Star-Chamber | Inquisition Against Working Class Movement— Suppressed Testimony Ignored By Marguerite Young (Daily Worker Washington RBorean) WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 15.—The Dickstein-McCor- mack Congressional Committee, which suppressed evidence on the Wall Street conspiracy on the American People, toda lation to outlaw the fight Chicago Communists Spur City Election Drive for Signatures (Special to the Daily Worker? CHICAGO, Feb. 15.—All Com- munist Party members and sym- pathizers were urged to report daily to the city election head- quarters, 101 S, Wells Street, in terests are expected as a result of | — Ports, Japanese airplanes have be- gun to bomb the outskirts of Muk- den, destroying some populated areas. Another rebel division, ap- proaching Mukden from an opposite Side, also reached the outskirts of the city, where they were met with Japanese artillery, tanks and air- planes. | DUCE TALKS ‘PEACE’ NOW ROME, Feb. 15.—lItaly’ her unhindered imperia upon Abyssinia is now clearly marked by talk of “peace negotia- | Federation of Labor has turned over | Tolls. tions” on the one hand and the launching of a vast program today | for the reinforcement of the Italian | colonial army on the other, Mussolini's concern at present is| the replacement of the white-offi- cered Negro troops, who would cer- | tainly refuse to aid in the dismem- | berment of the only remaining Ne- gro independent republic it. Africa, | ters requesting an explanation of} the entire jury system in Jackson the action of the State Department.|and Morgan counties. He states The implication of the action and/that the Alabama law did not speci- its effects both on international re- | fically exclude Negroes but that the lationships and on the workers of| administration of the law was un- the United States will be thoroughly | constitutional. dealt with by the speakers at Madi-| “Not so much whether Negroes son Square Garden, officials of the F.S.U. said. GREEN HANDED STEEL DRIVE (Daily Worker Washington Burean) WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.—The ex- ecutive council of the American to President William Green the question of launching an organiza- tion drive in the steel industry and attempting to smooth over the expulsion campaign of President. Michael Tighe of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, Sources close to the Federation and the Council today confidentially (Special to the Daily Worker) | by Italian divisions, WILKES-BARRE, Feb. 15.—Two| It will take two months, it is offi- | miners were killed and at least a/| cially estimated here, to transport a | ing between Glen Alden Coal Com- land and Eritrea on the East Afri- | pany strikers and scabs during the| can Coast and to equip such a force past twenty-four hours. | with arms, artillery, munitions and score wounded as a result of fight-| powerful invading army to Somali- | |represented Green to the press as eager to bring about the official | reinstatement of William J. Spang and other rank and file leaders who | weeks ago launched a drive to build |the steel union. It was this drive Terror raged as State Troopers) raided homes of miners and es- corted scabs to work. Wholesale | arrests of strikers are taking place The funeral of the slain strikers | will be made the occasion for a mass demonstration of strikers and) sympathizers against the injunction. | The Party of Luzerne County has issued an appeal to the members of the United Mine Workers not to permit themselves to be used as} scabs by the company and their) officials. The two miners who were killed! were Frank Petroskey, 28, of Larks- vie, and Valantine Riscavage, were strikers. Silk Men Pick Officers Today, PATERSON, N. J., Feb. 15—The rank and file of the American Fed- eration of Silk Workers, in a state- ment to union members here, calls for support for the rank and file ticket in the elections tomorrow (Saturday) for general manager and organizers of the union. The candidates endorsed by the rank and file are as follows: For general manager—Sarkis Phillian. For organizers—plain goods de- partment: (6) Louis Valgo. (8) John Troy. (9) Elias Hajar. The three candidates for organ- izer endorsed by the rank and file were active in the recent strike. Sam Sheber, a candidate for or- ganizer, has declared his support of the reactionary slate headed by Al Williams for manager. All the re- actionary forces in the union are now concentrating behind Williams. Eli Keller's withdrawal as a candi- date is regarded as a maneuver to throw support to Williams, a reac- tionary. The rank and file points out that failure to elect a rank and file ticket will retard greatly the prog- ress made in recently electing an executive committee of militant workers and will weaken the fight against the wage cut, supplie: (Continued from Page 2) Tighe Blocked On Expulsions Miners Vote Strike April 1 GILLESPIE, Il., Feb. 15.—One hundred delegates at the official | scale convention of the Progressive Miners of America here yesterday adopted by an overwhelming ma- jority the Rank and File program of demands for the strike on April 1. The demands include a six-hour day, five-day week, six dollars a day, time and a half for overtime, By Tom Keenan PITTSBURGH, Pa, Feb, 15.— Back in Pittsburgh today Mike Tighe, president of the Amalga-/ mated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, admitted another whipping at the hands of the Rank | and File of the Amalgamated, de- claring that the A. F. of L. will | soon inaugurate an organizing drive | and double time for Saturday and in steel aimed at enrolling all the sunday work. The district officials REESE ANS OA | tried to sidetrack the six dollars a He denied that he has been sum- | day proposal, and to insert instead moned to Washington in connection “American standard of living,” but with the Rank and File Committee's the official resolution was rejected. conversation with Green early this | and on organizing plans—but the in Jarger numbers than ever before. Executive Council's instructions to They were in most cases elected on | Green to bring “expelled” militants | the basis of a program that was | |“back into the fold” marked an- widely advocated by the Communists |and the unity movement of the two (Continued on Page 2) | niners’ unions. The Steel Wacko Meet io Build ae Union Militant Rank and File delegates | week concerning Tighe’s expulsions were in evidence at the convention | }sat but whether they were called for jury service.” This was the interruption of Justice Van Der- |venter. Leibowitz answered that no | Negroes “in. the memory of man”) had ever been seen on éither the | grand or petit jury. The entire Court was plainly at- tentive. The Justices asked ques- tions frequently. Mr. Leibowitz answered them all as he narrated the whole system of exclusion of | Negroes. A dramatic moment oc- curred when he exhibited the book containing the alleged forged jury The entire bench and audi- He turned the | ence became quiet. | (Continued on Page 2) | Trial On Coast Is Continued By Michael Quinn (Special to the Daily Worker) | SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 15.— In a move to tighten the net around the other defendants, Judge Dal M. | Lemmon yesterday ordered the re- lease on a directed verdict of Luther Miney, one of the 18 worker-defend- ants in the criminal syndicalism | trial engineezed by California in- dustrial and agricultural interests, and now proceeding in Superior Court here. | It is also expected that John Fisher, another defendant, will be | released on Monday, as the prosecu- | tion moves to eliminate the weakest links in its frame-up of the 13 labor organizers. Judge Lemmon ruled all testimony excluded except that bearing on the advocacy of foree and violence by the working class against the bestial violence of the ruling class. | The Communist Party and the |right of the American people to overthrow government, a right guar- janteed by the Declaration of In- | dependence, are admittedly on trial, (Continued on Page 2) What Country? | WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (U.P.).— The country is ovt of the depres- sion but doesn’t know it, James A. Moffett, Federal Housing Adminis- trator, told President Roosevelt to- | day. | ADMITS a call issued today by the Dis- || trict Committee, Communist Party. Those who have filled their signature lists are asked to turn them in at once. Sunday, Feb. 24, has been set as final Red Sunday in the drive for signatures. All meetings pre- viously announced for that date have been called off, and Party members are instructed to re- port at the election headquarters ‘DMITS BILLS AIMED AT CP. (Daily Worker Washinzton Bureau) WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.—Chair- | man John W. McCormack, of the | Dickstein-McCormack Committee today told the Daily Worker that the committee's “central objective” is to outlaw even the advocacy of the Communist Party’s program for a workers’ and farmers’ government. He declared the Party “can’t advo: \cate” revolutionary change such as | | the Declaration of Independence ad- vocates. “The central objective of our legislative proposals is to make the methods of and propaganda for the overthrow of the government by force a crime,” McCormack de- clared. “You mean you are aiming at the Communist Party?” he was asked. “Yes, certainly,” McCormack said. “That's part of the movement.” Then the committee chairman belligerently added: “If the Communist Party wants to use the ballot, even to get a king here, they can do so. But they can’t advocate the overthrow of the gov- ernment.” Navy Dept. Sponsors Bill As some of his listeners blinked at this sly attempt to turn inside- out the purpose of the Communisis, who fight against the autocracy ot Kings, bankers and fascist dictators, alike, McCormack announced that he is introducing a bill which was drafted by the Roosevelt govern- ment’s Navy Department. This measure would set a penalty of $1,000 or two years imprisonment, or both, fer advising, counseling, or urging any member of the active or reserve military forces to disobe; orders. This would mean that strik. ing workers, attacked by armed gov- | ernment troops, could not call on (Continued on Page 2) PITTSBURGH RANK AND FILE CONFERENCE AGLOW WITH WILL TO STRUGGLE By Moissaye J. Olgin ja union, they must overcome the | have looked somewhat strange. who ¢an stand their hunger to | resistance of Mike Tighe, A.A. pres-' These people were faithful union-|longer—while the officiaidom tried This is the first article of a series ident, and his henchmen, who have on the Situation of Steel Workers gotten a strangle-hold on the union inks epi Ovaetncg ar are pie They came from every district |Servient to the steel barons. To where the steel workers live. They eee ik ae tee pei ak Taina een | forces of the steel workers, Amalgamated Association of Iron, | ‘The conference of Feb. 3 was the ’ beginning of such a mobilization. Steel and Tin Workers (A. F. of L.).; st They came to confer on the problem Determinatoin that for them is a matter of life and death. | breathed determination. The ten- They cannot live any more under dency was for practical organiza- men—and still their union officials, who are supposed to be their lead- ers, branded them as “insurgents.” |The men assembled had one aim— |to make their union a strong or- ganization, so that they can win their demands—and still the official- dom broadcast a story {iat what | they undertook was harm ul to the | jorganization. They declared that to hamper the movement. The conference proved that the steel workers are ready to take their fate into their own hands. What Delegates Said Here are a few excerpts from the speeches of some of the delegates. Each of these remarks was met with enthusiastic approval. Bill Spang, from Duquesne, chair- The speeches of the delegates | within a short time they could have | man of the conference, and Pitts- an overwhelming majority of the burgh district president of the A.A.,! | steel workers within the ranks of | outlined the organization drive in| the present conditions. They have tion work. The delegates clearly|the union—and the union official-'a manner that should have giad- come to the end of their endurance.|saw the task and approached it dom in reply shouted, “Reds, Com- dened the heart of every one who for. our, Gyn tteeuaa: To live, they must fight. To fight, | in a realistic manner. they must have a union, To have, To a novice the situation would munists!” | ‘They were out to defend | ithe very lives of the steel workers | (Continued on Page 2) to clamp a fascist dictatorship y formally recommended legis- against such developments. ais The report lays a basis for out lawing the Communist Party, with- out naming it. Making public the document. Representative Charles Kramer of California, Democratic member of the Committee, told the Daily Worker, that on this basis, he will introduce on Monday a bill specifically naming the Communist Party and pr{posing that it be out- lawed. Plans Inquisition Kramer also declared himself ready to present a resolution to con- tinue the activities of the Commit- j tee. In effect, this would establish it as a permanent star-chamber in- quisition against working class movements in this country. Self-described as a “Committee on un-American activities,” but re- cently publicly denounced by Chairman A. Dunn, of the House of Labor Sub-Committee, the Dick- stein-McCormack Committee made six anti-working class proposals. Among them were: | “That Congress should make it an unlawful act for any person to advocate changes in a manner that incites to the overthrow or the de- | struction by force or violence of the Government of the United States.” | Whitewashes Bankers As predicted by the Daily Worker when it exposed the committee, last | month, as the directly-steered ire | ee (Continued on Page 2) Anti-War Rally Set Tomorrow In protest against the invasion of Abyssinia by the Italian Fascist gove ernment Italian, Negro and other working class groups have called a mass protest meeting for tomorrow afternoon at 2 p. m. The meeting will be in the New Star Casino, 107th Street, near Park Avenue. Speakers representing many or- ganizations, including the Commu- nist Party, will demand the imme- diate withdrawal of Italian troops from Abyssinia and the cessation of Italian and French plans for the enslavement of the only indepen- |dent nation in Africa. | Speakers at Sunday’s meeting | will include Tom De Fazio and |Joseph Magliacano of the Italian Bureau of the Communist Party, | James W. Ford of the Central Com- mittee Communist Party, and Harry Gannes of the Daily Worker staff. Richard B. Moore, National Field Organizer of the International La- bor Defense, will act as chairman, Secottshore Aid Is Given By Prisoner A victory in the Scottsboro ap- peals, now being heard by the U. S, |Supreme Court, will be a great vie- tory for all class-war prisoners, Phil Frankfeld, imprisoned Pennsylvania unemployed leader, said in a letter to the national office of the Inter- naticnal Labor Defense. The letter, accompanied by a contribution for the defense of the boys, follows: International Labor Defense, 80 East, 11th Street: N. Y. City Dear Comrades: - Here is my dollar for the defense of the nine Scottsboro boys. This is the best I can do right now, but I urge all possible support in order to save them, I realize that a victory for the boys, will be a great victory for all classe war prisoners, and a mighty blow | Comradely Yours, 2