The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 20, 1935, Page 2

Pact Gives Men Nothing (Continued from Page 1) Boston police si Tn several bui refused to hee pact signed, by remained out. Mi his morning p: mitted to reporters yestet at least three building owners wired him that their empl: still stri of the low-paid workers. The Mayor's office received a let- ter from tenants of London Terrace. West 28rd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues, condemning his use of police against strikers, the Daily Worker learned from reliable| sources yesterday. Pooh-poohing the suggestion that the police were called to protect them, the apar ment dwellers informed the Mi that thi were opposed to having strike rs and police in the building. The. police, they stated, were in the houses not to protect the tenants but the scabs and to break the strike 150 Tenants Sign Signed by 150 tenants of one of the largest block of apart- ment houses in the city, the let- ter is considered of extraordinary significance since it answers the argument of the Mayor that the police were called to protect the health of the tenants. The letter was drawn up at a tenants’ meet- ing on Monday night, before the announcement of the pact calling off the strike. Terms on which the strike was “settled” were agreed to by James J. Bambrick, president of Local 32B | of the union and other union offi- cials at 2:30 a.m. yesterday after eighteen hours of conferences at City Hall. Under the general com- mand of Mayor LaGuardia, who marshaled every possible force to avert, or failing that, to break the Strike, pressure was exerted from all sides to reach a strike-breaking formula. Assist to McGrady Among those who assisted in reaching a formula were: Assistant Secretary of Labor Edward F. Mc- Grady; Major Henry H. Curran, chairman of the Mayor's arbitra- tion committee; Raymond V. In- gersoll, Brooklyn Borough Pres- ident; representative of the American Federation of Labor; Joseph P. Ry- an, president of the Central Trades and Labor Council; and George Meany, president of the New York State Federation of Labor. The points in the agreement, signed by Lawrence B. Cummings, representing the Realty Advisory Board and Labor. Relations, Inc. and the union officials, follow 1, The award of the Curran board, made on Feb. 15, calling for a minimum wage of $22, without classification of workers into higher-paid categories—a major demand of the strikers—is “to be. respected and observed.” But the Realty Advisory Board agreed they will propose a modification of the award in a number of re- spects to the signatories of the Mayor’s agreement of Nov. 26. That agreement only applies to the small number of buildings af- fected by the organization drive last year and not the major por- ticn of the buildings controlled by the Realty Advisory Board. 2. The Realty Advisory Board promised to propose to the owners affected by the award—not to all owners—that the award run for six months from March 1, instead of twelve. Will “Study” Matter 3. During the six months "the Administration Board is to take up and consider the question of classification of office and loft buildings and the employes, with a view to recommending reason- able minimum wages for these classes of buildings and employees as a basis for the negotiation of a further agreement at the ex- piration of the six months’ Period.” 4. Provisions on wages and fhours and working conditions in buildings in the garment and other areas covered by the closed shop agreements of Nov. 3, 1934, are to be arbitrated. 5. The above terms are to af- fect only those buildings whose owners agreed to the arbitration award on or prior to Feb. 18, 1935. Rank and File Indignant Rank and file workers union, when apprised of the terms of the agreement, were greatly re- sentful. Most of them feel that the agreement gives them nothing and} that strike action would have got- ten them union conditions. Many felt confident that the organized ~labor movement of the city would > -have supported them. 1 t Anger was particularly sharp at Mr. Bambrick. It was expected that mass mectings of the workers will vote the agreement down when it + @omes before the membership. A| buildings were still being struck >» strike will then ensue, it is. inti- mated, irrespective of the wishes of Bambrick. A broad rank and file) . strike committee will probably be! proposed to take the strike out of| the hands of Bambrick, in whom) many of the members are losing | confidence as a result of his sign- ing of the Mayor's pact. Newark to Have New Workers School Center NEWARK, Feb. i9.—In the heart of the city, Academy and Washing- ton Streets, a new workers’ institu- tion ‘is being established—A WORKERS’ CENTER, A WORK- ERS’ SCHOOL AND BOOKSHOP. A Marxist-Leninist educational institution is being established through the efforts of the revolu- tionary movement in Newark. The building consists of an auditorium With a seating capacity of 400 to 500' 7 rooms for classes and offices, and a store for a bookshop, all of which was formerly occupied by A. F, of L, unions. on or about March Ist as the Work- | ers Educational Center. For this purpose the conference set out to raise a fund of $1,000. __ About one half of this sum has al- Teady been raised | th William Collins, New York | in the| It will be opened | Elevator ‘Truce’ Angers Workers; New Strikes Loom In Coast Trial 1) repre- Board buildings acts with “There will be no strike hose buildings, he did r jon. nployees of tr t ers smallest buildings to become the typical wage in all buildings Wages in Harlem range from $35 to $75 a month, with most of the building ser employees getting the bottom figure or near to it. Three Buildings Out Meanwhile the strike continued the three skyscrapers on 42nd at vhat increases St. owned by the Walter J. Salmon got He said his m” interests. At one of them, a 60- agreement with the Mi: id story building at 500 Fifth Avenue, not expect the union in|the elevators were being partially from inuing organization activi-| operated by scabs hired through ties in buildings which have no con-/a detective agency. Plainclothes tract.” Bambrick said the “victory” won was because of ¢! fication, though | he does not point out how con-! cretely this would increase the wages of the workers involved. He praised highly the S ebreaker LaGuardia and the Roosevelt's scab r| assistant, Edward C. McGrady. Thi en the question about Commu- nists came up, Mr. Bambrick said: | “I want to say this, that valuable assistance was given us in building the Union by the Communists.” In conversation with reporters, one asked Mr. Bambrick what the Daily Worker building is doin, he replied: “I can say this much for | the Daily Worker Building, that they pay more wages than the Daily News does.” When asked how he will answer the men on Not calling the general strike in spite of the fact that the vote was in favor of the strike, he said: “The President and the union heads dissented -on this general strike because it did not take into| consideration the fact that the classification we had been fighting for had been granted.” Sentiment for Strike | Sentiment of the union member- ship for strike is seen in the state- ments of district leaders of the union who feel that the men will} not swallow the LaGuardia el signed by Bambrick. George .Troy, Brooklyn leader of | e union, declared, “I am afraid lof a strike without warning. We are making every effort to prevent | such an occurrence. We want no | radicals to take advantage of the} psychology of our members at the present time.” Louis Cooper, president of the Bronx local, said, he was afraid of a big walkout in the Bronx before the week-end. David Richey, executive board | member of the union, at the main| headquarters of the union at 1450 Broadway, stated that the union has the right to strike 3,000 to 4,000| buildings which do not come under | the provisions of the “truce” signed with LaGuardia. Clifford McLeod, chairman of the junion’s Harlem Council, declared, that he has “temporarily suspended | all connections with our main body.” | He said he would call out 40 Harlem | buildings on strike, Big Fight Looms The dissatisfaction of the meri} | with the calling off of the strike just as it was showing its strength, | is expected to come to a head at! the mass membership meetings be- | ing held throughout the city. There is a good possibility that Monday’s tie-up will prove a mere skirmish compared to what may happen if the will of the rank and file has its | way. | In the garment district the men} were ordered back to work this| morning by Dave Sullivan, union | official. The men expressed resent- | ment at being sent back without | even being informed of the terms of the agreement. Matthew Fiore, organizer of Local 51B, Brooklyn, announced that the | Brooklyn strike, scheduled for | Thursday, had been put off at the| |request of the realty owners until | after settlement of the Manhattan | Strike, but the deadline was. now| set for 10 o'clock Friday morning. Unless the owners agreed to a closed shop by that time, Fiore said, the 30,000 members of the Brookyn section would be called out. The Brooklyn membership meeting will be held tonight at 550 Atlantic Ave. A union mass meeting was called for Monday night in the Bronx where the local numbers 14,000 members. Louis Cooper, president of the local, asserted that the Bronx | real estate board had even refused | all requests for a conference, | Sick of Conferences “We are sick and tired of con- ferences and we are not taking orders from the union president or anybody else,” was the statement of Thomas J. Shortman, chairman of the Manhattan section of the |union, echoing the mood of the |rank and file, The Manhattan mass meeting is} | to be called for Monday night at the New Star Casino, 105 E. 107th St. | Although the majority of the strikers in Harlem were sent back to work Monday afternoon, five | yesterday, heads of the Harlem | Council of the union announced last_night. MacLeod, president of the Har- Jem Council of the union, yesterday told the Daily Worker that most of the agreement signed with realty owners provided that the question | of wages and hours be left to later | arbitration. All agreements, how- ever, require the realty bosses to | employ only members of Local 32B. | Agreements Defective Rank and file members of the | Harlem “Council of the union pointed out that the agreements | Signed with the realty owners were | defective in that, firstly, they left the vital question of wages and | hours to arbitration; and secondly, | that the article in the agreement which reads: “Pending the decision of the ar- bitration proceedings, the employ- ers agree to give a increase to all his employees,” leaves the way open for only miserable increases of $5 to $10 a month and permits individual settlements to be made with the realty bosses, thus ham- Stringing the drive to win uniform wage scales, | Moreover, union members pro- tested, no distinction is drawn in the agreement between the various men circulated through the build- ing. The other two, at 11 and 55 West Forty-second Street, were be- ing guarded by Burns men in uniform. Picketing continued at all three buildings. Frank Downey, shop steward at 11 West Forty-second Street, told a Daily Worker reporter that his men had got tired of waiting on arbitra- tion, which, he said, brought no re- sults. _When the superintendent, Emil Gallanger, refused to. give them a raise, they walked out, Downey declared. A telegram was sent to Bambrick, in the name of the Harlem Tenants League and Harlem Labor Council, Frank Crosswaith, chairman, offer- ing to call a tenants’ strike in Har- lem in sympathy with the service employes. The administration continued its maneuver to keep check on the situation under guise of a health emergency. Health department in- spectors were instructed to keep on reporting to headquarters every hour. Ordinarily they report only once or twice a day. Push Revival of Espionage Act (Continued from Page 1) missioner or any Judge of any Court of Record. This legislation is the one which was applied in en- forcement of the Volstead Act through notoriously lawles meth- It provides for the issuance of warrants for searches and seiz- ures on grounds not specifically defined. Free Hand to Police In other words, the McCormack bill would give a free hand to po- \lice and other officers in obtaining warrants for hounding workers un- |der the pretense of seeking forbid- den publications or letters. The bill would set a penalty of a $1,000 fine, two years in prison or both, for publishing or distributing “Any book pamphlet, paper, print, jarticle, letter, or other writing, |which advises, counsels, urges or One Is Freed | | (Continued from Page 1) prosecutor at the demand of Cali- fornia industrialists and agricul- | turists, lived up to the expectations of his bosses by furiously opposing |the defense motion, Judge Lem- mon will rule on the defense motion tomorrow morning. Gallagher bril- liantly tore to pieces the arguments | of the prosecution and, with the| rising flood of protests against the | frame-up trial, the indications are | | that this count will be dropped, at | | least in relation to most of the de- | | fendants. Darcy on Stand Sam Darcy, Communist candidate | for governor of California in the | last gubernatorial election here, took | | the stand yesterday to give expert | | testimony on Communist theory.’ |Despite the court’s refusal to| admit such testimony, Darcy | blasted the fake interpretation |of Communist theory presented | by McAllister, by reading edi- | easels of the Western Worker in- | troduced by McAllister as evidence, | These so plainly exposed McAl- | lister’s distortions of Communist | theory, that the special prosecutor | howled that they are “hearsay” and | | do not present the theory and prin- | ciples of the Communist Party. As Darcy proceeded, it became evident that the court and prosecu- | tion are in a conspiracy to block the | presentation of the facts by the de- | fense through the raising of a net- | work of legal technicalities. Gal- | lagher, working against severe han- dicaps, is being ably aided by At- torney Grover Johnson of Los An- geles. ‘Bill for Jury Trials on Labor Writs Passed | ALBANY, Feb. 19.—A bill pro- | viding for jury trials in labor cases | |involving injunctions was passed | \today by the Assembly of the State | legislature today. The vote was 103 to 29. The measure was proposed by | Assemblyman Irving D. Neustein of |New York City, them, It would set similar pen- alties for so advising or soliciting directly. In a separate section it |would provide that any publication or letter of this character “may be taken from any house or other |place in which it may be found, or from any person in whose posses- |sion it may be,” under the search |warrants described above, | Representative McCormack last jweek said the bill was drafted by | |the Navy Department. It is thus a | \Roosevelt Administration measure. | | The Military Affairs Committee will refer the bill to a sub-commit- Communists (Continued from Page 1) to live, for recognition of their union. The award of the Mayor's board is a vicious attack on the workers, “The Communist Party calls the attention of the entire. work- ing class to the shameful strike- | breaking role of the LaGuardia administration. This lackey of the bankers and big real estate magnates is preparing public opinion, through the press and official statements, for extreme strike-breaking -terror. LaGuardia—Strikebreaker “The Communist Party charges LaGuardia with having prepared @ premeditated campaign of mur- der of the striking workers, of police strike-breaking on a whole- sale scale, His threat to mobilize the police, fire department and city employees to_man_ the ele- vators, to engage in direct scab- bery and strike-breaking for the real estate interests is a challenge tothe entire working class. “The Communist Party hails the indomitable spirit, courage and heroism of the tens of thou- sands of building service employ- ees and calls upon trade unionists, upon the Socialist Party, upon all locals of the A. F. of L., upon the masses of workers, professionals, intellectuals, and tenants to rally in support of the strikers, to the broadest movement of protest against the LaGuardia police terror and strike-breaking plot. Spread the Strike! “BUILDING SERVICE WORK- ERS! Hold your ranks firm! Spread the strike! Tie up every building! Organize broad rank- and-file strike committees and mass militant picket lines in all neighborhoods throughout the city! Fight the starvation award to the end! “A. F. of L. workers, Socialist workers, all working class organ- izations, drown LaGuardia in a mighty wave of protest. Demand: ‘Keep your hands off the strike.’ Demand: ‘Withdrawing police thugs from all strike areas.’ De- mand: ‘Not a policeman, not a fireman, not a single city em- ployee to be used for strike- breaking.’ Take the question of immediate, unstinted support to the building service strikers into- | your union, into your organiza- tion at once, Adopt resolutions, Prepare for all possible support on the picket lines, at the build- ings, is fight is the battle of the’ entire working class. Unite in meeting the terror, the strike- breaking challenge of the bankers and their city administration. In this hour of the development of the greatest fight in the history of the New York working class, | FORMANCES. THEY WILL USE ALL TEE solicits any member of the Military, Naval or Reserve Forces to disobey the laws or regulations governing” tee within a few jeations point to a lit through as soon as possible, the unity of all workers, regard- less of political views or affilia- tions, behind the building service workers is the burning question.” days. All indi- big drive to put uilding Men! (Continued from Page 1) months to try to weaken the union. AND MEAN- WHILE, THE DELAY IS ALL TO THE ADVAN- TAGE OF THE EMPLOYERS WHO FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, IF THE AWARD IS AC- CEPTED, WILL BE ABLE TO EMPLOY THE SERVICE MEN AT THE TERMS OF THE REALTY BOARD. AT THE END OF THE SIX MONTHS’ PERIOD THE EMPLOYERS AND LA GUARDIA WILL RE- PEAT ALL OF THEIR STRIKEBREAKING PER- STRIKEBREAKING. TERROR AND “ARBITRA- TION” THEY ARE USING NOW, TO DEFEAT THE WORKERS’ DEMANDS AND KEEP THEM FROM STRIKING. BUT THEY WILL BE BET- TER PREPARED. The building service workers are in a better po- sition to strike and win now than they will be six months from now, ‘The “truce” concocted by LaGuardia clearly ex- Poses the city administration as a strikebreaking administration. The city government has allowed the workers of New York to starve, to live in danger- ous fire traps and slums, to live on. starvation re- lief: LaGuardia has not lifted a finger to help the plight of the starving millions of New York work- ers, But LaGuardia sprang into immediate action when it came to saving the profits of the building owners. LaGuardia brazenly took steps to crush the strike through terror. He mobilized the police, fire, health and other city departments to act as armed protectors ef scabs, and to act as scabs themselves. He tried te rob the workers of the city of the right to strike. LaGuardia steps forth now as a union smasher and opponent of labor just as Mayor Rossi of San Francisco appeared in the general strike there as the murderer of the strikers. The building service workers will take note of the fact that the entire capitalist press declared that Mayor LaGuardia FORCED the “truce” on 200,000 workers, Those who concocted the “truce” included rep- resentatives of the federal government such as Edward McGrady, Assistant Secretary of Labor, who has a long record as a federal government strike- breaker. The whole labor movement must answer this challenge of the strikebreaking Mayor and of the agents of the Roosevelt government. With the back- ing of the labor movement, the service men can win their demands despite strikebreaker La- Guardia’s talk of threats and force. LaGuardia’s arbitration means employers’ arbi- tration. His arbitration board is the tool of the employers to keep the. workers from gaining better living conditions. The Communist Party's state- ment in the election campaign that LaGuardia rep- resents the bankers, the employers, is fully borne out by LaGuardia’s efforts to impose on the building service workers starvation and his efforts to crush their strike by force. But the building service workers have not given up the fight. The building service workers are dis- Satisfied with the “truce” imposed on them by La- Guardia and the Realty Board. They know it means defeat of all their demands. There is great rebellion in the ranks of the union against this decision. James Bambrick, president of the Building Serv- ice Employes Union, signed and accepted this kind of “truce.” types of buildings, thus paving the way for the minimum wage in the But the membership of his union does not accept this hateful “award.” Bambrick has spoken, He Reject LaGuardia Arbitration! Strike! —AN EDITORIAL — has given in to the Realty Board, and wants to keep the men at work at the employers’ terms. Now it is the turn of the workers to speak, of the members of the union to speak. And if the de- mands are to be won, if the union is to be built and strengthened, BAMBRICK’S POLICY AND HIS ACCEPTANCE OF THE “TRUCE” MUST BE RE- JECTED BY THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE UNION. Union membership meetings are taking place to- night. At these meetings, the building service work- ers MUST VOTE FOR AN IMMEDIATE STRIKE, REJECT BAMBRICK’S POLICY, AND REJECT LAGUARDIA'S TRUCE AND HIS STRIKEBREAK- ING ARBITRATION AWARD. The membership should voice their will at the union membership meetings to elect their own strike leadership, a broad strike leadership representing every section and every classification. The leadership of the strike must be taken out of the hands of Bambrick. The members voted for strike last Friday night. Bambrick violated the unanimous vote of the membership, He flew in the face of the overwhelming demand of the building service workers for an immediate strike. THE BUILDING SERVICE WORKERS SHOULD ACT FOR STRIKE AND ELECT A BROAD RANK AND FILE STRIKE COMMITTEE. ALL NEGO- TIATIONS SHOULD BE IN THEIR HANDS AND NOT IN BAMBRICK'S, NO STRIKE SETTLEMENT SHOULD BE AC- CEPTED WITHOUT THE VOTE OF ALL THE BUILDING SERVICE WORKERS. ‘The strikebreaking actions of LaGuardia and his administration against the building service workers are aimed not alone against these workers. This chief scab for the rich real estate owners should hear the indignation of the whole labor movement. LAGUARDIA IS THREATENING THE RIGHTS OF EVERY TRADE UNION IN NEW YORK, HE IS TRYING THROUGH FORCE OF HIS POLICE TO OUTLAW THE RIGHT OF NEW YORK WORKERS TO STRIKE, TO ORGANIZE, TO FIGHT FOR HIGHER WAGES AND OTHER JUST DEMANDS. While LaGuardia is carrying on the most flagrant anti-union activity, Joseph Ryan, president of the Central Labor Union, has been conferring amicably with this strikebreaking mayor. The Central La- bor Union of New York must take a definite stand against LaGuardia’s strikebreaking, union smash- ing actions. The Central Labor Union must be urged to call an immediate emergency conference, to support all of the fight of the buildings service workers, and to fight against LaGuardia’s attempt to outlaw strikes in New York City. Every local union in the city, and every workers’ organization should flood the city hall with pro- test resolutions against LaGuardia’s attempts to terrorize the building service workers back to work at the employers’ terms. The Central Labor Union and all local unions must let LaGuardia know that his strikebreaking will be answered by the solid fist of all New York labor. BUILDING SERVICE WORKERS! STRIKE AT ONCE AGAINST LAGUARDIA’S ARBITRATION AWARD! OUT ON STRIKE AGAINST THE “TRUCE” WHICH IS AN EMPLOYERS’ TRUCE.! VOTE TO STRIKE AT THE MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS! ELECT A BROAD STRIKE COM- MITTEE TO LEAD YOUR STRIKE! A. F, OF L. WORKERS—ALL WORKERS’ OR- GANIZATIONS: DENOUNCE LAGUARDIA’S STRIKEBREAKING ACTIVITIES. SEND PROTESTS TO CITY HALL AND TO THE CENTRAL LABOR UNION AGAINST LAGUARDIA'S THREAT TO THE NEW YORK UNIONS! f | against Negroes, foreign-born, the | for any national system at all, and | mestic workers and those employed Demand for Insurance Can’t Pledge Aid, Be Stilled, Says Earl Browder (Continued from Page 1) standards of the masses unimpaired. Anything less than this is not “so- cial security,” but merely institu- tionalizing the insecurity, the degra- dation, of the masses. It must pro- vide for benefits equal to average | normal wages, with a minimum be- |low which no family is allowed to fall, |") It must apply to all categories | | of useful citizens, all those who de- | pend upon continued employment at wages for their livelihood. | 3) Benefits must begin at once, when normal income is cut off, and continue until the worker has been re-employed in his normal capacity | and re-established his normal in- come, Must Be Paid by Rich 4) The costs of social insurance must be paid out of the accumu- | lated and current surplus of society, | and not by further reducing the liv-') ing standards of those still em- Ployed. That means that the fi-| nancing of the insurance must come | from taxation of incomes, beginning | at approximately $5,000 per year,| and sharply graduated upward, with | further provisions for taxation of undistributed surpluses, gifts, in- heritances, etc. 5) Social insurance legislation must provide guarantees against be- ing misused by discriminations young workers never admitted into industry, and other groups habitu-| ally discriminated against within the existing social order. No Strikebreaking 6) Guarantees must provide) against the withholding of benefits from workers who have gone on strike against the worsening of their conditions, or to force workers to scab against strikers, or to force workers to leave their homes or to work at places far removed from| their homes. 7 Administration of insurance | must be removed from the control of local political machines, to guaran- tee that the present scandalous use | of relief funds to impress masses into support of the Democratic Party shall not be made permanent under pretext of “insurance”; this means, that administration must be through the elected representatives of the workers involved, making use of their existing mass organizations, relying upon democratic self-activi- ty and organization. Against Wagner-Lewis Bill ‘The Communist Party opposes the Wagner-Lewis, Administration Bill, because itvviolates each and every one of these conditions for real so- cial insurance. It does not provide the systems permitted for the vari- ous 48 States in effect prohibit the incorporation of any of the above- mentioned seven essential features. The Wagner-Lewis Bill prohibits benefits of more than a fraction of average normal, wages. It specifi- cally excludes from its supposed “benefits” whole categories of work-| ers, such as agricultural and do-| in small establishments, who need insurance the most because they. are the most insecure, the most ex- ploited and oppressed, and which include the majority of the Negroes. It provides for a benefit period which is only a small fraction of the average period of unemployment, Even Less Relief Than Now Examining only these three phases of the Wagner-Lewis Bill, the conclusion cannot be escaped that the result of the Bill would be to provide even less than is now being given in relief, miserably in- adequate as that amount is, and to cut off from even this reduced amount the great masses now un- employed, The plain intention of this bill is to reduce the volume of governmental aid to all those suffer- ing from involuntary unemploy- ment, When it comes to provisions for financing this parody of insurance, it becomes even more clear that the intention is to relieve the rich and to place all burdens upon the poor. Nothing is to be taken from the social-surplus, which exists only in the form of e higher-income brackets, undistributed surpluses, ete.; everything is to be taken ‘di- rectly out of the meagre and de- creasing wage-fund and indirectly from the same source by a tax on payrolls which inevitably is passed on to the masses of consumers in a magnified amount. Discrimination Instead of guaranteeing against further intensification of discrimi- nation against Negroes, the foreign- orn, and young workers, the. Wag- ner-Lewis Bill does the opposite; it provides explicitly for such further discrimination, by excluding from benefits those who need them most, agricultural and domestic workers. Instead of guarantees against the use of insurance as a strike-break- ing machinery, this Bill in applica- tion would become an_ elaborate black-list system for the destruction of trade unions. The only system of organization that could flourish under the Wagner-Lewis Bill would ‘be the “company unions,” those menacing forerunner of fascism in the United States. Instead of providing for demo- cratic administration of the insur- ‘Wagner-Lewis Bill would impose an enormous bureaucracy, entirely con-_ trolled by appointment from above, which would make into a perma- nent institution that system which in present relief edministration has already shown itself as the greatest menace to our small remaining civil liberties and democratic rights. We ‘@tready have enough examples in the kebor Boards which are doing tremendous damage to organized labor. These are the reasons, in concen- trated outline, why the Communist Party opposes the Wagner-Lewis Bill. These are the reasons why we declare this Bill is not even a small step toward real insurance, but on | before it the Workers’ Bill, the only | You have not answered it. ance system by the workers, the |. | Workers’ Unemployment, Old-Age, | and Social Insurance Bill, H. R. 2827, introduced by Congressm: | Ernest Lundeen of Minnesota. . This Bill, H. R. 2827, while still suffering from a few defects, embodies in the main the principles which we sup- port energetically and uncondition- ally, and for which we have been fighting for many years. Only the | principles embodied in H.R. 2827| can provide any measure of real social security for the toilers of the | United States. | It is one of the symptoms of the | irrationality of our present govern- |mental system, from the point of | | view of the interests of the masses of the people, that this Committee is considering legislation on unem- ployment insurance without having | project: which has organized mass support throughout -the country | ‘based upon-intelligent discussion in- | volving millions of people. The) Workers’ Bill is supported not only by the Communist Party and its 600,000 supporters for whom I speak, but by several million other organ- ized workers, farmers, and middle class people. Workers Back Bill There is a fashion, nowadays, for every upstart demagog to try to im- press Congress and the country with fantastic figures of tens of millions | of supporters for each new utopia, | each quack cure-all, which exploits | the misery of the masses. I have no desire to compete in this game, the Paper-counters of which cannot be checked against any reality. The figures which we cite of organized | supporters of the Workers’ Bill are | verifiable membership figures of es- tablished mass organizations, almost all of them of long standing and in- cluding a great section of the American Federation of Labor. An attempt is being made to smother in silence the Workers’ Bill, both in Congress and in the news- papers. To make more plausible this silence on the Workers’ Bill, which is the only practical alternative to the Wagner-Lewis Bill, there has been trotted out as the “alternative” a straw-man in the shape of the so- called Townsend Plan. It is very easy to tear to pieces this straw- man, in spite of its very praise- worthy desire to care for the aged, and to consider that this disposes of the Workers’ Bill, which makes really practical provision for those over working age. But it will not be So easy to get the masses to accept this verdict. Even such loyal ser- vants of the Administration as the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor, who have swal- lowed one after another the injuries and insults dealt the workers for two years, and who have bitterly |opposed the Workers’ Bill, have been forced to draw back before the discredit and mass revolt against them which must inevitably be the lot of all who identify themselves with the Wagner-Lewis Bill. “A New Insult” The Workers’ Bill is before the Congress and before the country. Your present Bill is no answer, but only a the contrary, a measure to prohibit, new insult to the suffering millions. You cannot continue to answer only with silence, We know, of course, that the ene- mies of the Workers’ Bill have pre- pared and are preparing their argu- ments against it, when it shall fi- nally force itself upon the floor of Congress. It would be more honest if they would at once place their arguments, and the comparison of the two alternative programs, before this Committee and others, and be- fore Congress as a whole. All arguments against the Work- ers’ Bill finally resolve themselves into one, the urgument that “it costs too much,” that “the country cannot afford it.” “The Country Can Afford It” What does this mean, the state- ment that “the country cannot af- ford it”? Does if mean that our country is too poverty-stricken to care for its own people at a minimum decent living standard? Does it mean that in our country we do not have enough productive land, natural re- sources, plants, machinery, mines, mills, railroads, etc., or that we lack trained, skilled people to operate them? Such an answer would be, of course, only nonsense. All the wise men and authorities of the country are wailing that we have too much of these things and of the commodi- ties they produce. The Government has been exerting all its wits to re- duce the supply, to destroy the sur- plus which it claims causes all the trouble. Government Can Raise Fund Does it mean that the Govern- ment is unable, is too weak, to raise vast sums of money on short no- tice? That answer, too; is excluded. Our memories are not so short that we fail to recall how, in 1917-1918, the Government raised tens of bil- lions of dollars for participating in a destructive war; if we can afford to sink tens of billions in explosives, poison gases, battleships, and other materials to destroy millions of peo- ple abroad, why cannot we spend similar sums to provide food, cloth- ing and shelter to save the lives of millions of people at home? No, that phrase “the country can- not afford it,” can only have one meaning, that the small group (an infinitesimal fraction of the pop- ulation) which owns all the. chief stores of accumulated wealth and productive forces, and which dic- tates the policies of government, refuses to pay, while the masses of people who need insurance precisely becuse they have been robbed of all, cannet pay. Payment Now In Lives But our country cannot and does not avoid paying the bill for unem- ployment, old age, maternity, and other hazards. NOW the country pays, not on money but in the lives of men, women, and children. This is the price which, above all other to make impossible, a real sccial in- surance system. The alternative to the Wagner- Lewis Bill is before Congress for its consideration, in the form of the \prices, the country really CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY, | We propese that our country shall begin to pay the bill in that only currency we can afford, in the ac- cumulated wealth and productive ee forces, by t..xing the rich. ‘We propose to reverse the prese ent p@licy, which taxes the poor in order to relieve and further subsi- dize the rich; we propose to tax the rich to feed the poor. Those gentlemen who argue that, despite our country’s immense wealth, it cannot afford real unem- an |Ployment insurance because the cost would dig into profits, and that our present system cannot operate if it touches these sacred profits, are really pouring oil on the fires of radicalization that are |sweeping through our country, Mile lions of our people, the useful ones, those who work, are sick and tired of being told about the sacredness of profits, while their children starve. They are more and more getting into that mood which, in a previous crisis of our national life, produced the Declaration of Inde- pendence. The direction of the masses now as then, is a revolu- tionary one, with this difference, that then it was independence from ‘King George and a dying feudalism that was required, while today it is independence from ‘King’ Profits and a dying capitalism -which tries to prolong its life at the cost of denying social insurance. Why Communists Are Attacked We Communists have’ been de- nounced in this Congress, as well as in the daily press, as enemies of our country, as a “menace,” because we speak of the pOssibility and nec- essity of revolution to solve the problems of life of the great ma- jority of the people. We have been accused of all sorts of silly things, such as “plots to kidnap the Presi- dent,” of being bombers, conspira- tors, etc. All that is nonsense, but very dangerous nonsense—it is a screen of poison-gas to hide the at- tacks that are being made against all democratic rights, against the trade unions, against the living standards of the people. History has shown tyyond dispute; that such attacks, beginning agairist the Communists, never end’ there, but only in a full-fledged Fascist dic- tatorship which destroys all rights of the people. The Communist “menace” really means that those moneyed inter- ests which finance this great cam- paign against Communism, knowing that millions of people are in a really desperate situafion and- a desperate frame of mind, are afraid that these millions will go over to the Communist Party and program. Free Advice But those gentlemen who really want to remove this “menace” should listen to the advice which we, the Communists, give you gratis. Remove the desperate situation of these millions, grant that minimum measure of real social security such as is provided in the Workers’ Bill, prove in fact, in life, that it really is possible for the masses to con- tinue to live under capitalism. We are accused of making political cap- ital out of the misery of the masses, but in reality we are fighting to im- prove the living standards of the masses; When revolution comes, it will be, not because we Communists have “plotted” for. it, but. because the rulers of this country have proved that there is no other way out, that there is no other way toward a secure life. “Dangerous Ideas” It is worth remembering, that after 1776, when our Declaration of Independence acted as the spark that, set fire to the democratic rev~ olution .in France and throughout Europe, the reactionary forces of the world fought against the “dan- gerous” ideas that were supposed to be. “imported from America.” To- day the same comedy is repeated, but this {ime the revolution is said to be “imported from Moscow.” In both cases, the deep reality behind the nonsensical slogan. is, that. the country attacked is the one that is showing the way to the solution of the problems of the people. “Mos- cow,” that is the Soviet Union, has adopted complete social insurance, has solved unemployment, is im- proving the living standards of all the people, is enormously expanding its economic life. Do a better job, or even just as good, and “Moscow” will be not the slightest danger. Demand Cannot Be Silenced Present proposals which, while denying real unemployment insur- ance, would enact some new Alien and Sedition laws, to crush down the growing demand for a better life, also recall moments in the past history of our country. We had a period of Alien and Sedition Laws in the early 1800's, also adopted and carried out in the in- terests of established property and designed to crush a democratic movement arising from the masses of the people. The Party which sponsored those laws went down in disgrace and defeat, the laws were repealed after long suffering and struggles, those against whom the Alien and Sedition laws were di- rected came into direction of’ the affairs of the country. Any at- tempt to solve today’s problems by Alien and Sedition Laws will be as futile as those of the times of Madi- son and Jefferson. There is no. substitute, there is no way to avoid, the demand for full unemployment, old age and social insurance. Its denial will only. accelerate the growing revolu- tionary mass unrest, intensify the social struggles. The Wagner-Lewis Bill is a transparent attempt to sidetrack this demand. The new legislation against the Communist Party is only a futile attempt to silence the movement. Neither can succeed. Only the Workers’ Unem- ployment, Old Age and Social In- surance Bill can satisfy the aroused. masses of the useful people, the working people, of the United States. Store Strike Parley Today Strikers of the Ohrbech depart ment store on Union Square have been invited to a conference at thi Regional Labor Board at 10:30 this morning, with representatives of the store. ‘The strike is now in its tenth week. reer A large number of pickets, among them many members of student or- ganizations will appear* in Essex Market Court tomorrow. soon. Mage istrate Harris declined to hear te pr