The daily worker. [volume], February 28, 1935, National Edition, Page Page 2, Image 2

About The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958

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Page 2
Hearst Wants Reign of Terror
In Schools , Says Glenn Frank
Educators Back Beard
in Condemnation of
Anti-Labor Drive
ATLANTIC CITY, Feb. 27.—More
than 5.000 schools will be compelled
to close by March 1 if no financial
aid is received, while last year
3.500.000 children had their classes
shut down for lack of funds.
These facts, reported here yester
day at the convention of the Na
lonal Educators Association shed
additional light on the enthusiastic
reception given earlier to Dr.
Charles A. Beard's denunciation of
William Randolph Hearst's anti
labor drive in the schools.
Discussing the proposed “investi
gation against radicalism in the
schools,” Dr. Glenn Frank, presi
dent of the University of Wisconsin,
warned that such investigations
“create an atmosphere of terror
which if unopposed, means the end
of everything approaching a sound,
reasoned thinking which makes a
great university.”
Under ‘lnvestigation'
The University of Wisconsin is
now under such an “investigation,”
which, Dr. Frank charges, was
directly instigated by William Ran
dolph Hearst.
The 5.000 assembled educators ■
listened in vain for any sign that j
Roosevelt was planning to provide
Federal funds for the schools. On
the contrary, his spokesman at the
meeting, Jesse Jones, bringing a
letter from Roosevelt to the conven
tion, specifically opposed such Fed
eral aid.
Funds for War.
No R.F.C. funds would be granted !
for state schools, Jones declared.
The P.W.A. has granted close to a
billion dollars for war preparations
already.
The economic program of Roose- j
velt was attacked as "madhouse I
economics,” by James C. Bay, super
intendent of schools in Easton, Pa,
Protest Cards
Urged To Aid
Scottsboro!
The immediate task of organized
labor in New York City within the j
next two weeks is to flood into
Washington at least 50,000 protest
cards demanding the immediate un- .
constitutional release of the nine:
innocent Scottsboro boys and An
gelo Herndon, the New York Dis- ;
trict of the I.L.D. stated yesterday. |
“Every honest fighter must now be
warned against just sitting by trust- j
ing to the fairness of the U. S. Su- ■
preme Court,” the statement said,!
and continued: “Every trade union
local, workers club, all branches of
fraternal and cultural organizations, j
women's and youth organizations, |
churches, lodges and societies, etc.,
must immediately redouble their ef
forts to carry out their share of j
this task.
"The following tasks should be
undertaken by all organizations:
a). Each organization to imme
diately adopt a protest resolution
to be sent to the U. S. Supreme
Court; b). Each organization im
mediately to get a quantity of pro
test cards for distribution among
your membership. All materials are
to be gotten from the New York
District 1.L.D., 22 E. 17th St., Room
514.
"The critical need of funds to j
carry through these cases (Hern
don's hearings come up in March
in the U. S. Supreme Court, and
the New York District I.L.D. at the 1
present time is preparing briefs to file
the appeal in the Clide Allen case). j
demands once again the unreserved
support of all workers’ organiza
tions. In spite of all obstacles, the \
funds must be raised. Certainly j
now after almost four years of con- j
tinuous struggle, whatever may be
the need for funds, it can be raised
and must be raised.”
Waiting for City Aid,
Aged Jobless Worker
Drops Dead of Hunger
Jack Silver, a 65-year-old unem- j
ployed worker, dropped dead from I
hunger late Tuesday night at Grand
and Essex streets.
Ten days ago Silver applied to .
the Unemployment Council to help
him get relief. His case was taken <
up immediately. As a single worker,!
under the new LaGuardia policy, j
he was referred to the single men’s
division at 59 Leonard Ave., where
all cases of unattached persons are
handled.
Almost endless red tape and de
lay resulted. Finally, two days ago,'
an investigator visited him and
promised that relief would be given, f
Death did not wait for the city’s
belated action.
Insurance Bill Offered
In Michigan Would Bar
Strikers from Benefits
LANSING. Mich . Feb. 27.—A so
called unemployment insurance bill j
in line with President Roosevelt’s
fake security program has been in
troduced ifito the State Legislature.
The bill has been drafted with the
assistance of Dr. William Haber,
state emergency welfare adminis
trator, and evidently bears the
stamp of administration approval.
The bill would provide benefits of
one-half the average weekly wage,
with fifteen dollars a week as the
maximum. Payments would not
start till five weeks after the loss
of employment and would continue
for not more than twenty weeks a
year. Nothing is provided for the
present jobless.
The bill would compel the work
ers to pay part of the funds for the
insurance.
The bill contains a strike-break
ing clause by which strikers would
not be allowed to receive benefits, j
N. R. A. RUN-AROUND
Textile Labor Relations Board Refers All Cases
to Employers Code Authority
WASHINGTON, D. C. Feb. 27.
The Textile Labor Relations Board
is referring all charges of violation
of wage and hour provisions to the
Code Authorities of the respective
branches of the industry, it was
learned at the first meeting of the
Textile Planning Commission yes
terday. Three thousand and six 1
such complaints, most of which re
main unsettled, have been received
since October.
The Textile Labor Relations ;
Board and investigation agencies to
study the industry, were created by
President Roosevelt as a condition
for having the general strike last
summer called off. He promised!
Cabinet Crisis
I n Cu b a
(Continued from Page 1)
of the program put forward by the
anti-imperialist daily La Palabra,
Support of the Cuban student- :
teacher strike was voted at a special
emergency meeting of the New York
City Committee of the National :
Student League held at noon yes- j
terday at their headquarters, 257 I
Seventh Avenue.
* * *
Immediate protests must be sent
by all organizations to President
Mendieta, Havana, and to the
Cuban Consul, 17 Battery Place,
New York, demanding the imme
diate release of the six impris
oned anti-imperialist editors. Res
olutions should also be sent to the
U. S. State Department protest
ing against Ambassador Caffery’s
Intervention in Cuban affairs and
stating our determined opposition
to any interference on the part
of U. S. imperialism against the
Cuban people.
Huge Profits
For Ship Firm
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27. War
profits of fifty-seven per cent were
shown to have been reaped by the
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corpora
tion in the Senate investigations
today.
The Senate Munitions Committee
uncovered the fact that on an es
timated • capital of less : than fifty
million dollars, the corporation
made a profit of $21,000,000 out of
war construction.
So great was the business of the
company during the years 1917-21
that the company doubled its cap
ital investment, while its profits in
creased seven-fold, the Senate Com
mittee inquiry showed.
Mellon Dodged Taxes
By Fake Stock Sales,
Government Charges
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 27.—1 n order
; to escape paying income taxes, the
j multi-millionaire aluminum king,
Andrew Mellon bought and sold
| through a secret holding corpora
| tion $350,000 of his own bonds, it
| was brought out today in the gov
ernment’s suit to collect $3,000,000
back income taxes from Mellon.
Through this “wash sale,” the
| wealthy monopolist was able to
[ evade paying taxes on his tremen
dous investments. Mellon, while he
was Secretary' of the Treasury,
i saved himself about $14,000,000 it
! has been shown.
CLASS STRUGGLES MUST BE MAINSPRING OF LABOR PARTY
This is the second of two ar
ticles on the Communist Party’s
role in the movement for a Labor
Party.
* * *
The most important factor which
has contributed to the disillusion
ment of the masses with the two
capitalist parties is the New Deal
and the struggles of the workers
which it called forth.
The N. R. A., its codes and other
features of the Roosevelt adminis
tration’s policy have brought the
masses into direct conflict with the
capitalist government to an unpre
cedented degree. There is hardly a
question concerning the life of the
workers which doesn't rise as a po
litical question under present cir
cumstances. In virtually all cases
strikes are a violation of some N.
R. A. agency’s order. Never before
have the workers gone through ex
periences which expose the govern
ment so clearly as a tool of the capi
talists.
For a Working Class Program
The wave of strikes which has
continued since the introduction of
the N. R. A. has to a greater degree
than ever brought the workers face
to face with National Guards
equipped with gas bombs, machine
guns and all means for suppressing
strikes. National Guards were sent
against strikers by the Republican
Governor of California, the Demo
cratic governors of southern states
and the Farmer-La borite of Min
neapolis.
Such experiences raise sharply
the issue of an independent working
class program. As the recent elec
tions showed, the masses are no
longer content to confine their
choice within the two “regular”
Party machines. Large numbers did
not switch back to the Republican
Party, but rather sought to express
themselves through the Sinclairs,
that these agencies would pass upon
complaints of workers and not the
code authorities which consist en
tirely of employers as was the case
prior to the strike.
The practice now virtually re
establishes the former status.
Francis Gorman who headed the
General Strike Committee, and
Thomas McMahon President of
the United Textile Workers, hailed
the President’s promise as a strike
victory. Workers have been
patiently waiting for improvements
since October, only to find condi
tions getting worse. It appears very
doubtful now that the U. T. W.
national officials will be able to
avert another strike.
Prevailing Pay
Issue Dodged
(Continued from Page 1)
trust-aiding program?” he was
asked.
“I would say,” he parried, “that
the men whose votes in Congress
were necessary to enact it believed
it would help labor.”
Would Revamp N.I.R.A.
Now that labor has fully discov
ered the real anti-union purpose of
the N. R. A., Nye and McCarran
would “investigate the abuses” of
N. R. A. Even this, however, is
slated for swift shelving. Demo
cratic Leader Harrison announced
he would insist that any “inves
tigating” preceding the re-writing
of the N. I. R. A. be done by the
Senate Finance Committee. Nye
and McCarran have declared such
an “investigation” would be merely
“a whitewash."
McCarran again insisted that he
would continue to fight for the "pre
vailing wage” amendment in any
work-relief bill enacted. He ad
mitted, however:
“If there is going to be delay in
the work-relief bill, I would be will
ing to enact an $880,000,000 appro
priation to take care of those on
relief until next July, or a $1,880,-
000,000 appropriation to take care of
them until February, 1936.”
McCarran conferred on the mat
ter with Senators Wagner of New
York, Costigan of Colorado. Demo
crats, and La Follette, Wisconsin
Progressive. They refused to com
ment afterward. It was known,
however, they discussed the pos
sibility of “splitting” the $4,800,000,-
000 work relief measure.
Anti-Fascists
Plan Rally
(Daily Worker Midwest Bureau)
CHICAGO, 111., Feb. 27,-Hun
dreds of Chicago organizations
have endorsed the call of the
American League Against War and
Fascism for an anti-war rally Tues
day evening, March 5, at the Ash
land Auditorium, Ashland Boule
vard and Van Buren Street. The
| endorsing organizations are issuing
leaflets and calls to the Chicago
I workers, in their own names, to at
i tend in masses.
Speakers at the meeting will be
; Robert Minor of the Communist
j Party; Prof. Frederick L. Schumann
|of the American League Against
| War and Fascism; Albert Hamilton,
| chairman of the Student League for
Industrial Democracy; J. C. Austin
| of the Pilgrim Baptist Church, with
| a representative of the Friends of
I the Soviet Union.
Longs and La Follettes. Recent ex
periences take the very foundation
from under the non-partisan policy
of the trade union bureaucrats. The
still more open attack of the Roose
velt administration against the
workers, so that there is even a rift
between it and the A. F. of L. of
ficials, will also hasten the inde
pendence of the workers from the
capitalist parties.
In addition to the experience of
the workers during the past decade,
the Communist Party and rank and
file movement in the unions have
become much stronger. These are
the main forces that will generate
the trend toward a Labor Party.
In 1923-24 the Communist Party
was still young, and in the main
isolated. The left wing in the
unions was in its infancy. A cam
paign by the A. F. of L. at that time
to expel militants did not meet with
much resistance. Today the mili
tants take a lead in some of the
outstanding strikes in 'the country.
The rank and file challenges the
bureaucrats in some of the largest
unions in the heavy industry, as in
steel. Tne expulsion campaign in
all unions initiated by Green has
thus far fallen flat.
Support for Workers Bill
An indication of the forces that
the militants can muster in the
present situation is in the support
collected behind the Workers Un
employment and Social Insurance
Bill iH. R. 2827) and the huge
Washington Congress which mobil
ized to push its adoption. The thou
sands of A. F. of L. locals which
endorsed the bill and the hundreds
of locals which were represented at
the congress defied the orders of the
A. F. of L» executives.
The Central Committee of the
Communist Party, after pointing out
the forces whidh seek to divert the
sentiment for independent political
DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1935
WILLING TO DIE FOR $6,000
MM
• &'* . -
■jjjM
Stanley Przytup, unemployed Brooklyn, N. Y., war veteran, who
wrote Governor of New Jersey offering to take Bruno Hauptmann’s
place in the electric chair if the convicted slayer paid his wife and
children 86.000.
Heavy Industry Makes
New Advance in USSR
Value of January Output Exceeds One and a Half
Billion Rubles —21 Per Cent Gain
(Special to the Daily Worker)
MOSCOW, Feb. 27. (By Cable).—
The third year of the Second Five
Year Plan began with new and im
portant increases in Soviet heavy
industry, figures released here oday
revealed.
In general, heavy Industry In the
U. S. S. R. in January, despite the
exceptionally heavy frosts of that
month, which delayed work in some
branches, had an output of 1,683,-
000,000 rubles. This is 21.1 per cent
ahead of January last year.
Fisher Wants i
Open Shop
(Continued f rom, Page 1)
March decision of Roosevelt and
place their faith in the employer -
controlled Auto Labor Board, warn
ing them that continued labor dif
ficulties would cause the company
to withdraw work from Cleveland
plant.
The company’s statement, while
fully anticipated by the majority of
the workers, who knew that their
only hope lies in strong organiza
tion and strike preparation, blasted
the illusions of those who thought
that Mieir demands could be won by
peaceful negotiations.
The union is holding three meet
ings Wednesday afternoon to de
termine its further action.
Commenting on the company’s
statement the Communist Party
called on the workers to Intensify
the building of the union and pre
pare to strike for their demands.
The uncompromising attitude of the
company clearly shows that nothing
could be gained without militant
action, the C. P. declares.
Protracted negotiations as advo
cated by the A. F. of L. top official
dom, would result in defeat. The
Communist Party calls on all work
ers and local officials of the union
to intensify their organization and
begin immediate preparations for
militant action to win their de
mands in the present production
season.
A Correction
Inadvertently, the nhrase “Labor
Party” was omitted in the report of
the statement made by J. B. Mat
thews at the Madison Square
Garden meeting on Monday. Mat
thews’ statement should have read,
“We can unite to build a Labor
Party, a party of the working class,
and this party must include the
Communist Party. We will reject
I any party that does not so include.”
action into channels that will sub- i
ordinate it to capital, at the same
time warns against attempts to
place the movement for a Labor
Party behind a program that sets
out to abolish the capitalist System.
Only the Communist Party stands
for the latter. Such a policy would
narrow down the support for the
Labor Party. In order that the La
bor Party should really succeed in
quickly leading the masses away
from the capitalist parties, it must
be built around a program of im
mediate needs only, such as will
make the broadest mass appeal.
Not “Cover” for Communists
The Central Committee also warns
against hiding the Communist Party
or against the idea that a Labor
Party is only a “cover” for the Com
munist Party. The Communist
Party, in addition to maintaining Its
independent existence, will be the
most dynamic force to build the La
bor Party. It will come out boldly
with its program that only the re
placement of the present order by
a Soviet America can be a funda
mental solution for the workers and
other exploited people. The work
of building a Labor Party likewise
gives the Communist Party a fine
opportunity to win the most ad
vanced of the class-conscious work
ers into its own ranks.
If we fail to make clear the dif
ference between the Labor Party
and the Communist Party, and the
latter’s role, it would be just like
failing to warn against a “red
scare” in a strike, or union election.
The capitalist politicians, and the
top labor leaders, as LaFollette and
Gompers did in 1924, could use the
“red scare’’ as an effective trick to
disrupt the move for a real Labor
Party at a mast decisive moment-
We must in advance explain to the
workers in the simplest terms that
; every step forward for the workers
The greatest increase in output i
was iron ore, 41.2 per cent in excess
of January, 1934. Iron and steel
production was 29.8 per cent In ad
vance of last year, automobiles and
tractors, 32 per cent. Electric power,
chemicals, glass, pottery, and many
other industries far surpassed the
January plan.
The number of workers in the en
terprises of heavy industry in
creased by 7.1 per cent, compared
with January last year.
WeirtonWins
NR A Decision
(Continued from Page 1)
autocratic company towns in the
country the company ruthlessly
suppressing all free speech and as
semblage in the town. West Vir- \
gii\\a State police spread terror
against the strikers.
The decision devotes much space
to praise of J. C. Williams, presi
dent of the Weirton Co., quoting
Williams as saying that “What in
jures the company injures the men.”
Nields said that the company
union “in all respects complies with
provisions of Section 7-A of N.R.A.”
He declared that it is “a lawful and
effective organization of the work
ers for collective bargaining through
r-epresentatives of their own
choosing.”
Brazen Anti-Union Stand
The decision of Nields upholding
the company union is a more brazen
and open method of the govern
ment for legalizing the fascist com
pany unions than that pursued by
Roosevelt. Under section 7-A, and
the labor boards set up by Roosevelt
company unions have been strength
ened in all industries. Roosevelt
signed the auto code with its open
shop "merit” clause, and in March
1934, signed the pact setting up the
Auto Labor Board, a pact which le
galized company unions in the auto
industry.
The present Weirton ruling, aimed
to smash the Amalgamated Asso
ciation’s strike preparations through
company union terrorism, and to
influence the reorganization of the
N. R. A. in the direction of estab
lishing more open fascist unions,
seeks to accomplish union smashing
more openly, whereas Roosevelt
under N. R. A. has sought to ac
complish the same thing by more
demagogic methods.
By GEORGE MORRIS
is in line with the policy of the
Communist Party, and that we do
not seek to dominate the Labor
Party movement but Insure that It
will follow on the basis of an in
dependent class policy.
Party Based in Union
From our analysis It should be
clear that the possibility of a genu
ine Labor Party rests primarily
upon the extension of the Rank and
File movement In the trade unions,
especially in the A. F. of L. This Is
repeated in the resolution a num
ber of times. The slogan for a
Labor Party must now be made one
of the outstanding points in the
program of the rank and file in
the unions. To the degree that the
rank and file wins control in the
unions, to that degree will a solid
foundation be built for a real Labor
Party. We will find that most of
the top union officials will resist
the movement for a Labor Party, as
It hits at their scheme for auction
ing off the votes of the workers.
The only Labor Party they w'ould
support is one that would act as an
appendage of the employers and a
new weapon against the militant
workers.
Socialists and Labor Party
The furthest that the top bureau
crats would go toward a Labor
Party will be through joint action
between the Socialist Party and Its
supporting union officials, espe
cially in the garment unions. Com
munists and militant workers need
hardly be told that they would not
be permitted to take part In such a
party. Such a "Labor Party” would
be bureaucratically controlled from
the top.
From this it does not follow that
it is impossible to unite with the
Socialists on the Labor Party issue,
i The Socialist Party is not a unit.
Michigan Heavy Industry
Wages Drop 20 Per Cent
FIGHT JIM-CROWISM
Detroit Labor Candidate Offers His Services
To Prevent Eviction of I. L. D.
DETROIT, Feb. 27.—The Inter
national Labor Defense has launched
a mass and legal fight to prevent
the Hugo Scherer Estate. Inc.,
owners of the building in which the
I. L. D. is located, from compelling
it to move because it employs Ne
groes. The attack of the landlords
is directed specifically against F. B.
Maise, a Negro worker, who is as
sistant secretary of the I. L. D.
Maurice Sugar, prominent labor
attorney, who is labor candidate for
judge of the Recorder's Court, on
learning of this outrageous action,
immediately offered his services to
the I. L. D. in the fight to prevent it
Relief Strike
Is Ended
FORT SMITH, Ark., Feb. 27
The strike of the four thousand re
lief strikers who were fighting
against a fifty per cent relief cut
ended -when the workers voted to
go back to work in order to better
organize their ranks for a future
struggle.
The relief workers strike started
three weeks ago in the southern
part of the county when the unem
ployed miners walked out in protest
against a wage cut from thirty to ,
fifteen and twenty cents an hour j
and the setting of a monthly re- ;
lief budget at fifteen dollars. They
demanded forty cents an hour with
a thirty hour week.
Workers who were organized into '
the Workmen’s Union of the World
and the Veterans of Industry of j
America have become disgusted [
with their "leaders” who, instead ;
of taking part and leading the ;
struggle, spent their time in con- j
ference with the Chamber of Com- !
merce in an effort to “settle the ,
strife.” These workers have taken i
steps to affiliate with the National
Unemployment Councils and have
condemned the leaders of the Fort
Smith Trades and Labor Council
who refused them the use of the
Labor Temple for meetings.
Victims Aided
In Soviet Blast
(Special to the Daily Worker)
MOSCOW, Feb. 27 (By Cable).—
The machinery of the workers’
state moved swiftly today to aid
the families of twenty-nine persons
killed and injured when a com
pressor exploded yesterday in the
graphite department of a lead
pencil factory in Moscow. A com
mission was immediately to
render special assistance to all the
dependents of the victims. Soviet
law guarantees adequate accident
and death insurance for everyone
concerned in industrial accidents.
The workers who were at all in
jured or shocked were sent to
sanitoria and rest homes on full
pay.
The explosion occurred in the
j Krassin factory when a one and a
: half ton tank containing compressed
air was hurled through the depart
ment by the force of an accidental
ignition. It broke through the
floors of the second and third
stories, then smashed through the
roof. The explosion caused a fire
in the factory.
It is its right wing under the lead
ership of Louis Waldman and Abe
Kahn which w'ould compromise as
far as merging with a third capi
talist party. The Socialist Party did
so in 1924, when it endorsed La-
Follette. We must regard Upton
Sinclair and Paul Blanshard, who
is now in the Fusion administration
in New York, as advance agents in
this trend.
On the other hand, there are
strong left tendencies in the So
cialist Party which could be won
for a genuine Labor Party. If we
concentrate our attack against the
extreme right wing in the Socialist
Party we thereby make it increas
ingly more difficult for the center
headed by Norman Thomas to go
along with it. Os decisive impor
tance in preventing such a fake
Labor Party from arising, is a
firmly roofed rank and file move
ment to undermine the plans of the
officials in the very unions where
the Socialist Party Right Wing
wants to form its base.
Strikes and Labor Party
The campaign for a Labor Party
can be aligned with every struggle
of the workers, but, above all, it
must be pushed during strikes. It
is then that the workers come in
direct conflict with the strike
breaking forces of the capitalist
parttaa. Strikes such as were ex
perienced last summer give a splen
did opportunity to convince hun
dreds of thousands and millions of
the need for a Labor Party.
This was especially seen In the
West Coast strike. But it was Up
ton Sinclair who with his dema
! gogy succeeded in diverting the
\ strong will for Independent political
action into support of the Demo
cratic Party.
i The Central Committee warns
i against premature steps to form a
| from being ousted.
About a month ago the I. L. D.
moved into its present headquarters,
Room 700, the Hoffman Building,
Woodward Ave.. near Sibley. Two
weeks later it received a letter from
| the Hugo Scherer Estate, Inc.,
stating:
"It has come to our attention that
you have some colored people in
your employ. Some of the tenants
!in the building art complaining
! about this and as it is against the
. rules of our building, we must ask
you to either discharge your col
ored help or move from the build
-1 ing.”
Thaelmann
Fight Urged
(Continued from Page 1)
fascism by millions of toilers
throughout the whole world, with
out distinction as to political beliefs
or membership in any organization.
Simultaneously this was a signal for
the wide development of the united
front struggle of the proletariat,
the Communist, Socialist, Christian,
Anarchist and non-party workers,
against fascism and war throughout
the world.
“With the assistance of this
militant united front, the prole
tariat will also secure the release
of their imprisoned fighters Ernst
Thaelmann, Matthias Rakosi, and |
thousands of others. Only as a
result of the unwavering Irrecon
cilable class struggle, as con
trasted with Social-Democratic
class collaboration with the bour
geoisie, will the working class. In
alliance with the other toiling]
strata of town and village, led by
the Communist International and
under the wise guidance of the
leader of the world proletariat,
Comrade Stalin, secure the final
victory over capitalism with its
crises and wars and catastrophes!”
Strike Closes
Hosiery Mill
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Feb. 27.
—The Daisy branoh of the Rich
mond Hosiery Mills was closed yes
terday after most of its strike
breakers failed to report for work.
The announcement came at a mo
ment when a large crowd of strik
ers and sympathizers were staging
a picket demonstration outside.
Glenn Rankin, superintendent of
the mill, charged in a statement
that Sheriff Frank Burns had
“fallen down” on his promise to
protect those who want to work.
The strike at the four plants of
the company continues with strikers
remaining firm.
Garment Agreement Renewed
BOSTON, Mass., Feb. 27.—An
agreement renewal affecting 1,000
cloak and suit makers, embracing
95 per cent of the workers in the
industry here, was signed by the
International Ladies Garment
Workers Union and the Coat and
Suit Manufacturers Association.
Four shops with about 100 workers
face a strike if they don’t sign the
agreement. The contract which ex
pires in July 1936, provides that the
existing wage scales remain for
week work and that Labor Day and
I May First are holidays and paid for.
Labor Party and states categorically
that no steps should be taken for
the formation of a Labor Party on
a national scale. When a firm
foundation has already been laid
for an independent political action,
in unions and other organizations
of workers, a local or state Labor
Party could be launched. There is a
still more elementary approach,
where it Is advisable, a United La
bor Ticket. But launching a party
without sufficient connection from
below will narrow down support for
a Labor Party.
Premature Tendencies
A tendency for premature action
was expressed in an article by
Joseph Shell in the Daily Worker
of Feb. 6. In his opening sentence
he declares “that a Labor Party Is
an Immediate possibility in Amer
ica.” This, unfortunately, is not
yet the case. Comrade Shell pro
ceeds to show that in Paterson,
N. J., there is a good opportunity
for such a Party. But Paterson is
not a typical example. In addition
to going through bitter strike strug
gles, and getting a “raw deal” from
Roosevelt, unions embracing a ma
jority ol the workers in that city
have replaced their reactionary
leaders with militants, and thus
weakened the main obstacle to a
Labor Party.
The former administration in the
Dyers’ Local 1733 is intimately
bound up with the Republican
Party, while the former Lovestone
i ite officials of the Silk Workers are
agents of the most reactionary wing
' in the Socialist Party—the Jewish
: Daily Forward. Paterson furnishes
j us an excellent example of how ef
j fectlve rank and file activity in the
unions lays the foundation for a
real Labor Party. But most indus
, trial centers are still to follow the
I example set in Paterson.
Statistics Show Sharp
Decline of Earnings
Under New Deal
LANSING, Mich., Feb. 27.—A de
cline of nearly 20 per cent In the
average real weekly earnings of
workers in the transportation
equipment industry is revealed in
the latest statistics of the Michigan
Department of Labor and Industry,
Os the 216,770 workers in this in
dustry, all except 6.332 are employed
in the manufacture of automobiles,
with most of the rest employed in
auto tire factories.
On the basis of the period of
1923-26 as 100, the statistics show
that whereas in January, 1934,
real earnings in the transporta
tion equipment industry were
104.1, in January, 1935, they had
sunk to 86.
The Labor Department's statis
tics show a steady decline in the
real earnings of workers in this in
dustry under the New Deal. The
1933 average was 112.8. while in
1934 it was 104.5, and today it is
still lower, as indicated by the fig
ures for January.
The real weekly earnings of
workers in all Michigan indus
tries also showed a decline, from
101.4 in January, 1934, to 93.6 in
January, 1933.
These official government figures
are the best answer to the propa
ganda of the auto companies about
the “high wages” they are paying
under their open shop Auto Code.
They show the necessity of pre
paring for strike action in order to
win higher wages and better con
ditions for the tens of thousands of
men and women in the industry.
Farmers Act
In Minnesota
(Continued from Page 1)
to a question on conditions in West
ern Minnesota.
“Son, you can’t paint it too bad.
You can’t imagine what we’re fac
ing out there. You can go as far
as you like in telling how bad it is
and I’m telling you you won’t be
exaggerating it one bit.”
Keating and the others backed
their truck up against the broad
plaza of the capitol. Every legis
lator entering the building couldn’t
help but see the mute appeal.
Demand Feed and Seed
“We want the legislature to pass
the million dollar feed and seed
bill,” Keating said. “We just want
to get another start next Spring.
As it is now, our horses--are-too
weak to stand, let alone pull a plow.
Our cattle are almost too weak to
go out and graze for themselves.
We’re right up against the-wall un
less we get a push to carry’us over
the next'hill.”
Keating said "cattle are dying out
that way by the hundreds.”
“I mean it,” he emphasized.
“In the past six weeks more than
500 have fallen over dead from
lack of feed. Our herds, depleted
by the federal cattle buying pro
gram last fall when we had to
cut down, are being still further
reduced.”
Death Would Follow Cold Spell
“The warm weather of the past
few weeks has helped a lot,” he
continued. “But it’s cold again.. If
it went down below zero, snowed a
lot and stayed cold for several days,
i I’m telling you we would be wiped
: out,
“Com is a dollar a bushel. We
| get $25 a month federal aid.
What can we do with that? If
we could just get enough to get
the horses in shape for plowing
and get the cattle squared around
by the time the grass starts
greening. I’m sure we’d be able
to pay off next fall.”
Relief Cut 40%
In Johnstown
JOHNSTOWN. Pa., Feb. 27.
Twenty-seven hundred relief work
ers in Cambria County have been
cut off work relief and placed on
direct relief under a sweeping re
lief cut that has been given to all
the unemployed here. Those on
direct relief have been slashed 40
per cent In their budgets.-
According to John Miller, execu
tive director of the county relief
board, the average direct relief
check to each family, which was
$6.02 a week before the slash, has
now been cut to $3.60. A family of
four persons, heretofore getting $5
weekly relief, now gets $3 a week.
The relief cut and the stoppage of
work relief, which was threatened
by State Relief Director Johnson, is
part of a general attempt to put
! over sales taxes upon the working
population of Pennsylvania.
In fighting the relief cut. the
Johnstown Unemployment Council
has prepared to call a mass demon
stration before the relief, offices.
; New ‘Labor Defender’
On Sale at Newsstands
The March issue of the Labor De
fender, now on the newsstands, car
ries a striking cover design on the
Paris Commune, a number of ac-
I tual pictures of the Communards
burning the guillotine and of the
| barricades in the streets of Paris
in May 1871.
There are also many other pic
tures and articles of the present day
heroic struggles of the workers
throughout the world, including an
analysis of the present status of
the Scottsboro case, now before th«
United States Supreme Court.