Workers of the World, Unite! Devaluation of Franc And the Western Bloc ■— See Page 3 — THE MILITANTPUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE

VOL XII.— No. 6 NEW YORK. N. Y„ MONDAY. FEBRUARY 9, 1918 9 PRICE: FIVE CENTS

AFL CHIEFS UPHOLD 2-PARTY♦ MISRULE Auto Plants Shut Down BLFE Continues Council Stages Political Washington State Jim Crow Policy In New Disguise Farce at Miami Parley By Art Preis Legislators Stage Negro Firemen Demand FEB. 3—While warming their senile hides and Full Union Membership thin blood in Miami sunshine, the 15 “elder President Robertson, of the statesmen” of the AFL. Executive Council have Local Witch Hunt | lily-white Brotherhood of Lo-' been disporting them-* ! comotive Firemen and Engine- selves since Jan. 26 in a By Daniel Roberts 'organization that has a mass fol­ lowing among “senior citizens" in | men, announced abandonment Oi shameless p o litic a l S E A T T L E , Feb. 2 — An as­ the low income brackets. The ac­ j Die union’s policy bailing: promotion ] fa rc e . i and senority to Negro iiremen, ioi- I sortment of several dozen ex- tivities of the Pension Union since They have decked them­ ¡owing a Supreme Court derision Stalinists are currently parad­ 1938 were responsible for securing selves in the fetching costumes for the old people in Washington ] upholding a lower court ruling that ing before the Canwell Committee, Negro filemon must not be discrim­ of "independent” politics. But created by the state legislature to the highest pension rates and the best overall pension system in the inated against. their gestures and postures are investigate “ un-American” activities Robertson stated that the BLt'.j,: those of solicitors for the two-party in the state of Washington. The country. was‘serving notice on the 13 south­ dive of Big Business. witness list includes Louis F. Bu- WIPE OUT GAINS ern railroads involved that class ! - dcnz, former managing editor of the On Feb. 2, the entire AFL Coun­ Last year the legislature and Gov­ cation of Negroes as “lion-promo:.- , Daily Worker; Manning Johnson! cil lined up in chorus formation ernor Wailgren, over the opposition able" must be dropped from the. un- I former N. Y. State Organizer of for the first act of their burlesque. of the WPU, moved to wipe out the ion contracts. This action was made! This was their unanimous rejection the Communist Party; Jesse gains made in prior years. The $50 Fletcher, former Stalinist big shot necessary by I lie conit decision, of Henry WMlace and any third- floor on pensions was removed, the ! siifoe these clauses endangered the party candidacy for the U. S Presi- in the Building Service Union; Nat escalator clause was eliminated, a Honig, former editor of the Inter­ validity of the existing union con­ ’ dency. Their theme song was “ Do modified form of the means test tracts. Not Split the Liberal Vole." national Woodworker; Howard Cos- was instituted, liens were placed on tigan, former head of the Wash­ A "NEGllO JOB” The next act. played the follow- I the property of pension recipients lug day. was performed largely in ington Commonwealth Federation and the overall appropriation re­ For many years the job of fire­ and opportunists of lesser light. Thousands of auto workers stream from the Dodge plant in Detroit as management shut down the tlie vein of low slapstick comedy. duced.' man was tire toughest and dirties;, works during the last cold spell. Practically ail plants in the area closed down following orders to curtail Here the cast of characters was seen The Canwell Committee is made The Pension Union charges that in railroading, in the South it was industrial gas for home consumption. George Edwards, Detroit City Council president stated, “The puli-, trying to contrive their own political up of the most reactionary legisla­ it is being subjected to the “anti- a “Negro job.” But as locomotives lie is left with the assumption that Consolidated Gas di-sires a shortage as a propaganda basis for its WILLIAM GREEN tors from the rural districts. When 1 program and set-up. red" investigation in preparation were improved, white men began to proposed new pine line.” Federated Pictures I Senator Burton K. Wheeler, and création of the committee was in for even more drastic cuts in tlie lake firemen jobs. FALLING APART even announced his acceptance. the discussion stage in the legisla­ pensions. The BLFE first negotiated in the They were seated around a ma- I Then the farce got out, of hand chine called Labor's League for ture, one of its present members. The only noteworthy testimony in 1920's “50-50” contracts under which altogether. Wheeler advised -.theiri Political Education, blue-printed at Bienz, proposed that the committee the hearings was given by Budcnz. the railroad companies replaced Ne­ tiiat. he could only take the jplj the San Francisco convention last be given judicial and executive pow­ He stated before the Canwell Com­ groes with whites until parity was on a "part-time” basis, if at aiii CIO Packinghouse Locals October to be the AFL's political ers Including the right of summary mittee what he lias already dis­ achieved. But in 1941, the union put Besides he could not accept without conveyance. execution! While the committee closed elsewhere, namely, that he ' on a tighter squeeze and a great the understanding that he did hot I Then, right on the stage, one did not receive the powers Bienz and other high-ranking Communist many Negro Bremen last their jobs. go along hook-line-and-sinker with of the biggest parts of the machine asked for, its attitude is one of Party officials ill this country par­ The Negroes, for whom the union the Marshall Plan and did not sub« dropped off — the carpenters’ union virulent hatred toward anything ticipated, under instructions from To Vote on W a g e S t r ik e scribe to the AFL's position of .,opK bargained, were not—and still are led by William L. Hutcheson. Daniel connected with labor. tlie Kremlin, in the plans of the position to all Congressional candt“' nqt—permitted to become members Tobin's teamsters' ' union,, started The Camvell Committee has been assassination of Leon Trotsky in The International Executive ^ take .a„.mt,e. among, the workers to ers committee meets Feb. 8 and 9 dates who voted for the Taft-B art- of the union. coming loose. John L. Lewis had enjoined in the courts from acting 1940. determine if they will accept the to formulate demands on (lie "Big ley Slave Labor Bill. [ Tile Supreme Court decision does Board of the C IO United Pack­ wrenched off — in technical par­ for the State of Washington. Its The rest of the testimony was ; company's final offer. Four'' corporations —. Goodyear, This led to a.free-for-all among; 1 not solve the problem of the Negro inghouse Workers has instruct­ lance. “disaffiliated” — the miners' hearings, which began on Jan. 24, only pathetic recanting on the part The CIO Packinghouse Union's Goodrich, Firestone and U. S. Rub­ the Council members that did not! railroad firemen, nor does it ensure ed the UPWA locals in the Armour union a number of weeks ago. therefore have no legal status. Nev­ of former Stalinist hatchetmen as fight was made tougher by Hie un­ ber. The Oil Workers w ill' launch appear to be in the original script: equal rights. Archibald Bromscu. a t­ and Swift plants to be prepared But tlie denouement, came in the ertheless they are being held in the well as fingering of present-day dercutting agreement signed last its wage drive on Feb. 9. of their show. A section of thei torney for the Federation of South- for a strike vote not later than • attempts of the Council members state armory in Seattle and receive Stalinists. week by tlie AFL MeatcuUers’ lead­ The CIO United Automobile Council, headed by David DubiH« | cm Colored Locomotive Firemen, Feb. 14. lo get a "reputable" driver for the ; fu ll protection of the state police. In the eyes of class conscious ers with tlie big packers. After Workers, which is demanding a 25- sky, "revolted.” They said they; pointed out that the BLFE is now machine. For months they had Testimony by the renegade Stal­ workers the real indictment of the This action followed the meat secret negotiations behind the backs ccnt increase, plus five cents in would not accept Wheeler. , attempting to deprive additional packing trusts’ out-ol'-hand rejec­ been, hunting high and low for some inists is receiving full spread pub­ Communist Party is not contained firemen of their jobs by means of a j of their members, they agreed lo ^ health and welfare benefits, lvas A T IIIN DISGUISE licity in the local daily paper. The in the testimony of the witnesses, tion of the union's demands for take a miserable 9-cent an hour [ already felt the effects of Walter old-line capitalist politician in need \ new' subterfuge. He stated tiiat the Seldom has the American labor organization under current inves­ tu t in the fact that the party should minimum decency and cost-of-living increase. This has'strengthened the heather's weakening policies aflopt- of a $20,000 a year job, to take the union is proposing new contract steering wheel of LLPE. movement been so disgraced as by tigation is the Stalinist-led Wash­ have had such a wretched crew of wage increases. hand of the profiteering packers ed at the recent General Motors changes, ostensibly in line with the: The UPWA leaders, during the They had reached a point of frus­ the Miami spectacle put on by'.the ington Old Age Pension Union, an stool pigeons in its leadership. Supreme Court decision, requiring against the CIO workers, tlie larg­ delegates conference. Ueuthcr put last week of January, presented the est group in thg industry. over the proposition of accepting a tration and desperation when they AFL big-wigs. In the very- breath Negro firemen to take examinations tiiat they opposed Wallace for his following demands in opening nego­ An equal handicap to the UPWA lO-cenl cut in the wage demand hi were actually considering appoint­ 1 for promotions and if they failed to ing one of their own number to "false liberalism,” they reveale'd tiations with the companies: negotiations are the policies of Mur- ( return for an •‘acceptable” pension Press Blackout pass, the men would have to be dis­ keep the job from going begging. their own complete subservience to 1. A general wage increase of ! ray. Reuther and the other top lead- : plan. missed. At the last moment, however, they reaction. They complained that 29 cents per hour, retroactive to ers of the CIO. They have projected | Now GM is trying to put over a A. Philip Randolph. President o f:1 the reopening of the contract; dug up a likely candidate ox­ (Continued on Page 3) On Plan for no unified wage strategy for tlie i sub-standard group insurance plan, the AFL Brotherhood or Sleepingii 2. Pledge cf future wage In- Car Porters and Chairman of the • major CIO unions and made no ! with a pay deduction, without ne­ , creases to bring minimum wages for preparations for a consolidated gotiation with the union. This has Pa. Secret Police Provisional Committee to Organize all workers to the decency living struggle against tlie big corpora- brought a howl from Reuther and Colored Locomotive Firemen, an­ standard set by the U. S. Bureau of AFL Chiefs Prepare Another press conspiracy of nounced that Negro firemen on : lions, although most of the CIO an NLRB complaint against 1 the Labor Statistics — $1.65 an hour unions are making wage demands silence about the creation of a southern railroads will accept no I I for an average family at present this spring. coni pa ny. secret political police has come compromise with tiie BLFF short or price leveLs; Capitulation on UMT to. light. This conspiracy resembles • full union membership. He stated 3. An escalator clause (sliding AVOID A FIGHT tho silence of the nation's press that the men would reject any Jim scale cost-of-living bonus) to pro­ The CIO Steelworkers Wage and Congressman over the formation of a Mississippi Crow union, and that the provision­ vide automatic increases above the Policy Committee meets Feb. 13 to Three crucial problems — inflation, the Taft-Hartley A ct Gestapo, reported in The Militant, al committee would be kept alive basic wage for price rises during the take final action on wage demands, j And Cop Tangle and war preparations — were the main topics of discussion!' until they won full and equal union contract. President Murray and his Execu- I Jan- 19. Representative Joseph Hend­ at the opening week’s sessions-' The Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol,; rights. The UPWA, under the require­ five Board have called for "sub­ with their wind-broken and spaying ments of the Taft-Hartley Act, gave stantial wage increases” without I ricks of Florida was driving home of the A F L Executive Council an auxiliary of the U. S. Air Force,; from Washington when ho was ed policy of "non-partisanship” a'S notice of intention to strike last: stating any specific amount as yet.: in Miami, Florida. Tlie results oi has applied to Pennsylvania indus­ •.'.aught in a speed trap in Darien. between Wall Street's President David B. Robertson U A W Leader Dec. 19. A strike may legacy begin Murray is already hinting around, i the deliberations of the AFL top' trialists and businessmen for aid in Georgia. After paying his fine Party and Wall Street's Republican of the lily-white Brotherhood of on Feb. 19. But the. NLRB can he will accept, any “ reasonable" t leaders can give no comfort to the setting up a spy system that would j Hendricks remarked “jokingly Party, if Republican Senator T ail; Locomotive Firemen and En- C alls F o r intervene five days ahead of time crumbs the companies may offer in i seven million AFL members and include secret agents in every plant j and facetiously” ' that it was a were nominated, AFL President-V^il» ginemen, whose union discrimi­ under the "national welfare" clause order to avoid a real fight. American labor generally. in the state. Sliding Scale dirty trick to set up a speed 1 inm Green opined, the A FL le&cl'-' nates against Negro firemen, for of the Act to enforce an additional Wage policy committees of other Against tlie Big Business and gov­ Industrialists have been asked to trap. ers might go so far as to “ be against; contribute financially to the support whom it is supposed to be bar­ SEE PAGE 4 80-day waiting period. During this leading CIO unions are meeting ernment attacks on labor’s rights Taft.” He added: "But we wQuId,! gaining. Federated Pictures The Congressman should have of1 the spy system. In addition, period the NLRB is empowered to next week. The CIO Rubber Work-* | known Georgia cops belter for and living standards,- their answer not necessarily be for his oppon­ each businessman was urged to en- i here is his account of what hap­ was only whining words of com­ ent.” roll at least one employe in the net- i pened. The Deputy Sheriff, one plaint. At the same time, they Strictly non-partisan! Vote 10$; work. These would first be screened Popped, “seized me bv the arm lined up like sheep behind the j anyone you like, so long as it isn’t by the FBI and the State Police and ! and began pushing me and shov­ reactionary Truman D o c b rin e ' of I Taft, or Wallace — or. God forbid,, then sent to intelligence schools. OIL DICTATES U. S. ROLE IN MIDDLE EAST ing and forcing me violently American imperialism and its mili- j a working class candidate. A “great number” would go on to Jan. 29 that the U.S. government die East),” as the Jan. 30 N. Y. tnrist program. Oil— the black, sticky, liquid ■ company agents had penetrated into . without reason. He shoved lhe WITH BOTH HANDS the Army Counter Intelligence gold so prized by the imperial­ has a “vital interest" in the Mid­ Times indirectly quoted him. I the State Department. Senator up two flights of stairs to a' cell." On the question of high prices, I school at Ilolabird Signal depot dle East oil reserves. This "vital | Forrestal added the proposition Brewster directly accused the big t they pointed out. the indisputable fact ji There was one issue on whjcK ists— is smeared all over Tru­ All tlie while the Congressman in Baltimore. interest” extends, in fact, from that "the Marshall Plan itself might oil companies of “placing or plant- tried lo tell the sheriff who tie that prices arc being pushed up bv i! the AFL tops were not. timid. Thejf After their indoctrination and man’s aggressive moves in the “Gibralter to the Indian Ocean.” be in serious jeopardy” unless the , ing” their men in the State Depart- ! was but the. sheriff jusl wouldn’t •greed and unbridled profiteering." voted with both hands for Tru­ training the secret agents would Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, oil were available to ment "to influence foreign policy." listen and locked the politician They even expressed the fear — it • man's full program of war prepara - CRY OF “ IMPERIALISM” was certainly no threat from these :; tions. militarism and imperialist;' return to their jobs and report to the conflict-torn Middle East. supply America’s Western European Specifically named was .Max W. in the cell with the remark. “Yon the Civil Air Patrol all persons He declared that “ some arrange­ satellites and junior partners of the timorous souls — that unless prices; adventures. Behind the war-like U.S. Naval Thornburg, former special assistant will stay in there until you know considered by their employers "to ment'' must be made , by the gov­ Western Bloc. you have been in Georgia.” ■ come down, this spring will see the; They even laid the basis fo*t maneuvers around the Balkan- to the Under-Sescretary of State . have communistic or subversive ten­ ernment to secure for American Then he totd the desk clerk. worst wave of strikes in the coun­ abandonment of the AFL’s trattt«; peninsula, the threat to send; FANTASTIC “OVERCHARGE” from 1941 to 1943. While he was dencies” armed forces, in time of '‘emer­ "File another charge against try.'* history. tional opposition io peacetime m ili­ American troops to Palestine and getting $8 000 from the government, 500 CAP letters outlining this gency.” the oil from the Middle This testimony was brought, out him." Rep. Hendricks later asked tary conscription and universal the State Department's intrigues he was also getting 829,000 from NO PROGRAM scheme for a secret police, unsanc­ East "depot.” The protection of in connection with the Senate for a physician, lie never got military training by calling for with the British and Arabian rul­ this “depot"—owned by private ! Committee’s attempts to uncover Standard Oil of California, one of , But the AFL Executive Council tioned by state or federal law. were the controlling interests in Arabian- i one. Tlie same with his request revision of the. country’s traditional sent to newspapers in Pennsylvania, ers, are the m ulti-billion dollar in­ American oil companies—he con­ the facts about a 35 million dollar presented no program that could i peacetime policies “in accordances! American Oil Co. for ;• lawyer. reasonably be expected to protect asking their co-operation. But only ! terests of Standard Oil and other ceded would raise a cry of "imper­ "overcharge” the Navy paid the Some time later when the pris­ with the requirements of common- Thornburg, it is claimed, helped labor’s living standards from infla- ' one paper broke the story, the York. giant American oil corporations. j ialism." Arabian-American Oil Company in oner’s identity was learned tlie sense national defense.” They'|i«8* secure a 30 million dollar "lend ■ tion. Thev didn't even voice an Pa., Gazette and Daily. Al! nation­ If American boys die in a shoot- | He suggested that the govern­ a 1945 contract. Previous testi­ sheriff’s wife appeared and un­ for “common-sense defense lease" handout for King Ibn Saud. explicit, demand for higher wages. al press associations completely ing war anywhere in the Balkans ment could escape this charge by mony had revealed that this Stand­ locked Hendricks’ cell. The pris­ said, by means of huge increased who thereupon gratefully granted Their only positive proposal was ignored this scandal. or Middle East, it will be in de­ buying into the private companies ard OiNcompany had made i l l mil­ oner demanded to know the appropriations for military prcpara-; oil concessions to the Arabian- endorsement of Truman's “ anti- As hi the case of the secret police . fense of the oil concessions and —although he admitted this would lion dollars profit on which it. did charges against him and a trial. tions even if tax cuts are t$ 1» American Oil Co. The committee is . inflation” program, calling for presi­ setup in Mississippi during the bus- monumental profits that Standard be actively resisted by the capital- not have to pay a penny of taxes to Mrs! Deputy Sheriff told him shelve.d indefinitely! drivers’ strike, this Pennsylvania Oil of California. Standard Oil of ; ists and Congress. His alternative the U.S. investigating Hie cases of at least dential authority to "ration and nothing and began shoving him In a press conferences one AFL plot reveals the sinister collabora­ New Jersey. Socony Vacuum and proposal was for long-term govern­ Forrestal said that lie had asked 20 other oil men working in the ' impose selective price controls'1 on out of the jail to his car. They leader admitted that a majority.! of tion of government officials and Texas Co. are looting from the Mid­ ment contracts to buy up the oil Attorney General Clark to look into State Department. scarce commodities. Truman's pro- sure do a lot of shoving in the Council is for supporting Big Business. Financed by indus­ dle East. the "overcharge” angle last April— What has been brought out ' gram also includes a wage freeze. from the private companies at a Georgia. Brass Hat program of compulsory trialists and manned by their picked More and more facts arc begin­ but nothing has ever come of it. clearly in the testimony so far is On the Taft-Hartle.v Slave Labor fixed price. In fact, he indicated But there is a moral to this military training, but they did not agents, such a secret police would ning to leak out about the decisive the Navy is considering such con­ The Navy contracted to pay $1.05 that the American oil interest s ■ story. If an influential Congress­ Law. the AFL chiefs had nothing new to offer since the time they dare to go on record because of tfiii not only engage in vicious witch influence of the oil corporations on tracts now. a barrel for oil originally offered by have a tremendous profits-stake in man, driving a good car can get American foreign policy. Top gov- > the Middle East; tiiat the Truman ■ voted to capitulate at tlie San Fran- strong sentiment against m ilita $ hunts, but would be used for labor Forrestal then went on to dis­ the company for 40 cents. But For­ shoved around for a "joking" eminent officials. like Secretary of Doctrine and Marshall Plan involve : cisco convention in October. They regimentation among the AFL espionage and frame-ups. close that "high military authori­ restal informed the committee tiiat. remark, what sort of treatment Defense James V. Forrestal. have i the protection of tiiat stake; and made their now oft-repeated threat membership. No less sinister is the fact that j ties believe that far more funda­ he was not disposed to be “very can a poor white or Negro, or a given revealing testimony along that this country is being readied to oppose the re-election of every Meanwhile, they propose to sacri­ the newspapers and powerful press mental actions may be needed to critical” of tlie contract. union organizer expect from tlie associations join in the -conspiracy these lines. for war in part, to ensure Standard "law” enforcement officers in member of Congress who voted for fice ’ the needs of the workers to protect the vital interests of the At a previous hearing on Jan. 24, against the democratic rights of la­ Forrestal informed the Senate. Oil’s control of Arabian oii re­ Georgia? the Taft-Hartley Act. the wealth-devouring inf la tional^ bor. War Investigating Committee on Western World in that region (Mid- ‘ it was revealed’ tiiat outright oil sources. But they proposed to ride along : war budget. PAGE TWO THE MILITANT MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1948 Stalinists Plan to Build Gandhi—His Role in Fight Wallace Movement—by For India’s Independence By J. R. Johnson means by which he concentrated on trine ot non-vioience ne pacinea United Front from Below himself, and himself alone, the at­ India for Britain. Why? Beeau6e The assassination of Gandhi tention and finally the political the violence he had unloosed tation than they got in the Demo- | in wants a pact with Truman, like obedience of scores of millions. threatened not only British rule but By George Breitman cratic Party—how else can you get 1 was political news of the first the one he had with Hitler. And I t was this influence over the I the native oppressing classes, as their support? But control, direc­ The differences between- in­ he is trying to get it by political I importance, for Gandhi had masses—and not spirituality and I well. tion, the dominating influence— dependent labor political action press uie and blackmail. Dennis i become an international figure. His fasting—which gave him his enor­ Gandhi’s non-violence is worth- a these are the last things in the I can’t admit this because to do so I death has provided the capitalist mous power among the hard-boiled little examination. When tens of Sind the Stalinist third party world the Stalinists propose to let | ! press with an opportunity to wallow would be to admit that if a Stal- politicos of the Indian National millions practiced "civil disoheift- ¡policy were clearly delineated the unions have in their new party. \ in-Truman deal is worked out, the 1 in hypocritical and sentimental out- Congress. ence.” it could render the function-, ill the speech made by Communist CP will again be waving the flag It is obvious that this flagrantly I ! pourings of how extraordinary was Gandhi never alienated the In ­ mg of the British government im­ feiirty.. General Secretary Eugene for the two-party system. bureaucratic method—“Here it is, j the success of this religious person- dian capitalists and landlords- Gan­ possible. It was an extraordinarily Dennis at a mass meeting in New all worked out, take it or leave it” i ality in the hard brutal world of to- While the Stalinist line was thus dhi might talk against industrializa­ disruptive weapon, without, at- tlje York on Jan. 15. This speech made —will antagonize and repel many day. But this is nonsense. Gandhi changed and given a more radical tion and spin his few yards of same time, being revolutionary. I t fe p la iii that while the CP is now workers who are ready to break was above al! a political leader and appearance, its main function is cloth. But every boycott he de­ was ideally suited, however, for tiie lltapking the two-party system, in with the two old parties but don’t i f is this that explains his extra­ still the bureaucratic manipulation F1GS. FROM BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 1 9 2 6 = 1 0 0 clared against British goods meant purposes and needs of Indian capi­ line with the world-wide “left ram ” intend to be used as doormats by ordinary career. of the American workers in the in­ Based on official government figures, this chart shows how much increased opportunities for Indian talism. piderea by the Kremlin, it is still anyone. The main (if not the only) The least important thing about terests of the Kremlin's foreign pol­ wholesale prices have zoomed in the past year. They also explain manufactures. Gandhi, no doubt, FORCE CONCESSIONS lighting by every means at its com­ “ trade union base” resulting from him was his theory of non-violence, icy. The crass character of this why labor is demanding increased’ wages. sincerely hated industrialism, but mand to prevent the mobilization of such a procedure will be the unions his saintliness, his love of his fel­ World War II once again sharply manipulation is evident in the very he collaborated with it. Here spiri­ g llf workers as an independent class dominated bv the Stalinists. Federated Pictures low-man, etc. What is interesting brought out Gandhi’s role. After manner in which the new line is be­ tuality capitulated to political ex­ force in U. S. politics. to observe is how his political per­ the Japanese forces over-ran Burr ing carried out. UNITED FRONT FROM BELOW pediency. Any discussion of the CP’s pres­ First of all, Wallace is given the sonality and methods fitted like a ma, with the support of sections of Gandhi, being against any revo­ e n t policy naturally raises the ques- But, Dennis consoles the members glcve the economic and political the Burmese people, British power real domination of the movement. lutionary overturn in India, was itjoh- of its previous opposition to That gives the party a leader— of the CP, everything is going to reeds of the Indian landlords and in India hung by a thread- Gan­ I compelled to be ultra-cautious in ,‘the formation of a new party. Den- aceptable to the Stalinists, .even work out OK anyhow, because: capitalists. dhi attempted to utilize Britain's “ in the present situation all wno Milwaukee Politicians | his opposition to British imperial- itiiS: “ disposes” of that embarrassing (hough he is an avowed defender of I desperation to iorce concessions. truly wish to advance working class These two ruling classes were I ism. When, after World War I, the ¡§sue as follows: capitalism, because he too wants a Under his leadership, the Congress caught in a terrible dilemma. To I British betrayed their promise of ||t : is . a matter of public record deal with Stalin. But, of course, unity see that the Wallace move­ Party inaugurated a new struggle ensure their exploitation of the i granting self-government to India, that for .many, many years the the party needs more than a leader ment is based on and stimulates against the British. And then the united front of struggle from Aid Gas Company Steal peasants and workers, the Indian Communist Party, together with if it is to achieve the Stalinists’ j j the country rose in revolt. The B rit­ again, true to form, the Congress below. I t is serving to unite not landlords and capitalists depended Other advanced workers, pioneered ends. So Dennis lays down the di­ Tiie company is controlled by Amer­ ish regime found itself paralyzed. It leaders proceeded to quell the mass only the consistent advocates of a M IL W A U K E E , Jan. 2 9 - upon the British government. Yet for a,-, new political alignment to rective for the next steps: ican .Light and Traction Co., which was none other than Gandhi who uprisings of 1942, because these new people's party and coalition, Protests against the i0%- “tem- ■ to free themselves from the clutches free the working class and its pop­ The Stalinists, he declares, “m ust! in turn controls four other mid- came to the rescue. W ith his doc- threatened to sweep away not only but also hundreds of thousands of of British exploitation, which was the British but also the domination ular »Hies from the. two-party sys­ in the first place guarantee that j porary” rate increase granted western utilities. rank and file workers in auto, steel, ruining India, they had no force tem - of 3ig Business. the. third party has a strong trade tiie Milwaukee Gas Light Co. on| of the Indian capitalists and land­ clothing and other important in­ American Light and Traction is except the same millions of down­ The truth is, of course, that ’for union base.” What does this mean Jan. 15 by the state public service I lords. dustries. Those who are genuinely part of the empire of United Light trodden and oppressed. many, many years" the Stalinists —that the unions Should get to­ commission mounted as the com- j Thus Congress again had to come interested in advancing working and Railways which controls two had been running up and down the gether in a conference, democrati­ pany admitted loday that it could POLITICAL GIFT ! to Britain's rescue and enable the class unity will therefore help to other holding companies the; have British raj to weather tiie worst country denouncing those workers cally discuss the ways and means not guarantee uncurtailed service In Gandhi opened a way for them. build this united front of action a total of 34 operating subsidiaries period. |vhp.: .wanted a new party. . They to fight the two Wall Street par­ the event cf more cold weather. In ­ His political gift to the rising In ­ from below . . .” in Illinois, Iowa. Kansas and Mis­ campaigned vigorously in 1944 far ties, and strike out on the course dignation is Increased because gas dian bourgeoisie was his dramatiza­ The wholesale disintegration of. souri. British imperialism at the end of |he election of Roosevelt and Tru- of independent labor political ac­ But what is the “ united front pressure is already so low .that many tion of the plight of India’s hun­ miai). after that, election, their tion by setting up their own party? from below?" Translated from families find it impossible to light DRAIN PROFITS dreds of millions, and his use of the war gave the Indian capitalists inembers at the CIO convention re­ Net according tc Dennis- Stalinism to English, it is a promise more than one burner at meal time. Records shew that Milwaukee Gas these masses against British im­ and landlords their long sought op­ affirmed their opposition to a third that workers can be won to the On last Thanksgiving and Christ­ Light bonds and preferred stocks perialism, without, at the same time, portunity. The British were forced ENDORSE—NOT CONTROL party as something that would di- third party even if the organized mas days pressure dropped so low are selling well above par and that ver losing strict control over them. to arrive at some sort of settlement j/idjBv the “forces of progress’ in the By a “strong trade union base” j labor movement is by-passed. True that thousands were unable to cook dividends have been paid regularly Thus lie was able to torment and with the native ruling classes. Democratic Party. the Stalinists don’t mean that the enough, this can be done to a limited their holiday dinners at home. on both common (4%) and prefer­ pressure the British and yet prevent Gandhi's influence among Congress leaders began declining as soon -as Even as late as the 1946 elections unions should control the party, extent. In addition to many individual red (7%) stcck. However the hold­ a revolutionary outburst. they backed Truman’s candidates. have the deciding voice in determin­ Eut what you will have then is protests, Local. 1111 of the CIO Uni­ Let us grant, for the sake of ar- ! the agreement with the British was ing company overlords find, in ad­ consummated. They no longer had last month's CIO Executive ing policy, . candidates, leaders, not a party representing and speak­ ted Electrical Workers passed a res­ gument, that Gandhi was personally j dition to dividends, other ways to as much need of him as before. Board meeting, Murray, whose op­ structure, etc. Oh no, what they ing for and controlled by the labor olution .declaring- the increase "a sincere (that perpetual preoccupa­ drain profits from Milwaukee j They began to act increasingly in ­ position to tile Wallace movement actually mean is that as many movement, but another party not tion of little minds). W ith that out direct slap in the face to the con­ workers. For example, Milwaukee dependently of him. They accepted |$ - wholly reactionary, reminded the unions as possible should be gotten controlled by labor to which work­ of the way, let us see how Gandhi sumer in view of the widely felt fa il­ Gas Light has a contract with Uni­ partition against his bitter opposi­ Stalinists, w ith malicious glee, of to endorse the party, finance it, ers happen to belong. Such a par­ ure cf tiie company to provide ade­ ted Light and Railways Service Cor­ functioned politically. their own extensive hatchet work do the bell-ringing and Jimmy Hig­ ty may be manipulated to serve tion. Patel is obviously determined quate gas pressure lo the homes." poration, a wholly owned subsidiary, The organization of the Indian to use strong measures against ©tf behalf of the two-party system gins work—just as the Stalinist- the political blackmail interests of Although Milwaukee is in the under which it pays fees for advice masses by traditional political Dennis can’t publicly explain the Pakistan. He is jailing Indian dominated unions did for the Dem­ Stalinism, but it cannot serve the midst of a mayoralty campaign, only and assistance from the sendee cor­ means was an impossible task. real reason why the CP line labor leaders. His government is ocratic Party. Of course, the unions interests of independent labor poli­ the Socialist Workers Tarty candi­ poration ‘Jin matters relating to When Gandhi began his work be­ ¿hanged, but it is well known. Stal- should be given greater represen- tical action. as brutal against its working class date, James E. Boulton, has offered management, operations and con­ fore World War I, the union move­ opponents as were the British. a program to meet this situation. struction.” This is a standard hold­ ment was insignificant. To unite The death of Gandhi thus marks Rebels in American History Boulton demanded that the city de­ ing company device for draining off peasants, as peasants, meant unit­ the end of a period. clare a gas emergency and seize the operating companies’ revenues with­ ing them against the landlord. And Historically, Gandhi w ill have his utility without compensation and. out its being shown as profit or divi­ that Gandhi would not do. His sim­ due share of the credit for his operate it under the control of the dends. plicity of life, however, and the way struggles against British imperial­ ras workers. “ Only in this way cao Then, loo, Milwaukee Gas Light he dramatized it, caught the imagi­ ism. He will also have his due share EDWARD BELLAMY we provide enough gas for everyone •lays its executives and past execu- nation of the Indian masses. His of discredit for having strengthened at reasonable rates. We must lake ’ives huge salaries and pensions. loin cloth, his spinning wheel, his the native ruling class against, the steps to end the ‘profits first’ prin­ Thus, Bruno Rahn. who was paid skillfully timed fasts, his campaigns j great masses of the people who ed forth highly creditable displays two years over 150 Nationalist Clubs against the British—these were the By George Lavan ciple in utility operation." >27,500 a year as president of the alone can regenerate India. of feeling on the top of the coach. were in existence, mostly in the , In an attempt to justify the rate company, has been retired on a At such limes the passengers would West. In the 1892 Presidential elec­ Julian West of Boston lay increase, the public sendee commis­ “pension” of $7,500 a year. call down encouragingly to the toil­ tion, they joined forces with the in a state of suspended anima­ sion made the astounding statement The company’s generosity in sal­ ers of the rope, exhorting them to Populists and had an important in­ that, the utility’s earnings "are so tion. from 1S87 till the year patience, and holding out hopes of fluence on the farmers’ movement aries does not extend to wages. In 2000. When his subterranean inadequate as to impair its finances 1946 its employes were forced to possible compensation in another and the western trade unions. with consequent jeopardy to its abil­ chamber was discovered and he was strike to gain a modest wage in­ world for the hardness of their lot, NO PROGRAM ity to render reasonably adequate brought out of his trance, he found crease. In order to prevent futures while others contributed to buy The Nationalists looked to Bell- service.” However the commission There is only one solution: himself in a Socialist America. strikes. Milwaukee Gas Light, joined Proposes Solution \ crease. Nor does the report include salves and liniments for the crip­ | amy for leadership. But this Bell­ has made no effort to force the 1. Elimination of the no-strike He compared the happy life of an with other utilities in Wisconsin to the classification of “sunk-without- pled and injured.” amy could not provide. He was a company to provide decent service clause in contracts. economy of plenty with the capital­ This was the opening passage of rush a compulsory arbitration law For Unemployment trace” concerns which city auditors shy, sickly person, and—what is nor has the company even held out 2. A uniform contract lor all UAW ist world of 1887, in the following tile utopian socialist novel, Looking through the last session of the state Edi.o,-: don’t bother about. more decisive—he had no program a hops of early improvement :n workers. parable of the coach: Backward by Edward Bellamy. legislature. Unemployment has begun in It goes without saying that a to achieve the socialist wnrld he service. 3. A guaranteed 30-hour week During the 90’s, a million copies northern California, especially in great proportion of these ill-fated **.. . I cannot do better than to had so alluringly described. Bellamy- vith the same take home pay as re­ of this book were in circulation. Its SECOND INCREASE the auto industry. General Motors business ventures represented tjie Compare society as it then was to had no understanding of the social PSiiSadslpliia Offers ceived in the 40-hour week. influence and popularity can be in Oakland has laict off some 450 savings of veterans, and that we a prodigious coach which the masses forces of his time. He disassociated This increase was the second 4. Renew negotiations when lay­ compared only to that of Uncle himself from the militant labor cur­ Forum on the Civil War men, Fisher Body expects to lay ol! are witnessing the destruction of ,a :cf humanity wore harnessed to and granted Milwaukee Gas Light m offs begin, for a six-hour day and Tom’s Cabin in the period of anti- rents of the day. He denounced The Philadelphia Branch of the 130 more. portion of that purchasing power dragged toilsomely along a very hilly less than a year. In May 194". the five-day week. ; slavery agitation. strike violence. His hostility toward Socialist Workers Party will pre­ At the Jan. 15 meeting of the which is being counted upon by in ­ and . sandy road. . . . The top was company was granted an increase 5. Lim it all contracts to one year 1 What led Bellamy to write this the Havmarkct frame-up victims is sent, Friday eveningi Feb. 15, an Fisher Body unit of Local 76, UAW- dustry to “ cushion” the approach­ ¡¿overfed with passengers who never calculated to yield an additional tops. book and why did it achieve such the key to his political role. Es­ open forum on THE CIVIL WAR — CIO. Uie members passed a motion ing depression. got. down, even to the steepest as­ $573,000 a year. This was not a flat 6. Eliminate the umpire system. cents. These seats on top were very great popularity? sentially a middle class reformer increase: large (industrial) con­ THE SECOND AMERICAN REVO­ to give full powers to the Fisher The analysis given by someone preaching utopian socialism, he LUTION. The discussion will cover Body Committee to negotiate with- 7. Hospitalization and sick bene­ in the local Chamber of Conuner.ee breezy and comfortable. Well up ! CAPITALISM DISCREDITED sumers actually had their rates re­ fits. h u t. of the dust, their occupants Tire years following the civil war hoped to convince a large enough the role of labor (slave and free), management so a plan could be is that too many are attempting to duced while those of workers were 8. A retirement plan. Millions or gSBgC'iecjoy tire scenery at their had seen a tremendous industrial section of the ruling class that the First International, the unions, set up to stave off the layoff. At the go into business without adequate greatly raised. government workers have this. Why ¡leisure, or critically discuss tire i expansion. The capitalist class capitalism was not only unjust but slave revolts, Negro leaders; and Jail. 16 meeting of the Chevrolet capital. What he doesn’t discuss Tiie Milwaukee Gas Light Co. Is not in the auto., industry? ¡merits, pi the straining team. Na­ ! plundered and looted the nation. inefficient. In this way he thought part of a complicated utilities trust the real victors of the Civil War. unit, the rank and file took a firm is jiast what is “adequate” capital. 9. End discrimination in hiring oi turally such places were in great Political democracy, corrupted and socialism could be introduced in which drains profits from consum­ The address is 1303 W. Girard Ave­ stand against the layoffs. The man­ He hints at it when he points out Negroes and otner racial minorities. demand' and the competition for i perverted by Big Business, was be­ easy stages. ers in a great part of the mid-west. nue, the timé, 8 p.m. agement of the plant was attacked that the days of the easy filling- This is a must because, the Negroes Shem was keen . . But did they coming discredited. Long hours and To further this end and refute on the floor by the seniority mem­ station type enterprise have become receive the lowest, wages and have ¡tsJ&ihk only of thems' Ives? you ask. : low wages made the wage system a his critics in the universities. Bell- bers of the un'o’.i. The same motion outdated by the growth of chain the worst conditions. We have to 03is not their very luxury rendered : new form of slavery. Panics and | amy wrote a sequel to Looking was passed as in Fisher Body, to give stores. To complete it we add that intolerable to them by comparison depressions brought suffering to Backward entitled Equality. This the Committee full power to handle rally ail the workers to our side. all the small enterprises are grad­ .With’ -the lot of their brothers and America on' a scale hitherto un- book went into the inefficiency and the unemployment situation. Tiie Let’s not have the bosses start using ually becoming either absorbed or one worker against another. They eliminated by the big monopolies. M m & v.in the harness, and the I known. Annies of tmempolyed roam­ i undemocratic nature of capitalism. Sub Week Nets others were tied up with union first action was to cut the live day knowledge that their own weight ed the country. Strikes against wage It also described in greater detail meetings—went out the first Sun­ week to four days Tiiis also means will use all foul methods to beat us Because it is not expedient, for added to their toil? Had they no slashes were brutally suppressed. the working of the new society and |I 428 Subscribers day and obtained 18 subs in can­ a cut in take home pay. At least the —religion, race and all other scab the capitalists to tell this truth to vassing, with the mercury at zero. methods. compassion for fellow beings from To these exploited masses, the how it could gradually come about, M ilitant Sub Week had already young workers would not have to the masses they have drawn up a whom fortune only distinguished freç and plentiful life described in 1 through nationalization of key in- i * carry the banner alene. If this fails Ill Europe they have political kings series of pamphlets explaining what | produced 428 subscriptions with only- and we think they’re bad. But here them? Qlr, yes: commiseration was Leaking Backward seemed worth • dustries. incomplete returns available- In Los Angeles reported 56 subs as a (hen other actions would have to be is required to go into various busi­ frequently expressed by those who fighting for. A movement sprang Equality appeared in 1897. By j starter. Hy of West Side Branch taken. in the U. S. we have money kings nesses. Sort of a manual on hoW , addition, New York Local of the and they’re the worst kind of kings rode fojvthose who had to pull the up to attain the socialism portrayed this time, the swelling tide cf j sold six in half an hour. Branch Take heed Brother Reurher and to go broke scientifically. : Socialist Workers Party had sold in the world. coach, especially when the vehicle by Bellamy, having as its purpose agrarian and proletarian unrest had i scores were: East Side 18, West Al Lynn, ¡more than 950 individual copies in UAW Executive Committee! Bill K. Paine to a bad place it. the. road, as : “ to nationalize the functions of pro­ been stopped by McKinley’s defeat j Side 17. South Side 12, Hollywood Los Angeles 1 two mobilizations. All this was ac­ Will this unemployment spread Oakland. Calif. it was constantly doing, or to a duction and distribution." For this of Bryan the previous year. Tiie complished in the record-breaking 5. San Pedro 4. through all industries? W ill the 3U- partieulariy steep hill. At such reason the movement adopted the Populist, movement began to wan", 1 cold wave. Several -branches will cent increase solve unemployment? limes,' UYe desperate, r,training of name Nationalist. It proposed bring­ and with it tiie Nationalist move­ hold Sub Week later than the origi- St. Paul sent 30 subs as a first There is only one way: Give the How to Go Broke ¡iheUiteam, their agonized leaping ing “the entire business system cf ment. The capitalists, with a firm j; nal Jan. 25 to Feb. 1 dates. report, including two combinations locals backs to the rank and file. grip on the state machinery, inau- ' fend- plunging .under the pitiless the country under the same popular with Fourth International. A new Eliminate the no-strike clause in Scientifically gurated a new, hectic period of in- I Ashing of hunger, (he many who government which now extends 'only comrade sold four M ilitant subs, the loral contracts. With this out o: dustrial expansion. Individual readers also joined in Editor: {hinted at the rope and were tram­ (o a few comparatively trifling func­ one Fourth International sub and | our contract, I can assure you the Bellamy is still remembered to -!| the spirit of the campaign by turn- For Marxists statistics are very pled in the mire, made a very dis­ tions called political.” 45c of literature. P- C. leads the j management here would accent a ' day because he played an important |I lng in subs Tor friends and fellow important things. We do not mere­ tressing spectacle, which often cail- The movement spread rapidly. In campaign with 12 subs, 10 obtained four dav week. Workers in all UAW ; part in popularizing the idea of so- j; workers. ly "theorize,” as some, opponents A Minnesota railroad worker, who in his shop. plants, take notice what is happen­ ! cialism in America. He rejected j seem to think. Our theory is a d i­ ¡gets around, sent 10 subs from eight One St. Paul subscriber is in a ing here. We now know that the rect reflection of reality and we Marxism, however. His own social- j far-away colony of American im­ ; ism was of a humanitarian variety,;■ states, coast to coast. Three were depression has started here and constantly use statistics to con­ [ from Minnesota and one each from perialism. but his wife renewed 'fol­ when it does come full blast it’s go­ firm it. A proud accomplishment, 1 conjured up in his study, and u n -! ium, saying she sends the paper to connected with the struggles of the I| New York. Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, ing to hit all of us like a ton of at- about which Frederick Engels boast­ Arizona, California and Washington. him regularly and “ he couldn't get envc bombs. Many of us are y oung ed many years ago and which still working people. along without it." guys and some of us have taken a holds good today, is that not one Although Looking Backward was * * ft not as important as the effect i tj ! Buffalo topped all the SWP beating on all fronts. Thousands of single fact in Karl Marx’s monu­ First returns from Minneapolis produced, it retains its significance ’ branches in preliminary returns: us recently have bought cars and mental economic work Capital, has were 20 subs, mostly renewals. Ex­ : today as the first purely native so- | 102 subs, nearly all from steel and hemes. (Count me out. I ’m barely ever been cast in doubt. treme cold and other activities had cialist product in American litera- j aircraft workers. Three steel and milking ends meet.) With this in mind we can ap­ j prevented greater work, but we lure. The sensation produced by I steel fabricating workers accounted You do want to k°en these little proach some in formation released agree with C. E. S.. literature agent, the book disproves the spurious!j for 87 of the total. Sub-getting is necessities cf life. Well at least T on Dec. 31, by the Los Angeles ' part of their regular routine. it was “a good start." have a solution. We all know when Credit Managers Association a n d , claim that Americans are basically * * * hostile to the Socialist idea and * * * men are laid off, it's labor that car­ given prominent attention in the : have always plunked in favor of Newark reached 42 subs with 20 Boston’s first results were 10 subs ries the burden, not the bosses or local press. ) “ free enterprise” and “ rugged indi- obtained on a second mobilization. from a housing project. Wall Street or t.he Chamber cf Corn- The report states that the Asso- j vidualism.” As a matter of fact. D. Lessing reported more than 60% I merce. nor this grain speculating ciation has on its books 205 volun­ Bellamy’s work and the movement of former subscribers readily re -1 New York Local's second sales government, of ours. They won’t be tary cases of business liquidation it inspired are but a single example newed. mobilization sold 503 individual the cnes to com? into your house to today compared to 93 a year ago. of the thread running through * * a copies and 23 subs. Branch re- see if ycu have milk or bread on the The turnover for the year 1947 was American history of the efforts of San Francisco’s first report was I turns were: East Side 240 copies table: butter, eggs, bacon; or 13.000. A net increase of only 1,800 the working masses to shake off 14 subs, including one combination! and three subs, Bronx 132 copies, whether the little guy has enough out of 15,000 new permits. While the shackles of enslaving capitalism with Fourth International- Brooklyn 82 copies, Central 49 lo eat. No. they don’t give a damn not every business “ liquidation" and create a new socialist society of * * * I! copies, and one sub: Harlem 10 subs, if the whole family has pork .and was a bankruptcy, the percentage of cooperation and plenty. Six Detroit comrades — most!and Bedford-Stuyvesant 9 subs. beans seven days a week! definitive “failures” is on the in- MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1948 T H E MILITANT PAGE THREE Franc Devaluation Undermines Scheme for West Europe Bloc The ink was scarcely dry on+ "A quarter of a century proved too brief a span tor the the enthusiastic press reports CIO Board Against Third Party revolutionary ra-arming of the world proletarian vanguard, and of British Foreign Minister too long a period for preserving the soviet system intact in an Ernest Bevin’s “ plan” for a West- European customs union, when the Events on the isolated backward country. Mankind is now paying for this with French government announced the a new imperialist war; but the basic task of our epoch has not devaluation of the franc and the creation of a free gold market. The been changed, for the simple reason that it has not been solved." Schuman cabinet did not ask per­ International Scene Leon Trotsky, In Defense of Marxism, 1939. mission for' this step of the Inter­ By Paul G. Stevens national Monetary Fund, which is TROTSKY LENIN supposed to have strictest authority FRENCH WORKERS' VIEW OF MARSHALL PLAN on all matters pertaining to changes Not everyone in France is waiting government's refusal to grant the in the currency of countries belong­ with bated breath for the salvation workers a living wage. It only covet» ing to it. Nor was it deterred by of the Marshall Plan. And not every­ about half of the. military budget* the publicly declared British objec­ one who refuses it enthusiastic ac­ a totally unproductive drain. . 'It The Stalin-Hitler Documents tions. claim is ;an agent of the Kremlin. covers, only on the surface, the d e fi­ A hasty trip to Paris by Sir Staf­ The way the thinking French work- cit in the trade balance w ith the And the Moscow Trials ford Cripps. Britain’s Chancellor of or looks at it is best expressed by an U.S.” the Exchequer, proved of no avail. editorial in the current issue of the The two governments, which were . Tile writer deduces from this th a t Trotskyist paper La Veritc. Of the the figure cited can. at best only There is a saying that a lie can travel half lightened public opinion throughout the allegedly going to enter into the j 17 billion requested from Congress closest economic co-operation short serve to buy products which are for all European countries for four way round the world before the truth can world rejetted the accusations against the of a merger under the “Bevin Plan,” indispensible to maintain the pff«- years, it says, put its shoes on. That is the theory that Old Bolsheviks. Leon Trotsky, from his could not even come to terms on ent low level of production, to pre­ “The share provided for France In vent an immediate crash of French Stalin worked on twelve years ago when he exile in Mexico, subjected the testimony and the currency issue. the course of 1948 is around 1.35 capitalism, to give Wall Streets , The French rulers moved to de­ launched the series of Moscow Frame-up “confessions” to a devastating analysis. . In billion dollars, or 162 billion francs grasping hands greater control over value the franc from 119 to 216 per Trials. 1938, the Commission of Inquiry headed by __ Let us grant that the best fig­ tiie country’s economy and — w ith dollar, and to permit free trading ure will be 170 billion francs for -the the political stipulations attached-— In these trials, begun in 1936, the Krem­ the eminent Prof. John Dewey made a in gold as well as American cur­ first year and compare it with a a say in the government's domestic lin sought to besmirch the outstanding Bol­ searching investigation of the trials and ren­ rency. This is supposed to encour­ age' Frengh exports, which, under few others. It just about equals the and foreign policy. Above all, it alms shevik leaders, who, with Lenin organized dered its historic verdict, “Not Guilty!” to prop up the decrepit French cap­ the devalued franc, will be made loss in national revenue caused by italists against the threat of being and led the Russian Revolution in 1917. In. the course of his testimony before the cheaper in dollar terms. The new By a vote of 33 to 11, with two abstentions, the CIO executive the strikes last November and De­ overthrown by the restive w orking Lenin’s closest co-workers—Trotsky, Zino­ Commission of Inquiry, Trotsky pointed out franc is also supposed to encourage board voted “against the establishment of a third political party.” Here cember, that is, by the bosses’ and class. viev, Kamenev and a host of others—were that the Moscow Trials were a cover for Frenchmen, who have been trans­ CIO President Philip Murray and Sec.-Treas. James E- Carey discuss forming -savings into dollars and the question as the executive board listens. President Emil Ricvc of accused of a traitorous conspiracy with the Stalin’s own plan to make a deal with H it­ SIDELIGHTS ON DE GAULLE gold because of the low and un­ the Textile Union and President Joseph Curran of the National Mari­ Nazis to destroy the Soviet Union. ler. This was tragically confirmed a year stable value of the present franc, to time Union who voted with the majority are shown seated between The latest mass demonstration or in one of the big industrial cities!, is Step by step, for twelve years, the truth later by the Stalin-Hitler Pact. bring their hoards, amounting to Murray and Carey. the de Gaulle movement in the city a challenge that the workers • 4pcs has been catching up inexorably with this in­ Added proof that the Moscow Trials nearly 3 billion dollars, to the free Federated Pictures of St. Etienne, where the General not 'Snole' say t *le French Trotsky* market. The government hopes to famous lie. By now every brick in the ela­ proclaimed his “social” program f 5’ During the were frame-ups was provided by the Nurem- utilize this money in the form of neither position was used by Ameri­ mands, new strikes, and a new po­ ^ 6 de Gaulle did not dare show bh fao* borates' structure of the Moscow Frame-up burg trial of Nazi leaders in 1946. During credits for imports. Finally, the can capitalism to stop the French litical crisis for the French govern­ which smacks of the Fascist corpor- in pubIic; a mass m e e t in g jm U i^ Trials has b.een ripped down, one by one. the course of this trial, Natalia Sedov Trot­ whole procedure is supposed to devaluation. Is it possible that ment. ate state, is reported to have cost in Paris for weeks by his R P F (Rid- stimulate greater production which Wall Street was not averse to seeing The American business magazines The last bit of rubble was removed by sky, widow of the Bolshevik leader, sent re­ some 300,000 to 400,000 dollars— a ly of the People of France) w u will help raise the value of French pressure exerted against the trend have good cause to moan about the lot of money in France these days, hastily called off. the publication of the U.S. State Department European situation. “Decisions, peated appeals to the Allied prosecutors for money. toward nationalization in England? ‘ Delegations” were transported to De Gaulle boasted at St. Etienne of the documents and records from the Ger­ permission to cross-examine the Nazi lead­ Wall Street does not mind using firm policies, big plans of states­ it from the most distant, comers or that while he was president of THREATENS WHOLE SYSTEM men keep coming undope,” writes man Foreign Office giving the complete de­ ers on their alleged connections w ith Trotsky the European “socialists,” but it the country. It is reported that the France there was not a single strike! The British objection centers on U. S. News. European recovery, co­ tails of Stalin’s alliance with Hitler between has no use for even their brand of General’s eloquence did not get much The Stalinists, In reply, themselves and others condemned in the Moscow Trials. two main points: The establish­ “socialism.” operation, unity are proving im ­ ment of a free money market in of a response. After all the fanfare, claim credit for this achievement» Aug. 23, 1939 and June 22, 1941. These appeals were ignored. But this has been the sole stock possible—under capitalism. France threatens the whole system only some 3,000 attended the Indoor For once they are right. But-:^b in trade by means of which the These documents show who was the crim­ Furthermore, Stalin’s prosecutors could of controlled European currencies. meeting that followed. Gaulle was no more grateful th^a British Labor Party has been able inal. and traitor. They afford the final indis­ not produce one single piece of documentary The English pound could not hold The Meaning of But the fact that lie dared hold the maste(r class generally is to its present value in relation to the to camouflage its reactionary role an open mobilisation of Ills forces treacherous labor leaders. putable documentary proof of who in the evidence from the hundreds of tons of cap­ and prevent the restless working dollar without such control. More Military Domination Soviet Union plotted with Hitler. It was tured Nazi documents to confirm the charges class from turning in a revolution­ important, the devaluation of the “You know, my fellow citizens, TROTSKYISM IN CEYLON not those tortured defendants in the Moscow of the Moscow Trials. Stalin’s prosecutors ary direction. Right now, even with what armaments' mean: great franc and the consequent reduction Under the above title, the London Trials who babbled the “confessions” put in remained discreetly silent. By this silence in French export prices threatens the present controls, demands for standing armies, great stores of cd on the rack of racialism and bC4 higher wages have reached tre­ weekly, The Economist of Jan. 3 de­ to damage Britain’s export drive to war materials. They do not mean gan to demand the repatriation of their mouths by Stalin’s GPU inquisitors. It they confessed to the whole world the frame- mendous proportions. The devalu­ voted a fu ll length article which the dollar countries—upon which burdensome taxation merely; immigrant Indian labor.” was not Leon Trotsky, founder of the Red ation of the franc will further shake gives an informed review of the up nature of the Moscow Trials. the whole economic policy of the they do not mean merely com­ The article then recounts howjhe the British economy and can only development of the revolutionary Army, who died under the pickaxe blow of The publication of hundreds of documents Labor government rests. pulsory military service which original movement, taking the name make wage demands more urgent. saps the economic strength of movement in that far-off island. It Stalin’s hired assassin. on Stalin’s secret deal with Hitler to carve Thus, the French capitalists hope Lanka Sama Samaj, meaning Cejir That's why the statesmen in Lon­ the nation; but they mean also starts out by calling attention to Ion Equal Society, took root IT WAS STALIN HIMSELF. up Poland and the Balkans now dots the to avert a major crisis—by means don were so excited over the French the building up of a military the “curious phenomenon that the- soil and how the majority In M si From the start of the Moscow Trials en- last i of Stalin’s sordid conspiracy. which' tend to Create one for Great devaluation. chief stronghold of Trotskyism in Britain. The British, on the other, class . . . •'adopted Trotskyism and adheredfo Nor is the devaluation of the the world today” should be there, hand, believe that they can save “So soon as you have a mili­ tire Pouth International.” It goeson franc more than a gamble for the noting that the Lanka Sama Samaj themselves from a crisis—but only tary class, it docs not make any to tell of the arrests of the Trotsky* French capitalists. At best, only a Party won 10 seats and the Bol­ by letting France fall into one. This difference what your form of ist leaders by the British author!* temporary increase in exports can shevik—Leninists 5 out of a total or Sliding Scale o! Wages is the real picture of Western government is; if you are deter­ ties in 1940 and of their escape-,,lit result. Domestic price rises gener­ 05 elective seats in the island's Par­ Europe under decaying capitalism. mined to be armed to the teeth, 1942 from prison in India, wliere ally follow devaluation- And that liament. I t shows up all the plans for econ­ you roust obey the orders and they aided in creating the BolshpVr Glib-tongued W alter Reuther, president a misunderstanding of what the sliding scale | means that corresponding increases Intentionally or not, the writer omic unity and co-operation as so directions of the only men who lk-Lenintst Party of India, of which I in costs of export commodities must | creates a bit of confusion here. The of the C IO auto workers union, condemned of wages proposal is. Nothing in the sliding many pipe dreams- can control the great machinery the foimer Lanka Sama Samaj the proposal of the Flint delegates for a slid­ scale program prevents the workers from ' follow. As to the hoarders, a fall j of war. Bolshevik-Leninist Party is the came the Ceylon section. Then /It A macabre sidelight in this j in the value of the franc has always “Elections are of minor im­ Trotskyist party of Ceylon, the of­ tells of how differences in the lead?; ing scale cost-of-living bonus at the recent fighting for higher basic wage scales. All Franco-British chase for dollar induced them to hang on all the portance, because they determine ficial section of the Fourth Interna­ ership developed which led tq<^ General Motors delegates conference. Reu- the cost-of-living bonus does is prevent real credits is thrown upon the role of more tenaciously to gold and strong the political policy, and back of tional. The Lanka Sanaa Sama] split and the reorganization of tijo Wall Street. Its spokesmen are currencies. It will take more than ther’s arguments are worth taking up, as wages from being sliced by constantly rising that political policy is the con­ Party is an organization formed, by Lanka Sama Samaj by the dissidents loudest in proclaiming the need for monetary tricks to make them part they constitute the chief stock-in-trade of all prices. stant pressure of the men train­ a group which last year split away leaders. European economic unity as a step with their saving;s. ed to arms, enormous bodies ot from th e . Trotskyists. the labor bureaucrats, including the Stalinist to recovery. But, as is well known, Recently the differences between The sliding scale cost-of-living bonus is It is certain, however, th a t the disciplined men, wondering if The article recounts liow the rev­ American statesmen have the final the organizations came out sharply variety, in opposing the program of a sliding not a substitute for the basic wage scale. It workers, who made only slight wage they are never going to be al­ olutionary workers’ movement there say in currency matters. Not only when the Bolshevik-Leninists. in scale of wages. gains during* the November-Decem­ lowed to use their education and was originally organized in 1935 by is an addition to it. Its whole purpose is to has the U. S. preponderant influ­ Parliament voted against a govern-* ber strikes, will soon feel the pinch their skill and ravage some a group of young men who liati Reuther’s contention was that the sliding safeguard the wage scale during the life of ence in the International Monetary of rising prices. In fact, there are great people with the force of inent motion, while the representa­ Fund, but by the terms of the re­ come into contact with Marxist scale of wages program does not provide for the contract from indirect cuts due to price already reports that “ Catholic and arms. That is the meaning of ideas while studying in England. tives of the Lanka Sama Samaj Bap- cent Interim Aid Agreement with ty abstained on the vote, any improvement in workers’ living stand­ risps. If prices go up, the bonus is paid in Socialist as well as Communist trade armaments . . The conditions produced by the France, Washington has been given eminent motion was as follows! ards, because, he claimed, it does not permit addition to the regular wages and in pro­ unions” have brought protests to (Woodrow Wilson, speaking at world depression “for the first time a position “as a very special adviser “This House rejoices that, dtU st' the government against the devalu- Kansas City on Sept. 6, 1919.) (made) the people receptive to radi­ wages to rise above prices. portion to the amount of rise in living costs. many years of subjection to foreign to the French government.” Yet'ation. That spells new wage de­ cal ideas. . . It must be appreciated, This argument does not sound too sin­ If prices go down, the bonus is reduced ac­ too, that there had never been any rule, the struggle of the cere, considering that workers are now tak­ cordingly—but the basic wage remains in­ nationalist move-mint in Ceylon Ceylon for freedom has eolntinaled in the attainment of independence,” ing one wage cut after another because their violable. corresponding to the Indian Natlon- AFL Executive Council | al Congress, deriving its chief The Fourth International Sewe* wages are not even keeping pace with rising The experience of labor struggles, especi­ strength front the middle classes. tariat addressed a letter to the prices. The U A W demand for a 25-cent an ally since, the war, has demonstrated that the There was a moderate reformist Lanka Sama Samaj Party on this hour increase will, according to Reuther’s unions are in dire need of a realistic and ef­ movement amongst landed and mon­ issue, wherein it asks: own.testimony, simply bring real wages up fective wage program to protect the workers’ Upholds 2-Party Misrule ied upper classes, whose interests “What possible justification c$n to the point where they were at the time of living standards from the ravages of infla­ then, as now, dovetailed fairly there be for abstention on an issue (Continucd from Page 1) But. some of these “ labor states­ that old Democratic wheel-horse closely with those of ¡he British, and which poses squarely genuine inde­ the last wage contracts. tion. The sliding scale of wages proposal is men” can’t agree on what capital­ and pre-Pearl Harbor darling of the porting Wallace "would piay into a very weak labor movement which, pendence versus camouflaged sub­ ist party to sell out to in the 1948 American Firsters and isolationist But actually the argument is based upon the only one that fits the bill. the hands of Soviet Russia’s ex­ when the depression came, founder - mission to imperialism?” elections. Hutcheson of the Carpen­ ultra-reactionaries—Senator Wheel­ pansionist policy” — but that’s a ters has declined to go along with er. Wheeler brought this whole i thin disguise for their own slavish LLPE, becausq as an old-time stand­ farce to a head when he telephoned j support of Wall Street's imperialist by of the Republican National Com­ the AFL leaders that before he’d The Power to Declare War program. mittee he’s still playing for a deal take the $20,000 a year for the use They also claimed a third party with some “ acceptable” Republican of his name they’d have to know would “split the liberal vote.” We've W ho should have the power to declare sive effort” is brass hat language for war. candidate. Tobin of the Teamsters “I just couldn’t abandon my law heard that song before — at every has been gyrating around the po­ business” — aiding the railroad war in this modern age when a new war may As “justification” for this outrageous election since 1932 and every time litical weather-vane — at the last corporations, end in blasting civilization off the face of proposal, Coira points out that “by his hand­ the workers demand their own po­ sighting he was pointed toward Re­ At this writing the LLPE is still the earth? At present, the constitution gives ling of foreign relations a president can litical party. The last time w'e publican Governor Warren of Cali­ without a national figurehead. that power to Congress. Now the brass hats, heard it was in 1946. The workers fornia. What voice have the AFL mem­ bring this nation to the brink of war and didn’t “ split the liberal vote” and whose menacing influence in the government actually make hostilities, and a Congressional But in essence, they all repre­ bers had in the life-and-death ques­ got the most reactionary Congress sent the same kind of politics. tion of the political course they gfOWe greater every day, are proposing to declaration of war, inevitable.” That’s true, in decades anyway. They are company unionists in the must travel? None whatsoever. The lo<3ge this power in the hands of the presi­ and The Militant has called attention to it If »the AFL leaders don’t go for political arena, opposed to all gen­ 15 bureaucrats luxuriating in Miami dent again and again. Wallace’s third-party movement — uine independent political action by have never given a thought to con­ and they are correct when they say But instead of being an argument to turn labor and supporting establish«; J sulting those who pay the dues and Here is the argument advanced by Col. it does not spring from the labor political reaction through the two- assessments. over this' life-and-death power to the presi­ Louis E. Coira of U.S. Air Force Headquart­ movement — how do they propose party system. ii s iijgii ume ior me mem­ ers; .in the winter issue of Air University dent, it is an argument against permitting it to free the American workers from j How symbolic have been their bers to put a stop to the disgusting Quarterly Review, a magazine published by to be exercised even by Congress. In short, subjection to the two old political frantic efforts to secure anybody conduct of those who presume to machines of Wall Street? that branch of the service: it is an argument to turn it over to the but a genuine labor leader to head speak in the name of seven million It was on this issue particularly people themselevs, who must do the fighting LLPE. They have been scouring workers. The voice of the ranks . . the president must be prepared to that the AFL leaders in Miami the political swamps for months to must be heard. They must decide. take whatever action is necessary to preserve and dying. staged an exhibition that would be drag up some Democratic politician The demand must be raised in all national security. If commitment of the Let the people, through a democratic comic — if it were not so serious who will graciously take $20,000 a tire great bodies of organized labor referendum, decide ,the questions of war or for the life of the American labor year to cover up the word “ Labor” for a National United Labor Con­ rta'tion’s armed forces in an offensive-defen­ movement, and?such an insult to] peace! Take the war-making power out of in Labor’s League for Political ference, with rank and file repre­ sive, effort is required, he must be prepared the more than 7 million hard- ] Education. sentation from the AFL, CIO, Rail­ the hands of W all Street’s Congress! Smash tft accept the responsibility for issuing the working AFL members who pay the They went after Robert LaFollette road Brotherhoods and independ­ ordeii- In no other way can the security of the plot to install a brass hat dictatorship! salaries of the “ fat and stately and Mathew Neely and James Mead ents, to map out a program of inde­ Some people w ill say that “in this age asses” of the Executive Council. and Maury Maverick. They were pendent political action for the la­ this' nation be maintained in this age of ad­ bor movement. of advanced technology” it will be impos­ NOBODY IS FOOLED almost ready to settle for Andrew vanced military technology.” Biemiller of Wisconsin, until he de­ Such a conference could end the sible to let the people vote on this question. The game of the Council majority This does not refer to the president’s cided he would rather run again for shoddy maneuvers and deals on the Our answer is that in this age above all, is to swing labor’s votes once more Congress. Besides some of the Coun- top with capitalist politicians. It power to use the armed forces to repel at­ behind strikebreaker Truman and j when war will determine the fate of every cil members thought Biemiller was could launch the mighty legions of tack,' even without Congress declaring war, the Democratic Party. They haven't: labor as a truly independent force man, woman and child, it is necessary to take dared to say this In so many wotds, “ too radical” because of his for­ because the president already has that by organizing labor’s own party and the war-making power out of the hands of but nobody- is fooled by their pre­ mer New Deal sympathies! running its own candidates next power. This cynical term, “offensive-defen­ the war-mad ruling class. tenses of “non-partisanship.” Then they finally latched onto November. The Negro Struggle. The Sky’s The Limit t h e By Albert Parker MILITANT Listening to the speeches, messages, resolutions, Secretary of Defense to take steps to have the remain­ documents and platform planks pouring out of the ing instances of discrimination in the armed services PAGE FOUR NEW YORK, N. Y. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1948 Saflotis campaign headquarters nowadays, you might eliminated as rapidly as possible.” get the impression that nothing is We won’t go into a lengthy argument here about too good for the Negro people and the falsity of Truman’s remark about "progress toward other minorities. In that case, you equality” in tire armed forces; every Negro who ever will be surprised next December, had anything to do with the armed forces knows that when all the shouting-is finished segregation (the foundation ol' discrimination) is the and the votes arc counted, to find Detroit UAW Leader Calls for most rigidly enforced policy in the armed forces, and the minorities in pretty much lire that instead of getting better, it is getting worse all same position as before. the time. ¡course, the battle oi tire demagogues is just gcl- But here is tire main point: Truman tells Congress Wng-^Started and you haven't seen anything yet. But to act on the poll tax, lynching, FEPC, etc., because ■ g l& ly it is plain that in 194k the sky will be the they are in its department. Correct—but what about Sliding Scale Wage Program B p P l'in campaign promises to the important Negro the issues that arc in his own department? As com- votec'Taft promises lie will fight against segregation mander-in-chief of the aimed forces, Truman has the We are herewith reprinting agents that the rising prices are a the proposed peacetime conscription program. power to issue an executive order outlawing segrega­ Housing Holdup the important letter of Tony result of the wage increases won by Wallace calls for tire complete abolition of Jim Crow, tion in the Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Railroaders Win labor, rather than the lust of the Czerwinski, president of ^ u in a n .rushes off his civil rights message to Con- He doesn’t need the permission of Congress or any­ employers for profits, has not been with a list of points long advocated by the Negro one else to do this, and he could do it this very day Strike in Akron Briggs Local 212 of the CIO Xvithout its effect. This is espe­ fh d 'la b o r movements. if he wanted to. Instead, lie makes a vague reference Automobile Workers in De­ cially 'true since both our recent A six-day strike of railway .There is an old saying: By tlieir fruits ye shall about instructing the Secretary of Defense to do some­ troit, to W alter P. Reulher on wage increases found a continuation khowthem. Taft never lifted a finger against segre­ thing about discrimination—while he completely skirts trainmen against the Akron of soaring prices. Many of'our rank gation in the armed forces either in peace or war. around the crucial issue of segregation. and Barberton Bell. Line, reported the union wage policy for and file members and even' sec“ Wallace never abolished Jim Crow in the cabinet, Some Negro leaders are going around saying that in the Jan. 19 Militant, has been 1948. This letter appeared in ondary leaders of our organization departments he headed. And Truman's fruits arc tliis is fine. Let. the candidates keep on bidding won, according to Trainmen News the “President’s Column” of are now saying. "What’s the use m as rotten. against eacli oilier, they say, and then let the Negro oflicial organ of the Brotherhood Voice of Local 212 in the Jan. of a new wage drive? Even:-if -we •?Fo prove that, we rail attention to just one aspect people vote for the one who promises the most. But of Railway Trainmen. back up our demands with strike g£hlS Feb. 3 message to Congress. "During the recent if the Negroes deliver their votes on this basis, it will The Belt. Line is a small but 22 issue. Local 212 is one of action and win, our wage gains will ^ar-.and in the years since its close we have made be worse tlian selling their birthright for a mess of very strategic road serving the in­ the large locals of the union, be more than wiped out by higher much-progress toward equality of opportunity in our pottage. If worse comes to worst, you can always eat dustries of Akron and vicinity. It. with a membership of approxi­ prices.” This sentiment cannot bo |ij|j|ed„services without regal'd to race, color, religion pottage, but you can’t get any nourishment at all out is owned jointly by trie Pennsyl­ mately 25,000. lightly waved aside. In order to ^ n a tio n a l origin," lie said. "1 have instructed the of campaign demagogy and claptrap. vania, Erie, Baltimore and Ohio, January 20, 1948 rally trie fighting spirit and. en-« and die Canton and Youngstown Walter Reulher, President thusiasm of trie mass of our mem­ Railways. These companies used International Union bership for the new' struggle: In the B rit Line as a miniature test­ United Automobile Workers the face of the general anti-labor Death in the Mayor’s Office ing ground for strikebreaking a la 411 W. Milwaukee reaction and the Taft-Hartley Act, Taft-Hartlcy. Detroit, Michigan I believe our demands must pre­ With the Pennsylvania Railroad Dear Sir and Brother: sent, a realistic answer to this prob­ ------—— —r-— B y Grace Carlson ------lem which is understandable to the paying 509}, anil the other coin- As president of my local union On Tuesday, Jan. 13, four-month old Arthur Jensen a liquid diet. Later in the clay, the baby's condition panics sharing the remainder of ranks of our union. If we fall to and as one seriously concerned with achieve the fighting spirit and en­ B ra g in Minneapolis. The death of a small baby became worse and Mrs. Jensen took him back to the the costs, more money was spent the plight of our membership in trie Wfeircejy ever receives any space in the daily papers, hospital’s receiving room. The baby was given a chest to brealt the Belt Line strike than thusiasm which lias made possible face of the continuing rise in the our earlier victories we are in for but Baby Boy Jensen's death was X-Ray and an injection of penicillin, with the advice it would have cost to meet the cost of living, I have given close blazoned in the headlines of all that he be brought back to the clinic the following day. demands of the strikers for the a rough time in our new wage attention to the wage proposals as battle. Minneapolis papers. Because iL (At the public hearing, the harassed and overworked next ten years. Against the 22 outlined by the International Ex­ is news in any city when a baby young interne, who had examined the baby, pointed striking trainmen, the company ecutive Board. EFFECTIVE STRUGGLE dies in the Mayor's office. out that General Hospital is terribly overcrowded; hired 70 armed guards. These, and After careful consideration of the Opponents of the proposal for-an Behind the screaming head­ a fact that' all city officials know—and carefully scabs, cost the company over $3,000 Veterans who bought houses at exorbitant prices didn't gel very automatic cost of living bonus to lines is the all-too-familiar story ignore.) per day. The increased cost of present situation and the conditions much, as this photo-exhibit to be presented to the joint congressional which will exist for the next imme- meet each new- increase in the cost’ of ihadeejuate medical care for Mrs. Jensen pleaded with lire doctor to keep the changes in six working rules asked housing commission shows. On the left is a hole made in a wall by of living have contended that “tile •the children of the poor. Here baby in the hospital'but was told that his condition by the strikers would amount only diate period, it appears to me that an 8-year-old boy who tossed a baseball. The other shows a porch the proposals of the International auto workers desire to “ impfòVe” is the pathetic report, that the did not warrant hospitalization. During the night, to $5,000 yearly. breaking away and a foundation falling apart. Union are not completely adequate. their living standards, and are not sorrowing young mother gave at the Public Welfare the baby became worse and cried a great deal. In Barberton witnessed an invasion Federated Pictures j satisfied to merely “ maintain” thtuW. hearing on the case. the morning, the agitated parents brought the baby Our past experience, in my opinion, 1 of the city by “ special police" hired in both the 194G , and 1947 wage I: Such an argument in view of •thé Sbe .baby had been at the Minneapolis General in a taxicab to Mayor Hubert, Humphrey’s office in by the company, who cruised the j fact that in spite of two flat in ­ Hospital for about a week earlier in the month with the vain hope that he could arrange to have the baby drives should be sufficient demon- I street. Finally the mayor ordered stration that in a period such as creases won in tlie past two years ipS^infected ear. lie was discharged from the hospital admitted to tire hospital immediately. And as he lay these company ¿hugs to put on , the standard of living of the: alito Spf’jfiih. 1(1, but later developed a cold and fever. On on the desk in the Mayor’s office—waiting for the Oil Moguls Responsible we are in, of soaring prices, it is not, ! uniforms and badges or go to jail. enough merely to fight for flat wage j| workers has gone down and not,Up; m 12, tile child was taken to the hospital’s baby representatives of this rich, capitalist government to Despite this lavish spending on I is sheer demagogy. Moreover; ’ dliriu where he was examined. The doctor advised come to his aid—tiny Arthur Jensen drew his last increases to "restore purchasing ; the part of the company, the strike j the basic wages of our membership tne'mother to take the baby home and keep him on breath. power" lost through increases in ' was effective. Thousands of freight the cost of living. I note in tne j are protected by an automatic .ad­ cars piled up in the Akron yards. For the Fuel Shortage press reports announcing the wage \ justment clause, we will then béviti Manufacturing concerns were faced By John Fredericks I these pipelines, enough oil, that is, proposal of the International Union, i: a real position to wage an effet?-1 with tremendous losses. The rail to provide every family in the U.S. that in arriving at the 25-cent fig­ I tive struggle for pensions, addi- To My Uncle in Italy barons who were trying tlieir union- Thousands of people, de-1 with 275 gallons per year! ure trie Board took into account a I! tional vacation pay, hospital and I busting technique on trie small Bar­ pending on fuel oil for heat, j In September of 1945 they continuing rise in trie cost of living I life insurance protection and even By John F. Petrone berton lodge with an eye to a future are shivering in below zero i abruptly discontinued operation of of approximately 1% per month in i for increases in the' basic wage attempt to smash the railway weather while the oil monopoly these pipelines. Here is the real the months immediately ahead. I standards, and thus bring about ¿1 Dear Uncle: year been carrying on a "loyalty” campaign to terror­ unions, have learned that even 22 grows fat on human misery. cause for the oil shortage. This approach in my opinion, is a | genuine improvement in the living ize and drive out of the government all employes Thanks for your letter about the Italian strikes, m ilitant and determined union men There are a number of factors The big companies did not want correct one and one that w ill en­ I standards of our people. are no push-over. '¿'hope that by this time you have received the CARE holding ideas which he labels as “subversive.” Mus­ trial enter into the present shortage tire government to continue op­ able us to sit clown at trie bargain­ I believe the failure of the Board solini, if I recall rightly, did the same. package we sent. As soon as our budget allows, we of petroleum products. Fuel oil eration of these lines on an impar­ ing tabic witli management with to favorably consider the proposal Congress iias passed, a savage anti-labor law to flWffl send another. But that is not the purpose of consumption has reached an a ll: tial common carrier basis, since demands whicli represent the situa­ for a uniform contract termination letter. I am waiting this at tlie suggestion of a discourage strikes and regiment the unions. You ^ lime high, .replacing coal for the! both large and small companies tio n at that time rather than con­ date will only postpone our efforts yourself have written us how tiie fascist government N.Y. Local Holds l with considerable power in our government, the first time in 1947 as the No. 1 ditions which prevail now. This, as to throw our full strength iutò'thé torable Alexander Wiley of Wisconsin, a Republi- issued similar decrees. Truman broke a national 1 heating element. Hundreds of thou­ I say, is all well and good. wage battle and to achieve indus­ j^h.'hiember of tlie U. 8. Senate who is noted for strike to make the railroads run on time. Mussolini sands of oil burners have been try-wide uniformity in ouf agree­ Speeches extolling tlie quality ol cheese produced in achieved some of his fame in a like manner. Lenin Meeting placed in homes and factories dm- A NECESSARY SAFEGUARD ments. pis state. Sometimes he discusses broader subjects In Oklahoma a girl has been denied admission to N E W Y O R K , Jan. 28— A i ing the past two years. Diesc) However, if this approach is correct Reports of the recent Conference mOifie Senate, as he did when lie said recently: the state law school solely because of the color of her | powered locomotives are replacing in determining the amount of the flat of General Motors workers reveal .“American citizens writing abroad should write skin. Mussolini’s fascist press also spouted “ white well attended Lenin Memorial Meeting, sponsored by the New coal fired steam locomotives at the wage demand, as apparently we ah that the International Union pro­ hbout true conditions in America, stressing the many supremacy” doctrines when his planes dropped bombs posed that the cost of any pension and gas on the helpless Ethiopians- York Local of the Socialist Work­ ■ rale of one per day. Diesel oil pow- agree, it seems to me incumbent blessings that we enjoy in this land of freedom, the ! creel trucks have in many cases re- proposal should come out of “ tile comforts, the conveniences, as well as stressing tlie Generals and bankers are the undisputed lords ers Party, tonight heard Win. F. upon us, if wc are to adequately Warde, SWP National Educational , placed those powered by gasoline, 25-cent an hour demand. This prii- aid that we have already extended abroad for the and masters in Washington, even as they were in i Ships are now powered by o il’rather meet the needs of our people, to posal that the auto workers, whose hoblest of humanitarian purposes— botli as individuals Italy alter the First World War. One of their chief Director, analyze the Wallace third party movement. i than coal. Overall consumption cf make provisions in whatever agree­ sweat and blood have built the aft'd as"a nation.” Tills strikes me as a good Idea- demands is peace-time conscription; evidently they fuel oil has more than doubled ment we finally arrive at, with the great corporations of this . industry, "Tlie Republican Party, in 1947, First, a word or two about that chief blessing, the were impressed by the successes it won for Mussolini ■since the start of the war. employer to provide for an auto­ should provide for the twilight years coined the slogan 'Had Enough'?” K ith American standard ol living. Of course, it is and Hitler. While production of all types of matic. adjustment of the wages of of their lives by sacrificing their declared Warde. “Tlie Wallace higher than the Italian standard, but it is nothing Tiie people groan under the burden of heavy taxes, petroleum products have increased our membership with each new rise standard of living today is out­ movement is a strong indication ifi&Lwhat you see in the Hollywood films. Money extorted in the name of preserving peace through a tremendously, production of refined in the cost of living. This approach, rageous. that the workers have had enough jwgges are much higher than ever before, but that is vast, war preparation program. oil stocks lias not met tiie demand. | it seems to me, and to the mem­ I sincerely hope that the Inter­ of both Wall Street parties. £r(ie in Italy too. isn’t it? I could continue indefinitely in this vein about tiie The oil shortage is actually the re­ bership of my local union, is neces- national Union will carefully recon­ Last week a New Jersey mechanic told a Senate "true conditions” in this country. But I don’t want “This movement, ruled so com­ sult of a war of extermination I sary to safeguard the wage increases sider their proposals in order that ¿Tommittee lie earns $2,500 a year, but because of you to get a wrong impression. I am not saying that pletely by one man,” Warde pointed launched by the oil monopoly on we arrive at in our new negotia­ we may arrive at a realistic an­ high prices be and his family do not have enough America today is like fascist Italy in every respect, out, “is not tlie product of the need the smaller companies, with the tions. swer to the immediate wage prob­ foM 1,; or milk, or money for medical care. “ Wc arc but that the capitalist class in America is like the for a genuine Labor Party, but consumers being used as pawns in Still an additional factor oi major lem which cari capture the imag­ ^Ust'existing, not living,” lie said. capitalist class in fascist Italy—only more powerful rather of tlie failure of the union the' struggle. importance which dictates that a ination of the ranks and revive tlie And/ in Cleveland a post office worker earning and therefore more dangerous. If they have their leaders to organize such a party. The Big Ten of (lie oil industry new approach be used in our third fighting spirit that made the UAW $2,700 a year, declared he and his family had been way. an American Ditcc will put us all on a castor A conference in Washington of all claim that transportation of fuel postwar wage drive, is tlie reac­ a great organization. oil diet. better off during tlie depression when he worked in labor to launch a new party based oil and crude oil from tiie fields in JAMES FOR RESTA I tion of a considerable portion of Fraternally yours, hrsteel.mill for 60c an hour, or less than $1,300 a year. But we intend to see to It that they don’t have on, and controlled by the unions, is Texas to distribution points on the were charged tiie same rales. The our membership. 'Die propaganda Tony Czerwinski,- president To be worse off than during the terrible depression their way. When the American workers get done the need of tlie hour.” East Coast constitutes a bottleneck oil companies, therefore, insisted on of tlie employers and their various Local 212, UAW.-CIO correcting things, we’ll lake that atom bomb out of iny father used to write you about—such blessings we The meeting also heard a de­ in the. industry. If such is the ease the conversion of .these lines to na­ Can well do without. their hands and pul. them to work at useful labor, tailed analysis of the struggle of then they arc solely responsible. tural gas lines and a compliant I.th in k you have already had the chance to be­ if they still want to make the railroads run on time, the European workers today by Paul They made the same claim during government went along with their come .familiar with some of the other blessings we we’ll give them honest jobs as firemen or ticket- G. Stevens, M ilitant staff corres­ the war. As a result, the “Big demands. Students Protest enjoy in this land of freedom. puschers. Your devoted nephew, pondent. Inch” and “ Little Inch” pipelines The big oil outfits argued that “For example, President Truman lias lor the last John. In response to an appeal from were built by the government at a “regular private facilities” could George Clarke, chairman ol the cost of 150 million dollars. Seven supply any demands on the East Oklahoma Jim Crow and a half billion barrels of oil per Coast. They also demanded, and meetingi the audience contributed M lS. Ada Lois Sipuel, Negro ,«ble only at the lily-white Univer- $143 to aid the Party's work. year were transported by means of secured, the withdrawal of over 10U .. . r , -it • , £ sity of Oklahoma. Authorities would government-owned oil tankers be­ applicant for the University of to g0 through the expensive Oil Trust Schemes cause "they interfere with private Oklahoma Law School, has re­ subterfuge of setting up six’ more .initiative!” While these tankers lie. fused to register in the one-student, one-man graduate schools for these Auto Local Takes $9 Billion Swindle ' idle and the seamen who formerly HUDSON FOREMEN WIN—A 9-day strike won for SPELLMAN ON RUSSIA — Cardinal Spellman Jim Crow “Law School” that Okla- applicants or admit them to the The oil trust is scheming a operated them are jobless, the East «union foremen at the Hudson Motor Co. what (i years turned up as a contributor to the Italian fascist homa officials set up overnight. regular courses at the university. nine billion dollar swindle of the Coast remains in the grip of a fuel W ’ courtroom manuevers failed to achieve—a- promise monthly L'Europeo Qualuiique. “Tlie menace of a '4 8 Election Poll Mrs. Sip’uel iias appealed to the Anti-Negro Governor Roy J. American taxpayers. oil crisis. Supreme Court' to issue an imme­ of a contract within 30 days. Hud­ Pax Sovielica,” lie writes, “descends on democratic This is embodied in Secretary Turner of Oklahoma, in '»“ ‘ blast D E T R O IT — A t the Gen­ The oil octopus is determined to diate order to Oklahoma University son foremen are members of the nations like an icy fog—if tolerated, it would con­ of the Interior Krug’s report to aimed at the NAACP, accused ''agi­ Forefncn’s Association of America. demn our sons to slavery." eral Membership meeting of , drive smaller competing companies officials to admit her at once to tators, composed of radicals in hii- Congress on Jan. 26, proposing the regular Law School. Car! Brown. National FAA presi­ Briggs Local 212 of the auto union, that the government finance a ; out of business. If the smaller ou<£ nority groups, both white “and dent said, " If foremen are deter­ held on Feb. 1, the Political Action Fits must depend on pipelines and As the court delayed taking ac­ Negro,” of doing a “ dlsservi’cfc‘ >to UKRAINE REVOLT—Radio Moscow quoted Nikita privately-controlled nine billion mined to have a voice in determin­ Committee of that local conducted dollar synthetic oil industry tankers .which arc owned by their tion, a thousand white students their own people." This was’"fol­ ing their job rights, they can have S Kuishchev, Secretary of the Ukraine Communist a sample poll to determine the poli­ competitors they are at the meyoy at the lily-white Law School in lowed by a veiled threat that' "it Party Central Committee, as saying that, an uprising within the next five to ten yeafs. them despite all trie Taft-Hartlcy tical thinking of the workers. As Krug himself did not say how ' of the big outfits who charge pro­ Norman, Oklahoma, held a mass would be a grievous tragedy :if J a, of Ukraine nationalists had been crushed. the .workers entered the meeting hibitive rates for transportation. ¡laws the opponents oi labor can devise." this project was to be financed. meeting at which leaders of campus few were to be responsible fol' losing .* * * they were handed a ballot with two But W. C. Schrocdcr, head of ; This is only the latest scandalous organizations made speeches over the gains that have been made.” -’ J questions. The first was, “ If the loudspeakers demanding that the POPULATION GROWING—The census bureau re­ CLASS JUSTICE—30 names were selected by lot­ the Interior Department's Syn­ incident of gouging the public and The repercussions of this fight ] national elections were held today, ; University be opened to all stu- pealed th a t on Oct.. 1 the U S. population stood at tery in Los Angeles for the county grand jury out of thetic Fuel Division said they trading in human misery in the against Jim Crow in educatiosuwcrc j how would you vote?” The results | I dents regardless of race, or color. £11008,000. This is a gain of 13 million since 1940 a list of 115 submitted by Superior Court judges. The were considering either federal whole sordid history of the oil \ felt beyond the borders of Okla­ | of this poll were: Republican Par- : ; At the end of the meeting the 14th and 18 million more than in the 1930-1940 decade. list did not have the name of a single worker or union subsidies to private companies or ' monopolists. The oil industry has homa. In Arkansas, authorities * * * ! ty with Dewey or Taft as candidate. ' Amendment to the Constitution, official. It did include 7 insurance brokers, 3 bankers, lease of government plants to the resisted every attempt to regulate tried to forestall an attack on their STRIKES DOWN IN 1947—The Bureau ol' Labor j 6 votes or 2.9%; Democratic Party j its activities and has built up a vast which “guarantees” equality to lily-white State University by ad­ and numerous business executives. with Truman, 92 votes or 44.9%: a oil magnates. Sj^istiiCs released figures that strikes dropped to Control of this industry would monopolistic structure in clear I Negro citizens, was read, declared mitting a. Negro applicant,; Silas Third Party with Wallace as the 1947 compared with 4,985 jn 1940 The iium - automatically be vested in Stand­ violation of trie Sherman Anti- nullified by tlie action of Oklahoma Hunt, to the Law School. ‘ However, candidate, 41 votes or 20% : and a (PPbLman-hours lost in 1947 was one-third less than NEW NAME—Tiie Workers Socialist Party, an ard Oil. since it owns most of Trust I,aw. I t lias extracted some officials, and then burned. The this young veteran of 2? months of Labor Party with either John L. -¡previous year. ultra-sectarian splinter group announced that it was the patents. These were secured 260 million dollars profit from, its ashes were put in an envelope and combat, in Europe, will have classes Lewis or Phillip Murray as possi­ changing its name to the World Socialist Party of the by cartel agreement with the I. war contracts, increased its total ■nailed to President Truman. separate from the white students. ble candidates, 66 votes or 32.2% of GESTAPO RAID—Four agents of the Federal gov- U.S. Reason? “ Chief reason for the decision was the G. Farben chemical trust of profits by one-third in 1946, and by Jim Crow elements among the the total of 205 which were cast. ) In Delaware greater concessions tefjhnent swooped down on the Washington office of fact that a considerable confusion existed over the Germany. They were seized dur­ a similar amount in 1947. i students then tried to organize a were made as University officials ¿he.-OIO United Public Workers. Armed with blank great similarity in titles between ours and certain Tiie other question put to the | ing the war by the Alien Prop­ counter demonstration. Their meet- announced that Negro students Subpoenas, they demanded the union’s records, ques­ professed socialist organizations.” members was, “ If there is no Labor erty Custodian, but recently or­ New York’s East Side I ing in support of University offi- would be accepted for unsegregated tioned union representatives regarding their “loyalty.” Party in the field, how would you * * » dered returned to Standard Oil : cials in the fight against non-seg- graduate courses not available at and ordered the office workers around. This raid is vote?” This resulted in the fol­ Presents Open Forum regated education was a miserable WES’l'-GERMAN GOVERNMENT — Washington by "a Circuit. Court of Appeals. the state’s Negro University. W outgrowth of the strike of 1,500 poorly paid Negro lowing: Republican Party, 6 votes Through the government tie-in. The East. Side Branch of trie failure. Other - students converted Workers, with whose union Government Service, Inc. announced that on July 1, the War Department would or 3.3%; Democratic Party 123 the way would be paved for a Socialist Workers Party (New York the meeting into a debate and Cafterias refuse to negotiate a wage increase, because turn the government of the American zone over to the votes or 67.4%; and Third Party, 39 law, similar to that in, the rub­ Local) will present, on Sunday a ft­ ! carried the bulk of the audience Union officers have refused to sign the Taft-Hartley State Department. Meanwhile the American and | votes or 21.5%. There were 4.4% ber industry, requiring a certain ernoon, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m., an open with them. Affidavits. “To us—and to the CIO Executive Board jwho marked that they would not forum on WALLACE AND THE British military governments are to issue a charter proportion of the synthetic prod­ Further harrying the white supre­ $hlch endorsed the strike—it looks like a clear case • vote in such a case, and 3.9% said THIRD PARTY. Refreshments will macist officials of Oklahoma were establishing by Feb. 15 an "ersatz government”—a uct to be mixed with the natural ^F e d e ra l officials engaging in union-busting,” states j that they would vote for one of the product follow the discussion. Tlie address applications • from six Negvo stu­ ihe Feb, 2 CIO News. Bizonal German Economic Administration'. 1 minor political parties- is 251 East Houston Street. ‘ dents for graduate courses avail-