FOR ORGANIZATION OF AN FOR MILITARY TRAINING INDEPENDENT LABOR PARTY Socialist Appeal UNDER TRADE UNION CONTROL Official Weekly Organ of the Socialist Workers Party, Section of the Fourth International

VOL. IV — No. 50 NEW YORK. N. Y. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1940 267 FIVE (5) CENTS NEGRO SAILORS OUSTED FOR PROTEST :î J. F. Finerty Court Order Denounced Here's A New Angle 13 Discharged; 2 Joins Aid By Minneapolis Unions On “National Defense” Face Navy Trial

( • i - “National defense" has been the pretext to break strikes, For Waller abolish labor laws, cut wages, lengthen hours, refuse to recognize Drivers Union Rejects Judge's Order HOUSTON DAIRY unions, and fifty other anti-labor moves reported in your morning Seamen Who Exposed Vicious Jim Crow newspaper, but it remained for John G. Pew, brilliant president In Navy Get "Undesirable" Discharges Famous Attorney To To Remove Loyal Unionist From Office of the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, to invent an ap- DRIVERS STRIKE solutely new angle in this racket. "For the Good of the Service" Fight Execution Of His company was charged with fostering a company union, By CARL O’SHEA AFTER LOCKOUT espionage, and coercion, intimidation and discrimination against Negro Sharecropper MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—With one voice the union movement its employees, and notified to appear before the National Labor By ALBERT PARKER here has decided to cry “ HALT” to the presumptious efforts of the Relations Board for a hearing on the charges. Rear Admiral Nimitz, chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Navy district court to dictate to the Minneapolis General Drivers Union All Deliveries Stop Whereupon President Pew addressed himself, not to the Department, last week finally told what had happened to the fifteen NEW YORK—John F. Finerty. Labor Board, but to his most profitable customer, the Navy. He Negro sailors on the U. S. S. Philadelphia who had written a letter famous labor attorney lias joined through the meani\ of the famous fink suit, served notice, in a letter to the Navy Department, that he couldn’t protesting Jim Crow conditions in the Navy. the defense lawyers who are pres­ As M ilk Trust Tries Friday morning, November 29th, Judge Paul S. Carroll handed Nimitz announced, in an interview with P. L. Prattis, Executive sing last minute efforts to save make any more ships for the Navy unless the NLRB hearings down his ruling on motions by Local 544 and the finks to amend his Editor of the PITTSBURGH COURIER, that 13 of the sailors had the life of Odell Waller, Negro To Stall Contract were put out of the way! share-cropper, sentenced by a V ir­ original findings in the long-drawn-out suit. The court utilized the The company, he wrote, finds “it is impossible to (a) exoner­ been kicked out of the Navy with “undesirable” discharges, and that ginia court to die in the electric occasion to take another crack at the union by ordering it to remove ate itself from the charges of the board and (b) perform the the other two were still in the brig, probably being held for even chair December 27 l'or slaying his more drastic action. Nick Wagner, trustee, from office, on the grounds (hat he “ threat­ By a Truck Driver tremendous task of increasing plant facilities, personnel, pur­ White landlord. chases of supplies and equipment (in order to accept Navy con­ The commanding officer of the Philadelphia, after the boys’ ened and intimidated” finks. HOUSTON, Texas, Dec. 2— Mr. Finerty was a defense coun­ tracts) at one and the same time.” The letter concludes by posing letter had been printed in the COURIER on Oct. 5, had placed them sel for Tom Mooney and in the The bosses of this “Southern The Local 544 executive board met. surveyed the situation and the question: all under arrest. He had then forced them all to write statements, Sacco-Vanzetti case, and acted as Metropolis” appear headed for a resolved to challenge the court’s “ Which is more important, that the national defense program telling why they had signed the letter and who had suggested it. legal counsel for the International organizing the 12-state area over- show-down with the entire union decision head-on. Carroll’s deci­ go forward on schedule or that the Industrial Union of Marine This was obviously a move to find Commission of Inquiry which ac road drivers. jail, which would indicate that movement. And they’re going to out wbo was the “brains” behind quieted Leon Trotsky of the Mus- sion sets such a sinister prece­ While conceding all this, the and Shipbuilding Workers of America be given an immediate the commanding officer decided get that show-down. the letter. cow Trials charges. dent th a t i t m ust be fou ght judge has given credence to a few h e a rin g ? ” that, they had "instigated” the let­ When he had these letters, the An all-white jury including 10 of the thousands of viciously anti- Yesterday morning, Sunday, Sure! What the hell! You can’t expect President Pew (or his ter, and that Admiral Nimitz has through the highest court. When commanding officer filed charges landlords, a business-man and u labor charges by the finks, who the managements of the six big­ lawyers) to put down his tools, take off his overalls and go down­ accepted the recommendation of boss courts presume to replace against the boys and recommend­ carpenter passed the death sen­ were attempting by this suit to gest dairy concerns locked-out town for just an old Labor Board hearing! Not while HE is work­ ed to the Navy Depart ment that the commanding officer that they tence on Waller in a trial at Chat­ the union membership in decid­ have the union officers removed all their milk drivers and dairy ing so hard on national defense! they be court-martialed. be court-m artialed. ham, Virginia. An appeal is be­ ing who shall and shall not be of­ as "dishonest,” Acting on a He charged them with violating B ut the case would not be closed ing made to the Supreme Court moth-eaten legal technicality, the workers, over 700 men and ficers of unions, it’s time for a Bub-paragraph 7 of Article 8 of even i f a ll the men bad been set of Appeals of Virginia to throw judge used the occasion of his ori­ women. A ll milk deliveries were showdown. Chapter 1 of the Articles of War, free. Indeed, the fight must go the verdict aside on the grounds ginal decision to order the union suspended. which reads: on as long as tile officer caste con­ of evidence of prejudice in the to remove Carl Skoglund from his Local 133 of the Teamsters Un­ AFL-CIO Unite In “Or joins in or abets any com­ trols military training and has conduct of the trial and the selec­ LABOR’S ARMY ASSEMBLES post as 544 president— on the grounds that Skoglund was not ion has turned the lock-out into bination to weaken (the lawful the power to Jim Crow Negroes. tion of the jury. Developments of the last few yet a citizen. (Skoglund is still a general milk-drivers strike, call­ authority of or to lessen the re­ This was indicated also by the According to the evidence at the days show that the whole labor president. Nothing was done about ing l’or an additional $5 per week spect due to his commanding of­ C ourier in Us issue of December Chatham trial. Waller had shot movement, is of one mind on the Big Lumber Strike ..the judge’s order, pending a bear­ on the guaranteed wages of the ficer.” 7 in the story entitled “ H ere A te the.landlord, Oscar Davis, in self- decistan 1« appeal the. .case. A h ; ing on the motions to amend his retail route drivers and four ad­ In addition to this charge was Six More Chambermaids' Yott defense, after Davis attempted to ready the Minneapolis Teamsters decision.) ditional days vacation with pay. another ’’conduct prejudicial to Can, Fire, Rear Admiral Nimitz ," draw a gun on Waller who was Joint Council, the Building Trades Now the judge has gone a step The lockout, and now strike, 45,000 Rival Union Men Join Hands good order and discipline.” which contained another letter, trying to get the shares due him Council and the executive board further and ordered the removal came on the eve of a planned from a group of six Negro sailors for work performed by him, his of the Minneapolis Central Labor DANGEROUS PRECEDENT of Wagner because a few filthy strike against the key Pheriix To Wrest Wage Gains From Timber Lords of the U.S.S. Davis, stationed at Wife and 69-year old mother. Union have met and in each ins­ In other words, if a Negro sailor finks claimed that Nick “intim i­ Dairies here, and was an evident San Diego. California. Waller bad carried the gun be­ tance by unanimous vote resolved signs a letter saying he is being dated” them. If this precedent move of the Houston Dairy Coun­ cause of the previous threats of to support the stand of 544. Jim Crowed and doesn’t like it, This letter, which is tiie sixth were to stand, bosses everywhere cil, the milk bosses' association, PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 8— As the joint strike of the AFL and landlord Davis. Virginia state It is certain that Nick Wagner he is “joining a combination to signed by groups of mess atten­ would send their stool pigeons to get the jump on the Milk Driv­ law permits a citizen to carry a w ill be nominated and will stand CIO lumber workers moves into its second week, the entire lumber weaken the lawful authority of dants on as many different ships and finks into unions to cook up ers and start the drive to bring gun i' he believes his life to be for re-election in Local 544’s an­ industry of the Pacific Northwest is virtually paralyzed. his commanding officer” ! in the Navy in the last two a case against the officers, drag back the open-shop once more. in danger. nual election this month. Throughout the states of Washington and Oregon, sweeping If lie writes to I he people out­ months, tells the same story that them before an enemy court and The case is v ita l in disclosing Testimony throughout the long It is the general belief among the mighty Columbia River Basin and up into Puget Sound, the side of the Navy and asks to help the others did, of segregation, have tiie court behead (he union the labor leaders here that the put dn end to the policy that per­ the sordid injustice which the trial showed that the leadership workers of both the AFL and CIO have joined hands to wrest decent brutal discrimination and vicious and lay down the policies the un­ white Southern landlords impose of Local 544 lias acted consistently employing class as a whole In mits Negroes to become only mess punishment for any “back-talk.” ion is to follow. wages and working conditions from Weyerhaeuser and the rest of on the Negroes, and in providing on sound trade union principles this city is planning to utilize the attendants and cooks, then lie is Unfortunately, like the others, the lumber barons. an example of the legal methods dairy situation for the start of guilty of “lessening the respect in the interests of the union mem­ BOSSES DEMAND BLOOD (V) Logging camp and saw-mill op­ the authors of this letter, while employed against the Negroes in a general d rive against the 20,000 due Ills commanding officer” ! bership and organized labor. There is no doubt that the pres­ erations in Portland, Seattle. Ev­ they demonstrate great courage in the poll-tax southern states. organized workers here whose That, at least, is the viewpoint Judge Carroll himself has conced­ sure of the employers on Judge erett, Tacoma. Morton and a score signing their names, make the Organization of the defense is contracts arc due to expire within of the officer caste that runs the ed the union elections arc fairly C a rro ll m ust be te rrific . The PHILA. BOSSES of other lumber towns aro at a mistake of urging as a solutiou in the hands of the Workers De­ run, the officers are honest, that the next few months. Lending ships and every day violates the bosses through the fink su it are complete standstill. "that the Negro youth ol’ Amer­ fense League, which is appealing strength to this belief is the fact law passed by Congress that pro­ the union has acted within its out to “get” the militant union By last night the number of ica . . . . cease to en list in the for urgently needed funds to save rights in using its funds to con­ that coincident with the break­ hibits discrimination in the which for six years has turned TRY TO QUIET estimated strikers rose lo over U. S. N a vy." Waller’s life. The League’s na­ duct strikes, to defend arrested down of the negotiations of Local armed forces against any person aside every other blow they have 30,«90, w ith the end of the w a lk ­ As we have indicated in our tional office is at. 112 East 19th union members, to aid other la­ 133 for a new contract with the because of race or color. sought to deal it. But this time out spread not yet in sight. The pamphlet., Defend The Negro Sail­ St., New York City, David Clen- bor organizations, to donate to the Dairy firms, several key compa­ PROTEST STORM The commanding officer wanted Carroll has gone too far. At pledge of tlie joint conference of ors of the U.S.S. Philadelphia, denin, secretary. nies in bottling, baking, trucking them court-martialed. But the Farmer-Labor Party, to assisl in whatever the cost, Local 544 the representatives of the Lumber and furniture battling have refus­ Bureau of Navigation takes a such a policy will not solve the means to establish its right to and Sawmill Workers' Union ed lo renew their union contracts. lighter view of the matter, it problem because it is ineffective conduct its own affairs completely 19 Cops, 2 Judges (AFL) and the International agrees that Ibis action is almost in the face of conscription: be­ free from intervention by the Behind the Houston Dairy Coun­ Woodworkers Union (CIO), which as bad as a mutiny, but doesn't cause it will not help the 4,000 biased courts wbo use their legal cil stand powerful oil and hank­ Transferred For met in Ccntralia, Washington, feel It wise to have the mess boys Negro sailors already in the Navy; ON THE WAR FRONTS position to sanction the rotten ing interests who would move last. Sunday and agreed to united hanged from the yard-arm. and because it does not take into charges of a handful of finks fin­ heaven and hell lo break the un­ Mass Negro Arrests strike action, to effect "as broad by GEORGE STERN Ho the Bureau over-ruled the consideration (lie need fo r m ili­ anced and guided by the bosses. ions of this , town. a ticup as possible,” is being ful­ recommendation of the highly res­ tary training of all kinds by the How far will or can Hitler let all enemies, actual and potential. Throughout the nation, in Wash­ filled. The strike appears to be pected officer aud gave orders for oppressed Negro people aud the ALL UNIONS COOPERATE PHILADELPHIA, Dor. 5—19 heading toward a shut-down of his Axis partner slip down into The reduction of Italy to a minor ington and in every state capitol thirteen of ihc boys to be trans­ working class, if they are to be the bog of military reverses role in the Axis “ new order" un­ Although the strike is just in policemen and 2 magistrates, in­ every camp and m ill from the Can­ able to defeat their enemies. and in d u s tria l center, the bosses ferred to the receiving station which is rapidly engulfing the doubtedly forms part of his plan Its second day, the rtiilk drivers volved in tlie illegal mass street adian border to the California nearest their homes and there The latest developments in the Italian m ilitary machine? and to this end, the Greek vic­ and their politicians are gclting have already been pledged all pos­ arrests and jailings of 565 Negroes Udg. given “undesirable” discharges. Philadelphia case point once again set to swing on organized labor. sible support from the CIO and in the North Philadelphia 20th The major demands of the The German legions that have tories in Albania are satisfactory (A discharge of this nature differs to the need fo r the Negro people to the Nazis. Railroad Brotherhoods here, as W ard on November 16, have been strike rs, form ulated at the Cen- already been concentrated in The courageous staud of the Vul- from a dishonorable discharge (o join in the struggle for a. sys­ well as I he A L L . quietly transferred into other Hungary and Rumania are in a But. again, how far will H it­ (cc strikers stopped the enemy tra lia meeting by 350 rank-and- in (hat it does not deprive the areas as part of the efforts of the tem of military training under position to attack the Greeks in ler let his ally slide? The Al­ Public sentiment is clearly on file delegates from 76 local unions for a moment. Now Local 544 and Republican municipal political man of his civil rights. It is a the control of the trade unions— the north, via Bulgaria. So far banian defeats have already the side of (he strikers, despite representing 45,000 timber work­ discharge, as the Navy officers the Minneapolis union movement machine to quiet the storm arous­ take control and power out of the there has been no indication they opened an astonishingly wide (be horrible picture of dying ba­ ers, are for a minimum wage in­ call it. “for the good of the serv­ ed by th is a ffa ir. hands of the Jim Crow and anti- w ill do so. A Greek m in is te r is fissure in the Italian totalitar­ mean to challenge the whole reac­ bies w hich the bofeses have been crease of 7Vi cents an hour and Meanwhile over 130 of those ar­ ice.” ) labor officers and put it. in the still in Berlin and a German ian facade. The army and navy tionary union-smashing! campaign painting in almost hourly blasts one week’s vacation with pay. rested are continuing to press The other two men are still in hands of the workers themselves. minister in Athens. Extremely commands have been split over tbe radio and in screaming The two unions agreed that any Tlie example of this brave fight their «ivil suits against the police circumstantial reports from var­ asunder. The official Italian full-page newspaper ads. And woe plant, closed under a particular should give new confidence in its and officials who ordered aud con­ ious quarters suggest that the news carries a curious report betide Hie luckless scab who tries union would rc-opcn under tiie own organized power to labor ev­ ducted the raids. Germans arc by no means en­ of protests by returning Ital­ to deliver milk to any worker's same union. ian soldiers against, the high erywhere. The raids, made allegedly in an tirely displeased with Mussolini’s home. The sentiment in favor OTHER UNIONS AID Grace Carlson On effort to clean up petty crimes discomfiture. command in Albania. Another of the union is strengthened by Representatives of the luland Behind this, these reports say. official Fascist publication the fad that everyone knows how in the neighborhood, were really reprisals against the Negro com­ Roatmans Union (CIOL and the is the internal struggle within lakes open note of an alarm­ Nazis Arrest 90 the milk trust, including the huge Sailors Union of the Pacific and the Axis. Mussolini is supposed ing increase in the cost of liv­ munity which refused to vote National Tour Borden outfit, has been “m ilking” the Masters, Mates and Pilots to have been instrumental in ing in Italy. Official Rome com­ the consumers for years.. Republican iu the last elections. Trotskyists in the (AFL), who attended the confer­ sniking H itler’s attempts to force muniques obviously protest too Some of the vicious acts of the While no retail milk deliveries Spain into his orbit on the much in denying disaffection police were vividly disclosed at ence, pledged tiie tim b e r w orkers Paris Region are being made, special arrange­ Dr. Grace Carlson, who as our and which she lias presented in grounds that Germany was edg among army and navy officers a mass protest meeting of Negro their full support. The sailors ments have been made (o see that, candidate, under the designation highly successful fashion before and among the people general­ organizations last night in the ing too far into Italy’s “sphere” milk gels lo the hospitals and aud boatmen have refused to haul of “Trotskyist Anti-War Party" re­ many Negro groups in Minnesota. cf present or future influence. St. Paul's Baptist Church. Scores ly- similar institutions, and home any scab lumber. ceived 8.761 votes for U. S. Sen­ Women workers will be parti­ Most reports like this can­ One cannot yet by far deduce The DAY. Jewish daily of the victims attended and testi­ ator from Minnesota, will make cularly interested lo know that ■consumers can gl all the milk As a last-minute move to head- not be taken at face value, but from these signs that Italy is newspaper, publishes the fol­ fied to their outrageous handling. they want by fetching it them­ a coast-to-ooast speaking toui Comrade Cqrlson will endeavor German complacence in the close to a complete breakdown. lowing dispatch in its Dec. 10 The victims were picked off the off the tie-up, the managements selves. starting January 2. during her visit iu each local com­ face of Italian reverses seems But they do show how quickly I issue : streets and public places just at of 13 mills in Portland and ihc The lour is being undertaken munity to bold conferences on the to go far toward bearing them reverses in the field can expose “ PARIS. Dec. 10—The police A clean-cut victory for the dairy random. No warrants were used. Columbia basin had announced, in response to requests from com social and economic problems here have arrested ninety drivers will noi only stiffen tbe No charges were placed against out. Mussolini is going to make the internal weaknesses of a two-days before (lie genera) strike rades aud sympathizers in all which confront women under ca­ a major effort to retrieve his totalitarian regime. Hitler can ‘militant Communists,' ap­ teamsters organization, but will them. They were given no im­ parts of the country who have ex pitalism. and in particular, tho call, a 2’j cent hourly raise for losses in Albania and if that not afford to have this happen parently Trotskyists, and inspire the-culire labor movement mediate hearings as the law pro­ pressed their keen desire lo uice' problems of women in industry effort fails, then Hitler is first even in Italy'. It strikes too close questioned them about the hern lo light down Hie growing vides. And were held on bail of common labor and 5 cents an hour Comrade Carlson and bear lie; under war-tiiuc conditions. likely to step in and by doing to home. Communist propaganda that i; boss offensive. The rank and file as high as $800. more for skilled workers. Union speak. The National Committee of the so ensure that the disposal of Moreover, Hitler cannot him­ being spread here recently. of Local 133 are clearly determ­ Those who protested at this ou­ leaders assailed the employers’ By special arrangement. Com­ Socialist Workers Party, which is They also arrested 63 ‘le ft the spoils in Southeastern Eu­ self afford to mark time. He ined to make the milk trust come trageous treatment were roughed move as a desperate attempt to rade Carlson will speak before lo­ sponsoring the tour, has an­ Communists.’ The Nazi secret up liy the police. Twenty and cal Negro organizations on spe rope will be his alone. has to keep his forces in mo­ across with a greater share of oul maneuver tiie efforts of (lie nounced that it will have avail­ Hitler’s Speech on Tuesday- tion—and victoriously in mo­ police have also uncovered thirty of them were packed to­ eial topics dealing with the health the creamy profits which it has workers to obtain a minimum able the final dates For each city last suggests that he is confident tion at that. It is safe to as­ nine underground printing gether in cells built for four or problems of the Negro people un that the Nazi military machine sume that he will begin to presses of ’left Communists’.” been skim m in g fro m th is great five people. They were forced to 7% cent increase. The bosses’ der capitalism, a subject on which on the schedule within a few elone is sufficient to deal with move again—and soon. Houston m ilk sited. stand up ail night. move flopped miserably. she has made extensive studies Jays. 7 SOCIALIST APPEAL DECEMBER 14, 1940

Our Party’s Vote In Minnesota AFL Gave Undue Prominence To The Racketeering Issue

But Neither Dubinsky Nor the AFL Chieftains Took a Correct Working Class Attitude Toward It Write to us—tell us what’s going on in your part of the labor movement—what are the workers thinking about f—tell us what the bosses are up to— and the G-men and the local cops— By ART PREIS Concerned primarily with tlia and the Stalinists—send us that story the capitalist press didn't The problem of racketeering occupied an altogether dispropor­ questions of dues collections, iron­ ing out interminable jurisdiction­ print and that story they buried or distorted— our pages are open tionate place at the AFL convention at New Orleans. It is a very al disputes, and curbing the des­ to you. Letters must carry name and address, but indicate if you minor problem in the trade union movement as a whole. Had the ires of the 'members for m ilitant AFL chieftains been grappling with the basic problems facing the do not want your name printed. trade union action, the leadership workers, the racketeering question would have automatically been 18 men were turning out only 24 enforces the principle of dictalor- Briggs Worker Tells relegated to the subordinate place it should have taken. But since panels per hour (1 1-3 per man). inl control from the lop. So long the convention was given no real problems to deal with—the main Story of Shutdowns This company excuse is a down­ as these unions pay th?*r dues, At Briggs-Plymoulh right lie. When the company fired time was consumed with canned speeches from government officials Green and Co. do not care w hether the six men it expected and de­ and other people who had no business being on the platform—it is the members attend meetings, or E d ito r: manded that the rest turn out the no wonder that both at tile con­ whether local meetings are ever petion prevails, such as in clean­ TUe grievance which provoked same amount of production as be­ vention and in the press the ques­ held. II members who dare ing and dying, laundry and res the strike of eighteen workers in fore. The Chief Steward would tion of rackeetering loomed out of to oppose the policies of taurants.” the panel division of the Briggs not stand for this, and then the all proportion to its importance. their officials are arbitrarily ex­ M an ufacturing Co. here in De­ company canned him. Then the | pelled without proper trial, that's DUBINSICY’S PROPOSAL BOSSES RESPONSIBLE troit, on November 29 and which whole department walked out. no skin off Bill Green’s nose. Dubinsky, too yellow to fight on What is more significant than led to a one-day shut down in­ Shift No. 2 went through the same real issues—he didn’t open his the limited extent of union racket­ CIO HASN’T ANY v o lv in g 10,000 Briggs w orkers and procedure. mouth even to second Philip Ran­ eering, is the fact that it is direct­ RACKETEERING 10.000 Plym outh workers, is a ty ­ This particular "misunderstand­ dolph’s eloquent plea against Jim ly invited and sanctioned by the The proof that it is the lack of pical example of the crummy way ing” was finally Ironed out after Crow—picked this "popular” issue bosses in these industries. As democratic practices within the the auto bosses are dealing w ith the company met with the union —i. e., popular with the capitalist Stark points out, “Almost invar­ AFL which enables the few rack­ the auto workers. officials in a three hour confer­ press. iably the union racketeers have eteers to flourish within it, and When this trouble happened all ence. Dubinsky's proposal to empower been found linked with dishonest that racketeering flourishes only tlje local boss papers immediately But the settlement of this one, the AFL Executive Council to sus­ business men, crooked politicians in small crafts, is demonstrated put the blame on the union’s grievance hasn’t changed the pend any union official “convicted and outright criminals.” by the complete freedom of the shoulders. They gave an account whole picture, not by a damn of an act of moral turpitude" He adds: "Small employers in CIO from racketeers. It might which presented the company’s sig ht! would have placed in the hands these industries, by their own mo­ seem that the new unions of the statement without comment—but The Briggs men are not celeb­ of the reactionary Council the ex­ tion or through outside instiga­ CIO. formed quickly of inexperi­ not a line of the union’s state­ rating over this settlement,, be­ act powers which Dubinsky had tion. form so-called trade associa­ enced workers and prey to many ment. cause there are scores of other opposed when they appeared in tions* to lim it or increase prices. unknown and untested elements, This shut-down happened be­ grievances unsettled which are the form of the right to suspend The crooked union leaders lend would be duck-soup lor the pene­ cause the company fired the union bursting the union files, international unions for “dual” themselves to the associations at tra tio n ol’ boss racketeers. B u t i t steward in the panel division All the auto workers know that unionism. Militant union leaders, a price. They ‘police’ the indus­ isn 't. when he tried to protest the "ra­ not only at Briggs, but at all the convicted or l'ramed-up in strike try and supply the ‘police’ from No handful of rats or gangst­ tionalization”—firing some work­ other auto plants, the bosses are activities, could be tossed out of criminals among their number. ers who valued their necks would ers and making the rest produce trying to see how much heat they the AFL by a simple vote of the “Racketeering union leaders co­ dare try to intimidate a meeting more—which the management can put on us. And I say for one Council. operate with dishonest business of industrial workers who had tried to slip over. that either the unions w ill answer By its terms only, “convicted” men to force other business men stood up to clubs, revolvers, rifles, The company tried to say that this growing offensive of the auto persons could be suspended. The to join trade associations or to machine guns, sawed-off shot-guns it had actually cut down the re­ magnates in the s p irit of 1937. or well-known tie-up between the pol­ keep them out of trade associa­ and tear gas in the hands of pol­ quired production of the panel he swept back to the conditions the three metropolitan counties; Hennepin, 1755; This map of Minnesota shows the distribution ice, courts and racketeers pre­ tions. In either case the object ice and National Guardsmen! men. It claimed that while it of the old pre-union days. of counties of the 8.761 votes cast for our party’s Ramsey, 1034; St. Louis, 525. But it is note­ cludes many such convictions. of the trade association is mono­ It is hard to conceive of the had fired six men, production had This Briggs episode shows that worthy that we also received blocks of votes Except, of course, in the case of poly and higher prices.” appearance of a racketeering sit­ been reduced even more in propor­ the auto workers are full of fight candidate for U. S. Senator. Significant index from the radicalized farmers throughout the honest union strikers. From this it is apparent that uation in an industrial union. To tion to the number of men left. and willing to fight, and it indi­ of our party’s influence throughout the state is state. Comrade Carlson’s vote was larger than Further, this proposal placed racketeering is a direct measure appear it would require a type It claimed that where 24 men cates the path forward for the the fact that Comrade Carlson received votes in the responsibility for dealing witli of the influence of the bosses w ith ­ of connivance w ith the bosses were turning out 48 panels an whole union. the combined vote for Earl Browder and Norman racketeers on the shoulders of a in any union, and not a pheno­ which is alien to a mass-produc­ hour (2 per man) that afterwards F. B. every county. The vote was of course largest in Thomas. few leaders, instead of on the menon native to unionism itself, tion industry and an industrial rank-and-file of the unions. as the bosses try to claim . union. I t pays a boss to connive The convention leaders turned with a small craft union, even to this proposal down. Green and WHY IT ISN’T ENDED the extent of paying relatively Go. d id n ’t w ant to be placed in The question is: If the extent good wages. He could never feel The "Socialist" Critics of the CIO a position where at any time in of such racketeering is really so that \^ay about a mass-production the fu tu re they m ig ht be com­ limited, if the vast bulk of the industry, where the wage bill pelled to act against a “pal.” The AFL local unions and leaders are looms as the key fa cto r and where defeat of Dubinsky's "proposal also free of any such taint, why is it an industrial union is bargaining They Provide a Pseudo-Radical Alibi for Hillman and the AFL reflected the concern of the vari­ seemingly so difficult to eradicate on behalf of all the workers in ous international officers for their the evil? the plant. jealously-guarded control over The answer is simple. A policy The CIO is thus well-nigh guar­ their individual unions. which would clean out the racket­ anteed in advance against racket­ By FELIX MORROW line is very clear; one has but to Hillman on the key question of: tur'e, is now engaged In efforts t<5 aid of a delicate recording in­ As a counter proposal to Dub- eers in double-quick time is pos­ eering. The less favorable situa­ (This is the third of a series read its strikebreaking stories a- continuing the fight for industrial' raid the warehouse fields in com­ strument invented by the C all edi­ ihsky’s, the Executive Council sible: But it poses a threat to the tion of the smaller craft unions of articles on the Atlantic City gainst the Vultee aircraft work­ unionism—to call this "baiting plete disregard of industrial un­ tors. Lenin once said, making fun merely put through a resolution reactionary craft leaders, and it in the A F L could, however, be convention of the CIO.) ers. The New Leader is now un­ Hillman" constitutes a distortion ion jurisdiction.” This is follow­ of people who talked about wheth­ piously “condemning” labor rack­ is the one policy of which the overcome if the rank and file in der the editorial control of a ol’ wiiat happened. Ami to describe ed by a paragraph to prove that, er or not an opponent was “sin­ At the convention—more accu­ eteering in general and suggest­ bosses—those who cry loudest any union were aided by the na­ group ol’ demoralized and disori­ the majority's reasoned argument the Communist Party is opposed cere,” that, nobody had ever in­ rately, in the corridors one heard ing that the various internation­ against the evil—are in deadly tional AFL leadership to establish, ented refugees, whose lack of un­ as "factionalism” and “bitterness” to AFL-CIO unity for unworthy vented a sincereometer. But the a type of pseudo-leftist criticism als “take steps” on their own ini­ fear. genuine democracy and use i t derstanding of the American labor —that disqualifies the Call's cor­ reasons. Then the C all passes on C all editors have done just that, of John L. Lewis and his allies tia tive . That simple policy is to restore against any racketeer. movement flows from their failure respondent as a reporter. to other business, as if it has it appears: which, upon examination, turns The convention failed to expose democratic rank-and-file control But real union democracy—that to understand how fascism in proved that there is no difference "The outstanding weakness of out to be merely a cover for a IGNORES REAL ISSUE the real character and causes of within the unions of the AFL! means militancy and strikes, and their Social Democratic policies between Hillman and the Lewis the convention and of the CIO pro-Hillman. pro-AFL line. This racketeering, and to open the way The prevalent leadership domi­ you can’t get I he Greens and Wolls assured the victory of fascism in The C all w orks up a case fo r group on industrial unionism. generally has been the lack of an was the line common to both the lining up with Hillman by the dev­ for strengthening the democratic nates the ranks with an iron fist. to go for that! their European homelands. In Note that the Call blandly iden­ effective policy on honest belie). pro-war Social Democratic Feder­ ice of denying that the mainten­ processes within the local union? their impatience to get home to tifies the Lewis forces with the Both in the Hillman camp and in ation and the "anti-war” Norman ance of industrial unionism is the which would enable the’ member their old well-paying posts, they Stalinists. A false, and pretty the Lewis camp, there is much SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY Thomas Socialists. point at issue: . . . "the Commun­ ship to make short shift of dis out-jingo the Dies Committee; stupid, assumption. W ill unity he hypocrisy. Hillman’s forces are NEW YORK LOCAL These two “socialist”’ groups ar­ honest elements. nothing must slow up the U. S. ist Party and Lewis are allegedly a blow to industrial unionism? more honest . . . Lewis and his rive at their pro-Hillman orienta­ the defenders of industrial union­ armies which will blast open for The Call avoids this, the real boys are so m arked w ith Com­ LITTLE RACKETEERING tion by arguments which appear ism against Hillman and his New Year’s Eve Celebration them the path home; hence their question. munist alliances, W illkie deals, EXISTS d ia m e trica lly opposed to each forces who are advocates of peace viciousness against strikers and a- Its case comes down to saying: burocratic trade union practices What is the extent of the "rack­ GERMANIA HALL other. The New Leader complains between the two great bodies of gainst that basic labor movement, if Hillman is no friend of indus­ and unprincipled vindictiveness eteering” w ith in the A F L? Ron 3rd Avenue and 16th St. Admission: One Dollar that Lewis is hostile to aid to organized labor. But the truth of Britain, is in league with ’’com- the CIO. trial unionism, neither are Lewis th a t they constitute an even more trary to the impression deliber the matter is that Harry Bridges, and the S talinists. In th a t case, repulsive force to increasing sec­ munazis,” sabotaging national de­ The case of N orm an Thomas' ately fostered by the boss press the main pillar of the C.P. struc- logic would demand that the Call tions of the CIO.” (My italics). fense: therefore the New Leader C all is somewhat different. It is there is relatively very little. denounce both Lewis and Hillman And with this type of argument TROTSKY MEMORIAL FUND is for Hillman. The Call says not (yet) yelling for war. It sup­ Such racketeering as does exist and call upon the CIO workers these “socialists” justify support­ Lew is is as much a war-monger ported the Vultee strikers. Hence is almost entirely confined to to mobilize under a third banner in g the opponents of industrial as anybody, his Stalinist friends its “socialist" arguments are like­ small unions, and these mainly The following additional contributions to the Trotsky Memorial in defense of industrial unionism. unionism against Lewis and Ills will shift to the war camp tomor­ ly to carry much more weight C.P. ASKED TO in a few secondary service indus­ Fund have come in during the last week: But these Norman Thomas Social­ allies who, whatever else they are, row. etc.: therefore the C all is fo r than those of the New Leader.. I t tries. B u ffa lo $ 3.00 ists know only one lhethod in are on the progressive side in the Hillman. How can the New {.cod­ is necessary, therefore, to take DEBATE BY This fact is made clear by Louis N ew Haven 2.00 trade union “ politics” : pick which key issue which at the present Stark in an article in the New er and the Call both favor H ill­ ap art the Call's case fo r H illm a n . L yn n 2.00 man, but for opposite reasons? one of the big shots you'll back. time forms the dividing line York' Times, Dec. 1: “ Inve stiga­ Boston 28.50 “Bitterness Dominates Scene At throughout the entire trade union tions by prosecuting officials in MINN. SWP N ew Y o rk THEY HATE THE CIO Atlantic City; Lewis-Communist THE CALL’S NEW movement. New York, Chicago and other 100.00 L ittle need be said about the Bloc Tries To Bait Hillman.” Such INVENTION The voice of the Call doesn't large cities have disclosed that Los Angeles 7.50 New Leader's attitude toward the is the C all headline (Nov. 30 is­ MINNEAPOLIS. Minn.—The Having thus dismissed the real travel far. But its “socialist” case racketeering is prevalent in small F lin t 13.00 CIO, for the motivation for its sue). Lewis’ dignified challenge to Communist Party here has re­ issue — industrial unionism — for Hillman and the AFL may industries where cut-throat com- San Francisco 20.00 jected a challenge by the Social­ the Call goes on to find “ socialist’” be picked up by the pro-Hillman Chicago 14.00 ist Workers Party to debate the reasons for supporting Hillman. cliques in the newer industrial Minneapolis & St. Paul 200.00 subject of the attitude American “The contention of Hillman’s en­ unions. In the United Auto Work­ workers should take in this m ili­ emies is that he is a war monger ers, for example, where the m ili­ Wasn’t Meant to Kill Trotsky TOTAL tary epoch. and is interested in 'national de­ tant membership wouldn’t listen Latest “Fourth $389.75 The challenge was issued Nov­ fense’ to the exclusion of labor’s for a moment to Hillman’s own Branch Quota Amount paid % Says Leader of May Attack! ember 10 in the form of a letter interests.” Aha, says the Call, line, but might be confused by a International” M ilw aukee S 5.00 $ 5.10 102% Lewis and the Stalinists are no "socialist” stooge for Hillman. to the state secretary of the Boston $ 100.00 $ 100.75 101% 1 Communist Party. The letter re­ better. Does the Call, therefore, Such “radical” arguments for By WALTER ROURKE Trotsky, to shoot only with the B a ltim o re 10.00 10.00 100 corded that suggestions for such propose to support neither Lewis H illm a n ’s policy m ust be exposed Off the Press MEXICO CITY—David Alfaro Intention of terrorizing him into R ockville 7.00 7.00 100 a debate have been made from nor Hillman, which would be the for what they are: a "left” win­ Siqueiros has finally submitted a inaction, and to injure him only Toledo logic of that argument? No. In­ dow-dressing for the most reac­ 50.00 50.00 100 formal statement to Judge Tru­ if he tried to prevent the theft various persons attending the stead the Call proceeds to Up the tionary tendency in the labor The December issue of the D e tro it 200.00 200.00 100 jillo at Coyoacan. As was expected, of documents—the injury was not Sunday Forum which the Social­ scales in Hillm an’s favor, with the movement today. Fourth International, which will L yn n 100.00 85.00 85 he has added nothing to what was to be serious but only enough to ist Workers Party in the Twin be off the press this week, fea­ Chicago & Indiana Harbor 200.00 already known but rather has “put him out of action.” Appar­ Cities sponsors. While suggest­ 135.07 68 tures as its main article, a mani­ merely developed his former lies ently he expects this fantastic ing a debate on the attitude of San Francisco 100.00 55.00 55 festo of the Fourth International. one step further. tale to be believed in the face the parties towards the war, the N ew ark 150.00 70.50 47 SWP made it clear that “any sug­ "France Under Hitler and Petain.” His testimony always . boils of the mute evidence of Trotsky’s F lin t 150.Ò0 69.00 46 gestions you may have for a de­ The Ideal Gift It analyzes what has been happen­ down to two points—the May 24th bedroom, riddled by bullets from Minneapolis & St. Paul 1000.00 430.00 43 bate subject will be gladly re­ ing in France since the collapse, attack was not intended to kill three directions. Siqueiros pre­ A lle n to w n 15.00 6.00 40 ceived.” A Treasury of Hie and proposes a concrete program Trotsky but only to steal some of tends that most of the bullet holes Los Angeles 150.00 56.65 So far this challenge has gone for the struggle for freedom. 38 the archives; he knows nothing were made by the guards and that unanswered. Rank-and-file mem­ Other articles featured are: “ In­ N ew Y o rk 1000.00 355.00 36 about the murder of Robert Shel­ the incendiary bombs were tossed WORLDS GREAT LETTERS bers of the Communist Party ter-Imperialist Struggle for Latin B u ffa lo 25.00 8.00 32 don Harte. Siqueiros originally by Trotsky in order to gain more didn’t know we had asked their from ancient days to our own time, containing one of America.” by the Argentine revo­ Philadelphia 30.00 8.00 27 said that he wanted the archives publicity; this is all that remains party to debate, until we called Trotsky’s letters and Lenin’s Testament. lutionist, Quebracho; “The AFL N ew Haven 20.00 5.50 to prove Trotsky's "counter-revol­ of the original Stalinist theory of 28 it to their attention and showed and CIO Conventions,” by Farrell utionary activities;” now he says “self assault.” Selected and Edited by Youngstow n 50.00 6.00 12 them copies of our letter. Dobbs; “Stalin’s Regime as M ir­ that he discovered that Trotsky Of course Siqueiros insists that M. LINCOLN SCHUSTER $3.75 A kro n 10.00 0.00 00 For the information of the fo­ rored in the New Legislation,” by was selling his correspondence he has no connection with the Cleveland 70.00 0.00 00 rum audience the letter chal­ John G. Wright; “Milwaukee’s with Lenin to Harvard University second and successful assault on H utchinson 10.00 0.00 00 lenging the CP to debate was read OTHER SUGGESTIONS Brand of Socialism," by James Library and wanted to take these Trotsky’s life. P itts b u rg h 10.00 0.00 00 at the Sunday Forum on Decem­ Dialectics and Nature by Engels ...... $2.50 Boulton; “ Discipline in the Amer­ letters. In either case the story SIQUEIROS HELD ber 1st. Anti-Duhring by Engels (S2.00) ...... 1.65 ican Army,” by Michael’ Cort. P ortland . 10.00 0.00 00 Is ridiculous since the archives A STALINIST Communist Party members and Socialism and Philosophy by Labriola ...... 1.25 Of special interest is the article Q uakertow n 7.00 0.00 00 were not even touched during the COMMAND IN SPAIN sympathizers are being urged to by Leon Trotsky, “The Class, the Reading 5.00 0.00 00 attack, though right out in full Capital by M arx (void—Modern Library ...... 1.25 The Colonel—Siqueiros held a ask that their leaders accept our Not G uilty and Case for Leon Trotsky Party, and the Leadership,” Rochester 15.00 0.00 00 view In the library. which was found in his archives Stalinist command in Spain— challenge to debate the issues that Special Cloth Cover $3.00 Edition. St. Louis 5.00 0.00 00 Obviously Siqueiros’ intention in unfinished form. It was the states that one of his Communist divide us. It has been four years Texas 5.00 0.00 00 is to free himself of the charge since a debate between spokes­ article he promised to write dur­ friends led the May 24 assault, MODERN BOOKSHOP Individual Contributions 2.30 of attempted murder. He insists men of the Third and Fourth In­ ing the internal discussion last that the participants in the at­ but that he would never disclose ternationals has been held in Min­ 27 University Place New York City Spring hut which the GPU assas­ $3509.00 $1664.87 47% tack were instructed not to kill his name. neapolis. sin prevented him from finishing. TOTALS D E C E M B E R 14, 1940 SOCIALIST APPEAL 3

They Have Their Plattsburgs An Indictment O f Jim Crow in It’s Time the Workers Got Wise; and Demanded WORKERS’ Plattsburgs Army and Navy

The Hampton Institute By EUGENE VARLIN to represent a cross-section of The N. Y. Tim es correspondent the lives and welfare of the com­ Dr. Milton R. Konvitz has written an ex­ American life—bankers, brokers wrote, “The idea of a son of the mon soldiers mean less than dirt. Conference Any draftee can safely trade his chances of gaining an of­ tremely timely and pointed article, “The Legal To understand what happened at the nra* ficer’s berth for a nicklc beer without feeling lie has tossed away and clerks, physicians, lawyers, Rockefellers m aking his own bed, Their only qualifications for a United States justice peeling po Status of the Negro in the New Army” which publicized Conference on the Participation of the any reasonable, or even probable, opportunity. writers, craftsmen, and scholars.” leading men under conditions of A cross-section of American life tatoes, a college professor waiting war is their training in exploiting has been issued by Contemporary Law Pamph­ Negro' in National Defense, held last week at The present officer selection system embodies in a perfected —without a single worker or on table and a high-goal polo pla,.v labor. lets of the New York University School of Law Hampton Institute, Va., it is necessary to un­ form the methods developed during the W orld W ar period. Of fa rm e r! er polishing his own shoes may as a press release in mimeographed form. Tho derstand the reason the conference was held and the 156,000 commissioned officers who ruled this army in 1917- The Military Training Camps sound rather fanciful, but this all THEY HAVE THEIR CAMPS; article certainly deserves to |be published and the things it set out to do. 18, only 16.000 came from the draftee ranks, and most of these Association leaves nothing to took place ...” And in the pres­ L E T ’S H A V E O U R S! widely distributed as a pamphlet. ence of photographers, of course. Any ordinary worker, trained As a full page advertisement of the Institute were carefully selected on the usual army criteria of “ superior” chance when it comes to the selec­ Konvitz demonstrates that the appointment education, “proper” back-ground, It was all a lot of fun. like a com­ on the picket lines of the class put it, “ Defense Conference Marks New Era. tion and approval of applicants. of Benjamin O. Davis as a brigadier-general, and "leadership” experience (pet organization. Ils membership now bined Boy Scout camping trip and struggle, is a thousand times more Symbolic of a new era ahead for Hampton was II operates on a plan of selection rather than being an indication of the “demo­ ty bosses in c iv il life ). The odds consists of 65,000 officers, in clu d ­ which it terms “impartial.” Three slum tour. In the army, of qualified to lead workers under the two day conference ... Nationally known cratic” nature of the army and navy, “ is another against any drafted w o rk e r get­ ing those it trained during the course, these gentlemen, as offi­ conditions of war than any capi­ authorities, both Negro and white, concentrated men of wide business and m ilita ry ting out of the class of those who World War. Although nominally experience review the applica­ cers, w ill have the workers to do talist boss. And infinitely more instance of our traditional practice; namely, to their thoughts on specific programs of both im­ shine the second-lieutenant’s hoots a private organization, it func­ tions. the dirty work. qualified, by virtue of mechanical single out an individual for honors, at the same mediate and long time value on how the Negro tions entirely in conjunction with training and machine work, to are many thousand to one. This “impartial” plan of selec­ The theme of “democracy” re­ time to keep the mass of Negroes in inferior may best serve the country in the interests of the War Department. operate and direct modern m ili­ The ruling class, two years be­ tion was described by the N. Y. ceived quite a play in this same status or suppressed.” total defense and national unity. Their discus­ tary weapons and equipment. fore America’s entry into the last The revival of the Plattsburg Times, June 20, as follow s: “ The Times article. The Plattsburg To prove this point, he takes up the history sions covered comprehensive subjects—M ilitary war, had already established the camps in preparation for the com­ selection of successful applicants camps are described as “ the great­ Ju st as the bosses have th e ir and nature of the two amendments to the Selec­ and Naval Defense, Industry, Family Life, Labor, plan for a sufficient supply of ing war was announced by the (was) prescribed by the War De­ est leveler democracy can prod- own private m ilitary training and tive Service Act which are supposed to prohibit boss-minded officers despite any duce . . . Living, sleeping and eat­ officers training camps, so the The Consumer, Youth, Education, Business, The War Department on June 15. The partment solely on the basis of discrimination because of race or color, and shows sudden and huge expansion of the ing with men...(whose) thoughts workers must demand and estab­ Press, Morale and Mental Hygiene, Agriculture, New York Times headlined the their education, their experience, how ineffective and disregarded they are while army. This was the Plattsburg announcement, “Army Training and civil viewpoint may be the lish their own military training Public Health, Housing, Recreation and Reli­ and their leadership in business, the three chief types of Jim Crowism "are con­ Camp movement, which on a na­ for Business Men.” The announce­ professional or labor fields, ‘as diametrical opposite of yours... system, controlled and directed by gion ...” tinued in the armed forces. tional scale became the M ilitary ment was coincident with the op­ evidenced by their positions’.” all adds up lo the greatest game their own organizations, the trade It should be clear from the atbove statement Training Camps Association. of give-and-take this world unions. The first type is segregation, the establish- ening of the drive to establish The “impartiality” of the plan that these “nationally known authorities” were knows.” meht of separate regiments in many branches A CLASS ORGANIZATION universal conscription. consisted of the technical inclu­ Just as the workers oppose interested in “serving the country”—i.e„ the Just, how far this “give-and- of the service. The second is discrimination as to The Plattsburg camps, or 4s (lie The boss class ra llie d at once. sion of “labor leaders.” But even boss exploitation in industry, so bosses of this country—not in serving the inter­ Applications for admission to the take” extended was described in War Department now frankly a Bill Green or a Matthew Woll they must fight against boss ex­ placement, so that the Negroes get the worst pos­ ests of the Negro people who get such a raw camp at Plattsburg, N. Y., poured the Christian Science Monitor ploitation in the m ilitary sphere. sible jobs. The third is the “numerus clausus” terms them, the “Business Men’s would have been as acceptable as deal in this country. in. Weekly of Aug. 24 as follows: ‘‘L it­ Under conditions of universal Training Camps,” were and are a Uncle Tom at a dinner of South­ practice. tle trouble was had. One agitator militarism, war and capitalist re­ That the government itself did not see in this private system of m ilitary train­ On June 19. the N. Y. Times ern Bourbons. with ideas which swung widely action, it would he foolish for the body any serious threat to its publicly announced ing camps run by and for busi­ wrote of these boss-class recruits: Almost all the successful appli­ Courts Won't Stop Jim Crow to the left.. . . was quickly eli­ workers to scorn military train­ and carefully worked out policies of Jim Crow- ness men, with the material aid An expressed recognition of the cants were college graduates, the In his discussion of the first example, Kon­ minated. A couple of ‘fellow trav­ in g and modern arms. B u t so and official endorsement of the danger now facing an unprepared continuation of the tradition es­ vitz deals a death-blow to the idea current among ism in the armed forces was made clear in the ellers’ who had gotten into the long as the bosses run- the arm y, War Department. United States brought them from tablished by the first Plattsburg some Negro organizations that "taking the mat­ statement of Roosevelt himself, the author and camp by misrepresentation were it will be used in their interests It is from these private train­ banks, brokerage houses, public camp in 1915. H a rvard, Yale and executor of these policies; given an immediate drumhead and against the workers. ter to court” can in any way help to solve the offices, the bench, industries, law Princeton, the most exclusive of ing camps, limited exclusively to court martial by their tentmates problem . “ It is heartening to know that in this time of firms, and universities, is a sort the colleges, provided the largest We can take a lesson from the members of the boss class, that and that settled their status.” The He shows that Negroes are promised they stress and strain, when the whole nation is en­ of patriotic ‘Who’s Who’.” percentage. boss class however. They have the bulk of the officers for the greatest leveler democracy can will get aviation training, when they get it, gaged in a mighty effort to gird itself against new d ra ft arm y w ill come. On th e ir Plattsburgs. We, the work­ A “CROSS-SECTION” PLATTSBURG ‘DEMOCRACY’- produce! through the “formation of colored aviation any challenge which a mad world may hurl at it, August 11, in a message to the ing class, must have our P la tts­ —BUT NO WORKERS IT’S ALL IN FUN Such are the men and the class burgs, — Workers Plattsburgs — units,” and that the White House has stated, you ... are to hold a two-day conference on the largest camp group at Plattsburg, “Those who applied” reported Training at the revived Platts­ who will rule the draft army. under the control of the Trade “ Negro organizations w ill be established in each participation of tiie Negro in national defense... N. Y„ from which the movement the Times on June 22, “ continued burg camp began on July 6. Bosses and labor-haters, to whom Unions! major branch of the service, combatant as well There could be no finer manifestation of the as a whole derives its name. Pres­ as non-combatant.” loyalty of the Negro, no more fitting rededica­ ident Roosevelt made clear the central role of these camps as a He then asks: “Is segregation in the armed tion of himself to the cause of America, than the source of officer personnel, when forces discrimination in violation of the Act and conference which you are holding.” he stated that “On the founda­ Constitution ? This is Roosevelt’s nice and flowery way of tion of the Plattsburg camps of Stalin Purges His Playwrights “An unsophisticated person would without saying: Go ahead, hold your conference, it w ill be 1915 was built the structure of hesitation say ‘yes’. When he reads in the papers heartening to me because by and large what you those camps of instruction which about separate benches for Jewish students in w ill do will help to get the Negroes to support served so successfully to provide some European universities, he knows that seg­ my war program. the officers essential for the manning of our World War forc­ Writing Plays In Stalin's Domain Is Dangerous Occupation regation is intended as, and is, discrimination. Whitewashing the Bosses es tw o years la te r.” But one who knows the decisions and opinions of Roosevelt was referring to the the Supreme Court of the United States w ill need The highlight of a speech by Aubrey W il­ By JOHN G. WRIGHT Officers Training Camps, model­ Kolkov, the author, obviously felt of indispensable labor reserves to say ‘no’. The Court has held that Jim Crow liams was an attempt to set the Negro against himself a champion of the "Soviet for industry. In doing this they led on Plattsburg, and which pro­ The new, silent purge is pruning the ranks of the Krem lin’s laws, segregating Negroes in public conveyances', the trade union movement: Family,” and must have made must pay special attention to vided 60% of officers in the last most pampered and fabulously-paid servants— “ the creative ar­ and that laws providing for separate educational “ Look at the Negro in the lalbor field. Negro sure of adhering rigidly to the carry on the work of explana­ war. tists.” Dramatists and scenario writers have suffered the heaviest facilities, are constitutional.” youth is faced with the same difficulties that The Plattsburg camp idea was line of “ Bolshevik self-critiicism” tion among . . . the intermediate casualties. Konvitz cites the well-known case of Gaines white youth faces, but added to these are the first proposed in 1915 by the no-, as la id down by Pravda. I t is secondary schools,, in the sec­ Apparently the formulas for the 1940 edition of the purge v. Canada, “decided at. the end of 1938 by a liber­ prejudiced barriers set up by many employees torious reactionaries, Cornelius H. equally unquestionable thattlie in­ ondary schools, in children’s vary depending upon the individuals and circumstances in­ numerable right-thinking and arid the discriminatory practices set up by the Wickersham, Theodore Roosevelt, rooms, and school rooms, at al majority,” which -held that the Negro peti­ volved. Thus the Komsomol and Trade Union bureaucracies "responsible” people who passed clubs and places of culture.” labor and trade unions. What is the result? Jr., and Hamilton Fish, Jr., in tioner could attend the school “ in the absence of were decimated under the formula of b e ^ d e ln ik i and d a rm o y e d - the script viewed it in the same (Pravda, October 13). Only 2% get skilled jobs as against 8% for white a meeting at the exclusive Har­ other and proper provisions.” “The opinion was vard Club. n ik i (loafers, scoundrels who eat the bread they haven't earned). highly moral light. Pravda. itse lf The All-Union Committee in so written as to make the decision seem to be a youth— less than 10% get semi-skilled jobs not so very long ago featured much Charge of Highest Education lost Foreseeing America’s entry into But the formula for the intellectuals is: k le v e tn ik i (slanderers). great victory for the Negro race; and the fact against 20% for white youth. And when they do more em harassing family compli­ no time in issuing instructions to the war, and the expansion of the Trotsky suggested that the epoch of Soviet Thermidor will go that McReynolds and Butler dissented also tend­ get full-time jobs, the Negro youth averages 49 armed forces far beyond the point into history of artistic creation cations and used to write editor­ university directors, proposing their ten year old son, Mitya, ed to make the decision seem a gain for the liber­ hours a week for a wage of $8.75, while the where West Point and the small ials on education from which Kol­ that “they establish rigid control pre-eminently as an epoch of al forces. As a matter of fact, however, the de­ white youth averages 44 hours for a wage of Regular Army could supply suf­ whom they both love passionately. kov’s hero undoubtedly quoted of tuition payments, and drop mediocrities, laureates a n d cision took two steps backward for one step for­ $15.71.” ficient “reliable” officers, the first The parents squabble all the time, wholesale. In vain! By the time from the rolls all students not toadies. According to Stalin, especially over the upbringing of concern of these gentlemen was IColkov had finished his play, an- paid in by the date designated." ward. for it upheld the constitutionality of seg­ Williams thus places the full blame for in­ their boy. Mitya, spoiled by his to assure an adequate supply of the designation should be cor­ techambered all the people who (idem). Everybody is busy. regation, mitigated only by the requirement that dustrial discrimination against Negroes on the mother, neglects his studies, hut boss-class officers. rected lo read—slanderers. mattered, obtained all the indis-, And in the midst of this activ­ proper facilities within the state need to be pro­ union movement as such, without bothering to father always get glowing reports In a pamphlet published by the The slanderer of the month pensable approvals, in short by the ity a tired bureaucrat in search vided for qualified Negroes.” indicate that this is not true of the CIO move­ Military Training Campus Asso­ (October) is one S. Kolkov, au­ about his son’s progress in school. time his play reached the stage, of relaxation walks into the Gorki A crisis ensues when Kolkov ment, and not true about many AFL unions. In ciation in 1916, the purpose and thor of a play entitled, “The Kov­ life and its problems had altered State Theatre and there staring Army is Law Unto Itself learns on returning from a pro­ beyond recognition, at least in this way, he whitewashes the forces chiefly res­ role of these camps was clearly rov Family.” This play was him in the face struts a spoiled Konvitz’s discussion of the second type of dis­ staged by the Gorki State Thea­ longed stay in the provinces that Pravda’s eyes. and horrid brat, a blurred image ponsible for discrimination in industry: the boss­ indicated: "The success of... crimination is well-known to readers of the So­ tre, the initial performances were Mitya has been kept back another New policies demand new plays. of his pet at home, “attended by es who own and control the factories that Jim last summer’s camps at Platts­ cialist Appeal, especially as reflected in the greeted with ecstatic, if stereo­ year in the same grade. His wife his nurse, cranky and capricious, Crow or exclude colored wox'kers. And he white­ burg for business and profes­ Small wonder, that Kolkov’s play typed, reviews, scores of other utilizes the opportunity for carry­ issuing insolent orders, yelling stories we have been carrying on the U. S. S. washes the government which, if it wanted to, sional men has demonstrated the is, as the French say m ild ly , mal theatres rushed production plans ing out a long contemplated plan. (just like papa): ‘Take off my Philadelphia case. effectiveness of a short and in­ fi propos (evil to the purpose.) For could easily have passed a law denying war con­ Gathering her possessions and shoes! . . . Give me a clean shirt!’ “Since the m ilitary arm is well-nigh autono­ tensive course of m ilitary train­ —when suddenly Kolkov’s master­ instance, the prominent characters tracts to those factories that discriminate against piece was deflated. On October Mitya she leaves Kovrov in favor Always referring to his mother. ing in helping to qualify educat­ are mostly married party mem­ mous,” he points out, “ it is difficult to conceive Negroes. of a mutual friend, the jurist Bo­ ‘Mania ordered you to keep me In ed men to fill the great deficiency 13 Pravda indicted his play as bers, and at the same time all the of legal means to' eradicate these forms of dis­ Yes, some trade union leaders are guilty of rovsky, another party member, cleanliness . . . Mama said you in commissioned officers that “Slander Against the Soviet Fam­ families in the play without ex­ crimination. The provision in the Draft Act that ily.” damned the Gorki Theatre and this newly constituted fam­ must feed me well.’ ” Slaps his Jim Crowism, and we of the Socialist Workers would arise in case of national ception break up. Even Oavrik, no man shall be inducted for training and service for befouling its stage with it, and ily immediately “departs to a nurse’s face, and justifies himself, Party have pointed out again and again that this emergency.” the homeless waif, is a by-product ‘unless and until he ,is acceptable to the land and generally berated all the “respon­ summer resort.” Kolkov falls ill of a broken home. Ilis father “Mama told you I’m a nervous can be corrected only by persistent and organ­ The bankers and bosses every­ naval forces for such training and service’ vests sible” people for approving its from worry about the education committed suicide out of “sexual child and m ustn’t be upset.” ized action of the progressive white and Negro where were quick to grasp the unlimited discretion in the military and naval production. Not one among them, of his son. End of A ct One. jealousy." Kolkov surpassed him­ (Pravda, October 13). The nurse members of the union movement. idea, and camps like the one at lamented Pravda, showed “the The next scene takes place in self in inventing so plausible and breaks into tears, and Pravda authorities. That the forms of discrimination Williams has a lot of nerve talking afbout Plattsburg were soon established least sign of political perspicac­ a courtroom. In it Kovrov deliv­ yet so original, almost poetic, an breaks into cold sweat and shrieks referred to are abuses of discretion is apparent; throughout the country. someone else when he himself enforces a policy ity, not one saw in this play false­ ers a very long speech which ob­ explanation for the presence of a in the ears of all “responsible peo­ but they are probably damnum absque injuria, of segregation in the NY A, of which he is ad­ R E V IV E D IN 1940 hood and distortion of Soviet real­ viously exasperated Pravda. He homeless waif on a Soviet stage, ple”: "Art has the capacity of injuries without remedies.” ministrator, a policy which sets up “white pro­ FOR THE SAME PURPOSE ity .” ‘‘lashes as un-Soviet the educa­ but even this superb stroke only generalizing things!” How true. Konvitz’s discussion of the third type of Jim tional methods of child raising jects” and “Negro projects” and does not per­ The Military Training Camps Pravda dwells in detail on Kol­ aided in his downfall. ‘‘Let us Besides, a worker may wander Crowism is one, as he points out, which has re­ followed by Olga Alexandrovna, into the theatre. Or maybe a stu­ mit mixing of the two races on any NYA pro­ Association, organized in Febru­ kov’s opus. The main characters gra n t.” Pravda comments cau­ ceived very little attention, although it is a very a ry 1916 by the veterans of the in the play are Kovrov, engineer he talks at length about Commun­ tiously, “that there is such a fam­ dent just dropped from the rolls. ject, even in the North where many of the white important point. The White House laid down the first Plattsburg camp, continues and party member; his wife, Olga ist views on the family .... in ily, maybe more than one. But Why, anyone in the audience is arid Negro youth whom he separates used to procedure: “The strength of the Negro personnel today as a powerful quasi-military Alexandrovna, a party member; short, proves his rights to the when a family of this sort is taken apt. especially under the impact attend school together. child.” “Kovrov’s ‘eloquence’," apart from the entire surround­ of art, to start generalizing a few ... w ill be maintained on the general basis of continues Pravda sarcastically, ing reality one obtains a- false- stray ideas. proportion of the Negro population of the coun­ "The Nationally Known “fails to sway the court.” The nay, worse than that!—a vicious To crown it all, Kolkov meddles try.” That is, since 9% of the population is Authorities" Unions Back Campaign judge interrogates the child. M it­ generalization, a slander against with another issue: hooliganism. colored, 9% of the armed forces w ill be colored ya, it appears, would prefer to As for the round-table sessions of the “au­ the Soviet family.” Pravda passes it by w ith o u t com­ to». live with both his father and ment. But hooliganism has also thorities,” they were not much better. Kolkov’s real sin, however, is mother. Whereupon the court dis­ become a “problem of greatest Roosevelt Imitates Hitler As an example, consider the “authorities” For Refugee Relief not. in fa ilin g to counterbalance misses Kovrov’s plea and rules an aborted family with an idyllic state importance.” It has pen­ “It is amazing that these announcements scheduled to sit and solve the problems of the that the boy must remain with couple and a budding Stalin. He etrated so deeply into Soviet in­ aroused scarcely any protest. Here is an importa­ Negro on “ Industry and Labor” : his mother. made his mistake in centering dustry and institutions that the tion of the the numerus clausus practice from Eu­ A joint campaign to aid politi­ them to more than a concentra­ In the third act Mitya degener­ authorities are finding it very dif­ One administrative assistant of the National his play on the educational prob­ rope, a practice made notorious toward the end cal refugees is now being con­ tion camp in France or Germany. ates completely. He longs for his ficult to differentiate between a Defense Advisory Commission; one superinten­ lem, w h ich Pravda belligerently of the Nineteenth Century when the Czarist gov­ ducted by the International Re­ Charles A. Beard is honorary father, associates with street chil­ hooligan and a worker, i. e., be­ dent of the Ford Industrial School; one director points out is a “problem of great­ lief Association and the New chairman of the I.R.A.; Freda dren, and stops attending school tween deliberate resistance to the ernment fixed a quota to govern the admission of the Department of Social Sciences, Fisk est state importance.” World Resettlement. Fund. Kirchwey its treasurer. altogether. lie becomes ruder and June laws and an innocent acci­ of Jews to the Russian universities and schools University; one representative of Hampton In­ Tlie International Relief Asso­ The New World Resettlement ruder to growups, acts like a hoo­ Sons and daughters of workers dent. of higher learning. That this practice is a denial stitute; three officials of the Urban League; one ciation is the oldest anti-fascist Fund is working to resettle the ligan on the street, and learns to and peasants had just been driven But from Kolkov’s piay one of the very essence of democracy is in part shown race relations officer. Personnel Division, Fed­ labor relief organization in this families of Spanish anti-Fascists, steal. Even his mother begins from the Soviet schools to form could readily conclude that the by the fact that every anti-Semitic government now interned in France, in a co­ eral Works Agency; and one representative of country. For fourteen years it has to w o rry. an industrial labor reserve. Only families of party members, en­ has made use of it. rendered invaluable service to operative colony it has established the Mityas, i. e., the children of the Bureau of Employment Security. Meanwhile her lover Borovsky gineers, jurists and other “ respon­ “Very quietly this obnoxious practice has anti-fascist fighters abroad. It is in Ecuador. Oswald Garrison Vil- gets bored with her worries, and the privileged, can now attend sible people” are the breeding That means: zero representatives of the trade been introduced in the United States, in the very now helping politically endanger­ lard is National Chairman; Mar­ still more with her personally. school, because their parents alone places of—hooliganism! union movement, and zero working men or institution created to defend our democracy. It ed refugees in Sweden, France, garet DeSilver Treasurer of the “It seemed to me,” sums up the can pay the tuition. All the state "Who needs this?” wails women, present. Portugal to get visas for countries Fund. jurist, Borovsky, “that I loved her resources were being mobilized in Pravda. is wrong in itself and as a precedent, dangerous Yet, whatever else it might do or avoid doing, on this side of the Atlantic; pro­ This campaign is endorsed and a lot.. B u t once we started liv in g October to educate the populace In a concentration camp Kol­ to everyone who can be identified as a member however much it might desire to curry favor viding them with the necessary supported by many leading trade- together I suddenly sensed that to understand the historical sig­ kov may have an opportunity to of a racial or religious minority, and to every with Roosevelt, there was one thing this con­ funds for travel; and sending unions. including the Amalgamat­ it wasn’t so. I don’t love her at nificance of this latest victory. compare notes with another in­ American who prizes his heritage of freedom and ference could not avoid doing, and which served them monthly aid. ed Clothing Workers, ILGWU, and all.” Mitya decides to run away The Presidium of the C.C.T.U. advertent “slanderer," one Avde­ equality. The practice is as indefensible as it is by fraternal organizations such as convened in solemn session and to expose Roosevelt: it had to adopt a resolution Almost all of these refugees with a homeless waif who has yenko, author of the novel I Love, unprecedented (as a governmental policy), yet have no other organization to the Workmen’s Benefit Fund. become his pal and preceptor; hut resolved: opposing Roosevelt’s anti-Negro policy in the but really celebrated for breaking I know of no legal measure that might be taken help them. They are the ordin The anti-fascist refugees belong in trying to board a train, he armed forces and to ask for an end to certain "The trade union organiza­ all records several years ago in to stop it.” at the head of every Christmas phases of policy. It Wasn’t a very strong resolu­ ary humble people, penniless, un slips, falls under the wheels, and tions must explain to the work­ “loving” Stalin. Avdeyenko slap­ known, but the most courageous is killed. The lone witness of All in all, this pamphlet is very helpful tion; on the contrary, it was weak, inadequate list. Send contributions care of ers, the state employes, and ped together in an absent-minded figthers against reaction. The Mitya’s tragic end is his faithful members of their families the moment a scenario dealing with toward an understanding that “legal means” w ill and vague—but it shows up Roosevelt because George Novack, Joint Campaign I.R.A. takes pride in helping nurse, who runs after him, calls significance of an organized pre­ high-life among the Komsomol very probably do nothing to help the problem. he w ill not end Jim Crow in the armed forces. for Political Refugees, Room 405, these brave men and women out to him, but cannot catch him. paration of cadres of new work bureaucrats. Playwritiug, it turns What is required is the struggle which our party (Another article on the Hampton Conference whose records in their native 2 West 43rd Street, New York C u rta in . ers from among the urban and out, is a hazardous occupation has outlined: for trade union control of m ilitary -will appear next week.) lands and in emigration entitle C ity. In writing this problem-play, kolkhoz youth, and the creation “ubder socialism." tra in in g . 4 SOCIALIST APPEAL DECEMBER 14, 1940

of the African Standard, for having published an SOCIALIST APPEAL article protesting Johnson’s arrest. These and many similar arrests are made under the Colonial De­ Juicy War Contracts NOTEBOOK V O L. IV — No. 50 S aturday, December 14, 1940 fense Regulations, which give the British gover­ nors the right to imprison any native whose con­ r«Ni