davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Wage Increases Cease.

State Commissioner, Mr.. Frederick
Q. Morton, Municipal Civil Service
Commissioner, declared:
There are in Harlem upwards of
100000 Negroes. Nearly half the
residents Of the community are lodg-
ers. This in itself constitutes a
great menace to public morals and
also gives deepest concern to the
thoughtful leaders of my race as to
the welfare Of our coming generations
in this city.
"The average respectable Harlem
family cannot, without taking lodg-
ers, pay rent in Harlem. Rentals
average from S12 to $14 room and
in some instances go as high as SIS
and $50. The monthly income of the
average Harlem family of good
standing is about $125. 1t is obvious
that the great need of our commun-
ity, therefore, is small apartments
which could be procured at rentals
commensurate with the average in
come Of the ordinary family.
"In many cases, colored tenants
pay double, or nearly double the
rents paid by the last white tenants
Of property vacated by white tenants.
Banks and other financial institu-
tons controlling real estate capital
have always Disseminated against
Negro property. It is a fact that
when an owner of Negro property
desires to refnance it he must pay
exorbitant bonuses and rarely ever
obtains new capital from the large
financial institutions controlling such
capital
And Mrs. Eddie Aspinwall told Of
a house on West 140th St. where a
Negro occupant paid $40 for four
room railroad fat having no improve
Uents and having no light for four
weeks The tenant was compeled to
give $15 for an electricity installment
deposit. This apartment once rented
for $25. The white tenants had been
paying $22 and $24. Mr.. Asphalt
then went on:
81 can take you to a school in the
winter time where the children haYe
no more soles on the bottom Of their
feet than If they hadn't anything be-
cause the parents have TO spend all
Of the money to pay the landlord. 3.
Those people are more afraid of the
landlord than the Fifteenth was in
No Mans Land, where they were
fighting, standing behind the machine
guns"
To find Negro children undothed,
sometimes with no underclothes, With
sleeves out Of coats, with no over
coats is very easy matter.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11

of New York workers. All budget
studies made to date establish the
fact that the smaller the income and
the smaller the family, the larger is
the proportion used for rent. rhe
proportion decreases rather rapidly
as the income becomes more ade-
quate."
Thus the Housing Commission
found in its survey of 3,S41 families
in New York State 1929 that fami-
lies having an annual income Of less
than one thousand dollars spent 28.4
per cent Of their total earnings for
rent; those having $1,000-S1 500
every year spent only 1874 per cent
for rent.
Assuming even that the average
working class family spends only
about 20 per cent Of its total annual
income for rent we find that about
seventy per cent of the families in
New York City and about seventy-five
whose income was $4,000 or more
spent 23.0 per cent for rent; those
per cent in New York State cannot
afford TO rent apartments costing
more than $500 year. Consequently
the families Of the workers are the
hardest hit by the enormous rise in
rent.
How Longshoremen Suffer.
What agony and suffering these
nigh, unbearable rents bring to the
workers of New York cannot be
measured adequately in dollars and
cents.
Speaking for the 10000 longshore.
men in the port Of New York, Vice
President John p. Ryan, Of the Inter-
national Association, minced no
words on the troubles Of the work.
ers engaged in this extra-hazardous
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Women Are Taboo in
Rep. Party Councils,
Says Mrs. Mcbride
Especial to The Daily worksr)

CLEVELAND, Ohio.-That the Re-
publican party bosses do not care a
rap for the opinions of the women
whose support they seek in drumming
up votes for them was the charge
made by Mrs. Mcbride is a fiery
speech to a meeting of the Republi-
can Women's council.
The occasion for the outburst was
pep" meeting called to Jazz up the
waning enthusiasm of the women
Mrs. Mcbride resented the lack of
consideration shown the women who
do the hard work. She said she was
thru with partisan organizations and
wasting her time supplying the
mantle of feminine delicacy to the
putrid cesspool of republican party
politics.
Mrs. Nettie Clapp, another men,
Der of the committee said the best
policy was to play with the men and
work into gradually into the inner
circles, and not seek to burst in sud
denly into their political sanctums.
Intelligent women are beginning to
rebel against being compelled to play
the part of hewers of wood and draw
ers of water in the politicacl camps of
the capitalist parties.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
workers, Income Yerr Low.

No analysis of the housing crisis
can be complete unless the income of
the tenants as wei. as the rent they
pay is considered. No housing condi-
tons can be satisfactory, even ii the
apartments are habitable, urless
there are rooms available at the rem
tails which the working masses can
afford to pay.
Turning to the latest, 1920. figures
on the estimated distribution of FAM
lilies in the sundry income groups of
New York State we find the follow
ing startling disclosures about the
poverty Of the families Of the work
ers in the wealshiest state, in the
Empire State Of the Union, brought
forward in the Report of the State
Housing Commission:
About three-fourth (7S.4 per cent?
Of the families in New York state
have annual incomes Of less than
$500.
Only about one-ffth (22.1) Of the
New York State families have a
total income Of $500 to $4,000 u
year.
Less than one,tenth Of the families
Of New York State have annual in
comes in excess Of $4,000.
In New York City more than two
thirds Of the families receive total
incomes Of less than $4,000 year;
about one-fourth have annual incomes
between $500 and $4,000; and less
than one out Of every Ten families
has an annual income Of more than
$4,000.
Rent Burdens Stagger Poor.
Under these circumstances 1t is
obvious that the high rents are a
staggering burden to the great mass
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
NeW Culture to
Come from Russia,
Declares Composer
Especial to The Daily wsrker)

CLEVELAND, Ohio.--The great
art of the future will come from the
east, said Ernst Won Dohnanyi, plan
list, composer and conductor of the
Philharmatic orchestra of Budapest,
as he wrested with a menu that con-
taned the names Of innumberable
pies, from which he was trying to
select one for dessert.
"And by the east don't mean
Japan-bring me a cherry TART
mean Russia" went on the famous
conductor between frowns and ges-
lures of evaporation as he looked in
vain for a strawberry shortcake.
Russia is a country that has not yet
had its say. 1t has had its culture,
but it was a European culture i'm
posed from the top as thin veneer,
true culture must grow out Of the
hearts of the people"
A capitalist reporter asked Mr..
Dohnanyi, what he thought of Amer
lean women. This stupid question
almost threw his temperament out of
gear but he rallied nobly and said
that he had not yet got into the heart
of America and therefore could not
speak with authority.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
DOUGLASS, NEGRO
LEADER AGAINST
SLAVERY, LAUDED
Speakers Honor Great
Colored American

The memory Of Frederick Douglass,
the great Negro abolitionist, was
honored at big mass meeting in
Wendell Phillips High School, last
night, under the auspices Of the
Liberal Culture Society.
"a great American" was Robert
Minors Characterization of the col
ored libertarian. Minor dealt at
length with the numerous Negro slave
uprisings prior to the rise of
Frederick Douglass and pointed out
with great clarity the economic roots
of the slave system and the class re-
lationships which gave rise to race
hatred in American life. He con-
tinued with scientific analysis of
the social forces of the future which
alone will give the Negro race its new
emancipation.
Lovett Fort-Whiteman spoke on the
"Aim and Purpose" of the Liberal
Culture Society. He gave a clear
description of the economic condition
of the Negro in America and logically
discussed the impossibility Of any
great Negro cultural achievement
within the present social order.
"There is no racial group in Ameri-
can life," said Fort-Whiteman, "bet-
ter endowed by nature to give Amer
lea a distinct music, art and poetry
than the Negro race. His imagina-
ton is rich and colorful; his feeling
deep and universal The Negro is
spiritual, as his love for religion at
tests. Yet at present the Negro is
giving almost nothing to the art life
of America. And why? Because
the present sociological and economic
condition of the Negro is direfully
miserable. His best energies must go
to maintain his head above water.
The higher artistic expression of the
Negro cannot be achieved in the pres
ent capitalist society.
The Liberal Culture Society is en-
deavoring to promote proletarian
culture among Negroes.
There was an excellent musical
program, by eminent Negro artists.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Workers Standard living Falls Rents Rise Victims Are the Negoe
CONTINUED from page u

CONTINUED from page ID
steadily soaring away above
shefr low wages.
In the great increase of rents
in the last three years the poor
have been hit much harder
than the rich. The rents of the
cheaper apartments have risen
much more than the rents of
the expensive ones.
300 Per Cent Rent Increase.
The rents have increased by leaps
and bounds was made clear beyond
challenge by the Housing Commits
eion's survey of the average monthly
payments for rooms by workers liv-
ing in eight typical city blocks. In
the Commissions preliminary report
we find that:
Instance after instance is record
ed where the new tenant pays fifty
per cent to 800 per cent increase
over the rental Of the old tenants.
Little wonder that the old tenants
hold on to what they have, bad OF
good"
1t is a practice among New York
landlords to charge new tenants
much more than the old ones.
Likewise, Miss Lille Grant, Act
ing Chairman of the Mayors Rent
Committee, testified that rents were
being increased in Manhattan, Bronx
and Brooklyn between 100 and 300
per cent.
The huge rent increases shown
block by block in the table below are
the result Of the survey conducted
by the State Housing and Regional
Planning Commission of the condi-
tions prevailing in eight typical city
blocks. The Commission emphatically
points out that "in reading the rent
figures it should be borne in mind
that nearly half of the apartments
were not heated; in some instances
II cost the families an additional
$500 a month TO keep the apart
ments comfortably warm"
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Table Shouting Hugely Increased Rents
in Blocks Largely Inhabited by Workers

For the mass Of workers the con-
ditions are much worse than the
above table would tend TO indicate.
These blocks are typical and not
merely the blocks occupied by the
poor people. Besides. the figures
cited here do not include the money
many workers families are com
PEELED TO spend for repairs in order
TO be able 10 stay in their homes.
"A Bunch Of Bolsheviks."
How the workers react TO this high
tribute levied on them by their land
lords for the right to live in abom-
Unable houses and what it means TO
their lives are well represented in
the following instances;
II must pay yS5 now for three
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11

occupation, whose weekly wage is S27
to $50 and who must often pay rent
as high as $40 month.
"The homes for the lon1shoremen
in the Chelsea, South Street, Red
Hook and Bush Terminal districts
have no modern conveniences. The
tenants must paint the places them
selves and clean the halls" Ryan fur
their testified.
Tenement Babies Work for Fifth
Avenue.
The high rents have also greatly
increased the number Of children
forced to work in the homes of the
poor. In the survey of 1000 work
ing class families made by George
A. Hall, Of the New York State Child
Welfare Commission, it was found
that economic pressure compelled
tenement babies to work for Fifth
Avenue trade. Seventy-nine Der cent
of the children thus employed were
under fourteen. Thirty-fve per cent
were under ten years of age.
Describing this desperate economic
want that prevails among the fami-
lies OF the workers in the Harlem
district, Miss Margaret NJ. Nc
Groarty, school teacher, called this
section "the forsaken spot" and went
on to tell Of this heart-rending con-
dition:
Children as young as three were
put to work on artificial flowers.
With their tiny fingers they apply
paste to the bowl of the flower SO
that the mother or the older sister
may apply the petals.
'The wages are deplorable. Crochet
dresses which sell for S49.50 are fin
ished for 81. Conditions in East
Harlem are simply appalling. Per-
sonal articles of apparel are made in
homes where disease is prevalent.
The children come home from school.
don't wash their hands but 20 right
to work during the noon internis-
sion, and eat when they can"
Rents Drive Poor Insane.
The boundary lines of the extreme
sufferings of the workers because of
the enormous rents they have to pay
doesn't stop at child labor and a gem
eral lower standard Of living. In
sanity and death also claim the pow
erty-stricken worker compelled to
pay rental beyond his means for a
house that is unfit for habitation.
One woman told the Commission
how her husband was driven insane
by the repeated increases in rents.
Since 1919 the landlords have raised
the rent Of his little Photographic
shop from SIS to SITS and his apart
ment from $33 to sos. At the de-
mand for the last increase the hus-
band collapsed. He is now in the
Bloomingdaie Asylum--a State ward.
Today, the wife is forced to 20 to
work, and to leave a ten-year-old
girl in the apartment alone all day.
Finally, Mrs. Asphalt told the
State Investigators Of the case Of a
Negro woman whose husband died
because he was forced to live in an
abominab.e fiat which was all he
could afford to pay for. For three
years the landlord Of this apartment
wouldn't fix the roof. The husband
was taken sick because water was
running down the bed. The damp
ness in the room brought pneumonia.
Death soon followed.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
RADICAL NEGRO
SEES SANHEDRIN
AS EPOCH MAKING
Race Congress Hailed
by Fort-Whiteman
By LoYETT FoRT-wHITEMAN.

By LOVETT FORT-WHITEMAN.
The Negro has always been per-
fectly conscious of the injustices at
tending his social existence in Amer
lean life. And his organizations for
securing and safeguarding his civil
and political rights are numerous
and daily on the increase. This fact
that each organization has its dis
tinct methods and program for at
tanning common goal, thus causing
a waste Of much vital social energy,
has given rise to a desire to make
some attempt at confederation.
The Sanhedrin Conference was or
gained year ago by Prof. Kelly
Miller, Of the Department of Mathe-
matics in Howard University, Wash
ington, D. G. He is regarded by all
Negroes as one of the most eminent
scholars of the race. He is best
known to the white race by his two
books, "Race Adjustment" and "Out
of Bondage" Kelly Miller is en-
deavoring by means Of the Sanhedrin
Conference to bring all Negro organ
iZations together on a common pro-
gram of action in the general vork
of race adjustment in American life.
The Sanhedrin Conference begins
its sittings Monday noon, Feb. IL,
in the auditorium of the Y. M. c. A.,
Wabash Ave. and 9th St. It's eve
ming sessions, thruout the week, will
be held in the auditorium of Wendell
Phillips High School, Prairie Ave.
and 39th st. Only the evening SEES
sions are open to the public. The
conference will continue thru the en-
tire week, and it goes without saying
that it will be epoch-making in its
new social attitude and it's resultant
decisions.
There will be several hundred dele
gates, coming from all parts of the
country, and representing many or
CARNATIONS. The Workers Party of
America is sending five delegates,
the African Blood Brotherhood is
sending two. These two organiza-
tions being wholly class conscious
shall no doubt find it to their mutual
interests to consolidate many times
turnout the conference.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Average

was in there; they paid only s13.
Now they pay $50, and the land
lord--maybe tenants he don't want
to give so much raise. He bring
me SIT. After he raised me to $40,
bring others half dozen times.
Leave it to the Magistrates
Courts TO come down there with
a summation in the neighborhood.
We have this movement few years
ago, and think all the people We
know are mentioned by the Bronx
League three years ago. We was
all bunch Of Bolsheviks. Now
/ would think everybody start TO
be a Bolsheyik, because Bolshevik
mean honest people. Bolshevik
don't mean crooked"
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Drive for Movie Machine.

BROOKLYN, N. Y.-The Boro
Park group, who recently changed
their name to the "Lenin Group"
will start the drive for motion pic
ture machine with an entertainment
and dance Friday evening, Feb. 18th,
at the Finnish Hall, 764 40th St.,
Brooklyn.
A program arranged by the Juniors
shows that the Young Workers
League, when organizing the child
rem on the basis of self-activity, has
not been building castles in the air as
some comrades held.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
BOSSES LAY OFF
100000 WORKERS
LAST DECEMBER
Railroads, Mines, Fac
tories, Slowing Down

Over half a million workers were
laid off by American employers dur
ing the last six months of 1923,
according to figures in the Decem-
Der employment report of the United
States bureau Of labor statistics.
Railroad lay offs totaling 1890
and tens of thousands of miners idle
in illinois and Indiana brings the
number turned off by industry above
the half million mark without any
attempt to include farm workers and
men engaged in highway construc-
ton who have been laid off since
the summer months.
Still Better Than Last Year.
Compared with December, 1922,
employment is 81 per cent higher
Very material decreases in nearly all
branches of textile and clothing man.
ufacture as we'll as in the manufac-
ture of boots and shoes, railroad
equipment and auto tires are more
than balanced by increased employ
ment in the food, iron and steel,
lumber, automobile and electrical in
dustries.
In addition to the decrease in num-
Der employed between November
and December the percentage Of
full time operation fell per cent.
In December 90 per cent Of the es-
Establishments reported part time oper-
alton and 2 per cent were entirely
closed down. Approximately one
third of the establishments report
ing full time operation were operat-
ing below capacity. Less than ca
pacity operation was especially
characteristic of the steel industry
in which only 81 per cent Of the
establishments were operating full
time and only a third of these re
ported that they were utilizing their
entire capacity.
Wage Increases Cease.
The development of unemployment
has brought wage increases to
standstill. The report shows that
during the preceding IL months 4,373
wage increases were recorded. In
May the peak of wage increases was
reached with a total If 1879 re-
ported during the month. By No
vember the number of increases had
fallen to 113 while in December only
Fl were reported. And during De-
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11

a farm for the rest of his life," and
then gloated in the sweetness of the
thought of revenge.
To the wondering reporter the
mystery was becoming more myster-
ious-and he would have died with a
wondering mind had not the man
with the piping voice come to his
rescue, by nabbing him by the elbow
an pointing to Feb. 7th issue of the
DAILY WORKER and calling atten-
ton to Attorney General Daugherty's
picture-then piped again-"He beat
it--can you beat the beat it."
Needless to say the straying re-
porter has smilingly strayed all over
the village with the strange news.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11

On the day Of the accident, Flynn
and Sawyer began their run at 4:30
A. NJ, It has been learned. They
were required to report at the sta
ton at indianapolis at AIS A. M.
Both men had been working APP
proximately IL hours when the &C
cident happened at 4:30 o'clock in
the afternoon.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11

smaller rooms, and when I lived
before | was there for nine years,
and that house when I came in
/ paid SIS. and the SIS he raised
me SIT. After he raised me to $40.
and then sold the house maybe for
$4,000. That house. old tenants
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11

slaughter as the result of the
death of 10 persons in the
wreck.
Under new schedule adopted
by the company, all motormen
and conductors on the Anderson
division were required to work
a 1S-hour day alternatively with
an eight-hour day.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Appeasing the JobIess

BERLIN-About go per cent Of
the industrial workers registered in
the Ruhr district are unemployed.
Emergency work is being undertaken
by the government, costing 100000
gold marks per day, to avoid COM
plete idleness and militant action on
the part of those unemployed.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
RENTS NOW 80 PER CENT
HIGHER THAN BEFORE THE
WAR IN new YORK CITY

Special 10 The Daily Worker
NEW Y0RK.--Rents are 80 per
cent higher then before the var,
says a statement issued by the
National Industrial Conference
Board. During 1928 rents in
creased 8 per cent. The estimates
are based on figures gathered in
181 cities thruout the Unded
States. The board sees no hope
for a reduction In rents.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
WEATHER FOR THE WEEK

WASHINGTON, D. c., Feb. TO-
Weather outlook for period February
IL to Is inclusive:
Region Great Lakes: Considerable
elcudiness, probably occasional SHOWS
over north and rains or SHOWS over
south portion. Frequent alterations
in Temperature.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Communists the Issue.

SYDNEY. N. S. w.-The annual
conference Of the Australian Labor
party will meet at Sydney during
Easter week of 1924. The biggest
question to be decided is whether the
motion carried at last conference to
admit Communists to the Labor party
will be ratified.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Car Crew in 13-Hour Shift When
Indiana Traction Wreck Killed 10

INDIANAPOLIS. Ind.-The of the eastbound Union
Traction which in the collision Fortvle ago
today required work Is hours the day the accident
it revealed today
Roin Flynn, motorman and Sidney Sawyer conductor
the eastbound held charge of involuntary
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Famous Criminals Escape South
Lnfzanes Minneapolis PoPulace
Especial to The Daily worker)
Bv GRILL" SANDBERG

MINNEAPOLIS, Mimi, Feb. 1O-Strayng down Fourth
Street. the DAILY WORKER special correspondent sped
crowd of men and in front of book estcuatng
and peerng in thru the window Curious the
the commoton the skrted the young
steadily growing crowd, all set for revelation
An excited voice from the window could be heard
piping And he beat t-Can you beat -He beat it." He
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11

Watch the Daily Worker" for the
first installment Of "A Week." the
great epic of the Russian revolution,
by the brilliant young Russian writer.
Jury Libedinsky. II will start soon.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-11
Missing-Dead Two Week.

OXFORD, Mich, Feb. 1O.-Oscar
Ley, So. and his wife, So, who had
not been seen for nearly two weeks,
were found dead in bed in their home
here today.