davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-27
WILBUR TO EXPLAIN
NAVY GUN PLACING
Will Discuss Before Senate
Committee Elevation Pro-
posaI and Other Phases.

Information for the Senate naval al
fairs committee, in response to the
inquiries recently propounded by that
committee, is being prepared by Sec
rotary Wilbur of the Navy Depart
ment. The Secretary will appear be
fore the committee Monday, when it
begins work on the naval appropria
ton bill for the coming fiscal year.
At the instance of Senator Gerry OF
Rhode Island, the committee has ask
ed whether any foreign power has
protested against the proposed eleva
ton of the guns of American battle
ships TO give them range comparable
to those of the guns on British and
other capital ships. Secretary Wilbur
would not indicate, however, whether
the queries he has received touched
on that question.
Secretary Examines Records.
Mr.. Wilbur took occasion Sester-
day to look up records of the naval
battle off Santiago and the logs OF
certain ships engaged in the fighting
along the Cuban coast in 1898 in or
der TO verify a recollection he had
that American ships at that time had
been listed in order to increase the
range of their guns, a procedure
which has been experimental with
recently DN DOtn the BRUSH and
American navies He found that the
battleship Indiana, on July IL, after
the naval engagement, and while en-
deavoring TO lombard the city of
Santiago over a high bluff, had
swung her two main battery turrets
to the offshore side, which listed the
ship several degrees and added to the
elevation of her S-inch secondary
battery on the shoreward side.
Comparison of Navies.
Mr. Wilbur also found in old Amer
lean and British scientific magazines
comparisons of the American and Span
ish navies, made before war was declared
between those two countries. The
experts" of that day, he discovered,
held the two navies to be relatively
equal in strength, as far az their
ships were concerned, although the
Spanish naval strength consisted
largely of heavily armored fast
cruisers, while the American Navy
included a far larger proportion OF
battleships. The Secretary made no
comment in connection with his eA
plorations into the old records, say
ing he had looked these matters up
only to verify his own recollections.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-27

pie time to recuperate from each sea-
son before again being dredged. He
would provide FERTILIZER in the
shape of shells for the homes of the
young. He would keep his water
farm clean, guarding against infec-
ton and acting quickly If any dan
ger to health became apparent
The farms under this system would
be located at points far enough dis
tant from cities to prevent the ty-
phoid Infection. 1t would be beset by
a single difficulty, one now met with
in States where the farming is car
ried on. The oyster pirate hovers
around, ready to raid a bed just about
the time the farmer gets ready to do
his dredging. At the present time the
penalties for this type of piracy are
so insignificant that the oyster pirate
can pay his fine several times over
out of the profits of one raid He is
in a class with the bootlegger in this
respect.
The Bureau of Fisheries officials.
not desiring to be viewed as alarm
lists. nevertheless are firm in their
prophecies that unless something
drastic is done in the way of meet
ing the problems of the industry
within the next few years, the
oyster will pass along the way of a
good part Oh the game, both bird
and fish, that has been hunted and
ished until the once plentiful
supply has been cut to the point
where almost any size bag or haul
comes under the head of an accom-
plishment. If the people. of the
country are to continue to have the
benefit of an efficient and tasty food
in the way of the oyster, something
must be done and done promptly, or
for a number of years, if not many
years, the oyster will be off the
market while belated efforts are
being made to restore the beds to a
point where once more they may be
used for market purposes.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-27

The recent outbreak Of typhoid
fever in New York City and its en-
virons, which is being blamed by Of
ficials of the city on the eating of
oysters, bears out the warning by
Bureau of Fisheries officials that I'M
less something drastic was done to
curb the pollution of waters near the
oyster beds serious consequences
might follow.
They do not make any claim that
the present epidemic is due to eating
of oysters, but they have pointed out
the menace to health in eating oys-
terS that come from waters close by
the outlet of sewerage systems.
They have pointed out several evils
now existing in the oyster industry
that require almost immediate rem
edying if the industry is to live.
Three Outstanding Problems.
Three problems are outstanding, the
pollution of water. the failure to re-
turn shells to the beds and overdredg-
ing of the beds, with the result that
insufficient seed oysters are left for
breeding purposes.
Maryland, at great cost, is en-
deavoring to overcome one of these
evils, the failure to dump shells back
into the water. The life Of the
oyster is such that the return of
shells to the water Is an absolute
necessity. The young oysters, after
being Matched, swim around as free
swimming fish for a period of ten
days to two weeks. depending upon
the temperature of the water in
which they live. At the expiration
of that period they sink slowly to
the bottom, where they attach them
selves to rocks for shells and begin
to develop into the orthodox BIZ
valve. However, if, when they reach
the bottom, they find no hard sub
stance to which to attach them
selves, they sink into the mud and
die. That is where the necessity of
dumping shells into the water
comes in.
Years ago this was no problem, for
the great accommodations of shells
along the shore became a nuisance
Problem Of Recent Origin.
and the fishermen, partly to make
room and partly for ballast, took
loads of shells out with them when
they went out to the beds and
dumped them in the water somewhere
nearby In this way they provided
for the foundations for new beds
which became populated with oysters
in the following breeding seasons.
however, EMERGENCY MT the oyster
industry and 1t became necessary to
end what the ignorant thought was
huge waste of material in the
dumping of the shells into the ocean
By-products were sought and there
sprang up a new Industry that used
oyster shells by the millions of tons
to make grit for chickens and lime
to say nothing of the great quaint
ties that went into the building OF
roads.
Such "A profligate waste and failure
TO provide for the future has brought
the industry to the verge of ruin.
Ov~rdredEinE Presents Problem.
Another great problem is that OF
oyerdredging the beds. In desire
for gain and an utter Indifference
as TO the future has led many oyster
men so drag the beds over and over
until so few adults are left that the
propagating Of new generations OF
oysters has been seriously curtailed
This practice continued a few years
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-27
PAPER IN NEW HANDS.
Manchester Mirror, Old New Eng
land journal, Joins Union-Leader.

MANCHESTER, n. H., December 81.
Tho Union-Leader Publishing Co.,
publishers of the Manchester Leader
and the Manchester Union, announced
today the purchase of the Manchester
Mirror, one of the oldest afternoon
daily newspapers in New England.
The NIirrc- will be consolidated with
the afternoon Leader. e
The two papers will be published
under the name of the Leader. The
Mirror. since its purchase some years
ago from Rosecrans w. Pillsbury, has
been published by company headed
by John II. Fahey, former president
of the United States Chamber of Com
mcrce, Maj. Frank Knox and John P.
Muehling are publishers of the Union
and Leader.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-27
SHIP CREW OUT ON BOND.
Captain and Men Given Hearing
on Rum Charge.

HOBOKEN. n. j., December 27.--
Capt. ST. Clair Tanner and five mem
bers of the crew of the British
schooner Patara, seized off the Jer-
sey coast the day before Christmas
with 100000 worth of liquor aboard
were held for a hearing before
United States commissioner. yesterday
charged with conspiracy to violate
the prohibition law.
Capt. Tanner was released in $1,000
bail and the members of the crew
gained their liberty on bail of $1,000
each.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-27
ONE GRAVE TO HOLD
70 OF HOBART DEAD
Burial of Fire Victims DELAYED
by Inability to Finish
Digging.
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
HOBART, Okla. December 27.-
Babb's Switch. a little farming settle
ment south of here, today continued
burying the So victims of the fire
which wreck ed the community's
school house during a Christmas eve
entertainment.
Eight bodies were buried yesterday
after a memorial service at the Ho-
bart auditorium in which ministers
from all denominations took part
Stores closed while all Hobart turned
out to pay tribute to the dead. Plans
for burying the other victims yester-
day were held up because of inability
to get the graves finished. One large
grave was being dug in the little
snow-covered cemetery to receive 20
of the victims today. Families of the
others requested separate burials. No
new services were planned for today,
those yesterday sufficing for all.
At least three of the injured are not
expected to recover.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-27
Woman Poison Victim.

Mrs. Mabel Musselman, 81 1877
Trinidad avenue northeast, suffering
from poison she had taken at home.
the police reported, was removed TO
Casualty Hospital yesterday after
noon. She was treated by DR.. Cud-
ney, who reported her condition as
being undetermined.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-27
Pioneer Plowman Dies.

GRAND FORKS, N. Oak, December
27.-Barney Haggerty. IS, credited
with having hauled the first plow into
this district on an OK cart, in 1874,
died yesterday of pneumonia. He came
here from Ontario, Canada.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-05

ment began with the attack by La.
Toilette upon the St. Paul conven-
yention. Its final liquidation by La
Toilette occurred at the G. P. P. A.
convention on July 4, 1924, at Cleve-
land, Ohio.
Comrade Foster, Ruthenberg, and
myself were present at the @. p P.
A. convention as spectators. Foster
and Immediately agreed that the
liquidation of the farmer-labor move
ment had taken place and we both
sensed the danger to the Workers
Party. Comrade Ruthenberg admit
ted the liquidation, but refused to
draw the proper conclusion, which
was suggested by Foster, namely, that
we withdraw our support from the
national farmer-labor party and put
up our own candidates and have our
party run Under its own flag. Return.
ing to Chicago, Foster presented the
case to the G. E. c. for the Workers
Party running its own campaign, and
was supported by me. Ruthenberg
made lengthy argument for con
tinuing with the farmer-labor party
but he eventually abandoned this po-
sition and voted to support the mo
ton made by Foster that the Workers
Party conduct its own election cam.
paign. Lovestone was then most mil
liant in his opposition to the Work
ers Party program. He never gave
up that opposition and seems to have
converted others of the present minor
ity to his views. was at that time a
member of Lovestone's minority but
split definitely and decisively on the
issue of the Workers Party running
an independent campaign. l was to
be the new secretary OF the national
farmer-labor party, having been cleo
ted by the G. E. c., but l felt no am
bition to be secretary of a fake or
ganization living off the Workers
Party. The farmer-labor movement
that we had thought was the basis
of a class party independent OF La
Toilette was at the Cleveland, Jul,
4, meeting liquidated by and proven
to be homogeneous with the LaFollettt
movement.
Could the F. FL. P. Have Been Butt
1t is argued by the minority thai
this liquidation was inevitable because
of neglect to organize the federated
farmer-labor party" Having been tn,
secretary of that party and having
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-05
THE WORKERS PARTY is
THE ONLY CLASS PARTY

party OF the social revolution, but that
the masses necessary for victory shall
be organized in a "class farmer-labor
party"
A united front with organizations
of workers and poor farmers for mass
resistance to the tyrannies Of capital
ism and the capitalist state is one
thing, but the creation of reformist
political party under the guise Of a
class farmsr-labor party" to do the
work which a Communist Party must
do if il is to become the party of the
masses, is quite another. 1t is a CON
ceplion of the united front tactic that
is rejected by the Communist Inter
national and for which not one word
Of qualification can be found in any
of its theses or resolutions.
On the contrary, the Comintern ex-
pressly states that always and every
where the Communist Parties must
appear as the leader in the daily strug-
giles of the working class and that
only in this way can mass Commu-
mist Party be built"
It ia one thing to take part in a
mass movement of workers and poor
farmers of trade unions, OF co-opera-
tivcs, of working class organs of
struggle-but it Is quite another thing
to attempt to sift out Of these organ
izations the class conscious workers
and organize them in class farmer
labor party" which takes over the task
Of leading and inspiring the working
class in its everyday battles
Such theory could spring only
from encouragement and disappoint-
ment with the Workers (Communist)
Party Of America, and is an obvious
admission that the minority believes
that there can be other class parties
in the United States than the Work.
ers (Communist) Party--believes that
there must be and believes it so
strongly that they wish to be the lead
ers in a party whose sole function will
be to rally the working class on the
basis of daily demands and struggles
growing out of these demands
party that separates the Workers
(Communist) Party from the masses
and makes its task Of becoming a
mass party more difficult-a "class
farmer-labor party" that must newt
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-05
BY NAT KApLAN.

IN the last election campaign the
Central Executive Committee Of the
Workers Party promised the workers
and exploited farmers of this country,
in the party platform, that: "The
Workers Party declares its purpose
to continue the struggle to mobilize
the workers and exploited farmers for
Independent political action thru a
mass farmer.labor party"
At the time a political leader of the
present majority Of the central execu-
tive committee, Comrade Bittelman
raises the question parties and Is
sues in the Election Campaign:
Shall the workers and poor farmers
have a political party of their own, a
farmer-labor party?" and then an
swers the question himself. Eyes, by
all means. Without a party of their
own. politics for the workers becomes
farce. 1t means helping other
classes-big, medium and small CAPT
tal-to fasten ever tighter their grip
over the working masses. If the small
capitalists and rich farmers want
their own party, let them go to it.
But the workers and poor farmers
have no business in such a combina.
ton. They have their own interests
to defend, which are antagonistic to
the interests Of all capitalist groups,
big, medium and little. Therefore,
let us have farmer-labor party"
The elections referred to above took
place on Nov. 4, 1924. Three days
later, Nov. Z, 1924, the same central
executive committee declares DAILY
WORKER-The Results Of the Flee.
tiohsJ: "Our chief task in the imme.
date future is not the building OF
such farmer.labor party but the
strengthening and developing Of the
Workers Party itself as the practical
leader Of the masses and as the only
party that represents the working
class interests and fights for them"
The same Comrade Bittelman, who
stated above: Therefore, let us have
a farmer.labor party" now declares:
We shall now have no farmer-labor
policy because there Is no farmer.
labor movement. We shall also have
no labor party slogan because such a
slogan will have no dynamic appeal
and will OFFER no basis Of struggle to
the masses Of workers and poor
farmers"
In reciting these facts we do not
In the least question the correctness
Of the formula: "That those who can.
not change their minds, have no
minds to change" What we are par.
licularly interested in at the moment
Is to determine whether the underly.
ng causes which precipitated tho
ISSUANCE Of the slogan: For a mass
armerlabor party" have been 30 far
liberated during the three days that
elapsed between Nov. and 7, as to
warrant "the change Of mind" on the
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-05
GOODBYE CLASS FARMER-LABOR PARTY

party. It will be remembered that
even then at its convention held in
Chicago in 1920, it negotiated with
LaFollette to become its presidential
candidate. LaFollette was not ready
then to break with his capitalist
republican allies and the negotiations
fell thru. Even in these early stages
the movement showed its petty
bourgeois, LaFolIette, character.
My conclusion, gained from many
trips to the northwest and southwest,
the former the home OF the farm.
er-labor movement, is that the So
called farmer-labor movement is an
agrarian petty bourgeois descendent
of the peoples party Of the 9O's and
the late non-partisan league of latter
days. found in the many farmer
labor conventions / attended thruout
the western states. that the theology
Of the delegates was essentially and
typically petty bourgeois. They in
variably used the term third party"
in conscious preference to a farmer-la.
Dor party. Not once in single one Of ali
those conventions did l hear the
phrase-class struggle. Always, every
where the workers and farmers re-
ferred to themselves and their move
ment as "the people," BY devious
routes I had to secure the floor to adj
dress the conventions. and after MAX
ing Communist criticism of the cap.
italist system, had to wind up by ad-
vising them to organize "class farm
er-labor party" While many showed
interest in this form of organization,
that interest was as nothing com
pared to the enthusiasm almost bor-
dering on hysteria--for the man. La.
Toilette, as their hoped-for presiden-
tial candidate.
My mission was to popularize Com
munism. help them to organize farm.
er-labor party, and contest the in.
1uence OF LaFollette. Never could /
affect his influence in the minds OF the
petty bourgeois, agrarian workers
and farmers whose belief in LaFol-
lette was based upon his legislative
petty bourgeois program. The very
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-05
BY JOSEPH MANLEY

n T this moment when some in our
~ party are telling us that the
slogan of ''class farmer-labor party"
will. by some magic process, give us
united front, will lead us out Of isola-
tion and finally make Of us mass
Communist party" must admit that
| am filled with sense Of sour and
sickly humor. | can well testify to
the alleged political charm OF the
slogan: "class farmer-Iabor party" as
I have had the not-to-be-envied reputa-
tion OF being the executive secretary
OF one such political afiiiction, and
while serving in that capacity have
made more speeches to masses of
non.communists, especially appealing
to them to organize ''cIass farmer
labor party" that anyone else in our
party. Under these circumstances,
therefore, Il may be we'll for me to
restate the conclusion we have from
our experience and from the advice OF
the Comintern: That party such as
we were trying to organize is not and
cannot be either--class, farmer, or
labor. 1t is a typical American null
ligan Of several classes. The decision
OK the Communist International on
the "third party alliance fortunately,
brought some of us up with round
turn. II saved our party from SER
ious mistake.
r. /. P. a LaFolIette Movement.
It is a basic error TO imagine that
the farmer-labor movement was or is
now fundamentally separate and apart
from or opposed to the petty bourge-
ois third party" movement headed by
LaFollette. The farmer.labor move
ment as such developed from the
labor party launched in Chicago by
the Chicago Federation Of Labor In
1919. This party branched out in the
state taking in some small sections of
Industrial workers, and in early 1920
II established connections with some
OF the northwest farmers Of the non.
partisan league. Following which It
changed its name to the farmer.labor
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-05
By MAX sEpAcHT.

Sophistries may help in scoring q
point but they do not aid much in
finding the truth. The lawyer in court
is out for points" His desire to
score points grows greater as his con
iidence in his clients innocence de-
creases. Judging by this well-estab-
lished maxim, Bittelman and his as
sociates have a bad case to defend.
But for the party there is too much
at stake. It cannot permit anyone
to gain a reputation as successful
lawyer for an obviously bad case. The
party must Judge the facts
There are facts of twofold ma
ture, connected with the question UNI
der discussion: The ones pertaining
directly to the point at issue-and the
ones pertaining to the groups lined up
on either of the two sides of the is
sue.
First as to the points at issue.
The minority maintains that If we
abandon the slogan FOR a farmer-labor
party" we abandon the most effective
possibility for political united front.
"IIa, there you are!" says Bittel-
man. you see these Communists
They claim that our united front ao-
ton for the protection of the foreign
born was no political united front ac-
ton
Permit me, Comrade Bittelman, to
call your attention to the fact that it
was the present minority that initial
ed and organized this united front ac-
ton for the protection Of the foreign
born. Permit me further to show
that the necessity of the workers to
defend themselves against this parti-
cular attack was used by our party to
attain the greater purpose; to awaken
political consciousness among these
workers; to show them that this de.
Tense of one immediate interest is
only incidental to the necessity of q
greater struggle-the class struggle as
whole. Therefore, again with your
permission, Comrade. Bittelman, we
pointed out that the temporary battle
formation Of the workers for the pro
lection of the foreign-born is not suf-
fcient but that there must be more
fundamental political battle formation
of the workers. political party OF
the workers. But here Comrade Bit
lehman interrupts again: "Ha! There
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-05

the labor party slogan:
Look here says Bittelman, I'VE
have a program for the unemployed"
So we have to be sure. But Com
rade Bittelman, there is a history at
tached to that program, history that
may throw some light on the real is
sue in the present controversy.
1t was the minority that pressed
again and again the need Of action on
the problem Of unemployment. To
silence the persistent hammering Of
the minority, the majority finally
adopted program on unemployment
And that settled-not the unemploy-
ment, but the majority action on the
question. Inquiries made by the Com
munist International as we'll as de-
mands made by the minority were al
ways answered with attempts to prove
that there is no problem Of unemp1oy-
ment at present.
The whole issue therefore, is not
so much the question of labor party
but the question of action as against
mere propaganda.
The minority desires to develop ac-
ton out of all its slogans. The ma,
jority on the other hand, solves its
problems with programs. We have
programs on thousand and one
things from unemployment to the or
ganization Of the unorganized-pro-
grams and nothing but programs.
But it is action that a Communist
Party is organized for. And it is ac-
ton alone thru which the organize
ton of the revolutionists, the Commu-
nists and also the revolution itself can
be accomplished.
READ THE DAILY WORKER.