davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
CapeILini's ComoufL0ge
Is Removed

Rinaldo Capellini, progressive for election
purposes, elected in opposition to the Lewis
machine District of the United Mine Work
ers thru support of the radical element has
fallen upon evil days.
So anxious was he to prove his loyalty to the
machine that in the open convention he an
nounced he was sorry he had not poisoned GER
tain members of the Progressive Miners Inter
national Committee who had broken bread
with him.
What Capellini accomplished by this dis
play of murderous venom was to acquaint the
delegates from his own local and his district
with the real character of the man they had
elected.
On the roll-call on the resolution to change
the constitution and deprive officials of ap-
pointive power and on the result of which the
life of the Lewis machine depended, Capel-
lini voted with the administration, but he could
not carry his own local; Alex Campbell voted
against the machine.
So did the delegates from the Pittston locals,
formerly considered Capellini's stronghold.
This exposure Of Capellini before the mem
bership of his own district is a victory.
The Lewis Machine, like almost every other
machine in the labor movement, including the
Gompers machine, has retained power by
bribing, buying and coercing men whom the
membership has come to look upon as pro-
gressives, by covering its own corruption and
lneficiency with thin veneer of radicalism
furnished by traitors to the rank and file. For
mer members of the socialist party now hold
= high places in the Lewis administration, their
early insurgency completely forgotten
New blood must flow into the veins of the
machine constantly. it keeps watchful eye
on young and able organizers and speakers.
It takes them up and gives them good jobs.
They become professional office-holders They
ook with contempt on their radical former
associates.
Without this constant influx of new blood
the machine could not live and it is gratifying
to know that very early in his career as a
cheer-leader for the administration forces,
Rinaldo Capellini, president of one of the
largest districts Of the United Mine Workers,
has, by being forced out into the open by the
militants, removed all doubt as to where he
stands-against the rank and file who trusted
him and for the machine that no one trusts
not even its supporters
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
Labor Banking and Labor

Many ardent advocates of labor banking
have greeted with JOY the spread of the trade
union banking movement as a sign of the adj
vent of a new era of labor solidarity.
We are sorry. But we cannot see how close
and sinister contact on the part of the respect
able labor bureaucrats with the biggest bank
ing interests in Wall Street tends to promote
labor solidarity These wishes may be grand
Yet they initiate against the facts and the
truth.
Our labor movement has been cursed with
numerous jurisdictional disputes-quarrels
which are the very life blood and essence of
graft unionism. Labor banking, tho still
very young, has already shown that it is
fraught with many serious dangers to the soli-
darity of the working class. For one thing, it
tends to increase the number and variety of the
scourge of jurisdictional disputes that is now
gnawing at the very heart of our labor move
ment. Only few weeks ago, the New York
Central Labor Council, which has just gone
into the business of labor banking itself, drew
up a resolution denouncing the establishment
in New York of one of these cooperative banks
by Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The
Railway Workers Union was attacked as a
dual organization. 1t was condemned for its
interference with the labor banking business
undertaken by the local Central Labor Council.
Here we have another fine jurisdictional
mess on our hands. The working class has
everything to lose and nothing to gain from
such competitive activities. We cannot see how
even the most overworked imagination can
lead one to believe that competition between
labor officials for the back door condolences of
Wall Street can in any way promote solidarity
amongst working men.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
By LELAND OLDS
(Federated Press Industrial Editor

Decreased employment and contin-
ued spread of the part-time are OUT
standing features of the December
report Of the Massachusetts, depart
ment Of labor. The number employed
by 81 manufacturing establishments
fell from 215,453 to 21O.567, a de-
crease Of 2.S per cent. This brings
the number on the payrolls Of these
factories to level per cent below
October. The department reports
fewer employees on the payrolls than
in December, 1929.
Railroad car shops showed the
heaviest layoffs with 10 per cent of
their employees dropped during the
month. The boot and shoe industry
and the mems clothing industry each
laid off 8 per cent Of their workers,
the hosiery and knit goods industry
8 per cent, bakeries z per cent, while
the producers Of women's clothing,
textile machinery and rubber goods
laid of 8 per cent Of their en-
ployes.
The report shows IS per cent Of
the Su establishments operating IT.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
Growing Unemployment in Massachusetts

less than full capacity during Decem-
Der. Of the 367, there were 1863 OPP
Grating full time, but only part ca
pacity, and 1879 operating both part
time and part capacity.
The shoe industry and the textile
industry employing directly or indi-
rectly nearly half Of the industrial
workers of the state are operating
far below capacity. OF the 146 es-
Establishments connected with the man
ufacturing Of leather shoes, only 80,
or "a per cent, were operating at
full capacity. Among the shoe towns,
Haverhill has been particularly hard
hit. In the course Of two months, 80
per cent Of the workers employed by
manufacturing establishments in that
town have been laid off, while only
8 out Of 81 establishments are ope4
rating full time and full capacity.
The average weekly earnings Of those
employed have dropped from $2S.08,
in October, to $20.79 in December, a
decrease Of 26 per cent. In Lyon
only 6 Of the 80 establishments re-
port normal operating schedules.
In every branch Of the textile in
dustxy the report shows a majority
a. TIM establishments on . part ca
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
AT THE KINGS FEET . ~ I07EsT0NE

He speaks only for the British capt.
talist imperialists and that small Sec
ton of the British working class, the
labor aristocrats, who are the meek
paupers at the gorgeous tables of the
moneyed princes and lords of British
imperialism. These labor aristocrats
are waging the stubborn, desperate,
rear guard fights in the reactionary
battle for the perpetuation of capt.
talism.
Hence, it is easy to understand the
recent remarks Of ]. L. Garvin, anent
Macdonald, in the Conservative or
gan, The Observer, to the effect that:
"This is no Socialist government. 1t
is well designed to form, during a
single interval, ministry of national
work. No wonder the forming of this
Labor Cabinet was followed by buoy
ancy on the Stock Exchange. 1t is
already evident that the mortal dam
ger to this Labor Government is from
labor itself. There is an unmistaka-
bic threat Of general industrial up
heaval.
Garvin Has His Number
In the above words, Mr.. Garvin. one
of the most distinguished British
journalists, has brilliantly summed up
the present status of the class strug-
gle in England. He has pierced the
very pith, the most sensitive spot of
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31

the whole problem of working class
liberation and supremacy. Here we
have the real reason for the striking
ly instructive coincidence of the Con-
sentative member of the Macdonald
Labor Cabinet being the same Wis
count Chelmsford, who, as Viceroy of
India, prepared for the imperialistic
Montagu, the present outrageous
fraud on the representative national
ist government in India. Here we
have the real reason for the fact that
Macdonald does not fear communist
agitation at home as much as in At
ghanistan. At home the Socialist
lackeys of the capitalists attempt to
crush the communists with more pros
poets of success.
1t has taken Macdonald but one
week to declare defiantly his readi-
ness to stoop to conquer for his inn
perialist masters. The Labor Premier
has kissed the kings hand and has
fallen at the kings feet. The Lon
don bourse is jubilant. The London
Stock Exchange is buoyant. The
British capitalists are treasured.
What will the great masses of Eng
lish workingmen say to this tragic
farce? How will the British workers
answer this defiant Indian letter and
this outrageous threat against Soviet
Russia?
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31

pacity basis. Only Is out Of the SO
establishments manufacturing cotton
goods, 2 out Of IL making silk goods
and 10 out of 40 making wooden goods
were reported operating full time and
full capacity.
Other industries where less than
capacity operation was prevalent in
clude mems clothing with Is ont Of
rs establishments operating less than
capacity, women's clothing with IL
out Of "a at less than capacity, c1t-
lery and tools with II out Of %, ma
chine tools with IL out of %, and
foundries and machine shops with 26
out of 81 establishments on a less
than capacity basis.
Few changes in wage rates were
reported, but for the first time the
number Of decreases exceeded the
number Of increases. Wage increases
were reported by establishments,
affecting 1853 employees, while de-
creases were reported by establish
ments, and 400 employees were affect
ed. Average weekly earnings pr
employe thruout the state ansxutsd
70 S241b. -
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
By LovETT FoRT-wHITEMAN.

The rise of a negro petty bour-
geoisie is of quite recent date. And
as with all oppressed and prose-
cuted races, its rise has been thru
turning to economic advantage the
social disabilities of the race; to
give some specific examples: in our
larger Northern cities, during the
last decade or more, a highly lucra-
tive real estate business has devel-
oped among class of negroes based
on the transfer of apartment houses
from white to negro tenants at much
increased rents. The negro real es-
tate dealer in order to create bust
ness for himself, persuades the white
property-owner to put his property
in his hands, and rent to negro ten
ants; that, thus, he can get much
more out of his property. And the
negro real estate dealer putting in
negro tenants easily extracts some
times as much as 35 and 40 per cent
more than what the white tenants
were paying who had moved out, say,
just the day before. Because of the
nationwide practice of residential
discrimination against negroes, there
are always limited numbers of sub
stantial houses for negroes. ThereA
fore the negro house-rent agent can
get almost any amount he asks.
Thru 800 years of life in America,
the white man imposed upon the ne
gro his ideals and social standards.
The latter has been taught to be-
lieve that light skin is the perfect
complexion, straight hair, the proper
hair. The desire and effort to attain
these physical changes on the part
of the negro have been met and
capitalized by business persons with
in the race. As result we have
produced such exceedingly wealthy
negro families as the Walkers of
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
Destroying Public Schools in Oklahoma

spectators, with pull, who, in
turn, rent it out to those who actual
ly try to make living on the land.
Even public lands are mot for the
users"
Instead Of abolishing schools that
give many a country boy and girl an
opportunity to prepare for higher
education while still at home the Ok
lahoma Legislature might do well to
clean out the spectators in school
land properties and turn the revenue
into the intended channels.
The University and Normal and Ag-
riculture College appropriations are
to be hit hard, also. Over four hun
dred thousand dollars has been cut
from the appropriations. Twenty
thousand dollars, asked for by state
hospital, to establish a dairy for the
afflicted ones there, was turned down.
The legislators who lead this at
tack on school and hospital no doubt
know what they are about in behalf
of their masters, but the shame of
it is, that those who were supported
by the farm-labor vote of Oklahoma
also uphold this Saving" for the tax
payers.
1t is an established order in the
states of this Union to squander
money on any sentimental propagan-
da that comes along, until the treas
ury is empty and the burdens of
taxes begins to pinch, and then to
start on a slashing campaign that
cripples every social activity in the
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
The Negro Petty Bourgeoisie

New York, the Madam Walker be-
ginning as a washer-woman and leav-
ing almost a million dollar estate at
her death four years ago; the Ma
ZONES of st. Louis, whose beginning
was just as humble; the Overtons of
Chicago, and others.
Negro politicians receive lucrative
jobs thru their ability to lead the
negro voters as the white capitalists
would have them led; which is never
to the interest of negro voters.
Again, there is capitalization of the
Negroes pride in seeing some MEM
Der of his race in governmental Of
flee. 1t counts little with the negro
voter as to the moral character or
mental calibre of the negro official
the fact that he is one of his race
is sufficient. And as a result negro
political organization amounts to
nothing more than nauseous scheme
of graft for few negro leaders.
One might go on with enumera-
tions of the peculiar conditions with
in the race that have been vantage
ground upon which the negro petty
bourgeoisie has risen. It might he
interesting to mention this fact that
because of the monopolization of
commodity production today in
American life, the negro with small
capital finds it more profitable to in
vest in pleasure-sorts for his peo-
pie. Here he does not have to compete
with the white man, excepting until
recently, for tine Jew has entered the
negro commercial field with the es-
tablishing Of cabarets, theatres, etc.
Nevertheless, the fortunes of many
well-known negro families can be
clearly traced to trafficking in women,
gambling houses, and other forms of
vice. The death rate among negroes
in our northern cities is much higher
than among white, and because ne
groes are compelled to live amid I'M
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
BY J. E. SNYDER
.grarian Organizer, Workers Party

iAgrarian Organizer WORKERS rarity
OKLAHOMA has twenty-four state
" schools. The inquisition against
corrupt politicians, political enemies
and appointees Of Walton, has been
extended on into the realms of edu-
cation.
The newspapers, given to much
praise, for the ditching of Walton
and his staff, have set up loud
alarm against the cutting down Of
appropriations, at the expense of edu-
cation.
Five schools are proposed for the
axe. They are mostly all in farm dis
tricts. They accommodate 1850 stu
dents, and the buildings have cost
the state approximately a million and
a half dollars. Four of the schools
are industrial and one military.
In what is known as the "Chero-
kee Strip" two sections Of land in
each township are set aside for the
upkeep of state institutions. The
strip is about sixty miles wide and
two hundred miles long and, if right
ly handled, these two sections could
have produced enough income by this
time, since the opening of the Strip, y
In 1893, to run a hundred schools
much larger than the twenty-four.
Like all public institutions under the
profit system the school lands have
been leased, in many instances, to
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31

WHEN, at the beginning of his
w first week as Premier, MacDon-
aid kissed the Kings hand, we were
inclined not to take the kiss seriously.
But the King Of England, tho
actually only a political figure head,
is also Emperor of India, and is the
symbol of the whole rotten and rot
ting British capitalist imperial en-
pire. The Fifth George is also the
very RECONCILIATION of all the crimes,
of ali the villainy, of all the plumber
and imperialist highway diplomacy
and politics. To kiss the Kings hand
is bad enough.
But to fall at the Kings feet, well,
that's another matter! Here the
workers must sit up and take notice.
This is precisely what Ramsay Mac
Donald did at the end of his first
week as premier when he declared
that India had better behave itself,
and that there will be no recognition
of Soviet Russia until communist ac-
tivities cease on the Afghan border.
Question for English Workers
What interest have the workers on
the Thames in maintaining British
imperialist soldiers on the Gauges !
Wherefore are the workers concerned
in the British oppression and exploit
tation of the Afghanistan people ?
What light can the English working
masses draw from the Black Hole of
Calcutta? What inspiration can the
workingmen of Manchester draw from
the Armitsar massacre?
The facts are these: One Of the
inherent characteristics of capitalist
imperialism is the condition under
which small, aristocratic section of
the upper crust of the most highly
skilled group of labor has become a
partner with the biggest capitalists
to the exploitation of the weaker CO.
lonial countries. This labor aristo-
cracy, that shares in the spells and
plumber of imperialist aggression, is
one Of the integral, organic parts, one
of the pillars Of the whole system Of
capitalist Imperialism.
With the broad working and farm
ing masses, the story is altogether
different. The great mass Of exploit
ed and disposed city and rural work.
ers has everything to lose and moth
ing to gain from capitalist imperial
ism. Increased dangers Of war, an
accelerated rate Of exploitation, and
a tendency towards lowering Of the
standard Of living are the only fruits
garnered by the working masses in
the imperialist stage Of capitalism.
Macdonald Speaks for Rulers
When Macdonald threatens India
and warns Soviet Russia, he does not
speak fcr tho English working class.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31

state. Elected officials appropriate
millions for buildings and buy pub
lie institution lands and, at the fol-
lowing session "save" money by abol-
ishing the project and, in most cases,
hitting at the very vitals Of edu-
cation.
The Oklahoma Legislature is rush
ing measures thru so that they can
get home for the campaign, to tell
the innocent Dubbs and John Farm
ers how they saved" millions for
them, not mentioning the fact that
they can soon have more of their sons
to stay at home to pick cotton, for
the lack of schools.
We have always favored wage
workers getting as much pay as pro-
fessors, but when it comes to giving
them less, we think that it is time to
call a halt and insist that the very
heart and vitality shall not be cut out
of the schools, even tho they do not
come up to the standard that we
would have under workers govern
ment.
I have commended, and still contend,
that our public schools are Ameri-
can workers greatest safeguards,
and no more important work can be
done by workingmen's and farmers
organizations than the protection of
these institutions from "the never
,nding audacity of elected persons y
who echo their capitalist masters
voice.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31

sanitary surroundings-to reside in
frail houses, and in unhealthy loca-
tions. The authorities in many cities
concern themselves little with sani-
tary conditions of negro commun-
ity. Such being the case it is easily
noticeable that negro undertakers
are always among the most prosper
GUS among negroes.
Yet the conscienceless rise of the
negro petty bourgeoisie has its par
allel in all the oppressed races of the
world. 1t is only thru further ex-
ploitation Of the already enslaved
masses that the development of a
petty bourgeoisie of that race is pos
sible. The Jewish employer is more
oppressive on the Jewish employees
than the gentle. The Indian rajahs
are Englands' greatest aid in holding
the Indian revolutionary masses in
check They know that free In
dia would mean their dethronement,
During the war the negroes of New
York succeeded in electing negro
to state legislature, and after many
years of effort; all felt very proud
of having a negro member in such
an august body. But he had not
been there long when some member
proposed that the government should
investigate landlord profiteering.
This negro member was loudest in his
protest against such a proposal, and
in spite of the fact of it being quite
obvious that negroes would have ben
Gifted most by such an investigation.
Behind the protest Of this negro leg
islator was the fact that he himself
was a landlord.
But negroes are coming to see that
their social problem cannot be fought
out on race lines; that it must bd
class fight in which all workers shall
mite against all employers.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31

The movement for Philippine independence
from American imperialist oppression is max
ing rapid Roadway. There are several bills in
the House and in the Senate proposing various
degrees of national freedom for the Filipino
people.
There is only one reason for the marked
advance that the Filipinos are making towards
national freedom. The Filipinos have fought
and fought determinedly and valiantly against
their enemies The Filipinos have gone thru
two Instructions; one against Spanish oppres-
sion and the other against our own imperial
brigands. The only reason that Congress is
now considering the question of Filipino free
dom is that the Filipinos have struck terror
into the hearts Of their American oppressors.
General Wood is reported to be letting up in
his high-handed tyranny because of the re-
sistance of the Filipnos.
1t is interesting to note that tremendous
sentiment for Philippine freedom exists in
America. The strongest and most ardent adj
vocates of Philippine freedom are, of course,
to be found in the ranks of the most militant
and revolutionary workers in the United
States. The Workers Party has repeatedly
pointed out that it is in the interests of the
American working class itself that the Filipino
people be freed from exploitation by our bank
ers and industrialists. 1t is significant that the
Federated Labor Unions of the Philippines
have been quick to acknowledge the help of
the American Communists in the struggle to
win freedom for the Filipino nation.
The struggle of the Filipino people for
national freedom is only part of the struggle
OF the oppressed masses of the world against
the plumber and tyranny of the capitalist i'm
periaists. The Communist support rendered
to the struggling Filipinos is support given to
one section of the world front of the working
men of all countries fighting against their
common imperialist enemies
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-31
Mockery of Militarisn1

y Our military and naval experts now tell us
that the recent maneuvers have established
beyond a doubt, that the Panama Canal always
considered one of the greatest military assets
of the country, lies at the mercy of any first
class military power.
If the Canal is so poorly defended, why was
it is necessary to go thru all these maneuvers
to establish its poor military condition?
The answer is easy. Our military and naval
experts knew the exact defense value of the
Canal before these maneuvers. The joint
army and navy maneuvers were simply used
to strengthen the growing militarist demands
made upon the country by the war hounds and
naval watch dogs.
We are told that the country needs more 16-
inch guns, greater air feet, more submarines
and destroyers, more military railroads and
it took the combined wisdom of four hundred
officers of the army and navy to make these
There is nothing startling
about that It was foregone conclusion be-
fore these maneuvers began that the Canal
defences would be found inadequate and that
the country would be urged to increase It's
ornaments.