The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-16
test, and applauded it wildly at the

| close.
Unanimous For Reinstatement.
Unity in our own ranks,'' ''rein-
statement of the expelled members
before the strike" were demands of
member after member demanding
the foor-not one dissenting voice to
this came from the floor, until the
chair-lady cut off discussion, but not
before a girl who delivered the best
speech of the evening had cast note
Of serious warning. She had been
on the committee from the local,
which had visited President Sigman
with the request that the expelled
members be reinstated. Sigman had
refused to consider the request, I'M
less the expelled members surrend-
cred what, to the speaker, was the
right of free thinking, the right to
belong or have connection with the
Trade Union Educational League.
Unity Before the Battle
Membership.
This girl asserted that she was in
violent disagreement with Sigman
and looked with disnay on the pros
pect of the union going into the
strike with the feeling Of demorali-
cation among the members which was
shown by every rank and file men,
Der which took the floor. She had
been, also, on the committee of men,
bers which had met the insulting
spokesman of the association of en-
ployers and had felt outraged at the
scorn with which they treated the
vital needs of the workers in the
shops, who create fortunes for them.
Nevertheless, in spite of the resent
ment this engendered, she realized
that strike was serious matter,
that the livelihood of thousands d.
rectly and of others thousands indi-
rectly was in the balance, that a
strike was no plaything and embraced
issues too grave to be made gamble
of; therefore, she felt that if the
membership lacked the spirit and
leadership of the expelled members
as much as their speeches showed,
the union was in no condition to
strike in her opinion and should
recognize realities, continue the pres
ent agreement, unsatisfactory and
humiliating as it is, until the expelled
members are taken back and the
union re-inspirited.
"Unity After the Battle"-Perlstein.
Perlstein replied weakly, that the
matter of the expelled members was
Gin the hands of the International
somewhat like Gin the hands of Cod"
as tho he had no control over it and
could not get them e-instated at
once if he really valued the interests
of the union above his vanity and
pride. His egoism would, it is evil
dent, be hurt if he had to take back
the members he expelled and thus ad-
NIT his mistake. So he added that,
eve must stand together now
against the enemy. After we are
thru fighting him, after the strike,
some other time, we can settle our
family quarrels so we can stand to-
gether against the enemy" He never
seemed to notice that this circular
argument was broken by the gap Of
absence left by the expelled members.
Tho many members were on the
floor, Perlstein and the chair-lady cut
them off and made the election of the
strike committee the next order of
business.
John Fitzpatrick of the Chicago
Federation of Labor delivered an un-
usally bad speech, his one good point
being that the bosses, by use of all
their injunctions, detectives and
sluggers, had gained nothing over the
union. This was remarked by a
member present to be true, that the
most vicious tactics of the bosses only
strengthened the union, and only the
disruptive tactics of Perlstein could
have brought the union to its present
condition of timidity and helpless
ness.
Expelled Members to Help Strikers
When asked her opinion as to the
possibility of strike, Dora Lipshitz
said to the DAILY WORKER: "The
expelled members of the Interna-
tional Ladies' Garment Workers are
first and last union men and women.
The interests of the membership is
ours and, if strike is declared, the
expelled members will give every eff
fort physically possible to make
victory for the Dressmakers a pos
sibility. However, the possibility of
victory is clearly made uncertain
when the union is weakened and dis
couraged by Perlstein's explosions of
its most active members"