The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-08-19
PATERSON SILK STRIKE GAINS
CONTINUED from Page u


CONTINUED from Page ~
ings, he reports the progress of the
strike, naming mill after mill that
falls into line, amid great enthusiasm.
H. M. Wicks of New York city ad.
dressed number of mass meetings.
He first spoke on Friday evening be-
fore the strike and made such an i'm.
preston that the strike committee re-
quested him to come here and remain
during the struggle in order to assist
in the work
The local reptile press, particularly
the Paterson Evening News, which
processes to speak in the interests Of
labor, has consistently misrepresent-
ed the strikers position, and in report
ing the speech Of Wicks referred to
foreign, agitators." At tremendous
mass meeting held Friday morning
Wicks excoriated the local press and
told the strikers, many of whom are
foreign-born workers, that it was So
called foreigners who built the indus
tries in this country. He referred to
the various waves of immigrants that
have been swept upon the shores Of
the eastern industrial states. First
the Scotch-Irish, then the Germans,
then the Scandinavians, all Of whom,
in times of depression, were able to
escape from the industrial hells by mi
grating to the unsettled west. But
the later immigrants we're not able to
escape in that way, so they were com
PEELED to remain and fight, as they
are fighting at this time in Paterson.
Wicks then read list of names of
proprietors of silk mills, showing that
there were as many foreign names
among them as among the strikers,
but the capitalist press never refers
to them as undesirable foreigners"
His remarks were received with pro-
longed cheering.
Workers Party Members Active.
A number of members of the Work
ers Party are on the strike committee
and are proving in action that Com
munists can be relied upon to conduct
genuine, militant struggle in the in
terests of the demands of the work
ers. They are also active on the
picket line, where mass picketing is
the order of the day and is proving
most effective.
This is in marked contrast to the
small remnant of the I. w. w. that
remains disgruntled because of the
success of the Associated Silk Work
ers' Union. This group, calling itself
Textile Workers Industrial Union No.
10, issued a silly leafet admonishing
the strikers to have no faith in lead
ers" and boasting that if the leaders
try their usual tricks" they (the l.
w. W. will denounce them at the
proper time.
This strike is unique in that there
are no outstanding leaders, the work
being carried on by the small group
of rank and filers, under the leader.
ship of the weaver, Lessig, himself
one who works on the job along with
the other slaves. And it comes with
poor grace from the /. w. w. to en-
deavor to cast suspicion upon these
men, considering the record in Pater-
son of the notorious Frederick Bios
som, for years one of the local emf
nences of the /. w. w.
The strike is definitely on the of
fensive and advancing from one vic
tory to another. Many of the other
trade unionists, even of the conserva-
tive type, are taking an active inter
est in the struggle, knowing that Pat
erson, because of the unspeakable
conditions in the silk mills, is one of
the black spots in the American labor
movement, and are anxious for victory
for the silk workers in order to get