The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-01-20
GOV. al" SMITH JOLTS LABOR

to al the priests of his diocese com
mandlng them to request their parish
toner's to vote against the amendment
on election day. AS the catholics
comprise forty per cent of the vote
in the state, this move was effective
Bishop William A. Lawrence, of the
episcopal church Of Massachusetts,,
became the crusader against children
and spoke for the professionals, while
public harangue by the Hon. Bishop
Warren A. Gambler of the methodist
church south, was spread turnout the
state.
Then the farm papers that depend
entirely for their subsistence upon the
industrial advertisements they receive
and whose sole purpose is polluting
the minds of the agricultural popula.
ton ran miles of columns of misrep-
resentation. This poison propaganda
was aided by wide distribution Of ex-
cerpts from Henry Ford's paper, the
Dearborn Independent, containing as
sertions that the adoption Of the
amendment would prevent girls help.
ing their mothers wash dishes and
prevent the sons of farmers milking
cows. Not once was the truth about
the amendment placed before the
populace. AS a matter of fact the
amendment is only for the purpose OF
enabling congress to regulate the la
Dor of children under is years of age
and is not law.
Against this avalanche from the
kept organs of the manufacturers, the
organized labor movement did prac
tically nothing. Instead of utilizing
this opportunity to expose the fraudu
lent arguments and the vicious mo
tives Of the manufacturers, the labor
movement, according to its own state
ments, spent less than $4,000. Much
Of this was spent before the manufac
turers got their batteries into action
When labor appealed to the radio
broadcasting stations for an opportun
ity to get their side of the story be
fore the RADIO fans. they were told the
cost would be $50 for each ten min
utes. The labor speakers that ap
peared before audiences gave insipid
explanations of the amendment and
were at all times on the defensive.
Manufacturers Endorse Smith.
Fresh from the victory" in Massa
chusetts, the manufacturers have
started drives in every state legisla
ture that may consider the amend
ment this term. In the southern tex
tile states, they simply give orders
to their minions and they are full
filled. In non-textile states thC
Isacred referendum is used.
Every exploiter of labor in New
York is back of '1abor's friend" AL
Smith, in his approval of a referen
dunn.
Yesterday the merchants associa
ton, composed of vultures who exploit
children in stores and wholesal,
houses, endorsed the so-called "labol
governor" Of New York and urgeC
the referendum.
Meanwhile Mr.. Holland and othel
labor politicians are frantically appeal
ing to "our AL" but to no avail. In
stead of grovelling before this Tam
manyite, they had better seriousl.
consider the task Of labor to expos,
the sinister propaganda of the manu-
facturers. And the militants in tn,
labor movement, under the leader
ship of the Workers Party and tn,
Trade Union Educational League
have. in these referndums, a wonder
full opportunity not merely to expos
the capitalist state and the fiction o
bourgeois democracy, but to also ez
pose the labor takers for their hall
measures and in many cases open be
trayal of the interests of the working
class thru their alliances with tn,
old parties of capitalism.
Our Program indicated.
The program Of the Workers Part!
contains a scathing arraignment o
American democracy and shows ii
fraudulent nature by analysing tn,
procedure required to amend the con
stitution, proving that it is a tremen
dous task to amend this so-calle'
basic law of the land.
1t is not by a clear majority tina
the constitution is changed, but by al
almost unanimous agreement amonI
all the legislatures of the country. T,
change the constitution requires a two
thirds vote of the members of the leg
islature Of three-fourths of the states
The program emphasizes the fac
that: "one-quarter Of the states, il
which may live only one-fortieth o
the population can prevent any chang,
of the fundamental law of the land.
In New York we have a wonderful
opportunity thru proposing child la
Dor united fronts to place our program
before the working class and to show
in action that we wage a determined
struggle for the elementary needs O
the working class, and at the sam,
time expose the takers In the labol
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