The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-12-15
Factory Sport Organizations

house. The grounds of Schwartz
kopf in WiIdau consist of boat
house, swimming bath, gymnas-
tic hall, a football field. Those Of
Borsig, TegeI, consist of two foot
ball fields, hockey ground, a gym
nastic hall, and a swimming bath.
There are also the sport grounds of
the Werner, Bamag and osram COM
panies, and many others. With this
support it has been possible to form
good and capable Sport. organizations
within the works: The Krupp Gym
nastics Society, the Siemns Sports
League, etc. nh
A conference of superintendents
of technical schools held in May
1924 in Berlin, resulted in the for
nation of league to which the
technical schools of the following
firms are affiliated: A, E. G., Rein
ickendorf, A. E. c., KabeIwerk ober-
spree, Borsie, Siemeps- Lowe, Wer-
ner, Stock, zwietuschr Mix & Gen.
est, Bergman, Knorrbremse and
Daimler. 49,
The league was formed with the
object Of GIVING ANuOPPORTUN-
lTY TO ALL APPRENTICES,
THAT is TO SAY. ALSO TO
THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY
DEFINITE POLITICAL VIEWS, TO
GO IN FOR sPoRTooN A PER-
FEcTLY NEUTRAL ,BAsIs." (Em-
phasis mine.-F. RI
One can see by this that the capital
list gentry do not mindtspending some
thing in connection with the matter.
They hasten to explain the object,
namely to give also apprentices who
have already definite political views
an opportunity to go ip for sports on
perfectly neutral basis" To put it
bluntly this means that their attention
is to be diverted from political and
trade union questions.
An extract from the list of partici-
pators from factory sport organiza-
lions in the Berlin Gymnastic and
Sports week, shows the extension of
the organization in the various enter
prises. In this list there we're: the
German Reichs, Post, the Dresdner
Bank. the Reichshauptbank, Osram,
Daimler Motor Company, Schultheiss
Patzenhof Brewery, Berlin Handles
gesellschaft, the Bank Of the Berliner
Kassenverein, etc.
One could multiply these examples
from various countries. For instance,
an electrical company in Chicago
has factory sport league with over
10000 members, all of whom are EN-
ployed in the enterprise. The Re
nauld works in Paris, and other Paris
works have strong sport leagues, and
the same may be said of motor car
and other. factories in Italy.
The firms are endeavoring to give
their factory sport leagues high quail
tications and use thistat the same time
as an advertisements In order to at
tract highly qualified sportsmen they
are offered good positions and higher
salaries. By various favours and priv
ileges the workers in these factory
sport organizations are corrupted ant
made willing tools OF the employers.
1t is obvious that the privileged
members Of these factory sport clubs
and leagues becomes strikebreakers and
informers. They will mostly keep a.
a distance from trade union and politi
cal organizations. They will be il
fact hostile to the endeavours of the
workers. Through the sport organiza
lions employers will transplant thu
spirit of class cooperation to the fac
tories.
Trade unions and political organi
cations must realize these facts anC
must therefore pay special attention
to factory sport organizations. TIL,
slogan must be to place the factor.
sports club under the sole control o
the workers and to affiliate IL to thu
central workers sports declarations, Il
win the members Of factory sport
clubs for the trade union and poltica
movement. In thfs connection TIL
factory nuclei Of the Communist Part!
and the Young Communist Leagu
have still a big task before them.