The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-09-21
STREATOR MEET
: Shows REACTION
: STILL In power
Progressive Measures
Meet Defeat
Especial to lyhe bDally wOrksr)

STREATOR, IN, Sept. ~. 49, The
convention of the' Il linois State Fed
.eration OF Labor adjourned Saturday
Nafter having killed al resolutions of
progressive nature. The report Of the
resolutions committd was deliberate
sly delayed by the m achine until the
last days session, wi zen all delegates
werel unwilling to lis1 On to any debate
and hundreds had s!lready left for
their homes on FRIDAY.
Solander Chooses Faseism.
A resolution introdu ced by delegate
Antonio Presi Of the (iranite Cutters,
condea1nng fascism as amended to
include Bolshevism, CO mmunism, etc.,
by the committee. 1rictor Olander
brazenlyA denounced thai Soviet Union
and decA red that he preferred the
black shirs government Of fascist Italy
to that of the workers'i and peasants
Of the Soviet Union.
Delegate Presi pointeh out ithe diff
ference betB1een the two governments;
that under Mussolinis sulei all trade
unions. which had numb cred 100000
members a few years ago, were COM
pleteIy destroyed, and THAT in Rus
sia before the revolution there were
no unions.
Quite A. Differente.
To-day" said Presi, There, are
100000 workers organize d in trade
unions in the Soviet Unto and that
ought to be proof enough ilor'a labor
gathering here to stop believing the
lies in the capitalist press."i
The solidarity shown byt the Rus
sian unions in the British strike was
also brought out, but no ar Iument, no
matter how logical, could work against
the prejudice aroused by Olander's
lies. with all the machine'st nicely ar
ranged hostile demonstrate %, so Presi
was forced to cut his addr sss short.
so-CalIed ProgressiVes Dumb.
All so-called progressivesSi and form
err socialists who protested formerly
to believe in the recognition of the
Soviet Union, failed miserahly to show
any sign of courage and what they
were doing in Streator is hard to say.
The resolution calling upon the con-
vention to- support the Mexican labor
movement against the reactionary
clergy went the same way. The COM
mittee non-concurred with the resolu-
ton and referred the, matter to the
A. F. OF L. convention.
Delegate 1Overgaard epointed out
among boos and tremendous noise
from the reactionaries, that such
stand would simply destroy the Pan
American Federation Of Labor and
that the American labor movement
could not afford to play neutral like
the Coolidge cabinet, but owed an
obligation to the Mexican labor move
ment TO support It in the struggle
against American Imperialism, with
which the clerical forces were Joined.
The main struggle" in theAconven-
ton took place over that part,of Presi-
dent Walkers report which endorsed
a list Of candidateslfor the Legislature
on the old, capitalist parties
Machine Opposes Labor Party.
Delegate Overgaard Of the machin-
lists flayed the report vigorously,
pointing out that there was no more
doubt in any workers mindaas to the
rottenness of the two DID,. capitalist
parties since the recent exposure of
the slush fund investigations, and that
It was high time to stop fooling with
these parties and build a)labor party
in the state.
Walker headed the reac41onary
comeback, followed by Briggs Of the
Transfers and A B. Cline, once an
l. W. w, now of the Auto Mechanics,
with ridiculous fairy tales and per
sonal attacks on Delegate O'vergaard.
The so-called progressrves did not
fight and only some 30 ore60 weak
NOS were registered.
The vote on the next convention
city, on the Caraway affair and the
question (already settled BY the ma.
chine) of increasing the salaries of
Walker and Olander from $4,000 to
$500 took up the major energy Of
the convention. The climaXof bouquet
throwing came with the wathdrawal OF
Walkers opponent for reelection.
East St. Louis was chosensas the next