The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-01-07


interest the last few days owing to Il
The duke of Northumberland is p
airy Of all among the class to which h
Of the most pugnacious. He owns We
able minerals. He also owns the Mo
in the country
The duke has said the bitterest
things human tongue can command,
not only against Communists and So
cialists but equally against labor men
and trade unionists.
Lives Without Working.
The duke draws e75,OOO (S375,OOO)
year as royalty rents alone, but is
for permitting mining operations to
be carried on under the land he owns.
Under cross examination the duke
maintained his right to receive this
while admitting he rendered no serv-
ice in return
On the commission he was examin-
ed by were the officials Of the Min
ers' Federation, Herbert Smith and A.
]. Cook. Many sharp passages took
place between the workers represen-
tatives and the duke, frank and free
and straight from the shoulder came
question and reply, real good home
thrusts, leaving nothing to be desired
in the matter of straight hitting
Pungency is given to this owing to
| the determination of the miners to
fight for the naturalization of the
mines and minerals.
Operators Lenghten Work Day.
Meantime, the mine owners are
pressing on their campaign section
ally, thus in County Durham some
months ago the owners gave notice to
the men that after a given date all
underground men must work not less
than seven-hour shifts, twenty min
utes of this to be used as hauling
time to raise the men from the mine
To understand the meaning of this
it is necessary to realize that the
coal hewers of Durham have not
worked on the average more than six
hours per shift for well over sixty
years, many of them not working
more than five hours at the coal face.
At present there is a strike on in parts
of the Durham coalfeld to resist the
attempt of the owners to establish the
seven-hour shift.
Railway Award Attacks Unions.
The award of the railway board in
| tha M az tar Of uyooac oud ,,,or1~;,,. 49,,
ditions does not insist upon the i'm
mediate reduction of wages Of any
section but it stipulates that in Feb
ruary all new employees taken on the
railways must start and continue on
a wage substantially less than the
wage now paid.
Those who are familiar with the
methods Of bosses well know how easy
it becomes to find grievance against
a man or a number of men and for
such men to be discharged, even if
it be on purpose to restart them at
the lower rate. Now the rank and
file have to give their views upon it.
The officials of the National Union
of Railwaymen declare the award to
be as good as it is possible to get at
present without resorting to a strike
which they are not prepared to recon-
mend.
Sectionalism prevails in the railway
shops more so than on the railways,
and the shopmen, mechanics and 9TH
ers on several of the main lines have
determined to stop work unless a GER
tain award is made operative, but the
craft unions are not favorable to
this award, therefore the members of
these unions will not make common
cause.
Campaign for Prisoners.
The campaign demanding the re-.
lease of the imprisoned Communists is
being carried on with great vigor.
All sections Of workers organizations
are taking part in demanding their re-
lease and in finding funds for the
maintenance Of their wives and famil-
les.
Many of the men who took part in
the strike in the anthracite coalfield
of South Wales are getting sentenced
to several months Imprisonment
They are in a district we'll imbued
with the spirit OF class consciousness
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