davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17
What Does President Lewis Mean by mo Backward Step

The proposal made by President Lewis of the United Mine
Workers Miami to the coal operators representatives
overcoming in the industry certainly in line with the
mo backward STEP slogan with which the rank and file delegates
beguied at the Indianapolis convention.
This President Lewis nothing than acceptance
of the principle of compulsory arbitration coupled with something
still dangrousthe organization of efficiency machinery
in cooperation with the operators That such proposal can be
the first of the negotiations that the
main line followed by the Lewis machine at the recent
tonthat OF bringing the UMWA into line with the worker
doctrine of the Amer
Federation of Labor be given its practical application
in the negotiations in Miami
There no essential difference between the Lewis
and that the operators who put forward
pusory arbitration with persons appointed bv the United States
court the final board of appeal President Lewis
wants board of technical experts There is difference
cpt the personnel of the commission This of
important but the main principle President Lewis and the
coal barons in agreement.
This the beginning of the major operation that hoped
the United Mine Workers will submit to without much protest
The efforts OF the Lewis machine have been directed to choo
forming the membership that the with major
operations the victim suffers pain until he conscious
The essential organs the union are to be removed if this
scheme goes through The will to fight for control of working
conditions by the union is to be paralysed.
At the convention the Lewis machine did its best destroy
all rank and file resistance in advance of negotiations with the
operators but did not succeed 1t did succeed in convincing
large numbers of delegates by its onslaugh rank and file
democracy and its INSCRIPTIONS reputation of the former mill
traditions of the union that it had in mind just such plan
as has been preached.
Against this preparation for surrender to the coal barons
ouaged under the ereoyped phrases of the industrial eff
ency experts Favored to taste less naueang the left
viii fight with all its might.
The negotiations, their early stages have shown
that the slogan of Save the Union raised by the left
correctly puts the problem which faces the UBWA March 81
when the Jacksonville agreement expires.
mo backward STEP for the coal miners reduction
in wages-either by actual by worsenng of
dtions-and immediate organization of the fields
The operators will change their the the UWA
drives earnest into West Virginia western Pennsylvania and
Kentucky with the full force the union behind its organization
campaign.
100000 miners brought into the union while the
gotations going will enable to take the
fensive
Rank and file pressure offcadom which puts nego
taons ahead of organization is the the left wing will
make to the retreat of President Lewis.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17
Letters From Our Readers
Organizing the UnOrganized.

Dear Comrades:
Since the arrival of The DAILY
WORKER in New York it has al
ready accomplished big things for
the workers OF New York and the
class struggle in general.
The DAILY WORKER is not only
writing labor news, but is also or
ganizing the unorganized. Here is
how it happened: The shops of
myers Hats, Inc, where ladies' hats
are made, has been for years fifty
fifty shop, half slave and half free.
The men operators were members OF
the Millinery Union, while the girls,
copyists, were left in the cold and ne
elected by the bureaucrats OF the
union, unorganized for years and
years, until the happy arrival of The
DAILY WORKER on the news
stands of New York.
One of the girls Of the shop, Jean
is her name, began buying and read
ing daily the only labor paper in New
York and was deeply stirred by its
message to the workers to organize.
Jean at once began organizing the
unorganized girls. Her appeal to the
20 girls of the shop to JOIN the union
and strike for better conditions was
just the thing they were waiting for.
Jean, with the ability OF leader and
heart Of a rebel, with the aid of a
few other girls of Myers shop sue
ceeded in getting the girls to go to
the millinery local union to register
and organize into body and demand
recognition from the boss, that he is
to zeal with the girls thru their
union, and not individually, as he used
to do in the good old times.
The boss, learning of the union
movement, fired Jean and eight more
girls and declared that they can never
again work in his shop. The rest of
the girls refused to go to work with
out Jean and the other fired girls
who dared to agitate and organize
the exploited and insulted girls into
union, and a strike was declared.
The boss tried TO fill the places
with scabs and tried all kinds of
tricks in order to confuse the striking
girls and force them back to slave
for him without union, promising
all kinds of sugared conditions, but
seeing that his tricks didn't work, he
recognized the union and took all the
girls back and sent down his few
scabs.
So, The DAILY WORKER was in
strumental in organizing the unor-
gained girls who had been for years
exploited and insulted and criminally
neglected by the decaying bureau
cratic officials of the Millinery Union.
More power to you, comrades of The
DAILY WORKER. Long live The
DAILY WORKER.
ABE OLKEN.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17
Fred Marvin Has a Competitor.

The New York Times that Mr. James Onea prom
nent socialist has added his mite to the efforts Fred Marvin
of the late New York Commercial William j. Burns who needs
introduction and divers spies and detectives scotch the
Communist menace before it pulls the props from underneath
the capitalist system.
Mr. Oneal is alleged to have given the Glow down. on Com
munsm in the United States He reported have
the nneros of Communist Party organizations
book American Communism is intended to fill in the blank
spaces in the of Us scrap book the revolutionary
in the United States But fear that Mr. Onea
scene too late.
The field has been poughed too often The soil has become
impoverished We fear the heke will be Exposing
the Communist movement paying proposition until the
capitalists discovered that subscription to The DAILY WORK
Err would supply them with all the information Then
the stocks of the stoogeons fell and most of them
TO take job with the prohibition enforcement department
government
Fred Marvin and few others still hammer away the old
anvil but those fellows long in the game that they
it difficult to turn their hands to something else.
We noticed Max Easmans book exposing the Communist
Party of Russia lying secondhand booksa 4th
marked rs cents Those who afford their Impotence
to learn what Onea has learned about u.s. the
detective agencies have already published money by
waiting few months until they the nickel sign Oneas
latest exposure"
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17
'Gfon G',sl.ir

tobacco, and booze, and imitation
finery."
dat let's me outw said old
Chain Menzies, who had already
lighted his ten-cent cigar.
The substance of what Bunny
wanted was va labor college on a
tract of land somewhere out in the
country; but instead Of spending
his million on steel and concrete,
he wanted to begin in tents, and
have all the buildings put up by the
labor of the students and teachers.
Everybody on the place was to have
four hours manual labor and four
of class work daily; and they were
all to wear khaki, and have no
fashionable society. Bunny had
the idea of going out among the
colleges and high schools, and talk
ing to little groups of students, and
here and there seducing one away
from football and fraternities to a
new dedication. Also the labor I'M
ions would be invited to select
promising young men and women.
1t was a thing that should grow
fast, and take little money, because,
with the exception of building ma
terials, everything could be pro-
duced on the place; they would
have a farm, and a school of domes-
tic arts-in short, teach all the nee
essary trades, and proyide four
hours honest work of some sort
for all students who wanted to
come.
ITO Be Continuedl.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17

values, and the upkeep in general of
top heavy system.
3.-The opposition of the powers
that be" toward any artificial relief
measures.
4.-Purchasing in an artificially in
flated market and selling in the
worlds market to impoverished pur-
chasers.
5.-Having to compete on the in
ternational market with people who
make less demands on life and who
do not hear the burden of such a.
heavy economic super-structure as
the American farmer.
6.-The elimination of horse trac-
ton, meaning less consumption of
farm products.
THE elimination of grain con-
sumption on account of national pro-
hibition.
8.-The under-consumption of the
masses of the world owing to unfa-
vorable conditions brought about by
the severe exploitation by the inter-
ests and bearing the burden of top
heavy economic system.
Here Comes Nitrogen.
A new actor is about to enter upon
the worlds stage, reeking with blood
and corpses. Nitrogen in the hands
of the militarists is cruel agent of
death and destruction. In the hands
of the farmers it is humanitys
friend and benefactor.
Nitrogen is the main ingredient
used in making explosives, at the
same time it is the rehabilitant of
robbed soil. The process of manufac-
ture has been cheapened to such an
extent that the Chilean nitrate can
no longer compete with the synthetic
product.
Germany had to rely on synthetic
nitrogen for making explosives. The
plants which formerly furnished the
death-dealing product are now being
used to make nitrogen for agricul-
tural purposes. Germany, by the use
Of nitrogen as a fertilizer, has re-
duced the importation Of cereals to
very great extent, with the pros
poets Of having a sufficiency within
few years.
Plentiful As Air.
The supply is inexhaustible mas
much as it is derived from the air.
Other wheat importing countries are
certain to follow the example of Ger
many. The scientists are so enthu-
siastic about the new agent and the
revolutionary changes that will be
forced upon the world through its
general use that they make the pre-
diction that this will be called the
nitrogen age. The first to feel the
effects Of nitrogen will be the wheat
exporting countries and the farmer
will not be the only sufferer.
The effects upon the exporting
countries when the wheat importing
countries increase the crop yield can
be readily calculated. When the eff
fects of this revolution in agriculture
are felt greater expediencies must be
used than those incorporated in the
Haugen-McNary bill. Then the peo-
pie will have to choose If nitrogen
shall drive humanity into the caves
and jungles or whether it shall be
the force which will compel human
ity to shape economics to conform to
our advancement in science instead
Of using economic methods inherited
from the ox-cart period. "All hail
to the nitrogen agel"
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17
By H. T. AHRENS


THE present congress, like its
l. predecessors, will discuss farm re-
lief measures. The discerning far
mer no longer looks upon this farci-
cal action with any seriousness. He
realizes it is just fake fight staged
for his benefit in order to have him
remain a partisan voter. Nothing
viii be enacted to help the farmer
the metropolitan press will blame the
farmer for the failure by saying the
argument that the lack of unanimity
of the latter as to the remedy to be
used was the cause of not obtaining
relief.
Cooperative Marketing.
Other pseudo-friends try to give
proof of their interest by advising
the farmer to cooperate in market
ing.
The farmer is not only robbed by
those who juggle his products but he
is subject to greater exactions from
the industrial and transportation in
terests. Cooperation in marketing
would only prevent insignificant ex-
action compared with those taken by
the monopolists of transportation.
The farmer to a great extent re-
lies on succor from a number of as
! sociations whose main object is to
inspire him with false hopes.
In reality these associations con-
stitute the masked batteries from
which the interests fight and defeat
their unsophisticated dupes.
These associations have a taboo on
the discussion of political or kindred
subjects and the members conscien-
tiously toe the mark. The Grange
of Washington at the state assembly
last summer was so conscientious
that its members refrained from dis
cussing their misery or demanding
relief. The taboo ridden Polynesian
would be very proud of his brother
of the Grange.
The agricultural tragedy is con-
temporary with the world war. When
the Entente declared the illegal
blockade against Central Europe the
price of wheat, also cotton, went be-
low the cost of production. The in
visible government of America was
more interested in the welfare of the
people of the entente than in their
compatriot farmers. There was not
an earnest remonstrance against the
illegal blockade.
Kept Prices Down.
Upon the entrance of the United
States into the big slaughter a gov
eminent price and absolute control Of
wheat was established. Wheat was
the only commodity which was de-
MED competitive market. AS a
rule the price of wheat is double the
price of corn.
The quotation for the latter was
$1.75 per bushel; in accordance with
this rule the price of wheat should
have been $3.50 per bushel, but by
reason of the government established
price, the wheat grower only re-
ceived $500.
The commission houses, as former
ly, were retained as Intermediates
reaping exorbitant profits. At the
conclusion of government control the
U. S. grain corporation found a fund
Of S50,000,000.
The government appropriated this
sum, rrefunding was not fashionable
in this case. The farmer had positive
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17
The Farmer in the Nitrogen Age

proof that he had been robbed mas
much as the price of wheat went
above $500 per bushel when govern
ment control was abrogated. Very
few farmers received the benefit of
this price, as they no longer were
owners of wheat.
Prices Went Down.
The year following the cessation of
the war the price of wheat settled
down to a little above $500 per
bushel. The banking interests deemed
this price too high. The farmer was
Debated through the action of the
almighty reserve banks. Credit was
refused to the purchasers Of wheat.
Without any warning wheat became
dead commodity. Not a bushel of
wheat was purchased during a num-
Der of days. The stunned farmers
world stopped with jolt.
When commerce, through the per-
nit of the reserve banks, was re-
sumed wheat was purchased at one
dollar less the late price. The new
established price became the perma-
nent quotation. Last year we ex-
ported wheat to a point where it be-
came uncertain if there was enough
left for home consumption.
The threat of the banking interests
no doubt was severe; there would
have been excessive speculation at all
former times, but it seems no one
dared to take hold of the market.
Every argument was brought out
to lower the price of wheat. In one
instance the arrival of 10000 bushels
at a terminal point was used as sue
cessful argument for the lowering Of
the price. In view of the whole mat
ter the farmer is fully entitled to the
conclusion that he is the victim of
deep plots.
Government Won't Help.
The farmer is entirely too optim-
istic when he hopes that relief will
be given through government action.
There are too many factors which,
from the viewpoint of certain indus
trial and financial interests, forbid
the Inauguration of any artificial re-
lief measures. Prosperity of agricul-
ture would mean general rise in
prices on account of a greater in
crease and devaluation of the cur
rency with higher cost of living as
q consequence. This would entail the
inability to compete with European
industrialists on the worlds market.
AT present precarious hold on for
eign commerce is retained by speed
ing up labor and keeping the farmer
debated and furnishing farm prod
ucts at low cost. 1t is only too OBJ
vous that the domestic market is
destined to suffer on account of the
submergence Of the farmer. The in
terests must choose between the two
evils and it seems they consider the
reduction Of the domestic market of
less Importance than the debarment
from the worlds markets. Hence the
opposition of the interests against
any relief measures of Importance.
Principal Factors.
The chief factors which cause the
unfortunate conditions are as fol-
lows:
1.-The abyssmal ignorance Of the
farmer regarding economic and politi-
cal questions engendered by the slush
dispensing metropolitan press.
1.-The exactions levied upon the
farmer in the way Of contribution to-
wards enormous dividends on watered
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17

Rachel had published brief ar
ticle about Bunny's return from
abroad, quoting him as saying that
he intended to use his Inheritance
for the benefit Of the movement.
And this statement had attracted
the attention of a bright young
newspaper woman, who had written
a facetious article:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17
Another Installment
OF Floyd DelI's Book
On Upton Sinclair

Next Saturdays New Magazine
section of The DAILY WORKER
will carry another installment of
Floyd Dell's book on the life of
Upton Sinclair, the famous novel
list and agitator. The book will be
published on May 20, this year.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-17

Another general strike against Communism even Nor
ris Sigman may get free unch'at the White House
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-29

into rough country, merely that he
may pass through Mud Hollow and
perhaps buy q gallon Of gasoline or a
sandwich from a local merchant.
The main highways along which
tourists swarm in season should be as
carefully marked as railroad trunk
line. Everything should be done to
assist the passage Of the traveller. The
signs should be devoid of all tommyrot
respecting scenery and good food, I'M
less the highway officials see AT to in
sert information, here and there, re-
garding the country and the best
places to stop. After watching for
mile after mile the wonderful signs
which direct him to Come On Inn"
for dinner. is any disappointment
keener than that of the dusty traveller
who finds that Come On Inn" is a
ramshackle structure in an unshaded
field, with flies and vermin in posses.
sion and with food that repels, in.
stead of quickens, the appetite? His
own fault, perhaps, for he should have
stuck to his official map and guide.
But it is only human to err, and high.
way officials should bend their efforts
toward reducing to minimum the
possibility for error. They will find
themselves repaid hundredfold In
the glorious tales Of their careful hos
pitality spread abroad on the tongues
Of thankful tin-canners.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-29
Wishes.

The Associated Press recently car
ried a dispatch telling Of an elderly
farmer who wished that an apple tree
on a hill was down in the barn lot, as
1t was becoming difficult for him to
climb so high.
the tree slid down the hill, bringing a
huge pile of earth with it, and soon
was bearing fruit in it's new location
Most of mems wishes. however. are
not so speedily realized. A wish, for
the average man, Is but the beginning
of work. Wishing, If 1t means any
thing, is an electric button, to be
pressed once.
The rest must be done elsewhere.
A wish Is the self-starter in the
wheel of attainment. Without wishes
mankind would still be in the purely
animal state. Animals do not wish
for food, they crave it, which Is diff
ferent thing.
Man, with a mentality made for wish
ing, wishes himself into success or
failure. Men do not always stop to
realize that evil as well as good comes
from wishing.
Even wishes which intend harm to
others are aimed, in queer, distorted
fashion, to bring what the wisher
terms good to himself. There Is
nothing more sure, however, than that
these evil wishes bring circle Of evil
results, which takes in wisher as well
as victim.
If our wishes are good. as was the
old Ohio farmers, perhaps we may
vet see the tree slide down into our
outstretched arms, and pick the ap-
pies of realization at our ease.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-29

European capitals when, coincident
with the breaking OF Anglo.Russian
relations and the assassination Of M.
voikoff at Warsaw, Moscow began to
talk in a warlike manner. For there
was no conceivable ground on which
war could be based. The Communist
propaganda, promoted ana counte'
nanced by the Soviet government IL
not directly instigated by 1t. could not
be made cause Of international assault
upon Russia. The Moscow govern
ment itself could not take the offensive
on any score.
The reign of terror" instituted by
the Soviet government after the Vol
koff ASA ssination and continuing.
according to reports, to this time, was
palpably domestic measure. Nobody
knows how many lives have been
sacrificed, but it is believed that sew
eral score have gone to the gallows
on a variety Of charges. Probably
many of these were innocent people.
These executions could not possibly
be considered as reprisals for foreign
criticism or antagonism. They were
plainly designed to brighten the Rus
slams themselves into subservience to
Soviet rule.
Just so this new move Of building
airplanes, by a sort of cooperative
provincial enterprise, is a method Of
strengthening the Moscow govern.
ment against reaction at home. There
is no cause for concern. therefore, in
the answer to Chamberlain"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-29
Borah breaches Home Business.

Visualizing war in Europe, Senator
! Borah, chairman Of the foreign rela-
tons committee. urges the people of
America to stick to their own bust
ness. This business, in the opinion of
the Idaho Senator, is not the recon
struction of Europe or the remission
of the war debts due from European
countries to this country. Indeed, the
more America does for Europe. he
says, the more quickly will the Euro
pean nations be prepared to go to
war.
co. This is a gloomy view. 1t is rather
typically Borahesque. 1t is the type
of ADVICE that may be summed up in
charity begins at home" with the
added inference that it may as we'll
. remain at home. Mr.. Borah might
with benefit remind himself, however,
that no nation and no individual ever
attained the real heights by being
too selfish. 1t does not pay in the long
run.
American money and American toll
should be spent at home, Mr.. Borah
insists in an address delivered yester.
. day in Denver, rather than in the de-
lusive effort to aid Europe. Mr.. Borah
may be right, but there are still some
elements of truth in the suggestion
s"a& helping others now and then is
10 Gid 20 the helper. Cast your
~ lad upon the waters"'
The advice of Senator Borah to
Americans to conserve their natural
resources Is sound. He deals particu-
larly with the oil situation, pointing
! out that there is an orgy Of produc-
, ton and consumption OF this valuable
and necessary substance, vital now in
industry and in national defense. The
known oil fields of this country, he
points out, according to the Federal
Oil Conservation Board, hold only
enough oil to supply the country at
the present rate Of consumption for
the next six years. The Government,
Senator Borah insists, should move to
check wasteful production and ex.
penditure of oil if the men In the in
dustry will not.
The Mississippi flood has presented
another great problem to the Ameri-
can people, Mr.. Borah says-a problem
that should be tackled without delay
and solved. 1t is but another evidence,
he insists, that the United States
should turn its attention to a program
Of internal improvement and quit fol-
lowing a will-o.the-wisp--the rehabili-
tAtion Of Europe.