The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-07-18
ABOLISH JURIES
IN LABOR TRIAL
COP TELLS FISH
Woll Brings His Own
Set of Forgeries


suits by cases of simple assault,
which are tried in the court of
special sessions"
1t was brought out that the lead
ers of the March demonstration
in Union Square, Foster, Minor,
Amter, Raymond and Lesten were
convicted, under our rioting law"
by this most useful, no-jury, court
of special sessions. Tammany
judges do not have to be educated"
any more. They know enough not
to listen to the evidence!
The prosecution argument in the
Shifrin case was outlined, and the
case described as a typical Com
munist homicide" Then Lyons
calmly pointed out that the jury
acquitted Shifrin, and paused for
dramatic effect. The congressman
of the Fish committee looked at
each other. Plainly something must
be done about these juries!
The significant year, 1925, was
heavily emphasized in Lyons testi-
mony, and underlined by repeated
questions from the committeeman.
1t was in 1925 that the Department
of Justice dissolved at least part
of it's anti-labor spy system. One
function of the Fish committee is
to have it revived, bigger and bet
ter. So Lyons conferred on all the
needle trades strikes, four between
1926 and 1929. all the cafeteria
strikes, 1929 and 1880, the shoe
strike, 1929 and 1880, the metal
strike, the window cleaners strike,
the dental laboratories strike,
everything that happened since
1925.
violence"
"The strikes we're replete with
violence" Lyons was not talking
about the brutal assaults, day by
day, by clubbing and gun swinging
police on the picket lines, nor of
the occasional outright murder of
pickets, as in Katovis' case, by the
police. Lyons was talking about
the knife gangs, invading shops and
threatening workers, the thugs
smashing workers heads with
sawed off billiard cues, the hum
dreds Of gangsters' assaults on
needle, food, shoe and other work
ers, committed by the paid gunner
of the International Ladies Garment
Workers, the international Fur
Workers Union, the United Hebrew
Trades, the A. F. of l.. food unions.
He described all their terroristic
actions in lurid detail-and then he
calmly blamed the whole thing on
the Needle Trades Workers Indus
trial Union, the Food Workers In
dustrial Union, and the left wings
in the old unions before these indus
trial unions were organized!
To hear Lyons tell it there are
$4,000 to 10000 Communists going
around with razor blades terrorizing
100000 ,other workers into joining
their unions. Lyons said they were
all Communist unions, and he said
the workers went to 26 Union
Square Communist district head
quarters) to join! And the $4,000
New York police with at least one
gun and one club per cop, to be
freely used, as the killing of Kat
owls and Gonzalez shows, plus un
limited riot wagons, machine guns,
tear gas, armored cars had failed
SO far to free these poor protesting
workers from the terrible safety
razor blades of the Communists
Twas dramatic tale, and both
the Fish committee and the cap
italist press swallowed it whole, for
reasons best known to themselves,
but evidently because it helps in the
plans plainly indicated in the "in-
vestigation" so far to pass new and
stricter deportation laws, to build
federal spy system, to smash the
workers unions and the Communist
Party, to make the working class
helpless to fight against unemploy-
ment, or wage cuts, or the APP
preaching war.
Lyons categorically approved
each of these plans during the in
vestigation, in answer to leading
questions from the committee.
Against these plans. the work
ers and unemployed of America
will join in the international pro-
test on anti-imperialist war day,
August 1. They will demand that
the war funds be used for relief.
of the unemployed.
Lyons has no word to say against
the A. f. l.. unions which used all
the violence he describes, and used
it against the left wing.
Instead, he says. IF it was not
for the splendid fight waged by the
A. f. L. against the Communists,
they would probably control now
the fur, dress cloak, food and other
industries" Of course he means
the bloody and INSCRIPTIONS war
waged by the A. F. L. gangs, the
police, the bosses in cooperation,
against the militant unions of the
T. U. U. l..
Communist Growth.
Aside from this, Lyons testimony
was chiefly on the rapid growth of
Communism since 1925 (I8,000
paid admission to a Communist
meeting on March 16, 1907, and
the sudden increase of Neprn- Ian.