The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-03-31
By BERTHA BRANTHAL.

AMERICA, which has always been described
- by the social democrats and the reformist
trade union leaders as the paradise of the
workers, in which the proletariat can reach
high standard of living without any struggles
is now in the throes of great revolutionary
movements, called forth by the severe economic
crisis which throws millions of workers out
of work and plunges them into utter misery.
book throwing very interesting light on
the development of the American labor move
ment in the last half century and one which is
practically indispensable to every worker who
wishes to have a historical background to the
present working class movement in imperialist
America is Bill Haywood's book. 1t wildly and
graphically describes the decade-long hard.
bloody struggles of the American workers for
decent wages and the eight-hour day, and
against the arbitrariness and brutality of the
employers.
Bill Haywood himself has played no small
part in these struggles. He was born in 1869
in the West of America and had already as a
boy to work for his living. He lost one eye
at the age of seven, but this loss does not
seem to have handicapped him in his active and
adventurous career. At the age of Is he got
a Job in a mine and experienced all the hard
ships of miners life. He soon developed a
fighting spirit which was outraged by the sight
of a terrible iyncning OF a iIegTo which he
witnessed in his boyhood and by the CHASTITY
massacre of the Piute Indians at Thacker Pass.
when men, womenNand children killed
while asleep, although the Indians had COM
mitted no offense
But the turning point in Haywood's life was
the Chicago Haymarket case in 1886, when
eight revolutionary strike leaders were convict
ed and executed on the trumped up charge of
having thrown bomb in Haymarket Square
on May 4. BY quoting the simple and inspr-
ing speeches delivered by the accused before the
court Haywood has helped to enshrne the
memory of these brave workers in the heart
of every proletarian, striving for the emancipa-
ton of his class. And as counterpart to these
heroes of the working class, Sam Gompers
who declared before the same court as wit
ness, that:
"He has differed all his life from the prin-
ciples and methods Of the condemned
is portrayed in the following scathing manner:
"This squat specimen of humanity GER
tainly did not personify the membership OF
the American Federation of Labor. Sam
! was very short and chunky with big head
that was bald in patches, resembling child
suffering with ringworm. He had small,
swapping eyes, hard, cruel mouth, wide
with thin dropping lips, heavy jaws and
| jowls. A personality vain, conceted, petu-
liant and vindictive. Looking at him could
realize the passion of cruelty with which this
| person would WELD power if he had it. 1t
| was easy to understand how Jumpers could
| plead for men who were facing the moose
| of the executioners with his tongue in his
| check and his heart reeking with hypocrisy.
| One could realize that he might even refer
| jokngly to the defeat of a great labor strug-
| gle, if it were being conducted by an organ
izaton that was not strictly in accordance
with his views. To look at him was to know
that he could protest against giving relief to
| women and children"
| The most brilliant pages of Haywcod's life
closely connected with his activity as secre-
| tary and leader of the Western Federation Of
| Miners, which was founded in 1893 out of the
knights of labor. The glorious history Of this
union, which conducted big strikes of theJfniners
at Colorado City, cIpple Creek, Denver, some