New Britain herald., 1930-07-16
.S0V|ETS F0MENT LABOR TROUBLES
Labor Department Witness Tells
 Of Strikes Reds Started

New York, July 16 LP - Com munists were charged today in tes- timony before the special house in- vestigation committee with foment- ing strikes as one means of over throwing the government. The wit ness was Charles G. Wood, commits sioner of conciliation in the labor department at Washington. Wood was the first witness 10 be heard and probably will be followed inspector.
 Tells of Activities
 The witness declared that com- munists had centered their activities at Passaic, N. J.. New Bedford, Mass, greater New York, and in Gastonia, N. c. He said that they instituted strikes and then made every effort to prevent settlement of disputes over wages, working con- ditions and hours.
 Workers in textile mills at Passaic as we'll as in other places where strikes were conducted under con- munist leadership were often intimi- dated and thousands driven from employment, he said.
 Before the witness took the stand Chairman Hamilton Fish, Jr., of the committee announced that repre- sentatives of the Amtorg Trading Corporation, official commercial agency of the Soviet Union in the United States, had consented to ap- pear voluntarily before the commit tee next Tuesday and Wednesday. He explained that the committee has decided not to call William z. Foster, communist leader, now serv- ing a prison sentence for melting a riot in Union Square, New York, on March 6, because efforts might be made, he said, by communists, to effect his escape.
 Student Led Strikes
 In his testimony Commissioner Wood said that Albert Weisbord of Brooklyn, a graduate of New York University and of the Harvard Law school had conducted strikes in 1926 at the Passaic textile mills. He, with Afford Waggonette, had succeeded in arousing the sympathy of people through the country and as result had raised between s500,O00 and S600,0 900, with which to carry on the strike, the witness said
 In conducting strikes, Wood said apparently they do not want to reach a settlement with the employ ers.' He said communists stopped the labor department from time to time when We arranged for settle ments through arbitration which we considered satisfactory to both the workers and the employers"
 The witness added that he felt the communists were creating much un- necessary trouble for the employed in the textile and other mills.
 AS a result of the Passaic. N. J., strike only 5000 Of 14,00O en- ployes led out by the communists, l Wood said. returned to work. Rep resentative Nelson of Maine inter rogated the witness as to whether | the remaining 5000 secured em- ployment. Wood said they had gone to other mills for work.
 In describing the textile strike in New Bedford, Mass. in 1928, Wood said that a local organization initi- ated the walk-out and within a week communist leaders. including Fred Beal, Albert Weisbord and Jake Rubenstein, had come to New Bed ford and within four weeks had sc- cured 10000 members of the con- nunist party from the 30,000 per sons involved in the strike. At the end of the strike. he said, the com- n.unists left town.
 BlameS Communists Commissioner Wood, under ques-
 ioning by Representative Nelson, placed the direct responsibility for