The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-04-23
MAY DAY AND ECONOMIC
CRISIS

for the job that has not come for 20 months.
The future is so blind for capitalism that one
of its most optimistic spokesman, James A. Far
rel, president of the United States Steel Cor
poration, speaking of this leading steel trust and
its prospects for the coming year could find
nothing roster to say than: mo one fOreteH
or predict what 1881 will eventuate." Journal of
Commerce, April 81, 1880.
That doesn't sound so good, because the U. S.
Steel Corporation has its fingers on the steel
orders that come in; it knows the trends in the
various industries that buy steel, and if Farrell
couldn't squeeze any more hope out of the VOL
luminous facts he has on hand than that which
we quote the workers can be assured that the
future is black indeed.
Now we come to the most important phases of
the present crisis. Last year the American work.
ing class suffered a $12,000,O0o00o loss in wage
cuts Most of this was pocketed by the capt.
talStS in profits Andrew Mellon, secretary of
the treasury, handed the big corporations $780,
100000 in tax returns, which they pocketed as
profits. The whole burden of the crisis was
transferred to the backs of the workers. employed
and unemployed, in the form of wage cuts and
starvation
But crisis cannot last as long as the present
one has, without further endangering the profits
of the bosses. Faced with this situation the
wage cut for all the workers ever proposed.
Whereas wage cuts hit here and there in the
factories, first one department, then another;
now they are coming down in full swoop.
The Commercial & Financial Chronicle one of
the leading organs of Wall Street. and especially
of the owners of the $25, 900 100000 outstanding
in railroad securities, points out there is only
one way of saving the profits of the railroad
ownerS-and that is by huge slice off the wages
of the railroad workers.
i, Hoover is one of the best friends and asso-
ciateS that the railroad bosses ever had in this
country His personal maneuvering for the con-
Soldation of the leading five railroad systems Is
just one of the indications. A more important
indication is his appointment of Doak as secre-
tary of labor primarily with a view to putting
over the wage cut in the railroad industry
The next point of attack is the steel industry
Nothing has been made clearer in the capitalist
press when the mass of lies about maintaining
wages" is cast aside, than that definite plan
is prepared for a wage cut to effect every steel
worker in the country
In Youngstown, Ohio the steel bosses openly
admit it. The Wall Street Journal, which speaks
for the Morgan interests-that is. for U. S. steel
and the Bethlehem Steel ahon-recently
said that if steel prices go down wages must 60
step is to be taken soon
AT the end of April just before the May Day
demonstrations are held, the U. s. Steel and
Bethlehem Steel will hold their quarterly board
OF directors meetings-and it is here the plans
for wage cutting may be announced
The road for these wage cuts was well pre-
pared by Hoover and Green of the A. F. of L.
in 1929 at the conference of the leading exploit
ers and misleaders of the American Federation
OF Labor Because the bosses found wage cutting
peacemeal so easy during 1880, they are now
going to try their hand at wholesale slasl1es.
This is the picture of the economic situation
that faces the American workers as the Com
munist Party and Trade Union Unity League
prepare May Day demonstrations throughout the
country. May Day can be made into powerful
weapon to mobilize the American working class
for counter against the worst wage-cut
rive ever attempted by the American bosses