The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-01-17
Minnesota Hunger March Brings
Higher Stage of Jobless Struggle


and tried to evade the demands of the unem-
ployed. Dozens of ex-service men were in the
demonstration, and declared that in the next
demonstration they will wear their uniforms. The
demands for immediate unemployed relief were
connected up with the struggle for the passage
of the national unemployment insurance bill
Over two thousand signatures for the bill were
secured in the Twin Cities in two days time.
The committee presented the bill to Olson and
demanded he state his opinion of the BILL but
he refused to read it
The demonstration for the immediate demands
of the 175,O0o unemployed workers of the state of
Minnesota has completely unmasked the Farmer
Labor Party, and its leader, Olson, as the worst
enemy of the unemployed workers Olson had
completed delivering his message to the state
legislature few minutes before the unemployed
workers arrived. The Minneapolis Tribune ultra
reacdonary republican paper, said of this mes
sage that points were liberal progressive not
radical" and the rest would fit in with the
message of an ultra conservative government"
This lingo paper concludes, The message is safe
and sound and should remove any fear that may
have existed that Minnesota was in for an era
of wild radlcallSm The governor should
have the confidence of all the political and eco
nonic interests of the state" Olson's message
regarding unemployment, confined itself exclu-
sively to the proposals made by Hoover regard
ing public works, and nothing else. He advo-
Gated two-year road building program, taking
care to point out that the roads should be paved
(the steel trust has been lobbying for cement
roads since cement is an important by-product
of their Minnesota plants against the lobby Of
the tar products concerns). Thus instead of
immediate unemployment relief Olson spoke of
a program stretching out over two years, with
the bulk of the appropriations going to the steel
trust to buy cement and over the two year per-
iod, offering employment to only a few hundred
of the 175000 unemployed workers of the state.
This was all Olson had to say on unemployment.
Olson, when forced to declare himself on the
demands of the unemployed delegation on the
question of immediate relief openly spit upon
the demands OF the unemployed workers, He
first tried to evade the committees demands
by stating he 'has no powers" But when the
committee demanded to know whether or not
he would bring these demands for immediate re-
lief before the state legislature, whether he would
support them Olson fatty opposed the proposals
for immediate relief, declaring them "unreason-
able" For nearly two hours on the morning of
Jan. 8 the committee of the unemployed work.
ers hammered Olson with case after case of
starving women and children, of eviction cases,
of lumber workers living in jungles, of many
thousands of miners and steel workers and rail-
IOdu WOIkeTS SIdIVlIlSy Vi WOueH urNel 10 pros
titution against their will by starvation, of chill
dren unable to go to school, home in bed starv-
ing, of Negro youth and women workers dis
eliminated against, of the shameful treatment
of the community chest and city mission of the
starving unemployed of the filthy hunks and
rotten food of the city mission.
For nearly two hours, one committee member
after another brought up such demands that
Olson shall make a declaration in opposition to
the damnable criminal syndicalism law of Mime
sofa, the fact that Olson in his message did not
oppose the injunction law but wanted it amended
SO as to make it more constitutional that Olson
has refused to advocate social and economic
equality for Negroes, that Olson and the Farmer
Labor Party has no program whatever for i'm
mediate relief of the unemployed.
The committee declared to Olson that the
workers want bread not talk; and now. not in
two years. When Comrade Powers, chairman OF
the committee, summed up and made a final
demand Of Olson as to what he would do with
regard to immediate unemployment relief, Oh
sons final answer, for the waiting thousands
was, Il have nothing to say"
There has stirred up in the hearts of thou
sands of workers bitter hatred for the Farmer
Labor Party and its principal spokesman, Olson,
which has SO shamelessly and brazenly aban-
doned them to starvation. Down with Olson,
DOWn WltIl fdTLneI-ldDOT EdICy was one
of the principal slogans of the marching unem-
ployed workers after the interview with Olson
on Jan. 8. The flat refusal of Olson and the
farmer labor party to lift finger while thou
sands starve is deep lesson for the unemployed
workers, and has gone far toward tearing the
veil of left phrases" from the Farmer-Labor
Party and exposing it as the party of the steel
trust. The fact that the newspapers have all
refused to print the demands of the unemployed
workers and have suppressed the committees
statement to the governor, will not the steel
trust governor. The story of the demonstration
and the demands will be distributed broadcast
throughout the state in leaflet form.
The fact that the first interview given by the
steel trust governor, Olson, was an interview
forced by the unemployed workers, and that in
this interview the governor scoffed at and re-
jected their demands, has shown the workers
the necessity of immediate organization Already
steps have been taken for the establishment of
new neighborhood unemployment councils Begin
ming in ST. Paul; the fight against evctions, dis
elimination by the city against families demand
ing relief, ETC., by demonstrations around these
typical individual cases, the mass recruiting of
members into the unemployed councils, the estab-
lishment of functioning committees, the estab-
lishment of youth sections, the division the
basis of industry all of this organzational work
is being started in st. Paul. and the workers
have seriously taken hold of this vital problem
Of organization.
When the unemployed workers. together with