The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-03-10
Continued

Continued
Tom Mooney serving life sentence in San
Quentin prison after he and Warren Billings
framed up on the Preparedness Day bomb
explosion charge for their militancy in Calf
ornia labor struggles has written 35,000-word
exposure of the part the A. F. L. bureaucracy
had in the imprisonment OF these two workers
Billings does not agree that the time has come
to give out all this information, Mooney
has written an open letter to Billings, of which
the first part was published yesterday. The
letter, after that the Mooney document itself
will continue day by day In the Daily Worker
The first half of the letter pointed out that
Paul Scharrenberg, secretary of the California
State Federation of Labor, sabotaged attempts
to get endorsement of the campaign to free
Mooney and Billings in A. F. of L. conventions
and prevented all unions under his control
from donating funds to the campaign. Now
read the rest of the letter, below.
INsTALLMENT II
The fiftieth convention of the A. F. Of L. held
in Boston clearly demonstrated that not only the
California labor leaders are corrupt and treach-
erous, but that almost the whole A. F. of L.
leadership is bankrupt There are 100000 I'M
employed in this country, yet these leaders"
Cflrp Cne OOIlg OF wall OGreeI W STARVING Woih-
ers! The A. F. of L. tells them it would be
degrading if they were given genuine govern
mental unemployed relief but looks with ap-
prova1 as these toilers, in misery, suffer the
keenest and most humiliating degradation at the
hands of Community Chests and private charity!
The A. F. of L. postponed consideration of the
Six-hour day for one year so its graveyard
the Executive Council-could study" the meas
ure. It threw the five-day week into the dis
card with other measures of unemployment re-
lief but approvingly echoed the words of Pres
ident Green at the Boston Chamber of Com
merce banquet: '"There are some people who
are trying to use these troubled times of de-
preston to break down our Government"
If there was real leadership at the helm Of
the A. F. of L.. at this moment, and II it took
advantage of the present situation, the six-hour
day and five-day week without pay reductions
could be established. The present leaders Of the
A. F. of l.. are too cowardly even to try to secure
these measures. In fact, they denounce and
brand as an enemy of the country anyone who
mentions any real measures of relief for the
100000 starving workers and their dependents
probably 27,000,O00 people III
EDITORS NOTE: OF course it is SELL
out on the part of the A. F. L. leaders, not
just "cowardice.') eta .A
Our struggle for freedom Is inextricably bound
up with the whole question Of the future of the
American workers Our victory will be a guar
antee that they too must win II there is a lead
ershp capable of Strengthening the A. F. of L.
and not keeping it stagnant or weakening it.
Out of the present leadership, which is thor
oughly corrupted, no fundamental progress can
be expected. That must proceed from the rank
and file of the labor movement. Therefore, I
am placing our case and the facts providing the
labor leaders betray us before the organized
labor movement Of America for its judgment
These leutenants of Capital masquerading as
labor leaders should be exposed; they are the
worst enemies Of real organized labor move
ment. 1t is our duty to help expose their cul-
pability. They are our worst foes They are
the foes Of all militant workers.
The major labor leaders have not only be-
trayed us sabotaged our defense, and vilified
our characters they have been equally villain
Gus toward other militant workers. Did the A.
F. of L. make any effort to prevent Sacco-Van-
zetti, the noble labor martyrs, from being BURN
Giles in America which are well aware of this.
But they do not offer sufficient resistance to
the excresences of Mr.. Fish's investgatve genius.
The day will come when they will have to pay
dearly for this, for stupidity to Is great force,
II given free play to poison tie CONSEQUENCES Of