The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-08-24
CALL FOR UNITY
FROM BELOW
OF SEA M E N
American and Chinese
Workers Must Fight
for Joint Demands

1O1 OO1llO A(CI1lCLQlNlp
The White Law, like the
Dies Bill, is part of American i'm
perialism'S war preparations. The
Dies Bill aims at intimidation of the
toiling masses to insure tranquility"
Of the cannon-fodder on the approach
Of war. The Jones' White Law aims
at the militarizing of merchant ma
rine, to insure imperialism of this
service.
Along with its other provisions re-
curing gun emplacements on mer-
chant vessels, the Jones-White Law
requires the "emplacement" of what
Wall Street hopes will be "safe"
crew. That is, two-thirds of the crew
must, under the law, be American
citizens"
The shipowners have been given
period to make the change required
but the crew must reach the "two-
thirds American citizens" proportion
by the end of 1892
Discrimination
This means a legally backed dis
elimination against the foreign born
workers, who may have been for
years earning their living as seamen
On American ships In the case of
such as the Dollar Line" where the
crew has already been largely Chinese
hired in Chinese ports and who al
ready, because Of immigration re-
strictions, have never been ashore
in America, it means wholesale dis
charges.
Many Are Rebels
Indede, not a few of the Chinese
seamen who are scheduled for dis
charge under the Jones' White Law,
are members of the revolutionary Ma
tional Seamen's Union of China, and
besides the duty of protecting the
foreign-born and the struggle against
every form of war preparation, the
revolutionary Marine Workers Indus
trial Union has the responsibility laid
upon them as workers organizations
in an imperialist country. of making
the greatest effort to aid the toilers
OF a nation oppressed by "our" imper-
ialists.
The International Seamen's Union,
which has become so iingoist that it
has changed its name to the Amer
lean" Seamen's Union, does not. of
course, as the Marine Workers Union
Goes, admit Chinese seamen to men,
bership. AS an A. F. of L. official
Andy Furuseth, head of the I.S.U.
would be Mortified at the suggestion.
And the ISU Hobbies in Congress for
the Jones-White Law and hailed it
as victory" for american" seamen.
But since June 1, when it went
into effect, the way the shipowners
have been carrying out the law shows
that the Furuseth leadership of the
ISU was making fools out of the
American seamen who thought it
chauvinist fashion that firing the
Chinese" would give "jobs to white
Americans"
An Illusion Exploded
white Americans" have not been
Getting jobs, but losing them! The
shipowners have known how to turn
pretty penny while certifying their
patriotism. They have worked it as
follows:
The Dollar Line let it be known
that they would discharge Chinese
seamen. But instead of hiring Flu
ruseths white Americans" they let
it be also known that they would hire
American Chinese. At what wages
they failed to mention.
Now 1t happens that the Kuomin-
tang in America, at several ports,
has union" Of American born Chi
nese Seamen called the "Yuen Lee
Association" Also, faction Of the
Kuomintang known in China as the
Third Party" has some equally vile
representatives in America, who,
seeming the possibility of a new
racket" in rounding up American
born Chinese for the shipowners,
formed union" called the amer
lean Chinese Seamen's Association"
The Third PARTY" was first to ap-
proach the Dollar Line. On this line,
the report states, the China born
seamep are paid Gin Chinese money!
between $S5 and $40 per month. The
Third Party offered the Dollar Line
to furnish seamen at $50. Then the
leaders of the Kuomintang union"
woke up and went to the Dollar Com
panv telling it that the Third Party
would endanger its ships with snug
Cling opium and offering, besides,
seamen at $25.
Scab Unions
Neither of these scoundrels gave
the least attention to protecting the
Chinese seamen now working from
mass discharge. On the contrary,
they were trying TO scab on them.
And as for the Anerican-bor Chi
nese. they were to be sold out. The
ISU of course was too superior" to
do ANYTHING for Chinese, and our
revolutionary union, weak in numbers
and lagging at the tail of events. has
done little but make some literary
protest
The Dollar Line, seeing no unity
among the Chinese and no sign Of
solidarity for them from the side of
the American white seamen, felt
strong enough TO chuck the whole
lot, both Kuoinintang and Third Par
tv, and is hiring American
Chinese from the oon'-s individuallv
at $23 month, in Chinese at that,
PROPOSALS for Action
The American Bureau of the Pan
Pacific Trade Union Secretariat is
proposing united front from below
through elected ship committees,
among all Chinese seamen, both
American and Chinese born, Of
struggle for the following demands.