The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-07-29
BY REBECCA GRECHT.

A VICIOUS system of forced labor
Al is now being established in
New Jersey, by decision and under
the supervision of the state gov
eminent. Beginning with August
First, cash relief with sid of state
funds will cease everywhere. All
able-bodied unemployed workers
will be compelled to work in return
for a weekly bit of groceries, or
find their only means of subsist-
ence to keep death from the door,
the starvation allowance of the
government charity system, taken
from them.
New Jersey ranks as one of the
first states in the number and per
centage of unemployed. Over 8o0,-
900 are jobless, almost Is per cent
of the total population. New lay
offs take place regularly IN all in
duStrieS.
Compelled to recognize the seri-
business of the situation, the state
director of relief, Chester I. Bar
nard, admitted in his report to the
State Legislature eight months ago,
i'll December, 1881, that not less
than $250,000,000 would be needed
for cash relief and public works
program to care for the unemploy-
ed and their families, for the COM
ing year. The answer of the state
government, then, was to appro-
pirate the miserably inadequate
sum of approximately $4,000, 900,
intended to last seven or eight
monthsl
Now, faced with deepening crisis
and tremendous increase in un-
employment, the state legislature
at its last session concluded in
June, demonstrated its complete
bankruptcy as concerns any at
tempt to provide for the unemploy-
ed. In the face of the hunger and
restitution rampant in the state, a
relief appropriation of some IA mil
lion dollars was made on paper,
with no definite provision as to
where this money was to come
from, outside of four millions dol
lars taken from the teachers pen
sion fund, never to be returned.
This sum admittedly can in no
way suffice even the barest needs
of the workers, and condemns them
to deepest misery and suffering.
With the cry for bread of the
toiling masses ringing in their ears,
the corporation controlled state
legislature voted starvation for the
workers, while refusing to touch
one cent of the profits of the rich.
They have inaugurated a system
forced labor to save funds, keep
the taxes of the banks, trusts, rail-
roads down, and provide new
source of profits for the munich
palities, counties and state govern
Now, everywhere, cities will build
sewers, pave streets, build highways,
drain swamps, dredge rivers, clear
water sheds, at the expense of the
workers, forced to labor without
wages, in return for a morsel of
bread. voluntary" slavery for the
championships is the latest ex-
preston of capitalist denagogy in
New Jersey. The state government
is itself directly putting through
this system, sending representatives
OF the state relief department to
the various cities, to show them
how they can compel the unem-
ployed to work without wages.
How profitable this new scheme
of forced labor will be for New Jer-
sey cities was quite openly adruatted
by the Newark Evening News, flew
Jerseys leading capitalist newspa-
per, which stated:
municipalities of New Jersey
are deriving benefits from The
unemployment crisis that years
Of prosperity never brought
them"
Thus, one city in south Jersey
was persuaded by the state relief
director that the time had never
been so good as now to develop the
marsh land in the city's territory.
"The state administration" de-
clares the report in the Newark
Evening News, Showed this mu-
nicipality how job that ordinarily