The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-01-02
Ry REBEccA GRECHT


IXTITH the further deepening of the crisis, I'M
der pressure OF the growing resistance of the
working class to the capitalist offensive, the
bourgeoisie is compelled to resort to all sorts
of refornist maneuVerS and dernagogy in order
to deceive the masses, prevent struggles against
wage-cuts and unemployment and spread illu-
sions among the workers as to the ability and
willingness of the capitalist class to lessen the
burdens which the crisis has thrown upon the
shoulders of the workers, and solve the evil Of
unemployment
The increasing mass struggles for unemploy-
ment relief and insurance in particular, leading
to the National Hunger March to Washington,
D. c.. has brought about increased use Of
such methods in the bosses attempts to check
the development Of militant class actions under
revolutionary leadership
Thus we find in Pennsylvania, the spectacle
of the arch demagogue Governor Pinchot
waging sham legislative battle unemploy-
ment relief, appearing before the workers as
the 'iesser evil7 among capitalist politicians,
while in practice he carries through in full the
starvation program of the bosses. We have
had in Western Pennsylvania the organization
of various charity relief drives to attempt
through crumbs of charity to dampen the work
ers' spirit of class battle on the basis Of the
program OF the Unemployed Councils
And now as the latest maneuver in this
stronghold of coal and steel, we have Father
Cox's Hunger March" to Washington, engineered
by the Bosses supported by the church, widely
advertised in the capitalist press
Recent months have seen increasing mass ac-
tivity in the Pittsburgh district in the struggle
against unemployment. Thousands Of workers
have been modified to fight for immediate
lief through three county hunger marches in
western Pennsylvania, through numerous local
demonstrations in mining and steel towns, led
by the Communist Party the revolutionary
unions and the unemployed committees. Con
cessions have been forced from local govern
lnents leading to increased distribution OF relief.
The Unemployed Council in Pittsburgh has been
growing in influence, winning masses for
the fight for unemployed insurance Over 100
delegates from the coal fields and the steel CEN
ters were sent on the National Hunger March
Dec. T.
In face OF this developing movement, the
capitalist class has brought forward James r.
Cox a Catholic priest, to show the workers
patriotic" way out for the unemployed, which
will safeguard the interests of the employing
class. Two years ago this tool Of the bosses
opened his church as a meeting place to the
striking taxicab drivers Of Pittsburgh only to
worm his way into their midst and assist in
their betrayal with prayer as the workers
tell Today he is heading movement openly
directed against the working class in their battle
for unemployed relief and unemployed insur-
Z ance
This same Cox, who now pretendS a tremen-
dous solicitude for the starving unemployed
masses, fights against any struggle for adequate
housing for the homeless unemployed, demand
ing that they be content for example, with the
wooden makeshift shelters, scarcely large enough
for man to turn around in, looking like dog
kennels, which he has allowed unemployed
workers to set up in lot near the church-the
Infamous "Shantytown" of Pittsburgh, object OF
amusement for curiosity seekers but striking
testament to the degradation which capitalism
forces upon the working class.
Cox is oppoNed to unemployment insurance, to
unemployment relief from the government
Such demands, he claims are unconstitutional"
"unpatriotic." Instead, he is organizing hun
ger march" to Washington to ask Hoover for
Jobs While factories and mines continue to
close down, while Industrial production sinks
ever lower, Cox proposes to ask for jobs from
the capitalist class which has thrown over ii
million workers out on the streets to starve!
While the public works bubble exploded long
time ago with the complete collapse Of Hoover's
much advertised prosperity" public works pro-
gram Cox now proposes to solve unemployment