davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14

remember the hundreds Of thou
sands now in prison, the thousands
massacred especially in the colonial
and seni-colonial countries, the
tens of thousands brought to trial
in the courts OF capitalist class
justice and condemned to death or
long terms Of Imprisonment.
The Sixty-First Anniversary of
the Paris Commune calls the work
ers and poor farmers Of the Uni
ted States, Negro and white, to new
struggles under the banners Of the
international Labor Defense.
March Is, the Anniversary of the
Paris Commune, for American La
Dor Is Scottsboro- Detroit Mooney
Kentucky Tampa day of struggle.
March Is must become a mighty
day Of demonstrations against the
slaughter of our best fighters, a.
gainst the persecution of labor's
most militant leaders. and to open
the doors of prison to the Scots
borO Negro boys, the Detroit pris-
orers, to win freedom for Mooney
and Billings, the Kentucky coal
miners, the Imperial Valley, the
Centralia, the Pennsylvania and all
class war prisoners.
Every days activity must build
for a mighty March Is, 1882.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14

table historic lesson for the wUetsa
ing-class - the united capitalists
front against the Commune against
the Soviet Union, against the Chi~
nese Soviets, against workers G0T~
ernments always and eVerywherss
The terror that turks behind
bourgeois Justice" and bourgeois
democracy" was displayed In al
its hideousness during the last days
of the Commune and after. Tia
history of those last dark days are
well known: how the CommtlnardA
hopelessly outnumbered by the E@s
dictionary forces, entrenched theme
selves behind hastily-built baTs
ricades in the streets Of Paris. de-
termined to defend themselves to
the last drop Of blood; how for
weeks they Withstood the Versail-
lese assaults, stubbornly contesttne
every inch of ground: how the
VerSaillese finally poured into Paris
and commenced a wholesale mas
Sacre of men, women and children
which for ferocity and cruelty was
without parallel in modern history
Captured workers were herded to-
gether indiscriminately by the
fifties and hundreds and, without
even the mockery of a trial. were
moved down by the murderUus
mitrailIeuses Cmachine gunS)s ct
the order of Theirs, that mons
strous gnome." There is indisput~
able proof that many wounded
workers were hurled into pits with
the dead, and buried alive. In one
week alone the last Bloody
Week" of May 10000 defenseles0
Communards were massacred.
Thus was accomplished the "yic-
tory of order, justice and civiliza~
ton" of Theirs, MacMahons and
their fellow butchers. Their loathe
some tasks finished, they listened
to the paeanS Of praise sung by
the capitalist press throughout the
world. Said the New York Herald
after the holocaust: IN. THEIRS has
behaved with so much firTnneSs
hitherto that he has claim to our
confidence" Quoth the New York
Times, not to be outdons: The
streets of Paris are strewn with the
bodies of insurgents. =. the Veg
saillese troops have behaved nobly."
The Commune met defeat, but
not death. March 10, 1871, was the
prelude to November z, 1917. The
voice Of proletarian revolt, sirss
clearly enunciated by it, has swell
led to a worldwide roar, finding
its triumphant and inspiring axe
preston in the building OF the
workers republic In the Soviet
Union. -
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14
By A. d.

BY A. d.
The exposure of the Scottsboro
frame-up has brought to The fore
several important developments, in
the history of the barbarous OPP
preston Of the Negro, that are of
vital interest to the American
working class. In the legal history
of America, the Scottsboro case
takes its place beside the celebrated
bred Scott decision, and in some
respects outranks the latter. 1t will
be re- 3mbered that the bred
Scott decision, handed down in
1856 by the United States Supreme
Court, declared that the Negro
slave could not be looked upon as
a human being, but only as a
chattel, no different than piece Of
furniture.
According TO Joseph Brodsky, one
Of the International Labor Defense
attorneys defending the Scottsboro
boys, both the bred Scott decision
and the Scottsboro case involve
the fundamental question as to
whether Negroes are to be treated
as human beings. Just as the U.
S. Supreme Court denied them this
right in the former instance, so
does the present case prove that
they are still deprived of the ele-
mental rights supposedly granted
to all men by the Constitution.
Throughout wide sections of the
country Negroes are not permitted
to serve on juries, are denied fair
trials, and are subjected to a
thousand and one other discrimi-
nations, in courts and elsewhere"
I'm at least two respects the
Scottsboro trial is of far greater
significance than the bred Scott
case" Brodsky continued. Firstly,
the struggle to free the Scottsboro
boys has the Negro masses solidly
behind it, and actually stands as
symbol of the awakening of
Negroes and their determination to
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14
ALL OUT ON MARCH 18th! DEMAND THE
RELEASE OF CLASS WAR PRISONERS!

millions of throughout world demstrate
March Is this in memory the Paris Commune
and drowned workers blood the Paris
of the most heroic battle working Today
enemies less ruthless Kentucky workers being
savagey they Michigan,
lucky in California Florida, Chicago throughout South
Negroes and whites of the wrOkgCass Of
brutal than that with which capitalists
Where in the
to fight to the last today Detroit Tampa Dane
workers fighting for their
March Is this anti terror campaign
all these fronts of battle
street demonstrations solidarity working
class fighters and caSS-war prisOners!)
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14
Hail 61st Anniversary Of the
Paris Commune

defeat, and thousands Of its gallant
defenders were massacred in the
reactionary terror, the Commune
left a glorious heritage to the world
proletariat. Its heroism served as
an inspiration for future struggles
against oppression; its achieve
ments-and its failures-provided
invaluable lessons which we're ana
lyzed by Marx, and utilized by
Lenin in the Revolution of Novem-
Der, 1917.
Like the Bolshevik Revolution,
the Commune was born in war.
Napoleon ILL., feeling his throne
tottering, had plunged France into
war with Prussia. In swift success
sion, the French had met disas-
trouS defects at Met zand Sedan,
and the Prussians pushed on TO
Paris. On September 4, 1870, the
monarchy was oyerthrown and a
republic instituted in its stead.
But the bourgeois politicians who
installed themselves in office soon
proved more cowardly and incom-
petent than their monarchist pre-
decesSors. When the German army
reached the gates of Paris, the
dastardly Theirs capitulated, leav-
ing the city defenSelesS. Then it
was that the aroused Paris proleta-
rams took up arms and, on March
18th, drove out the bourgeois be-
trayers and proclaimed workers
republic.
In a short time the chaos in
herited from the Napoleonic and
Theirs regimes was converted to
order. Workers DEGREES, such as
those exempting the poor from
paying rent, prohibiting evictions,
and Matchmaking church property,
were passed and carried out with
a precision that caused capitalists
everywhere to tremble lest the
proletarians Of their own countries
follow the example of the Com
munardS.
AS ever, the capitalist nations
were quick to patch up differences
among themselves to unite against
the common enemy-the working
class. The French and PrusSian
bourgeoisie, erstwhils enemies, con-
veniently forgot they were at war,
and together conspired for the de-
structAon Of the Commune. At
Paris, representatives of the "neut-
raj" nations (among them the AM
erican ambassador, Washburne)
shamelessly used their diplomatic
posts to spy on the Communards
IN behalf Of the counter revolu-
tionary Versailles. An unforget-
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14

To this must be added the nue.
merous cases Of legal lynchSn&b
frame-up attacks, etc. The Bonnie
Lee Ross, Orphan Jones and George
Davis cases, the case Of George
Moore, sentenced to death In North
Carolina for stealing q paiy eS
shoes; the massacre Of unemployed
Negro workers by the police Of 0hSa
cago and Cleveland, etc. etc 30
The recent deporting back Do
Durham, N. c., of the unemployed
Negro worker, Brisbane, by ths state
of Connecticut, and the Federal
proposal to forcibly return 10 the
South the unemployed Negroes Of
the North, is part Of the Scottsboa@
and general lynch terror. part Of
the whole scheme Of beating dCwE
the national struggles Of the Negro
masses and Of forcing them 10
starve, in submission to the rude OF
the capitalists In the North, as wen
as In the South.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14

noles-and thereby CHANGING .
scandal, all that is necessary Us to
throw the victim into jail, frame
UP any sort of flinsy evidences
against him, hand-pick a jury, and
of course the Judge may always be
depended upon to do the right
thing" for the boss class. This pro-
ces takes a little longer, but it n
more certain Of success, and be-
sides, it has the oder Of respect
ability. The N.A.A.C.P. is sure 10
send servile letter Of congrssu-
lation on the refined manner In
which the victim was murdered.
Scottsboro offers q typical exasns
pie of this new phase in tho South.
The boys were kept In jail without
knowing what they were being
charged with: they were not given
a chance to obtain adequate coun-
sci; an atmosphere OF intense race
prejudice was artfully manuf2cs
tured for the occasion; the ''triAl"
was rushed through at breakneek
speed; the crude nature Of the
framed-up evidence against the
boys was illustrated by the, highly
contradictory statements OF the
State witnesses; the State. delibers
erately suppressed all evidence fav.
oring the boys, etc. The result q
the farcical trial was Of course .
foregone conclusion. Judge, prose-
cution, and jury worked hand IN
glove. When the jury that sat fn
the trial Of the Patterson boy came
into the courtroom to announce
its verdict, Judge HawkinA whe
was supposed to be unawars Of me
decision, warned the audience NOT
to cheer, whistle, or applaud when
the verdict was given. If you do
he is reported to have said, they
may demand new trial. M
Vulnerable examples like the one
mentioned prove the Scottsbogo
frame-up to be the most glazing
instance Of legal lynching In AnsUs
lean annals. -,g4.~~x~-
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14

hanged; accusation, killing londlord.
April to May
George Smith, Union City, Tenn;
hanged in courtyard; accusation,
insulting white woman.
Jane Wise, Frankfort, Va; shot
accusation, arguing white woman.
Thomas Jasper, Huntsville, Ala:
shot and hanged; accusation, get
ting fresh with white girl
July %, Oscar Livingstone, New
Orleans, La; hanged; accusation,
rape.
Aug. s.
Sixteen-year- old boy, Haynesville,
Ala; shot 80 times; accusation, at
tack.
Major Harrel, Conway, Ark;
hanged; accusation arguing with
landlord.
John Parqer, Conway, Ark; shot
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14

fight for their rightful place in the
sun. The bred Scott decision, on
the other hand, merely represented
one phase in the battle between
the Northern industrtalists and the
Southern plantation owners. The
Negro was only used as pawn in
the struggle for mastery Of these
two contending factions Of the rul-
ing class; the active participation
OF Negroes was negligible.
ALSO of tremendous historic I'M
portance in the present defense OF
the nine Negro boys is the fact
that it symbolizes above all the UNI
ity of white and black workers
against white and black exploiters."
1t might also be pointed out that
the protests that have poured in
from all parts Of the earth have
shown the ever-strengthening sol
idartiy of the world working class.
The legal 1ynching" factor In
the Scottsboro trial has not been
sufficiently emphasized, in the
opinion of Irving Schwab another
I. L. d. lawyer engaged on the
case. Legal lynching is not merely
phrase" he said, lit is a terrible
reality. 1t represents definite
development in the systematized
campaign of terror and oppression
carried on by the ruling class in
the South against the Negro mas
ses. Frightened by the growing
protests against the barbaric prac-.
tice Of lynching, the authorities
have been forced to discard their
crude. tactics Of open lynching and
to adopt a more subtle and refined
method of terror. Legal lynching
is their cynical answer to univer-
sal protest"
Even the smallest towns have
developed legal lynching into
science. Instead Of lynching some
helpless Negro outright--stringing
him up on tree, burning him at
the stake. or shooting him full OF
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14
The Economic Basis OF the Increasing Lynch error

ninth, who was not yet IA, to life
Imprisonment. The only crime of
which these nine hungry boys, from
district parts Of Georgia and Ala
banla, were guilty, is that of riding
a freight train in search of work.
The answer Of the Alabama land
lord court to this, is the death pen
atty.
On July IL the sheriff and depu-
tized thugs Of Tallapoosa County
raided meeting OF the share crop-
pers' union, murdered the organizer,
Ralph Gray. and four others,
wounding and imprisoning so more.
A few days later Gray's daughter
was badly beaten about the head by
the sheriff with the butt of his
revolver.
Willie Peterson, an unemployed
ex-war veteran, was arrested by the
Birmingham police on a framed
murder charge and shot while in
the police custody, by Dent VIII
nams. the parasitic brother Of one
Of two society women who had been
found dead on the roadside after a
midnight party.
During this time, anyone found
with the Daily Worker, union
leaflets or literature of the LID,
which had stopped the execution of
the Scottsboro boys and forced the
release Of the Camp Hill prisoners,
was in danger of losing his life.
Ben Irby, a Negro farm hand OF
Selma, Ala, was Jailed for having
LID. leaflets in his possession. The
only report Of his fate is the sher-
ifs denial of custody.
The flames Of boss terror against
the Negro toilers, famed by the
breeze Of the capitalist press, were
now raging throughout the South.
Says the report of the Fellowship of
Reconciliation: 1.-THE scorching
flame of sentiment has resulted in
the death Of at least rs Negroes in
Alabama since the middle Of Au-
gust. Private citizens are known to
have disguised themselves as Off
GERS and to have shot Negroes in
cold blood. Six Negroes were killed
on freight train near Ensley, by
deputies. 1t was reported at police
headquarters that they had been
killed in wreck in the yards"
The following is list Of some of
the individual lynchings which &C.
Cured during the year 1881.
Jan. S, Mart Brown, Tuscaloosa,
Ala; hanged; accusation unknown.
Jan 10, Raymond Gum, Mary
vile, Mo-; burned on schoolhouse;
accusation attacking woman.
Jan. 10, Lemon McDaniels,
Shreveport, La; fate unknown; &C
cusation, shooting white woman.
Jan. q, Jimmy Douglas, Baton
Rouge, La; drowned in river; &C.
cusation, fighting landlord.
February to March
Rene Henry, New Orleans, La:
hanged; accusation, pushing white
woman.
George Span, Clarksdale, Miss;
shot, accusation, killing landlord.
Steve Valley, Inverness, Miss;
hanged; accusation, rape and muir
der.
Ellie Johnson, Vicksburg, Miss;
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14
By CECIL s. HOPE.

The opening of Spring, 1881, saw
the crisis in America, which Hoo
yer had promised to end In go days,
sinking to deeper and deeper
depths. Already the depression"
was seventeen months old, the
number Of unemployed had grown
from three millions to nine millions,
the factories were closing down or
operating on part-time; wage cuts
and unemployment had reduced the
national pay roll from 26 billions
in 1929 to - billions. Already the
Anne. lean standard Of living, which
the government had pledged itself
to maintain, had been reduced, for
the workers, by nearly so per cent.
In the South, the price OF cotton
and tobacco had fallen far below
the miserably low cost of produc-
ton.
A vast army OF Negro day-labor-
ers were turned off the plantations;
while the share-croppers we're fore
ed to yield all their crops to the
landlords in payment of food ad-
vanced during the period of produc-
ton. The nine million Negroes in
the black belt were brought face to
face with actual starvation.
This situation gave rise 10 two
distinct lines of action on the part
of the Negro masses. Some took to
the road, in a futile hope Of finding
a job and the prosperity which was
heralded as being around the COR
ner; while others Immediately turn
ed to the revolutionary struggle
against oppression and robbery, by
organizing share-croppers' unions,
etc. The Negro masses were begin
ming to move.
A new wave Of industrial strikes
was spreading out into the South.
The Negroes we're supporting and,
in many instances, taking active
part in the strikes. The death
charges against the four white and
two Negro TUUL organizers, by the
state of Georgia, for holding meet
ings Of Negro and white workers
had resulted in sharpening the rev.
dictionary swing of the Negro mass
es. This action aroused to fury all
the vicious passions Of the white
ruling class and their agents in the
South.
Staggering under the impact Of
these blows delivered against their
system of peonage and suppression,
the Southern Bombons Immediately
turned loose a ruthless campaign
of mass murder against the Negro
people, in the hope of destroying
the growing militancy of the Negro
masses and forcing them to starve
in silence on the land.
The sharpest and boldest express
sion of the bosses plan to starve or
murder the Negro toilers was mani
tested in the Scottsboyo case the
massacre Of the Camp Hill share-
troopers and the wholesale disarm-
ing of the Negroes by the Southern
states.
On April 6, eight boys, all under
20 years of age, were sentenced N
death by lynch court in Alabama
On frame-up rape charges, and se1
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14

stealing peaches.
Ed Edwards, Birmingham, Ala;
shot; mistaken for murderer of
white woman.
December, Matthew Williams, Sails
burg, Md; hanged and burned; ac-
cusation, shooting employer in fight
over wages.
Dec. 10, Tom jackson, Lewisburg,
Va; hanged and shot; accusation,
shooting deputy.
Dec. 10, George Banks, Lewisburg,
Va; hanged and shot; accusation,
shooting deputy.
Such is the picture of the good
relations" which loathesome crea-
lures, like Walter White and VIII
liam Pickings of the National As
ISOLATION for the Advancement of
Colored People, ask the Negro and
white workers not to disturb.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14
BY ALBERT DEUTSCH

on Is of March, 1871, the work.
ers of Paris rose in revolt and set
up the first workers government
on earth--the Commune. 1t opened
a new epoch in working-class his-
tory. During the seventy-two days
of the Commune's existence, ca
pitaist world stood aghast at the
spectacle of workers Selling power
and ruling themselves with a de-
termination and efficiency that exc
ploded once for all the ancient
myth that workers needed masters.
Although it finally went down to
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14
Make March 18th a Mighty
Day of Protest!

The great Russian Revolution Of
November 7, 1917, that had learn
ed the lessons Of the Paris Com
mune and of the Russian Revolu-
ton Of 1905, moves forward ire
resistibly building its Socialist eco-
nomy, carrying through the Five
Year Plan in four years, an in
spiration and guide to world labor.
We commemorate not only the
glorious deeds and the martyrdom
of the best fighters for the Paris
Commune. On this day we also
remember the martyrs everywhere
Of the growing class struggle. We
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14

"The Revolution of 1871 was above
all a popular one. 1t sprang sponta-
neously from the midst Of the masses,
and it W among the great masses
that it found its defenders, its he
roes, its martyrs. 1t is because it was
so thoroughly low that the middle
class can never forgive it."-Kropot-
kin, "The Commune Of 1871" Free
Mooney, Scottsboro prisoners, and
Tampa, Fla, workers on LID. Paris
Commune Anniversary, March 10,
1892.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-14

ABOVE-A recent picture of Tom
Mooney, heroic working class fighter,
now in his 10th year behind bars in
San Quentin prison.
RIGHT-Mrs. Mary Mooney at the
huge mass meeting which demanded
the immediate release of her son, Tom;
the ScOttsbOro boys, and all class war
prisoners. To the left of Mrs. Mooney is
b. d. Anlis, national head of the League
Of Struggle for Negro Rights and to the
right is J. Louis Engdahl, secretary of
the International Labor Defense. The
capitalist press did not like this display
of working class solidarity between Ne
gro and white workers, and in using this
picture they carefully blocked out the
figure of COmrade Arnis.
The Lexington advertiser., 1932-12-01
Miss Fincher Hostess
To Circle of FifthS

The Circle of Fifths, the Music and
French Club composed of the members
of Mrs. W. M. Vincent's class, met the
Wednesday before Thanksgiving with
Ruth Margaret Fincher and Martha
Rhyme, at Mrs. Fincher's home. All of
the members were present except Jose
phine McKie and Louie Beall Nichols,
both of whom were sick.
Ruth Margaret prepared the test in
Theory and Martha Rhyme had charge
of the French test. The members
showed marked improvement over their
last meeting, in accuracy and poise.
Piano solos were rendered by the fol-
lowing: Blanche Moore Alexander Patsy
Kier, Corinne Doty, Julia Beall, Pauline
Holder, Martha Rhyme, Elizabeth Beall,
Mary Belle Stephenson, Mary Harris
Roberts and Ruth Margaret Fincher.
Mrs. Vincent heard the Circle of
Fifths. Those who were perfect were
Patsy Ker, Corinne Doty, Julia and
Elizabeth Beall, Martha Rhyme, Pauline
Holder, Mary Belle Stephenson and Mary
Harris Roberts. Elizabeth Beall drew
the prize-a lovely basket of candy.
Delicious sandwiches, hot chocolate
and salted pecans were served by Mrs.
Fincher and Mrs. Rhyme. The Circle
meets meets on December twenty first
with Pauline Holder and Alice Noel
Nelson, at Mrs. Holders.
NJ arv Harris Roberts is president of the
Circle, and Ruth Margaret Fincher is
club rcnorter.
The Lexington advertiser., 1932-12-01
Pickens P. T. A.
Holds Nice Meeting

The Pickens PIT. A. held its regular
meeting at the High School building
Tuesday afternoon, November %. In
the business meeting which preceded the
program an objective for the year was
discussed 1t was decided that Con
strucJive Cooperation With the School
should be the objective. One of the
most urgent needs of the school was
found to be some new song books which
the organization agreed to buy.
In keeping with the previous program
"Know Your School Better" each teach
er was asked to have pupils elect two
room mothers, whose duty it will be
to provide the rewards for the rooms
winning in attendance at each meeting.
The winners for this year have been
the primary and fifth and sixth grade
rooms.
The theme for the afternoon was
World Wide Citizenship" Several in
teresting discussions of the subject were
given which were enjoyed by all pres
ent
officers for the year are as follows:
Pre- sident, Mrs. C. V. Maxwell; Vice
President, Mrs. ]. E. Maxwell; Secreta-
ry, Mrs. f. j. Spengler; Treasurer, Mrs.
w. 5. Guyton.
REPORTER.