The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-09-15
On the
World Front
BY HARRY CANNES
Crisis on Top
and Bottom in Cuba
Otto Bauer Again

IN CUBA, a ffteen-minute
general strike of street car,
railway, electric, gas. water
plant and other workers in
support of the discharged
Cuban Telephone Co. EN-
ployes took place yesterday
simultaneously with a severe crisis
in the Mendieta cabinet. -,
The factors or new revolu-t
tionary crisis are rapidly maturing,
despite Roosevelt's efforts to sta
bilize the Mendieta regime BY
phony reciprocity treaties. In the
camp of the native bourgeoisie and
landlords, the splits and fights srs
growing more severe. The ADO
Fascist group, which at first backed
Mendieta, foreseeing his impend-
ing collapse, his inability to ride the
stem of the crisis, left the Cabinet,
hoping to seize power for Them
selves.
AT the same time, Grau San Mar
n tin, president for while before
Nendieta, leader of the Reyolu-
tionaries AutenticoS ("Authentic"
Revolutionaries) is angling for
power; but oo-operates with Men
dieta in order to stave off the armed
uprising of the workers and peas
ants. On the other hand, a chip
off the Grau block, Antonio Quit
eras, has organized his own cleft"
section Of the Autenticos, who ped
ole revolutionary phrases about
real struggle against American im-
perialism, and a revolutionary gov
eminent.
The growth in the strike strug-
gels show that the Cuban masses
are not fooled by Roosevelt's dema-
gogy and trickery. The reciprocity
treaty which provides the Cuban
bourgeoisie with an extra $19,000,000
through lowering the tariff on sugar
actually worsens the conditions Of
the Cuban workers and petty bour-
geoisie.
THE $19,OOO,OOO which is collected
in the United States is just
Roosevelt'S way of paying the Amer
lean bankers the interest and in
stallments on their grating loans
to the Mendieta butcher regime.
Furthermore, the reciprocity treaty
provides that the Mendieta govern
ment lower tariff barriers to Amer
lean exporters. Now during the
early days of the Machado dictator
ship, when the sugar business was
good, the tariff barriers on certain
products coming into Cuba wers
put up high enough to allow a cer-
tain amount of light industry to de-
velop, such as textiles, shoes, etc.
The Roosevelt reciprocity treaty
aims to smash this local industry,
running the petty bourgeisie, caus-
ing greater unemployment among
the Cuban workers.
OTTO BAUER is hard put to 1t to
v explain his treachery to the
Austrian Socialist workers. Unable
to defend his position of collabora-
ton with the Dollfuss regime, his
disarming of the workers, his pre-
serving of the capitalist dictatorship
in 1918, he is now resorting to the
most picayune arguments of "distor-
ton of news" and utilization by
the Communist Press of the DOLL
fuss manufactured statements. His
articles on Communist History Of
Vienna Uprising" appears without
criticism or comment, except that
it is remarkable" in the Socialist
New Leader"
Readers of the Daily Worker who
remember the reports on the heroic
fighting of the Austrian workers
will remember that the greatest
condemnation against Otto Bauer
utilized by the Daily Worker came
from the mouth and pen of Otto
Bauer himself.
The best answer to Otto Bauer's
contortions comes from Ernst
Fisher, former editor of the Vienna
Social-Democratic "Arbeiterzeitung,
Ernst Fisher was one of Bauer's
close associates, but because of the
treachery of the Social-Democratio
leaders, and as result of the less
sons he learned in the Austrian de-
fensive struggles, he joined the
Communist Party. We urge every
Socialist to read this article of the
former editor of the most influential
Austrian Social-Democrati news
paper.
ND Otto Bauer?" he writes.
IA HE, and the few who as hither.
to continued to hold to the concep.
tions of Austro- Marxism, fataliss
tically awaited defeat. Their disc
belief in the power of the proletarias
was converted into the completely
despairing conviction that We are
in a counter-revolutionary situation.
In this situation fascism is advance
ing irresistibly and invincibly.
Whatever we may do will be mis-
take and will have fatal conse-
quences. Right up to the last mtl-
ute we shall try to come to an
agreement with counter revolution,
although we consider this agree
ment impossible. At the last min
ute we shall throw ourselves into
the fight, although we consider VIC
tory to be impossible. We shall die