The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-08-25

Bill
Spokesman o f - - 80
the ruling-clasS II pENIAwrN
from Hoover
down. ranted against unemploy-
ment insurance, tried to discredit
it by calling any such proposal ''un-
American" "dole" which would
degrade the American workers..
The position of the A. F. of L..
leaders, who shame sssly repeated
Hoovers every slur and attack
against the very idea of unemploy-
ment insurance, appeared as the
unchallenged attitude of the organ
ICED labor movement. The position
of the Socialist Party differed very
little from those of other REFORM
ers who talked vaguely about the
type of so-called unemployment in
Surance which now prevails in Wis
consin and is sponsored in such
measures as the Wagner-Lewis Bill;
the Ohio Plan; the plan of the
American Association for Social Sc
curity and the American Association
luA AdDOT 1SgiSldUlOll.
Struggles Have Made Change
Five continuous years OF crisis
and mass unemployment and the
stubborn struggles Of the militant
workers, led blythe Communist Party
and the Unemployment Councils,
have brought about profound
change of attitude on the part of
the opponents of unemployment in
surance.
The chief spokesman of the ruling
class dare not openly denounce I'M
employment insurance, as they did
up to a year or two ago The chief
executive of the Wall Street govern
ment is now forced to state that:
The security of the home, the
security Of livelihood and the Sc
curity of social insurance are, it
American people" = President
Ro0sevelt's message to Congress,
June Sth, 1884.
That this represents a change in
tao ic and not in policy is to be
seen not only in the failure of
RooSevelt's administration to enact
any kind of social insurance meas
ures, but in the very statement it
sell Roosevelt speaks of ",he
promise that we can offer" and not
OF any plan for actual fulfllment.
But the very fact that the President
OF the U. S. is no longer able
to openly denounce the idea of So
eial insurance, but must pretend to
favor it, is proof of the tremendous
advance that has been made in
populari1ing this issue among the
broad masses.
This change of tactics on the
part of those who are seeking by
every possible means to defeat the
struggle for genuine social insurance
is evidenced in many other ways.
One of the first examples of this,
was the about-face made by Bill
Green and his fellow bureaucrats
of the A. F. of L. One year after
the Vancouver convention of the
A. F. of L. (Oct. 193D, where they
declared that unemployment insur-
ance would be a death blow to
trade unionism." these Shiny agents
of the ruling class, were forced to
make change of front. At their
Cincinnati convention (Oct. 1892
they declared themselves as favoring
certain kind" of unemployment
insurance.
The kind of insurance" favored
by Roosevelt, the A. F. of l.. mis-
leaders and the numerous other
spokesman and apologists of the
ruling class need not be described
hcre.
The significance of the widespread
movement for the Workers Unem-
ployment and Social Insurance Bill
lies in the fact that it represents
not merely growing desire for I'M
employment insurance which can
be catisfied with vague and fraudu-
lent promises. The mass support
that has been won for the Workers
Bill has been gained by means of
militant struggle and in the face OF
every form of opposition. This sup
port, partially indicated in another
column of his is3uc) proves that
the Workers Bill is no longer the
program of only the revolutionary
workers, but has become the pro-
gram of many millions of workers,
farmers and professionals.
It is no accident that four Inter-
national Unions of the A. F. of L.
and five State Federations, adopted
and endorsed the Workers Bill. 1t
is not because they sincerely support
such a measure that the municipal
bodies of orty-eight cities and
towns have endorsed this bill and
memorialized Congress for IFS On
actment. This can also be said for
the leaders Of Socialist and Music
controlled organizations that have
endorsed the Workers Bill.
Slow Results of Struggle
These endorsements testify 10 the
effectiveness of the struggle which
rallied millions Of workers. who
swept aside all opposition and re-