The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-04-18

subsequent revolutions.
BY CHESTER NJ. WRIGHT
written for the Scrinrs-Howard News
paper Alliance.)
The big clipper ship of Pan Amer
lean Always spirals over Havana
on it's way down to the glistening
harbor. There are the fiat roofs of
the tropics. There are the parks,
the little narrow streets, the broad
Prado, the magnificent Malacon
winding along the waterfront. There
is the capitol, the opera house next
door and few blocks away the ma
tional palace.
In one of those little narrow
streets in a certain little coffee shop
I found little group of labor union
officials, including one whom I
wanted especially to see, because he
was competent to speak for the
Cuban labor movement.
Just now this labor official holds
no Office. That is, he holds no Of
flee recognized by the Cuban gov
eminent. Under Decree No. 3, issued
by President Mendieta, all except
about four unions in Cuba were
ordered dissolved. Thus there is
the strange spectacle afforded by
governmental dissolution of the
very organizations which normally
might be expected to offer a revo-
lutionary government its strongest
and most militant support. Legally
there are no unions in post-revolu-
tionary Cuba, except for the four
exceptions. Those are of minor i'm
portance. The whole Cuban FEEDER
alton of Labor is nonexistent. 1t
had been formed since the fall of
Machado. Now it is out of business.
Claims Leaders Reds"
1t is strange that in 1927 I talked
to the widow of the secretary of
what was then called the Cuban
of Labor 1t had just
come into being, with a good deal
of secrecy. Mr. Machados judicial
police shot it out of existence. In
1894 g decree put its successor out
of business.
But an hour before I had asked
the Cuban labor secretary, Rodolfo
Mendez Penate, why this dissolu-
ton had been ordered. Their
leaders," he said, were anarcho-
syndicalists; they had been engaged
in anti-governmental activities.
Some were communists.
yes" I said to him, It heard
just about the same thing in 1927"
but he seemed genially to miss the
point. What is the program as to
labor?" I asked.
1--WE are studying the situation
and we shall recommend proper
soon," he said. There
will be labor laws"
Talks With Labor Leader
So, over coffee, 1 talked with the
spokesman for labor-the man
without an office. Now the strange
thing about this dissolution of
unions is, this: The government
says they are nonexistent, the
workers say something else. They
say they are still there. But the
government holds a strong hand
and the truth is that the workers
are holding their organizations to-
gether as best they can, while their
erStwhile officers either actually do
not function or function in semi
secrecy that is very cautious.
The Mendieta government is not
shooting any labor leaders, but in
has put lot of them in prison.
Cabanas fortress still holds a good
number Of them. Leaders of the
union of telephone workers were
released a day or two before my
arrival, precariously, with bomb
Fluctuations.
Will the Cuban workers be able
to make their liberties secure with
out further revolutionary effort?"
I asked this labor leader. Yes, I
am sure we WILL" he replied, with
show of conviction that was sur
prising, coming from one whose
work had been stopped by the
government 1--WE shall work out a
method of overcoming these diff
culties. We shall be able to reor-
ganize our unions and We look for
ward to the time when we can
establish relations with the labor
movement of the United States"
Speaks without Rancor
He went on, without the slightest
trace of bitterness: The charges
that our unions have been hostile
to the government are not true
There are a few Communists among
the workers, but Communism does
not control, by any means" He was
inclined to smile at the "anarcho-
syndicalism" idea. So am I.
1t is tragic that a labor move
ment, standing forth in the first
hour of freedom of years should be
so annihilated by a government of
liberation. but perhaps there is some
answer in this: The suffering had
been so keen for so long that the
first release brought efforts too
sweeping, or that seemed too sweep
ing. A nervous government, worried
for its life, needing order above
everything, did an unwise and hasty
thing, which it seeks to justify be-
cause government must justify.
So this labor leader, speaking
without rancor, seemed to see a door
opening anew, seemed to have pa
thence to wait, seemed to be buoyed
by a hope that there would be found
a way by which the government
might relent. Frankly. compromise
of some kind is hoped for. An inter
who can go back and forth
is being sought.
Meanwhile there is need for haste
terrific haste. Unemployment is
abundant Employment is poorly
paid. Whether it is worse in the
cities or in the sugar harvest in the
country is hard to tell. A man gets
from 80 cents to 81 for cutting and
piling 100 arobas of cane. That is
a job for ten to twelve hours. His
paw is in scrip good only at the