The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-05-24

ernment's police" declined to supply
soapboXes. The same paper carried
latter to the editor" signed, "A
Former Seaman" (by one who ap-
parently dared not print his nance
saying the seamens strike" was
making little Roadway for the
simple reason that few Of the
strikers are actually ssilorsl" The
Baltimore Sun supplied broadside
quoting Greenstein but with quota
tion-markless subheads rea din e,
violence Admitted" Financed in
New York, Authority Flouted."
The seamen sent a delegation of
Is to see the city editor. When they
finished, undaunted by a score of
police hastily summoned, the editor
forced to admit the groundlessness
of the subheads, had decided to print
their answer to the scurrilous at
tack. Finally Greenstein, appearing
to speak to university student lib
erals about the seamen's relief
problem" was surprised by a sea-
man speaker and seamen distribute
ing leaflets telling the truth about
the question.
Within few days, Greenstein ar
ranged to place all the men back in
the Seamen's Project on the water
front. The ranks meanwhile had
been thinned; summer shipping on
the Great Lakes drew some of the
men away. and some of the less
militant we're inundated into sign
ing up through the shipping sharks.
Even the cops began to ship sea =
men; this was shown by an affi-
davit made out by one of the sea-
men. BY contending they were mot
| seamen," relief officials discrim-
mated against militants, refusing to
recognize discharges more than a
year old, arguing that if marine
worker was unemployed that long
he was no longer a seaman! The
U. S. Shipping Commission refused
to grant duplicates of discharges
Men not known as militants-as
shown by affidavits-were admitted
to relief, however, on discharges
four and five years old. Finally
Bethlehem Steel announced it no
longer would hire through the Cen
tralized Shipping Bur I,u.
Strikes!
The anSwer-strikes! Ships were
struck and re-struck. Crews doWned
tools as soon as they learned they
heJ haoY, hiraJ IN eoaL -a~;n. ~
ten strikes in support of seamen's
control of relief, the first political
strikes in the marine industry, had
occurred during and Immediately
after the march to Washington. Now
nearly every week sees strike fol-
recognition of the Centralized Ship
ping Bureau.
The seamen made some seriou:
mistakes in this period also Wher
they returned from Washington, in.
stead of Immediately modifying
around them the broadest active
support among the workers of Bal
timore, they restricted themselves tt
torchlght demonstrations and stree
collections.
Today, however, the struggle re.
news itself. Back in the seamen's
project, the men are sending dele.
cations anew to local and state Of
ficials, presenting their affidavits
fighting and winning against dis
ordinations. They have elected
new Advisory Committees" to pre-.
sent grievances. They have all the
experience of their first struggle fol
control to guide them; they are de.
termined not to repeat mistakes
They fight on not only for worker
control, but also for a workers anc
farmers government.
I asked a federal relief officia
whether they ever investigated the
false charges made by the ship
owners against the seamen, or tc
determine the comparison Of con-
ditions under seamen's control anc
under charity and capitalist politi-
clans direction.
No" I was told. That's one
thing We didn't do"
They are being informed Of the
truth, however, not only by sea
mems committees from Baltimore
but by marine workers delegations
from other ports as we'll.
For seamen have borne the story
of the Baltimore struggle to every
American port, and everywhere ma
; rine workers are following the heroic
example. Identical struggles are
well under way in Philadelphia, Buff
falo, New Orleans. They send the
impulse of solidarity back to the
men who reused the waterfront in
Baltimore. There the waterfront Is
still aroused, still united. There
seamen fight on fulfilling the worlc
working class revolutionary tradition
ass-consciousness marine workers
in the forefront of proletariar
struggle, for today's needs, for all
power to labor!
i THE END