Voice of action. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1933-1936, 1934-12-07
TheFRONT
LINE ALAN BY MAX
The Commonwealth
Builders Bill

-toiNu ASAt FAAhb 10 VIZ
Democratic Party-have just
issued their End Poverty Bill,
which is to be presented to the
legislature in January.
Here we have in black and
white exactly what these Com
mOnwealth-Democrats have in
store for the unemployed. All
their wild talk about ending
poverty, disappears before the
carefully wOrded sections of
this bill, known as the Econ
Omie Rehabilitation Act of!
1886"
-
They key to this bill lies in
Section Ill, where we read that
the act shall promote comfort
etc, ito the end that the
peace and safety of the state
be secured"
The purpose then of the act,
is to stop the growing revolu-
tiOnary movement. Let's see
how it proposes to do this.
The bill calls for a board to
be appointed by the governor
and the two U. S. senators from
Washington. According to Sec
tiOn XIII, it shall be the duty
of this board to employ every
able bodied unemployed adult
in the state. This means that
the act is to have jurisdiction
over ALL the unemployed,
whether they like it or not, and
will REPLACE all other forms
of relief.
The board is to buy and lease
idle factories and land, and set
the unemployed to work, pay
ing them in SCRIP to be ex-
changed for goods produced
by the unemployed.
How much are the workers
to receive in return for their
work? According to Section
XIII, mot less than a minimum
comfort standard of living as
defined herein"
But read the 81 sections of
the bill and you find NOT ONE
WORD telling what. a mini
mum comfort standard of living
is. On the contrary, it is left
ENTIRELY to the board to de-
eide the scale of pay.
Let's 60 further. Section XIV
says that "all work available
hereunder shall be distributed
as equally as possible among
all employable persons coming
within this Act, in order that all
shall have some occupation"
Note this: EVERY unem-
ployed worker is to be employ
ed by the board. The work that
the board can provide is to be
divided among ALL the unem-
ployed. The goods they pro-
duce are to be used for wages,
the scale to be determined by
the board.
Tim how much do you sup
pose the bill provides to buy
and lease and operate the fac
tories and land which are to
bring happiness and security"
to the approximately 100000
unemployed in the state of
Washington?
The magnificent sum of
$25, 900!
AND THAT'S ALL!
$4,000 will be just about
enough to provide the barbed
wire fences that would be used
to keep the unemployed from
escaping these commonwealth
forced labor camps.
For that is exactly what the
bill means: Compulsory forced
labor camps! This is the meth
cd that Hitler is using to try to
solve the unemployment prob
lem" in Germany.
-
Is it any wonder that the
bill is brought forward Just as
the masses are gathering be-
hind the Unemployment Insur-
ance Bill Initiative A. which
calls for $40 per week and So for
each dependent, at the EX-
PENSE OF THE STATE AND
THE EMPLOYERS?
And is it any wonder that
such a bill comes out of a group
within the Democratic Party?
The bill carries out the Roose-
welt program of trying to solve
the crisis by continuously fore
ing down the living standard of
the masses.
But this bill is even more
vicious, has more elements of
fascism in it, than anything
that Roosevelt has yet dared
to propose openly.
The Commonwealth Econ
omic Rehabilitation Act of 1895"
must be exposed throughout
the entire state of Washington.
1t must be defeated at this ses-
sion of the legislature and in its
place, the Workers Unemploy-
ment Insurance Bill must be