The daily worker., 1935-02-05

BroaduS Mitchell associate pro-
fessor of Political Economy in
Johns Hopkins University and CUB
ernatoriaI candidate Of the Socialist
Party IN the recent elections, de-
clared that "the Lundeen Bill
places the burden where it Belongs
on the beneficiarieS of the capital
list system, through taxes on wealth
and not upon industry and wages.
The r oosevelt Administration S
Wagner Lewis Bill, he said, does
not provide security, but is d stand
ing acknowledgement of the failure
Of our economy"
Speaks for Farmers
Lewis G. Bentley, the represen-
tative of the Farmers National
Committee for Action, informed the
sub committee that ne spoke for
the millions of poor farmers who
suffer under the lash of farm debt
and evictions, to whom the So
called blessings of the drought and
the New Deal are sheer mockery"
After rendering an accurate de-
scription of the raYages of the
drought, the crisis and the new deal
upon the poor farmers, Bentley
declared:
For those millions Of our pop
ulation, the Lundeen Bill offers the
only security which we can find in
any Of the so-called Social insur-
ance bills. Above all I wish to en-
phasize that while this bill does not
provide any adequate standard Zone
that the country is capable Of sus-
taining) but only a minimum
standard of living for the farming
population, nevertheless it offers
the only adequate minimum to pre-
serve health and decency."
Statistician Supports Bill
DR.. Joseph M. Gilman, mem
Der of the economics staff of the
College of the City Of New York,
and former statistician for the
Emergency Fleet Corporation, de-
clsred that if the government were
to tax individual incomes. of $4,000
and over, as is provided for in the
Workers Bill H. r. 2827, at the rate
now prevailing in Great Britain,
and if any sensible rate even as
low as an average Of IS per cent
would be placed on iflheritances,
and if Is per cent tax were i'm
posed on corporate surpluSes, funds
more than sufficient to meet the
| provisions Of the Lundeen Bill
would be provided.
MY calculation on the extent of
unemployment shows a minimum
Of 100000 unemployed averaged
for 1884. This, it should be noted,
represents a net increase Of no more
than 100000 workers placed on the
payrolls Of private industry as the
sum total result Of the re-employ-
ment efforts Of the present admin
istration," he added
Congressman Reuben T. Wood,
Democrat, of Missouri, and George
j. Schneider, Progressive, of Wis
conSin exhibited their antagonism
to the Workers Bill, ever before
Brown, the first witness, finished
his statement.
Attacks Workers
Schneider tried to convey the
impression that the workers Bill is
similar to the fantastic Townsend
Plan while Wood endeavored to dis
credit Brown as a witness by at
tempting to trap him into making
an attack upon the A. F. of L., as
an organization. Wood quite OBJ
viously spoke for the A. F. of L.,
top officials who are opposed to
H.R. 1927 and favor the principle
Of no federal unemployment insur-
ance embodied in the Wagner Lewis
Bill. He tried to make the Sub
COMMITTEES believe that the workers
in the approximately 5000 A. F. Of
L. locals endorsed H. r. 1927 with
out reading the provisions of the
bilp' because "all workers are for
cut -of-work insurance"
! Brown, in the course Of his sd-
dress to the committee, stated;
THE bitter experience of the
workers with the N. r. A. and its
codes has taught the rank and file
workers in the printing industry not
to accept promises, even if the
| promises come from high places and
have the personal recommendation
/ of the officials Of the A. F. of L.
/ social insurance they will accept
social insurance they will accept
must be genuine. Counterfeit bills
will be exposed and rejected. So
far the only bill brought forward
which approaches genuine unem-
ployment and social insurance is H
F. 2827.
Rank and File Awake"
"The rank and file workers in
the printing industry are now
awake and are ready to join with
the millions of agricultural, do
nestle, professional and industrial
workers in this broad and all i'm
portant fight for a Federal law
establishing a genuine unemploy-
ment and social insurance system
such as is provided by H. r. 1927.
Bentley further pointed out that
"the Lundeen Bill is designed to put
purchasing power in the hands oi
the masses Of the people-at least
forty million of whom are destitute
This in itself will broaden the
market for farm products: placing
money in their hands so they car
make those badly needed repairs
to buildings and machinery, as vel
as buy clothes and other necessities
This in turn would put thousands
Of workers back to work"
Mary Van Kleeck, chairman oi
the. National Council of the Inter
professional Association and director
of industrial studies of the Russel
Sage Foundation, will address The
House Committee tomorrow eve
ming Elmer Rice representative nj