Steel Wage Hike leaves Profits A t All-Time High

By George LavanA one-day strike of 600,000 CIO steelworkers sufficed

to persuade the monopolists of basic steel to come across with a wage increase averaging 15c. an hour.

T'he b r ie f s tr ik e fo llow ed a month o f nego tia tions under t'he wage re-opening clause in the tw o-year con tracts w h ich were signed a year ago. On the eve oi the exp ira tion o f the wage re ­opening period the corpora tions had offered on ly a 10c. wage in ­crease. Th is was te rm ed ' “ com ­p le te ly inadequate” by U n ited Stee lworkers President David J. McDonald. In p repa ra tion fo r the s tr ik e the B ig S ix basic steel com ­panies banked th e ir furnaces and la id o f f men.

A t m id n ig h t, June 30 — the deadline — steel locals, w ith ou t fo rm a l notice from the top leader­ship, closed down the plants tha t produce 90% o f the cou n try ’s steel. These were U.S. Steel, Bethlehem, Republic, Jones and Laugh lin , Youngstown Sheet and Tube and In land. The slogan was the tim e-honored “ no con tract, no w o rk .”

Before 10:30 nex t m orn ing g ia n t U.S. Steel had seen the l ig h t and made the pa tte rn -se ttin g 15c. o ffe r wh ich was qu ick ly accepted.

TE R M S OF S E T T L E M E N TThe 13c. is the average in ­

crease. The lowest wage classi­fication in the steel m ills w i l l ge t on ly the across-the-board increase o f 111/.C. The o ther 3 l/,c . w il l be d ivided unequally am ong the h igh e r c lass ifica tions, w ith the lio n ’s share go ing to the sk illed workers.

S-------------------------------------------------------The 16c. se ttlem ent is con­

sidered re la tiv e ly la rge. T h a t is, re la tive to increases in the past few years and to th e Ford and GM settlem ents. R elative, how-

: to the boom in steel and thep ro fits being raked in th is year by the basic steel corpora tions, it is f a r fro m overwhelm ing. As was the case in the auto in du s try , where the same boom conditions prevail, a tough po licy by the union leaders could ve ry lik e ly have b rough t double the increase; ac tua lly gained o r could have set new standards fo r the in du s try — as the 30-hour week a t 40-hours pay.

P io fits are so g re a t th is year th a t the steel barons did not even dare p u t up the usual a rg u ­ment th a t th e ir industries could not a ffo rd g rea te r wage increases than they were o ffe r in g . The week before t.he companies began hanking th e ir furnaces fo r the s trike , production in the P it ts ­burgh area h i t 101.6% o f capacity. T h is was no freak. The f irs t week o f th is sum m er showed an in ­d u s try ou tpu t o f 2,360,000 tons oi 97.4% o f na tional capacity. B usi­ness is so good in steel th a t even the expected seasonal decline has no t developed.

The q u a rte rly report o f the U.S. Steel C orpora tion shows th a t in the firs t three m onths o f 1955 it produced and sold 481,000 more tons o f steel than in the same

(Continued on page 3)

Harassm ent Over

Five year ordeal ended. Professor Owen Lattim ore is shown above with his wife. The Justice Dept, finally dropped its per­secution of the Far East expert after the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sustained Judge Youngdahl’s ruling that the key counts of the perjury indictment were vague and meaningless.

New Witch-Hunt Chief Cracks Whip in N. J.

By Daniel RobertsSW P Candidate fo r N . J. Senate, Essex County

NEWARK, July 1 — Dr. Robert Lowenstein, Estelle Laba and Perry Zimmerman — three teachers dismissed last week by the Newark Board of Education for invokingth e ir con s titu tion a l r ig h ts under® --------------------------------------------------------the F if th Am endm ent before the W a lte r Com m ittee — have ap­pealed to State Education Com­m issioner F rede rick M. Rauhinger fo r re instatem ent. The three were dismissed on the charge o f “ con­duct unbecoming a teacher” by the na rrow m arg in o f a 5-<to-4 vote.

The vigorous cam paign waged by the teachers and o th e r c iv il libe rties defenders in N ew ark in defense o f the r ig h t to use th is cons titu tiona l pro tection w ith o u t fe a r o f punishm ent helped to ex­pose the w itch -h u n tin g na ture o f the House Com m ittee on Un- Am erican A c tiv itie s .

W A L T E R ’S “ C O M M A N D "The resistance was so strong

th a t Rep. F rancis W lalter (P a .), the Dem ocratic rep lacem ent fo r M cC arthy as ch ie f w itch -hun te r, appa ren tly fe l t he could no t depend on the N ew ark au tho ritie s to c a rry th rough w ith the teach­e r’s v ic tim iza tio n unaided.

On June 22, he made a speech in Congress, reported in the N ew ark S ta r-L e d g e r, deplo i'ing t.he “ fa ilu re o f the N ew ark school board to take action aga ins t the three teachors.” He then repeated a ll h is com m ittee ’s smears against the three.

T h is was obviously meant as a command to the school board, and it. served to expose as a lie the U n - A m erican Com m ittee’s claim to be acting as a mere in ve s tig a t­ing body.

A f te r the school board’s action, W a lte r was rep o rted ly "upse t” by the na rrow v ic to ry . B y way o f .re ta lia tion , he threatened to ca ll more teachers before his com­m ittee in W ashington w ith in a fe w weeks and g ive them the

works. He s te rn ly warned M ayor Leo P. C arlin to “ exam ine his con­science as to fu tu re and present appoirttees” to the N ew ark Board o f Education.

C A R L IN O BEYSThe Dem ocratic N ew ark m ayor

complied when he fa iled on June 30 to reappo in t M rs. Lodovico M ancusi U ngaro whom he, h im ­se lf, had named to the Board last year. She had voted fo r the teach­ers’ re instatem ent.

G enerally, the w itch - hunters look upon th e ir na rrow one-vote v ic to ry as too close fo r c o m fo rt and are. t ry in g to resume the o f­fensive. R eactionary o rgan iza­tions such as the Veterans o f F o r­eign W ars and K n ig h ts o f Colum ­bus have ra ised demands th a t the fo u r m in o r ity board members resign. Two N. J. Dem ocratic Con­gressmen, Rodino and Addonizzio — both touted as libe ra ls — were pressured to jo in the w itch hunt. Both have done so w ith s ta te ­ments sup po rting the school board’s m a jo rity .

Despite these a ttem pts to cow the opposition to the w itch hunt in to silence, the tem per o f res is t­ance is s t i l l strong.

lit. can be gauged by numerous le tte rs published by the Newark E vening News on Ju ly 1 and f ta k in g issue w ith th a t paper’s support o f the teachers’ dism issal and backing the three teachers as well as the .four m in o r ity hoard members.

The w itch -hun te rs have scored on ly a tenuous v ic to ry . T h is could be transfo rm ed in to a c lear-cut defeat fo r them should the New a rk labor movement enter the s tru g g le on the side o f c iv il liberties .

t h e MILITANTPUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE

Vol. X IX — No. 28 __________________NEW YORK, N. Y., MONDAY, JULY 11, 1955 ________________________ PRICE: 10 p u ts

M artial Law in Chile Aims To Smash Mounting StrikesLetter Contest Opened On Labor Party Topic

Labor’s Daily, July 2, published a front-page box in which it invites its readers to participate in a discussion on the question of a labor party. A fter stating the argu­ments aga ins t the idea o f a labo r p a rty , as fo rm u la ted by A F L President George Meany, the ed itors in v ite readers to send in th e ir own opin ions. Labor's D a ily o ffe rs a prize fo r the best le tte r published each week.

There are undoubtedly m ilita n t un ionists who are seriously con­s idering the idea o f a labo r pa rty . They are confronted by the fact tha t the Dem ocratic P a rty doesn’t belong to labor. N o r does i t seem to function in any way as a. vehicle fo r labor’s asp ira tions.

T h is becomes increasing ly cl ear in the present Conga-ess con­tro lled by the Democrats. The role o f the Congressional Demo­crats consists in la rge p a r t o f t ry in g to prove th a t they are be tte r a t c a rry in g out. E isen­hower's program than the Repub­licans.

T H E RECORDLeg is la tion th a t labor wants

passed jiwat doesn’t come through. They did no be tte r than E isen­hower on the m in im um wage. W hile they increased the amount by ten cents, th e y defeated ex­tension o f the coverage to more categories o f w o rkers .E qua l pay fo r equal w o rk w h ich - the - union 'movement has demanded fo r women is s t i l l blocked. E isen­hower so fa r has won h is demand fo r J im Crow Reserves. And the w itch hun t harasses labo r under Dem ocratic sponsorship as i t did under Republican.

Labor’s D a ily is the on ly da ily union paper th a t has the backing o f a sizeable section o f organized labor. I t has a na tiona l c ircu la tio n and is sponsored by the T ypo­graph ica l W orkers Union.

The discussion being opened up in la b o r ’s D a ily le tte r colum n on the question o f a labor p a rty should prove in te re s tin g and in ­s truc tive . W e reprint, the in v ita ­tion o f Labor’s D a ily in its en tire ty .

* * *

W ant a Labor P a rty 7President George M eany o f the

A F L said th is week th a t he doesn’t th in k Am erican w orkers w ant a p o lit ic a l p a r ty o f th e ir own. Meany has also said in the past th a t a labo r p a r ty in th is coun try would on ly be fo rm ed i f unions g o t as l i t t te ou t o f col­lective ba rga in ing as they do in some o ther countries.

W ha t do YO U th in k about a labo r p a r ty fo r the U n ited States ?

W rite a le tte r to the ed ito r. I f you r le tte r is adjudged the best o f the week in w h ich i t is pub­lished, you w i l l receive a one- year subscrip tion to Labor's D a ily — flree!

Y ou r le tte r, w ith others, w i l l be published in our “ M y T im e to Speak” column, on the ed ito ria l page.

L im it your le tte r to 200 words,

type it , double spaced, o r w r ite i t c lea rly on one side o f the sheet. Date it , and don’t fo rg e t your fu ll name and address. (Nam e w ithhe ld upon request.) Send h to : E d ito r, Labor’s D a ily , P. O. Box 6177, Charleston, W. Va.

Willow Run Strike Shows Up Role Of UAW Officials

By William BundyD E T R O IT , J u ly 2 — "W h y

don’t they call us ‘ labor states* m en '?” T ha t's what W a lte r Reufher asked some m onths ago when he saw a newspaper head­line on his conferences w ith George Meany in M iam i which read: “ Labor Bosses Meet.”W ell, Reuther has made the grade. In an e d ito r ia l Wednes­day the D e tro it Free Press said:

“ F o r the bene fit o f those who tend to live in the past when they ta lk about labor leadership, Aye woMjd l i k e .to p o in j^ jm t the. s tatesilianshlp ' and recogn ition o f resp on s ib ility la te ly exh ib ited by the U A W in te rn a tio n a l.”

W H Y T H E P R A IS E ?The Free Press is an unabash­

ed spokesman in th is area fo r the auto corpora tions and has more than once been s trong ly attacked by the U A W in te rn a ­tion a l fo r its a n ti- la b o r po licy. W ha t prom pted th is f lo w o f praise so sweet to bureaucratic ears was the m anner in which the U A W leaders handled the objections o f the ranks to the recen tly negotiated contract. A s the Free Press puts i t : “ Con­fron ted w ith a f lu r r y o f w ildca t s trikes and p e tty rebellions, the top men who have in th e ir hands the long te rm w e lfa re o f U A W ' members u n flin c h in g ly acted in .accord w ith th e ir ob liga tions.” L e t us take the case o f the GM au tom atic transm ission p la n t a t W illo w Run to see how they did th is.

On Wednesday, June 22, one week before the deadline fo r r a t i ­fy in g the new ly negotiated con­tra c t, the p la n t em ploying 8,800 workers was closed down by a s tr ik e sparked by the c u tte r- g rinders , who objected to term s which excluded them fro m the e igh t-cen t raise fo r skilled w o rk ­ers. T h is same issue played a key ro le in o ther “ w ild ca t” s trikes w h ich h it m any GM p lan ts in the D e tro it and F lin t areas since June 13. Men doing the same w o rk in Ford and C hrys le r p lan ts are classified as sk illed , bu t GM uses a d iffe re n t term fo r the w o rk— “ tool sharp-

(Continued on page 2)

MILITANCY, TENACITY MARK SOUTHERN STRIKES

By John ThayerAnother advance for unionism, was chalked up by

Southern workers as the three-month strike of Greyhound bus drivers in ten Southern states and the District ofColum bia ended v ic to riou s ly . In 5 -M iam i, F lo rida , and it j Louisiana, however, b it te r s tr ikes by A .FL hotel w orkers and CIO Sugar re finery w orkers continued.

The Southern bus d r iv e rs ’ v ic ­to ry has resu lted in the f irs t union con tra c t fo r the Greyhound company in th is area. The s trike — in vo lv in g some 750 d rive rs in the ten-sta te area — was 100% e ffec tive fro m A p r i l 8, the day i t began. I t was led by the A F L M o to r Coach union. Over 600 o f t.he s tr ike rs belonged to the union. The others were so lid ly behind i t b u t fo r legal reasons (a lm ost a ll o f the states involved have “ r ig h t to w o rk ” law s) were non-member s trike rs .

F o r two m onths the company m ainta ined a tough a ttitud e , re fus ing even to meet w ith union representatives. S tr ik e meetings were w e ll attended even though in some cases it meant tra ve lin g more than 1,000 miles.

Term s o f the se ttlem ent in ­clude union recogn ition , a 5% wage boost, a guarantee o f $110 fo r every two-week period in which d rive rs are ava ilab le —

h u t not pu t to w ork, and tim e- and-a -ha lf fo r a ll w o rk outside norm al duties. Especia lly im ­po rtan t, since it begins c u ttin g away the N orth -S ou th wage d i f ­fe re n tia l, is a p rov is ion fo r an ex tra penny fo r every five m iles driven . The con trac t w ill exp ire at the end o f 1956.

S U G A R S T R IK EIn the feudal sugar baronies

on ly a s h o rt distance fro m New Orleans, 1,500 Negro and w h ite members o f t.he CIO Packinghouse W orkers have reached the three- m onth m ark in th e ir s trikes aga inst the Godchaux and Colonial Sugar companies. These com­panies have tr ie d to operate th e ir refineries w ith scabs. Godchaux was the f irs t to a ttem p t th is at its re f in e ly in Reserve, La. Com­pany agents scoured the cou n try ­side fo r as fa r away as 200 m iles in a scab -recru iting cam paign. A lthough they have succeeded to a lim ite d px te n t in th is d ir ty bus i­ness, i t has by no means broken the s tr ike . M oreover, the com-

(Continued on pace 2)

Chilean worker (above) holds alo ft banner of newspapers soaked with blood of nine comrades murdered by strikebreaking police. The massacre led to general strike Jan. 31, 1946. Today Chilean workers aye preparing another general strike protest against m artial law feprei&oris of current strikes.

Unions Plan 24-Hour General Strike for All Workers’ Demands

By Myra TannerMartial law was declared in six provinces of Chile on

July 1, one day after 60,000 transport and communication workers went out on strike. President Carlos Ibanez at first said he would not declare a®--------------------------------------------------------

state o f emergency.” B ut when he saw the power and de te rm ina­tion o * the s tr ik e rs who ignored a ll governm ent pleas and threa ts, lie changed his m ind and put the a rm y in contro l.

“ Em ergency zones” were created and aumy office rs were given d ic­ta to r ia l powers th rou gh ou t C h ile ’s in du s tria l regions inc lud ing San­tiago, the coa l-m in ing area around Concepcion, the steel w orks a t Huaciliipato and C h ile ’s la rgest port., Va lpara iso . A ll troops were placed on a le r t orders in th e ir barracks.

The w orkers in governm ent- operated ra ilroads, bus, streetcar, postal and te legraph sendees w en t on s trike . A rm y troops were m obilized to move a few tra in s b u t no streetcars were opera ting in Santiago and on ly a few buses were in use.

By J u ly 4, fo u r ou t o f five service s ta tions were closed fo r lack o f supplies. O nly one tra in , usi ny a nd kerosene, m an-i aged' t o r -get in to Santiago over the week-end.

A rm y telephone opera tors and fore ign cable companies are hand ling emergency service inside Chile, bu t the norm al com m unica­tion service is com plete ly shu‘ down.

■Strikers have demanded wage increases o f 25,000 pesos and up. A ra g in g in fla t io n has cu t the standard o f l iv in g fa r beneath subsistence levels. Free m arket exchange is a t 640 pesos to the do lla r. The p lig h t o f the w o rk in g class has become desperate.

G E N E R A L S T R IK E C A L LThe L a b o r Confederation

(C U T ), which corresponds to the A F L and C IO in the U n ited States, has called a 24-hour gen­eral s tr ik e th roughou t Chile fo r Thursday, J u ly 7. The general s tr ik e is being organized, not on ly to support the transp o rta tio n and com m unication workers, bu t to set fo rth the demands o f a ll Chilean labor fo r wage rates com­m ensurate w ith in fla te d prices.

P resident Ibanez has refused to meet w ith union representatives to negotiate on the w o rke rs ’ demands u n t il “ a ll s trikes are ended.” However, the w orkers have remained firm . The transport workers union stated th a t the s tr ik e would continue “ u n til our demands are ni'et.”

Osvaldo Koch, the M in is te r o f In te r io r , to ld the .pi-ess 'th a t the s tr ike m ovem ent has on ly eco­nomic objectives and “ lacks revo­lu tio n a ry con tent o r contacts.” H is op tim ism is based on the fac t th a t the S talip ist. and r ig h t-w in g Socia list pa rties are in a lliance

w ith the bourgeois Radical Party'. F o r the sake o f th is alliance, they and the un ion bureaucrats have attem pted to m oderate and con­fine the s trugg le o f the w orkers.

B u t the re vo lu tio n a ry con tent o f the s tra g g le is to be seen precisely in the scope and in te n ­s ity o f the w o rke rs ’ s trugg les fo r economic demands — demands th a t the ru lin g class o f Chile are u tte r ly incapable o f sa tis fy in g .

R E C E N T S T R IK E W A V ED u rin g the la s t few m onths a

s tr ike wave o f unprecedented proportions has swept a ll o f Chile. Some tens o f thousands o f hospita l s lid health w orkers w ent on s tr ik e fo r fo u r days in June. Union o ffic ia ls accepted wage concessions negotiated w ith the governm ent. B u t the ran k and file refused to accept the se ttle ­ment.

F ou r-and -a -ha lf thousand steel w orkers at H uach ipato w ent on s trike . M il ita n t un ion is ts fro m the riB l T o fo m ine evacuated' the mine cen ter and staged an heroic march o f 46 m iles. r-b

M ore than 130,000 students from every section o f the school

(Continued on page 3)

Students Protest In Guatemala

A student dem onstration in opposition to the Guatem alan d ic ta to rsh ip o f Carlos C astillo A rm as was organized by a law student group known as E l Derecho (The R ig h t) Associa­tio n on June 25. Perm ission fo r the parade was granted by A rm as a fte r the group made i t known tha t the dem onstra tion would be held w hether the gov­ernm ent gave perm ission o r not. The parade s ta rted w ith about 400 students. By the tim e i t reached the plaza in fro n t o f the na tiona l palace, i t had grown to about. 3,000.

The arrangem ents com m ittee fo r the dem onstra tion had to give a prom ise, in advance, to the A rm as reg im e th a t the parade would no t be used fo r p o litica l purposes o r as a sounding board fo r opposition to the governm ent. However, the dem onstra tion became ju s t tha t. One o f the speakers v igorous ly defended the lega lly elected governm ent o f A rbenz which was ove rth row n last year by the A rm as m il ita ry clique under W a ll Street super­v ision.

Seamen Gain Jobless Benefits in New ContractsBy James O’Hara

N E W Y O R K . Ju ly 5 — The recent concession won by the C IO N a tiona l M a ritim e Union from the East Coast and g u lf ship operators has s tirre d an angry buzzing among the op­era to rs and the newspapers fo r governm ent action to “ con ta in” the Am erican seaman.

The N M U won an in d u s try ­wide fund to provide a measure o f unem ploym ent insurance to seamen. Seamen are not. covered by state unem ploym ent insu r­ance laws. T h is new fund, to ­ge ther w ith the e x is tin g pension and w e lfa re benefits, vaca tion pay and the fo r ty -h o u r week puts the 'A m erican seamen on a p a r w ith w orkers in o ther w e ll- organized industries.

C A L L FOR H E L PThe ship operators are plead­

in g to Congress th a t i t is be­yond th e ir power to cope suc­

cessfu lly w ith the m aritim e unions and are asking fo r com­pu lsory government, action to l im it seamen’s wages and condi­tions. Congressman Bonner o f N o rth C arolina now heads a com m ittee p repa ring such a b ill.

The N M U also secured other m inor concessions. From the gen­eral and vague firs t, reports pu t out. by the union no e x is ting con trac t benefits were su rren ­dered despite demands by the operators. The actual extent o f the unem ploym ent insurance fund which the union chooses to call the “ em ployment security p lan” w ill not be known fo r some tim e. Both the union and the operators are to make a long s tudy to w ork i t out.

The proposed plan provides fo r a lim ite d am ount o f in su r­ance to a seaman unemployed and y e t seeking w ork . F o r a lim ite d period he w ill draw in ­surance as long as there is

money in the fund in accordance w ith conditions ye t to be de­cided in the jo in t study.

B u t i t is obvious on the face o f the plan th a t should there be a serious decline in sh ipp ing as w e ll as a decline in shoreside job opportun ities the unem ploy­ment- insurance fund would he qu ick ly depleted. L ike a ll the o ther cushions and b u ilt- in s ta ­b ilize rs th a t are designed to e lim inate the hazards o f an­arch is tic cap ita lis t economy, th is scheme is good on ly fo r m inor fluc tu a tion s in em ploym ent. I t w il l be absolute ly worth less in a tim e o f serious crisis.

Nevertheless the p rinc ip le tha t ca p ita lis t in d u s try is responsible fo r the secu rity o f the w orker and m ust make provis ions fo r th is secu rity is becoming a pa rt o f the consciousness o f w orkers everywhere in the U.S. T h is in its e lf is a progressive step fo r ­ward in w ork ing-c lass th in k in g

con ta in ing a p ro found ly revo lu ­tio n a ry po tentia l fo r the fu tu re .

F o r the present, however, the N M U gain is im p o rta n t in tha t i t stands as a sharp challenge to the Lundeberg-iitfluenced sector o f the m a ritim e labor movement. H a rry Lundeberg, the A F L sea­m an’s leader on the W est Coast has become the proponent o f a program to cu t wages and con­d itions on Am erican vessels.

Lundeberg ac tua lly signed an agreement w ith a one-ship op­era to r g ra n tin g him m ajor con­cessions in seamen's conditions in a ll deparlm enls. He ad ve rtis ­ed th is cu t-ra te agreement as a model and announced tha t he was prepared to fu rn ish cut- ra te crews under the cu t-ra te agreem ent to any ship operator in the nation.

Lundeberg ’s action came a t the m oment o f the f irs t a ll-m a r i­tim e union conference to discuss m erger possib ilities. I t served to

b low up the conference and cast the shadow of c iv il w a r over a ll m a ritim e labor.

The CIO m a ritim e leaders, put on the defensive by Lundeberg’s aggression, fo rm a lly repudiated his program and thereby im ­m easurably increased th e ir pres­tige and s treng th among the seamen. Sections o f the A F L m aritim e unions jo ined them in opposition and a hot controversy is s t i l l rag in g over “ Lunchbox’s” action.

C U R R A N ’S S C H E M EA c t u a l l y the th in k in g o f

Lundeberg and C urran is not too fa r apa rt. C urran had advanced a s im ila r proposal a year ago when he te n ta tiv e ly suggested tha t in order to help rev ive coastal sh ipp ing the seamen would have to make concessions. Th is suggestion was received cold ly. In the m eantim e the cam paign fo r the guaranteed

annual wage began to ro ll in the C IO and the membership began to press demands f o l con­tra c t im provem ent.

CuiTan chose to fo llo w the course o f seeking new gains and co rrec tly rejected the contention o f the operators th a t the de­mands o f the union pu t the in ­du s try in decline.

Lundeberg must now produce the same gain fo r his m em ber­ship and most lik e ly w ill. The deep r iv a lry and com petition be­tween the seamen’s organ iza tions serves at th is moment to s tym ie I he sell-oot Lundeberg proposes. A ll he has been able to do is to increase rank-and-file h o s tility against him. He did receive warm com m endation from the press, the ship operators and. some la bo r-h a tin g congressmen but the damage he dealt h im ­se lf w ith in the m aritim e labo r movement is deep and fa r reach­ing.

Page Two r f f E M I L I T A N T Monday, July 11, 1955

Chinese Trotskyists Expiain Mao's Purges[The fo llo w in g a rtic le by M er

L i-d a r, published as a pam phlet A p r i l 16 by the Chinese Section o f the F ou rth In te rn a tion a l, has ju s t been received by the M il i­tan t. D ealing w ith the purge of tw o im p o rta n t M ao ist leaders, announced by Peking M arch 31, its analysis is o f exceptional in ­terest as ap expression o f the v iew po in t o f the genuine M arx is t leadership o f the Chinese w o rk ­in g class. The Chinese Section o f

the F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l played a heroic ro le in the w ar aga inst Japanese im peria lism and in the Chinese Revolution, s u ffe r in g pa r­t ic u la r ly heavily fro m the repres­sion o f the Chiang K a i-shek regim e. The Mao governm ent, however, upon assum ing power hunted down and assassinated “ T ro ts k y is ts ’ ’ on a na tion - wide scale, fo rc in g the o rgan iza tion in to the underground. The E n g ­lish trans la tio n is by Hong Y ing. — Ed.]

When the “ R e s o l u t i o n on S treng then ing P a rty U n ity ” was passed at the F o u rth P lenum o f the C entra l Com m ittee o f the Chinese Com m unist P a rty (CC P) in February 1954, i t was our im pression tha t the p a rty faced a b ig in te rn a l purge. B ut just who the ta rge ts were remained a m yste ry since the CCP never saw f it to disclose any concrete facts about “ the d is rup tion o f pa rty u n ity .” Now the purge o f Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih has lifte d a corner o f the ve il.

On the fo u rth o f th is m onth, Peking announced the expulsion o f Kao K ang and Jao Shu-shih. So fa r as these tw o are concern­ed, the purge is no t the begin­n in g bu t the end. I t is custom ­a ry in S ta lin is t pa rties to con­duct a purge behind closed doors. A t the end the doors are opened fo r an o ff ic ia l announcement o f g u ilt based on one-sided or fram ed-up accusations against the v ic tim s . The purge o f B eria and M alenkov fo llow ed such a pa tte rn . So did the purge o f Kao and Jao. Nevertheless- we can trace the course o f the cu rre n t purge in the background o f past events.

Going back in the complicated lis ts o f appo intm ents and d is­m issals passed by the C entra l Com m ittee o f the Chinese Peo­ple's Governm ent, we find th a t

in the 17th session, A ug us t 7,1952, the cha irm en and vice- chairm en o f the provinces o f L iao tung , K ir in , H e ilu ng k ian g and S ungkiang, wh ich are under the N ortheast People’s Government, were dismissed along w ith the m ayor and depu ty-m ayor of Shenyang.

Kao and Jao were trans fe rre d to the C entra l Governm ent in1953.

A t the F o u rth P lenum o f the Centra l Com m ittee o f the CCP in F eb ru a ry 195.4 the reso lu tion on p a rty u n ity was passed. On June 19 a reso lu tion abolish ing F irs t Class A d m in is tra tiv e D is­tr ic ts th roughou t the country was passed by the 32nd session o f the C entra l Com m ittee o f the People’s Government.

A t the F irs t N a tion a l Peo­ple ’s Congress, held in Septem­ber 1954, Kao and Jao were ne ithe r representatives nor gov­ernm ent o ffic ia ls .

F in a lly , the p a r ty ’s N a tiona l Conference on M arch 31, 1955, approved the ‘ ‘Resolution on the A n t i-P a r ty Conspiracy -o f Kao and Jao” th a t revealed th e ir ex­pulsion.

These nebulous fac ts indicate the course o f the secret purge o f Kao and Jao. Because o f our understand ing o f the character o f the CCP bureaucracy, we weren 't caught by surprise.

What Kao and Jao RepresentedA ccord ing to the N a tion a l Con­

ference reso lu tion , Kao Kang was g u ilty o f the fo llo w in g crim es: engaging in “ conspira­to r ia l a c tiv itie s aimed a t seizing leadership in the p a r ty and the sta te ,” a conspiracy th a t dates back to 1949; v io la t in g the po l­icy o f the C entra l Government, unde rm in ing p a rty u n ity , and ca rv ing ou t an “ independent k ingdom ” in the N ortheast re ­g ion ; a ttem p ting , a f te r h is tra n s ­fe r fro m th a t area, to in s tig a te ran k and file p a rty members in the A rm y aga inst the C entra l G overnm ent; s p lit t in g the p a rty in to a “ P a rty o f the ‘W h ites ’ ” [as opposed to “ Reds” ? — T r .] and a “ P a rty o f the revo lu tion ­a ry bases and the a rm y ,” de­c la r in g h im se lf to be the rep ­resenta tive o f the la tte r ; f in a lly , f ig h tin g fo r the post o f general secre tary o r v ice-cha irm an and p rem ie r o f the State Council.

Jao Shu-shih was accused o f

t r y in g to seize power in the p a rty by “ shameless deceit” since 1943; o f lead ing a r ig h t is t tendency w h ile in the E ast China reg ion, ca p itu la tin g to the cap­ita lis ts , land lords and rich peas­an ts ; and, a f te r his trans fe r, o f com bin ing w i t h Kao K ang aga inst the p a rty .

The CCP cited no evidence to substantia te the charges, and of course Kao and Jao were given no chance to defend themselves pub lic ly .

F rom w hat we know o f the past records o f the tw o, the Kao tendency was com para tive ly to the le ft, the Jao tendency m ore to the r ig h t o f the Centra l Government. In the N ortheast, Kao was fa r ahead in stressing the f ig h t aga inst bourgeois in ­fluence, a f ig h t begun by h im e a rlie r than the C entra l Gov­ernm ent. (The San Fan and W u Fan movements s ta rted in the N ortheast.)

[T h e ’ iSan Fan an ti-th ree evils — movement was a cam paign aga inst co rrup tion , waste and bureaucracy among governm ent employees. The W u Fan — a n ti- f iv e — movement I h i t b ribe ry , ta x evasion, th e ft o f s tate prop­e rty , cheating on governm ent contracts, and s tea ling economic in fo rm a tio n fro m the govern­m ent fo r p r iv a te speculation. — T r.]

I n E ast China, i t is true , Jao tra ile d the C entra l G overnpient, exceeding i t in compromises w ith the cap ita lis ts , land lords and rich peasants.

B u t these were no th ing more than the f i r s t buds Of the two tendencies. They never reached tlhe po in t o f developing oppositional lines aga inst the CCP leader­ship. The degree o f opposition was no t the rea l reason fo r the purge. Mao had no need to expel them fo r th a t o r to force Kao K ang to com m it suicide “ as an u ltim a te expression o f his be­tra y a l o f the p a r ty .”

The m ain reason fo r the se­vere punishm ent v is ite d ’ upon them by the CCP C entra l Com­m ittee was the g ro w in g reg iona l in fluence o f the tw o on th e ir home grounds (especially Kao K ang in the N o rth ea s t) and th e ir e n g a g e m e n t in an ti-C ep tra l Com m ittee clique fo rm ations.

I t is certa in th a t the le f t and r ig h t shadings o f the tendencies represented by Kao and Jao are a re fle c tion o f the “ com plex and acute class s tru g g le ” in the country , and, a t the same tim e, a re fle c tion o f the d iffe re n tia ­tio n in the tw o poles o f the COP’s op po rtu n is t line. The r ig h t is t tendency was fostered by Mao’s opportunism fro m the beginning.

In add ition , the Shadings re ­fle c t som ething else. The sec­tiona lism and cliquism o f Kao and Jao are a resu lt o f the CCP’s S ta lin is t system, which fosters such trends.

C liqu ism and sectionalism are expressions o f one and the same th in g in d iffe re n t circumstances. C liqu ism is an o rgan iza tiona l tendency w ith in the p a rty itse lf. Sectionalism is the w ay cliquism becomes expressed in the sphere o f p o lit ic a l power outside the p a rty . The bureaucratism o f the CCP fostehs both. M oreover, they are closely linked to the bureaucracy, its e lf.

A t present c liqu ism and sec­tiona lism e x is t not on ly in the various b ig ad m in is tra tive areas o f the CCP and in the reg ional p a rty leaderships, b u t also a t the sum m its o f the p a rty . Sec­tiona lism became apparent in the responsible heads o f the b ig ad m in is tra tive areas, a lthough in v a ry in g degrees. Kao K ang was the m ost serious o f them and the on ly one w ith an in c lin a tio n tow ard the le ft.

L e t us il lu s tra te how the S ta l­in is t p a r ty system o f the CCP foste rs c liqu ism and sectional­ism.

The widow o f Chen Tu-hsiu ( le f t ) stands beside the monu­ment erected to the renowned Chinese T ro ts k y is t leader ( r ig h t ) who died M ay 28, 1942. Chen T ud is iu , dean o f the college o f le tte rs a t Peking N a tio n a l U n ive rs ity , founded the Chinese Com m unist P a rty . He served as its Secre tary-G enera l from 1921 to-1927 when he was ousted by S ta lin ’s orders. In 1929 he helped organize the opposition to S ta lin ism in Ch ina th a t soon became p a rt o f the w orld -w ide T ro ts k y is t m ovem ent. In 1932 he was arrested by C h iang K a i-shek and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was released in 1937 a fte r h is hea lth was seriously underm ined. The M aoists razed Chen’s tom b to the ground as p a rt o f th e ir consistent e ffo r ts to p reven t the Chinese w o rk ing class from developing its own p o lit ic a l leadership and ta k in g an independent course. B ut the T ro ts k y is t movement founded by Chen continues to uphold the banners o f M arx ism , as the a rtic le on th is .page indicates.

The CCP was born under the d irec tion o f the T h ird In te rn a ­tiona l in the days o f Lenin. In 1924 S ta lin usurped ldaderhip o f t’he T h ird In te l-na tiona l; and the Chinese R evolution o f 1925 - 27 was b rough t to catastrophe by his po litica l line. On the defeat o f the revo lu tion , S ta lin is t degeneration permeated the CCP. O rgan iza­tio n a lly , the CCP’s inheritance o f the S ta lin is t p a rty system is m anifested by the absence o f pa rty democracy, the p ro h ib itio n o f op­positional ideas, the bureaucra­tic con tro l o f a ll a c tiv itie s from top to bottom , and the fo rm a ­tion o f perm anent c l i q u e s . C liquism developed as the tw in o f bureaucratism . *

The process is one o f con­tinuous osc illa tion . The dom i­nant clique takes advantage o f its bureaucra tic positions to s tr ik e a t the o ther cliques. B u t the strengthened bureaucracy in ■turn becomes a ho t bed fo r the g ro w th o f new cliques.

Since fun dam e n ta lly d iffe re n t p o litica l ideas are p roh ib ited , I t is o f course im possib le to fo rm factions based on the d iffe re n ­t ia tio n o f p o lit ic a l princip les. Even a p o lit ic a l fac tion m ust appear as a clique. •

T he present lead ing position obtained by Mao in the CCP is not the resu lt o f co rrect theore tica l and po litica l leadership b u t the resu lt o f a com bination o f the in ­fluence o f the armed peasant masses and o f clique mdfhods th a t broke M ao’s riva ls .

F ir s t Mao s tru ck a t L i L i-san ’s clique, fo rc in g the center o f the CCP to move to the S ta lin is t- contro lled d is tr ic t o f the tim e. Then Mao seized the leadership

o f the p a rty by s tr ik in g a t Chen Shao-yu (W ong M in g ), the he ir designated by Moscow. F in a lly by pu rg ing Chang K w o li-tao , he form ed a dom inant clique around h im se lf, th rough th is ga in ing con tro l o f the whole p a rty o r­ga n iza tion a lly and u t il iz in g th is bu reaucra tic con tro l in tu rn to fu r th e r streng then his own clique.

A s a p ra c titio n e r o f perm a­nent c liqu ism , Mao _ found i t necessary consciously and con­tin u a lly to fos te r hero worship o f h im se lf by the p a rty mem­bership and cadres, having h im ­se lf exto lled as the “ O rien ta l Sun.’’

Mao p icks h is cadres on the basis o f personal lo ya lty . Those

who do no t meet the tes t are dealt w ith as enemies to be ex­pelled and purged.

He can p e rm it no r iv a l cliques, ye t the re a lity con tinu a lly cross­es his aim s, fo r li is cadres na­tu ra lly im ita te his' practices, fo s te r hero w orsh ip fo r them ­selves and seek th e ir own per­sonal ties th a t je ll in to co llid in g cliques. Thes^e cliques m ay fo rm e ithe r inside o r outside 5(tao’s personal fo ld .

F o llo w in g the CGP’s com ing to power, c liquism found its sup­p o rt in new social forces. Under the a ttra c tio n o f m a te ria l in ­terests, c liqu ism emerged fro m in te rn a l p a r ty spheres to tie- come sectionalism . Conditions pow' are much m ore favo rab le fo r its g ro w th than d u r in g the c iv il w a r. The elements acceler­a tin g sectionalism are the vast expanses o f Chinese te r r ito ry , the backwardness o f the economy and com m unications, and the p res tige o f p a rtic ip a tin g in M ao’s v ic to ry .

A s tr ik in g example o f the forces a t w o rk is provided by the fa c t th a t a fte r the libe ra tion o f the whole country , Mao found i t im possib le to b r in g a ll sec­tions o f the cou n try under the d irec t dom ination o f the Centra l Governm ent. He had to d ivide the coun try in to s ix b ig A d m in ­is tra t iv e D is tr ic ts : N o rth China, N o rthw est, N o r t h e a s t , East China, C entra l South, Southwest.

W ith the exception o f N o rth China, where the C entra l Gov­ernm ent dom inates d ire c tly be­cause the cap ita l is there, a N ortheast People’s Government was set up fo r the N ortheast, and M il i ta ry P o lit ic a l C om m it­tees ( la te r changed to A d m in is ­tra tiv e Com m ittees) fo r the fo u r o ther A d m in is tra tiv e D is tr ic ts . Top ran k cadres -were placed at the head o f each.

Thus from top to bottom — the C entra l Government contro ls the provinces and c ities, the provinces con tro l the regions, the regions the villages.

has not re lied on supervision by the masses, nor based po litica l power on dem ocratic con tro l by the w orkers and peasants in order to hinder, weaken and de­fe a t the trend. He does not even u tilize the highest powers o f the p a rty and the sta te which he possesses.

F o r example, the U n ited A rm y o f the N ortheast Democracy led ,by L in 'P iao grew continuously d u rin g the w ar against the Japanese occupation. A f te r Ja ­p a n ’s surrender, th is a rm y sud­denly became a trem endous force th rough supplem entary a rm a­ments trans fe rre d by the USSR fro m the Japanese K w ang tung A rm y .

Because o f th is new s tr ik in g power, L in P iao’s u n it was d is­solved by Mao. A la rge p a r t o f i t was trans fe rre d to the South and S outhwest a f te r be ing as­signed to the F o u rth F ie ld A rm y .

A lth o u g h a t present L in Piao jis s t i l l h igh in M ao’s favo r, hav ing been prom oted to re ­place the purged Jao Shu^shih as Com m issar in the P o litica l Bureau, his m il ita ry power has disappeared.

A no the r example is the trans-

The Problem of SectionalismThe heads o f the b ig A dm in is ­

tra t iv e D is tr ic ts rose fro m the peasant a rm y, o r ig in a lly as lead­ers o f F ie ld A rm y D is tr ic ts . Each had a base in h is own m il­ita ry forces and his own clique. In the absence o f peasants’ and w orkers ’ democracy and a soviet system such as was known under Lenin, and the existence in th e ir place o f a bureaucracy, these A d m in is tra tiv e D is tr ic ts , as in the case o f the p o lit ic a l power o f the state, were placed com­p le te ly ou t o f the con tro l o f the masses. Consequently, the in ­e v ita b ility o f sectionalism .

On the one hand, the heads o f the A d m in is tra tiv e D is tr ic ts mined the ad m in is tra tio n and b ig in d u s try w ith members of th e ir own cliques, thus convert­in g the A d m in is tra tiv e D is tr ic ts

in to p riva te kingdom s. On the o the r hand they absorbed in - digenbus CCP forces, some o f whom extended in to m any re ­gions, and opposed in f i lt ra t io n by r iv a l A d m in is tra tiv e D is tr ic ts o r F ie ld Arm ies.

As a resu lt o f the develop­m ent o f sectionalism , the heads o f the .A d m in is tra tiv e D is tr ic ts considered anyone sent in by M ao’s C entra l G overnm ent as an enemy and cove rtly sought to oust him . T h is could f in a lly come to co llis ion w ith the Cen­t ra l Government.

Sectionalism thus has its ex­p lanation . The g ravest instance so fa r is the N ortheast, w h ich developed in to an “ independent k ingdom .”

In face o f the g ro w in g ten ­dency tow ard sectionalism , Mao

. . . The Willow Run GIVI Strike(Continued from page 1)

eners” and avoids the h igher pay.

The w a lkou t qu ick ly won the support o f o ther workers in the p lan t who had th e ir own reasons fo r p ro tes ting the contract.

Thursday n ig h t more than 40 o f the s tr ik e rs received te le ­gram s fro m the company sus­pending them fro m th e ir jobs on the grounds th a t the con tract specifica lly provides th a t p a r tic i­pa tion in “ unauthorized w o rk stoppages” is grounds fo r d is­m issal. The U A W in te rna tiona l leaders p ro m p tly exh ib ited th e ir “ statesm anship and recogn ition o f re sp on s ib ility ” by p u b lic ly de­c la r in g the s tr ik e to be “ il le g a l."

On F rid a y a la rge crowd o f an g ry p ickets m illed around the p lan t shouting down a ttem p ts o f the union o ffic ia ls to ca ll them o f f the p icke t lines. Thete were b it te r men in the crowd, de fian t­ly w av ing ye llow slips o f paper in f ro n t o f them, te legram s o f

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suspension. A h a lf dozen pickets were arrested in the events o f the day. The p la n t stayed closed

O F F IC IA L S T H R E A T E NT ha t n ig h t In te rn a tio n a l and

Local 735 leaders called a meet­in g to ge t the w orkers to re tu rn to w ork and accept the contract. B u t the vote was ove rw he lm ing­ly in fa v o r o f con tinu ing the s tr ike . In sp ite o f th is mandate fro m the membership, the U A W leaders ( in the words o f the Free Press aga in ) “ u n flin c h in g ­ly acted in accord w ith th e ir ob liga tions” and repeated th e ir assertion th a t the s tr ik e was “ ille g a l,” th a t the- union could not be responsible fo r members fired in such s trikes , and tha t the w orkers ought to be happy w ith “ the best con trac t th is union • has ever negotiated.” They were round ly booed, and the m eeting broke up in con­fusion.

The p la n t stayed closed Sat­u rday and Sunday. There were two more arrests . A no the r meet­in g was called fo r Sunday a f ­ternoon by the o ffic ia ls o f the In te rn a tio n a l who stated th a t there hadn’t been enough mem ­bers present a t the F rid a y meet­in g fo r the vote to count (a l­though' the ha ll had been pack­ed). “ We are confident th a t a true expression o f the m a jo r ity w i l l mean an im m ediate re tu rn to w o rk ,” they said.

Sunday’s m eeting was o rd e rly bu t noisy, the o ff ic ia ls ta k in g a lo t o f s trong c r it ic is m fro m the m em bership. The vote ( fo r the sake o f consistency, th is figu re is taken fro m the Free 'Press’ re p o rt) was “ a lm ost nine to one” in fa v o r o f con tinu ing the s tr ike . Once again the U A W leaders rose to the s ta tu re o f “ statesm anship” and announced th a t th is vote d idn ’t count e ither. As fa r as they were concerned, the s tr ik e was s t i l l illega l.

B A N M ASS P IC K E T IN G Then the company took the

ba ll. On M onday i t obtained a

cou rt o rder p ro h ib it in g mass p icke tin g a t the p lan t on the basis th a t i t was in v io la tio n o f an agreem ent between the com­pany and the union, and nam ing the U A W , the local, and a num ­ber o f the s tr ike rs responsible i f i t continued. The company sent an open te legram to the In te rn a tio n a l Union say ing :

“ This is to advise you th a t th is ille g a l course o f action on the p a r t o f ce rta in o f your m em bership leaves General M o­to rs no a lte rn a tive b u t to take every proper step ava ilab le to i t under our agreement, and un­der state and federa l laws to prevent fu r th e r loss , . . and to restore production in the p lan t.” A d d itio na l deputies were p u t on ca ll b y the s h e r if f ’s o ffice .

Tuesday m orn ing the news­papers headlined stories o f a back-to -w ork movement a t the p lan t, and Tuesday afte rnoon a th ird m eeting was held. U A W vice president John W . L iv in g ­ston spoke before the member­ship. He said:

“ The In te rn a tio n a l U n ion w ill not support the stoppage. Gen­era l M otors could sue us and you r local fo r every cent we have in the co ffe rs .” He th re a t­ened the s tr ik e rs w ith expulsion from the union by saying, “ I hope we don’t have to k ick peo­ple out o f the union.”

The m eeting was liv e ly as usual. There were shouts o f de­fiance, bu t the pressure was too much. The vote was taken, and w ith the boos s t i l l r in g in g in his ears, L iv in g s to n tas ted ' v ic ­to ry . The w orkers voted tw o to one to re tu rn to w ork . The fa te o f the fired w orkers is s t i l l un­decided.

Is i t any wonder th a t at the present tim e R euther and Co. seem to be more popu lar w ith the B ig Business press than w ith the w orkers in the auto p lants?

. . . Southern Strikes(Continued from page 1)

pany is hav ing troub le w ith its scabs. A group o f a t le a rt t h ir t y - five strikebreaker’s, shamed by the p icke t lines, le f t in a body wiith tiheii- luggage. The company guards have been keeping s tr ik e ­breakers in the p la n t by gunplay. There have also been numerous instances o f th rea ts u tte red and shots fired a t the s trike rs .

An a ttem p t by Colonia l Sugar to reopen its re fine ry in Gra- m ercy. La., fa iled m ise rab ly . N o t a s ing le member o f the union responded to the back-to -w ork appeals. Moreover, no t a single s trikeb reake r appeared despite the fact, the company had its busses and a flee t o f cars lined up in the to w n to fa c il ita te the back-to -w ork movement.

Adding the a ttem p ts to break the s tr ike are the judges o f the two pa rish es ( in Louisiana, counties are called parishes). In St. John the B a p tis t Parish, in which the- feuda l Godchaux domain is located, the whole s tr ike leadership — 30 men and one woman — face ja i l term s. Seven men have a lready been g iven 60 day sentences. The 31- m e m b e r executive board o f U P W A Local 1124 is be ing tr ie d fo r contem pt o f court. Soon a fte r the s tr ik e began 76-year old judge L . R. R ivarde, a fr ie n d o f the sugar barons, issued a sweep­in g a n ti- la b o r in ju n c tio n covering no t on ly the s tr ik e rs b u t the whole popu la tion o f St. John the B ap tis t Parish. The women o f Reserve have launched a pe tition d rive to reca ll Judge Rivarde. T h is can be done under a ra re ly - used sta te law .

W ID E C O M M U N IT Y SUPPO RTThe m ora le o f the s tr ik e rs is

h igh . Indeed, i t is no t ju s t a S trike o f tw o locals, b u t o f tw o towns aga inst the companies. C om m unity support is p ra c tica lly ‘solid. W hat were founded as com­pany towns have become union towns.

The s tr ike rs have been receiv-

in g financia l aid from o ther Packinghouse locals and also from CIO and A F L unions. A l l as­sistance is deeply needed and welcomed.

There are d a ily s tr ik e m eet­ings and on June 26 a mass meet­in g in the Reserve H ig h School aud ito rium was attended by s tr ik ­ers and by sym pathetic un ion is ts fro m a ll over Louisiana. Women w orkers and w ives and daughters o f s tr ike rs have been ve ry active in s tr ik e w ork. A special women’s m eeting is held weekly. A t a recent one bhe wom en asked to take over the p icke ting . A n arrangem ent has been worked out whereby the women take over some o f the day tim e 'p icke ting .

-One o f the m ost hearten ing aspects o f the s tr ik e is the in ­te rrac ia l so lid a rity o f the sugar workers. The tw o tow ns and the un ion locals are about evenly composed o f N egro and w h ite . The w h ite w orkers are m ostly descendants o f o ld French settle rs. S e lf - segregation a t m eetings, which had a lw ays been the custom in the past, has m ostly disappeared in the course o f the s tr ik e and . the d a ily meetings. As the June issue o f the U P W A ’s newspaper, The Packinghouse W orker, says: “ W h ite and N egro p icket together, eat together, and fig h t the b a ttle hand-in-hand.”

In te rn a tio n a l s o lid a rity o f labor was e ffe c tive ly dem onstrated when delegations frtom the Cuban Confederation o f Labo r and the Cuban Federation o f Sugar W orkers f le w to U P W A head­quarters in Chicago to confer about a id ing the Louisiana, s t r ik ­ers. The Cuban labo r leaders pledged th a t they would prevent any shipm ents o f raw sugar from Cuba to ' the s truck p lants. The Cuban la bo r m ovem ent enforced a s im ila r embargo d u rin g a 1953 re fine ry s tr ike , in Louisiana.

A t the m om ent there is a grave danger th a t the labo r ha ters o f Louis iana w il l succeed in having the na tiona l guard called in to the s tr ike areas. A state senator Iras 'already requested th is s tr ik e ­

breakingKennon.

action o f Governor

M IA M I H O T E L S T R IK EIn the M iam i area the s tr ike

o f 2,800 hotel w orkers continued in the face o f h a m string ing cou rt in junc tions and the r ig h t- to -w o rk law . Because o f the in jun c tion - happy judges, on ly tw o o f the 22 s truck hotels can be picketed. The union has appealed these in ­junctions to the F lo r id a Supreme C ourt and the whole F lo rid a labor m ovem ent is w a tch ing th is im ­p o rta n t lega l figh t.

P a rtic u la r ly g a llin g to the S trikers is the b lackou t cu rta in the hotel owners association has lowered over the s trike . The hotel owners are b ig advertisers in newspapers th rou gh ou t the country and they have used th e ir in fluence to k i l l m ost o f the news about the s trike . Even pa id ads subm itted by the union have been refused by some newspapers.

A n a ttem p t to break through th is news b lackout has been made by the A F L in te rn a tio n a l uniop and by s is te r locals. In N ew Y o rk C ity , fo r example, .the restau ran t workers staged a one-hour pro test dem onstra tion in T im es Square on beha lf o f the M iam i s trikers, The New Y o rk locals are also p lanning a 1,000 car motorcade to M ia m i to force the papers to notice the s tr ike .

The labo r press has been d ig ­g ing in/to the somewhat Shady pasts o f the b ig -sho t M iam i hotel owners. A lo t o f the data comes fro m the Ketfauver com m ittee reports and Shows connections w ith gam blers and o ther under­w orld figures. A n idea o f w ha t the hotel owners are lik e m ay be gathered fro m the fa c t tha t the person lasted as pres ident and general m anager o f the Roney Plaza H ote l, one o f the sw ankiest o f the “ go ld -p la ted sweatshops” on M iam i Beach, is none o ther than Corpora l G. D avid S’chine. T h is is the m illio n a ire p layboy and “ subversion expe rt’ ’ who figured in the news a year ago as Senator M cC arthy ’s fa v o rite arm y p riva te .

fe r o f Ho Hung:, vice-cha irm an o f the S outhwest M il ita ry Po­li t ic a l Commission, to the Cen­tra l Governm ent where he serves nom ina lly as v ice-pres ident bu t a c tu a lly is in charge on ly o f the P hysica l C u ltu re Commission.

The tra n s fe r o f Yeh Ja n -y ir ig fro m Canton is another in te re s t­in g example. iBesides serv ing as m ayor o f Canton, he was p res i­dent o f K w ang tung and vice- p res iden t o f the Centra l South M il i ta ry P o litica l Commission. Tao Tse has te m p o ra rily re ­placed h im as president o f K w ang tung and Ho W ei has re ­placed him as m ayor o f Canton. S ince the F ir s t N a tion a l Peo­p le ’s Congress, Yeh has not held any position o f actual power bu t has been lim ited to com m is­sar o f the Defense Commission.

S t il l another exam ple is L iu - P ei-ch ing. F o rm e rly the h ighest head o f the Southwest A dm in is ­tra t iv e D is tr ic t, he is now nom ­in a lly com m issar in the Stand­in g Com m ittee o f the F irs t N a ­tiona l People’s Congress and com m issar in the Defense Com­m ission. A c tu a lly he is on ly in charge o f the T ra in in g D e pa rt­m ent under the Defense Com­m ission.

Economic Factors in the StruggleF in a lly , we can c ite the case

o f L i L i-san. E xpe lled long ago by Mao, he came back in to a position o f prom inence and pow­er. A f te r the lib e ra tio n he was p com m issar o f the C entra l Gov­ernm ent and head o f the Labor Departm ent. B u t around the F irs t N a tiona l People’s Con­gress, he was no longer in o f­fice. P robab ly he had been p u rg ­ed, fo r no th in g has been heard o f h im since.

T h is fa te was no t due to his own w e igh t as a sectiona lis t or c liqu is t. M ost lik e ly he indicated his d issa tis fac tion w ith the Cen­t ra l Governm ent by lin in g up behind Kao Kang.

Thus we see th a t in the ear­l ie r phases Mao’s way o f coun­te r in g the g ro w in g sectionalism based on several provinces was “ to send the wolves away from the woods.”

La s t June he tr ie d another device. A bo lish in g the F irs t Class A d m in is tra tiv e D is tr ic ts , he pu t the provinces d ire c tly under con tro l o f the C entra l G overn­ment. Then, a f te r the F irs t N a ­tio n a l People’s Congress, he separated the power o f the. m il i­ta r y fro m the ad m in is tra tio n by s e ttin g up a S tate Council p a ra l­le l to .the Defense Commission and placed both under his con tro l.

Kao K ang o r ig in a lly was not in M ao’s fo ld . Before the 2,500- m ile “ Long M arch ” o f Mao, he was a leader toge ther w ith L iu Tse-tan o f the armed peasant s trugg le in Shensi. A f te r the l ib ­era tion , he became vice-president o f the C entra l Governm ent and C hairm an o f the N o rtheas t Peo­p le ’s Government.

T h is governm ent, due to the ea rly libe ra tion o f th a t area, was fo rm ed in 1947. The N o rth ­east, consequently, fo rged ahead o f the res t o f the cou n try in economic recovery, construction , and the s treng then ing o f p o lit i­cal power. I t n a tu ra lly became a norm fo r the whole cou n try and the esteem in which Kao K ang was held rose accord ing ly.

The economy o f the N ortheast has a specific character. A t the end o f the w a r aga inst Japan, the b ig industries le f t by the Japanese im p e ria lis ts were g ra b ­bed by “ bureaucra tic cap ita l.” [ Capita l owned by the coterie 'o f Chiang Kai-shek. — T r .] Since the libe ra tion they have been state-owned. Hence a la rge p ro ­po rtion o f the s ta te ’s heavy in ­du s try is in the N ortheast.

Because o f th is p a rtic u la r de­velopm ent, w h ile the rest o f the coun try remained unstable im ­m ediate ly a fte r the libe ra tion , the N ortheast had its own eco­nomic and currency system.

Besides (his, since the N o rth ­east borders the USSR and was also the te r r ito ry libe ra ted w ith the help o f the Soviet Red A rm y , i t is conceivable th a t S ta lin fostered the. sectionalism o f the N ortheast as a fu tu re counter in re s tra in in g Mao. W ith S ta lin ’s death, the K re m lin ’s m as­ters, em broiled in th e ir own a f ­fa irs , w ithd rew support o f Kao K ang in a bid fo r Mao’s back­ing.

Such were the elements fos­te r in g the developm ent o f Kao K ang ’s “ independent k ingdom ” o f the N ortheast. F rom w h a t was revealed in the reso lu tion o f the N a tion a l Conference las t m onth, i t is apparent th a t Kao K an g ’s “ independent k ingdom ” was s tronger and m ore fu l ly de­veloped than any o f the o the r A d m in is tra tiv e D is tr ic ts .

The backing o f his clique by p a rt o f the a rm y cadres was the source o f the theory advanced by him o f “ tw o pa rties ,” w h ich was aimed a t m ob iliz in g s treng th aga inst the moves o f M ao’s Cen­tra l Governm ent.

U nde r these conditions, Kao K ang could not be reduced by s im p ly tra n s fe rr in g h im to the C entra l Governm ent. He had to be destroyed, p o lit ic a lly by ex­pulsion, and probably phys ica lly too, as the reference to “ su i­cide” would indicate.

[T o be concluded next week.]

THE M I L I T A N T A ft MY

d u rin g the proves the

A lthough i t is nearly a month since the conclusion o f the sub­scrip tion cam paign, sulbs continue

to come in from the branches. M any o f these subs w e r e p r o m i s e d to our agents d u rin g the cam paign, and by re tu rn in g to the po­ten tia l readers, these prom ises were car­ried out.

O ther subs a re a resu lt o f con tinu ing the, w o rk s ta rted cam paign. A l l th is correctness o f the

po in t made by the M il ita n t edi­to r ia l s ta ff, when the y said in th e ir le tte r p r in te d in the M il ita n t A rm y o f June 27th: “ The m ost im p o rta n t resu lts in suib wox-k came from sustained e ffo r ts on ind iv idua ls. . . A pe rs is ten t and persuasive appeal was a ll th a t was needed to re c ru it them as M il ita n t subscribers.”

O ur Chicago agent, C. Houston w rite s : “ Enclosed is $3.00 fo r two 6-m onth subs. M ore subs w i l l be com ing and a complete analysis o f our successful sub d rive w il l be m ailed soon.”

Helen Sherman w rite s fro m M inneapo lis : “ The E d ito r ’s le tte r on the M il ita n t subscrip tion cam ­pa ign ve ry a p tly expressed our estim a tion and bore ou t our ex­perience here in M inneapolis. We ‘fe ll in ’ rea d ily w ith the p lans fo r the cam paign and wound up re a lly surprised w ith the q u a n tity o f subs b ro ug h t in. . . Please take care o f the enclosed one-year renewed.”

St, Louis ’s D ick C la rk w rite s :

“ I fo llow ed you r suggestion a/nd sold a new s ix-m onth sub on a local de live ry basis. I have three promises fo r subs la te r.”

Subs have been com ing in fro m P ittsbu rgh , D e tro it and P h ila ­delphia. St. Paul has been con­s is te n tly sending in subs, and Helen Baker o f Seattle says: “ I am enclosing one more sub. We are fo llo w in g up on some o f the promises and w ill be sending in a few as tim e goes on. C lara Kaye came in on a discussion o f Z ionism w h ile de live rin g a copy o f the M ilita n t. T h is reader, a l­ways in tense ly in terested in bo th the M il ita n t and the F. I., hap­pened to have some fr ien ds in when C lara arrived . She was urged to speak on ou r position on the question.’’

Detroit Fri. Night Socialist Forum

New Theories o f C ap ita lismF rid a y , J u ly 15, a t 8 P. M.

P sych ia try and the Ind iv id ua l Today

F rid a y , J u ly 22, a t 8 P. M.

The B ig Four ConferenceF rida y , J u ly 29, at 8 P. M.

A t 3000 Grand R iver, Rm. 207Free fo r Unemployed

Donation 25c.

T H E H I E I T X N ! 1— Page T firee

Reactions to Steel SettlementFor the most part the steel settlement

(see page one) was greeted with an ah- of sober satisfaction by the capitalist press. The New York Times expressed relief: “ A serious storm that twenty-four hours ago seemed perilously imminent has suddenly blown, as it were, out to sea.”

In a more somber vein the Wall Street Journal commented, “ A steel wage increase which will result in increasing steel prices an average of $7.50 a ton is by no means a cause for unalloyed rejoicing. But the settlement is not without its satisfac­tions.” The main satisfaction cited by the WSJ is that ‘‘a settlement was reached without a strike.”

The Christian Science Monitor reacted with bubbling enthusiasm. Over the lead article July 1 it ran the headline: “ Econo­my'Boom Halts Shortest Steel Strike.” In thus ascribing the basic cause of the settlement to the prosperity of the econo­my the Monitor is not far from wrong.

The steel settlement, even more than the recent one in auto, reveals that the highest circles of Big Business are willing to give some concessions and keep the plants open as long as the avalanche of profits keeps rolling in. Behind this w ill­ingness, of course, is their realization that a tough policy means bitter class struggle. So, with the eager cooperation of the labor officials they are willing to grant some concessions and postpone show-down fights with the working class.

But the Christian Science Monitor could^ not refrain from milking the cow of the capitalist war boom for just a little more than it has to give. Swept along by its own enthusiasm the lead article becomes arrogant and boastful: “ The fast settle­ment, perhaps above all, is a signal that United States capitalism, sharing its ever- mounting prosperity with its workers, is still on the up-and-up — making economic history in unprecedented boom that is putting to shame the Marxist dogma. . . Where, it is being asked, is the ‘suffering proletariat’ ?. . . Labor is in many ways today just another part of the great Amer­ican middle class. . . Capitalism isn’t what

it used to be!”The only thing omitted from this brag­

gadocio is the most salient fact about the prosperity of American economy; namely, that it is based on the most colossal m ili­tary build-up in the history of the world. This build-iip, which devours two-thirds of the national budget and constitutes the main support of the “ prosperity,” is lead­ing towards a war which admittedly will put into question the very existence, of humanity on this planet. That’s the truth about the “ up-and-up” of American capital­ism. Take away this hideous crutch and it w ill be “ down-and-out” for capitalism.

Also, isn’t it a bit of an imprudent sneer, “ Where is the suffering proletariat now?” Capitalist prosperity or no capitalist prosperity, war or peace, the proletariat, in the U.S. and in the world, does plenty of suffering. Let the editorial snobs of the capitalist newspapers get out of their air conditioned offices and go down to the auto plants and steel mills and see how the workers earn their wages under U.S. capitalism. And let them go into the sweat shops of the North and South, the agricul­tural fields, the slums which still grow faster than any other feature of American life, and tell the workers that Marx has been refuted, because, you see, there is no more suffering in the working class.

We Marxists have no reason to deny the fact of prosperity in the U.S. But we see the prosperity of American capitalism in its true context, in a world in which capitalism is in convulsive decline, suffer­ing serious defeats from the colonial peo­ple, in the context of the inexorable laws of the capitalist system which has led it to the brink of doom. The stimulation of a sick economic system with the narcotic of war preparations may get the capitalists hopped up and glassy eyed about their “ triumph,” but class conscious workers must keep a steady eye on the main curve of history in its world-wide evolution. This curve shows unmistakably the doom of capitalism and the eruption of all its con­tradictions right here in its last remaining stronghold.

Are Civil Liberties Being Restored ?The news on the civil liberties front last

week showed two opposite currents. First was the trend of toning down the hysteria and undoing some of the “ excesses.”

For example, the Department of Agri­culture cleared Wolf Ladejinsky, whom six months ago it had labelled a security risk. A federal judge ordered expunged the disloyalty stain on the record of former diplomat John Stewart Service. A House Committee quietly dropped from the new federal housing bill the notorious Gwinn amendment barring “ subversives” from low-rent housing projects.

But a contrary trend Was markedly visible. First, the Senate Internal Security subcommittee put on a witch-hunt circus worthy of the days when McCarthy was chairman. A character the committee had dredged up somewhere told spy stories of the fairy tale genre. Then an attack was launched on the New York Times. The smear was that a suspect Times reporter had endangered the success of the Korean War by his news stories. In the same week, a school, for the firs t time in history was ordered by the Subversive Activities Con­trol Board to register as a Communist front. Finally, the House unanimously ap­proved increasing Smith Act penalties

from six years and $5,000 fine to 20 years and $20,000.

A ll this shows how tenuous and inef­fective is the policy of trying to trim down the witch hunt rather than to. destroy it. This “ practical” policy of attacking the witch hunt on its periphery rather than striking at its heart is actually the height of impracticability. I t can yield only deceptive successes on the least vital cases. I t will not drive the witch hunt out of political life. Indeed this very policy enables them to strike back because they utilize its basic assumption, which, is that there must be a loyalty program, Smith Act, etc., to protect us from the “ Com­munist menace.”

Only a return to fu ll civil liberties for all political views, including that of the Com­munist Party, can smash the witSch hunt. That means fighting the very concepts of a subversive list, Smith Act, and loyalty program. The ruling class will not easily give up these strong basic positions it has captured in the post war assault on Amer­ican political freedom. I t will take a strong power to dislodge them. Only labor has that power. Up till now it has hardly used it in the defense of civil liberties. I t is time it took on this task.

A n Auto W orker’s Views on Automation[W e are re p r in tin g in fu l l a le tte r

from an auto w o rke r to the Chi cago D a ily News, June 23, the ed ito r’s note, and a com m ent by Howard M ayhew in beha lf o f the Chicago Branch o f the Socia lis t W orkers P a rty . M ayhew ’s con­tr ib u tio n to the discussion was published in Chicago and d is tr ib u t­ed to auto w orkers there. — Ed.]

To the E d ito r Chicago D a ily N ew s:

I ’v,e been read ing a lo t o f statem ents and a rtic les about “ au tom ation” and w h a t a b ig, bad bogeyman i t is. R ea lly no th ­in g to g e t excited about. A f te r a ll, “ au tom ation” in our m odern- day fac to ries s im p ly replaces hu­man ju dg m en t w ith mechanical judgm ent.

B u t I ’ve w a ited in va in fo r somebody to speak up who re a l­ly knows about “ au tom ation” and w h a t I t does to the people in the p lan t. I ’m here to say th a t “ au tom ation” IS a m odern- day ogre, sw a llow ing up jobs by the hundreds— rep lac ing w orkers w ith machines.

I know a ll the argum ents fa ­vo rin g “ autom ation .” A f te r a ll, we can’t stand in the w ay o f progress, can we? B u t the a r ­gum ent th a t “ au tom ation” w ill create jobs is one th a t I can’t buy.

In m y departm ent in the p lan t where I w o rk , we used to have 100 women m ak ing genera tor straps fo r diesel locomotives. These g ir ls operated punch presses, annealing ovens and hand-taped coils fo r the genera­tors.

These 100 women are no long-

er w ith us. They have a ll been la id o ff.

* * *

In th e ir place, there is a m a­chine— 50 fee t long, does eve ry­th in g b u t eat o u t o f you r lunch pa il. In operation, i t makes many strange n o is e s .lt is known as a “ generator s trap swedging and annealing line .” M y jo b is to set up and keep th is machine runn ing.

I m ig h t add, I am no t g e ttin g any moge money f o r runn ing th is machine than I did before the g ir ls le ft.

“ A u to m a tio n ” i t ’s w onderfu l. W hy, they have fac to ries today th a t tu rn out com plex mechan­isms th a t have never been touched by human hands.

The U A W -O IO has achieved a trem endous v ic to ry in its G AW em ploym ent p lan w ith Ford and General M otors, even though the people who have a l­ready lo s t th e ir jobs due to “ au tom ation” m ay no t th in k so.

In m y op in ion, the re is no question th a t “ au tom ation” is here to s tay.

B u t are we? Tom W ald ron

M elrose P ark

Mayhew's CommentTom W aldron, a w o rke r w ith

a f ir s t hand experience w ith au tom ation in General M o to r’s g ia n t locom otive p la n t poses a question th a t faces us a ll in his le tte r published in the Chicago D a ily News. H av ing p u t the ex­am ple before us o f an au tom atic machine d isp lac ing 100. employes in a sing le departm ent, W ald ron says he “ cannot buy the a rg u ­ment th a t au tom ation w i l l create jobs.” He concludes w ith the

H O W A R D M A Y H E W

tho ugh t-p rovo k ing question— “ In m y opin ion, the re is no question th a t au tom ation is here to stay. But arc w e?”

Yes, au tom ation is here to stay. E ssen tia lly a u t o m a t i c machines are labo r saving de­vices. The h is to ry o f the advance o f c iv iliz a tio n is the h is to ry o f the economy o f tim e needed fo r the production o f socia lly neces­sary goods and services. Unless one holds th a t there is v ir tu e in w o rk fo r the sake o f w ork i t is plear th a t our problem is not in the m achine its e lf, b u t some­where else. B ut, as W ald ron asks, are “ We here to s ta y ? ” W ha t w i l l au tom ation mean to the w orkers in the p lants, and, we should add, w h a t is to be done about it?

The wage w orkers in th e ir mass cons titu te the dom inant

section o f the en tire population. T here fore the problem o f au to­m ation involves the fu tu re o f the coun try as a whole. The key to the answer com es, down in the fina l analysis to th is — who owns the machines? I f the machines continue to be p r iv a te ­ly owned the answer^ must in ­ev ita b ly be increasing unem ploy­ment.

W hy m ust th is be true? The p riva te owners o f the machines are captives o f th e ir own sys­tem , helpless to do a n y th in g about i t i f they wanted to. W ith p riva te p ro fit as God, the owner in s ta lls the au tom atic machine to increase his p ro fit. B u t c lear­ly , i t is no t the expensive m a­chine b u t the e lim in a tio n o f the wage w orkers, that, the machine makes possible, th a t increases his p ro fits . A n y in d iv idua l cap­ita l is t who has scruples about d isp lac ing w orkers w ith machines •—o r who can’t a ffo rd th e ir high price — s im p ly fa ils in the com­pe titio n o r is forced to merge. The h is to r ic trend o f the accu­m u la tion o f g re a te r and g re a te r w ea lth in to the hands o f few er and few er people on the one hand, and the increase o f the in secu rity and m isery o f the mass o f the people on the other, continues.

W h a t then is to be done about i t ? Since the w orkers do the producing — yes even produce the au tom atic machines which the bosses use to displace them — w ha t is more reasonable than to d is tr ib u te th a t p roduction as i t is needed in the in te res ts o f the en tire popu lation. U nder a system o f production fo r use in ­stead o f p ro fit the more we p ro ­duced the more we w ould have

and the c a p ita lis t incentives fo r unem ploym ent and the c a p ita lis t p ro fit drives fo r m arke ts (wh ich lead to w a r) would be e lim in a t­ed.

Because the wage w orkers and w o rk in g fa rm e rs constitu te the overw helm ing m a jo r ity in th is coun try we have every r ig h t to see to i t th a t laws are passed to prevent the corpora tion owners fro m using th e ir economic pow­er to pe rve rt au tom ation in to an in s tru m e n t to th ro w w orkers out o f em ploym ent, as they do to ­day.

T h is o f course means th a t labor m ust exercise its indepen­dent p o lit ic a l power.

We are fa s t approaching a crossroads in h is to ry . O nly the organized p o litica l u n ity o f the w o rk in g class can p ro te c t c iv i l­iza tion by tu rn in g the “ ogre” o f au tom ation (as Tom W a ld ron characterizes i t ) in to a mechan­ism fo r abundance fo r a ll.

How can th is be done? The f irs t step would be fo r the un ­ions to th ro w o f f the yoke o f subservience to the c a p ita lis t Dem ocratic and Republican p a r­ties. They would do th is by o r­gan iz ing th e ir own independent Labor P a rty . Then fo r the f irs t tim e the m a jo r ity o f the people in th is cou n try who w o rk fo r wages would have th e ir own representa tion in governm ent.

The choice fo r us the re fo re is — C a p ita lis t au tom ation w ith its unem ploym ent and w ar o r socia l­is t au tom ation w ith abundance and peace.

H ow ard M ayhew, fo r the Chicago Branch o f the Socia list W orkers P a rty 777 W . Adam s S treet, Chicago, I llin o is

. . . Martial Law Declared in Chile

Thanks for NothingThe Republican National Committee

claims a record for the Eisenhower ad­ministration for the increase in the num­ber of women in high public, office. The Republican record, they say, serves to “ highlight the thirty-five years of woman suffrage.”

There are 17 women in the U.S. Con­gress, 308 women in State Legislatures, about 50 women mayors, 150 in judicial posts, four of them working as federal judges.

The Democrats also like to crow about the room they have made for women in public life. Governor Harriman, a few months ago, even went so fa r as to sug­gest that women in the Democratic Party should “ rebel” against the domination of important party committees by the men.

In a bid for the women’s vote and in order to get willing campaign workers, the capitalist politicians open the door a wee

• bit and allow a few women to get public jobs. Then they pat themselves on the back for their liberal ideas on equality.

I f they are such great champions of women’s rights, why don’t they put their money where their mouth is? Why have both Democratic and Republican parties failed to pass legislation to give women equal pay for equal work?

This kind of equality would cost the capitalists millions of dollars in the United

States. Words are cheap. But real equality is much too expensive for the boss parties.

When there are not enough men around to figh t the wars and produce for wars, the capitalists are happy to discover that women can do a “ man’s job.” But when production is curtailed, they say, “ a woman’s place is in the home.”

The capitalist parties do nothing for the women who work for wages. They do even less to ease the burden of the working class housewife. Sylvia Porter, N. Y. Post columnist, after noting the mass produc­tion technique of office cleaning, asked the question: “ Is it ridiculous to suggest clean­ing of homes might be placed on that basis too?” And further: “ Is i t nonsense to sug­gest the concept of the community nursery could be vastly developed and extended?”

These suggestions, and many more ideas that would ease the life of working class women, are “ ridiculous” only i f one asks the capitalist rulers to hand them to us. Mass handling of laundry, for example, is already quite common. Yet millions of housewives still have to do the family wash by hand.

The women who have begun to think about politics in the last ten years, will do some thinking of their own. To Eisen hower and the Democrats they will say “ Thanks for nothing.” Then they will join the labor movement to figh t for real equality for all women.

(Continued from page 1)•system throughout, the coun try went in to the streets to voice th e ir demands fo r th e n ig h t o f asylum fo r Peruvian students who had been expelled from A rgen tina as suspected “ com­m un ists .” The students demanded the expuls ion o f those Chilean governm ent o ffic ia ls who were responsible fo r denying th is t ra d i­tiona l dem ocratic guarantee.

The m ilita n c y o f the s tr ik e wave can. be seen in th e fa c t tha t, fo r the first, tim e in C h ile ’s h is ­to ry the tactic o f the sit-down s tr ike was used. Tw elve thousand leather workers occupied more than 160 factories. U n ion bureau­crats ended the sit-dow n s tr ik e a fte r promises o f a rb itra tio n . But the bold assault on the “ sacred” r ig h t o f p riva te p rope rty by the men and women o f the leather in d u s try s tirred the w o rk ing class throughout Chile.

1916 G E N E R A L S T R IK EThe cu rre n t mass upsurge o f tihe

w orkers is rem in iscent o f tihe 1946 general s tr ik e th a t b rough t to a s ta n d s till a ll in d u s tr ia l and com m ercial a c tiv ity . The s tru g ­gles o f th a t yea r g rew ou t o f gov­ernm ent a ttem p ts to destroy the unions o f 12,000 s tr ik in g n itra te worker's. The general s tr ik e fo l­lowed the police m urde r o f seven w orkers and the w ounding o f more than a hundred others who were dem onstra ting in support of the n itra te union.

The present cris is th a t is sweep­in g Chile is a resu lt, f ir s t o f a ll, o f the d isastrous in fla t io n th a t has s tead ily grown worse. A t the end o f 1954 Chile was s u ffe rin g the w o rs t in fla t io n in the w orld . O nly South Korea casne dose to the in fla t io n th a t has im poverish­ed the people o f Chile.

The cost o f liv in g increased last year by 78%. D u ring the f irs t s ix m onths o f th is year the peso dropped another 84% in value.

W A L L S T R E E T ’S RO LEThe economic d ifficu ltie s in

Chile, as in a ll o f L a t jn A m erica, are p r im a r ily to be la id a t the doorstep o f W a ll S treet. B ig B us i­ness in the U n ited States gets 40% o f a ll its fo re ig n inves t­m ent p ro fits in L a tin A m erica . As a m a tte r o f fac t, the U.S. takes annua lly a t least $1821^ m illio n more ou t o f L a tin A m erica than i t puts in to th is pant o f the W estern Hem isphere in the fo rm o f cap ita l.

T h is huge d ra in on the w ea lth in South A m erica is p a rtic u la r ly true o f Chile. The 'two p rinc ip a l export com m odities o f th is coun­t r y — n itra te and copper — are p r im a r ily under the dom ination o f U.S. cap ita l.

W a ll S tree t’s greed fo r super­p ro fits fro m the labo r o f the w orkers o f Chile is insatiable . T h is year ex tra o rd in a ry pressure was b ro ug h t to bear- on the Chilean governm ent by U.S. in ­terests to g ra n t b igg e r and be tte r concessions to fo re ig n cap ita l.

The A ng lo - Lau ta ro N itra te Company, co n tro llin g in te res t of which is owned by U.S. im p e ria l­ists, produces 65% o f a il Chilean n itra te . T h is company has been de laying a $25 m illio n program fo r necessary new m achinery and m odern ization in an a tte m p t to force m a jo r concessions fro m the Chilean governm ent. The com­pany's demands include a lte ra tio n o f exchange ra tes in fa v o r o f the

do lla r, la rg e r “ deprecia tion o f ca p ita l” allowances and untaxed

reasonable p ro fits .”A n agreem ent a long these lines

was signed by Ibanez w ith com­pany o ffic ia ls last December. But so fa r popu lar resistance to th is cap itu la tion to Yankee im p e ria l­ism has prevented the agreement from becoming law .

U.S. cap ita l also dominates the even more im portant, copper in ­d u s try o f Chile. The Anaconda Copper M in in g Com pany, one o f the B ig Three in the U jS. copper business, owns rich enough mines to la s t a cen tury even i f produc­tion were increased considerably. The Braden Copper Company

... STEELSETTLEMENT

owns the fam ous “ m ounta in o f copper” south o f Santiago.

U.S. copper in te rests in C h ile succeeded in F eb ru a ry in fo rc in g the governm ent to revise the cop­p e r law to the advantage o f the U.S. copper kings.

Above a ll the U.S. in te rests w ant to crush the m il ita n t labo r movem ent o f Chile. They would like to p u t a m il ita ry d ic ta to r­sh ip in power as they have done in so m any o ther L a tin Am erican countries.

The w o rk in g class o f Chile, however, is one o f the most m il i ­tan t and pow erfu l in South A m e r­ica. I t w ill no t be easily crushed by its enemies.

(Continued from page 1)period in 1954. I t did th is , m ore­over, w ith a p a y ro ll th a t was $3 m illio n sm a lle r than in 1954. T h is increase in production by almost a h a lf-m illio n tons w ith a w o rk force reduced by over 25,000 men shows the tremendous increase in stee lw orkers’ p ro d u c tiv ity and the beginning o f au tom ation.

P R O FITS PER W O R K E RThe p ro fits o f U.S. Steel fo r

the f irs t qu a rte r o f .1955 w e n t up 62% to S72,652,000 a f te r taxes. Steel un ion economists estim ated th a t the com pany made a net p ro fit o f 54c. on each ho u r o f w o rk done by each employe. Based on p ro fits before taxes, the figu re comes to a p ro fit o f $1.09 on each hour o f w o rk . These figures are, o f course, much low er tha n the re a lity . They are based on the company’s own published figures which are c a re fu lly doctored to m in im ize the p ro fit p ic tu re .

A ccord ing to the OIO econo­m ists, U.S. Steel could have given a 30c. an ho u r wage increase and, w ith o u t ra is in g the price o f steel, its net p ro fits fo r 1955 would s t i l l liave been h igh e r than fo r any year since 1916.

Despite the un ion ’s position o f s treng th McDonald, did no t know ju s t What to ask fo r . He w ent in to nego tia tions ask ing a ' ‘sub­s ta n tia l” increase b u t no t nam ing a figu re. There was no h in t o f ask ing fo r the 30-hour week. In ­deed, he feared th a t expectations m ig h t ge t ou t o f bounds and warned the un ion aga ins t ' 'u n ­reasonable” demands th is year, adm onishing th a t the “ m a jo r goals” o f 1956 m ust be k e p t in m ind.

W hen R euther signed the Ford con tract fo r an estim ated 20c. an hour ( in c lud in g 5c. supplem entary unem ploym ent bene fit), McDonald knew where to set h is figure. Th is was baised on tw o fac to rs . M c­Donald’s r iv a lry w ith R euther (they head the tw o b iggest C IO unions) fo r power and prestige in the abou t to be m erged A P L - C IO ; secondly, pro tection o f his own positaon in the stee lworkers. Never a popu la r leader, he has been much c ritic ized fo r h is unabashed a rm -in -a rm tou rs o f steel p lan ts w ith the steel barons. F u rth e r, has a ttem p t to p u t an office stooge in to the un ion ’s Vice-Presidency has been challenged by a sizeable m in o r ity o f the executive board. An election fig h t in the un ion w ill soon reach a c lim ax.

F o r these reasons McDonald had to get a respectable settle m ent. T a k in g the U A W -F o rd 20c.

se ttlem ent as a ya rds tick , M c­Donald aimed fo r 21c. (one cent m ore than R euthe r). A ltho ug h he is now quoted as saying th a t next year the steel union w il l go a fte r

an honfcst-to-God” Guaranteed A nnua l W age, he o ffe red to take the 21c. in the fo rm o f a 16c. an hour wage boost, a 5c. an hour G A W (R euther’ s fo rm u la ) and a three year con tract. The steel corporations, however, tu rned th is down and insisted the ta lk s be confined to the wage re-opening clause and no t con tract changes.

Even so the steel settlem ent compares favo ra b ly w ith the aulbo settlem ents. As M cDonald;s boost­ers are a lready p o in tin g out, i t means “ double the money in the pay envelope” o f the auto increase. A lso, the un ion ’s hands are le f t un tied fo r a new con tract f ig h t a year fro m now. The settlem ent m i l p robab ly bo ls te r M cDonald’s pos ition in h is own un ion and in the m erged A F L -C IO .

U N E M P L O Y M E N T PR O B LE MIn any event the unem ploy­

m ent problem w il l c o n fro n t the steal leadership more and more. Even under the present boom conditions the union has 156,000 unemployed. M ost o f these are in fa b rica tin g , b u t U.S. Steel is now producing m ore w ith less w o rk ­ers. The already undertaken ,build- in g o f new p lan ts w ill speed the au tom ating o f steel w orkers ou t o f jobs. La s t year, when produc­tion was down, there were over 200,000 unemployed steel w orkers and m any more thousands were w o rk in g on ly p a r t tim e. The on ly answer to th is deadly problem is the 30-hour week a t 40-hours pay.

Lest anyone feel so rry fo r the steel corporations, i t should be noted th a t they fee l qu ite happy. They know th a t they have got o f f cheaply. M oreover, the y took the occasion o f the wage se ttle ­m ent to boost steel prices a w hop­p ing $7.50 a ton. T h is no t on ly passes on a ll o f the wage increase to the consum er b u t .it gouges ou t a b ig new chunk o f p ro fits fo r the steel corporations.

The $7.50 increase caused even the New Y o rk T im es (J u ly 2) to arch its eyebrows and re p o rt “ The size o f the increase came as a surp rise to in d u s try experts who had forecast a m axim um rise o f S6.00 a ton .”

A One-Year Subscription to TH E M IL IT A N T

Only $3116 University PI.. N . Y . 3, N . Y.

M E X IC A N W O M E N V O TE Dfo r the f i r s t tim e in a general na tiona l election on J u ly 3. New members o f the lo w e r house o f M exico’s Congress were elected. T w en ty o f the candidates seek­in g o ffic e were women.

* * *

O VER O N E H U N D R E D M EN A N D W O M E N W E R E A R R E S T ­E D in Saigon, V ie tnam , fo r dem onstra ting in fa v o r o f elec­tions to un ite N o rth and South Indochina. E lections fo r a ll In - do-China in 1956 w ere agreed upon in the truce reached a t Geneva la s t year. One reason the U . S. puppet reg im e o f Ngo D iem in South V ie tnam is opposed to l iv in g up to the term s o f the truce is because there are e igh t m illio n more V ietnam ese in the N o rth than in the South.

* * *

T H R E E T H O U S A N D PE O P LE IN A L G E R IA were ja ile d d u r­in g the f i r s t week-end in J u ly on suspicion o f g iv in g aid to the s tru g g le fo r the independence o f A lg e ria . . * * *

M IN E W O R K E R S IN S P A IN,sent an open le tte r to the M in ­ers’ In te rn a tio n a l F edera tion p ro ­te s tin g the fa c t th a t an observer delegate o f the Franco G overn­m ent was adm itted to the In ­te rna tion a l Labo r Conference held in Geneva recently . P o in t­ing out th a t the Spanish people had hoped th a t the v ic to ry aga ins t the fa sc is t powers in the Second W o rld W a r would b r in g lib e ra tio n to .Spain, thep iine rs said, “ Since then the Spanish people has fe lt its e lf more and m ore betrayed by a d is lo y a lty whose cu lm ina ting p o in t was the in fam ous pact be­tween Franco and the US A . Even Soviet Russia has ‘fo r ­go tten ’ to se ttle accounts w ith the (F ranco ) B lue D iv is ion .”

* * *

B R A Z IL IA N DOCK W O R K ­ERS in the coffee p o rt o f San­tos, B ra z il, w en t on s tr ik e Ju ly 1 to sup o rt un ion demands fo r a 30% wage increase. Three

^thousand w orkers began th e irs tr ik e a f te r , re je c tin g . a 25% o ffe r.

* * *

B E L G IA N DOCK W O R KERSentered th e ir second week o f s tr ik e on J u ly 3 when a back to -w o rk movement collapsed. The “ w ild c a t” s tr ike , in vo lv in g 14,-000 longshoremen, began June 27 when a dozen w o rkers were refused unem ploym ent compen sation on the ground th a t they had refused job o ffe rs . M ore than 270 ships have been held up in the ha rbo r o f A n tw e rpslue* th e s tr ik e began.

* * *

IM P E R IA L B A N K O F IN D IA W A S N A T IO N A L IZ E D J u ly 1. The owners o f In d ia ’s la rgest 34-year-o ld ba nk ing in s titu t io n were generously compensated — to the com plete sa tis fac tion o f Ind ian businessmen. Those who bought shares in the Bank fo r the rupee equ iva lent o f $105 w il l ge t $370.65.

* * *

T H E F R E N C H C AM ER O O NS, fo rm e r A fr ic a n colony o f G er­m any, now under U n ited N a ­tions trusteesh ip , has jo ined the tide o f A fr ic a n re v o lt against im p e r ia lis t ru le . The U n ion o f

the Peoples o f Cameroon which has demanded an end to the trusteeship , the election o f a le g is la tive assembly and inde­pendence, called its members ou t on s tr ik e aga inst a ll European employers. The French are ac­cused o f m assacring 5,000 A f r i ­cans and b u rn in g the A fr ic a n section o f the p o rt c ity o f Duala in its e f fo r t to suppress the mass upsurge. These cha rg­es are now being investiga ted by the U N Trusteeship Commis­sion.

* * *P E R O N ’S C O N G R E S S IN

A R G E N T IN A passed reso lu tions on June 30 in honor o f the In ­dependence D ay o f Canada and the P h ilip p ine Islands. I t fa ile d to honor J u ly 4, the Indepen­dence Day o f the U n ite d States. T h is om ission was considered due to the fa c t th a t the U n ited States is w ide ly regarded as responsible fo r the June 16 na­val o ffice rs re v o lt aga inst the Peron governm ent.

* * *

TW O A T T A C K S O N T H E C H I N E S E M A IN L A N D byOhliang’s na tio n a lis t “ commandos” in recent weeks were repulsed by the Chinese a rm y, according to reports fro m Peking. A to ta l o f ten n a tio n a lis t ra ids on the F uk ien coast o f China were re ­ported since December o f la s t year.

* * *

T H E B R IT IS H DOCK S T R IK E E N D E D Ju ly 4 when w orkers inthe no rthern po rts voted toresume w o rk . London dockers voted tw o weeks ago to re tu rn on ly when the no rth e rn po rts agreed to do so. The six-w eek s tr ik e le f t the basic issue o f ba rga in ing representation fo r the N a tion a l Am algam ated Steve­dores and Dockers U n ion un­s o lv e d . B u t the s tr ike rs in the

no rthern po rts , in vo tin g to re tu rn , ins is ted th a t rec ru its be re ta ined by th e ir union and the fig h t fo r recogn ition continued.

* * *

B R IT IS H BO M BED T R IB A L V IL L A G E S in the Aden P rotec­to ra te Area o f A rab ia . The Royal B r it is h A ir Force canned ou t the bom bing. The Colon ia l o ffice claim ed th a t tribesm en k ille d a c iv ilia n and three governm ent guards.

* * *

B R IT IS H C O N S E R V A T IV E Sare casting lo ng ing eyes overseas a t the T a f t H a rtle y A c t. U s ing the dockers’ and seamen’s s trikes as the .pretext a propaganda cam ­pa ign is be ing launched on the necessity to curb s trikes . The Econom ist, voice o f B r i t i s h cap ita l, advocates measures th a t; would p reven t s trikes unless a ll o ther avenues were exhausted and the w orkers had taken a secret ba llo t. O thers recommend se ttin g up “ im p a rt ia l tr ib u n a ls ” to deal w ith s trikes.

* * *

R E FU G E E S fro m N o rth V ie t­nam are dem anding repa.tria tion in increas ing numbers. On June 18 a dem onstra tion o f m any hun­dreds invaded the cou rtya rd o f the In te rn a tio n a l A rm is tice Con­tro l Commission dec la ring they would no t move u n t il the y were sent home. A l is t o f 1,000 names was presented fo r im m edia te rep a tria tio n .

The Negro Struggle----------------------------- By John Thayer ----------------------------

New Developments in 'Little Scottsboro' CaseLast week this column told the story of

the brutal, unprovoked beating of a 16- year old Negro youth by a Georgia state trooper. The victim was William H. Owens of Kentucky. He had taken a job driving the family of an elderly white barber from Kentucky to Florida. The state cop was in­censed at the sight of two white women sitting in the front of the car with the Negro youth.

He stopped the car, beat and choked Owens, h it him over the head with hand­cuffs, ordered the protesting family away, “ because I don’t want any witnesses,” and finally took Owens off to jail.

Here are the subsequent developments in this case of police brutality. Ted Poston, reporter of the New York Post, telephoned Chief of the Georgia State Police, Colonel W. C. Dominy, to inquire about the case.Dcminy said: “ That n -------r is quitefortunate that he ain’t down here now. Infact the n -------r is very lucky to beliving. He was most discourteous and rude to the trooper. And i t ’s a wonder he vtfasn’t shot. Of course he (Trooper J. W. South- well) h it him over the head with his hand­cuffs — but only once. He had to bump him over the head with something in order to bring him to his senses.”

The four members of the Mattingly family, who begged the cop to stop his terrible beating of Owens, state that the youth offered no resistance, only plead­ing for mercy.

Then the Chief of Georgia’s State Police declared that he had thoroughly in­vestigated the case, that it was completely-

closed and that, “ I tfiink the officer is to be praised for exercising such restraint. Southwell had an accident about a year or so ago, and he had no business fighting upand down the road with a n ------- r.Any other officer would have shot him and had i t over with. I still say the n ------ r ’s lucky.”

The National Association for the Ad­vancement of Colored People on July 1 demanded that the U.S. Justice Depart­ment investigate the case of young Owens.

In Georgia the State Conference of NAACP branches also demanded that Governor G riffin investigate the beating of Owens. Apparently because of indigna­tion over the case in New York and else­where, Gov. Griffin, an avowed enemy of the NAACP, fe lt it necessary to reply. He said he was ordering an investigation. The investigator would be no other than Colonel W. C. Dominy, Chief of the Georgia State ^Police, who has been qouted extensively at the beginning of this article.

I t is apparent to all what kind of an “ investigation” Dominy will make. What isn’t as apparent, because here we are deal­ing with slicker customers, is the kind of investigation the Department of Justice will make, i f i t investigates at all. This outfit, with its FBI and crime laboratories, is a bunch of real eager beavers when it comes to witch hunting — if they can’t find witnesses they’ll produce a Harvey Matusow or Paul Crouch. But when it comes to investigating white-supremacist violations of Negroes’ civil rights their heart just isn’t in it.

The Woes of Profiteering----------------------------------- By Robert Chester -----------------------------------

Every employer, from the individual to the giant corporation, believes he is enti­tled to a “ fa ir pro fit” under this system of “ free enterprise.” By this he means he is entitled to all he can get. But in the realm of war contracts where does “ fa ir profit” end and profiteering begin? This question is causing dispute in Washington.

Under Roosevelt’s “equality of sacrifice” program during World War II, cost-plus contracts generally provided fo r an aver­age profit of 12%. This same figure was also the basis for the now defunct Excess Profits Law-, which began its calculation of profits by exempting 12% of capital in­vestment from the tax.

Roosevelt began his program by demand­ing that workers give up their overtime pay and work six or seven days a week at ten hours a day. But when a corporation made a huge profit on its war contract a representative of the Government Renego­tiations Board sat down amicably with a corporation executive and worked out the size of the rebate. This pleasant procedure, of course, did not prevent the growth of a new crop of millionaires. By this method only $11 billions were returned to the gov­ernment out of the hundreds of billions raked in by wartime contracts.

A fter the war a clamor was raised to “ free the hands of business.” The Renego­tiations Act was terminated. But with the Korean “ police action” came another flood of fat war contracts.

Another Renegotiations Act was passed, this time with a number of “ exemptions” for the suffering corporations. As a result only $355 million out of the tens of billions paid out have been refunded.

With the end of 1954 this Act died al­though war orders continue at the same high levels. When a move was begun in the House Ways and Means Committee to rein­

stitute a Renegotiations Act howls of anguish and threats were heard.

In the course of the House Committee’s hearings Theron J. Rice, of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, fla tly stated that the corporations “ have little interest in selling to the government” i f their con­tracts were to be renegotiated. Ross Nichols of the National Association of Manufacturers claimed that renegotiation would provide no incentive to cut costs on war contracts. In other words they threatened, “ We want more profits or we won’t play.”

The Wall Street Journal, however, ad­monished these crass spokesmen and pointed out that the Act was a corpora­tion’s best defense against charges of profiteering. The secret of this “ restrain­ed” and “ sober” view of the Journal is that they are speaking for the Big Boys at the summit. Unlike some of the smaller fry, (millionaires instead of billionaires) they are not interested in public brawls with the government about their profits. They have more effective ways of arrang­ing such matters. A fter all, who runs the government anyhow. A quiet chat with Chaylie Wilson over at the Defense De­partment; a few words with this or that billionaire in the cabinet and matters can be ironed out.

For smaller corporations on the make, however, these “ smooth” techniques are not feasible. They must use every means of pressure and when called, to account, then scream about their rights under “ free enterprise.”

There is one way of putting a stop tc these conflicts between the government and Big Business, and among different sections of Big Business itself. Nationalize tne war industries under workers’ con­trol ! Then they’ll all scream in one chorus, unitedly. But it won’t do them any good.

A C T IO N F L A R E D U P in the 15-month K oh le r s tr ik e in W isconsin Ju ly 6. One thousand w orkers successfully prevented the company from unload­in g c lay fro m a f re ig h te r in th e dock area of Sheboygan, W isconsin. Ln addition the p ro pe rty o f several scabs in. the area was damaged. M ayor P loetz announced to the crowd a t the dock th a t S h e r if f Moscth had taken over law enforcem ent in the c ity . The N L R B w il l hear the un ion ’s charges o f u n fa ir labo r practices by the K oh le r Co. on J u ly 20.

* * *

W H E N A FA C TO R Y O W N E R is convicted o f s e ttin g fire to h is own p lan t, th a t ’s news. Ray V. Canitre ll, owner o f a .pajama fa c to ry in Bessemer, A labam a, accused tire w orkers p icke tin g his p la n t o f arson b|uf a ju r y found h im g u ilty instead. A t the tim e o f the fire C antre ll was f i l l in g orders fo ra p lan t in M iam i closed by a s trike .

* * *

A NEG RO V E T E R A N , H a ro ld M ille r, convicted and g iven a li fe sentence on tflie charge o f rape, has the backing o f the IUionods Am erican C iv il L ibe rties Union in his appeal. He was accused by a woman, s u ffe r in g fro m schizophrenia w ithdelusions and ha lluc inations.

* * «A S HO RTER W’ORK W E E K and a guaranteed

annual wage are demands recommended by the Glass B o ttle B lowers Association. Lee W . M in ton. P resident o f th is old, established, c ra f t union, gave these demands as the necessary answer to autom ation. ‘ ‘E ve ry th in g ^w ill be au tom atic except a new job fo r the union* people who w il l be d is ­placed,” he commented.

* * *

A W A R E , IN C ., the se lf-appoin ted censor to “ com bat the Com m unist consp irarcy in .the en ter­ta in m en t w o rld ,” was round ly condemned by a

two-to-orie vote o f the A m erican Federation o f Televis ion and Radio A r t is ts . The reso lu tion o f condemnation charged A W A R E w ith us ing “ the now fa m il ia r smear methods o f in te rfe rence and innuendo fro m alleged ‘pub lic records’ .”

* » *N E B R A S K A ’S “ R IG H T TO W O R K ” B IL L

p ro h ib it in g union shop agreem ents was upheld in, the state Supreme C o u rt when i t ru led th a t the Federal R a ilw ay Labor A c t, which perm its the un ion shop, was now superseded. In th is ru lin g State slave labo r law s take precedence over federa l law . The unions a re appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

i * * *

T H E CIO W O M E N ’S L E A G U E o f New Jersey held its f ir s t cons titu tiona l convention. A to ta l of 150 women, representing seven OIO unions to which they o r th e ir husbands belong, set them ­selves a rounded p rogram o f po litica l ac tion and com m unity service. They also have a program o f s tr ik e service which includes a c tiv itie s such as telephone con tact w ork, co llec ting food fo r s tr ik ­ers’ fam ilies , and m arch ing the p icke t lines.

* * *

C U R R E N T S M IT H A C T V IC T IM S now to ta l 115. They include 17 s t i l l in ja i l , 57 a w a itin g A p ­peals C ourt decisions, 33 a w a itin g t r ia l under the “ force knd vio lence” clause o f the Act. Tw o have been convicted and s ix are a w a itin g t r ia l on “ membership in the C om m unist P a r ty ” ru ling . Not. included in th is l is t is the la rge num ber under persecution by o th e r w itc h -h u n t laws. A lso not included are those who have served th e ir sentence>- under the S m ith “ Gag’’ A c t and have been deprived o f t l ie ir C iv il r ig h ts , lik e the eighteen S ocia lis t W orkers P a rty and M inneapolis Team sters U n io n leaders who were convicted in the f irs t S m ith A c t t r ia l in 1941.

the MILITANTV O L U M E X IX M O N D A Y , J U L Y I I , 1955 N U M B E R 28

Testifies a t Vaccine Probe

D r. Jonas E. Salk ( r . ) , developer o f the po lio vaccine, chats w ith D r. John R. Paul o f Yale U n ive rs ity before th e ir appearance a t the House commerce subcommittee. D r. Salk to ld com m ittee he doubted vaccine was ha rm fu l in any way as some scientists and governm ent o ffic ia ls have in tim a ted .

Our Readers Take the Floor

Wants Articles On DelinquencyE d ito r:

I en joy read ing the M il ita n t each week. I t has m any able w rite rs who cover both the labor and in te rn a tio n a l scene very tho rough ly .

Now th a t the c a p ita lis t press and its apolog ists are using much space t r y in g to apologize fo r ju ven ile delinquency, p ro ­c la im in g back-to-God movements, etc., as the so lu tion, i t ’s tim e th a t the soc ia lis t and libe ra l press begin d ig g in g up s ta tis tics to prove th a t ju ven ile delinquen­cy is m a lad justm ent due to the breakdown in the economic sys­tem.

I hope to see a rtic les p e rta in ­ing to th is much discussed s itua ­tion in the M il ita n t soon.

A lso, recen tly I read in the .M ilita n t o f the pam phlet, “ How to S po t .a Com m unist.” I im - m ediate ly made app lica tion fo r a copy o f th is brochure. E n ­closed he rew ith is the rep ly fro m the Dept, o f the A rm y , In fo rm a ­tion Section Hq. F irs t A rm y , Governors Is land, New Y ork 4, New Y ork.

As stated above, the M il ita n t has m any able w r ite rs covering very in te llig e n tly the evils p lagu ing our ca p ita lis t society. More pow er to them.

C. M. C.Cleveland, Ohio

[C . M. C. encloses a le tte r fro m a L t. Colonel Yeiser, A s­s is tan t A d ju ta n t General, U. S. A rm y , s ta tin g th a t the pam phlet has been rescinded and th a t no fu r th e r d is tr ib u tio n w ill be made. The a rm y w ith d re w the pam ph­le t a fte r a barrage o f ed ito ria l r id icu le fro m the labor and l ib ­eral press. — E d.]

New NMU Hiring System CriticizedE d ito r:

I would ju s t like to send you these few lines, concerning the new group h ir in g system th a t has been established in the N a ­tio n a l M a ritim e Union by Joe C urran and h is gang. Now th is k ind o f h ir in g system is no good a t a ll. Because, as you can see, th is k ind o f setup would on ly p ro f i t one group — th a t is, on ly those in Group 1. I th in k th a t you w il l agree w ith me, th a t th is is u n fa ir towards the ba l­ance o f seamen th a t happen to be in the un fo rtuna te groups 2, 3 and 4. Because, as fa r as th is group business is concerned, they stand the chance o f maybe never sh ipp ing out. Now I have seen the w o rk in g o f i t in many ports th a t I have been in. I have had ta lks w ith m any sea­men like m yse lf and they don’t like th is k ind o f system a t a ll. I t seems th a t they re a lly w an t to do som eth ing about it . I guess th a t they m ig h t no t know exac tly ju s t w h a t course o f ac­tion to take so th a t they can make the system come back to the ro ta ry sh ipp ing like i t was before.

There fore, I said to m yse lf th a t I would drop you, the peo­ple o f the M ilita n t, a few lines to ou tline i t to you. The recent sh ipp ing system should be abol­ished and we should re tu rn to the ro ta ry sh ipp ing system like i t was before, instead o f having th is ro tten system o f ' group sh ipp ing, w h ich was cooked up by a few b ig b ra ins in the N M U N a tiona l Council M eeting.

And so I now send you the N a tiona l S h ipp ing Rules and also the N M U P ilo t, so tha t you can read J . B. M cD ouga ll’s speech on the W est Coast (Pages

21 to 24). and in disagreem ent w ith h im is the San Francisco m eeting o f M arch 28, 1955.

T here fore I hope th a t you w ill take i t up and en ligh ten a ll those seamen who are awake, and those who are asleep, so th a t they w il l understand the whole t ru th o f th is ro tte n sys­tem , and have i t rescinded once and fo r a ll

J. M.M arcus Hook, Pa.

[W e agree w ith the w r ite r o f the above le tte r th a t the new h ir in g setup in the N M U estab­lished by Joe C urran v io la tes the old dem ocratic ro ta ry sh ipp ing system. T h is is tjie re s u lt o f t ry in g to live w ith the Tafit- H a rtle y law , and represents a m ost serious re tre a t on the pa rt o f the union. The troub le w ith these re trea ts however is tihait the un ion ’s enemies are never satisfied. G ive the devil a finge r and he wants the whole hand.

' In our opin ion there is no way out except th rough a m ilita n t ba ttle to repeal the T a ft-H a rt le y law as w e ll as a ll governm ent a ttem pts to reg im en t seamen — Ed.]

Working In the SouthE d ito r:

T rave ling th rough the South I saw some o f the conditions to which w orkers are subjected. I was In the southern p a rt o f Texas and obtained a job as a laborer. We were pa id 70c an hour fo r d ig g in g ditches fo r a w a te r company. M ost o f the workers were M exican -A m eri- cans. They reported fo r w o rk at 7 A .M . and worked as la te as 6 o r 7 P.M. They had no unions, and o f course, no vacations, paid o r unpa id; and no pro tection in case o f accident o r sickness. In fa c t as one w o rke r p u t i t to me, “ Y ou’ll be lucky i f you have a job when you come back a fte r being sick.”

There was no question of raises. Even the ones who had worked the longest made the same as when they f ir s t started. A lso there was no re tire m en t w ith pay; when you were re ­tire d you were fire d . A nd sen­io r ity m eant on ly th a t you knew m ore and were expected to w o rk harder and fas te r.

T h is wasn’t ju s t an isolated case. Jobs were hard to f in d and the pay was a lw ays ve ry low. One man offe red me a job as a b r ic k la y e r’s he lper fo r 65c an hour. The union jobs pa id a l i t ­t le be tte r. F o r example a union carpen te r made $1.50 to $1.75 an hour.

The w orkers who th in k tha t they can ge t a long w ith o u t unions, o r who th in k th a t unions are no good, should take a l i t t le t r ip to some o f these Southern states and f in d a job. They ’ll soon see w hy m ore and more shops are run n ing down there. They have a near-perfect set up fo r super-exp lo ita tion .

B u t the recent s trikes in the South show th a t the w o rkers are beg inn ing to f ig h t back against th is exp lo ita tion . We union w orkers up N o rth should do a ll we can to help our s is te r and b ro th e r w orkers in the South to organ ize and get some decent l iv in g wages and w o rk in g condi­tions.

J. M.New Y o rk C ity

F o r on ly $1.25 you can get a one-year subscrip tion to the M a rx is t q u a rte rly , F ou rth In ­te rna tiona l, 116 U n iv e rs ity PL, New Y o rk S, N . Y .

New "G et Bridges" Trial Opens in San Francisco

By Roy GaleSAN FRANC ISC O , June 30 —

The Governm ent, on June 20, opened . its . c iv il su it to s tr ip H a rry Bridges o f his c itizensh ip. They charge th a t B ridges lied in 1945 when he denied membership in the Com m unist P a rty to get his c itizensh ip papers. The Gov­ernm ent is out to prove tw o th ings — th a t the Com m unist P a rty seeks to ove rth row the Gov­ernm ent by force and violence and tha t H a rry Bridges was a member o f the P a rty before he received his c itizensh ip papers.

The G overnm ent’s f irs t w itness was John Lauitner, an avowed ex- com m unist, who gave testim ony designed to prove the Com m unist Painty seeks to o ve rth row the Governm ent by force and violence. He is one in the stable o f “ pro fes­sional experts on Com m unism ” which the G overnm ent keeps on hand fo r these tr ia ls . He gets paid $25 a day and said he aver­ages $125 pe r week.,

BR ID G E S ’ T E S T IM O N YThen, in a surprise move, the

Governm ent called H a rry Bridges as an adverse w itness. Bridges was forced to take the stand in sp ite o f v igorous pro tests by defense attorneys. The ,prosecutor, Lynn J. GiMard, then asked the fo llo w in g questions:

“ W ere you ever a member o f the Com m unist P a r ty ? ”

“ Nope,” rep lied Bridges.“ W ere you ever a member o f

an organ iza tion that, advocated the ove rth row o f the Governm ent by force and v io lence?”

“ N o.”“ W ere you ever a m em ber o f a

faction^p f the Com m unist P a r ty ? ”“ M eaning w h a t? ”G illa rd then explained th a t a

fac tion was a group o f Communist P a rty members who belong to an­o ther o rgan iza tion , a trade Union fo r exam ple, and meet to decide on p a rty s tra tegy w ith in the o r ­ganization .

Bridges said he had never been a member o f a faction .

“ W ere you ever issued a .mem­bership book in the Com m unist P a rty , M r. B rid ge s? ” G illa rd con­tinued.

“ Nope," rep lied Bridges.“ D id you ever pay dues to the

Com m unist P a r ty ? ”“ No.”“ Were you ever elected to any

p o s i t i o n in the Com m unist P a r ty ? ”

“ N o t th a t I reca ll.”“ W ere you ever appointed to

any such p o s it io n ? "“ N o t th a t I know o f.”G illa rd then re fe rred to te s ti­

mony B ridges had given a t p re v i­ous tr ia ls in an a tte m p t to t r ip h im up. B ridges expla ined th a t: “ We are dealing here w ith 20 years, a couple o f m illio n words and whole books fu l l o f testim ony. W hat I said before is a m a tte r o f record.”

F o llow ing Bridges on the stand were a long s tr in g o f Governm ent witnesses whpse memories, like fine wine, seemed to im prove w ith a g e . F o r -instance John H. Schomaker remembered deta ils o f a conversation held in 1933 in a restau ran t on low er M arke t S treet. He recalled a long conversation w ith Bridges and Bruce B. Jones about what name Bridges should use as a P a rty member. They f in a lly agreed on “ D organ.” Schomaker then le ft the restau­ran t fo r “ 10 or 15 m inutes.” Upon his re tu rn he saw an ap­p lica tion card w ith H a rry B ridges’ name on one side and H a rry Dorgan on the other. A ra th e r rem arkab le fe a t o f m em ory fo r de ta ils over 22 years old.

M O RE M E M O R Y W IZ A R D S- A no the r man w ith a long m em ory was one D avid L. Saunders, a seaman who was screened fro m the w a te r fro n t b.y the Coast Guard, bu t was Cleared a fte r he testified fo r the G overn­m ent in the Los Angeles S m ith A c t T r ia l. Saunders m em ory on ly took h im back to 1936, a mere 19 years. He to ld o f a m eeting held in the M ission D is tr ic t o f Sian Francisco where B ridges was in ­troduced as a speaker. T h is tim e Bridges turned up as “ Comrade Rossi.”

Bruce Hannon, a fo rm er long ­shore o ffic ia l who had testified fo r B ridges in the 1939 deporta­tion hearing before Dean James M. Landis turned up as a Gov­ernm ent w itness th is tim e. Han­non recalled a 1938 m ee ting w ith Bridges, W illia m Z. Foster, then N a tiona l Chairm an o f the Com­m un is t P a rty , Jack Staehel, W il­liam Lam bert, Louis Goldblabt, S ecre tary-T reasurer o f the IL W U , and John Schomaker.

The reason fo r the m eeting, Hlannon recalled, was to se ttle a warehouse s tr ike in vo lv in g 75 workers. I t was feared th a t the s trike , by bann ing “ ho t cargo,” would tie up the w a te rfro n t. H an­non m ainta ined th a t on ly the

d isc ip line o f the P a rty could p reva il on the warehouse leader­ship to settle the s tr ike . He claimed th a t Bridges wanted the s tr ik e settled fo r fe a r th a t i t would jeopardize the P a r ty ’s ho ld on the w a te rfro n t.

I t was b rough t out in cross exam ination by R ichard G ladstein, one o f B ridges’ a tto rneys, th a t Hannon had ta lked to the Im ­m ig ra tion and N a tu ra liza tio n o f­fic ia ls about? estab lish ing de fin ite p roof o f his c itizensh ip . Hannon was born in Canada.

N e a rly a l l the G overnm ent witnesses were “p ro fessiona ls” o r owed the Governm ent some fa vo r.

STO P-W O RK M E E T IN GIn con trast to the s tr in g o f paid

witnesses who testified aga inst B ridges was the tes tim ony o f the men in his union. On June 6, they he ld a s top -w ork m eeting p ro te s ting th is la te s t a tte m p t by the G overnm ent to g ive Bridges a one-wiay tic k e t to h is na tive A us tra lia .

Even some o f the da ily papers doubt th a t the G overnm ent has the r ig h t to keep t r y in g Bridges over and over again on the same Charges, even though, techn ica lly , there is no double jeopardy. A n ed ito ria l in the June 6, Coos Bay Tim es said: “ To ou r knowledge no o ther man in the h is to ry o f the UnitecJ States has been so hounded. The fu l l power o f the m igh ties t governm ent on ea rth has been b rough t against one man fo r 20 years. I t is question­able tha t M r. B ridges’ ev il deeds are so g rea t when so much gov­ernm ent e ffo r t has b rough t so l i t t le resu lts .”

The t r ia l has been adjourned u n t il J u ly 11.

H A R R Y BR ID G ES

20-Year History of Bridges CaseRoy Gale

S A N FRANC ISC O , June 2 7 - How many tim es does a man have to go on t r ia l fo r any one “ crim e” in th is coun try? I f your name is A lfre d Renton Bridges, be tte r known on the w a te rfro n t as H a rry Bridges, i t means tha t you have been on t r ia l fo r 21 years. F o r the same “ crim e,” too.

H a rry Bridges has been under governm ent f ire since 1934 when the Im m ig ra tio n Service tr ie d to deport h im to his na tive A us­tra lia . The governm ent decided th a t B ridges was an undesirable c itizen a fte r he led the W est Coast longshoremen to v ic to ry in the 1934 s trike . I t was the f irs t tim e in decades th a t the long ­shoremen had been able to w in un ion conditions.

“ C O M M U N IS T ” C H A R G ESince 1934 Bridges has been

subjected to one c rim in a l tr ia l, two congressional b ills , tw o de­po rta tion hearings, and fo u r o ther m a jo r governm ent in v e s ti­gations. In every case the gov­ernm ent pressed the same issue. B ridges, they charged, is a “ com m unist” ? T hrough the years there has been no o ther charge th a t they could b r in g against h im except th a t he a lleged ly held p o litica l views th a t were a lleged ly subversive. Now he m ust face the c o u rt again. The governm ent charges th a t B ridges

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lied when he denied th a t he was a com m unist to ge t h is c itize n ­ship papers in 1945.

A f it t in g t i t le fo r an autob io­g raphy, i f B ridges is th in k in g of w r i t in g one, m ig h t w e ll be “ M y L ife in the Courtroom s.” He would have p len ty to w r ite about.

He could te ll o f the eleven weeks in 1938 when he had an ad m in is tra tive hearing before Dean James M. Landis. He was cleared when Landis ru led th a t the re was no evidence to sup­p o rt the charges th a t B ridges was a “ C om m unist." U su a lly a c lear-cu t ru lin g th a t the accused is innocent ends the prosecution. T h a t is, fo r any “ crim e” except “ Com m unism .”

He could then te ll o f the two congressional B il ls th a t sought to deport h im because his p re s -1

ence was “ h u r tfu l to the U.S. One b i l l fa ile d to pass the Sen­ate and the other was declared unconstitu tiona l.

The next event in B rid g e s ’ life be fore the bar o f “ ju s tice ” w a i in 1941. I t was another deporta­tion hearing. Th is tim e, before Charles B. Sears, a re tire d New Y o rk Judge. A f te r ten weeks o f tes tim ony, Judge Sears saw his du ty and ru led that. B ridges was deportable. Th is a ttem p t on the r ig h t o f B ridges to s tay in th is cou n try was f in a lly quashed by the U. S. Supreme C o u rt in 1945. B ridges then applied fo r c itizensh ip and was na tura lized in Septem ber 1945.

Bridges nex t w ent on t r ia l Nov. 14, 1949. T h is tim e, the Governm ent charged th a t B r id g ­es lied when he swore he was no t a Com m unist in h is 1945 n a tu ra liza tio n heaving. He was found g u ilty o f c rim ina l p e rju ry and sentenced to f iv e years in prison. T h is conviction was set aside J u ly 15, 1953, when the U . S. Supreme Court ruled th a t the sta tu te o f lim ita tio n s had run out.

T H E “ N E W ” CH ARG ESNow Bridges is 20 years older

than when the Government f i r s t tr ie d to g ive h im a one way t ic k e t to A u s tra lia . A lw ays they charged the same th in g — Bridges is a “ C om m unist.” The cu rre n t c iv il t r ia l is on ly the

la tes t in a long s tr in g o f a t­tem pts to deport Bridges.

The new case is based on Section 305 o f the N a tio n a lity A c t o f 1940, which s ta tes: “ No person sha ll become a n a tu ra l­ized c itizen who believes in , ad­vocates o r teaches o r is a mem­ber o f o r a ff il ia te d w ith any organ iza tion th a t (be lieves) in the ove rth row o f the Governm ent by force and violence.”

The new t r ia l w i l l center around tw o m ain issues. Was o r is B ridges a member o f the Com m unist P a r ty and i f so is the Com m unist P a rty an o rgan i­zation which seeks to ove rth row the Governm ent b y fo rce and violence.

ChicagoMilitant’ Readers

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Dan Ryan WoodsGrove 17X

87th and W estern Ave. Sun. Ju ly 17, 10:30 A . M . t i l l?

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tran sp o rta tio n Call CEN 64183