Balance Sheet Of the Bandung Conference

By Joseph HansenThe results of the Bandung conference, which ended

April 24, confirm the correctness of the critical attitude taken by the world Trotskyist movement toward thisga th e rin g o f S ta lin is t and bour­geois na tio n a lis t leadens o f the colonies.

I t is, o f course, an encouraging sym ptom th a t the heads o f the five sponsoring governm ents —Nehru o f Ind ia , U Nu o f Burm a,Mohammed A li o f Pakistan, S ir John Kote law ala o f Ceylon and Sastroam id jo jo o f Indonesia— and th e ir d irec t and in d ire c t im p e ria l­is t backers found i t necessary to ho ld such a meeting. I t testifies to the weakened position o f the W estern colon ia l powers and to the un de rly in g s treng th and dynam ism o f the drive o f the colonial peoples fo r independence and freedom . In place o f d irect p o lit ic a l dom ination, the W estern powei's have found i t necessary to re tre a t to second-line trend ies, e n tru s ting the advanced positions to colonial agents.

B u t an encouraging sym ptom o f the revo lu tiona ry forces and pressures in the colon ia l w.orld is r o t the same as those forces and pressures themselves. P a rticu la rly in a case like th is where the sym ptom happens to be a device de libera te ly designed to contain those forces and to secure leader-

"Conciliatory, Courteous And Correct"

The U.S. S ta lin is t D a i l y W orker, A p r i l 26, g lee fu lly quoted P rem ier U Nu of Burm a as fo llow s :

“ The Chinese played the ir part w ell at Bandung. They re fra ined from m aking d is­parag ing rem arks against the U n ited States. They could have engaged in them i f they wanted to, just as some pro- W estern nations a t t a c k e d Communism. But they were very conc ilia to ry , courteous and correct. 1 believe they have ivon the sym pathy o f most o f the people attending the conference.”

ship o f them so as to take them up a b lind a lley.

In th is respect the conference m ust be p u t down as a success fo r W estern im peria lism . A s th a t voice o f W a ll S treet, the N . Y. Times, pu t i t in a well-considered lead ed ito ria l the day a fte r the conference: “ I t was an expe ri­ment, to begin w ith . In our ju d g ­ment the experim ent succeeded beyond w hat we had a r ig h t to hope.”

F IN D S IT P A L A T A B L EEven a m a jo r reso lu tion o f the

conference condemning co lon ia l­ism was accepted w ith o u t any qualms by the T im es: “ A c tu a lly , i t states a p rinc ip le to which the free w orld can subscribe whole­hearted ly .”

And why shouldn’t the Times accept a s ta tem ent condemning colon ialism so long as the sta te­ment im p lies no action w h a t­soever to end colon ia lism ? Under th a t condition the verbal con­dem nation actua lly serves as a convenient mask fo r the deeper penetra tion o f im peria lism in the colonial w o rld w h ile prov id ing the masses w ith the illus ion tha t they can have confidence in Nehru and the others as leaders in the s trugg le against im peria lism . Such verba) denunciations o f colon ia lism have been made by the Tim es1 its e lf repeatedly as a calculated complement to its sup­po rt o f im p e ria lis t policies and im p e ria lis t agents in the colonial world.

I f an y th ing is s tr ik in g about the Bandung conference it is the fea r i t displayed about go ing too fa r in its a n ti- im p e ria lis t dema­gogy. T h is was no doubt helped along by the pressure o f the delegates most responsive to sug­gestions from the State D epa rt­ment, but everyone there, inc lud­ing notably Chou E n-la i, seemed anim ated by the desire to appear “ responsible.”

Besides th a t a charm ing note a t the conference, th a t ha rm o­nized w ell w ith the d isarm am ent

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Judge Orders Retrial In 2 Smith Act Cases

The government’s informer system received another hard blow on April 22, when Federal Judge Dimmock ruled that Harvey Matusow lied in the 1953 trial of 13Com m unist P a rty leaders. D im -mock ordered new tr ia ls fo r George Charney and A lexander Trachtenberg, whose conviction, he held, was based sole ly on M atusow ’s testim ony.

l ie refused to order new tr ia ls fo r tlhe o ther 11 w itch -hu n t v ic ­tim s, c la im ing th a t M atusow ’s testim ony had not played a decisive ro le in b r in g in g th e ir conviction about. The 13 were ra ilroaded to prison under the Sm ith A ct, charged w ith having ‘ ‘conspired to advocate the over­th row of the governm ent by force and violence.”

A V ITC H -H U N TE R S ’ T R U T HE ver since M atusow recanted

testim ony he gave in various tr ia ls and hearings the w itch hunters have been seeking fra n ­t ic a lly to prove th a t he to ld the tru th when he was a governm ent w itness and was ly ing -now . Thus on M arch 16, Federal Judge Thomason in Texas "sentenced M atusow to three years fo r “ con­tem pt o f cou rt," c la im ing th a t his recantation o f testim ony against C lin ton Jencks constitu ted “ ob­s truc tion o f ju s tice .” Thomason thus “ ru led” th a t M atusow is t ru th fu l on ly when he testifies fo r the w itch hunters. This was also w ha t the Justice Departm ent contended about M atusow ’s recan­ta tio n in the case o f the 13. And they also claimed th a t M atusow changed his tes tim ony on ly when he w as paid to do so.

Rut Dimmock in his decision ruled otherw ise. He pointed out that law yers fo r the S ta lin is t leaders sought out M atusow a fte r they learned tha t M atusow was already repud ia ting previous testim ony he had given.

Besides, D im m ock held, “ the new ly revealed h is to ry o f the development o f M atusow ’s te s ti­mony furn ished in te rna l evidence th a t p e rju ry was com m itted .” This, the judge declared, led him to the conclusion th a t “ a l l ' o f M atusow ’« tes tim ony w h i c h a ttr ib u te d to the Com m unist P a rty o r to any other defendants an in te n t th a t the Governm ent be overth row n by force and violence was fa lse .”

IM P O R T OF D E C IS IO ND im m ock’s decision is valuable

because it is the f irs t legal ru lin g estab lish ing th a t M atusow lied

at the tim e he was a governm ent in fo rm er. A ll the key measures o f the governm ent’s w itch -hu n t program — S m ith A c t prosecu­tions, “ subversive’’ lis tings , de­po rta tion proceedings, etc. — are propped up by pe rju red testim ony o f professional in fo rm e l« . D im - mock’s ru lin g in e ffe c t s trikes at. th is prop.

A t the same tim e D im m ock in his ru lin g sought to preserve the in fo rm e r system in tac t. He blamed only M atusow as an in ­d iv idua l. He declared tha t Roy Cohn and o the r prosecuting a t­torneys did not cook up the per­ju red testim ony, as M atusow had charged in his recantation. The governm ent a tto rneys were mere­ly “ credulous,” said Dimmock. T h is led them to accept M a tu ­sow’s testim ony at face value.

W ith o u t th is face-saving fo r ­mula, D im m ock would have been forced to inva lida te the convic­tion o f the o the r 11 Sm ith A c t v ic tim s, who were also found “ gru ilty” on evidence m anu­factured by the Justice D epart­m ent and presented by paid in ­form ers.

Southern Strikes Spearhead Defense of American Labor

80 ,000 Phone, Rail Workers Wage Long, Bitter Battle for Rights

A t B andung — No R e vo lu tio n a ry Voice Was H ea rd

Chinese prem ier Chou En-Ia i ( le f t ) is greeted at A s ia -A fr ic a conference held last week in Bandung, Indonesia, by Indonesian Prim e M in is te r A li S astroam id jo jo ( r ig h t ) . Stooges o f W all S treet made propaganda pitches fo r W estern im p e ria lism . Chon did not voice answer o f revo lu ­tion a ry people o f China. He was "co nc ilia to ry , courteous and correct” tow ard U.S. Confined h im se lf to d ip lom atic maneuvers. W ashington has expressed sa tis fac tion w ith conference results.

Political Tempest Greets Ceylon Prime Minister

The conduct o f Ceylon’s Prim e M in is te r, S ir John K ote law ala , at the Bandung Conference, where he directed most o f his fire not at im peria lism but at China, has earned him no th ing but praise from the B ig Business press o f the United States, hut it has s tirred up a horne t’s nest in his own country . ,

The Lanka Samasamaja P arty o f Ceylon, T ro ts k y is t p a rty w ith a mass fo llo w in g , has sta rted a movement fo r a no - confidence vote aga inst K ote law ala . In addi­tion to a s trong T ro ts k y is t bloc in the Ceylonese pa rlia m en t a num ber o f Ceylonese c ities, in ­c lud ing Colombo, the cap ita l, have T ro ts k y is t mayors.

The Ceylon S ta lin is t P a rty ; which fronn a r ig h t-w in g position b it te r ly opposes the LSSP on the p o litica l and trade union field, finds its e lf forced to collaborate in pa rliam en t w ith the LSSP on the no-confidence move. As is usual w ith S ta lin is t pa rties, how­ever, d ip lom atic and fo re ign po licy considerations transcend eve ry th ing else.

The no-confidence bloc in Cey­lon ’s pa rlia m en t w ill s ta r t o f f w ith 21 members. B u t Kote la- w a la ’s actions a t Bandung not on ly in fu r ia te d a ll w o rk ing class pa rties bu t are considered a se ll­out o f Asian in te rests even by many Asian cap ita lis ts . Ceylon newspapers have iplayed up reports o f the argum ent between Kote law ala and Nehru fo llow ing the fo rm e r’s a ttack on “ Soviet co lon ia lism ” which came as a surprise to a ll except, perhaps,I he U.S. State Departm ent.

DEFENSE AGAINST HELL BOMB ADDS UP TO ZERO

By John ThayerThe highways leading out of New York and many

other U.S. cities still have big signs posted along them notifying drivers that in case of enemy attack these roads w il l be closed to c iv ilia ntra f f ic . C iv il Defense A dm in is ­tra to r V a l Peterson has been te ll in g the country fo r some tim e now th a t upon the outbreak o f W orld W ar I I I 70 m illio n in ­hab itan ts o f A m erica ’s 92 la rg ­est c ities would have to evacuate th e ir c ities im m edia te ly.

Ind ica tive o f the snafu in C iv il Defense is the sta tem ent last week by New Y ork o ffic ia ls . They say those signs are up on the h ighw ays and the regu la ­tions s t i l l stand — no c iv ilia n t r a f f ic would be allowed on the highways.- To evacuate any b ig c ity , le t alone sardine-packed Now Y o rk , in a h u r ry over those h ighw ays i f the o ffic ia ls pe rm it it , would be the neatest t r ic k o f the cen tury.

The fa n ta s tic a lly hopeless s it ­ua tion that. H-bom b w a r would b r in g to th is — o r any o ther coun try — is v iv id ly delineated by a special in te rv ie w w ith Pet­erson in the A p r i l 8 issue o f the w e ll-know n B ig Business m aga­zine, U. Sj News and W orld Re­po rt.

“ O P T IM IS T IC ”Peterson, a B ab b itt w ith the

Chamber o f Commerce booster lingo , tr ie s to be op tim is tic about e ve ry th in g inc lud ing the H-bomb, bu t the cataclysm ic pe r­spectives o f another w a r every now and then overwhelm s even his cheeriness.

He sees no chance fo r su rv iva l in the c ities i f they are attacked and says his b iggest job “ is (o

get these m illions o f Am ericans out. o f these areas o f congestion where, i f they rem ain, they are certa in to be dead.”

T h is necessitates mass evacua­tion in a few hours — presum ­ing there is an ea rly w arn ing . When the in te rv iew ers asked him how he would go about, fo r instance,, evacuating New Y o rk C ity , Peterson rep lied : “ Wc have no t tackled New Y o rk because NeW Y o rk would p robab ly be the toughest place in the w o rld . . . I ’m no t go ing to say th a t New Y o rk is im possib le to evac­uate. I th in k i t can be done, a t least in considerable measure, and save hundreds o f thousands o r maybe m illio ns o f lives. You are not go ing to save every­body in an atom ic o r hydrogen w a r, but, o f course, you should save as m any as you can.”

W ith th a t consoling though t fo r the e igh t m illio n men, w om ­en and ch ild ren o f New Y o rk , the in te rv ie w passed over to c ities the size o f W ashington, D. C., which Peterson th in ks are lesser death traps . F irs t ques­tion is how la rge would be the area o f to ta l destruction ? P ete r­son rep lies: “ T h a t va ries w ith the size o f the bomb. I don’ t th in k anybody knows w h a t the m axim um is, because, appa ren t­ly , the re is no l im it to the size o f the bomb th a t can be made— at least I know o f no lim it . A p ­pa ren tly , they can be made o f tremendous sizes.”

(Continued on page 1)

' Assure Salk Shots for AH’ CIO Demands

Y O U N G S TO W N , Ohio, A p r i l 22 — The M ahoning County CIO Council, at its m eeting on A p r il 19, unanim ously and enthusias­tic a lly went on record to have the C ity o f Youngstown make provisions to assure Salk vac­cine shots to a ll under the age o f 19.

The council took th is action because they see a b lack m arke t developing in the life -sav in g vac­cine and they fe lt th a t many would be unable to have the shots i f the price is t o i high. Furthe rm ore , in Youngstown, the CIO has opposed the c ity pa y ro ll tax b u t was defeated by the c ity po litic ians, and m ostly by CIO endorsed councilmen. Since the tax is being paid the CIO feels th a t some o f the money a t least should go fo r vacc ina ting the ch ild ren o f w o rk ­ers.

A few years ago, the c ity de­cided that a ll dogs had to be given shots fo r rabies. P rov is ­ions were made so th a t the price would not ho p ro h ib itive . The cost fo r hav ing the dogs inocu­lated by the c ity was $1.00. I f a person took his dog to the vet, he would have to pay $3.00. The CIO expressed the fee ling that i f the c ity could do th is fo r tre a tin g dogs, they ce rta in ly could do as much fo r children.

Charles Carney, a U n ited Stee lworkers Union s ta ffm an , and state Senator from th is d is­tr ic t , in troduced a b ill fo r action by the Ohio S tate Le g is la tu re to have the State raise money to sponsor the inocu lation o f all persons under the age o f 12. T h is b ill would c e rta in ly aid those in the lower-incom e groups to have th e ir ch ild ren protected against polio.

These two actions are ve ry good as beginnings. B ut there is a need fo r organized e ffo r t to make sure th a t these proposals don’t die on paper.

Since th e ' announcement of S a lk ’s success w ith the vaccine experim ent the labo r m ovem ent na tio n a lly has become concerned w ith p reven ting the p ro fitee rs fro m e xp lo itin g i t fo r th e ir own purposes. On the other hand, all the agencies o f B ig Business, in ­c lud ing the governm ent, arc de­term ined that the sacred p rin c i­ple o f production fo r p ro fit re ­main in tact — even i f th is pre­vents ch ild ren from ge tting the benefit o f the con tribu tion to th e ir w e lfa re made by Salk and his co-workers.

A rg u in g for- ra is in g the legal m in im um wage to $1.23, the M arch CIO Economic Outlook cites a recent study o f the Bureau o f Labor S ta tis tics to show tha t to pay fo r necessary m in im um liv in g costs fo r a fa m ily o f fo u r, a w o rke r needs a $1.95 an hour. Even a w o rk ing woman liv in g w ith her fa m ily m ust get $1.22 an hour.

Sperry Strikers Try for Complete Shutdown

By George LavanAPRIL 27 — As the strikes of some SO,000 Southern

telephone and railroad workers pass their 45th day, there is a growing awareness of their great significance for all organized labor in the I'.S .N o rth and .South.

V ic to ry o r defeat in these two s trikes w il l not on ly p lay a v ita l role in de te rm in ing the fu tu re of unionism below the M ason-D ixon line bu t can have a decisive bear­ing- on the m ounting num ber of s trikes th rou gh ou t the country and on the com ing negotia tions o f the auto w orkers w ith Ford and General M otors.

There are over 100 s trikes in the coun try in vo lv in g probably 125,000 w orkers. W hile on ly a few are b ig ones, the s ig n ifica n t po in t is the rate o f increase. Equa lly im p o rta n t are two feaitures com­mon to m any o f these s tr ikes : (1) they are o f the com pany’s choosing. (2 ) the w orkers, from the f irs t day, d isp lay unusual m ilita n cy on the p icke t lines.

B ASIC ISSU ESIn the Southern s tr ikes the

corpora tions have chosen to cha l­lenge the ve ry basis o f unionism in a fashion th a t recalls the un ion-recogn ition s trikes o f the ea rly CIO. F o r example, the Lou isv ille & N ashv ille ra ilroad and its seven a ffilia te d lines has refused to accept a hea lth -w e l­fa re plan awarded by a p res i­dentia l fac t-find ing board a year ago and accepted by every other Class I ra ilroad in the country . L & N declares i t ’s not the money involved (one-ha lf the cost o f the fund ) bu t the “ p rin c ip le .”

The holy “ p rinc ip le ” L & N has chosen to ba ttle on is its m oral ob jection to m aking com pulsory deductions from its w orkers ’ pay

Bills Take Holiday.\ prosperous-looking citizen

hesitated at the picket line of the CIO telephone w orkers in fro n l o f the Southern Bell b u ild in g in Greensboro, N . C. “ You mind i f I go in to pay my b i l l? ” he asked the nearest picket. “ Never m ind,” answer­ed the s tr ik e r, " I ’m the guy (hat takes out phones when b ills aren 't paid, and I won't bother you.”

checks (th e o ther h a lf o f thecost). The unions have offered L& N a so lu tion fo r its m ora l dilem m a by suggesting the com­pany pay the whole cost.

E ig h t m onths o f nego tia tion produced a deadlock between the CIO phone w orkers and Southern Bell. The la tte r demanded a no­s tr ik e clause, c la im ing i t had s u f­fered 105 w ild c a t s trikes in the past fo u r years. The union agreed on condition th a t in re tu rn a clause fo r a rb itra tio n o f a ll disputes be pu t in the con tract. The telephone m onopoly rejected th is as an invasion o f t ile “ r ig h ts o f managem ent.” W ith o u t such a clause the union has no o ther w ay o f s e ttlin g grievances than 'by “ qu ickies.”

To both o f these defensive s trikes by the Southern w orkers m ust be added the defensive s tr ike o f the 25,000 New England te x ­t ile workers, who asked” fo r no wage increase bu t were m et by m anagement's demand fo r 'a 10c. an hour wage cut.

M IL IT A N C Y OF W O R KERSThe m ilitancy displayed by the

phone and ra i l s tr ike rs fro m the f irs t hour on the p icke t line pa ra lle ls the a ttitu d e o f the 10,- 000 CIO E le c trica l s tr ik e rs a t the Sperry p lan ts in New Y ork . A p ­pa ren tly o ld -tim e s trike -b rea k ing is now being tested out by B ig Business. Southern Bell and the L & N -are h ir in g scabs and im ­p o rtin g arm ed thugs fo r p icke t- line smashing. Since both co r­porations are contro lled by W a ll S treet, th is may w e ll be the tes t­ing ground fo r a na tiona l labor s tra teg y o f B ig Business.

So fa r the s tra tegy has fa iled to break the s p ir it o f the 80,000 s tr ike rs . Indeed, it seems to have won them a support among o ther Southern w orkers and m iddle- class fo lks h ith e rto unseen in the South.

John T ilfo rd , the “ tough boss” head o f the L & N hoped th a t he could smash the s tr ike o f 25,000 non-opera ting ra ilroa d employes (ra ilro a d shop repairm en, etc.) by fo rc in g the opera ting c ra fts

(Continued on page 2)

NEW ENGLAND STRIKERS RESIST BOSS OFFENSIVE

Twenty-five thousand New England textile workers kept 24 cotton and rayon mills shut down as employer arrogance showed no sign of diminishing after two weeks of s trike . The CIO T ex tile

L A K E SUCCESS, N. V., A p r i l 26 — In an in s p ir in g demon­s tra tion of f ig h tin g s p ir it and so lid a rity I he 10,000 production w orkers o f the S perry Gyroscope Co. in Ih is Long Island town shu t down th e ir huge plant serv­ing notice to the company tha t they would keep it that way u n til the company sees the lig h t.

The union action fo llowed a fte r the company g o t tough d u rin g con tract nego tia tions and made p la in th e ir union busting objective.

The s tr ike began w ith a ba ttle th a t lif te d i t to the f ro n t pages o f the m etropo litan newspapers and b ro ug h t a sm all a rm y of newsmen, T V cameramen, special police and w hat have you rush ­ing to Lake Success. The rank and f i le had taken m a tte rs in the ir own hands and th a t a lways makes im p o rta n t news and th is tim e was no exception.

The union leadership had de­

eided that- supervisory employees, o ffice w o rkers and engineers could go th rou gh the p icket lines. T h is decision made l i t t le sense to the S pe rry w orkers who are seriously concerned w ith w inn ing the f ig h t — and w in ­n ing as qu ick ly as possible.

E N C O U N TE R S O B S TA C LEThe ran k -an d -file p ickets de­

cided th a t no one was to enter the p lan t and few did. Special squads o f police were brought in to action, and the. re su ltin g melee was viewed by m illio ns on T V and in the newspaper photos. The company a tto rn ey w h ile hastening to ge t through the p icke t line appa ren tly ran in to an obstacle d u rin g the excite­ment and had to appear in cou rt the ne x t day w ith a swollen, bandaged face to lend urgency to his plea fo r an in junction .

The plea by the company fo r an in jun c tion was no t contested

by I he union's legal s ta ff. The union’s ch ie f a tto rney, Irv in g Abrahamson. in ask ing fo r a delay told the judge th a t he had to leave the next day to be a governm ent inv ited w itness to an atom ic explosion in the N e­vada desert. The judge advised: “ You’d be tte r s tick around here and watch th is explosion.”

The in ju n c tio n was granted lim it in g the num ber o f pickets to a hand fu l, and i t was an­nounced th a t a b a tta lio n o f m il i­ta ry police were p re pa ring to move in to augm ent the local cops. A f te r s ix days o f complete para lys is S perry ’s p lan t showed a l i t t le life as thousands o f en­gineers and office w orkers re ­turned to w ork , behind the sm all p icke t lines outnum bered fo u r to one by special police arm ed w ith r io t guns, w a lk ie -ta lk ies and o ther m il ita ry .paraphernalia.

The S p e rry w o rke rs ’ m il ita n t reaction in the ve ry f i r s t days

o f the s tr ik e can be understood as re fle c tin g th e ir resentm ent against a corpora tion th a t has had the inside track to lush gov­ernm ent contracts fo r nearly two decades. Y e t they are so uncon­cerned about the h igh cost o f liv in g th a t they meet the un ion ’s request fo r wage increases w ith p i t i fu l ly sm all token o ffe rs . Th is corpora tion has fu rth e rm o re in ­creasing ly resorted to fa rm in g out its w o rk to non-,union shops and la y in g o f f its own workers.

One S perry s tr ik e r gave his opinion in th is w ay: “ T h is com­pany had been on the national defense g ravy tra in fo r a long tim e. Now they have cut out our overtim e and they’re la y in g o ff. We’re up to our ears in pay­ments due on our m ortgages, our cars and household expenses. The company is m aking more than ever and they ’re ou t to break the un ion.”

The S perry union, Local 450

o f the CIO e lectrica l w orkers, is seeking besides a wage increase, pension im provem ent, sen io rity ■hanges to p e rm it trans fe rs fro m p lan t to p lan t, a be tte r advancement and p r o m o t i o n clause, and an agreem ent to cut down the com pany’s subcontract­in g o f w ork.

The com pany had countered w ith a 4 cent increase in re tu rn fo r a three yea r con trac t and concessions by the union on sick leave, trans fe rs and upgrading. F u rthe rm ore the com pany re ­fuses to discuss the subcontract­ing issue o r pensions.

Ten thousand S perry s tr ike rs are determ ined to make th is corpora tion back down. And i f th e ir s p ir it and de term ination is any sign, S perry is going to have a hard tim e breaking th e ir s trike .

W orkers Union o f Am erica w ent on s tr ik e A p r i l 16 when em­ployers demanded th a t its m em ­bers take a 10 cent an hour cut. in fr in g e benefits. A t the same tim e 000 A F L te x tile w orkers s truck a m ill in W a te rv ille , Maine.

The s tr ik e was preceded by leng thy nego tia tions. The CIO union asked fo r no increases but a mere extension o f the old con­trac ts . E m ployers rep lied w ith a demand fo r a 10 cent an hour wage cut. In 1952 they succeeded in fo rc in g a 6% cent wage cut.

The on ly “ concession” the mo­guls o f the b ig m ills made du r­ing the p re -s trike nego tia tions was to change th e ir demand fro m a 10 cent cut in wages to an equivalent cut in the meager insurance plan, vacation and sev­erance pay, and e lim ina tion of a ll paid ho lidays bu t one.

When at m idn igh t A p r i l 15 the old contracts exp ired the w orkers in tw o -th ird s o f the New Eng land cotton-rayon in ­du s try walked out. S m aller p lants, representing a th ird of the in du s try , renewed the old con tracts a t the las t m inute.

In Massachusetts ten m ills are

struck, in Maine nine, in Rhode Is land fo u r, and in V erm ont one. M eetings arranged by a U.S. m edia tor, sho rtly a fte r the s tr ik e began, between the union and Bates M fg . Co., which em ploys 10,000 w orkers in fiv e M aine m ills , broke down on A p r i l 23.

E Q U A L IZ E W IT H S O U THBates demanded a pledge fro m

the T W U A -C IO th a t i t he lp “ equalize” N o rth e rn w ith South­ern te x tile pay scales. T h a t th is was not ju s t fo r one con trac t was made clear by the ad d ition ­al demand th a t the un ion issue a “ po licy s ta tem ent” th a t i t would “ use con trac t reopenings a t Bates and o ther p lan ts to close any d iffe rence (w ith the South) ra th e r than w iden i t . ” T W U A refused and nego tia tions collapsed. The union has now raised the demand th a t the s truck m ills restore the 6*/^ cent an hour pay cut o f 1952.

New England te x tile wages average 11 cents to 55 cents be­low' o ther industries o f the area. T h is shows the need fo r N o rth ­ern labo r to aid the un ion iz ing o f the South out o f se lf-p rese r­va tion alone.

Page Two T H E M I L I T A N T Monday, May 2, 1955

Human Nature And Einstein

By Myra Tanner ----------------------

Albert Einstein, recognized as one of the greatest minds of this age, died without ever having accumulated the vast fortune that is the “ mark of success” in the capitalist world. He donated most of his wealth to the further progress of science. For this selfless devotion to the welfare of humanity, Einstein has been eulogized by the capitalist press.

But when we socialists say that all people, like Einstein, will work for the common good in the socialist future, the capitalists denounce us as utopian dreamers. “ I t ’s contrary to human nature,” they claim. Was Einstein then not human? Did he violate the laws of nature?

Einstein was not an ex­ception in his way of life.Many rank-and-file scientists and technicians labor without demanding profit. The pro­gress of man’s knowledge of nature and therefore his con­trol over nature is incentive enough. They scorn the fever­ish hustle-for the almighty dollar, beyond the needs of a decent life and the means for fru itfu l work. They do not require the conspicuous show cf “ superiority” in idle hours, estates, minks and Cadillacs.Life is rich enough in the big and little victories that mark man’s progress.

The same incentive governs the life of revolutionists throughout the world who devote their lives to the strug­gle for a better life for all. The union movement of the working class was born and won its biggest victories inspired by the notion of the common good. What kind of a “ law of nature” is it, that can be violated on such a mass scale ?

Dr. Salk is properly regarded as a hero for his victorious struggle to develop the polio vaccine. He asks no profit for his efforts. Cure of the dread disease is enough reward for him. But this return will not satisfy Park, Davis and Company of Detroit and other vaccine producers. They obey the “ laws” of human nature — and demand a eash-on-the-line “ legitimate” profit for their efforts.

The capitalists claim they are entitled to their profit because they contribute organizing genius, efficiency and ingenuity to the productive work of society. (How much “ organizing” did the duPont family do to merit the $21 million in dividends it took out of General Motors in just one year?) But, i f we grant for the sake of the argument, that they make this contribution, why don’t they, like the scientists they extol, ask only a modest return? Why don’t they “ organize” for the benefit of humanity instead of scooping billions in profits and then condemning mil­lions of people to unemployment when depressions hit?

For the capitalists there are two standards of life: one for the scientists and one for themselves. I t ’s much more profitable that way. The fru it of the work of science comes to’ the capitalist a lot cheaper.

Of course, in part, the capitalist is right about the selfishness of human-' beings. Capitalism molds human nature in the image of the capitalist. People are taught to live for their own material accumulation and “ the devil take the hindmost.”

But the fact that human nature is also generous, selfless, social, is proven by men and women of the highest stature who reject the dog-eat-dog capitalist code and work for the benefit of all.

In truth when the capitalist describes human nature as selfish, greedy and mean, he is merely attributing to others the emotions that stir in his own breast.

L A. NEGROES PREVENTWHITEWASH OF KILLER

By Thelma ClydeWILLOWBROOK, Calif., April 17 — Prompt and

disciplined action by the Negro community of Southeast Los Angeles caused local court officials to retreat from an attem pted w hitewash o f James-R. H a ll, d is tr ib u to r fo r the Los Angeles! E xam ine r, who on M arch 13 shot and k ille d a 12-year-old newsboy employe, M a c A rth u r Malone.

The ind igna tion o f the com­m u n ity over the unprovoked k il l in g o f the N egro youth, w h ile en route to de live r h is papers, was heightened when Judge R alph C. D ills o f- Compton D is ­t r ic t C ourt accepted D is tr ic t A t ­to rney S. E rnest R o ll’s charge o f m anslaugh te r against H a ll and released him on the low ba il o f $1,000.

D O U B L E S T A N D A R DIn te rp re tin g the low ba il and

the fa ilu re o f the o ff ic ia ls to b r in g a m urde r charge against H a ll as another exam ple of A m erican ju s tice ’s double stand­ard where Negroes are concern­ed, a W illow b roo k C itizens Com­m ittee fo r Justice was organized. T hrough pe titions and w eekly mass m eetings i t m obilized com­m u n ity sentim ent. W hen the cou rt held its hearing on the case an im pressive, s ilen t dem­onstra tion by app rox im a te ly 300 residents o f the W a tts -W illo w ­brook area took place. They f i l l ­ed the courtroom and overflow ed in to the corridors.

S ta r w itnesses in the tense courtroom dram a were tw o 13- yea r old boys, H e n ry Malone, re la tiv e o f the v ic tim , and Jack Everage, a fe llow news c a rrie r.

T h e ir testim ony, w h ich rem ained unshaken under g ru e llin g cross exam ination , revealed th a t they had been in H a ll’s s ta tion wagon on the fa te fu l Sunday m orn ing .

When H a ll called fo r M a c A r­th u r-h e was found to be s t i l l in bed. A f te r be ing roused, hedressed and sleep ily go t in to thes ta tion wagon. H a ll bawled ou t the latecom er and then calledout to the others to w atch as he drew a loaded revo lver, pointed i t a t young M alone’s head and fired. Before tak in g the wounded boy to the police s ta tion fo rmedical trea tm en t, H a ll stopped at the d is tr ib u tin g o ffice fo r the newspaper to p ick up a replace­m ent fo r Malone. W hen the v ic ­tim was f in a lly b rough t to the police s ta tion he was dead.

The testim ony o f the tw o youth also b rough t out the p ro ­c liv ity o f th e ir ad u lt em ployer fo r gun-b rand ish ing . H e n ry M a­lone to ld how on one occasion H a ll had “ shot in to a bundle o f papers” in h is o ffice to demon­s tra te th a t the gun could be e f­fec tive when he chose to use it .

In the face o f the evidence and the courtroom packed w ith spectators avowedly “ to see tha t jus tice is done,” Judge D ill re ­manded H a ll, t i l l then free on S I,000 bond, to ja i l and decided th a t “ a m ore serious offense than charged m ay have been com m itted.” H a ll was arra igned A p r i l 8 on a m urder charge.

Atomic Energy in the Grip of Monopoly CapitalismBy Sam Marcy

Ancient Greek legends abound in stories o f robbers who in ­fested the h ighw ays and b y ­ways o f old A thens. One such outstanding robber was P rocrus­tes, the S tre tcher. W hat d is ­tinguished him from his con­tem poraries was not the m agn i­tude o f his feats, but the novel crue lties he vis ited upon his v ic tim s.

W hen he w ay la id an unsus­pecting trave le r, he b ro ug h t him to his abode, deep in h is m oun­ta in fo rtress , and offe red him the h o sp ita lity o f his bed. I f the v ic t im ’s lim bs were too sho rt fo r the bed, P rocrustes would s tre tch them , so as to make them f i t . I f , however, the lim bs were longer than the bed, he would lop o f f the excess p o r­tions.

W e have today a 20th cen­tu ry c a p ita lis t version o f an­cient P rocrustes in the person o f none o ther than the redoubt­able M r. Lew is L . Strauss, Chairm an o f the A tom ic E n ­ergy Commission. I t is the un ­enviable task o f M r. Strauss to d rag the super-g ian t o f modern in d u s try and science — atom ic energy — and f i t h im in to the wretched m idge t’s bed o f cap­ita l is t p ro p e rty re la tions. Since the sup er-g ian t’s lim bs are ou t­rageously ou t o f p ropo rtion to t lie d im in u tive bed, M r. Strauss

(Continued fro m page 1)to cross the p icke t lines. Th is sad act o f m utua l scabbing by c ra f t unions has been a ll too common in UJ3. labo r h is to ry . However, the s o lid a rity o f the opera ting w orkers was such th a t they re ­fused fro m the beginn ing to cross the lines.

In junc tions and c o m p a n y th rea ts fa ile d to move them. F in a lly when TLlford started f ir in g them fo r re fus ing to scab these unions took s tr ik e votes. F ou r — the F irem en & Engine- men, Tra inm en, Dispatchers, and Y ardm asters — w ent ou t on s tr ike . Votes are being conducted among tw o o ther opera ting c ra fts — the Conductors and Brakemen.

When the s tru ck lines started tra n s fe rr in g fre ig h t to other roads such as the Seaboai'd A ir L ine p ickets moved in and tem ­p o ra r ily closed them down as a lesson.

The ou ts tand ing s o lid a rity ac­tion occurred in B irm ingham on A p r i l 14 and 15. Incensed by m oun ting police b ru ta li ty against pickets a t the telephone ex­changes, the CIO, A F L and r a i l­road union spokesmen set up a jo in t com m ittee and began ta lk ­in g general s trike .

On the evening o f the 14th a w a lkou t o f around 30,000 workers at the U.S. Steel p lan t took place. These workers not on ly w ent out but s tarted p u llin g w orkers out o f o ther p lan ts — the Jackson Indus tries iro n foundry and W oodward Iro n Co. in the ne igh­bo ring town o f Bessemer. O nly an im m ediate back-to -w ork u lt im a ­tum by CIO Steelworkers P resi­dent David .1. M cDonald stopped

TV Interview With Dr. SalkE d ito r :

Last n ig h t I go t a w onderfu l p ic tu re o f w ha t te levision could, and some day w il l be. I watched the in te rv ie w o f Edward R. M ur- row w ith Dr. Salk and tw o o f the men tha t worked on the con­tro lled experim ent w ith the a n t i­po lio vaccine. I t was one o f the m ost exc iting and in sp ir in g th ings I have ever seen. Aside fro m the happy news o f the success o f the vaccine its e lf, i t was an op­p o rtu n ity to see and hear three men o f obviously enormous s ta ture . They gave ev^ ry ap­pearance o f being no t on lyta lented scientists, bu t also men' w ith in te g r ity , p rinc ip le and dedication to tru th .

W ith in the lim its o f w h a t they were in a position to say, they stressed fro m every angle thesocial aspects o f the problem and the need fo r a social approach to it . They presented th e ir ideas c learly , fo rc e fu lly and w ith genuine modesty. D r. Salk sha rp ly underscored the fa c t th a t no singtle ind iv idua l o r group o f in ­dividuals- could be given the c re d it fo r the success o f the vaccine, exp la in ing how every such sc ientific development was the resu lt o f accumulated research and experim ents by countless others and th a t the one who f in a lly succeeded was sim p ly m ak ing the la s t step in a process.

The fa c t th a t they were men dedicated to tru th h it home from every angle. They have worked closely toge the r and have a g rea t respect fo r one another. Y e t in rep ly to questions they did not hesitate to fre e ly delineate then- views fro m one another where they disagreed on the answer.

is ready to em ploy the technique o f old P rocrustes — cu t o f f the g ia n t’s precious limbs, and make i t “ f i t ” in to the cramped fra m e ­w o rk o f ca p ita lis t p riva te p ro p ­e rty .

A tom ic energy, though bap­tized in a c a p ita lis t w a r, was born * a th o ro ug h ly socialized product. I t requ ired the collec­tive e f fo r t o f hundreds o f scien­tis ts , the accumulated labo r o f m illio ns o f w orkers, and the as­sembly o f such a d iv e rs ity o f sk ills and m a te ria ls as could be. obtained on ly by scouring the fou r corners o f the earth .

The harnessing o f the atom, is the re fo re a m agn ificen t dem­ons tra tion o f the sup e rio rity and absolute ind ispensab ility o f co­operative, socialized methods o f production in the fu r th e r devel­opment o f modern science and technology. The great drawback, o f course, is th a t the ru lin g fac ­tions o f A m erican cap ita lism , are in te n t on con ta in ing the atom w ith in the su ffoca ting con­fines o f th e ir p riva te , exclusive monopolies.

Before we can show how M r. Strauss goes about his business, i t is necessary to p ro pe rly in ­troduce M r. S trauss to ;. the A m erican public.

The kep t press o f finance cap­ita l has shown an a ll too no­ticeable modesty in revea ling his tru e sta ture . F o r M r. Strauss cuts a m ost rem arkable f ig u re ,

w hat m ig h t have been the w in ­n ing act o f the phone and ra i l strikes.

Even so the s itua tion in B irm ­ingham rem ains tense. Southern Bell o ffic ia ls p u ll th e ir guns as they pass' th rough the p icke t lines under police ,pro tection . Railroad pickets are threatened by armed company guards and pe lted w ith bottles and o ther m issiles by scabs.

A t the A labam a CIO Conten­tion , ju s t held in M ontgom ery, there was b itte r ta lk against “ s trike -b rea k ing public o ffic ia ls ” and ch ie f scab - herder S h e r if f H o lt M cDowell o f B irm ingham in pa rticu la r.

P O LIC E V IO L E N C EPolice b ru ta li ty has no t been

confined to B irm ingham and the ra ilroad lines. In M iam i, F lo rida , police turned high pressure fire hoses on CIO pickets — m ost o f them women — bow ling them over and sending them s lid ing across the pavement. The p re te x t fo r th is action was th a t some pa in t had been splashed on a cop. The firehoses, however, d idn ’t drown the f ig h tin g s p ir it o f the CIO phone w orkers and th e ir sym path izers. As the police dis­lodged some, others replaced them — a ll to ld 500 fo u g h t the police — and the scabs wdio were due to change sh ifts were kept in the telephone exchange fo r hours.

The f ig h tin g s p ir it s h o w n th rou gh ou t the South makes i t c lear th a t a new generation o f m il ita n t workers has come o f age there. M oreover, they have the sym pathy o f wide sections o f the

A pp a re n tly M u rro w was deeply impressed w ith them. He closed the in te rv ie w by quoting C arl Sandburg, “ Gentlemen, we are much beholden to you.”

Aside from eve ry th ing else, the p rogram was a v iv id dem onstra­tion o f the fa c t th a t men don’t need ca p ita lis t incentives to s trive fo r human progress.

H . R.New Jersey

Some Reactions To GAW and 30-40E d ito r :

I t ’s on ly na tu ra l th a t one o f the ch ie f topics o f conversation in restauran ts here is the U A W negotia tions w ith the auto com­panies, and especially the demand fo r a guaranteed annual wage. A w a itress can’t help overhearing pa rts o f these conversations. I don’ t know i f the y ’re typ ica l, bu t here are a few :

Some auto dealers were in tow n fo r a state convention and ta lk in g about the negotia tions. They d idn ’t seem upset by the g u a r­anteed wage demand. B u t then one o f them said, “ You don’t th in k he’s re a lly go ing to ask fo r a 30- hour week, do you ? ” ( “ He” was Reuther, and the 30-hour week reference was no t to the U A W ’s present demand, b u t a possible demand in the fu tu re .)

T h is go t the whole tab le ex­cited. “ l ie wouldn ’t dare do th a t.” “ He’d be tte r no t.” The sentim ent seemed to be th a t a demand fo r a sho rte r w ork week would be “ go ing too fa r ” w h ile the g u a r­anteed wage plan was less “ un­reasonable” and less lik e ly to provoke a b it te r s trugg le .

A no the r tim e there were some salesmen fo r e ithe r an auto pa rts p lan t o r an auto company. They

not on ly in A m erican po litics , bu t in finance and in d u s try alike.

O f the countless tjm es th a t his name appears in the press, ra re ­ly is there more than an ac­com panying descrip tion o f his sta tus as C hairm an o f the A tom ic E nergy Commission. On occasion, he is described as the “ ex-shoe d rum m er,” who rose to fam e on the basis o f the b r i l l ia n t role he played as con­f id e n tia l secre ta ry to H e rbe rt Hoover when the la tte r acted as food a d m in is tra to r in Europe a f te r the f i r s t W orld W ar.

B u t i t takes an exceptional a rtic le about h im to m ention in passing, th a t he m arried the daughter o f Jerome H anauer — a senior pa rtn e r in the f irm o f Kuhn, Loeb &. Co. — the f irm in which M r. Strauss became a senior p a rtn e r h im se lf.

I t would be a surprise to m ost Am erican w orkers to learn th a t the f irm o f Kuhn, Loeb A Co. ranks on ly second to the House o f M organ in the am ount o f as­sets in its fin a n c ia l o rb it. In 1936, a governm ent survey es­tim ated Kuhn, Loeb & Co.’s as­sets as am ounting to about $11 b illio n . (The R ockefeller in te r ­ests then amounted to more than $61/2 b illions, and the M organ ’s more than S30 b illio n .)

W hat is the source o f the ga rgan tuan income o f Kuhn, Loeb & Co. ? The stock answer

popu lation. Even the te rr ib le J im Crow d iv is ion between w h ite and Negro workers has been to some degree lessened d u rin g the strikes. Wlhile m ost o f the s tr ike rs are White, Southern newspaper re ­p o rts o f s tr ik e arrests show tha t the few Negroes involved are very active.

M oreover, a b ig segment o f the steel workers who came out in sym pathy w ith the telephone and ra il w orkers are Negro. U n fo r ­tuna te ly M cDonald k illed th is as soon as he could — but even a one-day sym pathy s tr ik e in ­vo lv ing la rge numbers o f w h ite and N egro workers creates new and hopeful bonds between them.

A n im p o rta n t fa c t about th is present generation o f Southern labor is th a t i t w il l no longer accept the Southern wage d i f ­fe ren tia l. T h is long-established lesser rate o f pay than anywhere else in the cou n try is one o f Southern labo r’s p rim e g rie v ­ances.

A long - distance opera tor in New Y o rk who pu ts th rough a call to, say, K no xv ille , Tenn., gets an average o f $20 more per week than the K noxv ille opera to r who puts the same call th rou gh to New Y ork . M oreover, there are seven wage d iffe re n tia ls fo r the same w o rk inside the South its e lf. Thus in b ig eitifes the size o f A tla n ta opera tors’ pay ranges fro m $39 to a m axim um $62 a week, w h ile in the sm allest towns the scale is $36.50 to a m axim um $46.50.

The 750 Greyhound bus d rive rs who are ou t on s tr ik e in 10 Southeastern states are spe­c ifica lly dem anding the same

were down in the m outh about a recent slum p in sales. W h ite co lla r people o f th is type usually repeat the argum ents o f ¡man­agement. I tho ugh t th e y ’d be aga inst the guaranteed wage demand ju s t as s trong ly as the ed ito rs o f the three da ily papers in D e tro it, b u t to m y surprise they were favo ra b ly inclined. *

One o f them said he tho ugh t Reuther has the r ig h t idea: assure the people o f steady income and the resu lts would be good fo r business a ll the w ay around, en­courage people no t to be so w orried , to loosen up and buy more, etc. The others a t the table agreed w ith him .

'N ot many auto workers eat in .m y place. B u t one o f the waitresses has a boy fr ie n d w o rk ­in g in one o f the C h rys le r p lan ts and when we m et h im a t a bar a fte r Work one n ig h t he go t to ta lk in g about the negotia tions too. (C h rys le r’s con tract doesn't exp ire u n til the end o f summer b u t everybody knows th a t C hrys ler conditions w ill be a f­fected by w h a t happens in the GM and Ford negotia tions.)

He’s a young man who came here from the South a fte r the w a r and has about five o r six years’ sen io rity . He said he can’t w o rk up any enthusiasm fo r the guaranteed wage plan, and ne ither can o ther young w orkers in h is departm ent, I t m ig h t gain som ething, he said, b u t probably a ll i t w il l mean is th a t no new men w ill be h ired in auto, th a t w o rkers w ith re la tiv e ly low sen io rity like h im se lf w il l get la id o f f a f te r a w h ile and, “ a fte r g e ttin g a dole fro m the com pany” w i l l stay la id o ff, and th a t the ones to benefit w i l l be the com­panies and the older w orkers w ith the h ighest sen io rity .

usu a lly given, is ra ilroa d fin a n c ­ing, reorgan iza tions, and the supply o f cap ita l funds. Th is is a lo t o f g ibberish which goes under the general heading o f m ilk in g the ra ilroads, by in d i­re c tly c o n tro llin g them th rough loans and o ther fin a n c ia l devices. Such g ia n t ra ilroads, lik e the Pennsylvania, Southern ¡Pacific, Union P acific , W abash — ju s t to name a fe w — are the m ilk ­in g cows.

A few weeks ago, a g rea t p ro xy ba ttle was ra g in g between a ra ilro a d o ff ic ia l named M c- Guiness, and another named Du- maine fo r con tro l o f the New Haven Railroad, and la te r also fo r t)ie Boston and M aine. Kuhn- Loeb wasn’t w o rried about the resu lt. Both o f the ra ilroads would rem a in w ith in its f in a n ­c ia l o rb it, regardless o f who .the w inne r would be — in th is case, McGuiness.

We m ere ly c ite th is to show th a t Kuhn, Loeb & Co., con­t ra r y to popu la r conception, is no t m ere ly another banking f irm , but, we repeat, the second la rges t fin a n c ia l dynasty .whose special f ie ld o f exp lo ita tion is the vast ne tw ork o f U n ited States ra ilroads.

M r. S trauss is in every w ay a representative o f th a t dynasty, and when he resigned h is post as a p a rtn e r in the f i r m to as­sume his ro le in the A to m ic E n ­ergy Commission, his “ resigna-

wage scales as the rest o f the country.

M any A F L c ra f t unions o f sk illed w orkers have succeeded in na rro w in g o r abolish ing the wage d iffe re n tia l w ith the N orth . T h is is also tru e o f the CIO alum inum and steel workers. A F L teamsters have gained ex tra raises to na rrow the gap w ith tihe m id-w est d rivers. Recently the CIO Packinghouse workers, which is doing the best job f ig h tin g J im Crow, broke the age-old 10c. d if ­fe re n tia l in the A m erican Sugar Co. down to 7c.

W hile the South s t i l l rem ains the area o f low -pa id labor the w orkers ’ readiness to f ig h t is very obvious.

F o r example the un ion fever is now in M iam i. N ine hotels are a lready out on s trike . There are 20,000 low -pa id hotel workers there. A v ic to ry o f the telephone and ra i l w orkers would g ive them and a ll o ther Southern workers te rr if ic hope and enthusiasm fo r unionism . Conversely a defeat could cause the slum ping Back in to the old moods o f despair.

T h is shows the im portance of the Southern s trikes fo r the Am erican labor movement. Th is is a c r it ic a l m om ent fo r the fu tu re o f un ionism in the South. ‘T he re is a tide in the a ffa irs ,” no t on ly o f men, bu t o f labor, “ wh ich taken a t the flood leads on to fo rtu n e .” The present upsurge o f Southern labor is precise ly sucfh a tide . I f i t is no t taken, o r i f i t is rejected, as M cDonald o f the S tee lworkers has rejected it , the So-uth m ay become, not a source o f s treng th fo r labor, bu t once again its A ch ille s ’ heel.

“ W ha t I ’d lik e to see,” he said, “ is s ix -fo r-e ig h t.” W hen I asked w hat th a t meant, i t turned ou t to be the 30-hour w o rk week a t 40 hours’ pay, expressed in da ily ra th e r than w eekly term s. “ S ix - fo r-e ig h t” he said, “ and g e ttin g the governm ent and the com­panies to pay h igh e r unem ploy­m ent benefits — th a t would be som eth ing to f ig h t fo r . In fac t, fo r som ething lik e th a t I ’d be w illin g to s tr ik e fo r s ix m onths i f necessary.”

W aitress D e tro it, M ich.

E d ito r :A t the F ord Rouge p la n t w o rk ­

ers have been ta k in g a keen in ­te rest in the cu rre n t negotiations since they are p re tty sure th a t they are the ones who w i l l “ lead the w ay” in the f ig h t fo r the Guaranteed A nnua l Wage.

Because the Local 600 leader­ship had shelved its p rogram fo r 30-tfor-40 long before the con­vention, a tten tion and discussion sh ifted fo r aw hile to the issue of the $25 m illio n s tr ik e fund.

F rom lis te n in g to a ll the com­ments in the shop i t is safe to say th a t there is a lm ost no con­fidence expressed in the In te r ­na tiona l leadership to e ith e r dis­tr ib u te s tr ike fund ’s fa ir ly or, even more im p o rtan t, to f ig l it fo r a genuine G AW .

Because o f th e ir lack of con­fidence in the leadership there is a dangerous tendency among some o f the rank-and-file to over­look the general offensive o f the corpora tions aga inst the unions. They dism iss the necessity o f s tr ike preparations w ith , “ The In ­te rna tion a l doesn’t w an t a s trike . They ju s t w an t to make a deal w ith the company.”

A no ther way in which th is lack o f confidence in the leadership is

t io n ” had about the same s ig n if i­cance as the res igna tion o f Gen­era l M oto rs ’ C. E. W ilson, when the la tte r re linquished the pres­idency o f the General M otors Corp. to accept the post as Sec­re ta ry o f Defense — a mere smoke screen, calculated to de­ceive the public.

M r. Strauss, however, did not resign a ll his posts from priva te business. A few “ sm all ones” he kept, such as his post as d irec­to r o f the m u lti-m ill io n do lla r Radio Corp. o f A m erica , N a­tion a l B roadcasting Co.. General A m erican T ransporta tion , and M erchants Ind em n ity Co.

On June 23rd, 1950, an ob­scure l i t t le item tucked away in the fina nc ia l pages o f the papers, carried the news o f M r. S trauss’ becom ing the financia l adviso r to the f iv e Rockefe ller brothers.

W hy should the Rockefe ller fa m ily need a financia l advisor from a r iv a l banking f ir m when i t had a t its disposal a horde o f fin a n c ia l experts, ran g ing fro m specia lists in sm all finance companies, to top-notch experts in the In te rn a tio n a l M onetary Fund? Couldn’ t the R ockefe ller b ro thers t ru s t anyone o f the ex­perts in th e ir own Chase N a­tiona l bank — the second la rgest bank in the coun try?

In the special code o f the dynastic fin a n c ia l cliques, w h ich govern A m erica, the assumption o f M r. S trauss o f the post o f financ ia l adviso r to the Rocke­fe lle rs , m eant an a lliance be­tween the dynasty o f Kuhn, Loeb & Co. and the Rockefeller octopus. I t s ignalized a re a lig n ­ment o f forces.

When the Chase Bank, a coup­le o f m onths ago absorbed the Bank o f M anhattan , the reby be­com ing the la rge s t bank in New Y o rk , i t fu r th e r cemented the alliance between Kuhn, Loeb & Co. and the Rockefellers, be­cause the Bank o f M anha ttan

can’t he to ld w ith o u t inm im er-. able references to the other. But w hy have m ere ly references and exp lanations when the tw o b iog ­raphies can be best w r itte n in volume as M r. K o riigo ld has?

There has been much b io ­graph ica l w o rk done on both leaders o f the g re a t A b o litio n is t crusade. The au tho r o f th is w o rk has tho rough ly studied a ll th is m a te ria l and the source m a te ria l o f the an ti-s la ve ry movem ent i t ­se lf and has w r itte n a f i r s t ra te book. N o t on ly are the p o lit ic a l roles o f these tw o men ca re fu lly examined bu t th e ir backgrounds

expressed is in the a ttitu d e of some o f the w orkers tow ards the Guaranteed A nnua l Wage plan. “ I ’d go on s tr ike fo r six months i f I .thought i t would help get some guys th e ir jobs back, bu t a guaranteed annual wage won’t help anyone — except maybe a few rea l o ld -tim ers ,” was the way one w o rke r p u t it . M ost o f the w orkers I ta lk to agree, “ We won’t ge t a rea l guaranteed an­nual wage, you can bet on th a t ! ” There is a ve ry lukew arm fee ling towards fig h tin g fo r a G AW a l­though there is no doubt as to w illingness to go on s tr ik e and back up whatever the union asks fo r.

Am ong the several thousand sk illed men in the Tool and Die U n it a t the Rouge p la n t there is a g ro w in g a la rm a t the increasing la y -o ffs o f sk illed men in the m iddle o f record-breaking p ro ­duction o f autom obiles. The most fre q u e n tly heard comment about the la y o ffs is, “ The com­pany’s c u ttin g down the pa y ro ll in prepara tion fo r a G A W .”

The program o f Local 600, the 30-for-40 program , has again be­come an alm ost d a ily top ic fo r conversation. A n equa lly popu lar top ic discussed is the dem and,for the low ering o f 'th e age req u ire ­ment fo r pension e lig ib ility . Some o f the young men in the shop have been saying, “ I f on ly the y ’d ge t r id o f the old tim ers , the re ’d be jobs fo r the you th .” They are d isregard ing the inadequate am ount o f the pensions and the fa c t th a t m any more young men are released in to the labo r m arke t each year than could be absorbed by the fo rc in g out o f older w o rk ­ers.

Ford W orke rD e tro it

was in the o rb it o f K uhn & Loeb. ,

W hen M r. S trauss assumed h is post as Chairm an o f the A tom ic E ne rgy Commission, he no t on ly passed one lo y a lty test, bu t tw o ; th a t o f Kuhn Loeb A Co. — and the Rockefellers. The fa c t th a t he was a T a f t Republican d idn ’t stand in the w ay o f his ap­po in tm ent by e ith e r T rum an or Eisenhower. F o r he is a l iv in g representa tive o f ' two o f the m ost po w erfu l fin a n c ia l o lig a r­chies in Am erica.

When D avid L i llie n th a l, the fo rm e r AEC Chairm an was rude­ly th row n ou t o f h is post in the f i r s t g re a t wave o f hys te ria to reach the h igh echelons o f the Federal Governm ent, the voice was , th a t o f T rum an, b u t the hand was th a t o f Strauss.

W hen the noted atom ic scien­t is t, O ppenheimer was screened fro m his post, everyone heard the loud voices o f M cC arthy and H ickenlooper, bu t on ly few saw the hand o f Strauss.

As is now un ive rsa lly ac­knowledged, atom ic energy has the po tentia l fo r being substi­tu ted fo r a ll the conventional fuels, such as coal, o il, gas, elec­t r ic ity , etc. But. Congressman Cole, House Chairm an o f the A to m ic E nergy Com m ittee, de­clared on January 24th, 1955, th a t atom ic energy could f i t in “ as g supplem ent” ( ! ) “ to the conventional fue ls,”

Here indeed is an exam ple o f how Procrustes-Strauss, speak­in g th rough the voice o f Repre­sentative Co'e, or. beha lf o f the "conven tiona l” (R ocke fe lle r) fu e l em pire, w ants to reduce the g ia n t po tentia l o f a tom ic energy to the s tr ic t ly lim ite d dim en­sions o f the m onopolis t’s p ro f i t system.

TSeventh o f a series. W atch fo r the next in s ta llm e n t: “ The M organs, du Ponts and Lehmans in the F ig h t fo r A tom ic E n ­ergy.” )

and personalities successfully conveyed to the reader.

A ltho ug h b iographies o f G ar­rison were w r itte n e a rlie r in the past 50 years, the consensus of opin ion was th a t the. 19th Cen­tu ry b iographies were fa r su­pe rio r. T h is was not m ere ly be­cause the la tte r were more de­ta iled b u t because the m il ita n t s p ir it o f abo lition ism was so fo re ign to 20th C entu ry scholars th a t they couldn’ t understand a man like G arrison. T h is is no longer true . K o rn go ld ’s b iog ra ­phy o f G arrison and P h illip s is in some ways superio r to the 19th C entury ones which are, moreover, long out o f p r in t. H is sym pathy fo r the labo r move­m ent enables h im to recapture the s p ir it o f abo lition ism .

M oreover m any o f the organ­iza tiona l and po litica l problems o f abo lition ism are best e xp la in ­ed by an understand ing o f s im i- la¡ problems in modern w o rk in g - class organ izations. T h is w orks tw o ways. M odern problem s are considerably i l l u m i n a t e d by knowledge o f the ab o litio n is ts ’ problems, th e ir successful solu­tions and th e ir m istakes.

To read about G arrison and P h illip s is to read about much m ore than the an ti-s la ve ry move­ment. I t is to read about the o r ig in o f the wom en’s r ig h ts movements, the ea rly ou tcrop­p in g o f pacifism , anarch ism and re fo rm s o f a ll sorts in A m erica . The personalities th a t cross the pages are rem arkab le and un ­fo rge tta b le .

K orngo ld , o f course, ca re fu lly traces the po litica l development o f the U n ited States in th is period. He renders a s igna l ser­vice to students o f A m erican h is to ry by ve ry c le a rly il lu s ­tra t in g the re la tionsh ip and e f­fec t o f the “ n o n -p o litica l” abo­litio n is m o f G arrison and P h il­lips on the g ro w th o f a n t i­s lavery as a po litica l movement.

T h is cu lm inates in his care­fu l study o f the ro le o f m ilita n t abo lition ism in fo rc in g L inco ln in to his very re luc tan t Em anci­pation P roclam ation. W h ile show­ing L inco ln ’s resistance every inch o f the way to a ll and any meas­ures on beha lf o f the Negro people, K orngo ld nonetheless keeps his balance and shows w hy and how L inco ln was a suc­cessful and capable agent o f the cap ita lis t revo lu tion o f 1861-1865 against the slave power. T h is section w ill be a reve la tion to many readers.

F in a lly , o f course, is the s to ry o f how a fte r abo lition P h illip s , w ith o u t b reak ing his s tride in

(C ontinued on page 3)

. . . Phone and Railroad Strikes in South

Our Readers Jake the Floor

MAY SELECTION FOR BOOK-A-MONTH

TW O F R IE N D S OF M A N . The S to ry o f W illia m L loyd G arrison and W endell P h illip s and th e ir R e lationsh ip w ith Abraham Linco ln. By Ralph K orngo ld . Boston: L it t le Brown. 1950. 425 pp. $5.00 — M ay Book-a-M onth price $1.00 plus 15c. m a ilin g charge).

The idea of writing the biographies of Wm. Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips together is a happy one. Their lives were so intertwined that the story of one

A L B E R T E IN S T E IN

T H E M I E Ï T S K T — Page Three

 New Climate in the SouthNot only the Militant us watching- the

Southern strikes with an eagle eye. The Big Business press is doing the same. The difference is that we see great promise and they see only a terrible threat.

Some of the points raised for the cor­poration-executive audience are, however, quite pertinent. They fa ll into three categories. (1) I f the rail and phone work­ers win, will other Southern workers be encouraged to join unions? (2) Will the AFL-CIO launch a “ serious” organizing drive in the South? (3) Is the Southern public friendlier to labor than it used to be?

There’s no two ways about point one. Victories in the present strikes will give a tremendous shot in the arm to unionism down South. That brings up point two. Will the AFL-CIO leadership take ad­vantage of heightened union-receptivity on the part of the Southern workers? Will the AFL-CIO launch an organizing drive ready to fight it out with the company- owned sheriffs and Ku Klux politicians? Will it have the guts to batter away at Jim Crow? Will i t be afraid of embar­rassing its political “ friends” in Congress by sailing into the reactionary Southern Democratic machine — which runs the state houses and the county court houses ?

The answers to these questions will largely determine whether an AFL-CIO Southern drive will prove serious and successful or prove another fiasco like Operation Dixie. CIO Steelworker Presi­dent McDonald’s shameful breaking of the Birmingham sympathy strike was a terrible blow to the phone and rail work­ers. While no sins of commission are charged so far against the other top labor bureaucrats, they are guilty of plenty of sins of omission. They haven’t done much of anything up t ill now for the Southern strikes. They even seem to be tongue-tied on the subject.

Nor is there any doubt about the in­creased friendliness of “ public opinion” to the unions. A new climate of opinion exists among Southern workers, farmers and middle class. Workers — organized and unorganized — have demonstrated this by their observance of picket lines and their solidarity actions. As for the middle class segments of society, here are a few examples.

In one Alabama town no restaurant will serve railroad scabs or guards. The sheriff informed the guards that i f they wore their guns o ff company property he would immediately deputize 50 strikers. In a Tennessee town local ministers open and close the strike meetings with prayers. Merchants all over áre reported friendlier to strikers than ever before. The mayor of one town offered his front lawn to phone pickets as a resting place. A CIO telephone organizer, after completing a tour of North Carolina, reports only two communities openly hostile. In areas where, in 1948, he couldn’t hire a meeting hall he is now given free radio time to present the strikers’ side of the story.

This doesn’t imply that generally of­ficials and sheriffs are friendly to the strikers. The cases of scab-herding and police brutality prove the contrary. But the existence of exceptions to what used to be an iron-clad rule in the South reflects a change. This changed climate of opinion, on top of the solidarity of the strikers, is one of the reasons the Southern governors are hesitating over breaking the strikes with their national guards. The various governors’ conferences during the strike were build-ups for such a move. In each case the governors decided the time wasn’t quite ripe. I t is up to labor in the rest of the country to throw its weight behind these crucial Southern strikes be­fore the time gets “ ripe.”

Not in Business for Their Health

. . . Balance Sheet of Bandung Conference(Continued fro m page 1)

theme, was unanim ous approval o f a clause in te rp re ted by the N . Y. Tim es to mean ju s tifica tio n o f membership by A is ian-A frican nations in such alliances as the N o rth A tla n tic T re a ty O rgan iza­tion and the Southeast A sia Col­lective Defense T re a ty O rgan iza­tion.

( In a speech, Chou E n-la i said th a t he was against these alliances b u t in the vo tin g he w ent along w ith the clause g iv in g ambiguous approval to the W est­ern im p e ria lis t m ilita ry alliances th a t W a ll S tree t has been bu ild ­in g since the end o f W orld W ar I I in accordance w ith its plans fo r a ttack on the Soviet bloc.)

D U LLE S C O U LD N ’T DO ITTo p u t . over such a fe a t in

person was c le a rly beyond the capacities o f a Dulles. Had d irec t representatives o f W ashington or London been present and pressed fo r such a reso lu tion i t would have s truck the whole colon ia l w o rld as a provocation aimed at b low ing up the conference. B u t the N ehru ’s p u t i t over easily as p a r t o f th e ir . “ n e u tra lis t” p ro ­gram o f p ro m o tin g “ w o rld peace and cooperation.”

That would seem su ffic ien t fo r one conference, but the delegates went even fu rth e r. Clauses were included approv ing fo re ign cap ita l investm ents in colon ia l countries; tha t is, approving the economic base o f im peria lism in these lands.

N a tu ra lly in the week o f the W ord-fest such top ics as freedom , and independence, and “ general d isarm am ent,” and m utua l aid, and in te rna tiona l con tro l o f a tom ic energy, and rac ia l segre­ga tion and d iscrim ina tion go t qu ite a ta lk in g over. A nd m any th in gs were said th a t pleased op­pressed peoples everywhere. B u t th a t was1 one o f the m a in p u r­poses o f the conference — to act as a sa fe ty valve fo r the le tt in g o f f o f steaim.

So fa r as c a rry in g out the nice- sounding phrases was concerned, th is rem ained in the w orld o f pious good wishes o r appeals to the cha rte r o f the U n ited N a ­tions. In fa c t the repeated references to the U N made the ga the ring appear m ore like an

N E H R U

ex tra - c u rricu la session o f th a t body than a m eeting o f genuine representatives o f the freedom - seeking colon ia l peoples.

The U n ited Nations — the o r­ganization set up m a in ly by Roosevelt to fu r th e r the im p e ria l­is t am b itions o f A m erican cap i­ta lism — was g lo rified and made ou t to be the hope o f hum an ity . No re p o rt th a t I have read men­tioned a word o f c r it ic is m o f the U N ’s sponsorship o f T rum an ’s “ police action” in Korea. The line was to p u t a h igh shine on th is tra p fo r people searching fo r a sho rt cu t to enduring peace.

I t was no doubt th is aspect th a t led the N. Y . T im es, in p ra is ing the “ he lp fu l and s tim u ­la tin g th ings to come ou t o f the ju s t - concluded Bandung con­ference,” to suggest e d ito r ia lly A p r i l 26 th a t a t t lie nex t con­ference the agenda p l a c e “ s tro n g e r emphasis” on “ c u ltu ra l exchange” in vo lv in g “ medicine and pub lic hea lth .” The aim o f t il ls is to streng then the “ prac­tic a l” side o f the “ next ‘B an­dung’.”

T h is sounds laudable enough;

hut, as in the case o f the U N , “ c u ltu ra l exchange” am ounts to sugar-coating fo r p o litic s in the in te rests o f im peria lism and is designed as a subs titu te fo r the revo lu tiona ry soc ia lis t s trugg les tha t o ffe r the on ly rea l hope fo r peace and cooperation on a global scale.

R O LE OF C H O U E N -L A IThe aim o f the Chinese delega­

tion headed by Ghou E n-la i was c lear enough. In view o f the resemblance o f the Bandung con­ference to a U N confab, they sought to dem onstrate how they could be expected to act as m em ­bers o f the U N its e lf. As the S ta lin is t organ in New Y ork , the D a ily W orker, expressed i t edi­to r ia lly A p r i l 26, “ The Bandung conference proved th a t countries w ith d if fe r in g economic systems and po litica l ideas/ can achieve peaceful coexistence.”

To “ achieve” th is , Chou E n-la i acted lik e a n y th in g b u t a genuine representative o f the revo lu ­tio n a ry Chinese people. He proved as ad ro it as N ehru in m aking the conference palatable to the im ­p e r ia lis t powers, in m aking “ the experim ent” succeed beyond w hat even the N. Y . T im es fe l t i t “ had a r ig h t to hope.”

C o lv in R. DeSilva, a leading T ro ts k y is t o f Ceylon, proved to be dead r ig h t when he pointed out be fore the conference th a t the ob jective o f the Chinese S ta l­in is ts “ is no t the spread o f the w orld revo lu tion nor even, the s tim u la tio n o f the colonial revo­lu tio n in the countries o f South­east A sia w h ich b o ld e r upon revo lu tiona ry China. On the con­t ra ry i t is c lear th a t Mao Tse- tung has g iven Ind ia , B urm a and Indonesia in p a rtic u la r every assurance th a t he w i l l n o t sup­po rt, s t i l l less s tim u la te , any revo lu tiona ry movements in these countries.”

Chou E n -la i r is under trem en­dous compulsion fro m the Chinese people to m a in ta in the m axim um appearance o f independence. B u t ju s t how f irm ly Chou’s stance is based on the substance o f inde­pendence can be gathered fro m the observation o f S ir John Kote law ala , P rem ier o f Ceylon, who made an a ttack on “ com­m un ism ” a t the conference. W hen

Congressman Adam C layton Powell o f Harlem acted as “ uno ffic ia l representa tive” o f the U.S. a t the Bandung con­ference. He to ld Asians and A fr ic a n s th a t d isc rim in a tio n was disappearing so fas t in the U.S. th a t “ to be a N egro is no longer a s tigm a” but ra th e r “ a m ark o f d is tin c tio n .”

the State D epartm ent responded cau tiously to Chou’s o f fe r to “ nego tia te” over Formosa, K o te ­law ala said, " I t is a p ity th a t the U.S. should rep ly to the o ffe r w ith o u t th in k in g .”

B y “ th in k in g ,” th is bourgeois head o f a colonial coun try means “ w ith o u t bearing in m ind the need bo appear a n ti- im p e r ia lis t in the eyes o f the masses.” The p o li­t ic a l m axim o f such figu res is “ I f you can’t be independent you m u s t a t least appear inde­pendent.”

The po licy o f P eking like th a t o f Moscow flows- fro m the desire to m a in ta in the sta tus quo; th a t is, stem fu r th e r revo lu tiona ry upsurges. T h is has been the po licy

o f Moscow since S ta lin seized, power and i t is based on the fea r o f the pa ras itic bureaucratic caste tha l revo lu tions w ill d is­lodge them . In the ease o f the Chinese 'S ta lin is ts the fea r is th a t the revo lu tion in th a t coun try , ta k in g fresh in sp ira tion fro m upsurges elsewhere, w ill continue to unfo ld , d isp lac ing the cu rre n t governm ent by genuine represen- tives o f the w o rk in g class.

The policy is' u topian, fo r even i f the S ta lin is ts could m a in ta in the. sta tus quo in de fin ite ly a t home (w h ich they can’ t ) , im ­peria lism by its ve ry na ture is incapable o f do ing so. I t m ust ex­pand — as two w o rld wars have e loquently dem onstrated. Thus the utop ian p o licy o f the S ta lin is ts becomes reac tiona ry fo r i t p lays in to the hands o f im peria lism . In place o f re v o lu tio n a ry socia list s trugg le , the on ly road open to the oppressed peoples o f the earth in th e ir d rive fo r economic w e ll being and w o rld peace, the S ta l­in is ts o f fe r the delusory panacea o f “ coexistence.”

They meet here on common ground w ith the Nehrus, who also fe a r above a ll the g ro w in g po ten tia l o f the Colonial revo lu ­tion . The Nehrus prepared the Bandung stage on which Chou En-ilai made his bow as a new upholder o f the sta tus quo. A ll o f them deserve the medals handed ou t by the N . Y . T imes.

C L A R IT Y N E E D E DR evolu tionary s o c i a l i s t s

th roughou t the w orld can take hea rt in the sym ptom atic s ig n if i­cance o f the Bandung conference. In th is da rk , d is to rted , reducing m irro r, the image o f the g'iant colon ia l revo lu tion can be made out. I t is a revo lu tion th a t can never be contained fo r long by the im p e ria lis ts and th e ir agents, no m a tte r how cunning and prac­tised in deception.

But. one o f the prerequis ites fo r the successful outcome o f th a t revo lu tion is complete c la r ity on the p o lit ic a l m eaning o f the Bandung conference and the role o f its sponsors.

I t is part o f the e f fo r t to stem the revo lu tion , to d ive rt it , to supply it w ith “ leaders” who, like Judas goats w i l l take i t in to the slaughterhouse o f im peria lism .

The ca.se for socialized medicine — in ­deed for socialism — never looked stronger than in the light of the sordid profiteering connected with the distribution of the new polib vaccine.

Here is a new miracle drug capable of preventing death, suffering and anguish. I t is developed by a whole community of scientists working selflessly with only the welfare of society in mind.

Wouldn’t i t have been fitting for the vaccine’s distribution to have been handled in the same spirit? Manufactured by the government at cost, strictly rationed ac­cording to age group priority, and ad­ministered to children free of charge?

But the capitalist government refuses to make the vaccine freely available to every child in the land. The Eisenhower Ad­ministration brushed aside pleas of AFL President George Meany that the vaccine be distributed through public health in­stead of commercial and private medical channels.

With equal brusqueness the plea of CIO President Reuther that the government insure the vaccination of every child regardless of income level was dismissed.

Instead, the Administration .licensed six phai'maceutical companies to make the, vaccine and sell i t like any other com­modity.

Now, the pharmaceutical houses aren’t in business for their health — or yours. They demand profits just like any other capitalist enterprise — as much as the tra ffic will bear.

Canadian Left Wingers Expelled from CCF

World Events[ In the A p r i l 18 issue o f the

M ilita n t we published a report o f the expulsion o f the revo lu ­tion a ry socia lists a t the conven­tion o f the O n ta rio Cooperative Com m onwealth Federation. The report was based on the accounts o f Canadian newspapers which gave the s to ry f ro n t page p rom in ­ence. We publish below a firs t hand rep o rt and analysis o f the convention and the s trugg le o f the le ft w ing in the CCF. — E d ito r. l

By Peter FarnesworthTORONTO , Canada, A p r i l 14

— The r ig h t w in g o f the O nta rio section o f the Co-operative Com­m onwealth Federation turned the p a r ty ’s 21st annual convention, held in th is c ity last week, in to a hyste rica l w itch hun t against the socia lis t L e ft. U nder the ban­ner o f rid d in g the p a rty o f T ro t­sky ism , 14 a c tiv is ts were ex­pelled.

Im m ed ia te ly fo llo w in g the On­ta r io action, the B r it is h Colum ­bia r ig h t-w in g leadership, which has been p repa ring its next week’s convention as a show­down w ith a broad le ft opposi­tion , announced its in te n tio n of opening up w ith a s im ila r d rive to roo t T ro tsky ism o u t o f the m ovem ent in the west.

T h is yea r’s O nta rio convention, ta k in g place on w h a t is ce rta in to be an election year, was p re ­ceded by a representa tive trade union conference. In a s tatem ent

'to the un ion ists, O nta rio CCF leader Donald M acDonald spelled out the line o f the R ig h t in the fo llo w in g w ords: “ N a tion a liza tio n isn ’t in ou r p rogram any m ore— the ad m in is tra tive problem s are so b ig i t would m ake i t im pos­sible.”

The f ir s t day’s session o f the convention its e lf unwound in a lackadaisical m anner u n t il a res­o lu tion fro m the U n iv e rs ity o f Toronto c l u b re s ta tin g the p a r ty ’s position o f opposition to German Rearm am ent came up fo r debate.

A few m onths ago when the issue arose in the House o f Com­mons the CCF pa rlia m en ta ry caucus s p lit on the question. N a ­tio n a l CCF leader, M. J. Cold- w e ll, and 4 o ther members of pa rlia m en t cast th e ir vote w ith the governm ent and the Tories fo r Germ any Rearm am ent, in defiance o f o ff ic ia l p a rty po licy.

Im m ed ia te ly f o l l o w i n g the read ing o f the U n iv e rs ity c lub ’s reso lu tion a prom inen t trade union bureaucrat, H e rbe rt G ar- grave, rushed fo rw a rd w ith a m otion to tab le. Chairm an and p ro v in c ia l pres ident P arks ac­cepted the m otion and am idst considerable d isturbance called the question w h ich carried 64 to 48. A n o th e r p ro v in c ia l council

member, sensing the uneasiness o f the delegates, protested, leav­in g the chairm an room to w ith ­draw. The cha irm an called the question again. T h is tim e the vote was 6 to 61 in fa v o r o f tab ling .

F rid a y m o r n i n g ’ s session (A p r i l 8) was a closed one. Sandwiched between membership and financia l reports the r ig h t w in g intended to dispose o f the appeals o f 8 ou t o f 14 who la s t f a l l had been expelled by the p rov inc ia l council. B u t th e ir s team -ro lle r plans were f r u s t ra t ­ed. F o llo w in g the c ircu la tio n o f a 2,000 w ord document and a w itch -h u n tin g speech by p ro v in ­c ia l secretary Ken Bryden, one o f the accused, Paddy Stanton, made a general p resen ta tion o f the case fo r the accused.

He e ffe c tiv e ly turned the charge o f T ro ts k y is t p a r ty w ith ­in the p a rty in to a counter charge th a t the r ig h t w in g under th is guise was a tte m p tin g to rid the p a rty o f its soc ia lis t oppon­ents. To the uneasy delegates he presented a sta tem ent fro m the accused backed up w ith a pow erfu l appeal fro m CCF m em ­be r o f pa rliam en t C o lin Cam­eron.

Cameron, a leading le ft w inge r in the BC section, warned the delegates “ to consider ve ry ca re fu lly before you deprive the CCF o f his (S tan ton ’s) ta len ts .” “ You need him and his k ind ,” he warned, “ and i f you do not know it , th a t is the fr ig h te n in g mea­sure o f your d ire need o f ideas and those who can voice them .”

Cameron’s s lashing a ttack on the O n ta rio leadership over th e ir “ g re a t deal o f success in cu rb ­in g and repressing unpopu lar and uncom fortab le ideas” w h ich he contrasted w ith th e ir lack o f success a t the po lls, roused a t ­tem pts to suppress the docu­m ent b u t the delegates would have none o f it .

A f te r the general presenta­tion , the in d iv id u a l cases were dealt w ith . F o u r o f the accused who were allowed to appear did an e ffec tive job in defense o f democracy in the movement. E a r ly in the hearings the m a­chine was a rro ga n t, cyn ica l, and confident — genera ting the a t­mosphere o f a Roman circus where the fa te o f the g lad ia to r was determ ined by a gesture o f the thum b. B u t as the t r ia l p ro ­ceeded the R ig h t tu rned vicious, and desperately a ttem pted to re ­k ind le an atm osphere o f hys­te ria .

The hea ring no t on ly took over the en tire m o rn ing session b u t also m ost o f the afternoon. Several delegates h it the f lo o r to express grave doubts and de­fend the accused despite the hos­t i le pressures. The vote on the

in d iv id u a l cases varied w ide ly fro m s ix o r seven to 25 o r 30. Dozens o f delegates fo llow ed a po licy o f absta in ing . L a te r in the sessions several delegates approached the expelled to voice regre ts about the expulsion. Some apologized fo r th e ir f a i l ­ure to f ig h t against the expu l­sions.

The fo llo w in g and la s t days’ sessions were pervaded by an a t­mosphere o f in tim id a tio n , doubt and uneasiness. Several delegates fe lt called upon to w ith d ra w m ild ly c r it ic a l amendments com­in g fro m th e ir clubs. The m a­chine moved in to action again to force the ta b lin g w ith o u t de­bate o f another reso lu tion cen­soring the five M .P.’s who defied p a r ty po licy on German Rearm a­ment.

Canadian Congress o f Labor (C IO ) F A C d irec to r H e n ry Weisbaeh cyn ica lly characterized the expulsions as a c lean ing o f the p a r ty ’s s k ir ts to enter the election cam paign. “ We don’t w an t to be ta rre d w ith the brush th a t we are ha rbo ring people who believe in a to ta lita r ia n ph ilosophy,” he to ld the press.

P rov inc ia l secre tary Bryden, w h is tlin g in the dark, claimed th a t “ th is can have no th ing but a good resu lt on the CCF p a r ty ” but many delegates w ill be re tu rn in g to th e ir clubs fu l l o f doubts! Rank and file a c tiv ­ists, w ith a developing uneasi­ness about the leadership’s tu rn ­in g away from a socia list po licy to a lib e ra l re fo rm policy, w il l be asking questions about social­ism , about T ro tsky ism and about what is to be done in the p a rty to make i t an in s tru m en t fo r a socia list Canada.

May Selection For Book - A - Month

(Continued from page. 2) the Reconstruction ba ttles , re ­fused to “ sheathe his swoi-d” bu t started w ie ld ing i t on beha lf o f the labo r movement.

R e jecting the adulation th a t a ca p ita lis t class, f in a lly converted ,to abo lition ism , was ready to heap upon him , P h illip s took up the least “ respectable” cause o f his day. D id he become a social­is t as m any cla im ? K orngo ld shows p re tty w e ll th a t th is was not the case. P h illip s was no t re a lly acquainted w ith M arx ism . Y e t h is social in s tinc ts were sharp and he aligned h im se lf so lid ly in a ll class ba ttles on the side o f the w orkers . S ure ly he is one o f the m ost in s p ir in g figu res in A m erican h is to ry .

— G. L .

N E W S P A P E R CEN SO R SHIPwas pu b lic ly imposed upon a ll A lg e ria n papers A p r i l 22 by the French G overnor General. A cam paign o f b ru ta l G estapo-like repression is being ca rried on aga inst the A lg e ria n M T L D w hich demands independence fo r A lg e ria .

* * *

A Y E L LO W DOG O A TH , de­manded o f some 2,500 c iv ilia n employes o f the IDS. in W est Germ any, is being b it te r ly p ro ­tested by the Social Dem ocratic P a rty . The “ lo y a lty oa th” reads: “ I am no t a m ember o f an o rgan iza tion o f governm ent ser­vants w h ich cla im s the r ig h t to s tr ik e a g a i n s t the U n ited States. , .” I t is be ing demand­ed o f the employes o f the U.S. H igh Commission in Germ any, which w il l fo rm a lly go ou t o f existence when W est German sovre ign ty is com plete ly ra t if ie d . I ts duties and employes are to be taken over by the U.S. em­bassy.

* * *U . S. R E F U G E E S . “ A th in g

to rem em ber about the U n iv e rs i­ty o f Cam bridge in Eng land is th a t i t is the recognized haven o f refugee scientists. In the 1930s scientists escaping fro m H it le r ’s Germ any sheltered there. In the 1950s the refugees came fro m M cC a rth y ’s A m erica . Cam ­bridge h o s p ita lity is unaffec ted by the exiles’ cou n try o f o rig in . U n iv e rs ity em ploym ent is found now fo r escaped A m erican scien­t is ts w ith the same d is in te res t­ed a ttitu d e as th a t w h ich in ­sured the means to w o rk and live to se lf-ex iled German scien­tis ts 20/ years ago.” — Colum n- n is t J u d ith Robinson in the Toron to (Canada) Telegram .

* * *

J A P A N ’S L E F T S O C IA LIS T Scontinue to rise in popu la r fa ­vor. In las t F e b ru a ry ’s elections they increased th e ir delegation in p a rlia m en t by 15 members. In the 46 p re fe c tu ra l elections (com parable to the elections fo r s ta te leg is la tu res in the U .S.) held A p r i l 23 the y increased th e ir vote by over 64% . The

Detroit Fri. NightSocialist Forum

•R e lig ion : I ts O rig ins ,

Social Function and F u tu reF rid a y , M ay 6, a t 8 P. M.

•The Am erican Labor Leaders

F rid a y , M ay 13, a t 8 P. M.•

A t 3000 Grand R iver, Rm. 207Donation 25c.

F ree fo r Unem ployed

election resu lts were a severe b low to P rem ie r H a toyam a’s p a rty .

* * *B O M B A Y P O LIC E fired in to

a dem onstra tion o f s tr ik in g c ity tra n sp o rt workers. M any s tr ike rs were in ju red and 60 were a rre s t­ed. The s trike , which began on A p r i l 18, involves 8,000 w orkers.

* * *1800 IR O N ORE M IN E R S in

Luxem bourg w ent on s tr ik e on A p r i l 18 fo r the 40-hoar week, instead o f th e ir present 48-hour week w ith re ten tion o f the ex­is t in g wage scales.

* * *

D A N IS H D A IR Y W O R KERS ON 20,000 F A R M S held a three- day s tr ik e dem onstra tion in the m iddle o f A p r il. They demanded an e igh t-h ou r day instead o f the nine hours scheduled fo r the summer. The dispute is now be­fo re an a rb itra tio n cou rt set up by the Danish pa rliam en t.

jjc jfc sj:

F R IE N D S H IP T R E A T Y wassigned by -India and Cambodia. A t a banquet ce lebra ting the tre a ty w h ich N ehru gave fo r Cambodian Prince Norodom S iha­nouk, the ambassador fro m Red China was present.

* * *

H U N G A R IA N P R E M IE R IM R E N A G Y and Defense M in is te r M ih a ly Farkas were ousted fro m th e ir g-overnment and Comimunist P a rty posts on A p r i l 17. Both were taxed w ith fo llo w in g a ‘ (so ft” line th a t favored produc­tion o f consum er goods as aga inst development o f heavy Industry . H in ts o f a “ treason” t r ia l in prospect fo r the tw o were con­tained in the e d ito r ia l in Szabad Nep, leading H ungarian S ta lin is t newspaper, which declared th a t •‘especially serious was (N a g y ’s) neglect to bu ild up w a r in d u s try because th is endangered the sh ie ld ing o f H u n g a ry ’s peaceful development under the pro tection o f a s trong a rm y .”

New York Annual Spring

Bazaar•

Books, P rin ts , Records, Lamps, E le c trica l appliances, Special d isp lay o f Tools, Antiques, H and ic ra fts , Lea the r goods, W earing apparel, and many- other item s —

A t Bargain Prices•

Sat., M ay 14, 12 noon t i l l? ?

M il ita n t H a ll 116 U n iv e rs ity Place

Auspices: New Y ork School O f Social Science

“ Parke-Davis and Allied Laboratories both said they expected sales of the vac­cine to have a marked effect on their earnings,” says the April 13 Wall Street Journal. A spokesman for L illy said the company had a large investment in the vaccine and “ expects a sizable return.”

They will he aided in their profit making by the Polio Foundation, which financed Dr. Salk’s researches out of the March of Dimes contributed by the public. The Polio Foundation will vaccinate all firs t and second grade children in the country gratis. But its directors refused to extend this limited coverage after Dr. Salk an­nounced that only two instead of three shots would be required to give immunity. The Foundation directors released the extra vaccine to the companies for com­mercial sale.

Manufacturing cost of the vaccine is estimated at somewhat under $1 for the series of shots. The price to the parents will be $6.

Doctoring, too, under capitalism observes the rule of private enterprise, commodity production and profit making. Doctors will charge §3 to $5 per visit. Total cost of immunizing a child can thus cost the parents as high as $20.

A t that price, many children will be kept from immunity and this in turn endangers the whole immunization pro­gram.

Isn’t this a prize example of how capi­talism can foul up one of science’s greatest gifts to mankind ?

Disarmament and CynicismThe nature of the new cabinet post,

Secretary of Peace, that Eisenhower created and gave to the unemployed Mr. Harold Stassen (his Foreign Operations Administration job is folding up) is now becoming clear. On announcement of his new job Stassen’s firs t move was to ask the public for suggestions as to how disarmament could best be achieved.

The next big move of the Peace Sec­retary was to appeal to the nation’s editors to help combat “ cynicism” towards Eisen­hower’s disarmament proposals: “ I t is my view,” he wrote, “ that cynicism — con­firmed, congealed, compounded cynicism — constitutes one of the most serious handicaps. . . I f defeatism became the rule of the day in this problem, that in itself would foredoom failure.”

Doesn’t it occur to Mr. Stassen that a plea to editors to convince people that disarmament talk is serious while the armament race speeds wildly on — is itself, an act of cynicism?

New York Times Washington corre­spondent, James Reston, in his April 24 column, was not very happy at having the disarmament ball thrown at the news­papermen by Harold Stassen. A fter the ritualistic placing of blame on “ Com­munists” who have “ disappointed our hopes so often,” Reston throws the ball

back to Stassen: “ The greatest immediate threat in this country to the objective of disarmament lies not with the American people .. . but with the Government which Mr. Stassen represents.”

Absolutely correct!Mr. Reston cites the record. He quotes

both Eisenhower and Dulles to show that the government has accepted atom bombs as conventional weapons. He shows how they blandly announce their intentions of using them. Then Reston asks the pointed question: “ I f all wars, even limited wars for the defense of Quemoy and Matsu, are

-to be atomic wars, what nation is going to do anything except manufacture atomic weapons as fast as it can ?”

Reston concludes: “ The trouble with using tactical A-bombs to knock out an airfield in Red China is that i t invites a big A-bomb on Formosa, to be followed no doubt by an H-bomb on Shanghai. A fter that the new Secretary of Peace, Mr. Stassen, would no doubt replace Mr. Stevens as Secretary of the Army.”

Eisenhower’s “ peace” talk during the 1952 election probably won him the Presidency. He evidently hopes that a fu ll­time man on the job of “ peace talk” will help him keep it in 1956 and obscure the fact that atomic weapons are currently being shipped to the war-mad Chinese na­tionalists.

The Negro Struggle----------------------------- By Jean Blake -------------;----------------

Some Thoughts on Automation and 'Negro Jobs'How will automation affect the Negro

worker ?Businessmen and industrialists are ex­

cited about automation. The reason for their enthusiasm is not hard to see. Auto­mation is the tendency to develop the automatic factory to the point where raw materials are fashioned into finished products without being touched by human hands. Machines are guided not by men but by electronic circuits, tape recordings or by the shape of the objects themselves.

In describing one of these modern mira­cles, Ira Wolfert says in the current Readers’ Digest:

“ In California I saw a machine that makes 13 boxes a minute from a pile of boards and a barrel of nails. I t also makes crates and frames for a bed’s box springs. I t can do everything except join the carpenters’ union.” (My emphasis. J. B.)

I t is this last point of course, that ex­plains the enthusiasm of the capitalists who own the factories and the machines: they can produce more commodities with less workers^ and, they hope, with less “ labor trouble.”

What does this mean to the workers? In a nutshell, it means they must think in terms of taking over control of the ma­chines their labor, mental, and physical, have developed, and reorganizing produc­tion on a planned basis of production for use. I f they don’t, and i f the factories continue to operate only so long as the capitalists who own them can realize a profit, what will the present labor force do for jobs, and income? Who will buy the abundance of commodities?

The Militant has discussed these im­plications of automation elsewhere in the paper, but in this column we are concerned with one special aspect of automation: its

particular effect on N.egro workers. The ultimate effect will depend -on who owns and controls the machines — a small minority of private profiteers, or society as a whole. But it seems to this writer that there are some very important ques­tions Negro workers must consider imme­diately:

I f the first results of introducing auto­mation in a plant are (1) to lay off those last hired, and (2) to keep or hire only a few men with the particular skills required to set the automatic machines in motion, what will happen to Negro workers who (1) continue to be the last hired, and (2) continue to be deprived of equal oppor­tunities for education and training?

I f the hardest and dirtiest and least skilled jobs, which still constitute the bulk of “ Negro jobs” in industry, are eliminat-

*ed by automatic machines, what happens to the colored workers now on those jobs?

Actually, automation does not change the nature of the problems of the N-egro struggle; it just poses those problems more sharply, makes them more urgent. That is the “ menace” of automation.

But automation also holds forth a promise for the elimination of the evils of Negro discrimination. In a socialist society in which production is democratically con­trolled and planned for the benefit of all mankind, every improvement that cuts down the amount of labor necessary to produce the useful objects man wants or needs will provide more free time for everyone. With economic security assured for all, fear of unemployment and hunger will no longer drive men to the jungle type of struggle for existence. There will be useful work for all, and irrational divisions like “ Negro jobs” will exist only in history books.

Equal Pay lor Women------------------------------- By Joyce Cowley -------------------------------

“ The principle of equal pay is basic to the American free enterprise system. Both employers and union leaders find its application important to the morale and efficiency of workers in their every-day jobs. I t benefits the community by uphold­ing the general level of wages and main­taining purchasing power.”

I got this from an EQUAL PAY FRIMER recently published by the U.S. Department of Labor — Women’s Bureau. You’d certainly get the impression that equal pay, since it is “ basic” and both unions and employers are for it, must be pretty general these days. But I discovered after a careful, reading of the pamphlet that there is no national legislation for equal pay, 35 states do not have this kind of legislation and only one-fourth of all union contracts have an equal-pay clause. How this affects women in their “ every­day jobs” (is there some other kind of job?) is indicated by examples noted in one public employment office during the past year.

The jobs offered were patent researcher, department store cashier, sales (dept, stores), investigation shopper, and clerk- typist. The weekly pay offered to men and women for these occupations in the same order as listed above differed as follows:

Men$70$50 to $60$50$55

Women$60$40 to $45$37.50$40

For the clerk-typist job, men were offered 85c. per hour and women 75c.

I t ’s gratifying to learn, however, that everyone is in favor of equal pay. For instance, the government. For the last ten. years bills for equal pay have been in­troduced at each session of Congress and

according to this PRIMER, they have con­sistently received administration support. I t seems a little curious that the bills have never been passed, but I suppose some dull-witted Congressmen just didn’t realize that it was administration policy.

The National Association of Manu­facturers is for equal paya too. Here’s what they say: “ The principle of equal pay for equal work performance within the wage structure of a local business estab­lishment is sound and should be observed. Rates of pay should be based on the nature and requirements of each job, irrespective of age, sex or other personal factors of the workers.”

An appendix to the PRIMER gives a list of organizations represented at Con­gressional hearings on equal pay bills. The National Association of Manufacturers was there in 1949 and 1950, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Gen­eral Electric. They appeared in opposition to the bill.

The opposition of employer groups to national equal pay legislation is readily explained by the PRIMER. I t ’s because of their concern about “ inspection and en­forcement.” In other words, they are for the principle of equal pay as long as they don’t have to raise wages.

The average earnings of a woman worker are a little less than half the average for a man. I f you understand the fundamental relationships between wages and profits —• i.e., the more the worker gets, the less the boss gets and vice versa— you can see why the National Associa­tion of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are not eager to raise the pay of 20,000,000 women work­ers. To divide workers on the basis of race or sex and roll in extra profits by an in­tensified exploitation of minority groups— that’s really basic to the American free enterprise system.

Notes from the NewsA N O T H E R G IV E A W A Y has been okayed by

both Houses o f Congress. The governm ent w ill “ se ll” 24 syn the tic rubber fac to ries , b u ilt d u rin g the w a r a t a cost o f S o l8 m illio n and now w o rth probably tw ice that, am ount, fo r §310 m illio n . The deal w il l help increase m onopoly since the fo u r b ig companies slated to get. the p lan ts a lready con tro l 80% o f U.S. t ire production.

IN T E G R A T IO N W ORKS BO TH W A Y S . V o lun ­ta ry en ro llm en t o f 390 w h ite students a t W est V irg in ia S ta te College, fo rm e rly the N egro co l­lege fo r the state, .proves it . There are 671 coloredstudents a t the college.

* * *R E FO R M E D B IG B U S IN E S S E X E C U T IV E ,

Theodore K. Quinn, fo rm e r vice-president o f Gen­era l E le c tric Co., who resigned and now devotes h im se lf to exposing m onopoly tes tified before a Congressional com m ittee recently . He said the sm all, independent businessman in the U.S. was “ go ing the w ay o f the Am erican In d ia n ” in a losing ba ttle aga inst the b ig corpora tions. “ There are 68 p r iv a te b illio n a ire corpora tions in the country — m ost o f them w ith g re a te r annual incomes than the 48 p o litica l states in the un ion,’ ’ Quinn said. “ As few as 200 in d u s tr ia l g ian ts own o u tr ig h t the m ost im p o rta n t h a lf o f a ll Am erican in d u s try ,” and “ are tra n s fo rm in g the organ ization o f our society in to a k ind o f Am erican feuda lism .” He stated th a t the U.S. in d u s try was cu rre n tly in the m id s t o f the “ th ird m a jo r m erger movement

in its h is to ry .” The f irs t wave s ta rt in g in 1890 and run n ing 't i l l 1903 resu lted in the a n ti- tru s t laws. The sedond wave o f m ergers began in 1020 and ended in the 1029 stock m arke t crash, Quinn rem inded the Congressmen.

* * *

M U C H M O RE. The W a ll S tree t Journa l in fu lm ina ting , aga inst the C IO A u to W orke rs ’ demand fo r a guaranteed annual wage asked the question: W ha t is more s p ir itu a lly degrad ing than be ing paid w h ile unemployed ? The Lo ra in Labor Leader rep lies: N o t be ing ¡paid w h ile unemployed.

* * *

LA B O R P O L IT IC A L A C T IO N has been show­ing increased s treng th and in some cases g rea te r independence in local elections. In addition to the labor v ic to ry in Sheboygan, Wise., which grew out o f the year-o ld K oh le r s trike , a labor-endorsed sla te o f independents won a m a jo r ity o f the c ity council in Peoria, III. Labor-backed Democrats won in Chicago, St. Louis and reg istered gains in fo rm e rly Republican areas o f M ich igan.

v * * *A N O T H E R A N T I-N E G R O O R G A N IZ A T IO N

has become ¡ictive in V irg in ia . C a lling its e lf the Defenders o f State S overe ignty and Ind iv id ua l L ibe rties and c la im in g a membership o f 3,000 ir 20 chapters, the J im Crow organ iza tion is w o rk ­in g fo r changes in the state cons titu tion th a t w i l l tu rn the pub lic school system over to p riva te owners thus p reven ting any desegregation.

V O L U M E X IX M O N D A Y , M A Y 2, 1955 N U M B E R 18

This C en tu ry o r Next? SWP Gets Large Vote In Oakland City Election

Thurgood Marshall, chief attorney for the National Associa­tion for the Advancement of Colored People, is shown above asking the Supreme Court to put teeth in its ruling against school segregation. He argued against “local option” and asked the court to set a 1955 or 1956 compliance date. Otherwise Dixie- crat “plans" may set the year 2015 as a target date.

From Detroit

UAW-Ford NegotiationsWhen C arl S te lla to , president

o f Ford Local 600, became a member o f the na tiona l Ford nego tia ting com m ittee, he prom ­ised h is loca l: “ We sha ll make weekly reports to the member­ship — i f necessary, da ily re ­ports — so tha t our membership w ill be in form ed a t a ll tim es and aware o f w hat is happening d u rin g negotia tions.” A t least pa rt o f th is prom ise is begin­n ing to be kept. The A p r i l 23 issue o f Ford Facts reports tha t meetings, open to a ll Local 600 members, w i l l be held every Tuesday and Thursday in the local ha ll, where negotia tors from the local w il l make re ­ports on developments.

In the same issue S te lla to says th a t so fa r there has been no real negotia tion, on ly “ an ex­change o f proposals.” O ver a page o f the paper is f il le d w ith h ig h lig h ts o f the Ford and U X W proposals, which m ay be added to as tim e goes on.

F o llow ing are some o f the company proposals:

“ The company proposes to make con tinuation o f union shop and check-o ff provis ions con­ting en t upon agreem ent being reached p ro v id ing corresponding safeguards and protections jn the area o f M anagem ent securi­ty . ”

I t w ants con tract changes to provide “ m ore e ffec tive pro tec­tion to the Company against w ork stoppages.”

I t wants to exclude fro m the un ion ’s ju r is d ic tio n several clas­s ifica tions o f w o rk now included, such as tim ekeepers, d rivers, service stock, etc.

I t wants to n u ll i fy the un ion ’s r ig h ts to be recognized in new ly b u ilt or acquired F ord p lants and to organize p resen tly ex­cluded employees.

I t wants to e lim ina te a ll f u l l

tim e union representation and to reduce the num ber o f un ion rep resentatives in a ll Ford p lants.

I t wants to e lim ina te p la n t­w ide sen io rity in the Tool and Die and M aintenance sk illed c lass ifica tion .

* * *

GM rep orts p ro fits o f $30.9 m illio n fo r the f i r s t qu a rte r o f th is yea r; in the same period o f 1954 i t was $189 m illio n . The w ork week averaged 44.2 hours, a new peacetime h igh a t GM. Average weekly earn ings o f GM workers also rose to an a ll-tim e high o f $103.79. In the same qu arte r Ford hou rly employees worked an average o f 45.3 hours and earned an average o f $106.- 677.

* * *

On June 22, 1954 a federa l judge ruled th a t the D e tro it housing Commission was v io la t­in g the 14th Am endm ent by con­tin u in g rac ia l segregation in public housing. He ordered the commission to begin in te g ra tio n “ fo r th w ith ” and abolish separate lis ts o f Negro and w h ite a p p li­cants fo r the housing pro jects. T h a t was a lm ost a whole year ago .On A p r i l 21, 1955, the De­t r o i t H ousing Commission w ent to the U. S. C irc u it C ourt o f Appeals in C inc inna ti to appeal the judge ’s decision and to re ­quest “ more tim e .” M eanwhile a ll bu t one o r tw o o f D e tro it ’s p ro jects rem a in J im Crow.

A m erican M otors Oo., m akers of Hudson and Nash oars, in open­in g nego tia tions w ith the U A W - CIO w a n t an end to “ pa tte rn settlem ents” in the in d u s try , the A p r i l 13 W a ll S tree t Journa l re ­ports. The company doesn’t w an t a U A W -G enera l M otors to be a model fo r it , b u t wants a contract suited to its own alleged economic needs.

By Bill MorganO A K L A N D , C a lif., A p r i l 24—

N early 16% o f la s t Tuesday’s voters in Oakland cast th e ir ba l­lo ts fo r the candidate o f the S oc ia lis t W orkers P a rty . L i l l ia n K iezel, SW P candidate fo r Coun- c ilm an-a t-la rge received 9,273 votes w h ile the Republican, Les­te r G rant, run n ing fo r the same office, sponsored by the K now - land-owned Oakland T ribune, was elected w ith s lig h tly m ore than 49,000 votes.

This m un ic ipa l cam paign was m arked by general pub lic apa thy and b it te r personal antagonism s between the various p ro -ca p ita l­ist candidates. The on ly genuine issues o f concern to the public were those raised by the Social­is t W orkers P a rty . The S ta lin ­ists, as is th e ir po licy , endorsed three p ro -ca p ita lis t candidates and ignored the on ly w o rk in g - class candidates in an e f fo r t to prom ote th e ir support o f the Dem ocratic P a rty .

L IT T L E RED B A IT IN GThe atmosphere o f the cam ­

paign was com para tive ly free o f red -ba iting . W orkers a t the fac­to ry gates greeted the lite ra tu re o f the iSWiP in a m ost fr ie n d ly m anner. M any already knew o f our cam paign and p rog ram and urged th e ir fe llo w w o rkers to read the SW P p la tfo rm . Gener­ous applause usu a lly fo llow ed the speech o f the SW P candidate and in none o f the unions spoken to was there and red -ba iting . The S ta lin is ts , suppo rting p ro ­c a p ita lis t candidates, attem pted to ignore the SW P program and candidate b u t undoubtedly m any members o f the CP contro lled unions ignored the S ta lin is ts ’ ad­vice and cast th e ir ba llo ts fo r M rs. K iezel.

The members o f the N egro churches in O akland have always been fr ie n d ly to the program o f the SW P and in one p a rticu la r church the pastor to ld M rs. K ie ­zel tha t her in v ita tio n to speak before the congregation was ta n ­tam ount to endorsement.

•In add ition to speaking before organized groups and d is tr ib u ­tion o f lite ra tu re , the SW P cam­pa ign com m ittee organized sev­era l poster paste-ups. A beau ti­fu l blue and w h ite poster was pasted up on poles in various areas o f the w o rk in g class d is­tr ic ts . A “ f ly in g squad” in a f te r ­w ork hours toured the c ity hous­ing pro jects, fa c to ry gate areas and o ther key po in ts pasting up “ Vote S ocia lis t” posters.

The SW P program covered the fo llo w in g po in ts :

(1 ) H a lt the W a r D rive o f B ig Business tow ard A tom ic W ar. (2 ) Stop the Police-S tate Assau lt on C iv il L ibe rties . (3 ) F u ll Social, P o litica l and Eco­nom ic E q u a lity fo r A ll M in o r­ities . (4 ) F u ll Economic E q u a lity fo r W ork in g Women. (5 ) Today’s Youth Deserves a F u tu re . (6 ) N o T axa tion on Incomes U nder $7500. (7 ) Jobs fo r A ll . (8 ) F o r

an Independent Labor P a rty O r­ganized by the Unions. (9 ) F o r W orkers C ontro l o f In d u s try . (10 ) F o r a W orkers and F a rm ­ers Governm ent.

EXP O S E E A C H O TH E RThe p ro -ca p ita lis t candidates,

Dem ocrats and Republicans alike, in th e ir personal smears o f each o ther revealed the depths to which c ity governm ent in O ak­land has sunk. The fa c t, known to everyone around c ity ha ll, th a t C ity Council m eetings are cut-and-dried , rubber-stam p p ro ­ceedings, was b ro ug h t o u t by one candidate who said th a t a ll im p o rta n t decisions o f the Coun­c il were made a t a noon-tim e m eeting in C ity H a ll and then voted upon w ith o u t discussion a t the re g u la r m eeting th a t same n igh t.

'Police b ru ta li ty and slum housing, old issues in Oakland, were suddenly “ discovered” by the boss-controlled po litic ian s a few m onths p r io r to the election and w ill be fo rg o tte n now th a t the votes are counted.

A proposal to elect the c ity councilmen fro m d is tr ic ts ra th e r than fro m the c ity -w ide electora l system was dubbed “ w a rd ” p o li­tics by the Oakland T ribune , the on ly da ily newspaper in Oak­land. The T ribune , sometimes re ­fe rred to as the “ Form osa D a ily Bugle,” is the voice o f the Know land Republican machine. I t ru th less ly d is to rts some issues and Ignores others in an e ffo r t to con tro l C ity H a ll.

The labo r movem ent, dom inat­ed by e ith e r old line labo r-fake rs o f the A F L o r by pro-iS ta lin ists in the CIO, hustled votes, fo r the tw o c a p ita lis t parties. T h a t th is deprives the w o rk in g class o f Oakland o f representa tion in governm ent was made p a in fu lly c lear when w orkers a t fac to ry gates b it te r ly complained to SW P cam paign w o rke r: “ We have nobody in the C ity H a ll re ­sponsible to us — the workers. A l l the fa ke rs come ground w av­ing an old bu t unused union book fu l l o f dues stamps c la im ­ing to be our friends, bu t a fte r they are elected they say they have a du ty to A L L the people. T ha t means they are go ing to fo rge t the w o rk in g people and do fa vo rs fo r the bosses.”

T IE -U P W IT H BOSSESOne o f the p ro -ca p ita lis t can­

didates who lost his seat on the C ity Council in the election charged th a t members o f the C ity governm ent and School Board re g u la r ly accepted g if ts fro m bosses who did business w ith the various o ffic ia ls . He claim ed i t was usual fo r mem­bers o f the School B oard to ge t free garbage service, fre e ta x i rides, g if ts fro m w e a lthy people and corpora tions. T h is public disclosure incurred the w ra th o f the O akland T ribune . They an ­swered w ith a red -b a itin g smear.

P ub lic m eetings organized by

c iv ic groups were po o rly a ttend­ed. The re g is tra tio n figu re o f voters was sm all due to lack o f in te res t in the cam paign. The only da ily newspaper gave l i t t le notice to the election and e ith e r d is to rted the issues or ignored them.

The general opin ion expressed wherever SW P cam paigners ap­proached w orkers was, “ C ity H a ll is fu l l o f crooks. A l l the old line po litic ia n s are fake rs and crooks. W hy shouldn’t we vo te? ” When the SW P p ro ­gram was expla ined and the need fo r a genuine labor p a rty presented, the w orkers showed in te res t. T h is mood was in d i­cated by the excellent vote g iven the SW P candidate.

L IL L IA N K IE Z E L

. . . Hell Bomb Defense Adds Up to Zero(Continued fro m page I )

'For the sake o f con tinu ing the discussion, Peterson assumes th a t a 10 m egaton (equal to 10 m illio n tons o f T N T ) bomb is dropped on the U. S. C apito l.

The rad ius o f to ta l destruc­tion would be fo u r m iles. N ex t comes a fou r-m ile radius o f very severe damage, (hen another fou r m iles o f moderate damage and f in a lly fo u r m iles o f lig h t damage. Thus there is a rad ius o f 16 m iles o r a c irc le around the C ap ito l 32 m iles in d iam et­er. “ Now i t ’s ju s t fu t i le to ta lk about people rem a in ing in these downtown ta rge t areas. I t ’s ju s t fu tile . I t means death,” says the C iv il Defense head.

E verybody would have to g e t out before. How could th is be done? Peterson suggests car pools to take care o f those who don’t own autos. Being la te fo r the p ickup, o r i f the car were broken down o r deep in some pa rk in g lo t o r garage w ould be trag ic . C h ildren and parents should have rendezvous street corners a ll p icked ou t in advance so th a t the m othe r could drive to the spot the ch ild , having been dismissed fro m school, was heading fo r . A nd then they could p ick up the fa th e r com ing from his jo b to the p re -a rra n g ­ed m eeting spot on the w ay ou t o f town. I t ’s obvious th a t P e te r­son expects split-second tim in g by parents and ch ildren.

W here w ould the c ity people go? T w e n ty -five to 50 m iles o u t­side o f the urban areas, is rec­ommended. There, i t is hoped, they could double up w ith fa m i­lies, o r live in churches, school- houses, etc. They could cook in em pty gas and o il drum s. “ Be-

cause, a f te r th is bomb goes o ff , you aren ’t go ing to cook w ith gas o r e le c tr ic ity . Those th ings w il l be gone — m aybe gone fo r a long tim e in the U n ited States.”

However, th is is a ve ry o p ti­m is tic p ic tu re based on a lo t o f b ig ifs .

(1 ) I f there is a w a rn ing .(2 ) I f the w a rn in g is long

enough in advance — about fo u r to s ix hours.

(3 ) I f the evacuation — w ith its car pools, s tree tco rner re n ­dezvous o f fam ilies , etc., goes sm ooth ly and the re is no m a jo r panic o r p ile -up o f cars in w recks b lock ing roads.

(4 ) I f the bomb isn ’t much b igg e r than the 10 m egaton one assumed by Peterson — a b ig ­ger one m ig h t destroy the rea r h a lf o f the evacuating columns.

(5 ) I f the evacuees don’t run in to the area o f rad ioactive f a l l ­ou t which fo llow s the bom bing — th is means the f l ig h t has to be upw ind.

(6 ) I f in escaping upw ind fro m the bom bing o f th e ir own c ity the evacuees don’t ru n in to the downwind fa ll-o u t fro m an­o ther c ity bombed a t the same tim e. T h is would be a danger i f W ashington and B a ltim ore were bombed in the same ra id . East, o f the M iss iss ipp i the bomb­in g o f a num ber o f c itie s could mean th a t m any evacuees would be com ple te ly a t th e m ercy o f the w inds unable to f lee in to any area where they w ou ldn ’t be exposed to deadly con tam ina­tio n o f rad ioactive fa ll-o u t.

A W ash ing ton ian fle e in g the bom bing and fa ll-o u t o f his own c ity and B a ltim o re m ig h t run in to the fa ll-o u t fro m P h ila ­de lphia , N ew Y o rk , P ittsb u rg h ,

Richmond, etc. The area o f the fa ll-o u t depends on the size o f the bomb. The fa ll-o u t fro m the E n iw c tok bomb ( th a t k ille d the Japanese fishe rm an 80 m iles aw ay) covered a lm ost 7,000 square m iles in a c ig a r shaped area 220 m iles long by 40 wide.

(7 ) I f f l ig h t o f c ity dw ellers d idn ’t become blocked by the f l ig h t o f ru ra l dwellers evacu­a tin g th e ir areas because they were contam inated by fa ll-o u t fro m o the r cities.

(8) I f the “ hum an” element d idn ’t p lay a g r im t r ic k on the evacuees and cause the bomber (o r rocke t) to m iss its intended ta rg e t and fa l l in the m id s t of the evacuating horde.

BO M B S H E LTE R S ?W hat about bomb shelters?

Peterson is a ll fo r them, bu t warns th a t they can’ t pro tect the dw ellers in la rge c ities who must get ou t. “ Now I ’ve been saying fo r some l i t t le tim e th a t i f I lived 15 m iles o r more fro m the C ap ito l in W ashington, I would bu ild m yse lf a back-yard she lter. I f I had the money I would bu ild a place in m y back yard th a t was constructed o f concrete re in forced w ith steel. I ’d cover i t w ith three fee t o f d ir t . I ’d have f i lte rs in m y a ir in takes. I ’d put w a te r and food­s tu ffs and some k ind Of san ita ry fa c ilit ie s down there, and a b a t­te ry -ty p e rad io .”

B u t th is isn ’t sure. I f the cen­te r o f the b las t isn ’t 15 m iles aw ay, b u t less than f iv e , o r i f the bomb isn ’t ten megatons b u t 20, Peterson doesn’t th in k you ’ l l su rv ive even in the shelter. A n y ­how you ’d have to be inside the she lte r before the bom bing.

B u t w ith a ll its defects, P ete r­

son is s trong fo r the shelters 15-miles fro m the center o f b ig cities. He th in ks i t f its in w ith the s p ir it o f free en terprise : “ Now’ I w a n t to say th is : Some people in th is cou n try 'w a n t the governm ent to do eve ry th in g fo r them. H ere ’s one area where a man can go ahead and do some­th in g fo r h im se lf w ith o u t w a it ­in g fo r the governm ent, w ith o u t respect to the governm ent. . . So the th in g I ’d like to suggest is th a t, instead o f fo ld in g th e ir hands, people g e t busy and bu ild shelters.” O f course, the she lter m ay be in the area o f fa ll-o u t, b u t “ w’e don’t know accurate ly enough a t th is m om ent ju s t how the w ind is go ing to b low ,” so one place is as lucky o r un­lucky as another.

A s i f th is g lim pse o f the fu ­tu re under cap ita lism weren’ t enough, Peterson b land ly told his in te rv ie w e rs th a t the next w a r i would also see w idespread use o f bacterio log ica l w a rfa re ho t on ly aga inst humans bu t in ­troduc ing p lan t and an im al d is­eases.

Warships To Get Another Big Slice Of Nation’s Wealth

K now ing th a t E isenhower’s ap­po in tm ent ' o f Stassen as Sec­re ta ry o f Peace and a ll the sub­sequent ta lk about d isarm am ent was ju s t w indow dressing, the House o f Representatives on A p r i l 22 jam m ed th rough a $1.3 b illio n ap p ro p ria tion fo r w a r­ships.

The b ill ,p ro rides fo r the bu ild ­ing o f a f if th superca rrie r, three more atom ic-powered subm arines and the construction and conver- ion o f a f le e t o f 38 sm alle r vessels fo r the launching o f guided missies.

T h is Congress is known to be ve ry cool to la bo r’s proposal fo r a $1.25 an hour m in im um wage, y e t the House was a lm ost as enthusiastic fo r the huge w a rsh ip ap p ro p ria tion as i t was recently fo r boosting its own pay by $7,500 a year. The vote was 372 - 3.

The debate was m a in ly a series o f charges and countercharges th a t the b ills and com m ittee re ­p o rt ( in favo r, o f course) con­tained in fo rm a tio n th a t w ould m ake i t easy fo r “ Russian spies” ((presumably in the v is ito r ’s g a l­le ry ) . The im p lica tion be ing th a t Congress doesn’t need any in ­fo rm a tio n to vote on arm am ent b ills . These should m ere ly be m arked “ fo r w a r” and everyone w’i l l say “ A ye.”

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