SOCIALIST APPEAL JULY 13, 1940 Willkie Belongs To Inner Circle of Wall Street PA SMITH ANTI RADICAL BILL TO FIRE ALL ALIENS BILL FDR.
COMMUNISTS training and to enter the election Christian Fronters Boast How They Fixed Treason Trial power to scrap the Constitution and to wipe out Workers Plattsburgs!
he said. In plain English: rather surrender to The New New Deal SOCIALIST APPEAL Hitler than to the French people.
That what the patriotism of the bosses Vol. IV, No. 28 Saturday, July 13, 1940 amounts to! That what the democracy of boss PubMehed Weekly by the parties amounts to!
SOCIALIST APPEAL PUBLISHING ASSN.
at 116 University Place, New York, Do you want the same thing to happen here?
Telephone: Algonquin 8547 Then make the same mistake as the French workers and peasants made. In the name of naEditorial Board: tional unity, submit to the heavy hand of WashFELIX MORROW ALBERT GOLDMAN ington and Wall Street. In the name of national General Manager: defense let the boss politicians bamboozle your GEORGE CLARKE unions into ceasing strike action. In the name of the national emergency let them lengthen your Subscriptions. 52. 00 per year 00 for six months. hours of work. Let them take you or your sons Foreign. 00 per year. 50 for six months. Bundlo and turn them into unthinking cannon fodder.
orders: a cents per copy in the United States; cents per copy in all foreign countries. Single copies: cents. All this in the name of democracy. Then, when it serves their purposes, the bosses and their poli Reentered a second class matter December ticians will put the people of this country into 1989, at the post office at New York, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
the straitjacket of fascism.
That what will happen if we, the workers of America, repeat the mistakes of the French Fight with the Socialist Workers workers.
Party for: But those mistakes need NOT be made by the American workers. Let us learn from the terA JOB AND DECENT LIVING FOR EVERY WORKER.
rible tragedy of our French brothers.
OPEN THE IDLE FACTORIES OPERATE Let us resolve to build our trade unions into THEM UNDER WORKERS CONTROL powerful weapons defending all the interests of TWENTY. BILLION DOLLAR FEDERAL the working class against the capitalist class and PUBLIC WORKS AND HOUSING PROGRAM.
its government.
THIRTY THIRTY 30. WEEKLY MINIMUM In the factories and shops, let us give away WAGE 30 HOUR WEEKLY MAXIMUM FOR ALL WORKERS ON ALL JOBS.
nothing to the bosses in the name of national 30 WEEKLY OLD. AGE AND DISABILITY unity. Workers recruited by the government PENSION shall be paid wages at the trade union scale. EXPROPRIATE THE SIXTY FAMILIES.
we are conscripted into the army, let us go ALL WAR FUNDS TO THE UNEMPLOYED.
there to learn the military arts with the de8. PEOPLE REFERENDUM ON ANY AND termination that we shall eventually use our ALL WARS.
knowledge in the service of the working class. NO SECRET DIPLOMACY.
The world we live in is a military camp. Let 10. AN INDEPENDENT LABOR PARTY.
the unions themselves, then, organize the mili11. WORKERS DEFENSE GUARDS AGAINST VIGILANTE AND FASCIST ATTACKS.
12. FULL SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC train outstanding workers as officers, so that EQUALITY FOR THE NEGRO PEOPLE.
workers can be led by their own officers instead of the reactionary breed from West Point.
In every field in the coming days, let us always Bitter Lesson For keep clear the need of defending the interests of the working class against the capitalist class.
Learn well the lessons of France! Then we By SAM MARCY or connection with any of the Labor to Learn From For the workers, the lesson of Gathered to gloat over the radical or working class organi the Christian Front trials is clear.
can be sure that neither the capitalist enemy at whitewashing of fourteen mem zations! Mere membership in the No reliance upon the capitalist Can you imagine Roosevelt and Willkie and home nor the capitalist enemy abroad can pre bers of the Christian Front, more American Labor Party was suf government to fight Fascism! Onall the other big shot Republicans and Democrats vail against the might of the American working than two thousand persons pack ficient to disqualify anyone from the independent organizations class!
ed Brooklyn Prospect Hall to lis serving on the jury.
getting together to put fascism over on this of the working class can accessten to the most frenzied, antifully combat and conquer Fascountry? Can you conceive of Congress convertSemitle, anti Labor outpourings Prosecutor Praised Them ing and voting unlimited power to a triumvirate ever heard in New York.
The prosecutor, Harold Ken cism.
of Hoover, LaGuardia and Garner, including the The meeting was called by the nedy, had openly praised the fascist Christian Front under the Christian Front as based on guise of a patriotle July 4th good sound Amerioan princl CIO ORGANIZERS. No? You can imagine such a thing happen We wish to call special attention to the letter trate Healy, chiet defense counsel loud cheers from the fascist audi SEIZED AS ing? It does sound fantastic, doesn it of which we print on page of this for the acquitted faxeists, to glorence No wonder the lawyer for the FIFTH COLUMN But that exactly what happened in France issue. What he has seen in Connecticut is also cheer for federal prosecutor Har fascists apologized hour for last week!
seen by workers everywhere in the country: old Kennedy, who tried the having prosecuted the fascists!
The members of the French Chamber of formation of home guards and other armed case!
Church Connections MEMPHIS, Tenn. The CIO The meeting was started by has started an organization groups under the auspices of the American Thomas Ryan, Christian Front Deputies who, last weck at Vichy, voted to estabTwo features of the meeting drive here. Henderson of the lish a totalitarian government, were no better Legion and other reactionary sponsors. Perhaps leader of Queens. He, whipped his which indicated official sanction Inland Boatmen and wm and no worse than any group of Republican and the most vivid example of this process is the boisterous audience into lusty by the Brooklyn Diocese of the Watts, organizer for the swOC, are leading the drive.
Democratic Congressmen. Their top leaders were Plattsburg camp whose personnel is strictly lim one. Toch ore the thirteen detendance of Patrick Scanlon, editor men who, until last week, had spouted democracy ited to big shot business and professional men. ants who had stood trial in So it wasn surprising one night that the cops raided Henjust as much, maybe even more than the top Let this process go on for a year or two, and Brooklyn Federal Court on Diocesan organ of Brooklyn, and derson home, and took him, leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties the country will be covered by a network of charges the conspiracy to over of St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Watts and some workers meet here.
armed groups under reactionary leadership, stealing government ammunition Catholic Church. The Tablet has ing with them, to the police Reynaud, who weeks ago was still Premier of ready at a moment notice to smash workers been the only paper in New York station as ofth columnists!
Priest Speaker which openly defended the indict Afterward the cops sald the French democracy and swearing he would meetings and strikes, radical headquarters and John Cassidy, national di ed fascista.
somebody had called the police fight to the death against fascism, voted for the union halls.
rector of the Christian Front, reThe main speaker of the even and warned fifth column fascist regime. Two weeks ago anybody would To try and stop this process by pacifist argu ceived standing ovation. He ing was ex Magistrate Healy, meeting was taking place there.
have conceded that Reynaud was as much a ments is worse than a waste of time. In a warwas described by the next speak chief defense counsel. He, more Maybe some boss who doesn like being organized got the er, Father Brophy Catholic than anyone else, wove the lie of democrat as Roosevelt.
ring world pacifism reveals its utter impotence. priest, as a Christian martyr.
the twin menace, Jews and Com bright idea.
Chautemps, vice premier under Reynaud, was For the workers to stand aside with folded arms In describing him as such munism. It was he who had What this organizing drive of also at Vichy and also voted for fascism. During while the business and professional men become Father Bromy was merely fol maxed at the trials that he would the CIO must buck up against the hey day of the Popular Front, Chautemps adept in the military arts would leave the work sidy himself. His tactic during munists from the lamp posts and cont arrest here of the wellwas Premier of a Popular Front government of ers defenseless against coming attempts to foist a the whole trial was to camou shoot others.
known photographer, Henwar bourgeois liberals and socialists and supported fascist or military dictatorship on the country against the labor movement by flage the most virulent attack Fascists Encouraged Kodaklewies and two young by the Communist party. That makes him at The only realistic response of the workers to aides, who were on a tour makThe effect of the acquittal has ing a movie short of Negro edleast as much of a democrat as Willkie will the home guards and businessmen Platts who fight Communism. The es been to encourage the Coughlinucation. They were arrested as ever be.
burgs is for workers Plattsburgs!
sence of his technique, copied offensive against the working firth columnists and it took the Petain, Laval, Weygand and all the other The trade unions should answer the American the cry he shouted at the trial, upon the heels of the acquittal of from Coughlin, is dummende upan, class and racial minorities. Quick gressman Bruce Bartomer helt intercession of Republican Con French republicans at Vichy could, until last Legion by forming their own military training Long Live Christ, the King the fascists came a brazen deweek, paint a picture of themselves as good groups. Every worker should be required to Down with Communism.
arrest Chief of Police Lee askdemocrats. As good, that is, as the democracy mand from Father Curran, Presiundergo military training under the control of By the use of such slogans, the dent of the International Cathoone of them the question he the trade unions.
Frontist hoodlums have escaped lic Truth Society, to investigate ist suspect: Do you think a of the president of the United States and Conalways asks of any Commununpunished for numerous stab the reasons why the government Negro is as good as a white gress.
The training of officers is, however, a more bings of innocent Jews, beating indicted the fascists. This deWhat that democracy is worth, they showed difficult task. It requires facilities and equipment of militant workers. provocations mand is addressed to Attorneyman?
last week at Vichy. They joined in setting up a which only the government possesses. Therefore against trade union meetings, General Jackson and its aim is Why they re a Communistic and confessed armed preparation to make scapegoats of lower regime which wipes out the French constitution, the trade unions should insist that, in the same for assaults on the labor move functionaries in the Civil Service, setup. Chief Lee said! One of them told me a Negro was as replaces bona fide trade unions with fascist un way that the government has made Plattsburg ment.
who are of Jewish origin. In some down here stirring up the Nego good as a white man. They re ions and, in a word, attempts to turn France available to the business men, it should make Fixed Jury of the churches, last Sunday, roes.
into a Nazified country.
available other Plattsburgs to the unions. Platts Father Brophy is pastor of there was discussion of Curran As long as it had served their purposes, they burg is being run by the businessmen. The work Precious Blood Church in Long tion. The Brooklyn Tablet publihad spouted about the sacred cause of democ ers Plattsburgs should be run by the trade full of anti Semitic fath and ven cized the letter.
racy. In the name of democracy they had sent unions.
The Picnic of Tomorrow Social Justice, Coughlin om, he has earned the title of the youth of France to their death. But they On July the self mobilized Plattsburgers deologist of the Christian mouthpiece, went further than it feared the French workers and peasants more held a meeting at which they laid the ground be boasted that Mrs. Helen Titus incitement.
On than they feared Hitler. The war laid bare the work for a permanent organization to perpetuate foreman of the jury which ac Whether the Jews like it or the Sunlit Shores of incompetence of the French politicians and capi the military training program which they began. quitted the fascists, was his first not, it said, they will bear CLOVE LAKE talists, and a day of reckoning was coming. steering committee, consisting of three men small clue as to how the jury ar of their co racials having used TASTE. the Proletarian Rather than submit to a day of reckoning at the from each of the seven companies, has been set rived at their verdict.
the majesty of government to Meal of Tomorrow hands of the French workers and peasants, the up to run their organization.
Macklin Boettger, one of the reap revenge upon a group of PLAY. the games of bosses preferred to surrender to the foreign in Labor should do no less. The trade unions defendants in the caso, boasted men who were intent on saving today vader. And now, behind Hitler protecting bay should immediately set up a permanent commit jury are going to apply for mem from Jewish domination and LISTEN DANCE. to the music of yesterdays onets, they are imposing a fascist regime on the tee, with representatives from each union, to or bership in the Christian Front.
immortals French people.
ganize the military training of the workers un That should surprise only those The Christian Front is making The French armed forces could still have der trade union control.
who don know that the pros. much capital out of an editorial SUNDAY, JULY 21 fought on, especially the navy and the armies in Military training is here in any event. The whether they were afiliated with Tribune, reactionary, anti New Auspices: the colonies. But the commander in chief Wey. real issue is whether the workers shall be trained the Christian Front, or were Deal, anti labor daily. This edi East Side Branch, gand warned the Reynaud cabinet that the mili as puppets for boss controlled military groups, howers of Father Coughlin. They the Christian Front purely on the sympathy with it, or were fol torial justified the acquittals of Save the date More details tary reversals were creating a situation like that or whether the workers shall be trained and offi were merely questioned as to issue of a blow against comnext week in Russia in 1917. It wust not come to that, cered by the trade unions.
whether they had any sympathy munism.
By ALBERT GOLDMAN The mutilation (fortunate or unfortunate) in the printshop of my article dealing with the Republican party convention, which appeared in the last issue of the Appeal furnishes me with an excuse to touch on certain aspects of the convention that were not mentioned in last week article.
One of the most striking features of the nomination of Willkie is the fact that he is not an agent of Wall Street in the same sense that Taft or Dewey or Vandenberg are agents of Wall Street. In Wikie we have one of the Wall Street boys himself. If he doesn come from the innermost circle he is certainly close to it.
As director of one of the biggest utility holding companies in the country and one of the biggest banks in New York he mingles with the select few who hire and give orders to politicians but rarely par ticipate openly in politics.
Of course he went through the motion of resigning his post in the companies in which he holds office, but only the most gullible will pay any attention to this kind of mumbo jumbo. Winkle the candidate for President of the United States remains Willkie the head of one of the biggest utility companies. Some smart fellow may find that he forgot to resign from some company or other and try to make a point out of it. To us it makes no difference whatever that he resigns or fails to resign. He is the same Willkie.
An Open Challenge to Labor It is in the sense that willkie is not a mere agent but one of the principals that he constitutes an open challenge to the working class. Instead of nominating some one who can try to pose as a friend of Labor, the Republican party proceeds to throw the gauntlet into the face of Labor by nominating one who has become the champion spokesman against the New Deal and all social reforms.
Not that such reforms as the New Deal brought will remain even if Roosevelt is elected. The war situation and the defense program will result in the loss of a good many if not all of the social gains achieved by Labor during the hey day of the New Deal. Roosevelt, however, will try to convince the worker voters that these social gains will remain intact. Not so Willkie. Himselt one of the big business men, he knows exactly what they want and will try to get it with the least amount of hooey.
Why They Named Willkie How is it that the Republican party dared nominate a man so openly a member of the ruling class? The first and most important reason, it seems to me, is that the Republican party cannot and does not hope to obtain the support of Labor. The time has gone by when even Republicans could pose friends of the workingman. The men behind the Republican party rightly felt that under the circumstances the labor vote was lost them anyway. No matter whom they nominated the labor vote could not be depended upon.
Moreover Willkie was obviously the best man for the Republicans in so far as getting the vote of tho middle class is concerned. There can be no denying the fact that Willkie is a far more colorful and able person than Taft or Dewey or Hoover. Granting that the newspapers were consciously determined to give him a bulld up it must nevertheless be recognized that the man has enough in him to furnish the basis of such a build up.
It must be recognized that the press has succeeded in creating quite a following for Willkie from middleclass layers of the population. Willkie rise from a middle class environment to the head of a huge utility company and his nomination for the presidency still has an appeal to a great many amongst the middleclass elements.
That his nomination was supported not only by his own fellow capitalists but also by the lower ranks of the middle class Republican voters was made clear to the old wheelhorses of the Republican party who looked askance upon a newcomer and wanted one of their own number to get the nomination. It is this overwhelming support which made the old line politicians capitulate.
Big Business is fortunate in having him as a candidate for other reasons, too. What is most important is that willkle attitude on questions of foreign policy coincides with that of Roosevelt. With his nomination, the isolationist plank in the Republican platform becomes meaningless. The aggressive foreign policy of Roosevelt, a policy which the captains of banking and industry support whole heartedly, will be carried on by Wilikic should he be elected.
In fact if Roosevelt should decide to refrain from running for a third term shall be safe in attributing his decision partly to the nomination of Willkie.
For now he can rest assured that his foreign policy will be in safe hands, even if the Republicans win the election.
For the class conscious workers the danger is not 80 much from the Republicans with Willkie as from the Democrats with Roosevelt or some other demagogue. The working masses will readily recognize what Willkie means for them: longer hours, lower wages, no relief, loss of every gain they have made in the last seven years. But it will be difficult for the conscious workers to convince the masses that essentially the Democratic party with Roosevelt will mean the same as the Republican party with Willkie, KLAN PRAISES ROOSEVELT The June issue of The Fiery Cross, Official publion tion of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, praises Roosevelt, as follows. Never before in the history of America have 80 many millions of citizens united behind the program of the Ku Klux Klan as in the past few weeks. For twenty years the Klan has spoken out day after day from within in year against alien influences boring Today millions of Americans are acknowledging for the first time that the things the Klan has long warned against now spell imminent danger to this country if left unchecked. It must be a source of great satisfaction to Klanspeople everywhere that the President of the United States has come out boldly in defense of the Klan program. He has joined the Klan in sounding a warning against alien influences. The words of the President are foreign poison which is almost the exact phrase and means the identical thing the Klan has warned the American people for years to beware of.