Fascism Drives Germany and Italy to Economic Ruin
Fascism Drives Germany and Italy to Economic Ruin Dressmaker Army Mobilizes for Giant Walkout 105,000 Workers Ready for Word To Leave Posts Mails Prepared to House Score* of Thousand*...
...Every one of us knows what it means to be unemployed...
...These are all loft structures of the "slum" type, where conditions are at their worst, with •vages as low as SI 7 a week and \iours of work running to sixty and eventy a week...
...Court on these questions make the coming year "fateful for Labor...
...It is...
...Here they •tit the reservoir of men and gfjptn power from which is drawn 9k Jisrsonne for picket lines and tfktststrike duties...
...While the actual figures of Italy's war costs may thus be hidden, the effects of Mussolini's colossal expenditure on what threatens to be in anv eve-nt a long-.^-a'a-" and costly campaign, cannot so easily be disguised...
...But we know in advance that for every person the city hires there will be ten or more who must be turned away.'' To make matters worse, the Socialist administration has found a n»_..A-*em • v^*S**ar' - >*aLViA -_9 A*> axnnerajgfjBvnrB in ajrnoat every department who ar* not needed and for whose payfaent no provision has been made...
...What can s city admiris* tration do for a man who wants a job when there are no jobs...
...The following 16 principal maritime countries of the world were represented: United States of America, Belgium, Great Britain, China, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, India, Japan, Norway, Holland, Portugal, Sweden and Yugoslavia...
...Building Service Men Strike In 500 Structures Service Walkout in Garment District,Harlem and Bronx Foreshadows City-wide Straggle to Improve Conditions...
...We most SO...
...Sufsmarines figure outstandingly in the German government's "push.* Throughout the reet of tjewmany' 9 industrial life there ie little but hopeless disorder and s gradual slowing down of the wheet* of industry...
...Millions are feeling the grave .shortage of foodstuffs...
...He'd like ts use the old slow sand niters until the difficulty is crorected, but fee some reason the old niters wen rendered unfit for service befows the Socialists took office...
...F. Sands is finding that the ..new mechanical fillers are not working as they should...
...Production has ingjpW...
...Any person doing so renders himself liable to instant dismissal...
...Wfc* »"ae«* the New Year ^^BEptyf* to meet whalev*r !^*8nnntees warrmst" Faked Budget Fails to Hide Italian Crisis Unemployment on Increase as War Costs Deplete the National Treasury and Threaten to Plunge the Country Into Bankruptcy By Francis Williams (Financial Expert of the London Daily Herald) I O N D O N . — Mussolini, faced with the serious failure of his expectation of a quick victory in Ethiopia, will shortly have to meet an even more serious situation on the home front, where the financial crisis is threatening A budget deficit of ?33,000,000 (about $165,000,000) for the financialyear just ended hat been announced by the Italian cabinet, including ?16,250,000 for the Ethiopian campaign...
...cialize industry and produce^abua^1 dantly for use instead of prortyjt-' ing scarcity for the beesftPfP private takers...
...Half of that amount, however, must be used to nay off a debt incurred prior to the Socialist administration...
...It will learn ^ f f : f t e Supreme Court passes validity of the economic B P W s l just.ee measures passed ^ W * r e « s whether tbe Constitu^O'Sf the United States will be , . 3 * * % interpreted as to meet JBg» eeonorr.ic and social needs...
...H A T was regarded as an overture to a bitter battle for improvement of wage and working conditions among the scores of thousands of building service employees in this city was staged this week with the walkout of elevator operators and other service workers in more than 500 buildings in Manhattan, Harlem and the In Manhattan the strike movement began with a tieup of 200 buildings in the 'garment and fur districts...
...In this way the various problems are shared and the busj...
...The government's e§ort* to meet tHe demands of industry become more desperate and hems successful as each crisis occurs...
...Rate mat trial* become more difficult to obtain before each month that passes...
...The reports which the conference made cover the manning of sea-going ships, hours of labor on board ships, vacations with pay, and other labor questions covering alt personnel in different departments...
...work day and shorter Pj* weak, with greater vigor JR;*ver before...
...In the Department of Parks and Public Property, Councilman Chst...
...The Supreme Court will decide the constitution, H ©uffey Coal Regulation Act, y ' f e c i a l Security Act and other •kteres, all of which are of vital Bjtance to all the workers of 2f8p momentous decisions of •aillmioTi's highest judicial tribu*1 in these important cases will profound effect upon the •Mis policies and procedure of • p a l labor...
...Furuseth is approaching his eighty-second birthday...
...Hitler and his Nazi advisers are seeking, by every means in thefr power, to hide the true state of Germany within, both from the outside world and from the German people...
...That will be the Nachief economic problem call- Bgar solution in 1936...
...Much remains to be done and there is a shortage of heavy artillery and tanks, bet the preliminary steps have been taken...
...Orders are failing off...
...The facts are gathered from trustworthy sources and have beta carefully checked...
...is today nearer doubt* that figure...
...Sands is busy correcting that...
...Crisis Impending Also, in an attempt to finance war payments, a substantial currency inflation, increasing the note circulation by well over ?32,000,000 during the first nine months of the present year, has had to be undertaken...
...He is quite vigorous and is one of the outstanding personalities of the organized labor movement...
...That is a question which can't be an* swered by a group of city officials...
...Following is the text of Green's statement: "The indications are that the improvement in economic and industrial conditions which set in during the present year will continue during 1936...
...Manufacturers who cater for the export market are overstocked to an alarming degree...
...But the fact that they pre at work for even an hour a week enables them to be shown on the government registers as "employed...
...Negotiations are now being conJucted by the union with these associations for renewal of agreements expiring January 31...
...Householders in the neighborhood of Second and Buttonwood Streets are com plaining that sewage is seeping into their cellars...
...Hopeless Disorder The army is on its way towards being the perfectly trained sad well equipped body of 600,000 men visualized by Hitler...
...Taking note of the fact that subversive groups opposed to Federal legislation in the broad field of social justice have taken all of this class of legislation enacted by the 1935 session of Congress into the courts with the expressed desire that the measures will be held unconstitutional, the head of the A. F. of L. said the importance of the decisions of the United States Supreme...
...The union demands a forty per cent wage increase and the forty-hour week...
...Air force reorganization under General Goering is now complete...
...tt^Kea there is the problem of a^Sauoyment...
...No new orders have been forthcoming...
...Thousands of unemployed family heads are hoping that possibly the rfcw administration will be able to give them something to do...
...It is in the • * i of Labor the only plan Bin will provide for the absorpjp-'tf the unemployed in private P§**ry Labcr hopes its remedy JOftonployment will be anig*** Hy accepted and applied durBL™* ^ew Year...
...Before the present agreement' expire st ise end of January Hocaman said, there will be a plac< m-Vj&B for etfey one of tht lQMOO dressmakers who will heec fcejilrfl* call...
...The water requires too much chlorination and the taste is not what it should be...
...There is not a minute Of the day that some official is not being interviewed by an unemployed man who is-seeking work with the city as a last resort...
...James J. Bambrick, president of the union, has let ft be known that it is determined to fight with all power at its command, for enforcement of better -conditions...
...It is now many months jMg -the anion made known its Jpa»d», (There have been con• M W t ' tpt there have been prac- BJPS no .signs of a genuine desire "*J-tbe psrt of the...
...We try to be decent and take what time we can to interest ourselves in each problem...
...The Bank of Italy reserves bave fallen in the lost month, for which figures are available, bv over ?7,000,000...
...Thus, according to estimates recently made by the United States Commercial Attache in Rome, which I have received, the budget deficit for the first three months of the current fiscal year amounted to ?28,764,200, of which ?21,870,000 was accounted for by the operations in Ethiopia...
...The force is fully equipped and is perhaps the most formidable in Europe...
...President Roosevelt appointed Furuseth as the labor member of the American delegation to represent American seamen...
...New supplies of rate materials arrive but in diminishing quantities...
...More than one Euroean government is in possession of similar reports on the new crisis...
...The struggle in Manhattan, Bronx, Harlem and other parts of the city may ultimately involve as many as 100,000 workers...
...in ft are provided from a Nasi "shavC time allowance fund...
...Not only the serious unemployment situation, worse here than in many of the larger cities, but administrative problems are giving the Stump administration plenty, of opportunities to show its mettle...
...The Realty Advisory Board, which is "advised" by Waher Gordon Merrit*, its counse 1 and notorious labor hater, has turned down the union's demands...
...Industrial activity is declining ?atastrophically, except in warship instruction yards and the armsre-.: firms that equip the vessels...
...An Empty Treesary In the city's financial department Walter R. Hollinger, who, as City' Controller, has been described as "the watchdog of the administration...
...The findings will be accepted as a basis for an international convention to be drawn up by the International Labor Office...
...In accordance with strike strategy jHWNs by the dressmakers, a!' ISniejrs report to their assigned mOi' during the strike...
...All Germany's financial resources are now devoted to providing an adequate navy...
...the conference table...
...Orders are falling off, no new markets can be obtained and many factories are working just a few hours a week as a prelude to shutting down...
...will have been assigned to specific hfclll from a complete muster role ef • Hretsaiakers now being preptred...
...The increase in the production and sale of consumers' goods will in all probability be further stimulated and accelerated By an Increaae^in the'de-' mand for capital goods...
...We came into* office and found an empty city treasury...
...Its "food value" in Germany is considerably less than the British exchange value...
...General • • s g e r of the Joint Board of fcittliilniTTi i Open House and • O K ^ ^ n T i l i i i i topping the mai • sBsfTiwfhalls are being tOl^njti, iho in Westchester, New J^dMflr^fc and other places Whdh dresses are produced for the New Ym, market...
...and business unproved, but Hpodmately eleven million are WMSe...
...r"ofms entitled "Genera' Strike list—1936" have gone out to the 4,000 shop chairmen...
...that a general strike in lie dress industry is inevitable un'-Jap the representatives of the •epk>yer associations, and particuaij* the branch of the industry Span as the jobbers, develop a •Jitter brind of industrial statesMnitip...
...Workers arc strictly forbidden to discuss dismissals, short-time and bad trade with strangers...
...The Preparatory Conference prepared the ground for the conclusion of an international convention at -the maritime session of the 1936 International Labor Conference at Geneva...
...Germany's total of unemployed, -•fncially admitted to be nearly 2.000,000...
...Any man who shows his discontent is marked down for dismissal and a spell in a concentration camp...
...Sailors' Rights Are Taken Up By the I. L. 0. Andrew Furuseth, Veteran •Seamen's Union Leader, Returns from Geneva with Gains for Seafaring Men...
...Treasurer William C. Hoverter is making ready for the "rush" to pay taxes which will start soon...
...The other members were Robert W. Bruere, representing the United States Government, and Samuel Aitkin, vice-president of Moore and McCormick, representing American ship operators...
...The convention will then be submitted to the various governments, including the United States, which are members of the International Labor Organization...
...When the call is issued, worker...
...Everywhere the men complain that the subscription rate is too high, while they have no knowledge as to what happens to the money they are forced to contribute...
...This emphatic declaration featured a statement' by William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, on the economic outlook for 1936...
...Actually most of them are receiving about 17 marks a Week, less than thirty shillings at the present rate of exchange...
...Raw materials become more see more scarce as the financial posfiton goes from bad to worse...
...None.- of these juildings have had agreements v-itfa* the union . The response of the 2,500 workers in these buildings was most atisfactory, with the result that settlements were obtained in more .han half of the buildings within 48 hours after the strike was de:lared...
...It is clear that on this basis the war has cost and is costing Italy much more than the official budget figures suggest...
...With food priees as they are in Germany, it would buy the worker one pound of mutton chops a day...
...The textile industry is in a speedily bad way...
...Seamen's delegates at the Preparatory Conference, Furuseth said, were confident that the question of working conditions at sea will be satisfactorily dealt with at the forthcomftig maritime session of the International Labor Conference...
...Factories are everywhere closing down or working only a few hoars a week...
...All these settlements are of a .emporary nature, the condition jeing that a final adjustment is m be made next month on the jasis of agreements being sought jy the Building Service Employees' Jnion, the strike organization, .vith the Mid-town Realty Association and Penn Zone Association, representing some 1,200 buildings in the garment and fur districts...
...The financial stringency has been relieved snd the first payroll, made possible by floating a loan of $400,000...
...It's breaking my nerve," one of the Socialist counoilmen said this week...
...It is regrettable that our IPgJsyers have shown that they HP** are able to solve industry BMKriems without forcing us to resort to strikes...
...Jobless Army Is 11,000,000 Green States W A S H I N G T O N , D. C—With private industry deliberately closing opportunities for employment to eleven millions working ment to 11 millions of working quate remedy to provide jobs for this vast army of out-of-works is the shorter work week...
...Here is the text of a typical notice posted in a German factory: "It is forbidden to discuss with outsiders discharges or short time...
...Here is the truth of the GeriMSt industrial situation as H exists ta* day...
...President Taft answered with the pious exclamation, "God knows," Socialists face the issue more feariessly and reply, "We must change the economic system...
...A percentage an -maintained in halls for night ll commercing on the preparations for a general strike, Hoch• ."tven though the union is maktog .every possible effort to negoHa* an agreement...
...jjjnabai will press for the acKrf*"** and application of its fiPPfty for unemployment, the HP...
...Contributions are now deducted from the men's pay packets, owing to the difficulties encountered in collecting the moneys...
...The budget for the coming year is not to include any charges for the Ethiopian war, except interest charges, although it is estimated that the war is costing Italy between ?300,000 and ?400,000 a day at the least...
...Now they are being forced to discharge all the extra Men they took on, and many of their old staff a» well...
...Shortage of Materials Overstocking is another cause of industrial chaos...
...j^^*b»r is conscious of the fact ME Lr i s facing a New Year g^ffht with serious consequences K**, l ' significance...
...Every workroom has its own government spy...
...Similar demands have also been served by the union upon the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, with which the union has an agreement expiring March 1, covering 6,000 buildings in various parts of the city...
...Numerous daily conferences called by Mayor J. Henry Stump, who is charged with supervision over all departments, are making it possible for the Socialists to work together...
...The figure of ?16.250,000 for expenditure of the Ethiopian campaign is certainly a gross underestimate, and serious as is the position shown by the budget statement, it is nothing like so serious as the undisclosed positiou...
...Bitter Fight Looms Union Determined to Compel Complete Unionization of industry as Employer* Balk at Peaceful JSphtion of Dispute...
...Fascism Drives Germany and Italy to Economic Ruin Dressmaker Army Mobilizes for Giant Walkout 105,000 Workers Ready for Word To Leave Posts Mails Prepared to House Score* of Thousand* Here and in Other Towns in In the Drew Industry...
...The unemployment figures issued by the German government are utterly unreliable Thousands sf men are kept on the "employed"' register by working four or flee hours each month...
...With all their woes and unusual problems, the Socialists are getting the feel of their jobs But the human problem will remain...
...The radio industry, the household wares trade, the leather industry have all found that the promised new demand has not materialised...
...W A S H I N G T O N , D. C—The seamen are at last guaranteed that the question of their working conditions, which has International Tabor Organization, will be dealt with finally by that body during 1936, Andrew Furuseth, president of the International Seamen's Union of America, declared here on his return from the two weeks' session of the Preparatory Maritime Conference at Geneva, Switzerland...
...When the administration took office they learned that they had fallen heir to many headaches...
...The other half will have to suffice to operate the city's affairs until tax money comes in...
...The outlook for increasing activity in the manufacture of durable goods during the New Year is excellent...
...Next year, however, will be fateful for Labor...
...Catastrophe Foreseen Growing Dislocation of Economic Life and Scarcity of Raw Materials Tin i B i si Collapse of the Entire System...
...All are worse off than before Hitler came...
...I cannot help toS fee...
...I "*e shall leave nothing undone |t»*<ftjn) a satisfactory contract Wjial...
...indeed, highly probable that if the Ethiopians are successful in their efforts to delay the Italian advance, and if the pause-now admitted by Mussolini has to be extended—as it well may be—the financial crisis in Italy will reach so acute a stage that the war will be ended by Italian bankruptcy...
...Only the navy is backward, and so the full weight of the government is behind the existing drive to get new ships under way...
...i By the Foreign Editor of the London Daily Herald) I J N E M P L O Y M E N T figures are rising rapidly tn Germany...
...They engaged additional staffs and fulfilled the orders...
...Bankruptcy Left Reading Socialists Special to The New Leader OEADING, Pa.—The new So" V ciaiist administration, in its first two weeks in office, has found that the accumulated problems left by the defeated Democrats ami Republicans left them a big jot) to cope with...
...He has been president of the Seamen's Umen since 1908 and a delegate to American Federation of Labor conventions since 1893...
...He enjoys the honor of being the oldest national trade union executive in the United States...
...General discontent continues as a result of the "German Workers Front," the organization formed by the Nazis to displace the trade unions...
...Industry Dying, Jobless Doubled UnderHitlerRule Unemployed Army Reaches 4,000,000 as Food Shortage Hits Nation—Wholesale Shutdown of Factories— Budget Concealed...
...They receive a •pay" envelope each week at their factory, but the few marks...
...laughs ruefully at that title,' "I'm a watch dog with nothing to watch," he says...
...Mussolini, who some time ago suspended the Bank of Italy's official return so as to hide from the outside world, as well as from the Italian public, the extent of his financial difficulties, is apparently hoping to continue a policy of secrecy in finance...
...employers to at down Car a serious discussion t**Jy Ills of the industry...
...ijfeVLLS to house strikers, with PR a c a p a c i t y never before iMkBed in trade union history, SfG been engaged in preparaagk for the expected general H i t of dressmakers, New Ijpt' s largest indtt^ry, accordJK to Julius Hochman...
...Hundreds of factories received rush orders when the Hitler government came to power...
...ness of the city is coordinated...
...To begin ..with, there is the job situation...
...Workers in these factories are, in many cases, returned officially as earning the "maximum" wage...
...Financial experts outside Italy believe, however, that this represents only a part of Italy's financial difficulties, and that if the budget had been drawn up correctly a much greater deficit would have been shown...
...The workers received wage ncr eases of $3 and a reduction of .he work-week to forty-eight hours...
...Already retail prices and living costs are rising substantially, and although there is a boom in those industries concerned in the armament trade, unemployment is on the increase despite this activity...
...In the Department of Highways, Councilman Stewart Tomlinson is struggling day snd night with M clogged sewer...
...but a the same time we leave nothing HP**ee to perfect our strike maP^toery...
Vol. 19 • January 1936 • No. 4
