FRENCH WORKINGCLASS, JUDGE PANKEN DECLARES
PANKEN, JUDGE JACOB
FRENCH WORKINGCLASS, JUDGE PANKEN DECLARES By Ju^^Paefceh C*fl*iMefte>* "^H* 0*yv#trt*#t% tifttoMH I HJKRH to no. deaht that AmerW -¦"is tofssreetad in the inflation of the French franc...
...6ut they did the job...
...The reason: must be looked for elsewhere...
...Then came Hillman Coal & Coke, big operators in the adjoining nonunion coke fields and in the union Pittsburgh district, as well as in Somerset county...
...And in France a. large' porrontngs of tha people have some possession...
...where the State road was closed by privately paid gunmen, the miners and the Liberties Union staged a procession...
...It Is a conspiracy by tbe financiers of Franoa and of America to squeeze oat every centime of the possessing class of France...
...The force was led by a picturesque Virginian, whom the miners dubbed "Bawling Bull" Bentley...
...The names of some of the big corporations that were operating nonatahm *>» IffMrTTltiiff"'^ ,rfrIf1****!'**"""'fee* "show the forces' that be had to -meet: There were the powerful BerwlndWhlte interests whose directors also sat on the boards' of numerous steamship and public utHlty interests...
...in northern West Virginia and passed up the workers in Somerset...
...pleasant' fellow boasted twelve notches on his Colt, Luger and other pieces Of artillery...
...He Is not afraid of ability in his subordinates like some jealous leaders...
...The French workers have to' meet a constantly increasing cost of living...
...Thls...
...Strikers Deserted Then came the amazing settlement at the end of five months' fighting...
...He welcomes it...
...1 . John D. Rockefeller, Jr., put on the defensive by agitation against the Consolidation, pleaded weakly that he was onjy a minority stockholder and that be disapproved of the company's labor tactics...
...The Poincare sen«m« "Is only going to saddle on the people an enhanced sales tax...
...Blood on Subway Coal The campaign was a far-flung one...
...These men, working under the direction of the district president and his able vicepresident, James Mark, were in and out of jail and the injunction courts...
...Including the Interborough Rapid 'Transit Co...
...Not a paper would dare publish the truth...
...Ton see what I am getting at...
...The International Union signed up the Consolidated Coal Co...
...v Fighting Rockefeller There was the Consolidation Coal Co., redolent of the heavy stock hold-, ings of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and Davis Coal & Coke, another place for the Oil King's investments...
...French tolas own about twenty-five milliards of bonds and rentes...
...At Vintondale...
...His platform, promising a national drive to win back the great non-union fields and to nationalise the coal industry fits in with his record as an expert union organizer and an exponent of nationalization...
...The gunmen and the corporation controlled judges . had likewise protected their Somerset properties from the union wage...
...For a New Social Order Brophy's campaign statement says that the non-union fields will not be organized by a policy of district or local strike* alone...
...deaht that AmerW -¦"is tofssreetad in the inflation of the French franc . There hi ao truth, la my tosgaaslift to the Idem that the.failure on, tha past of the Unite* States to give France advantageous tense to settle its debt to us as being - reasxmsiHa...
...The strikes contlnnued in Somerset County till late the next year, but with some- of the leading companies vko*hat»4$r th^imton^ln;f.ther flejda^tfce odds .were too great...
...600 Gunmen An army of six hundred gunmen In Somerset county had the sole task of stopping the union...
...While HeetoHsto susgut the principle of cancellation ef the debt sad Indemnities, it would he fallsooBsj to say that tha reason for toe fall- OS the franc is the settlement of the debt on the conditions we made...
...was signed up-< in the Pittsburgh district and ignored in Somerset...
...tar' the Inflation...
...The Cambria Steel Mines of Johnstown (now a Bethlehem Steel subsidiary), and others followed...
...of New Tork...
...The Hillman Coal * Coke Co...
...Just let me add that we hi America ^^^*TH^?^*g«^^^"Jr''^^ge\^T^1 j*to**^^^^V** p«^s^y^^^jg«p»gfr»<^PaV .^Lshy- tafy ¦ eWsdaaVsrls* sS«*ik^ggar>^tCK£fa^gC^ggW rgonW.at&^-V Brophy Learned Lessons As Mine Union Leader In Bitter Labor Struggles JOHN BROPHY, wbo is running for the presidency of the...
...New Tork, whose subway power houses were fueled*by BerwlndWhite, found out there was blood on the coal...
...They are a development of the union's nationalization resolutions that the rank and file Indorsed at two international conventions...
...Of course, to cover up the -scheme, the press, which is wholly under control.gf FtoqBe—the head of the flnanetol gioaV-la feeding the people bunk about America's responsibility lor the havoc that is striking the French...
...A brilliant strike: fine leadership and wonderful solidarity...
...Some are short term notes...
...The walkout of the non-union men in Somerset and Cambria counties and the coke fields—that and the shopmen's strike—had saved the United Mine Workers of America...
...It was carried right into New Tork...
...The Test of 1922 As a trade union organizer Brophy'e greatest test came'in the 1922 strike when the open shop forces of Pennsylvania were mowed down In an Unsparing campaign...
...Somerset County and the coke fields were left In the cold...
...Civil t-iberties In Fight Brophy gladly worked with, the American Civil Liberties Union in opening up the closed towns of his district...
...When these short term obligations are taken up by the payment ef the inflated money, it must ha iMswnbii sd that tbe financiers are paying, in some instances, one-eighth of what they received for the,notes on hand from the possessing class of France...
...Then tbe interest on the nates and obligations amounts to about one aad a halt milliard francs a year...
...United Mine Workers of America—the largest union In the United States and Canada—Is a skilled strike leader and an Advanced social thinker...
...There la apt to be trouble in Fran oe as a result of the tax, which taunts win <be Bapsssfl...
...His views of public ownership and workers' control will be given in detail in later issues of the New Leader...
...that means tbe middle classIt would seem that as soon aa they get the last penny out of this .scheme, the paper money will he recalled or the franc will be stabilised...
...That is now paid by tbe fallen franc Again, to some Instances, only one-eighth of what It was originally intended...
...On the whole, a scheme fearful in its cones, quences...
...Their Somerset mines, protected by gunmen and politicians, had, never been organised...
...He realises that the local strikes he has called in his own district against con tract-breaking operators are not sufficient, A national campaign, again uniting the miners of America as one: a fight for union that inspires . the workers with the goal of a new social order Is his program...
...Brophy Insists that nationalization is a living issue that must not be left In the archives, and he and other members of -the union have worked out a definite program for putting it over...
...England's exchange Is quite Arm In spite of the fact that Britain's terms were eveu harder...
...They organised the workers and shut down the mines...
...Arthur Garfield Hays was assaulted and arrested, but countered with the arrest and conviction of Ave gunmen, and the camp was later out on strike, 14cAl later Coleman, who was along, helped to tell the story to the world...
...Old man Berwind's house near Central Park was picketed by his strikers and the shameful stories of beating and rape by bis guards were broadcast far and wide...
...Brophy used a splendid staff of organizers in the fight...
Vol. 3 • August 1926 • No. 31
