THOMAS ATTACKS "TWO-BIT" WRONKERT
Thomas Attacks "Two - Bit" Wronker Tammanyite Is Asked To Tell What He Has Done JJARD, persistent campaij^ing on the part of the Socialist Party m the w^ith aMermame-district, Manhattan,...
...that, in short he thoroughly enjoys the way he and his children have to live, nothing is farther from the tru^i The cltiaens of New York in aU but the silk stocking districts are almost pathetically eager for good housing, better transit, a finer educational system for their children, more parks and playgrounds, the security against the gnawing fear of unemployment and old age that social insurance gives...
...Vote "Yes* sb this amendment...
...It was always my impression that traffic lights, along with other means of regulatitsg traffic, belongs in the province of the Police Department.- Does Mr...
...7 authorises tfw state to build a highway up Whits face Mountain in the Adirondack forest reserve...
...Our comrades, it seems to me, are doing more tnd lietler work in the second" Municipal' district 'am/ in hdic- other districts in kind's and the Bronx than for many years...
...Amendment No...
...If mr...
...The make-up of the country then was different from what it is today...
...Way back in ISA8 Lincoln, in a moment of rejoicing over the unification of the country, may have been Justified in thus describing our -government...
...Thomas has the advantage7 of campaigning against a particularly weak candidate, T;oui« J.-fTwo-Bit") wreaker, who has served the district for sfx years a*s the Tammany jobholder...
...you makers of cloaks, neckwear, shoes and shirts, etc., you who had "Friends of Labor" administer the affairs of the state and city, did the police stop beating and arresting you when you were an the picket line for a living wage...
...But today in our Social Organism as it functions politically there are no people...
...Provides no solution for the housing problem but cits' should have the power to lease...
...Has mr...
...the socialist party vote three years ago was merged with the vote for lafoilette and there is no means of knowing how large it was...
...Amendment No...
...Vote for the Socialists" Now...
...And you East Side, Bronx, Brooklyn and Brownsville voters, I think you have had enough of your "Friends...
...he thrown any light on the transit question...
...Wronker done anything to let a light into the lives of the people of the eighth district?'' Elect Socialist Candidates, Union Leader Appeals By Edmond Gottesman Secretary, United Neckwear Makers Union r|",HE month of November should be regarded as symbolic of our Democracy, for in November of each year we, the people, choose our representatives so ideally depicted by Abraham Lincoln (I believe it was someone else, but be popularized it) as a Government "of, by and for the people...
...Wronker is an expert at the art of putting up lights...
...because of the present system, are employed by these Business and Property Interests...
...Amendment No...
...We have tmemployment, inability of irten to earn Sufficient wages to support their families and to give their children the education they would like...
...The Republican cajitain who told me thst he would l»e with me when we were the second party Is typical of the state if mind which js our chief enemy...
...They are not philosophical anurr-liists...
...Vote "Yes" on ttns amendment...
...Do you know of any laws they enacted in the interest of the workers...
...From personal knowledge, I can testify thst hi season and out, he responded to every eall from every needle trade enieu...
...Still more, it has been 'iicourfljfed by our own lack of pcrserrerance In the steady work of canvassing and organizing which counts much more than spectacular street meetings...
...Perhaps apathy is too weak a word...
...In part this popular apathy and doubt among the workers Is our fault...
...Have their ' judges stopped issuing injunctions and sending you to the workhouse for your legal right to picket...
...But has he done anything, the least little thing, about putting some light into the thousands of dar 1 \tateitneat* in the tjdjhth aiclermanic district...
...Washington Sees Socialist Strength in '28 Campaign washington, d. c.—expert political forecasters here are generally agreed that the socialist party is returning to its former strength...
...1 previous at *. genuine budget...
...Wronker ought not to l>e deprived of his one alleged accomplishment...
...They are tired and weary doubters...
...from information which drifts into washington from various channels, including word received from lieutenants in...
...Sometimes I am riiscourHKPd thst ;uen so often "hear their one hope with »ii empty wonder.'' Bill usually i am ik-lined to remind myself bow unreaoinable it is to ex|iert to break all the force* of apathy and ignorance by a *ew speeches in the fall of the year...
...Argument far and against Is about equally balanced and no recommendation...
...It is not conservatism but apathy that is the enemy...
...OS* ernot and members of the Lsgsrtil are...
...1 Is also submitted...
...J9W the Republicans ahdftMnfkfe£s, sjjg* cfegssxtodjouwefort tvws^lhey pass^nt^aU intended se' profec^ the Interests who are...
...It Is hard, organized work that counts...
...Wronker the "benefit of the doubt, we will concede him this momentous achievement of having pettfte fights bri Second avenue...
...Why should New Yorkers slumber while Interests once* more pull off a gigantic transit steal at their expense...
...These are some of the questions that we must go on and on asking...
...Wronker mean to say that his Tammany Hall police Departttferrt has been so remiss in its ditty that k took an alderman to get The lights put on Second avenue ? ' "However...
...Vote "Yes" on this isimd ment...
...His sole accomplishment, accurding to himself, is "this trafttc Ifoht business...
...for uijself I am hopeful that this year will mark a definite break iu the innies of (ieneml Apathy...
...It is time that you vote for men who sre your own, of your own class, and who stand tor your "Interests" against the Business and Property Interests whose sole interest is to make profit and get more interest, wtth no concern Whatsoever as to what is left In your pay envelope at the end of the week...
...In part, this apathy is .1 product of he times mid will pass- with the cluuiglinr years...
...This proposes to approve s toeal law already approved by our municipal assembly which permits the city to lease land which it may tsk in excess condemnation proceedings for housing purposes...
...1 am not so hopelsss...
...C*Mrlcs Solomon, August1 Claessens and Samuel "Bsaidtley likewise have reus as of life-long service in thcj interests ef ,tbe .workers on the political and economic field...
...Vote "Yes" on this amendment...
...Thomas Attacks "Two - Bit" Wronker Tammanyite Is Asked To Tell What He Has Done JJARD, persistent campaij^ing on the part of the Socialist Party m the w^ith aMermame-district, Manhattan, has' bejrun to tell in favor of Gorman Thdrrnrs, Socialist party, leader, who is making the race for me*frifcfe> of the Bqar4 of AWeraien, Thomas has been addressing six and seven meetings each night, crowded by hundreds <>t eager voter*, surprised to find a candidate for alderman actuailv taisang issues...
...4 increases use salary of the Governor, Lieut...
...the field, they conclude that the socialist party next year will fill the place occupied by the third party ticket heeded by lafoilctte in 1924...
...Thomas and his carrrpaigners have heen making much of the fact that "Two-Bit" Wroiikef's only claim to distinction ft the^fact that he "put the traffic lights" on ^cconrjjpsfg^isy- g » f "a jg -j "Mr...
...r"*/"\vo\Jl-l v "Apathy Is The Enemy," Thomas Says Socialist Candidate For Alderman Urges Parly Workers to Greater Service By Norman Thomas Socialist Candidate for Alderman, Sth District TT IS the custom in America to talk much about the conservatism of the worker, especially when be goes to the polls...
...2 increases ffc* debt limit for cities...
...Judge Panken Is a man who worked in shops, picketed during strikes, and as q,flaawefj p^essantly helped to ^organize unions...
...ims "Yes" on this amendment...
...s allows winitial to condemn excess abutting land when laying put...
...Amendment No...
...Has he thrown any light on how we may keep the five-cent fare...
...Judge Panken's campaign is capturing the imagination Slid ririim the hearts of large numbers on tli« Kasl Side...
...The Old Parties Records Our Congress, State Assembly and Board of Aldermen today are composed of Republicans and Democrats sent there by the votes of workers, by cloekmakers, neckwear makers, shoemakers, clerks, postal employees and thousands of other workers...
...Men owned their own homes, raised their food and made their own clothes...
...It Is this state <>f niiml which makes the voter so willing to trade his vote for some little i>prsomil favor or to jrlve It away out of sheer friendship for a district leader...
...Why must New york las behind poor, war-racked Vienna la providing, decent housing for her children...
...They repott fevtrwntArning support -for Judge Panken and Norman Thomas...
...ShaH mea and women who have to shop around to save a penny or two on a pound of food forever be Indifferent to the way the city spends half a billion dollars of money minted from the sweat of 4he workers...
...Has he done a solitary thing to bring die East Side sorely needed transit relief...
...while they know little of the history of the movement their contacts all over the country enable them to fairly estimate changing political sentiment...
...Under the administration of Democrats and Republicans we still have Shfld la* bor, home-work, the sweat snop, unsanitary tenement districts, unsafe, congested and shameful subway and elevated transportation...
...Amendment No...
...According to official reports, diere are: still thousands of 'old-law' tenements, condesaqed years ago as unsafe and insanitary...
...If by that is meant that the iverage voter has no desire at all to risk what he has for what he might or might lot get in a violent revolution, emphatically the American Is conservaUve...
...The number of people who own these Business and Property Interests are only a fraction of the population...
...This November you win have another chance to demonstrate whether you are interested in your own welfare by voting for men who in loyalty and devotion to the workers and In understanding of their problems, have no equal among the "Friends of Labor" or the Democratic and Republican candidates...
...Vote Tag" Ssi ftmff amendment...
...Wronker Wought the traffic lights to Second avenue, he was an awful lotsr, trass doing ij,.' "Giving Mr1...
...Here is your opportunity once mare...
...Vote "Yes" on this amendment...
...Mr...
...In that time he has drawn $$5$00 in salary...
...Amendment Mo...
...For the last 25 years the Labor Movement has been entleavorlng to do away With these evils...
...Amendment No...
...What we need is steady and persistent work not merely to hold up to ridicule sn<l contempt the waste aud wickedness of the capitalist system bat alee to make vivid a picture of use kind of Wwrld we might create t>y mtrtllgent effort a ad struggle air onrsetves sad our children...
...Vote "Yes" on thai amendment...
...He has baqpt *¥j^c^r!fH*,l for-sbt.years now...
...5 makes the Qa*v ernor the -titular head as he la saw the actual head of the executive d*» partment...
...9 forbids a dtp to annex nearby territory until the people of the territory in gnesttaa have by majority vote approved annexation...
...Perhaps one trouble with rhe voters is that we ourselves have lost something ef vision and hope...
...Tho*e who hewr us at all usually a^ree that we are right, but they want to vtrte fur a sure winner...
...Amendment No...
...These old tenements have rooms, bed-rooms in which there are no windows...
...This is s year when gifts of money and time to the Socialist cause will bring results...
...Neither are they for sale^^^ou^owe^t^o^vquiselLj^^jpur '¦"^s^^sf^T^^^^^*^ yt' ***y^**iiic an<tstlb»^»i3nfw ' liijirtwk i(^delr by ¦st 105 j^^fcem^'^p^jg^aatstyof Brownsville nave on several" occasions expressed a genuine yearning to establish a Democracy...
...Se«s Apathy Passing Now If I were convinced that this state of iiiiimi whs inevitable and irremovable I suppose I should join the srtny of tired radicals and be done with it...
...Scores of canvassers have been through she district...
...The men for whom you should vote as your own are Judge Jacob* Panken, for re-elecUon as Municipal Judge, Norman Thomas for Alderman, Samuel Be&rdsley and August Claessens for Assemblymen in Manhattan and Charles Solomon for Assemblyman in • Brooklyn and others on the Socialist Party ticket...
...6 lengthens tste...
...municipal campaigns hi general and this mtmirtnal campaign ht particular gtres us a rate opportunity...
...making profit out of these" evils* When the* workers come to the Legislative Halls to demand laws that will abolish many of the mentioned evils, they find their "Friends'" deaf and defiant—but the lobbyists of the Business and Property Interests' get tes|»bmful' attention atod so vest irf ana jrear out all tfie legislation they ^sj^ more restriction of the freedom of the workers in their activities to establish protective laws for old workers, child labor and labor in general...
...The great toiling masses of New York lack faith In the ballot and imagination to picture what cf)iild lie achieved by effective nolitical action...
...In short, has Mr...
...YYronker says he, piU ihf»«l *»^.» jrooirf' avoaugi" is Norman Thomas's comment...
...Votaa'Yes" on this amsndV Proposition No...
...Only we can't accomplish such a result by giving Christian Science absent treatment to the voters...
...Of course, Second Avenue was the last mam th:6toughrare in'Manhattan to get trafric lights...
...Amendment No...
...Wronker done anything to let a light into these rooms...
...widening or relocating parks, public places, highways or streets...
...What we have Is Business and Property Interests, and the men who make up our National, State and City Governments are men who represent these Interests...
...Read sloes ly and use your own judgment...
...term of Governor and other essetrS* officials to four years...
...In short, they accept as highly desirable ail the immediate planks of our Socialist program...
...These men cannot and will not purchase your votes...
...the majority, about 85 per cent, are hand and brain workers who...
...In the building up of the Socialist Party, in making a little better job of our children, iu heartening workers all over America, the re-election of Jacob Panken and the elect lot of even a handful of Assemblymen and Aldermen will not be an empty thing...
...In those days, steel trust, meat and bread trusts, transportation monopolies, grain combines, chain stores, manufacturers' associations and tenement dwellers were not known...
...Suggestions For Votingen Amendments Thomas Oilers mendations on 9 j*^*g posals Up For pc-sfljJ] Tuesday |H the last Issue of The 9t» .s*r***f*F* ***• Norman Thomas reviewed *p*jh^M amendments which are suuUutlsn . J*~ voters for their approval or r*f^~ Certain recommendations were swjl* fered and these are repeated here *~" densed form for the benefit of OUB'.'spo^ era in New York State...
...If we cure for our city and the future of our own children we have a splendid opportunity this year in New York to make our fears and our hopes contagious...
...But t it is meant that the American voter ->t the kind we Socialists talk to year in U>d year out likes to live in crowded tenements, without securtty against unemployment or old age, that he likes courts which substitute political pull for justice...
...It has been encouraged by the Socialist-Communist split and by t'oiuiuunist tactics since this split...
...Politics, they are persuaded, is mostly bank so far as any large toeial results are concerned...
...3 changes fat method of assessing the east TaT grade crossings elimination...
...the political forecasters arc inclined to the view that a lal-ge number of radicals, but not socialists, who voted for lafoilctte will not return to the democratic or republican parties and that uie socialists will be the gainers...
Vol. 4 • November 1927 • No. 20
