Subscribers enjoy higher page view limit, downloads, and exclusive features.
“man (a very young and “The idea becomes power when it pene- trates. the masses.” —Karl Marx. - SPECIAL MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENT THE DAILY WORKER. OCTOBER 4, 1924, RUSSIAN NOTES - - After a day or two in Leningrad and Moscow two impressions remain that cannot be wiped out. As time passes these impressions become stronger until they evolve into perma- nent amazement. In the two and one-half months that I spent in Russia I never walked down a business street, thru a resi- dence or factory section or a boule vard without finding myself saying: “How happy and free from worry these people are!” And, “Is there any other country in the world where bookstores outnumber other business establishments three to one?” It fakes some little. time for one to discover what makes the atmosphere of a Russian city so different from that of an American city. It is- not the architecture nor the soft sound of the Russian language spoken by a crowd; it is not the absence of glar- ing billboards and electric - signs; neither is it the total lack of regi- mentation in style of costumes (one “sees on the streets of Moscow every- thing in the form of clothing from the Young Pioneer clad in nothing but bronzed skin and a pair of red trunks to the exotically brilliant habiliments of Bokhara and Turkestan) it is not the beautiful pastel shades of the buildings nor the constant clamor of the bells of the hundreds of churches. It is something far more fundamen- tal than any of these, something that begins far down in the lives of the masses themselves and that is a re- sult of a deep feeling of safety com- pounded of two factors—the knowl- edge that the wealth of Russia be- longs to the masses and there is no Boss in Russia; it is the feeling of security manifest in every act and utterance of the workers. Do not get excited about anarchy, dear comrades. Of course there is a boss in Russia, a very stern and re- lentless boss as more than one dis- turber of revolutionary order will tes- tify—if he is still in this vale of tears. This boss is a many-headed and many- handed ruler—he has indeed morg heads and~hands-than any other® the world~has- yet,seen—he is. ase posite of the.working me re Russia and he is therefore whose only Sibjectsthe remnant the capitalists and petty bourgeoisie? become fewer every day. As he loses subjects his power increases—a strange ruler but then there has been a revolution in Russia. It takes, as has been said, some lit- tle time even for a Communist, to get this matter straight but once the key is at hand there is unlocked a marvelous storehouse of information and little incidents of the boulevards, cafes and street cars reveal the won- ders that Russia, 1924, has for the observer. If you can think in terms of a coun- try without a boss in the shape of capitalist state power you will im- mediately see that many things must be done differently. For instance: a crowd that gathers to listen to a heated political argument (and all arguments in. Russia are political— generally about international politics these days) between two factory work- ers and in which everyone in the crowd takes part, cannot be dispersed by a policeman who comes up and says, “Move on or I'll run you in!” However, crowds that block traffic on busy streets cannot be tolerated in Moscow any more than they can in Chicago so sooner or later a police- spick and span policeman) saunters up. He re- monstrates with the debaters but no one pays much attention to him. Then he also becomes interested in the ar-rlied his patriarchial appearance. gument and nine times out of ten be-}took him a few seconds to discover comes an active participant. Sud-} what had happened but when he did denly he remembers his responsibility| he acted decisively. He seized the as an officer of the United Socialist}stump of a whip that stuck in its Soviet Republic, holds up his hand for|socket, leaped down from the silence and (I had dozens of these! droschky and with a new outburst of verbal exhibitions of the state power| profanity that. my , translator -after- translated to me) says something like; wards admitted had added greatly to this: “Comrades, these questions are very| who fied in disorder while his ¢ap- important and we workers must keep|tives seated themselves’ On the cart ourselves informed on them. But the|and shouted bits of sarcastic advice rebuilding of industry is.also impor-|to their captor. : tant and we cannot stop traffic for; Age told and the indignant ancient discussion. I am sure the comrades|one abandoned the chase because of will see the reasonableness of this.”|lack of breath. It returned suffici- With perhaps a little lingering to] ently to enable him to puff a few hear the most peristent debater clinch| curses in the direction of the police- a final point, the crowd disperses and | man as he untied the strap, picked up another “crisis” brot on by the clash} the reins and urged his horse up the of the interests of the masses with the} hill. state power has been averted. The policeman goes back to his station|crestfallen, again adjusted the straps and, if the street is not one of the|of the wagon over his shoulders, busier arteries, draws out a pamphlet; | sighed, beckoned to his three grinning Celebrating Red Labor Union Congress Tom Mann Dancing with Russian Working Girl with one eye on the printed page and)captives to follow and resumed the one open for thoughtless evaders of|long, long trail to the police station he traffic rules, this ruthless dictator|where the cheery criminals undoubt- a down to the perysal of-some|edly felt the full strength of the iron apary classic. arm of the Soviet dictatorship, +... , 2. * 3 ~ . * * halfway -A crowded street car (Moscow street q ~ cars are always crowded) was taking Hitersection with the inner ring of|me and an English-speaking Russian boulevards, is a rather steep gradé.|comrade to Sokolnikov (an amuse- At the foot of this grade I saw a p0-| ment park in the suburbs) one Sunday liceman, one morning, arrest three men | morning. who were hauling a little cart heav-| When you pay your fare on a Mos- ily loaded with something in sacks.|cow street car the conductor tears What the reason for the arest was I| of a receipt and gives it to you. This do not know nor is it important in the | particular conductor (an employe of light of what happened. the Moscow Soviet which operates the The arrestees submitted very grace-|street cars) was short of change and fully until the policeman suggested|asked the passengers to be patient that they haul their cart to the sta-|until he could get more kopecks. The tion-house. A long argument ensued |crowd was good-natured, as all Rus- during the course of which the male-|sian crowds are but one individual, factors evidently stood on the rights;however, a nepman, to judge by. his of arrested persons, They argued so|diamond stick-pin and ring, became successfully, with so much passionate|impatient and demanded his change gesticulation, that the policeman, with|immediately; the conductor pacified a defeated look, adjusted the straps|him momentarily and then he claimed of the vehicle and began to pull it up|that the conductor had given him no the grade with the three evil-doers, | receipt. maintaining a dignified silence, fol-| Everyone took part in the discus- lowing along behind. i sion that followed; it was largely of A droschky, with its ancient driver}a personal nature but the conductor half asleep, passed the procession and |soon gave it a political character. He the sweating guardian of the peace|worked his way to a commanding po- and honor of the dictatorship of the|sition at the rear of the car and de- proletariat had an inspiration. He|livered a speech of which the follow- deftly wound the loose end of a strap|ing is the gist: — around the rear spring of the droschky| “Comrades, this person has chal- and, much pleased with himself, al-|lenged my integrity; in challenging lowed the unsuspecting horse to re-|my integrity he challenges the integ- lieve him of the : in. The horsejrity of the Moscow branch of the began to slip and stumble and its|Municipal Workers’ Union and the driver, awakened from his after-break-|Moscow Soviet; in challenging the in- fast doze, eursed in a fashion that be-|tegrity of these working class organ- t e i his education, made for the policeman | | The policeman, looking somewhat} pay his debts. SECOND SECTION This magazine supple- ment will appear every Saturday in The Daily Worker. By William F. Dunne It| izations he challenges the integrity of the whole working class.” At this point the accuser interrupfed to say that he would make a complaint to the Soviet and the conductor stopped speaking long enough to hand him a sheet of paper on which to write it. He resumed: “Comrades, this matter will be''settled: by the. proper authori- ties but it also. calls for a public re- buke.. We cannot permit such in- sults always to go unchallenged. I ask everybody who supports me and resents such insults to the free work- ers of Russia to hold up their hands.” Everyone but the nepman raised their hands, he subsided and the incident was closed. The car had been running and mak- ing the usual stops: all this time; it~ was jammed to the doors and the conductor soon had enough change to He stood at one end of the car and called out: “Who do I owe*money to?” A hand would be held up and without any disorder the change would be passed from hand to hand to the claimant. All claims had been liquidated when Sokolnikov was reached and with the vindicated honor of the Russian workers safely in his keeping the conductor signaled for the car to start on its return trip. 7 . * No one sleeps much in Moscow in summer. The reason I never inquired but I believe it is because Moscow nights are too beautiful to waste in sleep. At any hour of the-night one can stroll around either the outer or inner circle of the magnificent boule- vards that encircle the city and meet groups of people, generally young people, walking and singing to the accompaniment of from one to half- a-dozen balaikas. Sometimes the balaikas are missing and some one takes the lead and sings @ verse with the rest joining in the chorus. ~The boulevards are dimly lighted and are ideal places for loy- ers. Moscow itself seems to have been built for lovers. At the darkest hour of the summer night the vivid blue of the sky can be seén thru the tree tops if one is on a boulevard or in a park; if out in the city, the gilded domes of the mosques with their delicate tracery stand out against the sky with a reminiscent ef- fect that is puzzling until one remem- bers that in one’s youth one saw pic- tures of just this kind in illustrations depicting the city in which the fairy princess dwelt. In the deep twilight and shadows of the boulevards one cannot see the singers until they meet one almost face to face; the music fromthe dark- ness creates an air of pleasant mys- tery and one walks miles without sense of fatigue until a sudden weari- ness sends one home to bed. > ¢ @ Without any set rules or regulations certain sections of the boulevards have come to have definite uses. In one section the Young Pioneers hold sway; in another trade unionists can always be found discussing the poli- cies of their organizations; nurse- maids and their charges occupy a long stretch of the most picturesque dis- trict; Red soldiers and their sweet- hearts have pre-empted the section that runs along the Kremlin wall. . - * Three nepmen were eating one day in the little cafe we called the Hole- in-the-Wall but who’s right name is the Moulin Rouge. It is a cafe frequented by workers and one gets “Anglisky” beefsteak—a thick steak with a fried egg on top, potatoes and garnishments of lettuce, (Continued on page 7.)