The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 17, 1925, Page 8

WHEN it E is dead.” Thus I was greeted on the morning of the 2ist of January, 1924, by a German comrade who had just purchased a special bul- letin of the Pravda. “He is dead.” everybody khew what he meant. It went like a stroke of lightning thru everybody. “He is dead.” The streets of Moscow were also dead. Lenin had died and the whole popu- lation was cast into morning. Sunday usually a day of life in the streets of Moscow, witnessed the streets entirely deserted.. Every pro- letarian in the city was robbed of the greatest thing that he prized—and he remained indoors to ponder on his loss. The streets were deserted—not even the Nepmen were to be seen. All Moscow was bent down—the leader of the revolution, the builder of the Soviet government, the founder of the Russian Communist Party and of the Communist International—the greatest statesman that the world has known in many a century—had passed away. Blow Came Suddenly. For many weeks, bulletins had been issued on the state of Lenin’s health. Sometimes they were optimistic, some- times they were gloomy. Only a few weeks before the fatal blow struck down the great man, photographs were published in the weeklies, which showed that Lenin had gone thru fearful suffering—but yet he was with us. life, had had no contact with the work- ers and peasants of his country for such a long time that no great hopes were entertained of his returning to active life. But the blow same so suddenly—it came with such violence that it stunned every worker and peasant. The next day, they bore Lenin’s body from the little town of Gorki, not far from Moscow to the capital. The funeral train, decked in black and red, was met at the station by dele- gations from all the factories and Soviet and Communist institutions. Slowly to the strains of the funeral hymn, solemnizing the death of the heroes of the 1905 revolution, they carried his body thru the streets of Moscow, followed by tens of thou sands of workers. The streets were lined with masses of workers and be- tween these lines they took the re- mains of Lenin to the Temple of Labor. Peasants Travel to Moscow. Here he lay in state so that the millions of workers and peasants might go to Moscow to see his face once more—the face of the comrade and man who had fired them to the revolution, the man who had led them in the revolution—the man whom they recognized as their COMRADE and leader. It is impossible for us in America will endeavor to give a picture of | the true state of affairs, in Russia by describing the development of the work on which I am myself engaged. This is a factory for . agricultural machinery which previous to the Oc- tober revolution was in the hands of foreigners. A man named Helferich was the founder of the firm. After the October revolution the factory was nationalized, but the civil and guerilla warfare ruined the factory. The material and machinery bought to extend the works were sold at the outbreak of the revolution by the for- mer shareholders. Until the end of 1922, disorder and chaos reigned su- preme in the factory, which was then morely using up the old stores of ma- terial. All attempts to set the factory go- ing in the right and proper manner failed. Towards the end of 1922 the factery waz linked up with an agri- machinery w.iiural trust and was LENIN Lenin had been away from public : Life in Soviet Russia THE “HAMMER AND SICKLE” to grasp what this means to the Rus- sian worker and peasant. These work- ers and peasants went thru the worst suffering that a working and peasant class ever experienced. They learned to suffer more thru the world war, and the counter-revolution. They sacrificed millions of their sons and fathers for the czar, that his brutal regime might be xreserved. Then -with one fell blow they drove him and his co-parasites out of the world: But that did not yet give them power. Kerensky, the traitor, had to be driven into the desert; all the obstructive counter-revolutionary forces had to be dissipated. ‘Then and then only, un- der the masterful leadership of that giant mind, Lenin, was it possible for the workers and peasants to become the masters of Russia. Their Friend and Comrade. Every country has its leaders. The revolutionary workers and peasants of every country have the men they look to for leadership. But Lenin was not merely a leader. He was the inspirer of the revolution, he was the heart of the revolution, he was the dynamic DIED companion, his friend and comrade, tearless, staunch, grieving ag all Sov- iet Russia grieved. Beside her, Marie, Lenin’s sister, tearless and staunch. grieving with all Soviet Russia. Five days and five nights, always at his side, tearless, with breaking heart, ever looking upon his placid face—the face of ‘a man who knows that he has created well, who has done all wthin his power to accomplish the task he set himself. For five days and nights, the line of workers and peasants streamed thru the hall, endlessly. And for five days and five nights, there was but one thought in the minds of all the workers and peasants of Soviet Russia—the great master was gone. The peasants knew they had lost their best friend. “Ilyitch is gone.” How could Soviet Russia go on without Ilyitch? How could the great questions that still confronted Soviet Russia be settled without his guiding hand? How could the great work that had been begun be finished, if Ilyitch did not lead? Leaves Army of Leaders. The.work was to go on. Ilyitch had OUR COMRADE LENIN ° “He is mourned not only by the millions of Russian workers, but no less sincerely and deeply by the peasants of Albania and the work- ers of Mexico, the proletariat of New York, Chicago and the working men of Paris, and of Pekin, everywhere where there are workers and toilers. The Negroes of America, the coolies of China, hundreds of thousands of people who knew of Lenin only by hearsay, who did not read, perhaps, any of his books, but who knew only these five letters— L—E—N—I—N—understood that Lenin meant the new humanity, the new banner, the New Epoch, which opened its bright vista before them.”—Grego' y Zinoviev, President of the Communist International. Tee ee Tee force of the revolution. And in his death, the Russian workers and peas- ants felt the heart of the country had stopped. But no. When, in their hundreds of thousands, they streamed into the Temple of Labor; when in the™bitter- est cold that Moscow has experienced in many years they staod in the streets for hours, in their long lines, waiting to pass thru the Labor Temple, they were waiting to see the man whom they mourned as their nearest friend and comrade—the man whose thoughts were only of his people. They wdited—then passed thru the Temple, looked upon the quiet, peaceful face of the great man, passed out into the night, grief cut- ting at their hearts—and took their place again in the long line, to pass thru the hall once more. And in the Temple were intoned the strains of the Funeral Hymn, while the great man lay on his bier sur- rounded by flowers. At his side stood incessantly. Krupskaja, his wife and given the name, “Hammer an? Sickle.” The party made a turner from the Urals manager of vie fae- tory; this comrade had filled very re- sponsible trade union post since the revolution. His task was by no means a light one. Part of the administra- tive and technical personnel were an-| U-Soviet, and these people obstruct- ed the work; they sabotaged every serious attempt to improve the work in the factory. But our comrade took up-his work in good earnest. He ro moved the head engineer (technical director of the works). But his successor was not any bet- ter, so he met with the same fate. At one time there was a technical and administrative staff of 148 people, and in this apparatus great changes also took place, This cleansing process went on until the end of July, 1923. About 40 per cent of the old staff were dismissed and partly replaced by workers from the factory, created not only the Soviet govern- ment, but also that great steel army of men and women who know what leadership is, who led in the revolu- tion, who were always in the fore- front where danger lurked, who formu- lated all the policies that Soviet Russia has given to the world—who taught the world a new concept—the concept of Communist thought and leadership in action: the Russian Communist Party. The Russian Com- munist Party, born out of the mind of Lenin, and trained in the discipline and strategy that he laid down, took up the task that Lenin left behind. Knowing that the leader was gone, the Russian Communist Party mobi- lized the whole mass of the workers and peasants to tell them of the thoughts that had guided the life of Comrade Lenin. All over Soviet Russia during these five days and five nights, there were held meetings of the workers and peasants. In every town and village, the workers and peasants came together to hear the The results of this work soon be- came apparent. Production in 1923 rose from 10,056 -vld rubles’ worth in January, 1923, to i%5,654 gold rubles’ worth in Decein- ber, 1923, and in September, 1924, we veoduced 310,019 rubles’ worth—thirty ‘imes the old level. Between Janvary, 1928, and September, 1924, the produc- tion of each worker rose from 1t vubles per month to 240 rubles pur month, and wages rose from 14% rubles per month to 58.3 rubles. These figures show us the progres» made by our factory this year. The otal production increased from month to month. The last month—Septem- ber—(the business year begins in Oc- tober)--showed record figures. Our workers and staff have thereby shown that they do honor to the name of our factory—“Hammer and Sickle.” We jook hopefully into the future. Our vroduction program for 1924-25 is fixed at 4% millton rubles, and even this does not satisfy the manage- ment. In pre-war times the maximum figure reached by the factory was ‘nree, million two hundred thousand. (Prices remain unchanged.) The management is in strong and capable hands, It consists of the com- rado mentioned already, his assistant, |” also u former worker, a locksmith, es _By ISRAEL AMTER. story of the great man. Altho grief bit at their hearts, altho tears trickled down their cheeks when the Funeral Hymn was played, the voice of the speaker was not the voice of sorrow. On the contrary, with the leader gone, the duties of those who remained behind were so much the greater... “The struggle goes on.. We must be men following the path that Lenin laid out. The master is gone. but we, his disciples, must take up the work where he left it. We who fought the revolution and achieved the victory by the side of Comrade Lenin, must go on with th work.” ' The tears dried. The eyes of every worker grew brighter. The women and children, to whom Lenin was as a father, leant forward drinking in every word of the speaker. “If our leader has gone, then we must COL- LECTIVELY finish the work.” That was the idea—coliectively we must finish what he had left unfinish- ed. Collectively, orphaned as we are, we must continue along the long path until all difficulties are removed and our Communist goal has been reached. “And when the meeting ended—and the International was sung with the fire that only revolutionists can im- part to it—one knew that out of these millions of breasts come the Commun- ist will and determination that only a man like Lenin could have im- planted. i For Five Days and Nights. For five days and five nights—in the factories, in the clubs, in the university halls, in the great halls of the cities, in the villages, in the Seviets—Soviet Russia was one vast meeting place filled with the workers and peasants who knew Lenin so well. For five days and five nights—few thought of work. And from all cor- ners of the country came the workers and peasants, sent by their factories and village Soviets to see the great man as he lay on the bier, surrounded by flowers, resting with his hands folded before him, with a gentle smile on his face—a smile that indicated that he was content with what Soviet Russia had attained—Soviet Russia of his inmost feelings and thoughts, For five days and five nights—the Funeral March sounded in the Temple of Labor, the workers and comrades stood guard, and soldiers of the Red Army- kept watch over Ilyitch in death, For five days and five nights—out in the bitter cold of the Moscow win- ter stood the workers and peasants, waiting their turn to see him once more—before saying good-bye . . - Was ever a man more loved by the masses? Lenin, giant mind of the Russian revolution, leader of the World Revolution — hated by the world bourgeoisie—loved by the world of the earth, ’ —————— eee and the head engineer, who acts as technical director. All the workers are interested in the work of the fac- ‘ory, and they are convinced that in he current year peace time produe- ‘ion will be exceeded. This means a «reat deal,,when you remember that the machinery has had considerable sear and tear, and that the forty-six tour week is in operation here. This iv a~picture of our works, just an ex- ample of what is going on thruout the Vunion of Soviet Republics—s. Lid, “kerkov, November 29, 1924. “Chaos” An Old Excuse For Landing Marines— But They 7 Still Use It (Special to The Daily Worker) SHANGHAI, Jan.. 16.—An interna- tional landing party comprising 350 British, American, French, Italian and Japanese marines came ashore today and policed the foreign settlement, The Japanese miral Nouia .com- manded the party. He reported that the situation was “well in hand with: in the settlement, but chaos existed outside,” Patronize our advertisers,