The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 21, 1925, Page 10

Letters From Soviet Russia How Klintzy Women Textile Workers Live. i one of the newspapers I came across an extract from a report in the German bourgeois newspaper, in which was alleged that the women engaged in the textile industries of Klintzy had not been getting their wages for months, that they had been declaring strikes, and similar non- sense, >, It is, of course, a brazen bourgeois lie, from beginning to end. Here I merely want to tell our German com- rades how the wonien textile workers live here at Klintzy. In the first place; we get our wages regularly twice a month: 60 per cent in money on the 7th of each month, and 50 per cent in the’ prod- ucts purchased on our ‘books at our “own co-operative store.’ UR workers ‘and peasants’ gov- ernment and our trade uinons ‘take every care to create the best possible living conditions for the “workers. Our industry and agricult- _ure are growing and developing day by day, and*‘with the growth of our “national economy the life of the work- “ers steadily improves. In our own “particilar’ cise,” we, the working women of Klintzy, have experienced a vast improvement in our living con- ditions, and this improvement grows year by year along with the growth of our industries. MIGHT mention some of our achievements. At each factory there are creches for our children. On going to work we leave our children there (for eight hours), where they get food, clothing and proper care. During the last few weeks we also opened evening classes, which re- ceive children not only from working women, but also from wives of work- ing men. The creches enable us also. to put our children in safe keeping in our spare time, so that we can attend the club, the theater, the various’ schools and study circles, and the meetings of the social, trade union and political organizations, in which we take equal part with the working men. HE working men and women in the textile industry have achieved a good deal of progress in the housing question in 1924. We have four com- munity houses, splendidly equipped, with accomodation for 500 people, of whom 250 are working men. We have so far established one dining. hall (a. second. one will be. opened shortly), at which we get well- cooked and nourishing dinners of two courses, and of three courses on holi- days, for the comparatively cheayl price of 25 kop. per dinner. Many of the working women take advantage of these dinners to get rid of the drudg- ery and slavery of the kitchen. ROTECTION of labor is observed in our factories according to the decrees of the People’s Commissariat gf Labor, in which the following pro- visions are made: A woman in preg- nancy obtains a vacation of four months—two months before and two months after child-birth; nursing mothers are allowed half an hour in- terval to feed the baby during work- ing hours; a benefit is paid to every mother of a new-born child; women are debarred fromm night work for nine months after child-birth. In the summer time working women have their vacations, which many of them spend at recreation homes, san- atoria and health resorts (those in Dad 1 health), thus recuperating their health so that they might with re- newed force jon in the building up oftheir proletarian states, in strength- ening its power and thereby improv- ing ‘their own ‘lives. NOTHER factor for the improve- ment of the living conditions of the working men and women are the so-called “pioneer detachments,” in which the children, beginning from the age of four, obtain a proletarian education, while the working women themselves take part in the organiza- tion which looks after the education of their children. “We have also art and craft schools, in which young boys and girls are- trained into skill- ful workers, by individual tuition, so that they will subsequently graduate as skilled workers, this we, never had before the October revolution, “HIS is how our Klintzy working women live. We. would like to ex- changé correspondence with our ¢om- rades, British women in the textile industry. The working women of the textile industry of Klintzy invite you to visit us and to become acquainted | with our life on the spot. A Woman Textile Worker, Klintzy, Jan. 16. LINTZY, Gomel Gubernia. Dear Comrades, I should like to tell you about our life‘and doings, as I often read in the Soviet papers that your bourgeois pa- pers misinform you about the work- ers in our country. I work in a leather factory which employs over 200 people, 78 of whom are members of the Communist Party and 45 are members of the Young Communist League. I should like to remind you of the hard times which the workers of our factory experi- enced under Nicholas the autocrat. Our employer was the. manufacturer, Baryshnikov, who had also a cloth factory employing 2,000 workers. N those days, the only solace of the workers was to get drunk, and thus drown all their sorrows. At present, instead of Baryshnikov, the factory is managed by a worker whom we elected. He is the manager of the factory and’ all the others help him in his work. He-does not work under compulsion but of his own free will, for the more we produce the better our own position becomes, and not that of the manufacturer, E have our own club where the workers find rest and sensible | occupations. and amusements after their daily work. The club has study circles. on Political and trade union questions. . ‘It publishes a wall news- paper and. “has also a dramatic circle, and all this shag. been.created by. our workers .and. they themselyes parti- | cipate. in everything... HE. Soviet. government's, call. for | increased production, met .,.withya ready response from. our workers. | They make full use of the 8-hour day and hope that in the near future the result will be that our goods will be- come cheaper and will become acces- sible to the peasant consumer. We keep in close contact with the peas- ants of the Sinkovka village. They come to our social evenings, and we go to theirs. We have set up for them a threshing machine at the cost of 1,100 poods of corn. We carry on cul- tural work among them. These are only a few particulars about our life. I will write you more fully later on. Z. Erdman. Tanner. Notes of International, Labor Movement EXPEL INDIAN COMMUNIST LEADER. Paris.—Following on the. expulsion of hundreds of Italian and Spanish workers who had sought refuge in France from the savage persecution directed against them in their own countries, Comrade M. N. Roy, Indian represetative on the Communist In- ternational has been expelled from France by the Herriot government. There are indications that this act of the Herriot government was carried out at the request of England, which . has reason to fear the organizer of India’s. oppressed masses, and has been. -pursuing him from country to country. Great indignation has been aroused among French Communists by ™ latest fascist manifestation. >. 2 &. RASSIN ON FRENCH AGREE- MENT. PARIS.—In the course of an inter- view given a representative of Rosta in Moscow, Krassin stated that the first steps taken toward an economic rapprochment between France and the U.S. S. R. promise good results. | If French concerns are willing to grant sufficient cerdit terms, he said, the Russian market will absorb an im- mense quantity of the products of French mechanical industries. * * * MINER SHOWS INVENTIVE GENIUS. MOSCOW.—According to news re- ceived from Lugansk, the head miner, Comrade Simonov of the Sverdlov mine of the Dalzhansk mining district has invented a new hewing machine which gives excellent results. Its dis- tinguishing feature is its lightness (8 pounds instead of the usual three poods), and the ease with which it can be adjusted. With the help of this machine, one can cut the layer of coal into pieces without exploding it first with dynamite. This makes the process of ,getting coal considerably easier. Comrade Simonov has also invented a spade to serve out coal, with a cap- acit¥ of “#0 foods®. the output equals 5,000 poods in 24 hours. Simonov’s in- vention is being used in the mine with great success. The . scientific-technical department of the Ukrainian Supreme Council of National Economy (V. S. N«H.) has placed the Sverdlov mine at Comrade Simonov’s disposal for the trial and application of his inventions. * coe eee aneenesertesniennanseneeensnen WRANGEL’S BANDS IN JUGO . SLAVIA. BELGRADE—It is reported that for several days Wrangel has been mobil- izing his forces and preparing for an offensive against the U. S. S. R. The Jugo-Slav and Bulgarian governments are actively aiding in the mobiliza- tion. Many of the. most prominent figures of czarist Russia coming from France, Czecho-Slovakia, Bulgaria and the other countries where they have been living as refugees, participated in a secret conference held at Zem- | lin (near Belgrade), attended also by a number of officers of the Jugo-Slav general staff and former czarist gen- erals, at which plans were outlined for an offensive against the U. §. 8. R. ‘ The counter-revolutionaries are speaking openly of their return to Russia in the near future. They claim that the Balkans will be the counter-revolutionary base, and say the Jugo-Slav army will not take ac- tive part in the war, at the start, but will maintain peace in the Balkan countries.” DRIVE AGAINST ENGLISH RAIL MEN. LONDON—The National Union. of Railwaymen and the Association of Railway Employes have presented a national program for wage increases to the companies, The railway direc- tors have nof only met the demands of the workers with refusal, but have replied with a counter-proposal for a general wage reduction, ranging from six shillings a week in the provinces to four shillings a week in London. inelide a-basic wage of 16 shill- ings a day for mechanics, a minimum of three pounds a week for laborers, the working day and week guaranteed forall railroad workers without dis- tinctions, and pensions from 60 years. For several weeks the capitalist press has been carrying on a violent campaign against the program of the railworkers. The leaders of the na- tional union say that they are “sur- prised” by the companies’ attack. The rank and file are in no mood to ac- cept a wage cut, and even Cramp, the union secretary, admits that a crisis will arise if thé companies persist in their present attitude. . * MINERS’ SHOP COMMITTEES MEET. BERLIN—At the conference of shop committees of the miners of central Germany - held at Berlin, Comsngen! Halle, Rozenbaum, Koenen and Stro- etzel, delegated by the Communist Reichstag fraction, spoke on the pres- ent situation of the miners, trade un- ion unity, the next developments in the struggle of German proletariat, etc. Sixty-five shop committees were represented. . All the resolutions and appeals pre- sented were adop‘ed unanimously. An appeal addressed to all the miners of central Europe spoke of the necessity of realizing a united front of all the exploited and of comquering the trade. ions. The appeal referred to the demands’ of Gotha program, empha- sizing in particular: the seven hour shift; wage increases of 40 per cent to meet the increased cost of living; extension of the rights of shop com- mittees; pensions for the aged and) invalids fixed at 80 per cent’ ot the, regular wage, ete, | i RUSSIAN MOVIES AT GERMAN-AMERICAN HOME KENOSHA, WIS., FEB, 28 The famous movies, “Polikushka,” a six-reel story made by the Moscow | Art Theater, “In Memoriam—Lenin,” showing the life and funeral of Lenin, and a Russian comedy, “Sol- dier lyan's Miracle,” will be shown SATURDAY, FEB. 28, from 4 to 11 p. m. at the German-American Home, 665 Grand Ave., Kenosha, Wis. These pictures have been drawing the biggest crowds in Chicago, New York and other big cities. They will be shown in Kenosha ONLY ONE EVENING, FEB. 28. There will be three showings on that evening. The first will start at 4 p. m. sharp. Make sure to attend. Tell your friends about it. Don’t miss the greatest treat in your life. NOTICE, CHICAGO! Keep Saturday evening, March 28, 1925, an opén date for a Y. W. L. The demands of the railway work- | affair. a MORE THAN 30% of the total population in Ameri« ca is foreign born. “The American For- eign-Born Worker” By Clarissa S. Ware. _js a most valuable little arse- "nal of facts on a large body of the American working class, Most useful information tn a pamphlet that sells for only 5 CENTS Order from — THE DAILY WORKER Literature Department - 1113 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, III. Settle for the Beauty and Bolshe- vik tickets. Bring the money and un- sold tickets either to 19 S. Lincoin St., or Room 307, 166 W. Washing- ton St.