The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 21, 1925, Page 14

Concerning Russian Women By IDA DAILES. ANY of us have “learned about women” of Russia from Tolstoi, Dostoievski, Gorki, Chekhov, and other great Russian writers of the years preceding the 1917 revolution. To us, generally speaking, the Russian women fall into three board groups: the neurotic, amorous woman of so- ciety as typified by Anna Karenina; the victim of the wife-beating peasant described to us by Gorki; and tne in- teresting prostitute who seemed to be a fascinating subject for most of tne Russian writers. There was much of the glamor of romance about these women, not only because of the intrin- sically romantic types which were de- scribed but also because they were aided by the pens of the masters who presented them. OWEVER, I have just finished reading a little pamphlet entit- led “Work Among Women,” which contains a number of reports on vari- ous phases of the work of the Russian Communist Party and the Soviet gov- ernment among the women of Russia and the Eastern Soviet republics. And it seems to me that there is more ro- mance in the facts, figures, analysis and plans contained in these reports than there is in all the work of all the masters of Russian literature. Here the words are inspired not by literary genius, not by the urge of the artist to express himself, but by the simple necessity of stating what has been done, what the conditions are and what must be done. And it is truly remarkable to learn what has been done under the terrible heritage that was left to the Russian working class, and especially the working women of Russia, by czarist oppression, war, revolution, blockade and famine, -ET me_quote from the introductory « explanatory note: “In the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, Communist women con- centrate all their talents and ener- gies on constructive work, on the social reconstruction of their respec- women workers to the economic and social reconstruction of their respec- tive countries. The missed oppor. tunities of many centuries are to be made good over night. “The reports of our women com- rades are nothing but records of hard, practical and fruitful work. This work may seem to many hum- drum, even ‘reformist.’ But those whose souls and minds are open to.. the great symphony of the class con- scious march towards Communism, will be able to detect revolutionary chords even in this everyday work. They will realize that these reports are a record of untiring, self-sacri. ficing and skillful work and a reflex of the creative forces within the women’s movement. All this char acterizes not only the leading wo- men comrades, but also the millions of women among whom they work.” The reports contained in the pam- phlet cover the following: : The Russian Communist Party at work among women. Methods of approaching working women. Wo. men’s delegate meetings. Mass me- thods of work. The press as a means of organizing the proletarlan women. Methods of approaching the working women thru the un- ions. Forms and methods of work among the women of the Soviet East. Protection of mothers and In- fants. The woman worker and the communal dining rooms. HERE is also an appendix, outlin- ing a program for working wo- men’s study circles, dealing with ques- tions ranging from ,factory produc- tion, technical equipment, etc., to the history of the world revolution and the Communist International, When I read the report on work among the women of the Soviet East, I thought of the Negro problem in the United States. The contrast between the Soviet method of dealing with the enslaved women of the East and that of the United States in dealing with the enslaved Negroes is very striking. Both grouys were freed formally by their governments. But in Soviet Rus- sia formal decrees are not enough. The problem of bringing these women up to the economic and cultural level of the advanced sections of working women is being tackled vigorously and practically. Among other things, east. ern women are being drawn into the Communist university and then sent back to the east to carry on theoretica and practical education and recon- struction among their countrywemen. HILE the Communist Parties of the western countries have en- tirely different problems to meet in their work among women, every Com- munist can read this pamphlet with interest and profit. The women of Russia will have much te contribute to the western proletariat in the way of practical experience when the west- ern countries are faced with the prob. lem of building up the Communist so- ciety in their own countries. & e 499 The Processional A Cross Section of American Life. Forty-Ninth Street Theater, New York. 'HE THEATER GUILD have once ‘again jarred the conventional and long-established. Last season “we had the “R. U. R.” and the “World We Live In.” Now we have “The Proces- sional” a jazzy cross section of Am- erican life upon which the critics are furiously disagreeing. The scene is laid in West Virginia with a strike ’n soldiers ’n sheriff ’n a Heart reporter (who is sorry for everybody but can’t do a thing about it) "n a Yiddish business man afflicted with a jazz-mad daughter (not satis. fied with the “Victerola” that her pa- has bought for her)’n Psinski, the Pol- ish-born strike leader who welcomes a week with the hero “Dynamite Jim” in a cellar as a golden opportunity to “explain the workers’ position in history.” There is our old friend the President..of the “Law and Order League” the Sir Galahad of 100 per cent morality who warns the obsequi- ous sheriff against “women who are making propositions to the soldiers” who have been brought in to break the strike. We have the “ku klux kldn in solemn konklave assembled sitting in judgment on ‘outraged wo- manhood’” who sentenced the heroine to a good whipping and the ‘tar and feathers for being present when the ‘outrage took place. “Dynamite Jim” is the desperate identity who is the center of the piece. He lands in prison on the 4th of July because he does not feel like kissing “Old Glory” as he lies with it in the gutter.. Having built up a repu- tation locally as an infernal nuisance the ruling class decided that a hang- ing bee is as good a way out as pos- sible. They provide the coffin but Jim escapes and in doing so he kills a soldier, With the aid of Psinski he escapes to his mother’s home—: leaky barn—all that is left to the fam- ily after a hundred years pioneering in the West Virginia hills. The melan- choly Psinski nearly talks Jim to death. Eventually Jim is caught “by the seat of the pants” by the soldiers. He is turned over to the 100 per cent- ers and they put out his eyes. He is then thrown into Charleston gaol. He rejoins the strikers who are trying to settle accounts with the ku kluxers Dawn see the latter disappear, for as Psinski says “Nightriders don’t work in daylight.” Jim loses his compan- ions and in the forest he meets Sadie, the daughter of the Jewish busines; man. She is now carrying a child of his. The Hearst reporter shows a way out. “The killing of a few people doesn’t matter, but an illegitimate child is a serious matter,” and pro- poses marriage. Jazz plays thru the play, the action is rapid, running the gamut of com- edy, pathos and tragedy. Some of the critics hail “The Processional” as a truly great play, an effort to portray the individualism, lawlessness and general irresponsibility of life in in- dustrial America. The playwright, John Lawson, knows his West. Vir- ginia and its problems. He minces nc words and hurls bricks very hard and very often which are calculated to make the average playgoer quite un- comfortable. The casting has been done with the usual Theater Guild thoroness, the players interpreting their parts with sincerity and under- standing. “The Processional” started at the Garrick and then went to the Comedy. It is now at the Forty-Ninth Street Theater. It should be upon its merits destined for a long-run. It jars the placid and easy-going and is by no means entirely flattering to the radi- cal. It stings and lashes and plays havoc with Babbittry, conservative and radical. If you are just a big-town person go and see it, you'll view another Am. erica, an industrial jungle with its in- habitants. When the sky covering NOTE We have been for- tunate in securing a - large shipment of this working class drama, by a master propagan- dist at a specially low rate that enables us to sell it at a mark below the usual selling price. Take advantage of it, Singing Jail Birds A Drama in four Acts By . Upton Sinclair About which Mike Gold says: ( “It is terrible, bitter truth, and some of the scenes brought the tears to my newspaper sterile eyes..... “The play has great sweep, and a real power in moving the heart. Some of the scenes are like a real experience—the loss of one’s — death, the pangs of loneliness or prison experienced 18 CENTS A COPY from The Daily Worker Literature Department 1113 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, III. vegitation of the carboniferous period hid the steamy earth from the sun, it never harbored sueh denizens, such struggles, such blind efforts towards the light as “The Processional” shows have grown up around the petrified plants and trees which lie in the moun- tains after aeons of time. See it twice, anyway.—“AUSSIB.” Party Construction in C. I. Sections (Continued from page 1) has been done in. connection with the formation of Communist fractions in non-party mass organizations of the working class and in connection with placing Communist fractions under the control of the party. And yet the few Communist fractions which exist mainly in parliaments are, because of their short-comings a source of much harm to the Communist parties. ENTRAL and local committees of a considerable number of Com- munist parties do not pay sufficient attention to this question. The min- ute instructions of the E. C. C. I, of February 1924 on the organization of Communist fractions, their work and their relations with party organs com- pelled on the basis of the experience of the Russian Communist Party and other sections of the Communist In-' ternational, have hitherto remained on paper, and in the meantime the ac- tions of individual members of the Communist fractions are doing great harm to the Communist parties. N many countries Communist mem- bers of trade unions, co-operatives and other workers’ organizations are not yet co-ordinated into Communist fractions. Hence it is easy for the trade union and co-operative bureat- crats from the social-democratic party to drive the Communists out of the above-mentioned mass organizations. It is essential to organize nuclei in the workshops and to form Commun- ist fractions. At the same time these nuclei and fractions must be given a With a correct organization of the party and with correct and flexible tactics applied thru nuclei and Com- munist fractions Communist parties will be victorious in the struggle with capitalism. We Have Just Been Notified: That the latest issue of The Communist International No. 8 > will be in our hands within the next few days. ee If you want the latest issue of the official organ of the executive com mittee of the leading world Com- nunist body, get No. 8 Send in your orders at once. We have been advised we can begin shipment on Monday, March 23. SINGLE COPY 25 CENTS : Sub Rates: $2.50 a Year $1.25 Six Months a Order from the sole agent in this country. The Daily Worker Literature Departament | 1113 W. Washington Bivd. Chicago, Ill, Second-Hand Books Used Communist, Labor and Eco- nomic books, pamphiets, — and maps in all languages, ight, sold and exchanged at cut prices. “Daily” Book Exchange 805 James &t,, Pittsburgh, Pa. ¥ Pace. | oe Pa co BE arg Canad