The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 18, 1925, Page 11

@ | An Italian Voice Speaks for Soviet Russia \ > By GUIDO MIGLIOLI Italian representative on the Peasants’ International NE of the peasants at Quareli, Ti- flis, Sovinet Russia, had said to me in parting: “You must write about us and describe everything which you have seen.” I promised him to do.so,:and for this reason I crave the hospitality of your columns for the following lines: In the words of that peasant was expressed the whole history of the Georgian peasantry, the whole soul of this industrious population. : HE peasant of that salubrious country, vibrant with new life, is possessed of just one desire: to be re- cognized. It is the natural aspiration of a people that is feverishly engaged day by day in building up.the new life born of the revolution. He feels. the need of refuting the calumnies spread about the Georgian peasant that he did not share in the passionate deter- mination; of all the toilers to defend the conquests of the revolution and to speed of the march of progress. It is a good reminder to all political stu- dents that the history of the Georgian renaissance is béing written not only in the towns, but also in the villages, that it is wroght by the daily toil of these humble yet powerful tillers of the soil. There is no need to color the truth, when it is so bright and self-evident. N Sunday morning we arrived at Telave, a little township nestled in the midst of the most flourishing agricultural plains,. Even on the day of rest I saw. the ‘intense activity of the little town, which had all the ap- pearance of a modern center of cul- ture and intellectual persuits. The chairman of the Soyiet showed me the new schoojs, the new theater in course of construction, the hall for the public organizations, All this is being built upon the ruins. of the. atrocious regime » which, for ;many generations had oppressed the population and kept it in poverty and ignorance; now the people are eagerly building up their social institutions, their cooperative and credit organizations. In front of the cooperative store, which now handles 60 per cent of the town’s trade there were some silent women vainly trying to sell something. Co- operation has put them out of busi- ness. I took a photograph of these two opposite worlds which may still be seen side by side, the one accom- Further Communist _ By J. B. (Jerusalem) NN September 1924, Egypt was the scene of a Communist trial. Zaglul Pasha, who;;was at that time at the head of the. government.and at the pinnacle of his power, wished to show to the English how well he was able to maintain order, All the accused were condemned to imprisqnment with hard labor. The Egyptian reac- tion rejoiced: Communism in Egypt is now dead and buried; “all” the leaders are arrested, “all” organiza- tions dissolved and “all” Communist nests cleared out, Zaglul Pasha had scarcely carried out this task for British imperialism when there came the end of Zaglul glory. Driven from the government, threatened and humiliated, the party of Zaglul has today become the victim of that Bankers’ clique which is de- voted to England and to whom Zaglul Pasha, thanks to his weak and ambi- guous policy, gave the possibility of taking over power. This clique—the Zivar Pasha ministry—is preparing to deliver a decisive blow to the Egypt- ian nationalists, No means of incite- .ment and calumny appears too vile for this ministry, which fs supported by English bayonets, in order to ex- terminate all revolutionary and free- dom-loving elements still remaining in Pgypt. It is therefore a matter of course that the rage of these betray- ers of the Egyptian people is directed first of all against that organization which appears to them to be the most dangerous: The Communist Party of Egypt. . panying the other like the shadow of the night before the fulness of the dawn. I was particulalrly interested in co- operative credit organizations. In a few months the membership had grown into 1,000, and the paid up cap- ital to 30000 roubles. Deposits are beginning to pour in. Thousands of peasants come to this modest-looking building to ask for advice and to de- posit their’ savings. I smothered the kind and ‘intelligent superintendent with a multitude of questins; which my travelling companion, Comrade Kantor, faithfully translated. I asked what was the ratio’as between depo- sits and loans. I would lika to re- produce here those figures. a a short space of time there was on hand 100,000 roubles, of which only 10 per cent had been loaned out on long credits, which signified the quick turnover of the capital and the intensity of the peasants’ labor.* The progressive index of financial ‘opera- tions has insured to this ‘little, yet: solid institution steady: ‘progress vand stability. : Such was the life in the little town, and the same vigor I found vibrating in the villages.» I had the opportunity to visit the villages of Shilda and Quareli. The difficult communications prevented some foreign visitors from cutting deep into the villages. Nevertheless, as I had already done in the Ukraine and on the Don, I tried immediately to get into the villages and to see with my own eyes ‘the cultural and economic development, the political growth of the agricultural population. Eg Shilda I was overwhelmed by the strength of the agricultural cooperation. Having a membership of 300 people, it is already a prosper- ous institution, well supplied. with agricultural implements and transact: ing considerable purckases and ‘sales of commodities, I looked over’ the balance sheet and found the institu- tion perfectly solvents b attended a meeting of the cooperative’ o¥gdniza:’ tion that was addressed by a young | Georgian peasant, a splendid type of vigorous manhood. Of course, there is still a good deal of backwardness in regard to technical equipment.. The vineyards are cultivated with pains- taking care, but there is sitll plenty of virgin soil to be ploughed up by machinery. In regard to sericulture the methods are still rather primitive. Not all the peasants appreciate as yet all the advantages to be derived from In spite of the heavy blows which the Communist Party had already suf- fered in the previous year in spite of espionage and attacks, the Egyptian Communist Party had fecovered with surprising rapidity. New forces were streaming to it, the revolutionary mood among the workers and the ad- vanced intelligenzia, which was visib- ly strenghtened by the British acts of violence, caused the slogans of the Communists to meet with an enthu- siastic response. The ,trade unions, under Communist influence, revived again and, along with the brother par- ty of Palestine and Syria, the basis was created for a wide field of activity in the Near East, Z fro Egyptian police were obliged do intervene before the “dange _became too great. By means of an ex- pensive system of provocateurs and Spies, they concocted a monstrous Communist “conspiracy.” On the 31st of May and the days following numer- ous arrests of Communists took place. In all, 17 persons have been imprison- ed up till now, the majority of them being natives, among them being’ journalists, officials and workers, “As the police were at a loss to bring forward concrete charges, the various government organs resorted all the more eagerly to insinuations of the vilest sort. From the most minute descriptions of “Moscow Emissaries,” up to piquant details concerning the complicity of the English Communists and the Soviet government, there was not lacking ono of the features which distingvisl reactionary incitement j thruout the world, in ‘not only this, Members of the proper sericultural methods. Never- theless I believe that the silk indus- try is going to be one of the leading sources of prosperity in that country. The same in regard to, cattle raising, where the observer could see at first blush the need for zo0-technical selec. tion, ge work of scientific progress will still require a good deal of time. Nevertheless I could not help seeing that tremendous results have already been achieved during the 4 years of Soviet rule, which does everything for the promotion of education and pro- gress. I was particularly struck by the fact that in such a short space of time the masses have been so thorougly arous- ed and enlightened as to assimilate all the forms of social and economic propaganda. This is clearly the re- sult of the work of the Communist leaders and of the leaders of the trade unions, and of the cooperative move- ment, as, well a8 of the technical -work- ers who have devoted themselves en- tirely to this work, with the same generous self-sacrifice that I person: ally had the occasion to witness, in the governmental and cooperative institu- life. At Shilda I found a people’s home and a theater, new and splendid buildings, and a consumers’ coopera- tive store embracing 250 families. 1 also found a body of young people aglow with political passion and a thirst for knowledge and modern ideas, é P.HE same striving after education struck me upon my visit to the village of Quareli, where the well-kept roads and the architecture of the new buildings bore witness to the intense amount of work accomplished in the last 2 or 3 years... One of the. local teachers told me: “The progress of our school is expressed. in the follow- ing figures: before the revolution— 100 pupils, in 1922—200, and in.1925— more than 600. There are not enough schools now to accomodate all the Sons* Of" the revolution who are cla- mouring for knowledge’-and:: educa- tion.” It was my good fortune at Quareli to meet a countryman of mine, an Ita- lian from Trentino who has been living as a laborer in this village for the last 5 years. I took him aside and engaged him in conversation, convinced that with the frankness characteristic of the average Italian he would give me a plain and unvarnished story of. the In fact, it even seems as if the en- tire grandious action aimed just as much at creating an impression abroad as appeasing the native bour- geosie, Feverish search has been made for proofs as to the subversive activi- ty of Russian agents in British spher- es of influence. Zivar Pasha is now in a position to bring forward every- thing Chamberlain’s. heart desires: Communist “conspiracies,” mysterious “Byes of Moscow,” English delegates, and even a whole trunk full of docu- ments! The thing isso artfully con- trived that it is the easiest thing in the world to use it as a means against the hated Soviet government, 4 The fact that ted jorunalists are staffs of prominent two of the % JULY Special Anti-Imperialist . Will Feature Articles, Car- toons, Poems INTERNA\IONAL REVIEW 25 Cents A Copy $2.00 a Year $1.25 Six Mo, SE a ee ee ay ‘THE WORKERS’ MONTHLY life and work of these peasants. What he told me was more than I had ever expected. “Look at this cooperative store,” he said, “look at these flour-mills which also belong to the cooperators. These are only the more striking signs of the prfound progress of the entire po- Pulation. Among the older people there is still some reluctance to ac- cept the modern methods of .agricu)- ture, but the young. people are eager to learn. Here is the néwspaper post- ed on the wall for everyone to read. If this village will continue at such a pace, it will become one of the most prosperous and happiest in Kakhetia.” I was profoundly moved by the story of this Italian laborer, who spoke with such faith in the future of the country that has adopted him, and at that moment my thought turned back to the Italian peasants: who know of no such bright hope just now; QO" the following day, walking over the blossoming fields and_ hills, past the gay vineyards, I felt that the day was not far distant when my coun- tryman’s words would come true, After a short visit. to the gigantic’ state wine-cellars at Tsinondali, I tra-" versed the broad plains of the Muku“ zan region, where the methods of cul- tivation are more rational and -up-to- date. I saw the vineyards in the full splendor of springtime. I found the whole population carried away by en- thusiasm for constructive work and . progress. A good deal of credit for this enthusiasm was due to the ener- getic and practical propaganda of the experimental vine-growing station, or- ganized by the local vine-growing de- partment. If the method of grafting will be adopted over 250 desiatines in the coming year, it will mean the adoption of the new methods by the whole country within the next few years. HIS, is indeed a revolution which is felt in the growth and development of the country. “T/BbeAK, of devon tion which transforms, which brings culture, which moves towards pros- perity and progress, which ensures peace and solidarity among all the toilers, and fraternal accord among the peasants and the workers. This is not the “revolution” spoken of by bourgeois newspapers and short-sight- ed and ignorant politicians in Europe, who allege the peasants of Georgia to be in revolt against the new order of things. Arrests in Egypt Zaglulist newspapers, suffices in order to involve the Zaglul party in the af- fair. It is pointed out at the same time that the Communists, like the = Zaglulists, were connected with that group of terrorists, the members of which carried out the assassination of the governor of the Sudan, Sir Lee Stack, in November last year and who were condemned to death for the same in a trial which has just been concluded. The aim which is being pursued in seeking to prove these connections is only too obvious. ~ By such means, and with the help of the Egyptian bourgeoisie and brutal police terror, the English hope to throttle the revolutionary movement in Egypt. ope on 2s olenieiinegd eectaliiie jbstiso | war ..