The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 16, 1926, Page 18

“ We b Death Salutes the French commander in Syria: as the suprenie butcher. But:the “honor” is only for the mément—for our own generals, such as Wood and Pershing, will soon be breaking all records. for the slaughter of weaker peoples in the Philippines, Cuba, Porto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Mexico, and South America. The attempt to conquer weaker nations as colonies for cap- italist imperielism is one in which all of the great powers are engaged. This makes the weaker nations, struggling for their in- dependence against imperialism, the allies of the revolutionary working class. LENIN - - By Marcel Cachin French Communist leader writes for Daily Worker Magazine Supplement his im class—Lenin. CIINCE two years Lenin lies sleeping SS sadiie his wooden vault in the shade of the ancient rampart of the Kremlin. Night and day, a privileged picket of red guards keeps vigil over the tomb of the great dead. An in- vessant pageant of delegations, sroups, associations and pilgrims ‘rom the most remote regions of Rus- ia, passes daily thru the monument, ndering homage to their lost leader. Macht passing day the fame of Lenin spreads wider in the universe. Yet,-only s* short years ago, the name of Lenin was an object of hor- ror to the world-press of the interna- tional bourgeoisie. No man on earth was more reviled and detested. He was represented as a bloody barbar- ian, bent on utterly destroying every vestige of civilization in his own country and thruout the world, Lenin is dead. The very same pa- pers, professors, and politicians who coined money insulting him, compare him now with Peter the Great. They all declare that Lenin is the only man of genius. revealed by the war. His life, his works, his action have be- come subjects of objective history. Outrage has given way to justice, and Lenin now takes his place in the Pan- theon of the great benefactors of man- kind. The memory of his high sci- entific achievements, his absolute dis- interestedness, his personal modesty, his infinite love and devotion to la- bor, will be forevér remembered. My personal remembrance of Lenin dates back to 1920. Frossard and I were co-delegates from the central committee of the French | socialist party, sent with a mission of ascer- taining on what grounds the French party could claim admittance to the Third International. A right wing of the French party was one of the most reactionary of international social-de- mocracy and was absolutely opposed to union with Moscow. The executive of Moscow received our delegation with a mixture of sus- picion, curiosity, reserve and encour- agement. The French party, at that time, was already politically powerful and an important factor nationally. From a revolutionary point of view, it was weak. Many of its leaders had been strongly pro-war and reformist at heart. Nevertheless, a large frac tion of the party was heartily in sym- pathy with the Russian revolution and desirous of adopting its methods, tac- tics and policy. Among the members of the execu- tive in Moscow, there was no unanim- ity of sentiment where we were con- cerned, Some were bitterly opposed to our entrance into the Third Inter- national under any circumstances. Lenin was not of that opinion, His political insight was too acute not to realize the importance to the Inter- national represented by our delega- tion, He was, more than any other, wide-awake to our faults and errors but was aware of the immense re serves of the French revolutionary proletariat, His greeting was, as a result, full of fraternal reproach for the past, but cordial and warm for the future, His judgment of the European so- cialists was severe in the extreme and pitiless in his appreciation of their weakness and lack of energy after the war when a resolute action on their part would have roused all the revolu- tionary -forces of Europe. His criti- cism of the softness of our tactics, the intellectual insufficiency of our party organ, l’Humanite, the ob- noxious policy of the traitors within our ranks was absolutely drastic. But after having unburdened him- self of all criticism, how fraternal and free from all bitterness his wel- come! He insisted in seeing us per- sonally, in conversing with us freely, from heart to heart, explaining all things frankly, #thoroughly, in the spirit of the purest friendship and comradliness, It is difficult to explain what charm was diffused from his simplicity and confidence, and what a soul-warming exhilaration thrilled from communion with his genial rec- titude, sincerity and masterliness. The diplomacy of Lenin had nothing of the traditional ruse, trickery and lies. It was always direct, brutal, loyal and supremely logical and reas- Our meeting took place in July, 1920, in the full of the campaign of Ruasta against Poland. The fate of the Russian revolution was at issue pressions of the dead world leader of the working on the plains of the west. The allied powers had not yet disarmed and were waiting for their chance to at- tack Soviet Russia. /Lenin was full of anxiety and grave preoccupations. Misery, famine, want reigned supreme all over Russia, The Red Army was fighting desperately to save the repub- lic of labor. In the midst of these dis- tracting cares, Lenin was calm, ser ene, full of faith and hope, In the tiny room in which our con- versation took place, news of the world came every minute, The place was without the least ornament. The only book visible, ready at hand, was a well-worn edition of Karl Marx. The fate of 130,000,000 people, the destiny of the world was being moulded every hour in that little space, ana working in that mighty brain. And yet Lenin found time, freedom of mind and at- tention to discuss with the most E a : 5 bee Ess si7ieie unutterable grief what a loss the letariat had suffered, when the of the intrepid chief were closed ever,