The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 24, 1927, Page 6

oe THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORS FRIDAY. JUNE 24, LT AN ENERGETIC THE NEW MEDICAL FOLLIES, by Dr. Morris Fishbein. Boni and| Liveright. $2. WASHINGTON, June 23— In “The New Medical Follies” Dr. Morris Fishbein, leading light in the Withdrawal of 1,300 marines from American Medical Association and editor of their official organ, pursues his Nicaragua is contemplated in the favorite diversion of tracking the wily health quacks to their lairs, dragging near future by the navy depart- them figuratively forth and with his trusty scalpel revealing them in their} ment, it was learned today. Of true light to all those who can read and think. The others, those whose} this number 650 would be returned Mental faculties ceased to develop around the age of twelve, will continue to Quantico, Va., 300 sent to San to patronize the quacks even should they be capable of digesting the facts | and conclusions presented in Fishbein’s well-written and easily-read book. | The remainder of the present ex- . + + | peditionary force will be kept Those of you who have been low in spirits because of real or imaginary there indefinitely, it is understood. illness and were therefore inveigled into tronizing the various brands of QUACK-HUNTER. IF Cal Thinks Nicaraguan Liberals Ended; Calls Marines to Crush Haiti Diego and 350 to Haiti. quackery from the Christian Science mental suggestion, to the laying on of | committees. Where they are found hands of the naturopath or the spine snapping of the chiropractor, are| weak and not well functioning, they urged to invest a couple of dollars in Fishbein. It might save you a few| should be strengthened by assigning hundred dollars ad bills later on and incessant pestering from quacks | comrades with initiative. who are in business only to s y This department should take care IT have had some per se ‘with half a dozen brands of| that all non-active Party members quackery but I was amaze variety that. Dr, Fishbein was able to| are being constantly visited and all muster in his book. Tho I have not his first book on the same sub-| efforts used to draw them into activ- “The Medical Follies”, I unde: i that he introduced at least as ities. It should outline the methods * ed Ith charlat idable an arra After reading comes to the conclusion that unless a lay-} ans in this volume. ‘ * ‘for constant efforts to gain new members, see that sympathetic ele- ments are drawn closer, given Party material and they be asked to become man has a b: che or fatty degeneration of the cerebrum} 3 he should kee take a week off and drink buttermilk. members. The Organistion Pane Not that butter particular virtue, guaranteed to cure anything ment should also assign the territory from corns to ¢ from craving for covered from their imag on doctors and exh: “but it helps to kill time and keeps the stomach | I have known invalids who re-/| after they had spent their savings| and the generosity of the last quack | home or go to they patronized. of the various units for literature dis- tribution and for general canvassing as well as union meetings and shops for literature sales, etc. Direction of Trade Union Work. Space pern an extended review of Fishbein’s book, The Trade Union Department will but it does not ¢ e myself to a few observations and console have many important functions.. The myself for the oluntary repression by making a vow to write a smal] majority of our members do not as book about quacks and non-qu: yet belong to the trade unions. Many ‘ = = of them are eligible now, others can Fishbein does not confine himself to perforating the pretensions of the become eligible. In some cases union homeopaths, osteopaths, and the various offshoots of the parent quackery but he digs his medical heel into the e of the food fakers and marshalls enough facts on the subject to make every lettuce-eating fanatic from here to Los Angeles flze for cover. Not that Dr. Fishbein is not partial to lettuce, figs, carrots and dried bananas but he opines quite correctly that} all human beings are not alike in their intestinal requirements any more than they are partial to the same kind of mental fodder. Numerous super- stitions are hidden behind the cloak of science and thousands of rad‘cals have fallen for t! argon of quackery simply because they cock their ears| when the word science is mentioned. Yes, they cock their ears and give their brains an aspirin tablet. Even tho the radicals who may be saved considerable money by follow- ing the sound reasoning to be found in Fishbein’s book do not contribute their savings to The DAILY WORKER, they are welcome to it just the same, If they wrap themselves around a good meal occasionally they will have some energy left to distribute leaflets and even if they do nothing| but massage the lines of woe from their countenances it will be a gain for} their associates. * * * Those who have had experience with the mechanical junk that the clever old fraud, Dr. Albert Abrams of California, put over on the gullible! section of the public will be tickled with the job Fishbein has done on this| quack who left in the vicinity of a million dollars behind him when he| passed away. A battle raged over this fraud for a number of years and the machine business had a new lease of life while the spasm lasted. Among} those that leaped to the defense of Abrams and his hokum was Upton Sinclair, who after a fifteen-minute investigation gobbled Abram’s theory tho it is doubtful if he tried it on himself. But Sinclair has survived more lies than there are in Dr. Fishbein’s latest book. he Freudians come in for a few well-merited cuffs at the hands of ishbein. A few years ago this cult was on every tongue and it was nuch as one’s reputation was worth to essay a pleasantry in the presence «i Some seventeen-year-old emancipated woman who got her thrills out of the omnipresent sex complex. But sufficient unto this day is the science thereof and Freud and the other psychoanalytic quacks’ are now as dis- credited as King Benjamin of the House of David, tho their credit is good| at the banks thanks to the plentiful crop of suckers that this fertile country produces, | * * * | There is no guaranteed way of saving the gullible people from new| fangled health quackeries. Give me the old “medic” every time, even tho he might prescribe an 0; on an my knee for enlargment of the heart.| He may be as ignorant as a Kentucky hill-billy and as greasy as a cobbler but he is not a freak, even tho he will surely like his fee. But doctors must live and at least one and one-half per cent of them are honest. I would rather be poisoned by one of them with rose-tinted water than cured by a quack who insists that I can live forever if I only follow his advice and sign a health contract with him. Entertaining considerable doubt about the altruism of most mortals, I must admit that from my own personal experience the medical pro- has within its ranks more intelligent persons than any other with} which I am acquainted except the journalistic profession. And from the| general blanket denunciation of quacks and 98!4 per cent of the medics T exclude the dentists with the exception of those that promise to extract | your teeth without causing you pain. This has nothing to do with the| case but I visited a dentist only three times in my life and methinks I will | have to do it again. —T. J. O'FLAHERTY. STREETS AND FLAGS A UNDERTAKER’S CHILDREN. | RED FLAG, by Lola Ridge. The Viking Press, New York. $1.50. Lola Ridge has had three books of pooms in her sure, terse, clipped music, published: The Ghetto, 1918; Sun-up, 1920, and now Red Flag. She waited seven years to wave this last rebellious banner. It is worth it all Tight. In seven years her fire has not cooled. The last book is as vehe- ment, restrained, and tender as the first. The critics are glad that Miss Ridge has not faltered, that she is still rebellious. They are glad that Red Flag spells an advance in. technique. They say: “This new volume marks a distinct advance in technical achieve- ment, in versatility, in skilful condensation and in brilliance, novelty, and vigor of poetic treatment.” They say of Lola Ridge: “ . . : her name 18 written over all these pieces. Her breath flutters through them, They throb with her heartbeat. . The poet of The Ghetto found her stride! long since and she does not falter now... .” * * * What of it? These poems are workers’ poems and they are real. I am/| satisfied that the flag still flies so stirringly. Why should this poet of the proletariat falter now? Is there less need of her? Is there today any de- creased demand for poets who can stir the hearts, souls, and tissue of the working class to make their lives glorious and rebellious? Has Lola Ridge grown rich and soft that the critics would expect smugness and equivocation of her. Miss Ridge is not worrying about any loss of fire. she says: In the poem Re-birth “Though your wild dreams | May die perhaps on the cemented stone That they have cracked asunder . . . making way For lopped things trampled in the dust and blood Of the year’s barricades . . . and hopes that died Alone against black walls . . . yet what new growths Professional Patriots It is very illuminating and somewhat amusing to read the names of some of those on the “Red list” of the professional patrioteering societies. Among those cited by these zealous 100 per cent- ers are: F. H. La Guardia, republican congress- man; William Green, president of the A. F. of L., Walter Lippmann, editor of “The World,” and swald Garrison Villard, editor of “The Na- * * * (Continued from yesterday) is significant, however, to note that Attorney- It General Daugherty regarded Miss Maxwell’s achieve- ment kindly, writing her, “I do not know how I should have got along without it.” And it is reliably reported that Mr. R. M. Whitney of the American Defense So- ciety urged that she be granted the Distinguished Service | Medal! The Lusk Committee The so-called Lusk Committee to investigate “revolu- | tionary activities” illustrates relationship of the profes- | sional patriots to the government of a single state. It | was appointed by authority of a resolution of the New York Legislature in March, 1919, as a result of the ef- forts of a committee of the Union League Club of New York headed by a young lawyer, Archibald E. Stevenson. It took its popular name from its chairman, Senator Clayton R. Lusk. Its formidable official title was ‘“Re- port of the Joint Legislative Committee Investigating Seditious Activities.” For over a year this committee pursued a romantic and spectacular course of unearth- ing conspiracies to overthrow the government. It wound up in almost universal discredit because of overplaying the game, unable to make good on its lurid charges. Its chief case was thrown out of the courts, the two laws it sponsored for the control of the loyalty of schools and teachers in New York were repealed by the legislature in 1923 and its part in throwing out of the legislature of 1920 the five duly elected Socialist assemblymen was. condemned throughout the country. Senator Lusk was shortly after publicly discredited for accepting an ex- pensive gift of a silver service from lobbyists for the New York police, who were seeking a legislative raise in pay. He retired to private life. The committee deserves attention now only because its monumental four-volume report on “Revolutionary Radi- jealism” still serves as a source-book, a virtual Bible for the professional patriots, despite its gross exaggera- tions and misstatements, its solemn nonsense and its classification of all progressive groups as reds. The | four volumes are divided into Parts 1 and 2, “Subversive ' Movements,” Parts 3 and 4, “Constructive Measures.” ‘vism,” destructive and anarchistic sentiments,” Jane Adams, Bishop Paul Jones, Dr. David Starr Jor- | dan, Prof. George W. Kirchwey and Lillian D. Wald. was promptly repudiated by Secretary of War Newton! D. Baker, who issued this statement: “I am in receipt of telegrams and letters with regard to a list of persons handed to the senate Mr. Archibald Stevenson, who is represented in news- paper articles as a member of the Military Intelligence Division of the War Department. Mr. never been an employe or an officer of the M. I. D. of the War Department. I am told that he of his associates have throughout the war sought to analyze books and newspaper contributions with a view to determining the opinions of their writers toward the I personally have no sympathy with the publica- tion of lists of persons classified with reference to their supposed opinions, and grouped under general designa- tions, such as ‘pacifists,’ which may mean any one of a dozen things, some of them quite consistent with the finest loyalty to the country and some of them incon- war. sistent with such loyalty. “As a matter of fact the War Department does not undertake to censor the opinions of the United States. It has no authority to opinions. any list in which her name appears.” “Times,” January 28, 1919.) Undaunted, Mr, Stevenson pegged away League backing, and succeeded in getting mittee established under the following resolution of the legislature: “Whereas, it is a matter of public knowledge that there is a large number of persons within the State of New York circulating propaganda calculated to set in motion forces to overthrow the government of this State and the United States, and “Whereas, sufficient facts were adduced by the sub- committee of the United States Senate investigating this subject during the last session of Congress to in- dicate the necessity of further inquiry and action, and “Whereas, it is the duty of the Legislature of the State of New York to learn the whole truth editious activities, and to pass, when such truth ined, such legislation as may be necessary protect the government of the State and to insure the maintenance of rights of its citizens, now, therefore, these is asce' be it “Resolved, that a joint committee of the Senate and Assembly be and hereby is created, to consist of four members of the Senate appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, of which joint committee the Temporary President of the Senate and the Speaker he produced the results of his researches into radicalism and pacifism, creating a sensation by reading into the record a list of 62 persons holding “dangerous, In the particular list accredited to Mr. Ste- venson, there are names of people of great distinction, exalted purity of purpose, and lifelong devotion to the highest interests of America and mankind. Miss Jane Addams, for instance,.lends dignity and greatness to among them He | | committee by Stevenson has and a number people of the , classify such (New York with his Union the Lusk Com- to of the Assem- Organizational Problems By ARNE SWABECK. CHAPTER VIII. Duties of Leading Committees. While contact with the working masses is a prerequisite for leader- ship by the Communist Party itself, the .same holds true, and perhaps more so, within the Party. The lead- ing committees must therefore estab- lish the closest possible contact with the lower units. The function of local executive committees consist of more than merely to run entertainments now and then or to arrange meet- ings. Practical experiences have shown, with sufficient clarity, that unless such committees actually guide the local units in application of Party policies, in directing local cam- paigns and local activities, the Par- ty as a whole will not function prop- erly. It is therefore imperative that these executive committees thorough- ly systematize their own work and co-ordinate the activities of the lower units within their territory. Mere sporadic work will not do but the persistent hammering away togeth- er with our members always being in the front ranks of the class strug- gle will help to establish Party lead- ership in the working class move- ment. To properly systematize its work, these committees should first of all be departmentalized. A local executive, section or sub- section executive committee should in all cases have the following de- partments: © Organization Department. Trade Union Department. Agit-Prop Department. The function of the Organization Department should not merely be the membership may involve taking the initiative to form new unions. The first and foremost duty of this de- partment therefore becomes the one of assisting our members to join the unions. It must gather all the ne- cessary information, show our com- rades how to go about the. joining and get them interested by showing the great possibilities for work’ in this .field. In certain cases, it may even have to help provide the neces- sary money for initiation fees. This department should check up on attendance and activities of our members in the unions, in the Party fractions, and in the left wing groups. It should be responsible that such organizations, fraction and left wing groups are established and that they actually function. The Trade Union Department should direct the application of the Party policies in the various unions, help to formulate the practical slogans and give con- crete expression to the issues of the day. Thru such correct formulation it should help find the ways and means for the correct approach to the broadest possible masses of the | union membership in general and the progressive and live trade union ele- ments in particular. This should not be mis-interpreted to mean that the Trade Union De- | partment for instance of a section or sub-section committee would have full jurisdiction with one local union in their particular territory which may be only one small part of the union of the trade as a whole in the city. Naturally the City Committee will direct the policies on a city-wide scale, Agit-Prop Work. The Agit-Prop Department of the leading committees should take full charge of directing the training courses carried on in the lower units and thru the Party schools. It should take full charge of the propaganda and agitation part of our Party cam- paigns in its local application, ar- range meetings, furnish the proper material for the Party press and cir- cularize the necessary Party litera- ture. The Agit-Prop Department should assist and supervise the issuance of shop bulletins in shops within their territory. It should guide the editor- ial policy of these bulletins so that Party policies become concretely and practically expressed in the columns, in a language appropriate to the masses and based on the problems in the shops. The Agit-Prop Depart- - ment should also take care that work- - er correspondents are on the job, both Party members and, wherever possible, non-Party members. , It should, of course, be understood that none of these departments men- tioned formulate their own policies or their own ttactics in directing Par- ty work, The leading executive com- mittee will do that and assign the particular part to each department to work out in detail and carry out. The number of members composing the various departments, of course, de pends on the size of the commit! However, in each case the orga) technical transfer of comrades from one nucleus to another. It should rather be one of constant building of the lower ae ee presninatiana measures. is department should watch the organizational function of the lower units and their executive secretary should be the head ¢ organization department, the i trial organizer the head of the union department, and the agit-, director the head of the agit-propw. partment. yi (To Be Continued). > (Continued from first column) iaitiale), the bitter and awful sonnet Electrocution, the Fifth Floor Win- dow, pe (“The undertaker’s children play hide-and-seek in tall wooden boxes eaaes 6 come in’), Phyllis (the story of a pathetic little girl of the streets), and the tender personification in The Ailanthus Tree, which, e “swarming with sparrows, squats like a beggar at back doors.” The poem Phyllis is reminiscent of T. S. Elliot. Annunciation speaks of violets and the word “, yelept” is found in “After the Recital.” Sometimes Miss Ridge does not avoid a fulsome womanly senti- pee as in To the Free Children. But the let-downs are few. And L the Committee’s two | years of activity at great expense| to balance them there is stern disciplined writing free from pyrotechnics and \—— to the state. impressionistic rioting. 1st. Its raids on the Soviet business offices in New Junee ta * bai Pe York, on the Rand School and on the Russian People’s Miss Ridge does not write poems to larks and daffodils when ee are Shall break in the old ground when spring is warm Against the cobbled ways . . . and all the green Battened down dreams of the world quickening . . . ban Like spirals of aborted pines that strain To touch their lips with stars.” I celebrate the fact that here is a poet of the working man who is| | assistant counsel, Mr. Stevenson, who did the prodigious capable of that trimmed unsentimental song. {amount of work (at a good compensation) which the 4 * aN ated committee’s activities and editorial efforts required. Mr, % There are certain poets who specialize in sentimental studies of how the | Stevenson brought to the committee a sincere zeal as the other half lives: Self-conscious writers of rhymed tracts who say: “Oh, see| savior of American institutions menaced by pacifism and the poor, poor people! How they suffer! We must do something about| Bolshevism. He had devoted himself during the war to it, don’t you know!” secret service work for the Military Intelligence Division That is not Lola Ridge’s way. of the War Department, enlisting the aid of a. group bly shall be members ex officio, to investigate the scope, tendencies, and ramifications of such seditious activities, and to report the result of its investigation to the Legis- lature.” . It is useless now to go into the story of the baer mittee’s spectacular raids on radical headquarters, its fantastic prophecies and charges, its illegal and high- handed seizures of property and examination of wit- nesses. It is enough to summarize the net results of They total 10,988 pages. The book cost the state over | $100,000 to prepare and print. Copies were distributed to libraries, patriotic organizations, officials, educators and men and women in public life. The committee from the start was dominated by its She has restraint and a sense of humor ‘as well as passion and seriousness. She has reality, She has lived outside|of wealthy young men in the Union League Club as) House produced no convictions in the courts, indeed,| calling, She has produced a book that is vital, restrained, and full of | of glass houses. She knows wounds. Her poems reveal even while she| volunteers, He served himself only in a voluntary ca-| No incriminating evidence against any one—and achieved! meaning. Every class-conscious worker should read Red , and the capi- to cover. Read Ward X, Solo, Veteran, the magnificent Kelvin Barry,| pacity under Captain Trevor of the New York office.| nothing to justify the Committee’s charges of @ con-| talists too. Ep Mee tong could skip the part about Russia, or read it with one eye | ing Ride (sung in newspaper headlines), Histrionics (on early Chicago|When he appeared in January, 1919, before a United] *Piracy against the Government. guarded, "hath ta one ‘ ; j ay (Continued on fourth column) States senate sub-committee then investigating “Bolshe-; (To Be Continued) 4 —LEBARBE. i : i) { } $