The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 30, 1927, Page 8

—_ A Red Suburb in France By Amy Schechter. ’ «. ‘{HEN the revolutionary , 4 workers of France nake demands on their rovernment they take no hances about being reard. They have a gen- us for putting their de- .ands in a form that en- ures the close, if not teased attention to their yovernment, as well as he attention of the mass- 3s of workers throughout the land. Lately, in order o give emphasis to the ‘comand for amnesty for the hundreds of class-war prisoners in French jails and condemned to the hor- *rible death in life of Dyumounn. t'range’s penal colonies in Africa, the French Communist Party put up the young sailor, Dumoulin, as candidate of the Work- ers’ and Peasants’ block in the municipal elections at Ivry, the workers’ suburb of Paris called the “Red City.” Dumoulin is serving a four year’s sentence.as a Jeader of the 1925 mutiny in the Mediterrannean fleet against France’s imperialist Morrocan cam- paign. The Red suburb returned Dumoulin by a big majority, and when the election results were an-. nounced, thousands of workers, waiting in front of the Mairie, broke into the International, and then went ntarching through the streets of the town sing- ing revolutionary songs and shouting their demand for amnesty. The French Communist Party attaches great im- portance to the election of the young mutineer. It is a gesture that will catch people’s imaginations— particularly the imaginations of the young workers and peasants serving in France’s army and navy, and help in arousing sentiment not alone for am- nesty, but also in favor of the Party’s anti-imperial- ist campaign against war on revolutionary China and Soviet Russia. The 1925 mutiny is still fresh in the minds of the French workers. The uprising, spreading from ves- sel to vessel of the fleet sent into Mediterranean waters to assist in carrying on the Moroccan cam- paign, coincided with the great anti-war confer- ences held throtfghout France by the Workers’ and Peasants’ United Front Committees of Action. An account of the Marseilles Peasants’ and Work- ers’ Conference giving a wierd picture of how sailor delegates slipped away secretly from their cruisers and came before the immense audience to pledge the solidarity of the class-conscious men in the navy with the other sections of proletarian France against the government’s imperialist ventures. This movement among the sailors was distinctly revolutionary in character. “We refuse to be the accomplices of the bankers,” declared the sailors, stationed at Toulon, in a letter to the Committee of Action. “We have heard your slogans—the sailors understand the slogan of fra- ternization.” : Already our comrades of the Strasbourg and the Courbet have taken a stand against the war. The viclent repression which they have had to suffer will not hold us back. It will only strenéthen us in our decision. “Whatever the cost may be, we shall find a way to impose our will upon the militarist assassins. “We belong with you; you will help us. It is through the fraternization of the exploited prole- tariat, and of the enslaved soldiers and sailors, and the oppressed colonial peoples—it is through our common action that we shall be able to put an end to the war in Morocco.” At the time of the mutiny 20-year-old Dumoulin was quarter-master of the Courbet, where a num- ber of sailors were killed and wounded in the strug- gle with the officers. Dumoulin took a leading part in events on shipboard, and then, later, made a splendid showing at the court-martial by which he was condemned. Of course Dumoulin will not be freed immediately because of his election. But, in the meantime, his election will give fresh impetus to the amnesty and the anti-war campaigns. The French government has frequently testified, of late, to the effective- ness of the present Communist anti-militarist cam- paign with its definite class base, and freedom from the bourgeois pacifist illusions of the anti-militar- ist campaigns of the pre-world war period. Their latest testimony to the effectiveness of Communist anti-war tactics is the imprisonment of seven of the leading party members on charges of treason be- cause of their anti-war propaganda. As Sarraut recently expressed it in an attack on the Communists delivered in the Chamber of Depu- ties: “The anti-militarist campaign of 20 years ago failed to penetrate the morale of the country. but the present anti-militarist action of the Com- munist Party is infinitely superior in its method.” The New War Danger Facing Soviet Russia (Continued from Page One) . capitalist world could not live peacefully side by side, F But although we were aware of this primitive truth, we did our utmost to maintain the peaceful breathing space. Since the first days of the exist- ence of Soviet Russia, Great Brtain has fought us bitterly. First of* all by armed intervention and then by supporting Koltchak and Denikin with money and arms. But we destroyed both these weapons of Great Britain. From 1921 to 1924 the bourgeoisie hoped that al- though it were impossible to overthrow us by force of arms, it might be possible that we would be suffocated in our own economic difficulties. But the bourgeoisie was quickly compelled to recognize that this hope also would not be realized. The eco- nomic system of the Soviet Union grew and strength- ened. Then apparently our enemies returned to the old methods of struggle. In recent years Great Britain has armed against us at a great rate in Poland, Esthonia, Roumania and Latvia. These pre- parations produced fruit in the form of a consid- erable increase of the military power of Roumania and particularly of Poland. If despite all this Great Britain has up to the present time not succeeded in driving these countries into a war against us, then the reason is not lack of will on the part of Great Britain, but is the political situation which has prevented the formation of a_-united front against us. The break off of diplomatic relations between Great Britain and the Soviet Union should logically have been followed by a military attack upon us. This was not the case, but the only reason was that the British bourgeoisie had obviously miscalculated. At the time it openly secured the support of other capitalist states, but in the decisive moment these states refused to keep their promises. Today Ger- many and even France, Italy, Poland and the Baltic states declare that their policy is not the policy of Great Britain. From all this is it clear that, with the breaking off of relations with the Soviet Union, Great Bri- tain has not achieved its aim which consisted in the immediate opening up of military operations against us. Great Britain is not sufficiently strong and will Storm It is raining, * And the sound of the drops Beat in my brain and heart As the tears of slaves In the slavery mart; As the pent up misery Of countless eons. Hear the wind swirl and toss The drops of rain Against the pane, As starvation and death Swirl and toss The lives of men In endless misery. But as the sky shall brighten So shall the burden Lighten Vanish When the People Conquer. —A. KOHN. a ae EE SEN NE Las eae a a probably not become strong enough today or to- morrow to organize a war against us. Although in the immediate future war is not very likely, nevertheless we must reckon with war in one or two years, Although the British bourgeoisie has not succeeded in forcing us into the war, it will not permit itself to be discouraged. The British im- perrialists have too many reasons to wish pas- sionately the destruction of the Soviet Union. With the October Revolution they lost very much capital, invested in British undertakings in Russia and re- cently they have sustained very great losses in China, The development of the Chinese revolution is also shaking the power of Great Britain in India, the main basis of British imperialism. All this causes Great Britain to an active and energetic opposition against us. It is of course no question that we are occupied in “making” the re- volution in China and forging plots against the British government. The fact is that every revolu- tion and every revolutionary movement inevitably expresses its solidarity with us. It could not be otherwise, for our country is the land of the pro- letarian dictatorship, the only country in the world in which a socialist economic system is being built up to give the whole of humanity freedom, It is for this reason that the capitalists of the whole world and in particular the capitalists of Great Britain who recognize their class interests most clerly, hate us so passionately. Although I am personally of the opinion that war this year is unlikely, nevertheless the events are de- veloping so uickly that we cannot prophesy with certainty what will happen in the near future. It is understandible that Gteat Britain alone can- not fight against us. It has at its disposal the mightiest fleet of the world, but it hag not suf- ficient land which for londine onera s weuld have — any serious importance in a struggle against it. It is superfluqus to say that the bandit raids, the bomb attempts, as they were carried out in Lenin- grad, cannot lead to any noticeable results. Other measures are necessary to draw our country into war or to commence an attack upon us. It would be serious only if Great Britain were successful in forming if not a military, then at least an eco- nomic united front against us. Great Britain is at- tempting to do this. The hope that as we are no industrial country, an economic blockade would cause us great economic difficulties, forms the con- dition for a successful military attack upon us. I don’t believe that Great Britain will be able to form such a united front against us. The interests of the individual capitalist countries are too con- tradictory. This was shown by the recent breaking off of relations with our Union by the British im- perialists. Immediately after this action we received mumerous offers from capitalist groups in other countries to give us credit upon conditions not less favorable than those we received from Great Britain. Also, the capitalist states must take their own inner political situation, the spirit of the working masses, into account. And in some countries they must reckon that the breaking off of commercial rela- tions with the Soviet Union would inevitably pro- duce serve economic consequences concerned. But in any case, we must be prepared for the worst, and the worst is that the British bourgeoisie will prepare with all its forces a united front for a military attack upon us. That can happen in two years time or in one year, it is even possible, though improbable within a few months. What is our situation? A short while ago I visited the whole Ukrainian military district, I visit- ed the Black Sea Fleet and the Donetz Basin, and I had occasion to observe the spirit of the working and peasant masses. I must say, that apart from the Red Army, which must of course be ready at any time, the workers and peasants are also pre- pared at a moment’s notice to defend the socialist fatherland with the last drop of their blood. But today that is no longer enough. Today it is probably not possible to defeat us with a direct military attack. Our army is in such a condition that it will be able to reject the attacks of the enemy. But in order to be really prepared to resist the enemy, we must also prepare the Hinterland. We must so prepare ourselves for the defense of the Soviet Rpublic that the economic system of our country will be able to work normally in case of war. It is a matter of course that we are opposed to war. We are building up our economic system, and ths construction of socialism is developing at such a rate that in five or six years we will have an economic organism that will stand any pressure. To- day a war would cause us great economic difficul- ties unless we prepared ourselves properly. The only way of avoiding these dangers is to re- double our whole economic work. This is not an empty phrase. If war should break out, then we shall have to do it at once, then we may arrive in a situation where a war would cost us everything that we have achieved in the previous cofhparatively peaceful breathing space. We must already begin to reckon everything exactly. In case of war we must know exactly what branches of production must be limited; what branches extended, etc., how*we are to dispose of our labor forces so that our eco- nomic system can continue without interruption. The second task is to be watchful, and still more so than ever before. Our enemies are working with bombs and arson, more than ever before. This de- mands that every worker should observe what is going on around him so that he as a member of the dominant class can guard the property of the Soviet Union with keen eyes. Such an atmosphere must be cr®ated that no traitor can worm his way into our ranks and that no traitor can harm us. Watchfulness and intensified work, these must be our prepara- tions for war, for self-defense against attack.