The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 27, 1927, Page 14

“AUGUST 22” The date of August 22 we commit to our memory. It becomes an historic. Capitalism got its pound of flesh. The working class got its lesson. August 22nd becomes a calarien call to struggie. August 22nd becomes our banner. Capitalism is strong endugh in America to deal he working class a brazen blow. But capitalism is not sure enough of its powers to be magnanimous. If there were a wave of revolutionary unrest in America, they would not dare to murder Sacco and Vanzetti. If there were no revolutionary unrest in the world at large, they weuld have been shown “clemency” and “fairness.” As it is, their murder was decided as a lesson and a warning to the work- ing class. Sacco and Vanzetti were placed in jail in 1920 in consequence of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Sacco and Vanzetti were murdered in 1927 in con- sequence of the peasant and workers revolution in China. American capitalism says to the American workers, “Beware!. If you are influenced by revo- lutionary ideas, you will have many Saccos and Vanzettis.” American imperialism says to the im- perialists of the world, “Look up to me! The thing you are afraid to do at home I do before the eyes of the whole world. Follow my example!” American imperialism is a leader of world im- perialism. (The world rulers are envious of their American brethren, though ostensibly protesting against the murder of Sacco and Vanzetti—in the interests of national rivalry!) American imperial- ism has more means to bribe the Socialists and the union leaders who, at the crucial moment, came to its aid by rejecting the general strike, and by a weak-kneed demeanor. But the tens of thousands who quit work on that memorable day of August 22nd to crowd Union Square, the tens of thousands Sacco, Vanzetti Will Not Be Forgotten By ALEX BITTELMAN The rulers of America have gone through with the murder of our two brothers. Despite the de- mands of the toiling masses the world over, despite the demands of the workers of America Sacco and Vanzetti were killed to satisfy the efass hatred, the interests and “prestige” of the American capitalist class. Saceo and Vanzetti will not be forgotten. Already their suffering and martyr deaths have moved to protest and struggle against imperialist capitalist reaction in the United States large masses of workers all over the world. Already millions of workers are opening their eyes to the shame and hypocricy of capitalist class justice. Already the oppressed working masses are begin- ning to realize the menacing implications of the developing capitalist offensive upon the labor move- ment, . As far as the working class is concerned the martyr deaths of Sacco and Vanzetti must mark a fresh concentration of effort for strengthening the struggles of the workers against the capitalists. The American labor movement must draw all con- clusions and learn all the lessons from the action of the American capitalist class in murdering Sacco and Vanzetti. More organization, more conscious- ness and more militancy—this must be the answer of the working class to the challenge of American imperialism. s Sacco and Vanzetti will not be forgotten. Al- ready they have become a living part of the struggle of the oppressed masses all over the world. Already they have become symbolic of the suffering and misery of the millions of unskilled and semi-skilled workers oppressed and persecuted by American capi- talism. Already their death is becoming the rally- ing ery for struggle against capitalist oppression with renewed efforts in all parts of the world. The attack upon the labor movement must be resisted and working class power must be mobilized to repel the capitalist offensive. The working class militants against whom this attack is directed in the first instance must redouble their efforts to- wards the awakening and molization of the Ameri- ean working class. Only in this manner will we fullfil our duty to the working class and to the memory of Sacco and Vanzetti. ‘ Political consciousness and political struggle niust rise in scope and intensity. The masses must learn—and are learning—that reliance can be placed upor anything else but the organized power of the exploited masses. Intensify the struggle for the organization of the unorganized. Push forward with greater vigor the strengthening of the trade unions and their radicalization. More efforts must be invested in the struggle against imperialism, nulitarism and war. And more energy must be de- voted to the promotion of independent political action by the workers in the struggle against the capitalist dictatorship and for the rule of the work- ing class. By MOISSAYE J. OLGIN who struck and demonstrated in other cities,—they understand the meaning of the murder, they have accepted the challenge, they, on their side have given a strong and solemn warning, Shoulder to shoulder and arm to arm they stood at Union Square. It had not been so easy to quit work at 3 o’clock. One risked one’s job, one risked one’s bread. The watchful eye of the official union machinery followed every striker, noted the names of the rebels, put them on the blacklist. Tomorrow they may find themselves on the street. Today they could not withstand the call to strike. Today they are burning in feverish anguish at Union Square. And what are the words that meet with the greatest acclaim? What are the slogans that kindle the hottest flames? It has long been known that the victims are innocent. One has learned to see the guilt of the Thayers and Fullers, the Lowells, Brandeises, Holmeses. One has paid them the tribute searing contempt. One has not the slightest hope of favorable action on the part of the State. One is tried of compassion, exhausted by pain, poisoned by hate. What else can be said? Where is the way out? But something has happened. Relief has come. An avenue of release has been opened: a line of work appears to beckon! “We shall build up the labor organizations,” the speakers says, “in the first line the labor unions; we shall turn them into instruments of struggle against capitalist exploitation; we shall turn them into instruments of power to be able to halt the hand of the assassin in cases like that of Sacco and Vanzetti. “We shall build-up a labor party to represent the laboring masses. We shall utilize the labor party as a united front of all the toiling and the exploited against the power of their exploiters. We shall create a political weapon to frustrate such attacks as the frame-up on Sacco and Vanzetti, “We shall build up a mass Communist Party to march at the head of the entire labor movement and to unify all its activities by one clear aim along a cleary defined road—the abolition of capitalism.” / There is a new meaning to those familiar words New sparks kindle in the eyes of the assembled. stone weights melts in their souls. “We shall work,” “We shall struggle,” “We shall build today and te- morrow,” “We shall strengthen our ranks and sti our wills,” the speakers say, and it is in the heart an oath. But still, the most wonderful, the actually liberating word has not been uttered. Now it comes. “Only when the working class will hold the power of state will such trials against working class fighters become impossible.” With power in the hands of the working class just punishment will pe meted out for such crimes.” “Proletarian justice will secure freedom for the working class!” Waves of approval are surging from the hu- man sea. Eyes sparkle. The ideology of class struggle, hitherto a set of thoughts, becomes a live emotional experience. Every drop of the workers’ blood feels that they need working-class courts, working class laws, working class rule, a working class state! They life their eyes and see mounted policemen above their heads, machine guns on the sidewalks, armed motorcycles ready for action, re- volvers and clubs everywhere, and they say to them- selves, “This is the same power that has already dressed Sacco and Vanzetti in the garb of death. This power is a servant of our masters, it has been created to secure their domination. We cannot rely on it. We must have our own power in order to live like human beings.” The future has touched the assembled thousands with the finingers of a message. They felt clearly that it is there, that it is not a work of imagination, Thousands of workers of a sudden realized that they were citizens of a new world, for which they must fight, for which it is worth to suffer. In the light of this new world the death of Sacco and Vanzetti assumed in a new aspect. They do not die in vain. Their work is not lost. Their spirit lives. We will march on to that goal where they were driven by their impetuous souls. We shall arrive. * * Fo And that evening in front of the Freiheit,—was it not an oath of class unity, a merging of thou- sands of spirits in one spirit of revolt? Nobody had called, nobody had organized the vigil. They came in thousands, many-tongued, many voiced; Italians, Greeks, Russians, Yanks. They stood in the dark while their spirits glowed. They stood in silence while cries pierced the dark sky overhead. They lived with Sacco and Vanzetti. They went with them through the last hours of their lives, through the last agonies. A miracle happened. Fifteen—twenty thousand became like one as if in a prayer,—but not to god. Fifteen—twenty thou- sand vowed something which they will carryein their souls to the very grave——but not a word was ws pee i rhea uttered. Only eyes spoke in the dark. Only hearts hammered in a heavily laden atmosphere. There was pain akin to a curse. There was sadness as gripping as trumpets. Tears in the eyes—steel in the blood. A lump of suffering in the throat— lightnings overhead. ' Night vigil. Night light. Union square trees made heavy with dew. Night-cool iron railings. Broken up figures in the Freiheit windows. Engine throb of armed motoreycles nearby. White light over the news sheet in the Freiheit window, like a lone, forgotten tear. Green, red, yellow and blue auto lights in the streets. Black, thick serpents of human bodies—one line, another, a third. Closeness of strangers, mutual understanding without words, glances of friends who are afraid to speak lest they burst in a howl. Dark building walls all around. The sky sinking lower, heavier, darker, almost touching our heads. Tension, bated breath. Uncon- trollable tremor. Then the news in the Freiheit window: 4 SACCO MURDERED. A wail, a shout. A storm-tossed forest. Sharp cries are cutting the thick howl, knife-like. Man weep. Old, hardened men weep. «Thousands curse. VANZETTI MURDERED. The Square is a storm-lashed ocean. Human waves rise, clash, wind, thunder. Lights flare. Horns shriek, engines vibrate. The walls sway. The ground underfoot shakes. Everything moves in a circle, around and around. Only the forlorn light in the Freiheit window shines in vain. There is nothing more to say. Out of the chaos, the “International” is born. The Song grows. The song gains momentum. This is the answer. “ARISE YE PRISONERS OF STARVATION” We will come. We will not forget. We have gained something on the date of August the 22nd, We will make it bigger, deeper. Sacco is alive, Van- zetti is alive—in us, with us. We will come. We write down the date: August 22, 1927. We write down the names: Sacco and Vanzetti. /“CARRY ON!” By ROSE BARON See’y Sacco-Vanzetti Emergency Committee. The fight is not finished. It has merely begun. The memories of our martyred comrades, Sacco and », Vanzetti t be t . i of the masses that they read those words. It is like ° if ‘ora ae of the many comrades who voluntarily aided us-in our work must not be in vain, nor must the gallant deaths of our glorious dead be in vain. Soon the Emergency Committee will no longer exist. It has served its purpose. We were beaten by sheer force of barbaric power. We appeal to all those who aided us in the fight not to give up hope. We ask them to remember the heroism of Sacco and Vanzetti. We ask them to think of their revolutionary ideals. The work of rescuing class war prisoners will go on. The International Labor Defense, the creator of the Emergency Committee, will continue to func- tion for framed-up workers in the prisons and courts of this corrupt country. We have just witnessed a titanic episode in the age-old war of the classes. We have made many new friends, To those friends as well as to our old comrades we ask that this harrowing experience be made a bond of synipathy which will enable us to meet our enemies in the future with unbroken front ranks. To the hundreds of thousands of workers who struck and demonstrated in Union Square we say that their efforts were not in vain. You are the spearhead of the militant working class. Carry on. What are we to do so that the struggle may not be in vain? Build the International Labor Defense. Read the Labor Defender. Take an active part in freeing all class war prisoners. Urge your fellow-workers to do the same. Help to build The DAILY WORKBR. When all other newspapers either ignored or falsified the facts on the issue the WORKER pointed to the cor- rect path. It exposed criminal Thayer, the reac- tionary, Fuller and the murder-bent Advisory Com- mittee. We have been asked to tell of the work which we did in the effort to burst the bars of Charlestown Prison and bring Sacco and Vanzetti back to the ranks of our fighting army. There is little we can say. Let us not talk of what we have done but to what lies ahead of us. Build the I. L. D. Build The DAILY WORKER. Build a wall of Labor against the frame-up sys- tem. in this way only can we carry on the class war effectively. Only in this way can we avenge the death of our dear comrades who died gloriously with revolutionary messages upon their lips.