The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 21, 1927, Page 4

winborettis: THE DAILY WORKER,’ NEW YORK, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1927 A SMUT HOUND OF THE LORD. | | ANTHONY COMSTOCK, by Heywood Broun and Margaret Leech. Albert and Charles Boni. $3. Anthony Comstock may not have degenerated into the kind of an adult his mother he would be. xpected but we believe he grew up the kind of a man she hoped Comstock was born with the inherited brand of the snooper He spent his life regretting that he did not live when the in- How much more pleasant it would be to stretch Or to decorate a lamppost with the torso of a woman who loved out of wedlock rather than commit h d? Still it must be admitted that Mr. Comstock managed to get a great deal of fun out of life. was to cause pain and in this pursuit he was eminently successful, is brain. ition was in flower. lovers of good literature on the rack than to jail them? r to a home for the waywa His mission * * * With ar e a homeless tomeat thru the labyrinths of society. He feasted in contemplation of the prowled his moral nostrils on the d smells of bawdy houses, s grovel before an irate and om making the pleasures to be deriv Pe line pretty c ly at times, in order to gain acc devil and to disarm Satan’s servants, but the game was worth the candle and nd. virtuous judge o the haunts of the god would und But indignant tho Mr. Comstock was against those who retailed sin -unit he fairly burned against those who put ed beautiful pictures to canvas. Mr. astock could y form, least of all in the female He compromised with life by declining to prosecute women for ap- from one dollar to ten per on paper or transfe beautiful th: Co: form. not tolerate beauty in @ pearing on the streets with their ankles exposed, but everywhere this poor mortal v severe str than once. Comstock wa: Roach Straton. Like most persons who~believe they s illiterate as “Elmer Gantry” and as big an ass as John have been picked out by nature for an exalted purpose Comstock kept a diary. Excerpts from this diary lead one to believe that Anthony was hard put at times to preserve his virtue. Here are a fev £ ound wanting. Sin, sin. .. . Seemed as tho Devil had er me today, went right into temptation. ... This orely tempted by Satan and after some time in my I failed.” Draw your own conclusions. We shall leave Mr. Comstock to the devil. biography epidemic and a life of Comstock may be the least of our afflictions, while the plague lasts. Heywood Broun and Margaret Leech took their sub- ject too seriously in my opinion. Hendrik Van Loon. full morning \ own weal We are in the midst of a It was a job for a Ring Lardner or a —T. J. O’FLAHERTY. BRIEF REVIEW. GOD AND THE GROCERYMAN (Appleton Co.), is just another novel by Harold Bell Wright, a literary gentleman who has made as much money out of his deity as Billy Sunday made out of his devil. To pretend to write a serious review of this book would be to impose on the credulity of DAILY} WORKER readers, because no intelligent scrivener in his right senses could be induced to wade thru one of Wright’s half-baked sermons except under threat of discipline. From what I gather from the first, 121st, and the last five pages of the book, Wright’s hero puts religion on a business basis in’a picked town, lines up the bankers on the side of god, and -with the aid of the bankers drives | purveyors of evil spirits out of business and brings. prosperity to the god-| fearing petty bourgeoisie, and at the same time connubial happiness to many into whose domestic lives the javelin of discord was inserted. Our book review editor is in the market for an unemployed volunteer who will essay to explain the why, what and wherefore of Harold Bell Wright | and similar complaints. He is perturbed over the depths to which the read- ing public of our country has fallen in purchasing as many as one million copies of many of Mr. Wright’s fictionized sermons. x * * But there is a story connected with this which takes a bit of the load off | the literary shoulders of the book-reading public. Mr. Wright might still be| a voice in the desert and a hissing in the market places where the wicked | gather but for an accident. Speaking to a godly audience in the godly city} of Los Angeles Mr. Wright was accosted by a go-getter who admired Harold} Bell’s flow of spiritual lingo. He then and there suggested that Mr. Wright | put those godly words in book form, novel fashion, and that the result would be beneficial to both god and at least two of his creatures. This is the story | of the amazing popularity of Mr. Wright’s productions, a popularity that} suffered when the famous author switched publishers and lost the affection of his finder. —T. J. COMMENT. “The case is not ended. In a sense it has just begun,” says Eugene Lyons in the concluding chapter of “The Life and Death of Sacco and Van- zetti,” just released by International Publishers. The publication of this volume less than two months after the execution of the two Italian workers, the announcement says, probably represents a record in labor publishing. While the main facts of the dramatic seven years’ fight in the courts are all included, the human side of the story gets first place in this book. The childhoods of the labor martyrs in Italy and their early struggles as immigrants in America are fully recounted. The background of American life, the great labor struggles of New England, the war and the “deporta- tions delirium” are sketched in sharp lines. The questions which the author sets out to answer are: “What was it that made of two simple workers a flaming symbol of class persecution? Whence the ground-swell of protest that sent diplomat and churchmen and lawyers and professors—the complacent, respeetable people—into a frenzy ‘of fear or of confused conscience?” * * * | to their deaths. The characters who appear in this story are depicted in ‘sharp unsparing words. Judge Webster Thayer is described at one pointgas “a small, shrivelled man lost in the folds of a black judicial robe; thin lips that rarely smile though they sometimes bend into a sneer; sharp features and small nervous eyes in a pinched grey face.” Governor Fuller is referred to as ‘“‘a poor small-town Yankee who amassed one of the largest fortunes in New England; a pillar in an open-shop basic industry. A back-slapping salesman and politician who learned to balance a tea-cup. A baptist, a re- publican, a mason, a member of every chamber of commerce and patriotic socicty extant—a man who never shirks his ‘duties as a citizen,’ ” The outstanding events, and particularly the unprecedented world-wide demonstrations, are recorded with the same terse, dramatic vigor. The book contains excerpts from the more important letters and speeches of Sacco and Vanzetti, and is illustrated by a number of photographs and cartoons from all parts of the world. into half a dozen languages. It is being simultaneously translated * * * “The Life and Death of Sacco and Vanzetti” will be reviewed in this column at an early date. He answers by a simple, direct account of the two men from their births | It is generally believed that a book which causes a violent sensation im- mediately on publication will not have a long life as a “best seller.” This has been proved to be untrue with Sinclair Lewis’s “Elmer Gantry.” Six months after publication, Harcourt, Brace and Company announce that it is still a “best seller” and that they are running off still another printing— the 19th, se constantly cocked for what he considered impure, Comstock |‘ ps our hero had to skirt the vaudeville obscenity dead-|* was hedevilled by the sight of wonren who imposed such ajar on his flesh that there is reason to fear that he fell more|*‘ |the legion will continue its support Legion and the Labor By WILLIAM F. DUNNE. NIVERSAL conscription of “labor cara ae Thy the | In view of the public announcement American legion, according to a re- | by the legion spokesmen, fired, since cent announcement ‘by its newly | the trip to France and the clash with elected chairman. |the French workers on the Sacco- The vicious purpose of this meas-|Vanzetti issue, with a holy desire to ure, and the light in which legion|™M@ke it tough for the “reds cand spokesmen regard it, can be gleaned|the labor movement which ner from some of the statements made|them in spite of all ie Hearst a by the legion head. “Led there be| American” leaders can do, that they = intend to press the issue of a na- tional militarization law, the ques- tions arises as to the influence the united front of labor officialdom and legion heads will have on the strug- gle against this legislation that must be made by the labor movement. No action was taken on the John- son-Capper bill by the last congress and the A. F. of L. executive council lists the failure of this bill to be- come law as one of its achievements for 1927. Provision of the Bill. The Johnson-Capper bill, if it be- as an opponent of legislation for “defense of American institutions.” How Will They Fight? be no more of one man serving for $30 ays Edward E. Spaf- ford, who succeeds Howard P. Savage as the leader of the legion. “Let labor and pital be con- eripted at a sacrifice as well as is another pearl of the Spaf- ford ‘wisdom. The Connection With The Department. War There is considerable significance in this proposal of the American fascist iPokesman if itis taken in| comes law, will empower the presi- ponies: calieL: arive ‘dent to decide upon and declare a of the army, nav: nd other national emergency and -authorizes Sections of ‘the him: “to determine and proclaim the official government supported by vert sivili . ‘ a : ata 2 poaeL civilisn °F | material resources, industrial organi- 2 aes, increase "| zations and services over which gov- aments and militarization of the| i ernment control is necessary to the| Ses. United Front With Reaction. For the rank and file of the labor| movement it raises an important question i. e. the united front of the American Feleration of Labor of- ficialdom and the leaders of the American legion. This unity of pur- pose was re-affirmed at the recent A. F. of L. convention and was first consummated at the Seattle econven- tion of the American Federation of Labor, 1919, while the legion was|lize prices of services and of all meeting in San Francisco. Major | commodities declared to be essential, George L. Berry of the Pressmen’s| whether such services are required union was the liason officer who,|by the government or by the civilian leaving the legion convention to ad-| population.” dress the A. F. of L. delegates, was “The Enemy Within.” given a thunderous ovation. The Johnson-Capper bill, as are Patriotism in this period was still the statements of. the. American .le- running high—even among the rank gion in this respect, is based on the and file. vicious theory that when workers are The Johnson-Capper Bill. | forced. to give life and and limb, and The head of the legion does not say capitalists simply to contribute more in his published interview whether! than usual to the common war fund of the whole national capitalist, class, that the sacrifice is, equal. Furthermore, the proposal of the s of this kind of militaristic ation do not even give the usual excuse of. “defense of the na- tion against a foreign enemy.” The lobbyists for the bill, according to the testimony of those who have listened to their arguments, quite frankly speak about the necessity jfor “defense against enemy within our gates” and lay very little stress upon invasion. The bill further provides that “all persons drafted into service between the ages of twenty-one and thirty, or such other limits as the president may fix, shall be drafted without exemption on account of industrial occupation.” There is another clause which em- powers the president to “take such steps as may be necessary to. stabi- of the Johnson-Capper bill or have drafted and introduced a measure of its own. Whatever procedure it follows it will find itself in opposition to A. F. of L. policy which so far, thru pressure from the rank and file, is opposition to the Johnson-Capper bill and other forms of conscription. Doubtless the official labor leader- ship is embarrassed by having to oppose such a patriotic measure but as farmer organizations, peace or- ganizations and other middle class) When the spokesmen of the rul- groups are also in opposition it is|ingclass in an imperialist country be- still able to avoid being singled out|gin to talk about the “internal ene- AID WORKERS PARTY CAMPAIGN FUND About two weeks remain until Election Day. The Workers (Communist) Party is waging a campaign to enlighten the work- ers on the vital issues that are involved. Are you collecting money among your shop-mates for this fight? What have you been doing t6-help this work? The Workers (Communist) Party needs your help at once. Much work must be done in the comparatively short time that remains—the printing of literature, the arrangement of indoor rallies, special editions of The DAILY WORKER and The Freiheit, ete. Don’t wait—do it at once. Fill out the blank below with your contribution and forward to the Workers Party District Office, 108 E. 14th St., City. William W. Weinstone, 108 East 14th Street, City. Enclosed please find my contribution of....... for the election campaign, My name is.. Address . union affiliation ......... Make all checks payable to Wm. W. Weinstone. PRICE? Lenin and Bolshevism With a book by Stalin Here is a splendid fascinating aceount of the great header—a book on the following differences in the Party,—and a book by Stalin pointing out the road of the Russian Party, These three, ata special rate—send for them today, LENIN—His Life and Work —a25 LENINISM vs. TROTSKYISM by Stalin-Zinoviev-Kamenev*> = 20 BOLSHEVISM—Some Questions Answered by I. Stalin 25 All for 50 cents Add 5 cents for postage Books offered tn this column on hand N TE: in limited quantities. All orders cash * and filled in turn as recetved, \, cam SES ASE cee sremmecreeee : A ful termination of such emer-|S¢s Mass Militarization, American Movement my”, it is always the working class that is meant. “A national emer- gency” can mean anything, from a strike in steel, on the railways, or in the coal industry, to a revolution. “ The Primary Purpose. Primarily, however, the purpose of this proposed legislation is to cen- tralize the government power in ad- | vance of an emergency—so that when {a great strike arouses the workers, or a war threatens them, the ruling class does not have to juggle with its legislative machinery at a time when millions of workers are think- ing politically and the labor move- ment is in a strategic position. The ruling class wants to be able to clamp down the restrictions it th necessary and to put the essive machinery in motion be- ore the masses are fully aware of their danger. Since the world war such legisla- tion has been hanging fire and the pressure for it now is indicative of the increasing intensity in interna- tional relations. . The Reactionary Handicap. How will the officialdom of the labo: movement fight effectively against these attempts to legalize the militarization of the American mas- s, when its ally, the American le- gion, is fighting militantly for it, backed by the most powerful indus- trial and financial interests? The American labor movement must either break completely this disgrace- ful alliance, without precedent in la- bor history, formed from above with labor’s enemies, or it will be able to put up only a sham fight against a measure which is only part of a whole process of militarization that has already gone much farther than the average worker thinks. Demand the End of Alliance. In every local union the demand for severing relations with the Amer- ican legion should be made. Labor officialdom must be made to cut the bond which binds it to this particular section of militarist reaction. The labor movement and the le- gion have nothing in common and the fiction on which the alliance was based at its inception i. e. that the world war was fought “to make the world safe for democracy,” has been so thoroly shattered that not even that super-patriot, Matthew Woll, would dare to defend it. On the issue of militarization of the working population the legion and the labor movement must part company. Any labor official who opposes this break shows that his loyalty to American fascism is superior to his loyalty to labor. What the Daily Worker Means to the Workers More Encouraging Contributions to Our Emergency Fund. ~~! |Rose Savage, Edgemere, -L. I., | MGs Ys Mrs. Saul L Lote N.Y, |John Lasba, Willard, Ohio . |Joe Motsin, Willard Ohio . S. J. Hegeduree Wilard Ohio . Martin Nerad Willard Ohio . Regina Nerad, Willard, Ohio .. Joe Colobrio, Willard, Ohio .. R. Fedele, Willard, Ohio .,. - John Sukala, Willard, Ohio .... 11 Tony Howatt, Centerton, Ohio ..1, Frank G. Yantal, Centerton, Ohio S. Joswick, Bayonne, N. J. Beate V. Kiroff, Lorain, Ohio . % J. BE. Berg, Philadelphia, Pa. ..,. e Krank Kutlas, Philadelphia, Pa, Peter Demos, Philadelphia, Pa. . Jessie Shilkovsky, Detroit, Mich. B. Deutch, Detroit, Mich..... Fred Miller, Detroit, Mich. a s if] -1.00 Worker, Youngstown, Ohio H. Shuman, Buffalo, N. Y, ..3, | ‘an Diego Granite Worker, San DU ROBBUE aces ee cc 1.00 |°L, Sienitsky, St. Nucleus, Whee! BOR Wo Vile Sach lnda, oe “ohn Kasper, Shop Nue. E. Pittsburgh. Pa. .. R. Horowitz. St. Nue. No. DUESH BA ci. ens | Rose Dieter, St. Nuc. No. 6, brpgh.) Pas oy... J.Filie, Shop Nuc. No. 4, McKeesport. Pa. .., TD. Taeff. Pittsbureh \wm Schmitt, Pittshy . John Fnz, Pitt wh, Pawiiy lex Madiaric, Pittsbureh, Pa, . Ino Mareelli. Pitt-hure W. H. Scarville.. Pitt Mn Spanger, New Yo Sidyev Smith, Den M. Pahl, San Bernardino. Calif, 9, | Eucinio Segriti. Washineton. Pa, |Salvatore Faglia, Washington, ES ca LY again 1.00 |B. Beleastro, Washington, Pa. . 1, |Benedatto Andia, Washington, Ba) Sicanguee vie otis ee 1,00 John Nicolletti. ashingzton, Pa. 1.00 Sam Rillota. Washington, Pa. ..1.00 Samuel H. Bornstein, New York 1.00 Haro! Robins. Bronx. N. ¥, ....5.00 Mr. Kndler, Bronx. N. Y. . 1.00 4.1. D, L. D., Rochester. N. Y. 10.00 M. Bvyrus, Hancock, Mich. ......1.00 Tos, Vaananen Hancock. Mich. . .5.00 “I. C. Zange, Cincinnati, Ohio ..1.00 a “shpringerke;” Esther, the older is conservative and home-loving. terminology of modern psychology apparent that long periods of dull service behind the cash register in her father’s store has dammed the normal aspirations of the winsome E rives she (or rather the travelling ing about Esther’s truancy, remiairis under the burden of his shame and) The Desert Song edy “Greenberg’s Daughters” Is a Mellow and Real- istic Play Directed by Maurice Swartz o “Greenberg’s Daughters” (By M. | Aderschlager), now playing at the! Yiddish Art Theatre would be dis-! missed as a shabby bit of bathos were | it performed at one of the Broadway } theatres. In the racy, ironic speech | of the Jewish folk, however, and with | that splendid actor, Maurice Swartz! in the leading role, this drama of | East tenement life becomes a vital | and mellow bit of realism. The traveling salesman, so service- able in the telling of the American folklore, is a strategic character in| the story of the two daughters of the Monroe Street,butcher. And even! the inevitable seduction by the per- suasive drummer spending a feverish vacation in the Catskills failed to ruin the play, altho it “ruined” one of Greenberg’s daughters. Greenberg, a Talmudist and scholar, came to America as an im- migrant from Tsarist Russia. In- stead of going to work in a sweat- shop as thousands of his fellow- countrymen have done, he became a| butcher. There are two daughters, Bessie, the younger, is a flapper and BELA LUGOSI | | } Plays the title role in “Dracula” at the Fulton Theatre. Th : 4 vals, a “taleth” or a “soifer,” is de- lightful. A perfect example of the good-natured “schlimahsel,” Lazar, a lover of the Talmud, and possessed of a Heinean wit, is an excellent foil for pregnant observations on all the current absurdities of contemporary Jewish-American life in Washington Heights, Flatbush and other havens of successful “allreitnikes.” Bina Abramowitz, as Aaron’s Wife, is ex- cellent. ~ For the benefit of Jewish-Ameri- cans with Nordic pretentions the management of the Yiddish Art The- atre has provided a program which contains a comprehensive synopsis of the entire play, in English—Sender Garlin. is‘absent from the dialogue, but it is her, and when vacation time ar- salesman), destroyed her psychic bar- riers and wrecked her inhibitions. * * * Came the awakening! scenes in Greenberg’s home. Gossip on several fronts. Disgraced before the whole world, he believes, Green- berg draws the blinds of his store and decides to sell out. A childhood sweetheart, David, even after learn- Pitiful loyal to her and awaits her return. | Meanwhile Greenberg himself ages | sorrow. Brot home by the wife of the mili- tant salesman, whose previous ac- tivities had already reconciled her to “High School Hero,” a picture of collegiate life, featuring Sally Phipps, |Nick Stuart, John Darrow and the a secondary role in his life, the erring|famous sprinter, Charles Paddock, daughter is received joyously by her) will open at the Roxy Theatre this mother. Her father, however, re-| Saturday. mains sullen and brooding. At first | ashamed of his daughter, he later be- | comes ashamed of his own attitude its first New York showing at The toward her. But terror $rips him/|55th Steet Cinema, starting this when he tries vainly to talk with her | Saturday. The film was made in and assure her that no consciousness|Franee by the Unione Cinemato- of “guilt” ought to possess her. \grafica Italiana and has for its “The Little Corporal,” will have * * * thread an episode in the life of i The play closes on the scene show-| Napoleon. The featured player is ing Greenberg and Levinson, the|Madame Alda Hesperia and the | practical-minded and disagreeable |photoplay was made by Count B. (“paskudnick”) father of David bar-|Negroni from the story of Emile gaining with the former about the | Moreau. dowry expected, and Esther break- ing out into a mad, sudden hysteria. The screen entertainment an- Anna Appel as Greenberg’s wife is extremely attractive and dignified. Lazar Freed, as Aaron, (Greenberg’s uncle) the custodian of the tiny He- brew book shop adjoining the butcher shop where he sells, at distant inter: nounced for the Capitol Theatre be- ginning Saturday will be Marion Davies’ latest vehicle, “The Fair Co- Ed,” which Metro picturized from the stage play of the same name by George Ade. WALTER CIVIC REPERTORY THE. M P D St. & 6 Ave. Prices 50c to $1.50 EVA LE GALLIENNE i LOCANDIBRA” ADLE SONG# Sat. Night—“THE GOOD HOP Ha in Ibsen’s comedy | 4 Ton “AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE” 9_ Thea., B'way at 62 St. Hampden’s *"Svenings’ at. $240. Matinees Wednesday and The Theatre Guild Presents PORGY ild Th. W. 524. Rvs. 8:4) Guild 31 Phurs.& Sat., 2:40 aturda, with Robt, Halliday & Eddie Buszeli 11th Month S: Korton, Detroit, Mich, : ( entur West Evenings ow aa Rear i 5 St. Nucleus No. 6, Detroit, Mick. 4:00 Century wer renings ¢ 8:90. ( yrp HELEN MacKELLAR C. R. Roy, Detroit, Mich 3.40 | —--—-—— = tS | & RALGPH“M (o. R t, Mich... era SE ae ; MORGAN | Lec rec De scpidin . National [¥s‘:30. atts Wed. genta ‘in ‘Romancing "Round? “The Trial of Mary Dugan” By Bayard Veilier, with) — = ANN HARDING—REX CHERKYMAN DER Best seat RE, 48th Sy? . $230. ne RAC "FULTON L900 OO A Se ee wm. Fox presents the Motion Pictur SUNRISE «.w'stcrn’s By HERMANN SUDERMANN Symphonic. Movietone Accompaninen ae Thea, 424 St., Times Sq. ‘pwitis Dail THINK OF THE SUSTAINING | FUND AT EVEXKY MBETTNG: Al Bway, 46 St. Mats, Wed. & | The NewPlaywrights Theatre “The Theatre Insurgent” 36 COMMERCE s'T, Sheridan Square Sta!West Side Sabway. THE ONLY HOME FOR LABOR PLAYS IN AMERICA Announces a season of productions dramatizing the class war! THE BELT An industrial play with an acetylene flame by PAUL SIFTON, Other plays to be selected from SINGING JAILBIRDS, by Upton Sinclair TUE CENTURIES, by Em Jo Basshe HOBOKEN BLUES, By Michael Gold PICNIC, by Francis Edwards Faragoh AIRWAYS, INC, by John Dos Passos and a play by John Howard Lawson. Tickets on sole at DAILY WORKER offtle, 108 Hast 14th Strect, 2) A 1