The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 28, 1927, Page 5

ee THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 192% Page Five - GOLD, NEW PLAYWRIGHTS DIRECTOR, ANSWERS i) O'FLAHERTY’S “BELT” CRITICISM IN “WORKER” By MICHAEL GOLD. I would like to submit a reply to Tom O’Flaherty’s criticism of “The Belt,” the play satirizing Ford’s production methods and company unionism. Comrade O’Flaherty made many points against the play that were both accurate and fair; I will not quar. rel with these. cism. It is too patronizing; it contains too much of that scorn which the professional 100 per cent “proletarian” likes to use toward the so-called “intellectuals” who try to squeeze their way into his private, patented, exclusive, super-proletarian movement. I do not accuse Comrade O’Flahert a : of having these feelings in exeess;) (Pe Ment road. but I do say that he has been uncon-' vane sciously influenced in his attitude : towatd the play by hangovers of this very American sentiment. Ever since I have been in the revolutionary movement, I, ! everyone else, have been familiar with this holier-than- thou attitude. Honest Playwrights. It is a kind of cult snobbism that is fatal to the growth of any mo ment. A group of young playwrig try to start a theatre which v flect the life of the working ¢ America, They go about their work honestly; they are not afraid of con- tacts with the Communist movement; in fact, they seek an orientation to it. And the reply they get is that they are not pure enough. They must be strictly “kosher”; their plays must be as detailed and accurate as party manifestoes; there must be no devia- tions. Why not display at same friendly receptivity intellectuals who make an attempt at contact with the bor movement? e New Playwrights’ Theatre is Communist theatre. No one has ied that. But it is trying to be ome kind of labor theatre, and that }is more than one can find anywhere }else in America. About twelve years ago the Provincetown Players began thei k s reflecting the bellious intelle wrights are giv: each of which ref s the mass spirit; the problems of great groups of workers. To me, this seems a so- cial fact of the highest importance’ It is a new age; and even the intel- lectuals are changing. Satire On Open Shop. The first play a satire on com- pany unionism and ‘the speed-up sys- ss But what I do object to is the tone of his criti-| More than that, they are treated) more harshly than in the reviews that are given by The DAILY WORKER to Zeigfield’s Follies or other Broad-/ tem; the second is a picture of the) immigrant workers faced by all the injustice of America; the third is a picture of the world struggle for oil way girly-girly shows. and of the Communist International “Nothing Need Be Wasted.” at grips with the fascists and capi- At least Broadway is a relief from |talists; the fourth play takes up the the class struggle; it is not attempt-|problem of the Negro farmer trans- ing, like these silly young “intellec-| planted to northern industries, tuals,” to break into “our” private la-| What other theatre is even at- bor movement. | tempting to seratch the soil of the so- I really can’t understand such an|cial conflicts of machi ge Ameri- attitude. My feeling would be that|ca? And why does everyone expect the great international movement of|a theatre of this kind, in its first} the Communist Party has room for|Season, to be anything but crude and all workers, whether by hand or|imperfect in its struggle to find it- brain. As Lenin said, “in a big house,| self in what is a thankless pioneer everything can be used; nothing need | task? be wasted.” But I have seen this nar-| Why Not Appiaud? rowness pursue a great many similar) Why not encourage every honest endeavors. I know there was a very }and bold attempt to bring the Ameri- strong hostility among many Ameri-|can intellectuals and workers into a can hardshell Communists against | closer bond? such a magazine as the New Masses.| attempt to create a workers’ art, There is hostility toward various|from whatever source it comes, how- attempts now being made to organize | ever faltering and crude may be its an Art Workers’ Cooperative, with a/| first steps? Communist orientation, which Com-| When someone gives me a good an- rade Adolf Wolff is leading. Why/swer to this question I will be ready this hostility? Whom does it profit?|to withdraw my objection to the Does it strengthen the Communist movement in America? “Let Us Criticize.” . No one will say that a mass prole-| tarian membership is not infinitely more important to the Communist Party of America than the acquisition of scattered groups of “intellectuals” here and there. But. anyone who would turn away with superior words the-Workers Party is trying to free itself from, and which I think I can detect in Comrade O’Flaherty’s re- view. LABORER KILLED BY TRAIN. John Darcy, 45, a laborer, was killed by a south-bound New York Central train yesterday morning the potential John Reeds and Henri} while crossing the rails just south of | Barbusses and Enrest Tollers—and,| 158th St. and N yes, let me say it—the contemporary! John Howard Lawsons and John Dos! Passos “intellectuals’—is not being | intelligent. That is all that I would || Say. Let us criticize without compromise the mistakes of such men, Let us hold them to the path of truth, as we! see it. But let us not act as if they were enemies, or poachers on our pri- = vate preserves, or silly young fools. SSS “= When Communists Lead. PATRONIZE When Communists lead masses of! Co.opERATIVE Repair Snop workers in a strike, as at Passaic,! 4191 6th Avene ae 25th St they do not patronize the rank and! 4 file because it is not familiar with all) Sis Pressed the theses of Communism. It tries} hoes Repaired to educate this rank and file; it tries! 95 to lead it gently and realisticall; rth Riv ——— ANYTHING {STUDIO OR OUTSIDE i Patronize Our Friend ‘ DAI ant | SPIESS STUDIO 54 Second Ave., cor. 3rd St. Special Rates for Labor Organiza- WORK One. (Bstablished 1887.) RUSSIAN REVOLUTION TUB. CAMPAIGN pn DAILY WORKER tn “> ww Ww » wer . Ls iGet That Pledge Now Along with the new readers you secure YOUR NAME will appear in the halls of the Kremlin during the celebrations of the Tenth Anniversary of the Russian Revolution, xine. NEW READER’S PLEDGE—Greet the Tenth Anniversary of the Russian Revolution with your pledge to read The DAILY WORKER. WORKER, 33 First Street, New York, N. Y. siete is my pledge to read The DAILY WORKER. Please mail this pledge as my revolutionary greeting to the workers and peasants of the Soviet Union on the Tenth Anniversary of the Russian Revolution, SUB RATES My newsdealer is .. Address . In New York Per year ....$8.00 Six months... 4.50 Three months 2.60 Why not applaud every | traces of Communist cultism which) While U Wait % Reduction to Striking Workers. | Materialism Course, at Workers’ School “Historic Materialism,” taught by |Jacob Mindel, and “Development of} American Thought,” by Arthur C.) Calhoun, of Brookwood Labor Col- lege, are two additional courses sch jduled by the Workers School, 108 |14th St., according to an announce- jment yesterday. “Historic Materialism” will be giv- en Sundays at 11 a. m., beginning next Sunday. The course given by Calhoun, who was a member of the Workers School faculty last year, will start next Monday at 8 p. m. and con- tinue weekly, Mindel’s course will be given pri-| marily for students who wish later to attend courses in Marxism and Lenin- ism, advanced historic materialism and advanced Marxian economics, ac- cording to the announcement. It will | treat idealism and materialism. “The | ) Development of American Thought”| will trace economic and social fac- tors in the history of this country} which have influenced the ideology of| the American working class. | Workers Party Activities NEW YORK-NEW JERSEY | Pioneer Membership Meet Tomorrow. A general membership meeting of | the Youug Pioneers of District 2 will » held tomorrow, 3 p. m., at 108) East 14th St. Plans for the Nov. 7| | celebrations will be made. | * * # Banquet for Bazaar Volunteers. The banquet and dance for | DAILY WORKER-FREIHEIT vyolun-| | teers will be held Nov. 4 at the Am- | bassador Hall, 3875 Third Ave., the | Bronx. The affair was originally ar- | ranged for Oct. 28. | Admission to the dance will be 50) cents; banquet and dance $2, For| |those who helped at the bazaar, the| | banquet and dance will cost only $1. | Mines & Automobile Needed. All party members and sympa- jthizers who have automobiles are| |urged to allow them to be used sev-| {eral hours a day for the campaign.) |Communicate with Irwin Franklin, 108 East 14th St. * * * Y. W. L. Dance October 29. | Delegates to the fourth annual con- | vention of the Young Workers (Com- | |munist) League will be guests at aj | concert and dance at Harlem Casino, | | 116th St. and Lenox Ave., Saturday, ' Oct. 29. The convention will begin | Oct. 30. SKY PILOT ROLL CALL. | The Baptist religious denomination, | | with 53,922 ministers, has the largest | number of ministers in the United States, says Liberty. The methodist denomination is second with 44,514. | Freiheit Singing Society || i! q | | Concert Saturday Evening | October 29, at MECCA TEMPLE |i; | 5Bth St., bet. 6 and 7 Aves. || CHORUS OF 400 Accompanied by the New York Symphony Orchestra will perform the i Revolutionary Poem TWELVE i by Alexander Block. | | || Music by Jacob Shaffer. TICKETS on sale at the Frei- heit office, 30 Union Sq., also at 183 Second Ave, headquar- i] -ters of the Freiheit Gesangs ij Ferein. | \|Phone Stuyvesant 381¢ John’s Restaurant SPECIALTY: ITALIAN DISHES | A_place with atmosphere where all radicals meet. 302 E. 12th St. New York Health Food Vegetarian Restauran’: 1600 Madison Ave, PHONE: UNIVERSITY 6:6. We Cater to Students of Health Eatwell Vegetarian Restaurant 78 Second Ave., near 4th St. Only strictly VEGETARIAN meals served. No canned foods, or animal fats used, All dishes scientifically prepared. ‘kel. Lehigh 1022. br. ABRAHAM MARKOFF SURGEON DENTIST 449 BAST 11th STREET Cer. Second Ave. New York. Dr. J. Mindel Dr. L. Hendin Surgeon Dentists 1 UNION SQUARE Phone Algonquin 8183 The |* KS US. Hictery: Offerea (NEW YORK WORKERS SEND GREETING TO COMRADES! Neetile Trade |IN MOSCOW FOR TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF SOVIETS) Arrangements for-an of; eet- ing from.the worke: to the workers of M sion of the tenth anniversary c ions have been’ completed, the New York district office of the Work- s (Communist) sterday. The greeting, to be through that office, will be written on special parchment bearing signa- tures of thousands of N York workers. A red silk banner inscribed th jubilee greetings being pre- pared and will be officially pr ed to the workers. of Moscow in an im- pressive ceremony, cording to the announcement. The text of the greeti ised, “Revolationa: y York to the revolutionary work- ” is as follows: ers of Moscow,” “On the momentous occasion of the rounding of the first glorious decade of the proletarian regime of the So iet Union, the revolutionary work of New York City through the Work ers (Communist) Party of America, District No. 2,.send their fervent jgreetings to their Russian fellow- workers and comrades. Beacon Light. “The unwavering course of prole- ress to which the Union Soviet Re es has so steadfastly held is a on light of emanc’pation to the exploited masses of every country, and, in profound |recognition of your leadership and dynamic achievements, the y workers of New Yor! acclaim the tenth anniver: world-shaking inception of the We rs’ and Peasants’ States. “We, the revolutionary wor New York City, feel a close kinship with our fellow-workers of Moscow; we of New York, together with our comrades. throughout the country, are | now faced with the same gigantic task in our invincible march of revolution ch you of Moscow have so bril- ntly concluded and are now com- memorating. “Jubilee Red Greetings! The revo- lutionary workers of New York to the revolutionary workers of Moscow: Hail!” Widely Circulated. Blanks for signatures will be cir- jculated at various meetings of the § | Wor! York | where on the oc-} Party announced, forwarded | ork A special me banner and off: |cow where they w time. To defray s congregate. nger will conve) reetings to Mos repose for all y the cost of the banner, | parchme and printing a charge 0 50 cer will be made for each signa- ture on the list. (LABOR AND FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS | Freiheit S. C. Ball Tomorrow. The Freiheit Sport Club will hold its first anniversary concert and ball tomorrow evening at the Boardwalk Hotel, West 22d St. Coney Island. There will be athletic exhibitions and music by the Hungarian Workers’ phonic Orchestra. Prizes will be awarded to the best dancers * * * Open Forums Sunday. The Cloak and Dressmake Board will hold open forum lectures Sunday, 10:30 a. m., one at Hunts Point Palace, 168rd St. and South Boulevard, with Louis Hyman as speaker, and another at Knights of velopments will be discussed at both meetings. * & ‘ Postpone Olgin Banquet. The jubilee banquet in honor of M. J Olgin has been postponed to F day, October 28th. It will be held at Stuy ant Casino, Ninth St. and Sec- ond under the direction of the Shop Chairmen’s Council of the Fur- riers’ Union. ADDRESS 2,000 INSURANCE CLER More than 2,000 insurance clerks attend an organization meeting of the Bookkeepers, Stenographers and Ac- countants’ Union held in Madison Square Park last night. Address were made by Leonard Bright, pre dent, and Ernest Bohm, organizer, of the union. BUY THE DAILY WORKER 4T THE NEWSSTANDS Tel. Windsor 9052. 4301 Are You. Getting FINCO Co-operative BAKERY PRODUCTS If not, let us know and we'll instruct our driver to call at your home, Finnish Co-operative Trading Association, Inc. =) (Union Made) Eighth Ave., Brooklyn, Biggest Selection—All Our prices are absolutely moderate. Yorkville — 4 LARGE STORES — Bronx Furniture Stores We will furnish your home on easy monthly or weekly payments. 4-Piece Bedroom $98.00 | { | We have cverything for your Ho end Kitchen. Also large selec- tion in Rugs, Carpets, Linoleums, Oilcloths, etc. 1267 ist Ave.}} 1471 Ist Ave.}} 1632 Ist Ave.}] 3061 3rd Ave. | at 68th St. [J at 76th St. [{ at 85th St, [J at 156th st. Modern—-U p-to-Date Come in and convince yourself. Red Russia in motion pictures and the RUTHENBERG FUNERAL shown for the first time in New York SUNDAY, OCT. 30, beginning at 1 P. M. at | IRVING PLAZA, 15th St. & Irving Place | ADMISSION 50¢. Auspices Workers (Communist) Party, Dist. 2. Pythias Hall, 2864 West 2ist St. Coney Island, with Joseph Bor- ochowitz as speaker, Latest union de- | B | MOISSAYE J. OLGIN DefenselCOLORADO MINERS -= TIRED OF HOKUM; WANT REAL UNION The | | Co. of mong them for the r state in do not h the cloakma feel it their fight, si for the e rk Painters Help Defense Work. | Y Art De Rose Kravitz lected $14 from t ion for de democracy known industrial repre- plan was put of the Rocke- irst Meeting Trumbenicks. | into effe. of the At the end of the Colorado Fuel. & Trumbenicks left ator in the field, York they pledgec the brutal sup- activiti 2 2d Mine Workers 1 d has discus: idal autocracy joining the Wo arons has pro- The members were , 1892, 1913, the problem that most of the council All previ- |members are house > live or the defeat the earnings of t h local and Wt ’ pro- ed the ults of ro pledges. BUTCHER UNION LOCAL No. 174 2 BANDS 28th ANNUAL 2 BANDS Reception and Ball | Saturday, October 29th, 1927 | at the LYCEUM, 203 East &%th Street, Cor. 3rd Avenue Tickets, per Person 50¢ Hat Check 50¢ Music by Carl Weiss Original Vienna Orchestra M Doors open at 7 P. Commencing at 8 P, M. Indoor Campaign Rallies Tonight, 8 P. M.—Lower Bronx 542 East 145th Street M. J. OLGIN JOHN J. BALLAM Candidate for Assembly, 5th Dist. H. M. WICKS L. A. BAUM B. ROBBINS will preside. Sunday Afternoon, 2 P. M.—Harlem Ambassador Hall, 3861 3rd Ave., (near Claremont Pkway) BEN GITLOW—Candidate for Assembly, 4th Dist. REBECCA GRECHT JOSEPH BORUCHOWITZ BELLE ROBBINS, Candidate for Alderman, will preside. Sunday Afternoon, 2 P. M.—Bronx Finnish Labor Temple, 15 W. 126th St. _ JULIET S. POYNTZ—Candidate for Assembly, 17th Dist. JULIUS CODKIND—Candidate for Alderman, 17th Dist. JACK STACHEL ABE MARKOFF will preside. Wednesday Evening, 8 P. M.—Downtown | W. W. WEINSTONE—Candidate for Alderman, 8th Dist. REBECCA GRECHT—Candidate for Assembly, 8th Dist. WM. F. DUNNE BEN GOLD, Jt. Bd. Furriers Union JACK STACHEL will preside. ADMISSION FREE. With the Young Workers SATURDAY NIGHT ervruwe | 1 | | | | Throw dull care to the winds tonight, come out with the revolutionary youth. Be young, be jolly, be gay. You can forget your troubles at the welcome dance for the delegates to the 4th National Convention of the Y. W. L. The District Committee arranging % this affair—has arranged for music that will set your feet adancing. COU VTre HARLEM CASINO 116th St. and Lenox Ave. — Admission 50 cents. Saturday October 29