The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 23, 1929, Page 4

. in Europe and Ameri: Page Four ~ DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 23, 1929 ” Bee Statement of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the U. S. A. On the Appeal of Jay Lovestone and Others to the Communist International f Jay Lovestone and Tenth Plenum of the nittee of the Com- nal, although osten- form of an appeal, ic nder the guise of ional campaign throughout the ist Part of the United America’ against the line capitalism for the influence it still exercises over sections of the work- ing cla Following on this characteriza- tion, the Communist Party must con- the new period. It must lead the speal to initiate a widespread developing struggles of the work- | geois immigrant population, who are | given birth, ing class, and, in particular, must intensify the battle against Social Democracy, and finally, must inten- opportunist theory alism. The social roots of this theory | indeed may be found not only in|has understood this theory of ex- the influence of the bourgeoisie and | ceptionalism, has realized how wide- of xception- | this profoundly erroneous line? Not at all. en with another end form its tactics to the conditions of petty bourgeoisie upon the prole-|spread it has been and to what a tariat, but also amid the petty bour-| series of opportunist errors it has In tks resolutigns of jreadily impressed with the technical | unit after unit, in the self-criticism equipment and superficial appear- | carried out in articles in the DAILY ance of American capitalism. It can-| WORKER and other papers, the che Comintern as carried out by | Sify the struggle against the oppor- | not strike any deep root in the fac- | criticism of the theory of exception- 4e Farty. The aim—clearly shown to demoralize the Party by inject- ng into it fresh doses of factional * poison, The purpose is to develop he platform of factional opposition 3 ‘the Communist International al- dy formulated in the Declaration of May 14th and now carefully re- roduced at the beginning of this so- ralled appeal. In one sense only the tocument is an appeal, not an appeal to the. Communist International but an appeal to the remnants of de- d factional ir-tincts, which in} struggle of six years had become ned in certain elements of the Party. Characteristic of the faction- @l-tine is its cowardly evasiveness, | the attempt to hide its political plat- form and to shift away from any rlear statement of basic political is- sues. In truly factional fashion the docu- ment avoids transgression upon the domain of Lovestone’s private pro- | paganda handed out by him in hi is | caucuses and in his correspondence. Lovestone does not dare—as yet—to put’ these things into an official | document. Although he has rea- ons to be confident that the fac-| tional blindness of his co-signers| will save him from any embarrassing ons concerning this discrep- | » he must expect that the loyal rank-and-file workers in our Party | will demand of him an explanation | to why he tries to recruit fol-| owers for his anti-Comintern cau- cus on one issue while he appeals | to the Comintern on another, They | will demand explanations as to why ke propagandizes the Party to the effect that the C.P.S.U. is changing the shop nuclei into craft nuclei, while at the same time he refrains | from appealing to the C.I. against this. He must explain why he pro- pagandizes the Party members | against the present policy of indus- trialization of the C.P.S.U. while in his appeal to the Comintern he re-| mains silent about this. Lovestone | must answer why in his propaganda’! he declares that the C.I, is moving. toward Trotskyism while in his ap- peal to the Comintern he does not concern himself with this alléged | fact. In his factional propaganda Lovestone maintains that a secret agreement was reached in the American Commission in Moscow to| the effect that the minority should get the party; in his appeal Love- stone does not “charge” this agree- ment.” In his factional propaganda | Lovestone accuses the Communist Party of Germany and the C.l. of putschism in connection with the| events of May 1st in Berlin; in his | appeal Lovestone remains silent about this point. In his factional propaganda Lovestone condemns the C.L. for its treatment of Ewert, Je- dick,-ctc.; but in his appeal he is silent about this. Amid a cloud of falsifications, dis- tortions, suppressions of vital facts, | factional calumnies, etc, etc. of | which the “appeal” mainly consists, | there xppears the <: | view illiterate, is nevertheless a spe- cifically Lovestoneite opportunist platform. The political line of Jay Lovestone, jas revealed in this appeal, should be telearly analyzed and understood. } On question after question of deep ‘politi¢al importance, especially” for ‘the.Communist Party of the United tes of America, the attitude of Lovestone is revealed to be in basic contradiction to the line of the ‘Sixth World Congress, The political line of Jay Lovestone is revealed _first-in an opportunist appreciation of the present position of American ‘imperialism, Consequently it leads ‘to~an opportunist distortion cf the revolutionary perspectives before the American working class and of ‘the tasks of the Communist Party of the United States of America. The Line of the Sixth World Con- gress, cf Communist International. What was the characterization of the present period of world capital- ‘ism as given by the Theses of the Sixth World Congress of the Com- munist International? “This Third Period in which the contradiction between the growth of productive forces and the shrinkage of markets becomes particularly accentuated in- evitably ¢' rise to a fresh series of ‘imperialist wars.” International antagonisms are intensified, colonial movements develop, and inside the capitalist countries the intensified antagonism is shown by the radicali- zation of the proletarian masses and the sharpening of the class struggle. But, notwithstanding this sharpen- ing of the class struggle, reformism does not die, based on the particular position of capitalism in certain countries, maintains itself by an ever closer connection with the bourgeoisie and| the bourgeoisie state, which lends it measure of virility and political supporter of capitalism, wl % y tunist line revealed in its own ranks y its printing in numerous copies— | a8 @ reflection of the influence of feel the increased drive, the inten- Social Democracy. Loyestone’s Distortion of the Line of the Sixth World Congress. What is Lovestone’s conception of the line of the Sixth World Con- gress? In his speech on October 2, printed in “The Communist” of No- vember, 1928, Lovestone enumerates eight main features of the new peri- od. He begins with: “1A sharpening of the bitter antagonism amongst the imperialist powers, mpending war between the two mightiest imperialist giants— the United States and Great Britain. “3.—The ever-growing acuteness of tension in the struggle between capitalist powers and the Soviet Union, “4,—The completion of war prep- arations against the Soviet Union.” tory proletariat of America whojalism has been conspicuous. From {the whole of the Enlightenment sive exploitation, and who see clear-| Campaign it is clear that the Party ly the contradictions of capitalism in }members understood and know this |the United States of America and} rotten opportunist theory for what |the approaching crisis. Elements of |it is. Does Lovestone understand it? this distortion of the line of the | No, he does not. In his Appeal he |Sixth World Congress were correct-|speaks of the “bogey of exception- ed in the Open Letter to the Sixth | alism,” and seeks to present his op- Party Convention. The full ex-|portunist estimation of American posure of the opportunist theory of | imperialism as a “Marxist-Leninist exceptionalism was set forth (not | method of seeking to analyze the “mentioned” as Lovestone falsely | specific objective conditions in the puts it) in the Address of the Com-/country.” Here Lovestone stands | munist’Intc-national. Today, in the|the Marxiet-Leninist method on its present Appeal to the Tenth Plenum | head. The Marxist-Leninist method of the ECCI, Lovestone still does|means that on the basic of a gen- not recognize his erors. He sums | eral conception of the present stage up finally by taking the attitude that of the world canitalist system we the Communist International is in| should seek out the specific objec- error and that Lovestone is correct! tive conditions, but Lovestone seeks | (shown in his demand for the with-| out the specific conditions in order | drawal by the CI of the Address).|to upset this general conception. |The theory also appears throughout | Moreover, Lovestone seeks every- |the Appeal in a reiteration of his | where to find these specific condi- The Communist Party of the USA| tat the same time it is of use to]perity” falls straightaway into the | struggle. Has Lovestone corrected] offensive struggles, of counter-at- tack, of revolutionary activity, is |deniable only by the Lovestones. Lovestone, dealing with radicaliza- tion, sees only “increasing discon- tent,” “increasing mood and readi- ness for struggle on the part of great masses.” He does not see that ‘this struggle has actually begun jwith the new wave of strikes. In- | stead of treating Gastonia as a proof of the correctness of the conclu- sions of the Sixth World Congress, he prefers to turn back to a re- jemphasis on the specific historical |features of American capitalism. Lovestone does not speak of the struggles themselves or of the con- nection between these struggles and those that are being waged in ail the other countries, nor does he speak of those struggles in connec- tion with the analysis given in the Theses of the Sixth World Congress, |nor in connection with the inner contradictions which provoke these |struggles. Thus his whole treat- |ment of radicalization shows not jonly an opportunistic underestima- |tion of radicalization itself but af- |fords also a still further proof that |he is possessed by the theory of ex- ceptionalism. Rationalization. In his appeal Lovestone seeks to |buttress his theory of exceptional- ism by citing a series of special features of American imperialism. {first point. That is to say, Lovestone begins with the sharpening external antag- onisms of imperialism. This is his It is also his second, his third, and his fourth point. In- stead of explaining the sharpening| Loyestone attempts to justify his internal contradictions, the contra-| exceptionalism with Lenin’s theory diction between the productive ca- pacity and the contracted markets, |talism. To make this Leninist theory he lays all stress on the external serve his purpose he distorts it by contradictions. Nowhere in his | implying that-it proves that capital- eight main features does he men-' ism can very well be fundamentally tion this fundamental discrepancy | healthy in one part of the world and between the productive forces and fundamentally unhealthy in another. the shrinkage of markets. Neither Bat Lenin’s theory of uneven devel- does he mention rationalization, and opment implies nothing of the sort, when he does mention radicalization | but rather emphasizes the co-rela- of the working class, it is something | tion and inter-dependence of the de- which he sees only as happening in velopment of capitalism of the dif- France or in Germany. ferent countries. World capitalism 5.—We are now in the throes of |as a whole is in the crisis of the € decisive class battles. Ca- Third Period. The character of this jerrors. A few examples of this will | suffice. The Leninist Theory of Uneven Development. matu ble dispatches in this morning’s press | crisis is not modified for any section declare that there are already be-|of world capitalism because of the ginnings of a wave of important| uneven development of capitalism. strkes in such industrial countries |The very uneven development itself jof continental Europe as France| sybjects the “strong” sections of|the “ and Germany.” ‘ \world capitalism to the ravages of _This distortion of the line of the |capitalism’s constitutional disease, ixth World Congress emerges also its irreconcilable inherent contradic- jin the thesis presented to the Sixth ‘tions. Anyone who Cénies this must Party Convention, for which Love-| explain why capitalism of Great stone was largely responsible. This | Britain, in the act of defending its thesis, the essentials of which he| world hegemony against its enemy, still maintains, instead of empha- capitalism of Germany, lost it to its sizing the contradictions of the | ally, capitalism of the United States. Third Period, the struggles that it/In face of the fact that capitalism brought, speaks of a new wave of /of Great Britain became a “victim” prosperity (“the depression did not of the crisis of world capitalism just develop immediately into a crisis | because of its “strength” and domin- but was transformed into a new ating position in the world, Love- wave of prosperity.”). The thesis furthermore overestimates the posi- tion in the United States when it speaks of the effects of the changes in technique as a “second industrial | revolution.” This phrase, “second industrial revolution,” and the whole of the ideology connected with it, is part of the opportunist propa- | ganda carried on both.in Ameica and the strength and dominating posi- tion of American capitalism will ex- empt it from the crisis. This is not Leninism; it is social democratic op- portunism, pure and simple. Inner Contradictions and Outer Contradictions, Already in his October speech stone cannot convince anyone that] | tions, especially in the past. For|No one would deny the existence of jexample, he states: “There is rela- | specific historic features of Amer- |tively no feudal background in the ican capitalism. The capitalism of| United States, except in the South |each country has its specific fea- | with its slave past.”—instead of de-|tures. But what use does Lovestone | are fighting the republican and democratic parties for the majority of the working class.” Here, on behalf once more of his exception-| alist theory, Lovestone minimises} the influence of reformism on the American working class. For him} the three million and more workers | in the American Federation of La- bor, the reformist brotherhoods are not influenced by reformism. He speaks of social reformism, but for him the A. F. of L., one of the most important examples and car- riers 6f it, simply does not exist. Marxist analysis consists in the ability to indicate in each country the specific form of social demo- cracy—and in the United States of America, Marxist analysis reveals social democracy under the form of the A. F. of L. But the “Marxist analysis” of Lovestone consists in taking the words “social democracy” between social reformism and Com-| munism”) is so in all countries of high capitalist development with the | exception of the United States.” The consequent opportunist denial of the need for the sternest fight ica is one of the grossest oppor-' like a stupid schoolboy, in saying} “this (“the period of decisive clashes} finally, he says that in America “we|tunist deviations from the line of) |the Sixth World Congress. Does Lovestone correct his devia- tion in his appeal? No, he does not. In his display of the historic specific features of American class relations, in spite of the criticisms even. yet does not speak of strug- gle against social democracy, against |reformism, but instead speaks of |the “absence of a strong social jdemocratic ideology and socialist |party organization in comparison | with certain highly developed indus- trial countries of Europe.” Thus |Lovestone still shows not only a |very dangerous underestimation of |the role of reformism in the work- ing class of the United States of America, but also reveals once more an application of his theory of ex- | ceptionalism, Conclusion. Thus, the Appeal to the Tenth Plenum does not correct the previous line of Lovestone, Pepper, and others, but remains on the basis of four fundamental errors, the four planks of his opportunist platform: 1. Vulgar opportunist overesti- mation of American imperialism, jand the attempt to exclude Amer- situation of world capitalism. that have been made of his line, he} 2. Underestimation of the inner | contradictions of the third period. 3. Underestimation of the radi- calization of the working class. 4, Underestimation of the danger of social democracy and of oppor- tunism. These four errors are all forms of this one and the same opportunist theory of exceptionalism. In his appeal Lovestone not only jcalls for the withdrawal of the Ad- |dress of the Communist Interna- tional, which corrected the mistakes |of the Party, but he proclaims the | correctness of his own opportunistic |line. The line of Lovestone’s appeal jis a right wing line, the line of op- |portunist revision of the decisions lof the Sixth World Congress. No one will be deceived by Love- stone’s demagogic assumption of the role of the defender of the line |of the Sixth World Congress. | All revisionists of Marx, all‘ re- |visionists of Lenin have always |decked themselves ia the robe of |true defenders of Marx and Lenin. {Such is the historic position of a |whole series of renegades, from | Bernstein to Kautsky; it was the position also of the Russian Men- sheviks; it is the position also of jagainst social democracy in Amer-|ican imperialism from the general Trotsky. (To Be Concluded Tomorrow) | voting attention to the new specific|make of these features? He cites |features, which more and more serve|them and uses them in order to |forth by the | Lovestone not only does not recog- |nize his exceptionalist errors, but seeks to hide them by his explana- | tion of specific conditions, by a mis- use of the law of unequal develop- |ment—all wit’ the object of pre-| |servng in its pristine splendor LU palate NSeHS aad opning | i sone ive, TO , | gegen SHORTY. 0% SaCouyH |the fact that Jn’ the United States | Clearly, the outer and inner con-|We have a bigger gap than any-/ |tradictions az2 dialectically linked |Where else between the skilled and| together. The outer contradictions, UNSKilled, the existence of the big- | called forth by inner contradictions, gest and richest labor aristocracy in| react Mm turn and provide a rein-|*he world, etc.” A | forcement of the internal antago-| | He follows this up by saying, as nism. Does Lovestone correct his |*he second feature: error here? No, he still insists upon} “Nowhere in the world has ra- primacy” of the outer contra-| tionalization been carried so far and | dictions. jhad so devastating an effect on the |workers as in the United States— What is the Social Democratic | Ah 5 i. the deadly effect of the speed-up, | conception? The Social Democratic | 6 greatest intensity of exploita- conception denies the sharpening Of | sion, he quickness with which the jinternal contradictions, denies the’! a horieati proletariat gets old.” |sharpening of the class struggle, | . 5 Here Lovestone mentions ration- and instead puts forward its con-| Her ‘ \ception at dadusieial peace, The | lization only in order to show that | Social Democrats speak only of tHe | he does not understand it, He |danger of war arising through ex- | S0lemnly cites “the peculiar com- {ternal contradictions, They see | Position of the American. working |these external contradictions per-|!@88;” and then goes on in a com- sonified in the action of the “selfish” | Pletely unrelated manner to mention groupings of the bourgeoisie, head- | rationalization, _ Without betraying jed by a Baldwin’ or a Poincare ete,, | AnY comprehension whatever of the later oe aetaed get rid of the dan. |¢ffect that rationalization is having ger of war arising from external|©" the historic “peculiar composi- jcontradictions, it is only necessary, tion of the American working class | . 4 ~’| “a bigger gap than anywhere else |according to the Social Democratic | A ae Hieaty ito eet aid ofthe Baldwins | between the skilled and unskilled, ; i etc. Yet anyone not blinded by the the | ‘ i Mustieu tho Metbonslaet ate: ee theory cf exceptionalism ‘should be @ the ae aanoee could oat Na able to see that rationalization, by Comintern. True, | the line of the Sixth World Con- gress. He seeks to mislead those | who would listen to him. He gives} in the appeal as the first specific | feature: | “The peculiar composition of the American working class—the differ- entiation between foreign-born and in Europe by the social democrats. In this they are showing themselves to be open supporters of capitalist reconstruction. This over-estimation of American imperialism shows the influence of its opportunist apolo- he cture of a po-|getics, Inside the Communist Party | question of misplaced emphasis, he | litical platform, which, though fac-|of the U.S.A., especially in the line | goes on to say: “These, of course, | tional and from a Marxist point of | of Lovestone, Pepper, and others, it |are intertwined with the inner con-| has become part of the opportunist theory of exceptionalism. The Opportunist Theory of Exceptionalism, This theory of exceptionalism— which keeps recurring in explicit or implicit form in all of Lovestone’s | writings (not only in the theses, where the questions of American imperialism are put separately from questions of world capitalism, but in numerous characterizations, such as Lovestone’s “Victorian Age” of American imperialism)—is based on the historical fact that in the past American capitalism developed main- | ly on the basis of its internal mar- ket, just as at the present day the Socialist society of the USSR is de- veloping mainly on its immense in- ternal market. This period of American capitalism is now passed away with the march of the im- perialist epoch, but since social con- sciousness ever lags behind social conditions, there can still flourish this theory based on a situation which no longer exists. Secondly, the theory of exception- alism is derived from the direct propaganda of the bourgeoisie and the reformists, of the vulgar econo- mists already mentioned above. Thirdly, the theory of exception- alism is based on the so-called American “prosperity,” which is also an expression of the new, policy of the American bourgeoisie. this policy? The American bour- geoisie, in view of the approaching restriction of the internal market, seeks to inflate artificially the con- sumption of the masses, But this artificial enlargement of the market (especially installment buying) swells the market beyond its true capacity. The distribution of goods becomes greater than the real buying capacity, and is, therefore, neither general nor lasting, but must be y. Thus, on the one hand, it/ only partial and temporary. “develops more and more open as soever does not understand this and Who- eis impressed by this so-called “‘pros- creased sharpening of the class What is} tg 4 ‘ \its simplification of the pr | Lovestone defines his position in|¢liminated by such diplomatic or ri Spe peed terms that are unmistakeably clear, | S0vernmental changes of personal, He says: “The key to the present |by Locarno-like pacts, then for situation is to be found in'the ex-|Social Democracy (and also for ternal contradictions, “but lest any- | Lovestone) there remains no other one should imagine this was a mere | Source for internal struggles, for increasing clash between workers and capitalists. It is but a short step theoretically from this to the advocacy of industrial peace, | contradictions which grow out af the | outer contradictions.” This stand-| point he repeats once more in his speech of mid-December, printed in the January- - February COM- MUNIST: “What are the relations between inner and outer contradictions? It is clear that they are mutually interdependent. It is clear that in the present world situation the primacy, the center of gravity lies in the world antagonism of capital- ism. “For instance, in the United States: why the attack on the workers? They are part of the | war preparations.” Finally, in his Appeal ‘he again \mentions the -uestion of the “prim- |acy of outer contradictions,” adding \ thereto parenthically, presumably as a proof, the \ rds “war danger.” Long ago, in the third volume of | Capital, Marx clearly explained that |the so-called external contradictions jresult from the interns] contradic- tions of the capitalist system. To Lovestone, however, the external contradictions do not result from the internal contradictions. Here we have one of the manifestations of his under-estimation of the internal contradictions —- underestimation, consequently, of radicalization, un- derestimation of the sharpening class struggle. For Lovestone the sharpened clars.:'_uggle comes only from tho war danger. [evolutionary perspectives for Lovestone are link- ed.up solely with the danger of war. “Why the attacks on the workers?” he asks, and answers: “They are part of the war preparations.” Of course it is true that the bourgeois State and private capitalism are pre- paring for war, but to explain the attacks on the working class solely by the war danger in the United States means that in the United States there do not exist the condi- tions which drive towards an in- Radicalization. Nowhere does the theory of ex- ceptionalism show itself more seri- {ously than in the treatment of ;adicalizations. Under the domin- lance of the exceptionalist theory the | Majority theses under-estimated the degree of radicalization, while the Minority theses sought to find it |where it did not exist (e.g., in the vote for Al Smith). Yet much has happened since the Sixth World Congress, which should make those who did not understand it when it was formulated now grasp its sig- nificance. Since the Sixth World Congress there have been the great strike of Lodz in Poland, the gigan- tic struggles in the Ruhr, the strike offensives amongst the French workers and in Czechoslovakia, and the May Day fighting in Berlin, to- gether with the undefeated, heroit struggle of the Bombay workers, Do these thinks make Lovestone understand? No, he does not under- stand. Why? Because his theory is bound to deny radicalization, and if the facts of the Ruhr, of May Day in Berlin, do not conform to his theory, then so much the worse for these facts, says Lovestone, So far from understanding the forms in which the new sharpening of internal contradictions is bound to express itself, so far from realizing that inevitably the initial forms of struggle must be one of the type of Berlin May Day, Ruhr, etc, Love- stone, speaking of them as “adven- tures” repeats the slanders of the Brandlers and the Social Democrats, Instead of stating that radicaliza- tion of the working masses has al- ready shown itself in struggles in the United States (as in Gastonia, Southern strikes, the stir in indus- try after industry,) Lovestone pre- fers to speak of the “peculiar com- position of the American working 8.” That the American work- |of production, is lessening the gap| between the unskilled and_ skilled | workers, that it is diminishing the |need for skilled workers, that the \skilled and the unskilled workers jare being pushed down onto one }common level. rationalization creates a handful of jextremely highly skilled function- jaries of the capitalist apparatus, a jsmall corps d’elites of foremen, technicians, etc., which already is no longer to be reckoned as labor but passes over and becomes the lowest rank of bourgeoisie. This means the dissolving of the old form of labor aristocracy. Lovestone, so far from seeing this dialectical pro- cess, puts on the blinders of excep- |tionalism, squints out with one eye at the historic “peculiar composition of the American working class” and the “gap between the skilled and | unskilled,” squints out at rational- {ization with the other eye, and is \unable to get a single vision of the process or to see the specific fea- tures in their true dialectical focus. Struggle Against Social Reformism. In the Theses of the Sixth World Congress, especially where it deals with class struggle, social democra- cy, and fascism, and with the fight for the Leninist line and the unity of the Comintern, the strongest in- sistence is made on the necessity for struggle against social demo- \eracy and also, owing to the influ- |ence of social democracy, against | Right ‘deviations. How does Love- stone apply this line of the Sixth World Congress? He says: “(7) We are now in the period of decisive clashes between socialist reformism and Communism for the leadership of the majority of the working class. This is so in all countries of high capitalist develop- ment with the exception of the United States where we have pecu- liar ‘kpeeifie conditions in which the labor movement as a whole is very weak and, especially, politically backward. The overwhelming ma- jority of our working class still fol- lows the parties which are openly the political expression of the big bourgeoisie.” (Loyestone’s Spece! of October 2nd.) : He goes on to say: “The Ameri- When we saw Dreyer’s “Joan of Are” some time ago we thought \of the uneven development of capi-|to exemplify the general line set |deny the application to America of| that all possibilities of psychological | penetration through the medium of the camera had been exhausted. But after seeing “In Old Siberia” we are convinced that Dreyer’s mas- terpiece has been outdone (we are speaking here of method, of tech-| nique only, content being entirely | out of the question). | J, Reisman is the young master who directed it for Gosvojenkino, the Soviet organization established to produce films for the education of the Red Army and Navy. The orig- inal title is “Katorga” and it was | also shown in Germany under the title of “Zachthaus” (The Prison). It is the most merciless and devas- tating application of the cinema art to reality that we have yet seen. “In Old Siberia” is he kind of picture that does away with the au-| dience as a passive element and} sweeps onlookers into the maelstrom | of its dynamic rhythm, its turbulent | and relentless application to life. ° Where others might have content- ed themselves with half measures, where even Dreyer would have hesi- | tated, Reisman has dissected, has | torn the veil from a class condemned | by history; has shown us the puru- lence and brutality of the ruling- class exterminated by October. This GREEK FASCIST TERROR GROWS’ Jail Militant Trade! Union Leaders | authorities are systematically con- A | ducting a campaign against the in- PEs tNe Sate time, | dependent trade unions. Numerous officials of the unions have been ar- rested and deported. The commit- tee of the Tobacco Workers Union in Drama was arrested en bloc, 6 workers, In Kavalla the chairman of the Tobacco Workers Union was also arrested. In Xanthi the police raided the premises of the Building Workers Union, seized all the papers, of the union and arrested the secretary. The next day 40 members of the union were arrested at their work and dragged off to the police sta- tion. The organizer of the independ- {ent trade union federation, Assikis, who was arrested on the 11th of May, has now been deported, to- gether with a number of other trade union officials. The police also raided the trade union headquarters in Athens and deliberately devas- tated it, destroying not only all papers and bureau supplies, but also the furniture and the walls. The 200 workers imprisoned in Athens in connection with the pro- hibited May Day demonstrations (May Day in Greece takes place two weeks after the European May Day in accordance with the old calendar) have held a demonstration with speeches in prison, The authorities were helpless. J ackson Shoe Company Crew of 85 Go Out on Strike; Shop Tied Up The entire crew of 85 workers of the Jackson Shoe Company, 692 » walked out yesterday, up the shop. The came out at the call of the Independent Workers Union whose vigorous organization cam- paign is being constantly extended. The workers are demanding recog- nition of the union, increased pay and a 44-hour week, and intend to remain out until all these demands can social democracy §s of much less importance politically than are granted. The shop is so completely tied up b quick settlement is expected. ATHENS (By Mail) —The Greek | “In Old Siberia” a Fine | Psychological Study. he has done with only a handful of subjects: A prison warden, his en- tourage, and a group of political prisoners in a- Siberian bastille of pre-Soviet days. A simple story. A concrete theme. Imagery and composition that will make you rise from your seat in admiration. And not for one moment has Reisman made even the slightest concession to any artistic impulse that might have caused him | to lose sight of his purpose, his theme and become involved in com- position, in abstract design. Here again Drey:> has been greatly sur- | passed. Every short is almost math- ematically calculated to accuse or | to bitterly caricaturize»those who for centuries terrorized and tor- tured the political leaders of the | Russian working-class. “In Old Siberia” is, in fact, a bit- ter indictment of that élass all over the wrold that persecutes and mar- tyrizes those individuals among the workers that lead and organize them | for revolutionary struggle. For,! after all, every charaéter in this | film is a symbol. Substitute Gov- ernor Fuller or Thayer for Ostro- beylo; the political prisoners of Gas- | tonia, Substitute police clubs for cos- sack nagaykas, and you have “IN MODERN AMERICA.”—S. BRODY. Race Trouble Scheme of Ford to Divide the Brazil Rubber Slaves RIO DE JANEIRO (By Mail).— The Ford auto interests have adopt- | ed a method new to Brazil to keep the workers on the Ford rubber plan- tation on the Rio Tapajos divided. The Brazlian workers are being stirred up against the workers im- ported from the West Indies, Ne- groes from Jamaica, The Castenia Text’=. Workers’ trial starts July 29! Twenty-three } workers face electrocution or prison terms! Rally all forces to save them. Defense and Relief Week July 27—August 3! Sign the Protest Roll! Rush funds to International Labor Defense, 80 East 11th Street, New York. Quinn Martin, N. ¥. World, says: “Bighting for the Fatherland has a shocking, sickening force behind it, just such a punch of horror as is to be found recprring in that magnificent novel ‘All Quiet on the Western F'ront.’ 66 locales where he worked, of the immortal composer of the Ni | Ledz Mill Workers, on Barricades, in a Battle with Police ‘textile bosses here have cut the working hours down to 28 a weck and wages accordingly. The work- them. At Pabyjanice, near here, barricades were built by the workers who resisted the police attacks, 2D BIG WEEK: A Blasting Argument Against War! FATHERLAND —and on the same program—— JOHN BARRYMORE in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” LODZ, Poland (By Mail).—The | ers demonstrated against this de- | cision, and police were sent against ne = IN “HOLD EVERYTHING.” 2 oe Kathryn Black, who is one of the chief players in “Hold Everything,” the musical comedy at the Broad- hurst Theatre. : NEW NEGRO GROUP PRESENT “SALOME.” The new Negro Art Theatre, a new group of colored players, pre- sented last night Oscar Wilde’s classic “Salome,” at the Province- town Playhouse. The role of “Sa- lome” was played by Hemsley Win- field, the director of the. enterprise, Ardelle Mitchell-Dabney, Albert W. Patrick, Larri R. Lorear, Enid Braithwaite and John Jenkins are’ others in the cast. An intimate revue and new plays by young Ne- gro playwrights followed the per- formance. Prisoners Slated for Devil’s Island on Strike in France PARIS (By Mail).—A strike of prisoners slated to*be sent to the hell-hole on Devil’s Island, French | Guiana, broke out in the French prison camp of Saint Martin De Re, near La Rochelle. This is the port of departure for Devil’s Island. Out of the 400 prisoners at the camp, many of whom have been held | there for shipment to Guiana for a year, over 100 refused to work, and all 400 refused to eat their supper and left the dining room to hold a meeting in the yard of the prison. The conditions at the camp were the cause of the strike, ‘The working cinss cannot simply Iny hold of machinery, purpone.... Thi '—THIS AMAZING FILM! AUTHENTIC! ACTUAL! FIGHTING FOR THE 52 w. Sth street’ ‘LIFE OF BEETHOVEN”—enacted in the actual Starting this Saturday—“L pif ‘hnd died—with Tremerkable portrayal inth Symphony by FRITZ KORTNER,