The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 6, 1930, Page 4

Page Four News from Chi Soldier Tells How Army Is Organized, nese Red Army How It Wins Over. Masses and Enemy Troops, aid (Translated By J. M0.) The following letter. which ts translated from the Chinese Red Flag, gives a picture of the Chi- nese Red Army in general. It clearly shows that the Red Army {nm China is not only a strong’ mili- tary force. but an invincible social- Political factor in the Chinese Rey- olution. The letter also repudiates off-hand the slanders and lies of the capitalists, the social demo- erats, the Trotskyites and the Lave- stonéites about the Chinese Red Army and the Chinese Soviets. After the All-China Soviet Con gtess, which is to be held on Dec. 11, the power of the Chinese Red Army will undoubtedly be further centralized. consolidated and ex tended.—Translator, Editor, The Red Flag Ever © our army (the Fifth Army) ¢ from the tactics of guerilla warfare to that of. concen- | trated civil war, last September, we have reaped fruitful results. This tactic is entirely correct at a time when the ruling class becomes more and more shaky and the revolution- ary situation more and more devel- oped. | SMC wea we tos mw central comman authority, .and taken the offensive toward the big cities like Pinliw, Deitsai, Wanchai and Tunggoo. We have determin- edly liquidated putchism, opportun- ism, localism and all sorts of errors committed in the past. We have overthrown the landlordist-bourgeois rule of the Kuomintang and estab- lished the Soviet ruje of the work- ers, peasants, soldiers and the poor in a territory including sixty, millions of toiling people. e With the support of the. broad masses, on the one hand, and the demoralization of the nationalist armies, on the other, our army has been crowned with victories wherever swe have gone. ... The following are brief reports on the various’ phases of our army: Training of the Soldiers. Some detachments, at the begin- ning’ of concentration, showed signs of weakness. They have been greatly improved as a result of conéehtrgted guerilla warfare practice and inteti- sified training. The agitprop'depart- ment of the political bureau in’ the ermy sometime ago held apolitical examination of the whole atmy: with wonderful results. Examinatiens~on military. skills, as shooting»:levéling. etc., were also held from time tettme. With collective drill and revolution- ary competition, they all give evi- dences of rapid progress. When we get to a new place, after a short rest of one or two days, we resume. our training Our daily curriculum includes two hours of political education,.... one hour of military science and three hours of drill. There is also organ- iad recreation and at night social meetings and other affairs. A cam- paign against illiteracy in the army thas been carried on by utilizing the slogans and texts which are. familiar to the illiterate soldiers. Red Army Committees. Red Army Committees are_organ- {zed parallel to the ranks of the army, to discharge the daily work in the army in general. Members. of the committee are directly elected by the soldiers themselyes.. The decisions of,a committee, after having been e@pproved by a higher committee, must be obeyed and carried out with- out reservation by all soldiers under fits control. The highest committee is/the Central Committee, which con- sists of various departments, such“as nization, agitprop, sanitary and recreation. Besides the Central Com- ntittee® created two sub-committees, the Secretariat and the Committee for Audit and Relief. An Executive Committee, consisting of three mem- bers, takes care of various phases of | tection of the Red Arniy | sures, Its Victories | committees, etc. Meanwhilé, the Red Army Committees also send out prop- agandists to distribute leaflets, to write slogans on the walls, to keep order at the mass meetings, to search for the munitions of the landlords and the gentry, and to distribute the rice, furniture, etc.. to the poor. The Red Army participates in these measures with enthusiasm, In some places, where the power of the landlordist gentry is so feared by the masses that even under the pro- they dare not carry out the expropriating mea- the Red Army has to take things for them to their homes. But, in most cases, the poor peasants al- ways act as guides of the Red/Army and furnish information before in- vestigations. Many of them help in the arrest of the reactionaries. Wit's the precautionary measures that the peasants might take advantage of this for personal revenge, the Red Army investigates beforehand and educates. encourages and l¢ads the peasants in the expropriation of the expropriators Two days after we arrive at a place we always hold a monstrous mass celebration meeting jointly with the masses. Among other things, great attention is given to the revo- lutionary plays which give strong im- petus to the Red Army and the broad masses. The main themes of the plays center around the suppression of the workers, peasants and the poor by the landlords.and the militarists and the inevitable revolution as the only way out for the oppressed. When the Red Army leaves a terri- tory for some other place, all articles borrowed from the owners are re- turned. Peasants, both young and old, male and female, never fail to give the army a most sincere send- off. Red flags are displayed like roses in a spring garden; fire¢reck- ers are incessantly broken; tea and cakes are presented to the depart- ers. All show emotions of deep at- tachment Indeed, in the eyes of the toiling masses, the red soldiers are their own men... like the men of their own families. The red soldiers are their co-workers and protectors. At every battle the peasants come to the aid of the Red Army. . . . Especially notable were the cases when we at-4 tacked Anfu, Funi, Yanchow and | Ying Ho . They joined in our ranks} in big numbers, ranging from two or three thousand to twenty thou- sand, and did all sorts of work with bravery. This spontaneous help from the broad masses acounts for the fact that the Red Army is.al- ways victorious éven when greatly outnumbered by its enemies. During the recent two or three months the Soviet Govérnments in various localities have called big mass meetings, celebrating the vic- tories of our army. The Soviets also contribute rice, meat, oil, salt and other daily necessities to us and have frequently sent representatives look after the wounded and sick sol- | diers. The relationship between the Red Army and the toiling masses be- comes closer every day. —From a Red Soldier. CLIMBING TENEMENT STAIRS FOR THE “DAILY” By BERNICE MICHAELSON re Red Sunday for the Daily Worker. We start out, another comrade and I, well supplied with sub blanks, newsstand surveys and Daily Workers. Encouraging results —and mistakes to be avoided in the future. The street assigned to us, in Wil- liamsburgh, is in a working-class DAILY WORKER EW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1930 These photographs, sent to the “Daily” by a’ Chinese worker, are seenes of workers’ life in Mongolia, where the workers and peasants have recently established Soviets. Both pictures at the top show groups of shoe workers’ co-opera- tives, Those in the left picture make an oriental type of shoe, while Matches and workers’ life under imperialist rule in Shanghai, and their new free- dom in the Canton Commune, where the workers had seized power and set up their own gov- ernment, has particular signi- ficance at the present time, when the Chinese workers and peasants are marching forward to establish- ing Soviet rule throughout China, and securing permanently the new freedom te porariily won in Can- Editor the river near those in the right make a western type of shoe. The workers in the lower picture are building a co operative dwelling. Before the es- tzblishment c® Soviets, peasants and workers had only tents and straw, mud and shimsy wooden huts, but now they are building themselves more modern dwellings. activities in demonstrating and pre- venting evictions. Of course this comrade knew that the Daily Worker proposed the Social Insurance Bill, but by rerlying as he did entirely mislead this worker, and lost a good opportunity. “Here's $2.” Another Spanish family. Yes, they read English, but have never heard of the “Daily.” “This paper is for workers,” we tell him, “no matter what trade they are in; it tells about their conditions; how to organize powerful industrial unions. And workers write about their shops, and this is, printed regularly. We are going to all workers’ families today,” we say, “to put the Daily Worker into their homes.” “I take for two months.” The man goes into another room and returns with two dollars! “One dollar it costs, Jose,” called out anothér member of the family, seeing my indecision. “Perhaps you would liké to get the paper for four months?” I suggest persuasively. Too late. Jose smiles “no.” Stuffed Furniture—Empty Stomachs. As each door opens, we see neat, polished kitchens, china closets, bowls of artificial fruit, heavy, stuffy dining and bedroom suites acquired, undoubtédly, on the “dollar-down” plan, the family having mortgaged their lives away in a heroic effort to to |pay iv oF. into the aext tenement. A door opens. “Good morning,” says my companion. “I represent the Daily Worker. The Daily Worker is the only workers’ paper printed in the United States. Every worker should read the Daily Worker .. .” The worker to whom this is ad- dressed is listless, indifferent. No wonder! He has probably been vis- ited by glib N. Y. Life Insurance, Fuller Brush, and book salesmen out to win with a “Good morning. I represent .. .” E enter the third tenement, climb up six floors, and work our way down. Very often our knocks are not answered. We peek through the keyholes and find apartment after apartmetn vacant. Workers without jobs can’t pay rent, They must move to a cheaper neighborhood, smaller rooms, even colder flats. (Move, or neighborhood. Many stores offering fruits, furs, herring, meats, dill work in the army, such as to send tatives to attend the meet- of the lower committees, to send to the joint meetings cf the Boviet Governments, to audit and-ex~ mine all accounts, to improversani+ tary and recreational conditioris,“and 0,0n and so forth The Education Committee aranges discussions, which Serve sto corect.any wrong impres- @ens and tendencies in the ranks2° »Relief ‘In the Red Army.) ©" ‘The*Red. Relief, after its establish- ment, has proclaimed rufes of relief nd collection. As a result of sys+ tematic and consistent propaganda, the movement receives solid support: ftom both soldiers and masses. They Bre-anxious to contribute their prize money,, which, they secure by seizing the munitions of the enemies, to the Red Relief, either in part or totally: When soldiers ate wounded the Red. Relief comes to their ald to- gether with the authorities in the. army. ‘The families of the wounded soldiers are also taken care of by the Red Relief. And relief work fs also extended to the poor toiling who are suffering from the and massacring of the na~ tionalist army. Furthermore, it sends tatives to do relief work for wounded rank and file soldiers Ms of the nationalist army. ‘This. has i} about tical influence. helps the Army to be al- t invincible. the Red Army and the Masses.” e, central tectic of therded extend outward. Ousenr: |ployed workers, should have pointed pickles, cakes, olive oil, vegetables, but with few buyers, We climb up to the sixth floor of the first tene- ment house on the block. A Spanish Worker. A Spanish worker comes to the door. He is interested in our story of the Daily Worker, but he does not read English, he says. _Has*he ever read “Vida Obrera,” Spanish Com- munist weekly? -No, but he would like to. We promise to have ‘a copy sent him. We visit next a young Jewish housewife. She shows curiosity. Reads the Daily News. Never heard of “the workers’ paper,” but agrees to try the Daily Worker for a week. We start down to the fifth floor. “$25 a Week.” Another housewife, not so young, not so curious. She has three child- ren, and her husband hasn’t worked for months. “The newspaper for workers? My husband has no work. What will your paper give me?” hurls bitterly. The comrade replies promptly, as if repeating a lesson: “Twenty-five dollars a week and $2 for each de- }pendent. The social insurance bill. HE woman shakes her head, skep- tical, scornful, and shuts the door. What had happened? The comrade with me, instead of giving her the impression that the Daily Worker pwas “giving” $25 @ week to uneme |“ get thrown out!) The street is spotted with “Rooms To Let” signs. A Negro woman on the sixth floor listens attentively. “My husband's working somewhere on the first floor. See him.” We meet him on the stairs. “We don’t know what paper you read, but we know that none of them print news that interests workers. The Daily Worker does, whether they're factory workers, elevator men, or porters.” The man looks at the “Daily.” “I understand this—I know what you mean...” A Wrong Approach Corrected. “Have, you ever read the “Liber- ator”? asks the comrade. “Do you ever go to American Negro Labor Congress meetings? They meet once a week, at 61 Graham Avenue. Come around some time...” “Yes,” answers the Negro quietly, but with evident impatience. “But come back to the paper,” he urges. A good e: le, incidentally, of the evils of much talking about too abe organizations, UT we must draw these workers into .the Party,” the comrade told me later on, apparently a little confused himself about the relative functions of the Party and the AN. L.C. Moreover, had he read the Daily, Worker regularly, he would have known that the A.N.L.C. has enlarged its scope and is now the League of Struggle For Negro Rights. Later on, incidentally, after the Ne- gro worker was clear about the ‘Daily,” we told about this organi- zation and assured him we would let Hail, Soviet China! By LEWIS SUPREN “East is East And West is West And never the twain shall meet”... Kipling, dog of Imperialism Glorifier of a system of oppression DOG! YOU LIE! . . . For from the east I have seen shocks of smoke I have heard the roaring of thunder . . . The screams of the oppressed . . . Now triumphant and stern and roaring even as the thunder. And as with magic so the black mist and smoke lifted As with magic the midnight was gone And in its place the rosy dawn in all its glory “How much?” That swiftly turned to a crimson red .. . “Fifty cents a month, $1.00 for two Red ... Red as blood months...” Nay redder still . . . And the red is the lifeblood of the toilers And it pulsated, it moved, it stirred . . . And to its tempo Beat every workers’ heart. . . And I have seen the world stand in amaze And the capitalists in dismay and terror howl and foam in vain. ... And I have seen redder still the Red Star of Asia rise Within it brighter than the most dazzling sun Shining in golden brilliance and splendor The Workers and Farmers Sickle and Hammer . . . And across this oppressed land. . . Across the bloody ocean. ... I have stretched my calloused hand And shouted in a mighty voice than rolled like the thunder “Hail, O Chinese Comrades!” “HAIL! O SOVIET CHINA!” And the flaming red land The land of the golden Sickle and Hammer Hurled forth in mightier accents “Hail! O our comrades! » HAIL! O SOVIETS—YET-TO-BE!” And the thunder roared with the words And white lightning streaked across the heavens And all the sea reared to meet the sky at this greeting! . * * And from the sweating slaves of Darkest Africa... From the Negro toilers of Sierra Leone .. . From India and Latin America From the swarthy oppressed masses of Fascist .. . Italy... Spain... Hungary ... And the Bulgars .. . From the rising militant proletariat of Social-Fascist Germany From the grimy, soot-smeared, toilers of Imperial America . . . Brom the triumphant masses of the Workers Fatherland—the Soviet Union From the wastes of the deserts From the howling jungles From the shops, mills, mines, ships. . . . From the golden tossing fields the world o’er echo I have heard the greetings Tossed about by the winds in a mighty curse... And then all united. The thunder of the militant proletariat the world 9’er Rose as one mighty voice. . . . And the sea leaped and met the sky And all the world was engulfed in the Red Flame And all the elements ... in a mighty bedlam. ... The screaming winds, the roaring thunder, the crackling lightning, Were with us! And then it came Like a mighty waterfall... . First in a rustling whisper . . . louder . . . LOUDER! The words rising in a deafening thunder .. . “HAIL! O INTERNATIONAL SOVIET!” ———— AAN APPLE A Day IKEEPS THE bocto International Con- ference of Revolu- tionary Writers By A. B. MAGIL CHARKOV, U.S.S.R. (By Mail).— The Second World Plenum of the In- ternational Bureau of Revolutionary | Literature closed here on Nov. 15 after more than a week's activitiy in which delegates from 22 countries and four continents took part. Struggle against imperialist war and in defense of the Soviet Union was the keynote of the Plenum. Johannes R. Becher, famous German revolutionary poet. who has six in- dictments for high treason against him, delivered a ringing address on the war danger in which he declared that .treason to their own govern- ments is the only path for the revo- lutionary writers of the world. Greetings were brought to the Plenum from Hopner for the Com- munist International and Germanetto for the Red International of Labor Unions. Chubar, president of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, and Skrypnik, Ukrainian Commissar of Education, also spoke. The Plenum adopted a political platform which marks a great step forward since the last Plenum in 1927. Instead of demanding of mem- bers merely a struggle against im- perialist war and fascism, the Inter- national Bureau now raises the addi- tional demands of defense of the Soviet Union and fight against social- fascism. The American delegation was one of the most prominent at the Plenum since Germany and the United States were declared to be the two most im- portant capitalist countries for the development of a revolutionary pro- letarian literature. The American delegation, representing the John Reed Club, consisted of Fred Ellis, Michael Gold, William Gropper, Joshua Kunitz, A. B. Magil and Harry Alan Potamkin. Gold and Magil gave the report for the United States. They were also elected to the Presidium of the International Bureau and Potamkin to the Control Commission. The Plenum unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by the Amer- ican delegation demanding the im- mediate release of the six workers facing the electric chair in Atlanta, Ga. A program of activity was outlined for the United States which includes the broadening of the John Reed Club, the establishment of close con- tacts with the workers correspond- ence movement and the strengthen- ing of the New Masses. do y ng over a p on pasting little thin er side of her | table, | | it two sol of three and| | four legs dangling | | above the their “fingers | quickly tak pasted blue strips of paper and little pieces of wood from the: r, bending them over another t of wood, and d product into a ch boxes! Is it} school for the making of match boxes? Can such little people companying neighbors do not know; but they do know that if fhe f |trio work all day—oh, a long da; |they earn twenty cents, Mexican. , Mex. Ten cents gold. the price of a mile ride s the price of two d |rent in a better hut; the price of |bananas at the market. The man of the family, f working at the Japanese cotton mill down along the shore of the Whang- poo. He is in the mill every day from sunrise to sunset, and he earns each month six dollars, gold. | Twenty cén Ten cents ae In a Match Factory, In two or three years things will be better, they say. At least the older of the two tots will be ready then for the big match factory on the Long Street, the one where six hundred children pack the matches. Our for- eign tall figures shadow the doorway of the girls’ room: in this factory where two or three hundred are sit- ting, picking up bunches of matches, stuffing them into the little blue box (holding each box-top in the mouth till ready for it)), slipping on the top and tossing the filled boxes into bas- kets. Older children carry away the baskets to thé next room where others are doing up six boxes at a time in neat’ packages of dark gray paper. Stifling air, Dirty place. We make for the street, and for the launch back to Shanghai. Later we overhear an American resident say, “Yes, it takes me two or three days to recover after I have been into a factory and seen those hundreds of little children.” First-Hand Picture of By GRACE HUTCHINS The following sketches were writ- ten by the author when she was in China in 1926, at the time of the first revolutionar upheaval. The contrast which she draws here, of paste so quickly? We stand and watch the pile grow. How much do they get for the| bushel basket of match boxes? Ac- and father, is| Fire-Crackers old ‘China Under. Im- perialists, and New China, Where Workers Rule | Under the Canton Commune HE streets of Canton are voca with life. Our foreign tall figures |stand aside to let the parade pass Not a big parade, no only. a dozen | Young working, men in dark bluse cloth uniforms, marching down the | street with a banner carried in front |by a leader. It is a red flag with |big white Chinese characters—“The | Workers’ Delegates’ Congress.” singe Ae These are pickets or inspectors, ‘the Chinese teacher beside us explains, sent out on their rounds to see that no shop fails to keep its agreement with the unions’ for the accepted cone ditions of work, They match eagérly, |gladly, with a swing that speaks of |freedom. We pass them again ‘on ,|2n inner street only ten feet wide; but now they are standing guard over ,|a@ shop which has failed in its agreee ment. The night bars are across the |shop front and the proprietor stands j sh eepishly inside the bars. No one | may go in or go out till the employer settles with the union. eiere eieer J 8p OW it is a holiday in Canton...A longer parade of workers comes down the broad, long street. Auto- mobiles; workers in automobiles, Quiet men, used to an age-long mo- | notony of work in China, used to scarcity of jobs and a rush to get. in | ahead of the next man, used to the | pay of a few coppers, barely enough }even for rice—these men are cele- car. Banners fly from all the cars. | Out of the cars come red fire- | crackers thrown extravagantly in every direction, popping off under the feet of bystanders, More cars are whirring by and more firecrack- ers are popping. The scavengers, men who collect human offal: from are riding in an automobile and flying the banner of their union. They have been on a strike and have won the strike. They are celebrating | with the other unions. But it is not | only one victory that makes them glad. The world is theirs. They can speak, and governments listen. They |can move forward together, on foot ; or in automobiles. It is the Canton Commune. Some day they will have a workers’ re- public, By BILL, HERMANDEZ. By MYRA PAGE, The revolutionary motion picture is a@ great instrument of propaganda, but one that has been generally ne- glected in the United States. Out- side of New York and Chicago work- ers who go to movies—and who Goesn’t?—have no choice but to see the corrupt films which Hollywood reels out. Now, however, the Workers’ Inter- national Relief is undertaking to supply this want, by touring revolu- tionary films throughout the coun- try. Most of the films which they have booked are excellent—such as “Ten Days,” “Seeds of Freedom” and “Father and Son.” Unfortunately, “Harbor, Drift.” a production of the German workers’ film group, cannot be put in this class. While the picture has some good points, it does not deserve to be ranked 4s a revolutionary film, The plot reyolves around the strug- gle for possession of a string of pearls which an old man, a professional beggar, has picked up in the street. A jobless sailor he has befriended and his sweetheart scheme to get the pearls and the economic secruity they represent. But, instead, the old man, in a fight with the boy, drowns, and the pearls go down with him, The sailor, standing by, watches him sink. A dazed look comes over his face. Then the words are flashed SONG OF THE UNEMPLOYED By DAVID LYNIN Mister, buy an apple, Cheap, cheap, very cheap. Mister, buy my hungry days; Cheap, cheap, all for a nickle. Mister, buy an apple, Cheap, cheap, very cheap. Mister buy my sleepness nights, Cheap, cheap, all for a nickle. Mister, buy an apple, Cheap, cheap, very cheap. Mister, buy my baby’s cries, Cheep, cheap, all for a nickle. - Mister, buy an apple, Cheap, cheap, very cheap. Mister, buy my life, hained like a dog's. — eectanannaannsote “HARBOR DRIFT” A Working Class Movie That Lacks. Revolutionary Point on the screen, “The mirage has passed. This worker belongs in the revolutionary movement.” ‘There is a brief glimpse of workers demon- strating, and then “The End.”' There — you are, left high and dry. There is no preparation, either in the titling or the ‘picture itself for this final flash-on. It has no ore ganic relation to the rest of the film. It is not bums or near-bums like the three main characters in the picture who compose the revolutionary move- ment. The development of thesailor into a class-conscious, disciplined fighter is a story in itself and one which the picture should have in- cluded. Otherwise, it lacks. convic= tion, The theme of “Harbor Drift”—the attempt of certain unorganized, ‘non- class-conscious workers to escape from their class position, the impossi- bility of this, and their consequent demoralization, is a theme which ree quires the most careful handling, in erder to bring out the revolutionary lessons. This “Harbor Drift” fails to do. As it stands, the picture smacks too much of “He did it for Her.” The same old gag. The working-class audience who" viewed this movie at the Hungarian Workers’ Center on East 81st St., in New York City, last Sunday night, shifted around uneasily when the’ picture ended ‘and looked at each other with doubt and amazement. Luckily, their disappointment was changed to enthusiasm when the op- erator announced that he was goips to show an additional film, “Ten Days That Shook the World.” This, they knew, would be the real stuff. Maybe the Workers’ International Relief will drop'any plan of touring this picture and concentrate on the really good films which they have? MOSCOW'S ‘HUGE LIBRARY © With 5,100,000 volumes on its shelves, the Lenin Library in beni takes its place, among the largest collections of books. reading rooms, it ts said, by about 500,000 persons a year.