The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 27, 1931, Page 4

{ % 1 4 ruprished by the Comprodaily Publishing Co., Inc., daily except Sunday, at 50 East h Street, New York City, N. Y. Telephone Algonquin 7956-7. ress and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, 50 East 18th Street, New York, N. ¥. Cable: “DAIWORK." Daily... orker ~¥., Porty USA! A SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By mene everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; two months, $1; excepting Bcrouaae of Manhattan and Bronx, New York Ctly. Foreign; one year, $8: six months, $4.50. Bank Corruption Ts Only Part ot Capitalist Corruption Bt I. AMTER. TIMMY WALKER, before going on a to California, resisted with all his might and main an investigation of his administration. The republicans, putting something across that they really feared, moved to investigate the city ad- ministration of New York, which is one of the most corrupt in the world. The republicans know that if they start investigations in New York City, the democrats will retaliate in other important cities, perhaps in the U. S. Congress, and then the workers will learn too much. Nev- ertheless, it is a fine opportunity for the re- publicans to expose the*graft in City Hall and they wish to go ahead with their plans. The socialists—Norman Thomas, the holy, leading them—demand that they have a hand in the pie, Have the socialists not some adminis- trations in this country—Milwaukee—and don’t they too know about corruption? The socialists, “vacation” therefore, demand that it be a three-cornered | investigation—all the parties of capitalism par- ticipating. After Walker had left town, Acting Mayor Kerrigan declared t the demand for the in- vestigation came result of “higher-ups” being involved in the crash of the Bank of United States, who did not want the exposure of the bank to be too open. But the bank crash smells to heaven, and the rot must come out Therefore, the politicians and bankers, who are not interested in the lives and welfare of the 300,000 workers and small depositors, but on the centrary want th? right to continue to exploit the werkers in the shops and to rob them of their | small sayings, are fighting among themselves. Th> groups within Tammany Hall are divided, the spoils are being fought over, and Walker may be one of the victims of the internal fight be- tween Curry, Smith and Roosevelt. The graft and corruption in the courts, and various other city departments, the men in these offices who, together with the police, are sup- posed to uphold “law and order,” but on the contrary have been preying on the workers, on women whom they have framed up on vice charges; these people who, through their hire- lings, have not hesitated to resort to threats, coercion and murder to get rid of “unwelcome” witnesses; these people who have piled up for- tunes on the lives and sweat of the workers of this city—these are the people who sit in judgment on the militant workers of this city who are brought into the courts for fighting for working class interests against bosses, scabs, gangsters, police and other such “upholders of law and order” and are sentenced fo long terms in the prisons and penitentiaries. The closing of the Bank of United States has given the workers a fine insight into the situa- tion in the banking institutions, the political grafting institutions and the courts of the coun- try. Isidor Kresel, special prosecutor, is still a di- rector of the bank. Max Steuer, the “eloquent defender of the people's rights,” resigned as a director of one of the subsidiaries just before the crash. Mr. Broderick, state bank examiner since April, 1929, knew about the state of the bank, or should have known, and yet allowed seven branches to be opened shortly before the erash. The Jamaica branch was opened just twelve days before the bank closed. Broderick should have known that $8,000,000 in loans have been no good for nine years, and the bank should have written them off. But this was not done. The activities of Mr. Broderick were criminal, and the workers and small depositors who have been robbed of their small savings should demand his prosecution. It is not to be expected that his fellow-crooks on the police force will arrest and beat him up. Quite the contrary, they will not touch him. His fellow- crooks on the bench will not sentence him to the penitentiary on indeterminate sentence— which they hand out so freely to militant work- ers on the picket line. No, Mr. Broderick will go free—for his polit- ical friends do not want too much noise alto- { gether to be made about the Bank of United States, for this will rouse many suspicions on. the part of the worker depositors. No, the mat- ter must be hushed up—but it cannot be, for the political factions are fighting. John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan, through their agents, are trying to “adjust” the matter. They want to do a good bit of business at the same time. Therefore, through Mr. Steuer on the one hand, and through Mr. Rosoff, they are offering the workers a plan of investing part of their deposits, promising them the other part in cash over a certain period. In the mean- time, they hope to purchase the assets of the bank at a low figure. ‘The worker and small depositors must fight for the return of every penny from the bank, which closed its doors as a result of the econ- omic crisis and the criminal negligence on the part of the state banking department, of manip- ulators, speculators and crooks. They must fight for the prosecution of every official who is responsible for their losing tens of millions of dollars. They must demand that the worker and small depositors shall not lose one penny of their deposits. They must continue to de- mand that the state, which, like the U. S. gov- ernment, has plenty of money for aiding the capitalists (tax refunds, subsidies for the bank- ers and manufacturers, but not a penny for the 10,000,000 unemployed) shall float a loan to pay back these deposits. The worker and small depositors who are organized into the United Depositors’ Commit- tee can take it to their credit, organization and fight that the bankers have come forward with compromise schemes. Had this committee, whade up of worker and small depositors, not put up a struggle, they might have lost every penny. But because the workers in this com- mittee, who are part of the army of more than 1,000,000 unemployed in the city of New York, men and women who have gone through cut- ting wage-slashes and are working at the most exhausting speed to make ends meet—because these workers put up a militant fight, even in the streets, they were able to compel the bank- ers to attempt to find a way to satisfy their demands. This fight must be continued. It must be taken to the state government, and a demand | be made for the prosecution of the head of the state banking department, and for a loan to repay every worker and small depositor in full. | They must take it to city hall and demand the punishment of every crook—including those who sit in high office and are doing the prosecuting today and pose as the champions of the op- who had their hand in the conduct of the af- fairs of the bank but who escaped because they knew in time that the crash was eoming—and | therefore were accomplices in the ¢rime—be pun- ished. But this demand will be put through only if the worker depositors continue to organize, mobilize and struggle—to carry on the work in the neighborhoods and streets. Linked up with the deep economic crisis-that has affected every working-class home, the worker depositors must. fight that the few dollars they have saved shall not be lost, that every penny be returned and that those responsible for this threat upon their homes be sent to the penitentiary. This will be brought about only if the workers learn the one lesson in all their struggles: they can de- pend only on their organized mass power to fight the bosses, their corrupt government and all their institutions. In the Soviet Union, such men would be put up against a wall and be shot. In the United States, they pocket the millions and tens of millions, and then pose as the “saviors of society.” The crash of the Bank of United States and of the thousands of other banks in the country, together with the misery resulting from the crisis, is opening the eyes of the workers to the need of organization and militant struggle. | Starvation in W. Va. and Eastern Ohio, Western Pa. By LEO THOMPSON. 'TH the possible exception of the South, there is probably no major industrial section of the United States with such an appallingly widespread condition of abject poverty, mass starvation and disease-pestilence as in Eastern Ohio, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania. ‘The situation is so disastrous that even the most conservative bosses’ newspapers can no longer hide it. In the Feb. 1 issue of the “Columbus Dispatch,” a special correspondent, Hugh Fuller- ton, who is touring this section, is forced to speak of “Pestilence Is Stalking Ohio ‘Hunger Belt,” “Full Extent of Famine Unrealized,” “Sufferers Hopeless,” “Red Cross Failing to Reach Even Most Desperate Cases in Many Sections,” etc. ‘This section is not only an important indus- trial district, but also a big agricultural terri- tory. As a result, the farmers, just as well as the coal miners, steel workers and clay workers, are feeling the pinch of starvation and disease. Along the Ohio Valley, from East Liverpool to cincinnati, from Steubenville, southwest to Cin- cinnati—there exists the worst situation of pri- vation, hopelessness and suffering. “Thousands of children are huddled in poor homes without clothing or shoes to attend school. Thousands of others go hungry and undernourished, easy prey to disease. Fathers, -unable to find employment, go gaunt and hol- low-eyed and mothers stare at a stranger va- cantly. There are few tears—merely despair. “Men are cutting coal for 40 cents a ton loaded in the mine and in one district for 25 ‘cents a ton. Men are supporting large families on an average of less than $1.50 a day when they work—and begging for two or three days’ work a week. “The drought left the small farmers and the farm hands without winter supplies. Gardens and small farms failed. The entire district, whether one strikes coal or clay products sec- --tions, has been, since 1921, poverty stricken, the -buying power exhausted, wages low, employ- ment part time, families large. “The situation is actually desperate in many districts. Every county infirmary and .every _ children’s home we visited is overcrowded, and finding it difficult to care for the cases forced ‘gh _the county.’ “Every Fink agent we called upon reported extraordinary demands for county help, over and above the usual mid-winter pressure.” This is how a correspondent for a conserva- tive bourgeois newspaper writes. Imagine the actual suffering that is going on! This same correspondent goes on to describe the situation in the mining camps. What little relief may be given is handed out to scabs only, while those miners who belong to the National Miners’ Union, and who struck two years ago, are permitted to die slowly of starvation. Mr. Fullerton makes a very significant remark in summarizing the situation: “It is strange when one thinks that the fathers of these men supposedly fought to do away with slavery, and are now living under conditions far worse than those of slaves. . . . And as we passed those small, bleak cemeteries, I thought to myself, “Those are the lucky ones, up there on the hill- side!” Housing conditions are terrible as a result of unemployment. Many families, unable to pay rent, are forced to double, triple or even quadruple up in rooms for only one family. I know of a case where 18 men, women and chil- dren live together in two rooms, filthy, small, stuffy, no ventilation, and a child sick in bed with diphtheria, In Wheeling, the impoverishment of the masses of working class families is almost un- believable. In the “Congressional Record” of Feb. 9 a speech of Senator LaFollette is re- corded, in which he cites figures on the unem- ployment situation. The percentage of unem- ployment in proportion to the whole population in Wheeling is 19.1 per cent, while such leading industrial centers as Detroit and Cleveland haye unemployment percentages of 18.5 per cent and 11.6, respectively. It is interesting to see that Chicago, with 22.5 per cent, is the only city in the United States with a higher degree of relative unemployment than exists here in Wheeling. According to a recent report of the Associated Charities of Wheeling, which is a very conservative report, 4,644 persons, includ- ing 2,884 children, are forced to eat daily at the soup kitchens. And the Associated Charities are only one of the three or four large charity organizations in Wheeling. According to the same report, there are 1,014 families in extraor- dinarily desperate need of immediate relief, in addition to thousands who are forced to stagger PARTY LIFE Conducted by the Organization Department of the Central Commitiee, Communist Party, U.S.A, No Obstacles to Drawing New Forces By BILL LAWRENCE ‘TH the increasing unemploysaent and tre- mendous growth of influence or our Party we find that on many occasions workers from small industrial and company towns where the Party carried on no activity whatsoever, or had no con- nections, write directly to the Party office asking for information about the Party or how and where they can join the Party. In most of the instances the Party D. O. or Org Secretary writes a letter to this worker accompanied by a pam- phlet and this ends it all. On the other hand, we find that some of our out-of-town sections are so big in territory that at best either the sections concentrates in one city thus neglecting the others or tries to embrace the entire section thus carrying on the work in a very haphazard unsystematic way, not fol- lowing up decisions with the result that very little progress is being made. A concrete example: Section No. 5 of District | No. 3 includes such important textile centers as Allentown, Easton, the steel company town of Bethlehem and the city of Reading with all its political implications. Well, what shall the sections do? The forces are limited. The social composition in these cities is entirely proletarian with comrades (with some exceptions) working most of the time on shifts thus the work on the outside falls most of the time on a very limited number of com- rades, The District told Section No. 5 that they must carry on work in Reading and build the Party unit there. The organizer took the instruc- tions of the District seriously and concentrated on this city; Bethlehem and other cities were | neglected, not speaking of the fact that the sec- of the army of the part-time workers, of the - tion had no time to pay attention to such import- ant industrial by-towns which constantly asked for organization such as Lebanon, Kutstown, Lancaster, etc. What is the solution? How can we answer these workers who write letters ask- ing for organization? First we must cut the size of the sections. We » must speed up and pay more attention to the drawing in of new forces into the leadership which can be done through assigning these new members some work and the establishing of | lasses which will raise their political under- standing. We must crush the tendency on the part of some “old timers” who believe that a workers must be years in the Party before we | can assign him some responsible work. In this | connection we wish to bring out an example of pressed. They must demand that all of those | in the form of a decision of the Reading Buro bureaucracy of the worst type that took place (in the absence of the Section Organizer). At this buro in the presence of the Section TUUL sectetary and two other old Party members they unanimously passed the decision that a certain American worker who joined the Party recently, yery active in the unemployed council and shows. all potentialities of seriousness and development —that this worker shall remain @ rank and filer in both the unemployed councils and Party and shall not hold any office. When asked the cause of this decision we were informed by these com- rades that this worker likes to push himself to the front. These comrades even succeeded in convincing a new and very sincere member of the Buro to vote for this decision. This is not an isolated case. We still Rave this super approach to new ‘workers who join our Party. In selecting comrades for responsible posts we travel too far beyond the necessary lim- it in examining this comrade whether or not he is fit for the job. We must make a sharp turn in this respect. If we are to live up to the pre- sent needs and requirements we must imme- diately begin to draw in new Americans, white and Negro workers into the leadershsip of the Party by assigning them responsible work and under the guidance of the District Committee which must not express itself only through cir- cular letters but through direct and personal guidance help these comrades develop the work. Experience has shown that these new workers who join our Party are willing to carry out the tasks givem to them, « Workers! Join the Party of Your Class! Communist Party U. 8. A. P. O. Box 87 Station D. New York City. Please send me more information on the Cum- munist Party. Name Address CIty 2. ssccccceccccccscsererss StOte .srcesecees -Mail this to the Central Office, Communist Party, P. O. Box 87 Station D. New York City. Organize an Unemployed Coun- cil in Every Workers’ Neigh- borhood of Twenty Blocks; Register the Unemploy- ed; Investigate Starva- tion Conditions. along on starvation, part time wages. In a sur- vey of 945 families in Wheeling who applied for help, it was pointed out that 163 families were left without support through the death of the head of the family, 88 families were forced to apply for help because of sickness, and 689 be- cause of unemployment and insufficient part- time wages. At the same time, the Wheeling News carries stories about “Wheel Steel Cor- poration Continued Growth Through 1930,” an- nual profits amounting to $2,688,601.97, while the total financial assets of the corporation were $40,702,897. ‘The conditions of the working youth are even worse. There are about 500 young workers be- tween 18 and 25 who eat at the soup kitchen of the Union Mission daily. In a questionaire- survey that the Y. C. L. is conducting here, we find that in 7 out of 10 average families, the wages of the young workers in the families are the only source of making a living. In one in- stance, fon example, a Y, C. L. member in the r MacDonald’s Polish Methods in India HILE the White Terror under Pilsudski in Poland is arousing the attention of the world, the “White Terror methods” of MacDon- ald in the colonies are little known to continen- tal workers, The events taking place in India under the MacDonald regime of naked terror equals any- thing known to have been carried out by Pil- sudski and his butchers. Below we give a brief account of only one case out of thousands that forever down the MacDonalds, Wedgwood Benns, Maxtons, etc., as the butchers of the oppressed colonial work- ers. While the MacDonald machine works feverishly to assist the capitalist campaign on so-called slave conditions and oppression in the Soviet Union, this same machine keeps a strict censorship on all news relating to the frightful regime maintained in the colonies, particularly India, When these social democratic butchers dare point their finger of scorn at the Soviet Union, when these prostitutes of socialism dare suggest that slavery exists in a country where capitalist class rule has been destroyed, then we must show the toiling European workers the India of MacDonald, the angel of peace—the bourgeoisie’s most beloved Prime Minister—the butcher of the colonial slaves, wa ene Lahore Conspiracy Case. The Lahore conspiracy trial opened in July, 1929, after a considerable amount of seaching of the houses of known members of the revolu- tionary nationalist movement had taken place. Most of the people placed in the dock were as- cused and betrayed by police informers. Bhagat Singh and Dutt, two of the accused, were sen- tenced for life for throwing a bomb in the As- sembly in June, 1929, and arising from evidence given during the trial, they were accused of the murder of Mr. Sanders, a government official, in 1928. The history of this so-called trial, un- paralleled in the history of political persecution, is characterized by the most inhuman and brutal treatment which is the outcome of a frantic desire on the part of the labor imperial- ist government to strike terror into the hearts of an oppressed people. Much indignation has been shown in India at the inhuman treatment meted out to these revolutionaries. An All-India “Dutt and Bha- gat Singh Day” was observed in July, 1929, when thousands of Indians demonstrated upon the streets in sympathy, exhibiting banners bearing the slogans—‘Long Live Revolution”. and “Down With Imperialism.” Hunger striking was resorted to by practically every one of the pris- oners as a protest against the inhuman and brutal treatment of political prisoners. At last one of the accused, Jatin Das, after a period of 63 days paid the price for his heroic gesture by death. Jatin Das had become paralyzed, blind, and his blood. citculation only operated in the near vicinity of his Héart. He had, in the process of hunger striking, been forcibly fed until such forcible feeding became a danger to his life. His body had been reduced by 60 pounds in weight and only weighed 19 pounds at his death. His body was carried through the streets of Lahore, followed by a huge procession of 50,000 shouting “Long Live the Revolution,” “Long Live Das.” On Sept. 14, the day after the death of Das, the Meerut prisoners demonstrated in court. As they were brought in they shouted “Down With the White Terror,” “Down With the Brit- ish Government.” One of the Meerut prison- ers, Sharkat Osmani, addressed the others as follows: “Comrades, Jatin Das is dead. He laid down his life in the cause of his country. We have to pay our homage to the departed patriot, and we should sing the ‘Red Flag’ bareheaded and standing.” All the Meerut prisoners then stood and sang the “Red Flag” bareheaded. Many of the prisoners, in spite of the brutal methods of forcible feeding, refused food for periods of over six weeks, and both Bhagat Singh and Bk. Dutt refused food for over ten weeks. But in spite of the terrible state of physical weakness caused by the hunger-strik- ing, these comrades were brought into court on stretchers, handcuffed and fettered. Many of the prisoners in October, 1929, were brutally beaten in court by the police, because they refused to be handcuffed. Unheard of brutalities were perpetrated upon the prisoners after Dutt had flung a slipper at a police in- former, Jaigopol, whilst he was giving evidence. ‘The magistrates, therefore, instructed the’ jail authorities to bring the prisoners to court in handcuffs. The following morning the hand- cuffed prisoners refused to leave the police lorry unless the handcuffs were removed. The jail superintendent ordered the prisoners to leave the lorry, and this they refused to do unless their request was granted. He therefore advised the magistrates to adjourn the case, because of the attitude of the prisoners. He ordered that the prisoners should return to jail, and while on the journey back they were beaten unmercifully by the police. One, Raj-quru, became uncon~ scious and Bejoy was found to be bleeding. Dutt was sentenced to three months’ solitary con- finement. ‘The following day the prisoners were again brought to court handcuffed, and again they refused to leave the lorry. The police, there- fore, forcibly removed the prisoners, and so bru- tally did they carry out their task that the “scene in court was unbearable,” some of the prisoners were lying on the floor unconscious. The prisoners asked the te to récord their statement in the evidence as to the brutal Wheeling unit reported that his whole family of six depends on his weekly wage of $10 for the last year and a half. In the whole period, this family only received one charity food basket of $2. Many young workers, especially the migra- tory youth that look for employment from town to town, have no place to sleep. The jails are full of young workers who were arrested be- cause they break into A. & P. stores for food, milk, bread, etc. Meanwhile, the terror of the police against the unemployed Negro and white workers is growing. ‘Those unemployed workers who Are found to be members of the Unemployed Coun- cils have their charity-orders taken away from them. The Wheeling City Council is going through with the introduction of the chain- gang and vagrancy laws, despite the supposed “repeal.” Negro workers are taken out for a ride and threatened to be shot or thrown’ into the river if caught distributing leaflets. Mean- while, the.Y, C. L. and the Party, with the co- ° treatment. This the magistrate refused to do. Bejoy asked for medical treatment, as some ‘ere unable to walk, one passing blood with urine, whilst all had acute pains all over the body. One Indian paper described the tortures as follows: z “Each prisoner was assaulted by at least 20 to 25 policemen, the method of assault being most inhuman. One method employed was the penetration of fingers into the rectum and kicking of testicles. The assault contin- ued for more than one hour, after which five prisoners got fever; all others had acute pains in different parts of the body. Mahabi Singh and Rajguree fell down senseless on the spot. Canes were frequently used, and marks can be actually seen on these prisoners.” Under such circumstances, this political “frame-up” lasted for over nine months, the butchers of imperialism had thought it neces- sary to call some 600 witnesses in order to prove thei charges. The government could not see the end of this great farce under such con- ditions, and the whole population had been in- cited against the barbarous treatment afforded to these prisoners, so it was necessary to hasten the proceedings. The Viceroy, therefore, used his despotic pow- ers, and on May 1, 1930, issued the Lahore con- spiracy case. ordnance, and a statement of the Viceroy which accompanied the promulgation of this ordnance contained the following: After anxious consideration I have come to the conclusion that neither the end of justice, nor the interests of ‘the accused are served by allowing these proceedings to drag out to a Jength which cannot at present be foreseen. Public policy*clearly demands that the grave charges against the accused should be thor- oughly scrutinized and finally adjudicated upon with the least possible delay by a tribunal of indubitable impartiality, and authority, and that the preliminary proceedings which have already extended over nine months, and the end of which is not yet in sight, should be ter- minated. It is also necessary to ensure that obstruction thall not further interrupt the, course of justice. I have accordingly decided to avail myself of the authority conferred upon the governor-general under Section 72 of the Government of India Act, and to issue an ordnance which has the effect of entrust- ing the trial of the case to a tribunal to be constituted by the chief justice of the High Court of Judicature at Lahore, and consist- ing of three judges of the high court, and to invest this tribunal with powers to deal with wilful obstruction. By these means the ac- cused will be assured of a trial before a court of the highest possible authority, and it may be expected that a final and just decision will be reached with no unnecessary delay.” Under this new court of three judges “of the highest possible authority” the trial began again on May 5, 1920, and after 2 witnesses for the prosecution had been examined, two new mem- bets of the tribunal were appointed in place of two of the members who had been originally appointed. But this did not matter—the trial proceeded for the “peace and good government of British India” and the change in the personnel of the tribunal did not matter to the ultimate finding of the court of the “highest possible authority.” The court on Oct. 7, 1930, for the “peace and good will of British India” sentenced three— Bhagat Singh, Shivram Rajguru and Sakh Dev —to death; Kishorihal, Mahabir Singh, Bejoy Qumar Sinha, Sheo Yarma, Gya Parshad, Jai Dev and Kanwal Nath Towari to transporta- tion for life; Kundan Lal to sevem’years’ rigor- ous imprisonment, and Prem Dutt to five years’ rigorous imprisonment. Against these savage sentences there is to be no appeal in law. The judicial committee of the Privy Council have refused the appeal of the accused and only the pressure of the interna- tional working class can save these heroic com- rades from being sent to the gallows and that living death “transportation for life.” A similar set of circumstances surround the trial of 31 comrades now proceeding at Meerut in India, who have been accused of “Conspiracy Against the King,” and have been kept in jail since Marcly 1929, undergoing trial. ‘These comrades have all taken some prom- inent part in the organization of the working- ¢lass movement. in India, and this in itself is regarded as “Conspiracy Against the King.” It has taken the labor government of Britain nearly two years and some thousands of pounds to fake this trial—yet in the interests of im- Pperialism it must proceed. Unless the workers are prepared to stop this butchery, the Meerut trial can at any time be transferred in the interests of “peace and good will in British India” to a special court of the “highest authority” in order to bring about a speedy conviction. ‘The Lahore conspiracy political frame-up and the Meerut conspiracy political frame-up were initiated by the Baldwin government, but con- ducted by the brutal imperialist butcher, Mac- Donald. Judicial murder is their slogan, in or- der that British imperialism may retain its stranglehold on the bodies of the colonial peo- ples. The overthrow of imperialism is the task of the international world proletariat, under the leadership of the Communist International. Down with the White Terror! Down with imperialism and the Second In- ternational butchers! Forward to world Communism! operation of the Unemployed Council and Na- tional Miners’ Union, are preparing protest mass meetings td arouse mass.sentiment against this reign of terror. The ited Charities and the bosses’ fake Emergency’ Relief Commit- tee announce that no more relief will be given, not even the slop-soup and garbage-can charity that are dished out, owing to “lack of funds.” We find that it is a national policy of the bosses to withdraw even the measly charity that was hitherto given out. The Communist Party and the Young Communist League are preparing to nominate working class and youth candidates for office in the municipal elections here under the slogan of “Don’t Starve! Organize! De- mand Relief!” The Unemployed Councils are making house-to-house registrations of fam- ilies, and we have come across many needy fam- ilies on the verge of downright starvation and disease. Around each case of a desperate un- employed family we are developing a campaign, demanding immediate relief from the city and charity! organizations ‘for each case, I By JORGE Tammany Social Notes She didn’t get home until morning—but then Vivian Gordon didn’t get home at all! We refer to the leading lady in the following dispatch from the New York News of March 33, about what Jimmy Walker is doing to “restore his health” in Southern California: “Jimmy was escort at a party given by Adolph. .Zukor, movie magnate, last night, to Miss J. Carr, Hollywood beauty. She returned to her hotel from the Untermeyer home at 10.a, m today, wearing sky blue sports pajamas, rubber sneakers, and carrying a pink silk beach robe,” er What For the “Marseillaise”? “Dear Comrade Sparks:—At a recent Parke Commune celebration given by our Polish com- rades in this city, I was burned up to hear the Marseillaise played and sung. Many of our comrades, particularly those in foreign branches, seem to be under the impression that this ultra- nationalist bourgeois French song can be fitly played at our demonstrations. “Tt doesn’t belong. It is just as though the French comrades would play the Star Spangled Banner or as though the Americans would play “God Save the King.” The Marseillaise is the national anthem of the French bourgeoisie and should be so regarded by our comrades. “It is particularly maddening to hear the damn thing sung at a Paris Commune celebra- tion. It was to this tune that the French bour- geois butchers shot down the Communards. This fact should be told to all our comrades so that they never again. disgrace our affairs with the rendering or the Marseillaise. — Cleveland Worker.” You said, comrade; so there’s nothing much left for us to say. This song don’t belong te the working class, which had the song inflicted upon it by the Second International. If Hill- quit and Abramovitch want it, let em have it. We don't. Hoover Overalls From a little country paper in Howell County, Missouri, we learn that a special make of over- alls, christened “Hoover overalls,” has been adopted for workers and poor farmers. They are described as follows: “The overalls have all the latest features, in- cluding no pockets, legs sufficiently long so no socks are necessary, big belt having sixteen notches which may be tightened to relieve hun- ger (what we may call “adequate relief”—Jorge), two patches sewed on the knees so the wearer may pray for a job. With each pair of overalls comes Mr. Hoover’s guarantee, made one year ago, that prosperity will be back in sixty days.” A Lenin Set for Every Party Unit UR Party now faces the important task of raising the theoretical level of the member- ship. In tls connection it is necessary that the writings of Lenin be widely distributed among the whole membership, and that not only Party functionaries, but every Party member use them for study and constant reference and guidance, To expidite this work a special arangement has been made with the International Publishers, 381 Fourth Avéhue, New York, by which the six volumes of Lenin's Collected Works now publ- ished are available at just half the former price. These books, formerly sold at a minumum of $18.50, are now issued in a special subscribers’ edition at $9.25. This arrangement was made for the specific purpose of making it possible for every Party member to use these books. A drive is now being conducted with the support of the Central Com- mittee to distribute them. It is an immediate task for every unit to se- cure a set of Lenin’s works for its library. ‘These books should be made available to the membership either through some form of cir- culating library or other means worked out in the unit. The problem of acquiring and using these books, particularly by ‘unit libraries, but also, wherever possible, by funtionaries and other members should be taken up in unit meetings immediately. It should be noted that a further arrangement has been made by which units are to receive $1.00 discount on their sets, making them cost Only $8.25. Subscriptions with money order for full payment should be sent to International Publishers, 381 Fourth Avenue, New York. The volumes so far issued in Lenin’s Collected Works contain the complete writings for the key periods of his career. They are: THE ISKRA PERIOD— (2 volumes)—the for- mation of the Bolshevik Party; Lenin's ye on the problems of Party organization; incl the famous pamphlet What is to be Done? THE IMPERIALIST WAR—Written ims diately after the outbreak of the World War; analysis of the role of the “socialists” and elements who supported it; Lenin’s plans turning imperialist war into civil war. THE REVOLUTION OF 1917! (2' yolumes)—. The period from the March Revolution to the outbreak of open struggle against the Provisional Government; .the Bolshevik tactics that led to October. A theoretical volume, a brilliant polemic against deviations from Marxism, as important and time- ly now as in the days it was written. ‘as the day it was written. It is urgent that every unit acguite these six books immediately, | Use the order blank below. International Publishers, 381 Fourth Avenue, New York. Please send......sets of the special subscribers’ edition of six volumes now issued of Lenin’s Gol- lected Works at the special price to units of $8.25 the set, Money order for $....1. enclosed. * Unit ........ Section ....., District” 6p TN eg = a eel we wre