The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 5, 1932, Page 4

Dail orker Contra Pecty USA Published by the Compredaity Publishing Ce., Ine., dolly exexept Sunday. st 8 & 18th St., New York City. W. ¥. Telephone ALgomquin 4-7066. Cudie “DATWORE' Address and matl checks te the Daily Worker, # E. 18th St, New York, MW. ¥. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By mail everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $5.50; 8 months, $2; 1 month, 75¢ excepting Borough of Manhattan and Bronx, New York City. Foreign and Canada: One year, $9; 6 months, $5; $3 months, $3 An Epic of Socialist Construction | described the wonders of this great enterprise, and. recorded the gigantic dimensions of the plan w s to make this the ful h ric station in the world. Some bour- pondents tried, when the greater part of the enter- ted only in the form of plans, to prove by argu- could not be realized. But bourgeois arguments inst Bolshevik deeds. After three years of saseless effort, Dnieprostroi is a living reality. The turbines sing like huge humming-tops and the »—~ cables which mount up the river! During the winter it was necessary, banks on their b pylons, from the jin order that the spring flood waters great transforming station to the fac-| might be held, and the dam be in tories, are al Let any bourgeois | readiness to supply water to the tur- critic now try to demonstrate that | pines, that sluices be fixed between He will | the piers. The Americans warned the | Soviet engineers that this was an im- prostroi, of which all|possible undertaking. And again the the world already knows, is.a reality, | Soviet workers and engineers put all what more remains to be said about | their force to the task, and achieved it? Much. What I should like to say | the impossible. Many heroes of labor would fill a book. It is not so much | arose in this struggle. Such a one is of dams and turbines, cables and) Kozub, a great ex-peasant, of whom kilowatts that I wish to write, as of |his comrades speak with a mixture of the meaning of Dnieprostroi as a|/amusement and enthusiasm for his piece of socialist building. | terrific feats. ITS PURPOSE Kozub came. to Dnieprostroi as an : On | unskilled laborer, at the very begin- What is the purpose of this mighty | ning of its construction. He had been source of power? Concretely, it is tO working as a sailor on one of the provide energy for a complex of in-| shins which ply on the Dnieper. On most pow geois corres) prise still e ment that it dustrial works unequalled a the | the construction of the dam, he was world. An aluminum - producing | > . n-grade steel plant, a employed as a crane banksman. r Under the tuition of the American nt producing the com- | specialists, he: learned quickly, and pr ered Aes coe |became assistant-foreman for a sec- ant, a work for highly | tion of the dam. When the difficult 3 ce bricks—these are |task of lowering the temporary the new creations which will | iuice-gates into position came to be mmediate consumers of the | tackled, Kozub was given the job. He okies |invented a method of driving the meat HE — |sluices down by: using-@ crane-as a s and see what we have | sort of huge pile-driver, which ham- Russia in ten years’ | mered the structure into position, by |dropping a great mass of cyncrete jupon it. Perched perilously on the |edge of the sluice, Kozub would sig- |mal directions to the crane-driver. enin in 1920, and he was talk- H. G. Wells. That famous ad been discussing with lan for the electri- | And in his book, jadows,” he sum- he interview as follows: who, like a good orthodox | xc “Utopians,” has | it to an Utopia, the e electricians. He is is weight into a scheme evelopment of great power Russia to serve whole | h light, with transport | 1 power. ‘Two experi-4 tricts, he said, had already been electrified. “Can one imagine a more courage- ous project in a vast flat land of forests and illiterate peasants, with ne water power, with no technical i jlable. and with trade and y at the last gasp? “While I talked to him he almost persuaded me to share his vision... But these are only sketches and be- the doubting Utopian ob- ginnings, jected. “Come bi and see what we have done in Russia in ten years’ time,” Lenin answered Poor Mr. Wells! If he could stand on the banks of the Dnieper now, and see the mighty river harnessed to the production of electric energy equal to more than eight hundred thousand hhorsepower—he, who is so ignorant that he thinks that this “vast flat of forests” contains no water-power! The history of the building of Dnieprostroi is one long story of fight with difficulties and doubters. And the answer to all doubts is that the dam was completed and the first power generated on May 1, 1932. The plan provided that, on De- ember 1, 1932, two turbines were to beset in motion. Thus, the shock- brigaders of socialism beat their own time-table by six months. ‘ Was it because they found their tesk easier than had been at first 2 It certainly was not. On contrary, many unforeseen diffi- © and problems arose in the c of col cting the dam. ‘Many a time the American engineers, the world’s most experienced con- gtructors of such works, employed as | consultants, were baffled by these m1 And who solved them? Tet us talk to the men who did the the engineers, the men of pick »shovel, sledge hammer and pneu- r drill. You will find their words useful and more bracing than ‘meditations of Mr. Wells, the 600 of 5,000 Alaskan Geld Miners Have Jobs, Work Dangerous JUNEAU, Alaska—I would like ite you the story of the Alaska au Gold Mining Co. which has vexploiting six or seven hun- workers in this city in the last years. This mine is one of “richest mines in the United sat the present time, and one é most dangerous places to Many of the miners lost their s in this mine by accidents. is operated on the caving sys- , Which means that the ore is ‘ by. the millions of tons, This is down along a great many down to the main shoot, over it deep. A man can’t see from der smoke, has to work by af a man misses his step while working, good-bye forever. times nobody can see what has tied. ¢ this is aga: the law, but the | -pompany doesn’t e, and nobody Boar thers them, no matter how many undred workers lose their lives, The kers are not organized. Now, the unemployment situation. population of Juneau is around 5,000, but only 6 or 7 hundred work in this mine, Longview. More than once he was hurled twenty feet or more into the icy water. But | Kozub only laughed at these mishaps. His first sluice took eight or nine days to fix. But he worked at his task, improving his methods, some- times staying on the job for two days at a time, until the fixing of a sluice took only eight hours. . 'O KOZUB carried out his task for socialist construction: A few months ago, he joined the. Commu- nist Party, declaring that he recog- nized the leadership of the Party in the carrying out of the mighty work which has inspired his life with en- shock-brigaders of socialism made; this is what socialist construction with no technical skill” of whom Mr. H. G. Wells speaks in disdain. When spring, 1932, came, the dam was so far completed that the flood waters of the Dniepr found them- selves unable to make their usual wild dash through the rapids at Kitchkas, the site of Dnieprostroi. Water and ice-fioes were piled up behind the great wall of concrete, until the level of the river above the dam had risen scores of feet, The landscape above, the dam was changed. A great lake appeared where formerly there had been a valley in the steppe. When the ice broke, some young engineers set off in a motor launch to explore the lake which they had created. They came to a far-away village. “What have you done?” the old peasants asked them. “When the ice broke, the Dniepr used to roar. Now he only whispers.” river was making one final effort to break down the barrier which checked its ancient rush to the sea, and har- nessed its forces in the service of so- cialist construction, The dam held the innumerable tons of ice and water, but, at one end, where the power- station stands, the fight with thf flood was going through its last stages. The great tubes under the turbine house had been completed to take the flow of water which was to drive the generators. The giant rotors had been installed, and above them, two generators were already complete and connected up for their preliminary tests. IT IS COMPLETED So the shock-brigaders _ fulfilled |their pledge, and the first current |Was generated at Dmieprostroi on |May 1, 1932, These are no longer what the sceptical Mr. H. G. Wells |called “sketches and beginnings.” The | vision of the “Dreamer in the Krem- lin,” that which Mr. Wells called “the Utopia of the electricians,” is reality on the banks of the Dniepr, in the land of socialist construction. SOCIALISM ACCOMPLISHED IT! Socialism can do these things, even if it has to begin with half-literate peasants as workers. True, 55 per cent of the builders of Dnieprostroi were peasants by origin and 20 per cent of them came straight from the villages, But Dnieprostroi has trained twenty thousand skilled construction- al workers. It has trained scores of engineers from the working class. These Soviet engineers have devel- oped a new technique. They have done things which the Americans set down as “impossible.” Now, with all their experience and skill won by struggle with the Dniepr, they are going on to harness the Volga. The electric sun rises over the Soviet Union, from Europe to the Far East, as the sun of socialism rises, It cannot rise over the rest of the world until the fogs of capi- talism have been dispersed. —W. H. Holmes. thusiasm. Of such ‘stuff are ‘the | all. makes out of “illiterate peasants . . | th But, down at the dam, the Dniepr | cost. | was far from whispering. The great DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY. PM VOTING FOR FOSTER AND FORD!” Lenin on Eve of October (EDITOR’S NOTE—The follow~ Ing letter was addressed by Lenin to the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party on November 6, 1917, During this period Lenin was forced to live in hiding and kept in constant communication with the Bolshevik leadership by mes- sages and through emissaries. On this day he sent this letter—the last one prior to the seizure of power—in which he instructed that “ander no circumstances is power to be left in the hands of Kerensky and Co. until the 7th.” He did not wait for an answer, but, donning, his disguise, proceeded to the Smolny Institute, the headquarters of the Bolshevik Party, and there assumed direct Command of the forces of the Proletarian Revolu- tion.), @)) Fe ote. LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE Comrades! I am writing these lines on the eve- ning of the 6th. The situation is eextremely critical. It is as clear as ean be that delaying the uprising now really means déath. With all my power I wish to per- suade the comrades that now every thing hangs on a hair, that on the | order of the day are questions that | are not solved by conferences, by con- gtesses (even by Congresses of So- viets), but only by the people, by OVEMBER 5, 1932 “SCRAM! the masses, by the struggle of arm- ed masses. The bourgeois onslaught of the Kornilovists, the removal of Kerk- hovsky show that we must not wait. We must at any price, this evening, tonight, arrest the Ministers, having disarmed (defeated if they offer re- sistance) the miliary cadets, etc. ‘We must not wait! We may lose everything! The immediate gain from the seiz- ure’ of power at present is: defense of the people (not the congress, but the people, in the. first place, the army and the peasants) against the Kornilovist government which has driven out Verkhovsky and has hatched a second Kornilov plot. Who should seize power? At present this is not important. Let the Military Revolutionary Com- mittee seize it, or “some other in- stitution” which declares that it will relinquish the power only to the real representatives of the interests of. the people, the interests of the Army (immediate offer of peace), the interests of the peasants (take the Jand immediately, abolish private Property), the interests of the hun- ery. It is necessary that all the bor- oughs, all regiments, all forces should be mobilized and should immedi- ately send delegations to the Military Revolutionary Committee, to the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks, insistently demanding that under no circumstances is power to be left in the hands of Kerensky and Co. un- til the 7th, byne, means!—but that the matter must absolutely be de- cided this evening or tonight. History will not forgive delay by revolutionists who could be victori- ous today (and will surely be vic- torious today), while they risk los- ing much tomorrow, they risk losing If we seize power today, we seize it not against the Soviets but for em: Seizure of power is the point of the uprising; its political task. will be clarified after the seizure. It would be a disaster or formalism to wait for the uncertain voting of Nov. 7. The people have a right and a duty to decide such questions not by voting but by force; the people have a right and duty in critical moments of a revolution to give di- rections to their representatives, even their best representatives, and not to wait for them. ‘This has been proven by the his- tory of all revolutions, and the crime of revolutionists would be limitless if they let go the proper moment, knowing that upon them depends the oving of the revolution, the offer of peace, the saving of Petrograd, the saving from starvation, the transfer of the land to the peasants. The government is tottering. We must deal it the death blow at any To delay action is the same as Written November 6, 1917. death. Letters from Our Readers Communist Party Has NOT Endorsed Judge Panken in Election Editor, Daily Worker, Dear Comrade: Listening to the Socialis: Party radio station WEVD on October 29, I heard part of an election speech by Judge Jacob Panken, who is run- ning for Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals. In his talk he stated that he was offéred the endorse- ment_of the Communist Party and the Republican Party, but that he refuses to part with his principles as a Socialist Party member. It is understandable how the Repub- lican Party could offer to endorse such a man. Of course I cannot be- lieve his statement as to the Com- munists, but I think it would be ad- visable for you to make an explana- tion in the Daily Worker as to the facts in this case in order to pre- vent any worker being deceived by his statement over the radio, Comradely yours. EDITOR’S NOTE The Communist Party has not endorsed in any form Jacob Pan- ken or any other Socialist candi- date. It 1s emphatically opposed to Panken and to the entire Socialist —By Burck NOTE.—“Goorgia Nigger national oppression of the Nogro to the white ruling class term, asses. NEGROSLAVERY TODAY John L. Spivak’s Stirring Novel "GEORGIA NIGGER” is 2 smashing exposure of the hideous persecution and ger,” end to the oppression and contemptuous treatment of Negroes which it symbolizes. order to paint s true picture of these horrible conditions, he considered it necessary to use this term as otherwise he would have put into the mouths of the boss lynch~ ers terms of respect for Negroes which they do not use.—Editor. The Daily Worker is relentlessly opposed The author shares this view, but. im INSTALLMENT 5. THE STORY SO FAR: David Jackson, a young Nee gro boy. who has just finished a sentence The Fight for Right of Free Speech in Birmingham, Ala. A. Discussion of Past Experience and Future Tasks; “For a Big Vote for Foster-Ford on Nov. 8” By NAT ROSS. THE South, the impoverished both white and Negro (and es- pecially the later) are denied the most elementary democratic rights. It is therefore necessary in order to build @ really powerful mass movement against the ruling class to make @ sharp fight for the A. B.C. rights of the Southern toilers. SOME MISTAKEN IDEAS In. this brief article I want to deal with one small part of this question, namely, the recent fight tor free speech (and assembly) in Birmingham. First, we must men- tion a fe# wrong ideas held by some comrades which had to be overcome before and during this struggle if we were to have any success. 1—Some comrades said we could not come out in the open because the ruling class was too strong and united, with the Democratic Party in full control. They said we were too weak and the workers would be afraid to make the’; fight. Quick developments soon proved that this was wrong. At the same time it should be mentioned right here that-of the dozen arrests in Bir- mingham in August and September every one, including new workers, including some who were badly beaten, came out with a more de- terfnined spirit than ever. 2.—Other comrades said that the Party will be illigal before the Re- volution anyway so we might as well get used to underground work and stay where we are now. 3.—There was slso the remark that the fight for democratic riehts is a liberal fight and not a revolu- tionary one. 4.—And finally we had some ‘bold’ comrades who wanted to break out in the open on all fronts in Bir- mingham “all at once.” These are the'same comrades who don’t ask for permits when it is necessary, who want downtown demonstrations when there is no organizational base in the neighborhoods or shops. ‘These same comrades are the ones who think conspirative work is “cowardly,” and do not see that conspirative work, small committee meetings, “tight organizational forms, secret inner meetings etc, are necessary precisely to develop the mass fight for legality. . +. The moving of the Southern Dis- trict of the International Labor De- fense from Chattanooga to a down- town office in Birmingham and the calling of the All-Southern Con- ference for Civil and Political Rights on October 2, nt the big Colored Masonic Temple. was the first shot in the fight, and was to be followed on October 9, with the Communist election rally with Foster speaking at the popular Lyric Theatre. The All-Southern Conference was called to plan action in the fight for free speech, against the barbarous Southern prison methods, for Scottsboro freedom and for Negro rights, for the right to vote without payment of poll tax. THE BOSSES PREPARE A TERROR DRIVE The Birmingham ruling class led by the Tennessee Coal and Iron ticket and Socialist Party. The statement of Panken could only be @ piece of trickery comparable to the Parliamentary tricks of Republi- cans and Democrats, in whose foot- steps the Socialist Party 1s following and whose parliamentary “wis- dom” it has fully imbibed. company (United States Steel) be- came enraged. The demands of the conference found a warm reaction in the bitter hearts of the oppressed Southern people. The I. L. D. was calling on the white workers to come to the front in the fight for Negro rights, The struggle for Scottsboro freedom was being brought right into the home of the lynch masters. Mrs. Montgomery, Scottsboro mother, spoke at a num- ber of successful mees in Birming- ham preparatory to the Conference. One of these meetings held in the open air with an attendance of over 200 was attended by the police also but they did not dare interfere, however. The first step in the terror drive " of the police was the raid of the I. L._D. office, the confiscation of literature and the arrest of a num- | ber of comrades. This was followed the next day by the lying and pro- vocative statement that the ar- resting officers had received threats on their lives (presumably from the “Reds”). This, of ocurse, was lay- ing the basis and preparing the “public mind” for police violence against the Foster meeting and the I, L. D. conference, Shige 'OLLOWING this the Ku Klux Klan was dragged out of the grave and brought to life in a car parade thru Birmingham, distrib- uting ‘handbills declaring that the Conference and the Foster meeting would not be tolerated. Further the K.KK. even sent a wire to Comrade Foster warning him to stay out of Birmingham on Octo- ber 9. Chief of Detectives Cole tried to force the closing of the Masonic Temple with the threat that the meeting, if held, would be- smashed even if “the police had to shoot to kill.” Another broad- side was hurled at the Communist Party by the so-called Inter-Racial Commission in Alabama RALLY BEHIND FIGHTING SLOGANS On October 2, despite the pre- sence of 150 police and dicks with machine guns, etc. 300 Negro and 50 white workers got thru the cor- don of police and attended the his- toric conference. At the same time from 500 to 1,000 workers were pre- vented and intimidated from en- tering the hall. Again on October 9, 1,000 Negroes and 250 white workers attended the Communis Tally. Here, too, the presence of about 50 police in front of the the- atre intimidated a good number of workers. The meetnig was so en- thusiastic that despite the fact that Comrade Hathaway (substi- tuted for Foster) was held up by the New Orleans police the night before, the police and the K.K. didn’t dare to attack the meeting. These “heroes” sneakingly threw out some stink bombs to disrupt the meeting. MASS ACTION ANSWERS POLICE THREATS Why is it that both the I.L.D. Conference and the Communist Rally were not smashed? immediately after the raid on the LL.D, office and the arrest of the comrades, a mass protest campaign was started, approximately 75 re solutions were sent from clubs churches, unemployed and other organizations from Birmingham and from Southern farming com- munities. Here it should be noted carry out the jim-crow terror pol- icy of the ruling. class, while the Communist Party is the only Party which was fighting for free speech and was carrying on in practice the Fourth plank of its national election demands. Most import- ant, however, the Conference and | meeting were not smashed and the murder plans of the police and K. KK. came to naught because of the tremendous mass response of the Birmingham workers at both the meeting and the Conference. MISTAKES IN THE WORK In all of this activity a number of serious mistakes were made, First and foremost, inadequate building of the Party during this activities and in particular failure to make contact with the workers at the Conference and meeting (partly due to police conditions). Secondly, we did not place suffi- cient emphasis on winning the white workers for this struggle. We didn’t clearly see that at the par- ticular moment the key to winning the white workers for the struggle for democratic rights, which in- cludes primarily the struggle for equal rights for Negroes, was by developing. relief activities among the unemployed in the blocks and building our widespread shop con- tact into committees of struggle against wage cuts, and tying this up with the whole struggle for dem- ocratic rights. * one FTER the success in the fight for free speech it becomes necessary to rais? this struggle on a higher plan. The ILD must be- come the main instrument in the struggle for the legalty of the revo- lutionary movement in Birming- bam and in the South, It must become a truly mass organization including in its ranks, not only Communists and sympathizers, but also non-revolutionary workers and middle class elements of all poli- tical and religious faiths and even certain “liberal” elements who ac- cept its minimum program. Mass | defense struggles can be led with First, | | election rally. that the Socialist Party showed its _ true colors wiien its candidate for Congress said that while he “be- lieved in free speech” he wouldn't protest against the police threats on the Conference. This showed clearly that the S. P. in its own way is helping the Democrats to lements, provided the Party sives close guidance. In the South in partcular, the ILD must become more sensitive to the daily attacks on Negroes and to the ever-increas- ing terror against all workers in the South. NEXT STEPS The fight for free speech must be sharpened in preparation for the local struggles for relief and for the March to Washington in Decem- ber, with a column coming thru the south from New Orleans. In its recent struggles the Birming- ham Party organization kas. gone through the first process of Bol- shevization. No police or fascist terror can smash the solid ranks of the Party in Birmingham. But bigger and fiercer battles are at hand. It will be necessary to take the streets and break down the jim-erow policy enforced by the police at the conference and the It is necessary to build a more determined party of Negro and white workers firmly leading the down-trodden and poor workers and farmers of the South against hunger and for the re- lease of the Scottsboro boys. For free speech and the right to vote and for a large vote for Foster and Ford on November 8th! on the chain gang, returns home. His father, Dee Jackson, is'a poor share-cropper on the plantation of the rich white plantay Shay Pearson. Supposedly free, Dee and his family ere little more than-slaves—Shay Pearson’s “niggers.” Once Dee had made an effort to work his way to freedom with the aid:of a mule and plough bought with his meager savings. ened and died. Sympathetic neighbors But rain destroyed the crop and the mule sick= gather at the Jack= son cabin, including the Negro preacher, Isaac Burr. Dee prays and asks god to bring the mule back to life so.as to save him from going to wor GNEY’S a loi o’ cullud folks wuk- kin’ fo’ Mist’ Pearson,” the | preacher said mildly. ‘De Lawd knows his business an’ if he wants | you tuh be a eroppah den he's got his own good reasons fo’ hit. “You kin bet on dat.” | Dee took the lamp in a trembling | hand and with old Isaac went to | the mound back of the barn, hope- ful that on this night of all nights, the miracle would happen: in a blinding flame of fire and a deaf- ening clap of thunder the earth would be rent asunder and the mule would struggle to his feet ready for supper. But there was no flame of fire nor clap of thunder. Only the Jantern light and their shadows on the motionless mound, and a wind whistling. Dee's head bowed. “I reck’n dat settles hit, he said dejectedly. * E | COLLATERAL On the second day of the new year Dee got off a neighbor's cart in Live Oak and went hesitantly to the Southern Cotton Bank, the red brick, one-story building across the, square from the county court house. and jail, ang asked for Mr. Albert, Graham, the president. “Coming to deposit your savings, Dee?” the official greeted him joc- ularly. 2 “No, suh,” he said nervously. “I done come tuh see you. ’bout a li'l business matter.” “Sure. Always glad to talk busi- ness with you, Dee. Come right in and set yourself down.” “Td lak tuh len’ ’bout two hun- dred dollars, Mist’. Graham,” the old man stammered. “That could be arranged,’ but have you any collateral?” oS 8 ve EE looked puzzled. “Something that will sure the bank is repaid,” Graham explained. rs “Sho I'l pay hit back.” “I must have something as valu- able to return,” the banker said. “Land—or a house——” - “But I ain’ got no lan’,” Dee said helplessly, spreading his hands in a gésture-of emptiness. “You see, Dee,” Graham pointed out-regretfully, “we all know you and we know that if you have the money you will repay a loan. But now, suppose your crop is bad for @ season or two--why, you'll hardly be able to pay the interest let alone the principal.. Don’t you see? And the bank: must protect its depositors.” THE LAST HOPE The Jacksons had been Ramsey “niggers” before the Civil War, and Dee, depresseq by the inevi- tableness of a cropper's contract, turned to Bayard Washington Ramsey as the last hope. The aristocratic white was known for his kindness, especially to de- scendants of his father’s slaves. He lived a mile south of Live Oak in the mansion his father built before the lanky northern lawyer ruined the family’s hundred and sixty thousand dollar investment in Negroes, and too proud to en- rich himself by Cracker. tricks in dealing with blacks, had never in- creased the two hundred acre plantation left when the war ended and all creditors were paid. rsa ha lawd,” H he cook greeted Dee shrilly at the kitchen door of the Ramsey home. “If hit an’ ol’ Dee hisse’f! you doin’ heah?” i “I come tuh see Mist’ Ramsey,” he said with a worried air. ‘Whut fo’?” got tuh see. 'im.” “Well, you jes’. set right down heah an’ I'll go tell ’imn,” When she \ returned’ she . said, “Mist? Ramsey’ll sec you on de front. po'ch. You go roun’ dey.” , The tail. Whité-haired planter looked at him questioningly. . “You're « long way from home, Dee,” he <miled. “What is it?” ‘Mist’ Ramsey, suh,” the old man began, twisting his hat ner- “vously, “you ‘bout. de only white man here’bouts we kin come to wen we is in trouble,” . Whut A PLEA FOR AID AMSEY looked gravely at him. “An’ I got mo’n a wagon load 0’ trouble now.” “Yes, Dee.” « r ‘Mist’ Ramsey, 'suh——-” The nervous twisting of his hat “be- came more pronounced. “My mule done laid down an’ died, suh.” The white man nodded sympa- thetically. F “T bin a hard wukkin’ nigger all my bo’n days.” Dee continued. » “an’ Pn willin’ tuh wuk de res’ o' my days some mo’ but T ain’ got nothin’ tuh wuk wid. No mule. No food, I ain’ got noth- in’ “WE'LL WORK FOR YOU” Ramsey pursed his lips. and stared at his fields naked in the “pages of Americam k for Pearson. Now read ont * “T jes’ was ober tuh de bank fo’ tuh ask ‘em tuh len’ me two hun: dred doliars so’s I kin git me @ mule an’ a li'l food to tide us ober till de nex’ crop comes but Mint’ Graham done said I'd hab tuh hab col—col-——”" “Collateral,” Ramsey said quiet- ly. “Yes, suh. Collateral. But T ain’ got no collateral. I ain’ got nothin’ ceptin’ my two han’s, an’ my wife, an’ David an’ Henrietta.” “Yes, I know.” “An’ I'll hab tuh sign wid Mist’ Pearson if I cain’ git no two hun- ne. dollars an’ if I goes fuh wuk fo’ Mist’ Pearson——” “Yes, I know,” Ramsey repeated. “So I done come tuh you, suh,” Dee burst forth pleadingly. “I doan want tuh be Mist’ Pearson’s nigger, Me, an’ Louise an’ David an’ Hen- rietta, we'll wuk fo’ you 'n’ pay you back, suh, if you'll len’ hit tuh me.” (Continued Tomorrow) * . ' “IN THIS DESPERATE HOUR WILL THE BROKEN OLD NE- GRO CROPPER SUCCEED IN PERSUADING THE ARISTO- CRATIC WHITE PLANTER TO LEND HIM THE MONEY? OR | WILL DEE BE FORCED INTO SLAVERY AND MISERY ON SHAY PEARSON’S PLANTA- TION? DON’T MISS MON- DAY’S INSTALLMENT! Red Song Book Is Out; Music and Words for Workers | |} RED SONG BOOK, prepared in col- make: | laboration with the Workers Music League. Workers Library Publish- ers. 15 cents. Reviewed by EDWIN ROLFE | IS- coliection of revolutionary songs—26 of them, all set to music—marks a definite accomplish- ment in a much-neglected field of workers’ cultural activity. Since the days of Joe Hill (during the time of the militant I. W. W.), who wrote his words to fit the music of current pop- ular tunes, no effort has been spent in the writing and composition of new workers’ songs; and very little effort has been made, despite casual attempts now and then, to collect scattered pieces. “Red Song Book,” therefore, comes none too soon, in an attractive format made to fit the pocket of the worker both in price and in size. Its very publication marks progress. More im- portant, however, is the progress in- dicated in the type of songs included. Instead of the old hobo, lumpen-pro- letarian songs which made up the bulk of the I. W.»W. collections, the “Red Song Book” reveals a greater class-consciousness in its choice of material, a clarity which has been fostered by the historical develop~ ments in the United States during the past fifteen years, There are, of course, the songs which are sung’ throughout the world, songs which are an intimate part of the revolutionary movement,. “The Internationale,” “The Barricades,” “Red Cavalry,” “Red Army March,” “Solidarity” and many others com. prise this section of the book. And in addition to these, we have for the first time two songs composed by Americans: “Red Brigader,’ by Jacob Schaefer, and “Stand Guard, Lahn Adohmyan. “Comintern” by the foremost prole- tarian composer in the world, Hans Eisler of Germany, testifies to the broad scope covered by this collection. Finally, but most significant of all, we must stress the inclusion of songs writteng by workers and workers’ groups in the midst of specific strug- gles. John Reed, long ago, in his boa “Insurgent Mexico,”, described the manner which the peasants composed ‘nal songs, improvising the words and music during their few and .far-between periods of rest. These songs usually found their way into illustrated, printed sheets (sim- ilar. to our leafiets) and were distrib- *|uted by the thousands. became woven into the revolutionary tradition of the country, and exist today as part of the history of the peasants’ struggle for land during thatiphase of Mexico's revolutionary development. 3 In “Red Song Book” there are such pieces. as “Miner's Flux,”.° Miners’ Song,’ the “Soup Song,’ written by unemployed workers in Detroit in the heat of their struggles against evic- ticns and starvation. There ere “Poor Miners Farewell,” by Aunt Mollie Jackson, and the “I. L. D. Song,” by Ella May Wiggins, and several others that origineted in the midst of strikes, unemployed struggles, demon strations, ete, .‘iiiese are our songs in the fullest senve. Written not from above, for workers, but coming from the ranks of the workers them- selves during their own battles, they too will become, as they grow more Glass a