The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 15, 1933, Page 5

“St ¥ Portrait of a Southern Jail: Letter from Prisoner Tells of Filth, Disease and Graft IRMINGHAM, Alaz—Unless Wirt Taylor, .Young unénmiployed or- ganizer, is able to get medical treatment, which means his ‘re- lease from jail, his leg, infected since he h&s-been imprisoned, will have to be amputated, it was learned here by the International Labor Defense today. ; « Taylor and Alice~ Burke, whose | case is also being appealed, were arrested Nov. 7, 1932,-when they led a demonstration ‘of 5,000 Ne- gro and white unemployed de- manding relief, before the county court-house- here. Theynwere con- victed May 9 and senfenced to $100 fine, six months’ imprisonment and court costs, a total of a year on the chain-gang and in the: workhouse. In the Birmingham ‘county jail, Taylor contracted aft‘infection in his foot, from the filth which ac- cumulates in the cells, Even in the stifling summer weather, men pris- oners are not permitted to bathe more than once a week. It was several days before ‘Taylor could obtain a doctor to dress his foot at all, and even then this was | done in a superficial manner, with the result that his condition has steadily become worse, HORRIBLE JAIL CONDITIONS Horrible jail conditions are de- scribed by Alice Burke in a letter which has just reached the LL.D, office here. “The majority of the prisoners, there are about 400, here,” she writes, “are in for burglary, selling liquor, prostitution, etc. Talking to most of them, one learns that be- cause of unemployment, the hun- ger system that we live under, the working people are, forced to re- sort to selling liquor, stealing, wo- men selling their bodies, just to Haye a place to rest and bread to feed their families. This is the story of many and. many of the prisoners. ‘ “When we were -first brought here the prisoners whom we came in contact with were warned that we were ‘nigger lovers’—trouble makers, and that the: other pris- oners should keep away from us. All kinds of provocative’ lies were spread about us by fhe wardens. This became so open that I would be pointed out to alt- visitors. I learned about all this from women in here, and finally decided that I would make a fight. I-sent a let- ter to the head warden, and de- manded the stoppage ofall the lies and threatened a suit, fpr slander. ‘The head warden, Mr. Erwin, said he knew nothing of it,-and said that ‘some of the wardens must hhaye only been “playing a joke” on me.’ But he promised to take this up and see thatsii was cut out. As a result one of the wardens has been suspended for one month. + 8 8 ““PHE -entire jail is infested with big mice; which eat up almost any clothes that one has. Roaches and all other kinds-of: insects. Al- though the prisoners ask for some mouse traps, none are even given Us. | “About three weeks “ago I was very ill, unable to get wp from bed, with my pulse beating only 40. ‘The interne here exarfined me and tald me that I needed’ medicine and should eat only soup and milk, The next. day the head doctor (Collins) came, the first thing he asked me was what T.was here for. When I told him I tried to speak at an unemployed,,meeting, he started muttering and walked away. He refused to,see me, give me any medicine, put, me on a soup and milk diet;:and even in- structed the interne not.to see me. Dr. Collins is being paid by the taxpsyers of Jefferson County and is supposed to give. treatment to all without discrimination. IGNORE SICK PRISONERS z “The rules. are thatsick persons are to be taken care.of, and given proper medical attention and prop- er food. The county ‘is being paid for this, but it takeéa-long time before a doctor shows ‘up; and even then all they give us isan aspirin tablet, no matter what ails @ per- son. si “Right at this moment there are prisoners who have -gone insane from conditions here. One man lay sick in his cell for days before anything was given him.-And he is now in the insane cq}, Several have gone insane sinee, we have been here. The bywofd7in this jail is ‘Die and “prove that you were sick!’ Otherwise noj! one believes you. . om, “The food in this jailvis becom- ing worse every day, ‘Only last night the focd was that the men flooded their in protest. They were all locked up immedi- atey in solitary, but this morning we got some pretty g eggs for breakfast. But the other meal was just as bad as before. *Mést of the foods here are starches¢orn it is uneatable many ‘times. Even though this is the season for veg- etables, we haven't séén‘ any yet. The -county has a } Hh farm a few miles out where Women work, but evidently the food ‘raised there is aold, instead of given to us. oa ale eae “YESTERDAY one “prisoner was tushed to the hospital as a re- sult of ptomaine poisoning. This was no doubt caused by the food served here.For instance some- -times for supper we get dried ap- | ples or peaches. They are so old that they are almost black, and have such’ an” odor that they are absolutely 'ttneatable.'' “There are’ all sorts of graft methods used here.’ For instance, the federal gov lent’ pays the county $1.25 a day for each gov- ernment prisoner. That is for room and board, county pays 75 cents a day for its pris- oners. The food we get here never costs the jail more than 15 cents a day at most, and certainly this is not such a wonderful hotel that we should be charged-$1.10 a day daily for room, This leaves tre- mendous room for graft, and every- | one here knows it. PAY FOR FAVORS “This is only part of the graft. In order to get a favor done, you WIRT TAYLOR have’ to pay for it, if not with expected to pay in a more humil- jating way. Otherwise you can’t get anything you might need. “There is nothing to do here, just sit and sit. Very little read- ing material can be gotten in, and Wirt ‘Tayior and I have been to- tally refused any reading material, books, ete., which are brought. The Officials are fearful lest the other prisoners should come in contact with working class literature. where he has to sleep on an iron slab, without mattress or blanket. The above are only a few of the conditions which exist in this jail. Under this boss system unbear- able conditions in prison will al- ways exist, and can only be im- proved by organized action. “When our case comes up before the Alabama Supréme Court in the fall, there must be protest meet- ings, resolutions, etc., to show that the workers are ready to fight for their right to live and will not stand for the railroading of any of | their leaders. Only mass pressure will force the Alabama rulers to free the arrested workers! Forward | to a real militant organization of the toiling masses of the South!” | New Tea Party Enlivens | July “New Pioneer” kis BOSTON TEA PARTY,” a story by Jack Dennis in the July number of the New Pioneer, is among the first and most suc- tion of specific events in American point. Simply written for the pur- should, in addition, be of interest to adult workers who have for a planation and restatement. This story leads off an issue of uniformly high calibre. Four other stories, “Max and Jerrie”; “What Am I Bid?” by Mabel Worthington; “The Story of the Three Pigs” by Sasha Small, and “Bullets for Bread” make the issue solid with good fiction and feature material. A page of photographs contrasts the conditions between Soviet and American workers’ children, Ex- Planatory stories accompany each group of photos. ‘The regular features, “Our St: Club,” “Listening In,” “Science ane Nature for Johnny Rebel” and “Dear Comrade Editor,” seem to grow livlier and more interesting with every issue. The illustrations and drawings by Dibner, Bill: Seigel, M, Wise, Marya Morrow, Phil Wolfe and Steve Prohaska round out a magazine which should be regularly read by every working class. child in America—not to speak of their parents and relatives. New Facts on U.S.S.R. in July Number of “Soviet Russia Today” “The Soviet Union and the World Economic Conference” by Cyril Lamb- kin, national sccretary of the Friends of the Soviet Union, is the leading ar- ticle of the July issue of “Soviet Rus- sia Today,” out today. Other articles include “The Soviet Government is pany; “The Class Struggle in the So- viet Theatre,” by E. Stephan Karnot, Secretary of the New York Section of the League of Workers Theatres, who has recently returned from two years’ work in Soviet Theatres; “The Lenin Commune,” by A. A. Heller, who vi- sited this state farm a few months ago; letters from Soviet workers, book reviews and forty photos of Soviet theatres, actors, musicians, and work- ers and farmers engaged in building @ new society. : An article by Carl Brodsky deals with the sending of a delegation of American workers to the Soviet Union in November, to attend the sixteenth anniversary celebration and to ine vestigate conditions in the first work- ers’ republic, to see for themselves the facts about Socialist construction, ad to return and report their find- ings to the American masses, money, then women prisoners are | “If a prisoner should kick about | anything, he is locked up in ‘sol’ | Slant on Boston) cessful attempts at reinterpreta- | history from a working class view- | pose of holding the interest of the | children for whom it is intended, it | long time lacked such Marxian ex- | the World’s Greatest Patron of Mu-. sic” by Emma Redell, prima donna, of the Chicago Grand Opera Com- | "THE sun was powing its molten rays over the city. Madison Square, drying the few | blades of grass and searing the leaves of the scant trees. It burned down on the ragged figures of men sitting there. Young men and old men, gray-faced and tired. The heat mingled with the misery of their hunger, turning them all into old men, Their eyes were dull and lifeless, and they sat and stood about silently. Jim Daly, leaning on the rail- ing, watched the pigeons picking morsels out of the ground. His | shoulders drooped disconsolately as he rested on his arms. “They seem to be having a tough time of it, too,” the man beside him spoke for the first time. He looked up sharply, grub,” the man explained, “Not much in the dirt for all that bunch.” Jim remained silent. The man was small and his clothes hung limply on his bony frame. They sagged unevenly to the ground with a hopeless bagginess, It was as if they despaired of ever being filled in, The man persisted with a grim chuckle. “They’re not so different from us.” Jim winced. “Well, don’t we scratch around barrels for the best pickings in the garbage?” the man demanded. “I don't. Not yet, anyway,” Jim said. “Cant do that for a wife and | kids.” “Still hanging on to them, huh,” | said the man. “I left my son | months ago. Don’t even know | where he is now.” | “You can’t very well leave a wife and a coupla sick kids to starve.” | “No. Ye can't do that, but it doesn’t help them much to starve with them.” “Been looking for any kind of work,” Jim explained, “I’m a ma- chinist by trade.” | “Gave up looking, months ago. | Ain’t no use,” said the man lacon- ically. “I know. in Brooklyn, and I've been around in Manhattan, | all” | “It's tough,” said the man. ‘IT’S A WAR ALRIGHT” | They were silent for a time, watching the birds’ scrambles. The sun grew hotter. The street Was flooded with heat, baking it like an oven. They looked across at the | three-cornered flatness of the Flat- iron Building with its window- broken surface. It stood there, aloof, and peered at them from a | hundred points of reflected light. They looked down at two pigeons Squabbling over a crumb. “It’s a fight alright.” the stranger remarked. “Yeah. Fight!” | war for crumbs.” He looked at his hands. “Only I hayen’t even got that left.” “Were you in the war?” “Yeah. At the front. Bugles, drums, uniforms and a lot of hur- rahs. Trenches, marches, bullets, dead bodies. Blood and dirt mix- ing until you couldn’t tell which. Filth and stinks and rotten food. ‘What do you get at the end! Med- als and letters telling you how brave you were. And now look at me! Can’t even get a job.” Jim said. “A Jim hissed the words from be- tween his teeth. He spat them out. A pent-up flood let loose. He told “They're not so different from us...” the stranger about the long years at the front. And he told about the vag Pinal since then. A job, Being d. A job. Long hours. Fired. A job. Low wages, speed- up. Fired. Looking for a job. A rotten grind. Getting a job. A rotten grind with the added worry of being fired. Living from hand to mouth. Yow raised a family, only to see them in constant want. en he was silent at last the stranger said, “Tough, alright.” And shaking his head sadly re- peated, “Tough.” ° Fs walking slowly homeward, felt a sudden anger at the stranger's final word. It was as if a word meaning nothing had been thrown into a void and left no mark, Martha met him at. the door ‘Anything?” she asked, “Nothing.” | She turned away. Opening a can of beans she dished them out and set a place for him at the table. The gas had been turned off five weeks and they ate only canned food with their dry bread. Jim ate in silence and Martha sat watch- ing him across the bare table with only their two plates between them. From the bedroom came a faint whimpering. “It's Jackie,” said Martha softly. “His ear is worse. It's been run- ning badly all morning. “And Ellen?” asked Jim. “She's a little better today. But T’m still _keeping her away from Jackie. It would be awful if he caught the measles now.” “WE'VE BEEN DISPOSSESSED” Jim swallowed his food in silence. ‘The thought of the children lying in bed sick day after day with no | eagerly. “ It blazed over | “what?” | “Pecking around the dirt for | I tried every factory | too. Nothing at | DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 15, 1933 with a fierce resentment. burden he carried with him and his dejection grew with the fear that Jackie might die. Martha was saying something, He looked up and noticed with a shock how thin It was a she was and how dark the rings | | | | | | under her eyes were. | “We've been dispossessed, Jim,” | she said, | He had expected that, and he | had known by her calm way of first serving his food and telling him that Ellen was better, that this was coming. Jim got up early the next morn- ing and stood in line at the Relief Bureau. When his turn came he was shown into a room where a woman sat very straight at a large desk in the center and three other women bent over three smaller desks, one to the right, one to the | left and one behind her. Their desks were covered with piles of papers and they were very busy “What oan I do? What can I do?” typing, writing and filing. Filing names away seemed to be their chief occupation, He stated his case and the woman at the large desk issued an efficient request to | the one at her left, who turned to the one at the back, who in turn | came to the one at the right. The latter looked through a large filing cabinet, selected a folder and finally brought out a long sheet to the executive's desk. “Why, you are on file,” the woman said to him, looking at him severely over the rim of her glasses. “Yes, but nothing has been done for me,” Jim said politely. And he sick at home and the dispossess notice, “My good man,” the voice of the woman interrupted him efficiently. “You are on our files and we will get around to it.” She turned away. “You said that five weeks ago,” Jim heard himself saying. Vaguely case, but with a sudden rush of anger he talked louder. “They're putting us out on the street now and my little boy is dying.” The woman shook her head at him and in a voice of authority said, “You are not the only one, Mr. Daly. We'll attend to your case as soon as we Can,” Her voice was hard as nails and it closed the matter with an air of finality that dealt him a hammer-blow. “Please,” he murmured faintly, “my two children are very sick.” “I have already told you, we will send an investigator,” the voice rapped out. * . T= sun was setting, leaving a hint of coolness in the air. A small wind ruffled the grass and blew through Jim sitting dejectedly on a bench in Madison Square, reluctant to go home. He drew his head further down into his coat collar, There was nothing in his and the slight breeze made him shiver. Two more days and the dispossess notice would take effect. Out on the street like so many bundles of garbage. Pleading with the landlord had done no good. Jackie was seriously sick now and Ellen needed especially good food. The gas was still shut and they had to ask a neighbor to allow them to boil some potatoes. Jim did not want to think about all that any more. He was tired, so tired and he felt hollow and cold. He had began to explain about his children | attend to your case as soon as we | he wondered if he was hurting his | stomach. No food to give warmth | THIS IS YOLIR WARS .. , doctor to attend them filled him ; reached a decision, at last. He | would never go home. They wouldn't see him ever again. Maybe they would ¢ind a way with- out him. Maybe the landlord would { feel sorry for a woman with two sick children and no husband more than if she had a husband. Peo- ple always figured that way. They figured on the man getting a job, | doing anything and bringing home a few dollars, and they didn’t bother. was alone with two sick children they would feel sorry for her and help her. Yes, that was the de- cision he had made. He would never go home. And maybe..,, A new thought struck him, It had been there uppermost in his mind all the time. He had not wanted to take it, to look it over carefully, turning it over on all sides. Now he left it drift out and around him. The shock of it wes like deep, cold water, unending depth, He thought of the East River and how simple it seemed, floating down on it and calmly knowing nothing afterwards. Free! The burdens seemed to lift from him as if he were already floating there in the river. After that Martha and the children would find help. Perhaps the Relief Bureau might do something for them, if he were no longer there. And then a new thought assailed him. If no help was given, them, then suppose Martha did the same thing to her- self and the children. Suppose she got just enough money to open the gas and did it that way. He had heard stories of late and they began to parade before him a slow-moving, sinister, gray-figured procession. His head grew light and a cold sweat broke out over his body. He could feel the damp beads on his forehead and above his mouth, A CALL TO FIGHT | Somebody passing, handed him @ Mewspaper. He glanced at it and began to read mechanically. Slowly came clear. He could not grasp it to him. When it said “Workers!” he knew they meant him. And when it said “Don’t Starve, Fight!” it puzzled him. Fight? He had fought and where was he? Then it ended with “Join the Unemployed Councils and fight against starva- tion and_ eviction.” His mind cleared and he jumped to his feet. That was a call to him and sounded as if it was for him. Paattu ‘HE Council heard his story. They immediately appointed a com- When they came to the Bureau they made their demands. They demanded that Jim Daly and his family should not be put out on the street. They demanded that | the Bureau pay his rent. They de- | manded a food ticket for him im- | mediately. They demanded a dcc- | tor to be sent to attend his sick children. | _ The committee was told that the | Bureau had already assigned an investigator. They were asked to Jeave quietly. | “Jim Daly is a war veteran and now he is starving. He is being thrown out on the street,” the com- mittee told the Bureau. A police- man came and told them to get out. In the street a crowd had collected. Unemployed waiting their turn. ‘ The committee began to hold a meeting. They addressed the crowd and Jim Daly got up to speak. He told them everything directly and simply. He took out a letter with @ government seal and red, white and blue ribbons attached. He read them a letter in which they thanked him for his “deeds of and commended him with rvaise on his Service. An- E ployed worker got up and spoke, ending with, “This is what we get. When we remind them, they tell us to get out.” | The following day Jim stayed home and waited for mai hal He did not know ex- | actly what would happen. The Council had told him to go home, | they would take care of the rest. He was wondering what to teil the | marshal, when he heard a noise in | the street. “THERE WILL BE |NO EVICTION” Outside the sun shone down peaeefully. The Unemployed Coun- cil had turned out and the whole Daly But if they knew Martha | words and groups of phrases be- | all, but he felt they were calling | it | mittee to go to the Relief Bureau. | the | PATE (Rose Pastor Stokes, who was ment for more than 30 years, and The air Is ominous with peace. ’Tis terrible with doom. Beware! Take care! Our fingers do not cease! And hunger’s in the mill . Take care! We've never let you lack! Beware! Take Care! — See how the Shuttle goes! RSON By ROSE PASTOR STOKES ceeeeeememen sme’ ViNSKY; active in the revolutionary move- took a leading part in scores of strikes, died recently in Frankfurt, Germany, as a result of cancer | caused by a blow from a policeman’s club.) * . * Our folded hands again are at the loom. But what we weave you see not through the gloom. You dream that we are weaving what you will? We've starved—and lost; but we are wesvers still; ! And Hunger moves the Shuttle forth and back. The product grows and grows... A shroud it is; a shroud of ghastly black. The Warp and Woof of Misery and Defeat... Our bruised hcorts wit) bitter hopes now teat: The Shuttle’s sure—and flect .. . A STORY Helen Koppell the attempt of a group of men to en- mass of them were resisting ter the house. There was a brief scuffle and the police came, ing into the crowd of pro’ Workers. There were shou “There will be no eviction and the-erowd plunged with one sweep in 6n the men who had come to move the furniture into the street. The police swung their clubs om- inously and struck out wildly. Crfes. mingled with the shouts, but the, surge of the crowd grew more | pepsistent, No one ran away at the eops’ warnings.* The crowd had attracted more people and the shouts of “Down with evictions!” was taken up by the newcomers. From. a ground-floor window the landlord’s head appeared. He beck- onéd to someone and the commit- tee_of five went in. “To didn’t want such a distur- bance,” the landlord said, He was agitated and,at a loss for words. “What can Ido? What can I do?” he-kept repeating. The committee told him. No eviction and an extension of time. The Relief Bureau would have to pay. “AM right, all right,” he agreed. The perspiration was running down froth his bald head. He was afraid now, and he agreed to their de- mands; quickly. “Only send that Council away!” he said. When the police and the marshal had-gone small groups stood around talking. It passed from ane to the other of them, how -the" action of the Council was. oC gee IM, talking to a member of the Council was radiant with grati- tude. He had not thought it po: sible,~he said, only workers against | “You are not the only one, Mr. Daly.” | cops, only a handful of workers | against the law’s process. him. “Man, you came out to fight the last war with bullets and ma- chine guns, That wasn't your war! You must fight this one against | starvation and _ evictions. You must come out of your hidden cor- ners into the light and fight. This one is yours!” Music Strawbridge and Koner Ballet At Stadium Tuesday The Stadium features for the com- ing week include Edwin Strawbridge, Pauline Koner and Company in two ballet performances on Tuesday and Wetinesday, and Leon Barain’s first appearance at the Stadium as con- ductor on Thursday. This Sunday night Willem van Hoogstraten directs the Philhar- monic Symphony Orchestra in the Sibelius Symphony No. 1 in E minor, the Bach-Abert Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue; Smetana’s, “The Moldau”; | RimSky-Korsakoff's “The Bumble Bee”; Wagner's, Waldweben from | “Siegfried,” and Chabrier's Rhapsody | “Espan: Monday night will be van Hoog- straten’s last concert until he re- | turns.on August 3. The program in- | cludes, Beethoven’s Symphony No. Tchaikovsky's “Romeo and Juliet,” Johann Strauss’ waltz, “Voices of Spring,” and Wagner's Overture to “Tannhauser.” | Edwin Strawbridge and Pauline |Koner will aphear on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, assisted by a bal- let of thirty men and women. Hans | Lange will conduct the Philharmonic | Orchestra in one number and will | have the support of the Estelle Lie- bling Chorus of fifty voices, Programs for the balance of the | week follow: | Thursday—Overtyre in Olden Style | on French Noels, Philip James; Sym- | phony No. 3 in F, Brah Triana | (from Suite “Tberia"), Albeniz-Arbos; | Suite: “La Mere L'Oye” (“Mother | Goose”), Ravel; “Fireworks,” Stra- "Bstudiantina,” Waldteufel. | _Friday—‘Russian and Ludmilla Overture, Glinka; “Through the | Looking Glass” Suite, Deems Taylor; | “S.0.8,,” Robert Braine; Symphonic | Poem, “The Isle of the Dead,” Rach- maninoff; “Memories of My Child-| hood,” Loeffler; “Pacific, 231,” Ho- negéer. Saturday—Overture, The Russian | Easter, Rimsky-Korsakoff; Symphony No. 39 in G minor, Haydn; “Death | and Transfiguration,” Strauss; Over- | ture to “Iphigenia in Aulis,” Gluck; | | Excerpts from “Le Coq d'Or,” Rim-) | sky-Korsakoff; Pomp and Circum- | stance, Elgar. NEW BOARD CHOSEN | BY JOHN REED CLUB NEW. YORK. new executive | board of the John Reed Club, elected | at a. general membership meeting held Wednesday evening at 583 Sixth | Ave., will gui®e the club's activities, | within the next few months. It is’ composed of the members of the art- ists’ and writers’ bureaux. The artists are Max Spivak, Walter | Quirt, Mitchell Fields, William Siegel, | Jacob Dainoff and Anton Refregier. | Joseph Freeman, Manuel Gomez, Conrad Komorowski, Maurice Colman | and Edwin Rolfe compose the writers’) | bureau, | | Arrangements are in progress for. | the Eastern Seaboard regional confer- | ence of John Reed Clubs, to be held ‘in New York in the fall effective | The Council member answered | Page Five Wall Street and Hollywood: How the Capitalist Crisis Has Affected Film Industry By DAVID PLATT. WHE Unit Commerce recently released fig- ures as of June 1, showing that while | d its prop-| the film industry incre: j erties through the additi by $200,000,000, the ave attendance movie of sound houses has} | steadily declined until today it is 56) peak year of | the |per cent under the sound, 1928. | In 1928 the average weekly at- tendance at movies was estimated | at the enormous figures of 100,-| | 000,000. Today it is a mere 44,800,000. | 2 Book N tak NEW “INTERNATIONAL” BOOK DESCRIBES LIFE OF BRITISH WORKERS N exhaustive, popular and highly interesting account of conditions in the British Isles is coritained in The Conditions of the Working Class In Britain, by Allen Hutt, sued by International Pub- For the first time since Freder- ick Engels wrote his classic, The Condition of the Working Class In England in 1844, 90 years ago, the present book sets out to diagnose capitalist society today, as ex- pressed in the conditions of life and work in Great Britain. In his introduction to the book, Harry Pollitt, British Communist leader, says: “In Allen Hutt’s book we get -an indictment even more damning than that which Engels penned in 1944. . The stark re- | ality is that in 1933, for the mass | of the population, Britain is a hun- | gry Britain, badly fed, clothed and | housed. Allen Hutt proves this | from the actual facts and figures | provided by life itself and the re- | ports of capitalism's own agents. The other aspect of the problem he class finding its way forward, struggling against capitalism and | Teformism, building up in unem- | Ployed and strike struggles the power and leadership that can go forward to the revolutionary over- presents is that of the working ment of the workers’ dictatorship, and the building of Socialism.” It is therefore clear that, aside from the informative value of this book, it holds much in the way of lessons and a theoretical guide for the workers in America. The chapter heads indicate its value. They are: The South Wales Coalfield Today; Lancashire: the | “Classic Soil” of Capitalism; Crisis | on Clydeside; London; Unemploy- | ment and the “Economy” On- slaught; “Women and Children | First!” The Toilers of the Coun- tryside; The Middle Class and the black-coated workers; The Attitude | of the Bourgeoisie Toward the Pro- | letariat; The Fight for Socialism. | The book (272 pages, clothbound, | $2) may be obtained at bookshops | or direct from International Pub- | lishers, 381 Fourth Ave., New York. \“LENINISM HI,” BY JOS. | STALIN, SUMS UP RECENT EXPERIENCES OF U.S.S.R. | | throw of capitalism, the establish- | ENINISM, VO! by Joseph Stalin, just issued by Interna- tional Publishers, enlarges upon and develops further the basic policy and tactic describod in Leninism, to which this is a companion vol- important political ad- ses and reports contained in II deal with collectivization Vol, and the question of the relation of the working ship to the peas ization and its its dictator- industrial~ the Five- Year Plan and the building of So- cialism; the right danger in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and in the Communist In- ternational; the international po- litical situation and the tasks of the varied Parties; the history of the Bolshevik Party; problems re- lated to the planning and building of a socialist economy. Stalin's speeches, which were de- cisive in initiating new stages in the building of Socialism, are also | included. Such are: “A Year of Great Change,” “Dizzy With Suc- cess,” “New Conditions, New Tasks,” and his political reports to ' the Party Congresses. Interviews with delegations of foreign work- ers and articles on questions of policy and tactic serve to round out the volume into a comprehen- sive presentation of Leninism in its latest developments. Leninism, Vol. 1, contains some of Stalin's most basic works, such as “Problems of Leninism” and “Foundations of Leninism.” Vol. II concerns itself for the most part | with the application of the principal | enunciated in the first volume to | the building of Socialism and the problems of the international Com- munist movement. The second volume is uniform | with the first, No Marxist-Lenin- | ist library can be complete without | it. It is an indispensable political source for all activists and stu- dents. Obtain your copy (467 pp., clothbound, $2.50) from bookshops or direct from International Pub- lishers, 381 Fourth Ave., New York, ; | | ARTISTS AND WRITERS URGED TO CONTRIBUTE | | T0 THE FEATURE PAGE The Editors of the Daily Worker || (cordially invite contributions from revolutionary artists and writers.. | Short stories, poems, features, \ete., are wanted to appear every | | Saturday on this page. | | All contributions should be ad- | dressed to the Editor of the Fea- | ture Page Daily Worker, 50 E. 13th St, New York, N. ¥. j dd States Department ot| ge weekly! | the feeling of play, | write to the Exhibition [In 1928 there were over 19,000 movie houses in operation 13,000. In other words attendance has pped over 50,000,000 weekly, If ‘We can suppose that the average at tendance of movie-goers is twice « week, then over 25,000,000 people have stopped going to movies since crisis; and the overwhelming majority of these are of course working-class men, women and chil dren, What better confirmation can there be of the vast army of unem ployed, than these figures of workers who haye been compelled to cut out juxuries like movies altogether, due today there are | to unemployment. Lately the moguls of Hollywood have been threatening to move their studios to Long Island to cut down terriffic overhead expenses and ward off approaching bankruptcy due partly to the drop in attendance but mostly to the profligate waste of money and effort that goes on dey after day in the film industry. And the vast expansion of the industry since the birth of sound films has lead the films right into the hands and pockets of the bankers, who have used and are suing every trick known to law and unknown, to get control of this gigantic money-making ma- chine, In the meantime the government continues to exert all kinds of poli-~ tical pressure in the film industry. At the request of the Navy De- partment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has stopped production of ‘Sky Man, which was to be a film about the recent crash of the Akron. Navy of- ficials read the story in connection with a request for assistance in mak- ing the air sequences. In reply the Department urged the movie com- pany to abandon work on the pro- duction until the Akron crash was completely forgotten. These officials felt that if the film was released so soon after the mysterious disaster, delicate questions as to the cause of the crash would be raised again, and the Navy Department did not want this continued publicity which prob- ably involved millions im graft, on its head. It is in this way also that the Government discourages films sometimes proposed by individuals in Hollywood that attempt to deal truthfully with the crisis, unemploy- ment, war, etc. Movie ] Notes SHAME "THIS is one of the most interest- ing of the recent Soviet dialogue films and is the combined effort of Ermler, Director of “Fragment of an Empire,” and Yutkevich, Di- rector of “Golden Mountains.” Now, together they have made a film about the shortcomings and successes of workers and engineers in a Leningrad Turbine Plant that gives a pretty clear picture of how revolutionary morality functions in the Soviet Union. What is it that makes a new Soviet film a kind of event in this country where workers are con- tinually being insulted by films? Especially during these days of mass unemployment and wage cuts, where the factory boss’s daughter is always falling for a young factory hand, who automatically thereupon becomes manager of th ecompany, marries the girl and presto — up goes the stock market, their com- petitors crash the ground, and lo and behold a shining new smoke- stack arises symbolizing success and fortune. Why when we see a picture like Shame do we feel as tho we have been in close contact with revolu- tionary workers and active parti- cipants in their experiences, instead of merely warming our chairs and watching dumb actors go thru their parts? Soviet films are inseparable from the life and experiences of the So- viet workers. The reality of Soviet life, work, play, plans, is deeply rooted in their films. The incidents of Shame occur in thousands of factories all over the Soviet Union every day. Here we have the living factory, the fine comradely spirit among the workers and engineers, joy, humor, gentleness, vigor, determination, fairness—the whole of Soviet work- ers life. Tt is this strong unity between the filmic presentation and the liv- ing reality that makes Shame and most Soviet films memorable long after they are seen. Don't miss Shame, showing all week at the Thalia Theatre, —D..P. Plan John Reed Club Art Exhibit in N. Y.: Invite French Artists Artists’ Section of the New York John Reed Olub is send- ing out invitations to all local ar~ tists, Art Sections of other John Reed Clubs and to the artists of the AEAR of France, the French equivalent of the John Reed Club, to participate in a huge exhibition against Fascism, Hunger and War, The exhibition is slated to open in the Club gallery, 583 Sixth Ave, New York, on Deo, 1, subjects and their effect upon ar- tists, workers and culture gener- ally, the meaning of the National Industrial Recovery Act, points out the fascist manifastations in country, the growing war and how the artist can be a vital factor in the struggle against fas~ cism, hunger and war, The participation in the exhibl- tion by the artists of lations with revolutionary artista of Europe. ‘3 A fee of 25 cents will be charged to each American exhibitor to cover ie day of entry for works is ber 15. For further tee of the John Reed Club, Sixth Ave, New York, is | the expense of the exhibition, Samy