The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 29, 1933, Page 5

Picture of a Forced Labor Forest Camp in California, From a Worker Correspondent at a | CCC CAmp in the California Mountains AM one of a company of two hundred New York City boys that was shipped =to a so-called reforestation camp.in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. After heving been «stationed at Fort Slocum, whichis a govern- ment island in Long Island Sound, for almost, three months, the boys were overjoyed atthe prospect of a trip to.the West Coast. Fort Slocum -had been just like a penal island, because of.the many re- Sstrictioris of personal liberty that | are the result of military disci- Pline and .regimentation. “I feel like I was sold down the river,” or “this place reminds me of De- | vils Island,” were ‘typical remarks heard there. ; This dissatisfaction was not ex- pressed- more concretely because the mén felt that possibly a better deal awaited themin the forest camps. It did not take very long | for this” illusion to be destroyed. | Once aboard train’ we discovered | that we were expected to live on corned beef hash for the duration | ef our jeurney. ‘This nasty mess | came in cans and..wes served to | us cold, accompanied by a tin cup full of unsweetened black coffee. | Two thin, slices,of.white bread | | | | | were also served us until the third day out, when it was announced that our “bread ration had given out. The rest of the journey we went without bread. ‘We were.without-water for eight | hours while going thru the New Mexican desert. The officers, -meanwhile, had sumptuous meals | served them in their private com- | partment. These““Were taken to ‘hem through the tars which the ten occupied, and the sight and | ‘smell of ‘real food’ did nothing | ‘to alleviate the: serni-starved state of the men. : Another instance ‘of this heart- | lessness was dispiayed by the Lieu- tenant during the trip. This gen- | erous capitalist lackey, after a | bombardment of complaints about | the lack of bread, finally got off | at a station stop and ordered a Gozen loaves of bread. This bread, | he patronizingly. stated, he was | willing .to-sell tovus at the same | price per-loaf as it cost him. He | was fully aware that not a man among us could boast of any fin- ancial resources at the time, but with typical bourgedis contempt and disrecard of those under him, he made “iis brutal‘offer. When we finally got info’tamp we were a mighty sick. discoureged and Pitiable lot’ of boys: E heve been in. camp a week. | Our condition is worse than it | was at,-Fort Slocum. We are | twenty-six.miles from the nearest town and raiiroad station. Our | camp isa shambles.in the wild- | erness. We live in a semi-savage | state. “Phey are m0” vestiges of | human comforts or necessities. | The men, after the first flare of | rebellion at the- prison camp con- | ditions, Hiave relapsed into a kind | of stupor which acts as a shield | between them and the maddening | camp life.'There 4s*mo means of | escape. If the men Complain, the | ‘caviain says, “If you-are dissatis- | fled I shan’t force-‘you to remain | here. ‘There are‘ two. sandwiches waiting for the man-who wants to go. There's the road. You can take it if-you like’ Small wonder | the man is able: to speak with Such asstrance. It’s like sending aman into the wilderness with a | club, and a loin ¢loth and expecting | him to saift fer. himself. The crutlt7 of itt Justtavo sandwiches and three thousand smiles to travel | | | with a millicn homeless wanderers on the road. The keys remember thes2 homeless enildren. We saw many~of them on the trip west. Several of them hopped our train and, when. seen hy the trainmen, received mighty short shrift. Thus we are placed in the posi- tion of being in between the devil | and the-deep bluesea. The cap- tain has warned us that volice in the nearest town -have been re- quested to pick usiup on charges of vagrency in the event that we | are seen there. According to his | words, if we have‘the temerity to go to town we are to be fined and imprisoned, with the promise of further punishment when we get back to camp. One man who attempted to rouse the boys in protest against bad food and liv- ing condifions was singled out by the officers and given a kind of “third degree.” The captain, two looies, two sergeants, the doc- tor, and several forest rangers mobilized into a solid phalanx and, thus fortified and feeling very. courageous, approached the mili- tant offender while he was off by himself. The officers then pro- cedded to lay down the law with their Sam Browne belts and hol- sters very much ‘to the fore. They threatened all sorts of dire action if he did not reveal his fellow- rebels. The upshot of the matter | was that the captain assembled all the men and then proceeded to lecture us in arrogant, bluster- ing tones. He damned all malcon- tents and habitual sulkers, as he called them, and said he would make an example of the one he had picked on. The boy was then fined three dollars, which is 60 per cent of our monthly income, deprived of his evening meal and put on K. P. for all Sundays and holidays. That is a sample of the sort of thing awaiting us, in the event we try to improve our con- ditions. 7s ae « HE clearing in the forest where where our camp is located is ankle-deep in loose red dirt. One cannot walk a step without kick- ing up a dense, suffocating cloud of dust. The effect is nerve-rack- ing and physically, it makes us feel like lung cases with coughing and spitting constantly going on. From the day of our arrival we have worked in the forests from | 8 a. m. to 5 in the evening. Fed- eral Foresters are in charge of this work. The labor is of the most exhausting kind. The men are so tired after a day’s work that they can only think of seeking the din- gy cot we are provided with. The Foresters hound us at work, as though they were foremen on a contract job paying the men six- teen dollars a day. ‘They state they are ordered to keep us con- stantly on the go, although con- fidentially they reveal there is no sense to our labors. There’s a Polish lad who talks about the letter he’s going to write his folks back in the East. “Til tell ’em all about this lousy | campy’ he whimpers. Later, in the evening, I go to sick call. Half the camp is there. No one has a normal stomach. Everyone needs a physic. The rotten grub is hard to digest and constipation is general. Most of | the boys are pasty-faced and dull- eyed. It makes no difference that | | this is the famed California clim- ate. Under such living conditions as we have to put up with any | but the most robust would soon be feeling sick. There is a fellows | who has had his neck nicked by an ax. Just a bit more and his throat would have been cut. Still others with ax injuries. Such are the conditions we labor under. This is the manner in which Mr. Roosevelt helps the un- employed, all for a dollar a day. | This company of 200 city boys | calls upon you workers to help us in the struggie for better condi- | tions of labor, union wages, use- ful work in the city we come from, and the removal of the War De- partment from participation in | any and all unemployed work. Either that or unemployed in- surance. The sons of workers must | not be forced to undergo such miserable treatment. We implore you,to pass the word and carry on the st-.uggle. @ t F.D.R FN BREFORESTATICY “And We Thought You Were Coming For Our Eviction” | By BELLA MILLER Pee steep flights up in one of the old red-brick tenement | houses on the East Side of 28th Street, no one seemed to answer to my knock on the door. I folded the leaflet in half end | slipped it under the door. When I reached the other end of the narrow, long, dimly-lit hall, the door where I had left the leaflet opened and a young boy's voice | called out: “Ma—am, here it is, the evic- tion!” 5 “Oh, dear me,” cried the mother, @ small flat-breasted woman, ap- parently young. Her- careworn face brightened with relief when I informed her that it wasn’t going to be an evic- tion. “You are the investigator from | the Relief Bureau?” she asked apologetically. From the bedroom there came the cries of a very young infant. “I am from the Unemployed Council of this neighborhood,” I told her and her face again as- sumed a worried expression. She, was disappointed. “And I thought you were the investigator. It is over a month since we registered at the Relief Bureau and no one has showed up yet. And we been waiting and waiting these long weeks.” “And I thought this was the eviction,” said the boy. “We been expecting the eviction.” | “I got three of them,” went on | the mother in a hopeless voice. “Johnny is ten, Martin eight and | my baby Anne is four months old. And I got no milk for her. Can- not nurse her. I lost my milk when baby was only six weeks old. Got scared from the sheriff when he came to put us out on the street. My husband was janitor for eight years down on West St. We lived in a basement. He took sick and could not work. He lost his job. We had no money for rent. The Relief stopped paying our rent, so we were put out, all of us with the three kids, and my baby, only six weeks old then.” a eas vz a month ago the husband | had two day’s work a week, | When they registered at the Re- | lief Bureau. So Johnny got him- | self a shoe-shine box and brings in a few pennies a day, on which the mother manipulates the household. “T got twenty-five cents in one day, last week. Ma-am, didn’t I?” He said proudly, The candle, which provided the light for the kitchen, was dripping fast. The gas had never been turned on. Johnny brings up some wood from the street and that’s the fuel for whatever cooking is done. 2 N= sat on the pipe railing watching the water swish against the side of the pier. The harbor dirt left wet marks on the ; concrete piles. Neb stared straight | down into the’ green-stained water. It was getting dark. The harbor | Water tossed and shook like a man trying to sleep on a hot night. A storm seemed to be coming up. | Nobody seemed to notice it. The other men were leaning over the rail looking out into the bay. They were watching the submarines lined up at the end of the pier. The boats were small and thin, But they were sharp and pointed too, and they looked as if they meant business. Autos began parking along Rec- reation Pier. Families and ecoup- Jes got out. They went up to the guards at the gate and handed them tickets or something. ‘Then they walked out to the end of the pier. They got on the deck of the biggest submarine and walked back and forth looking at a lot of things, Everybody seemed to be coming to look at the submarines. Every- body in town seemed to know about them. The back page of the morning paper that Neb had taken out of the corner ashcan om of the story of their ar- val. Neb turned his back to the water and looked across the big wide street. All the guys who were hanging around Waterfront St. | were watching from the distance. | Some of the guys he had met at the Anchorage were standing on the other corner jabbing. It was | almost dark and it started to cool off a little. “MORE SUCKERS” A flat truck pulled up to the hopped off. The driver backed railing. A girl was sitting next to him. She looked Jewish. More suckers to see the submarines, Neb thought. ® while and talked among them- selves. Neb couldn't make out what they were saying. Hell, he wasn't interested anyway. i Just as he started to tun around again and watch the sub- marines, one of the guys j back on the truck and began holl- ering. In a few minutes a bunch pt fellows came over to listen to Neb was a quiet guy and he didn’t like crowds, so he moved: farther down the street. He caught some of the things the fellow was say- ing. The guy had an eagle-beak but he didn’t look like a Jew. “My dad fought in the Spanish- American War,” Neb heard him say, “and my gran’ dad fought in the Civil War, so you can’t say I'm a furriner. I was across in the World War, too. Let me tell you men, when we went over there we were mowed down like rats, We didn’t even have time to finish off our buddies. Y’know what that meant, men? Once we...” the truck right’ up to the pipe | } But they stayed right there for DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 29, 1933 to-day political events about him. Machine guns for Poland Worker! Farmer! Set the world in flame! From the ashes of War The Whisper Roars! By ERICH WEINERT (English Version by Milton Howard) The following poem is based upon the original German verse writ- ten by Erich Weinert, one of the leading revolutionary writers of present-day Germany, who has mastered the difficult art of forging passionate revolutionary poetry out of materials provided by the day- The English version of Weinert’s poem is not a close translation, but rather a free transcription of it. The whisper rises to a roar! Worker, don’t you hear it? It is the cry of the Hounds of War! Worker, don’t you hear it? The factories of coal and steel—whisper! From London, Tokio, Warsaw, Berlin, From New York, Prague, Bucharest, From the chemical factories of the continents, Comes a whisper which rises to a roar! Worker, don’t you hear it? The hum is heard—of dollars, of cannon Of armored plate, of bullets and gas. Night after night, the armored tanks roll, For Roumania, hand grenades! Against the workers’ Red Army The World-fascist brigades! Into the field the armies are hurled Against the working class of the world! Against you, against you, Worker, the guns are turned! Remember, remember, the last War of the World! Again will the gas tear blood from your lungs? The day is here. The shrill war trumpets sound the attack Against the Workers’ Fatherland they go. Seize the guns—beat them back! Crush under heel the Fascist bands. Upon every mine and factory wall Plant the workers’ flag of Red! Before our battle-flaming eyes A Socialist world will rise! Johnny’s frame is narrow and rickety, his arms pale and thin, yet this little bit of humanity car- ries ed tie childish should- ers e burdens that povert; and misery have cast on him ps full measure. “Eviction” — the nightmare of thousands and mil- ions of jobless workers in this country today, has also become the Hk Space between Neb and the crowd was already filled. A lot of new people were coming up and Neb couldn't make out what the speaker was saying. By the time the crowd got settled down again the speech was almost over. “... and I’m tellin’ you, men, as a World War vet’rin, that if you~ don’t want to be mowed down like rats in the next war, you've got to organize behind . . .” Oh, the hell with it, Neb thought aS more people drowned out what the guy was saying. He moved away from the crowd. He slouch- ed over the railing with the top pipe against his empty stomach. He looked out into the bay with- out seeing anything and dreamt of the time when three meals a day didn't mean a thing to him. The next speaker was the girl he had seen on the truck. He couldn’t hear her at all and he didn’t half try. She looked like @ little spitfire and the crowd gave her a big hand. He could hear the next guy all Tight. He bellowed like a bull. His voice travelled across the wide street, hit the red-brick fronts on the other side and echoed back. He swung his fists and beat his breast. He made Neb turn his head and listen, “WE FIGHT THE WAR!” He was a short, stocky guy and he told a good story. He was no fake, either. “When we sailed up the Yangtsi River,” he roared, “the first thing that struck our eyes was big oil tanks with Standard Oil corner and a couple of fellows | * “It couldn’t be a joint.” Company written in large letters across them. Yeah. That's who we were fighting for, the Morgans and the Rockefellers. They're the ones who profit by a war. We're the ones who fight the war. Yeah. Many’s the time , . .” A long line of freight cars rat- tled down Waterfront Street. They made a helluva racket. The speak- er matched his voice against them, bellowing louder. Ten minutes later another line of cars came down the other way. ‘They looked like the same ones that had gone up. The nightmare of thousands of little Johnnies, Tomorrow Johnny, the bread- earner; will not be able to go out with his shoe-shine box. He is to mind his baby sister. His Mother, together with thousands of others, is going out to storm the Home Relief Bureau—for im- mediate relief. | | | | |\Chinese Writers | dealing with | Chang-kai-shek Use War Themes | In Recent Novels' | By WALT CARMON | | | EVOLUTIONARY literature con- tinues to grow in China de- spite the violent oppression of Kuomintang reaction. The activ- ities of leading revolutionary writ- | ers united in the Chinese League of Left Writers (Chinese Section of | the International Union of Revo- | lutionary Writers) extends not only into books, magazines and daily newspapers, but into the theatre and the cinema as well. Two volumes of collected ar- ticles, “Three Rooms” and “Two Hearts” by Lu Sin, have been pub- lished.. These include all the ar- ticlés"by this leading revolutionary | writer: written since 1930. They are an attack against the bour- geois “New Moon” group, imperial- ismand feudalism in literature. @f great importance to revolu- tionary literature has been the publication of two new books by Mau-tung: a novel, “Midnight,” the war between | and Feng-hue- hsiang, and a volume of short stories, “Spring Silkworms,” on the ruin of Chinese agriculture. Soviet Translations Issued , Among other volumes issued were “The Line of the Outpost” by the young writer Sha-ting; “Wan-bao- shang” by Li-hueh-ing; a collec- tion of stories, “The Banquet” by Ting-Ling (who was recently mur- dered by Shanghai police); and the novel “One Year,” and a book | of short stories, “The Bee,” both by. Chang-tiang. Of interest also are the transla- tions of Soviet writers. Two col- lections: “Shu-Tsin” and “A Day’s | Work,” translated by the noted Lu Sin, include 20 Soviet writers. Among other translations issued were: “October,” by Yakovlev, “Armored Train,” by Ivanov, and “Brusski,” by Panferov. Chinese Theatre and Cinema This year the Chinese League of Left Theatres stepped beyond the limits of “Blue Blouse,” agit-prop performances in workers’ districts and schools. Some months ago bourgeois circles of Shanghai or- ganized concerts and performances for the benefit of refugees from Manchuria. The League of Left ‘Theatres took quick advantage of this. The majority of theatrical per- formances staged were given by the League of Left Theatres and they drew large and enthusiastic audiences. Among the plays were “A Priend At War” (dealing with the Shanghai War of the reaction- ary 19th Army) and “The Alarm” (on the Japanese invasion of Man- churia), both by the noted Chinese revolutionary playwright Tiang-Hani. Page Pre, ‘War Preparations as Shown In Recent Hollywood Films By DAVID PLATT. of INCE the beginning | Hollywood has bec than ever since the intensely conscious of as a powerful hands of the ruil paring the s go to the m world war. Dozens upon doz films—newsreels, shorts, have been produc months partic and sanctify war as an ei heritage of the nan race f to continue. In fact the field has cor @ field for tion, romance: 1 are the medals, gl the rest of the cla by now to moviegoers. That a stronger Hollywood forces with t velt administration, sir collaboration effe World War under ministration, was exp alignment of dustry is evident in the following statement which appeared in the Film Daily (March 4, 1933), a pow- erful voice in the industry: “The entire make-up of the President denotes an individual who will be entirely sympathetic to the aims and purposes of the motion picture industry . .. it is up to the industry to see that he is intelligently contacted and advised on our problems . . . he has advisors in practically every field. of economic activity . . . why not an official film advisor +++ We are certain he would wel- come such co-operation.” Real evidence of this co-opera- tion was not long forthcoming. Shortly after Roosevelt assumed power in Washington, the first of | the definitely American Fascist films made its appearance. On March 31, with a grand flourish of fanfare, “Gabriel Over the White House,” bearing the official en- dorsement of the Roosevelt admin- istration, began to spread its wings across the country, with its plan for the militarization of the unem- WATERFRONT ‘STREET sailor bellowed louder. Right after that a brass band leading hun- dreds of children with American flags marched past and turned in- to Recreation Pier. By this time the sailor's voice was cracked and he ended in a whisper. Neb want- ed to join in the clapping when he finished. He didn’t do it, but he didn’t move away from the crowd either. He listened to the chairman\who was giving a spiel like a circus ballyhocer. “Friends and fellow workers,” he sang out, “the last speaker fer dis eve'n will be Com- rade M-r-r-r-r of the Com'nist Party > will tell you why dese submarines ee tied up here. While he is speakin’ Comrade B-u-r-r-r will draw piktchures about the war right before yer eyes.” Neb ha¢'n’t noticed it before. The Jewis: truck driver had just finished rigging up a piece of board with white paper on it and a little dinky electric bulb at the top. He helped up a little fellow with red hair who started to make thick black lines on the paper. Caer eee based crowd.moved in closer to the center and hemmed Neb in. A lot of kids began to stand on their toes to see the drawing. A man right next to Neb lifted a kid on his shoulders. The kid held his arms around the man’s neck. Neb was a quiet guy and he didn’t like crowds, and kids either, so he moved back again. He want- ed to see the drawings but so did everybody else so he stayed where he was. As far away as he was he could still hear the new speaker. He heard hard plain English. The speaker didn’t holler and yet his voice reached Neb sharp and clear. In a few minutes Neb got a good idea of why the meeting was be- ing held. War was, as Neb’s father had told him many a time—how ‘was it he used to put it?—war was a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight. The submarines had been tied up here to make the people patriotic. The bosses needed an- other war to make more profits and this was one of the ways of getting the people ready. It was up to the workers to stop this war, Neb got this much in a few minutes even though his empty stomach made it hard for him to listen. He was trying to take it all in, when somebody brushed past him, It was a loud-mouthed dame who was walking with a sailor who must have come off one of the submarines. Right behind them came another couple. “LET'S SEE WHAT IT’S ABOUT” “Let's see what the circus's about,” Neb heard the first sailor say. He looked like he was cock- eyed. So was the dare in the lemon-colored dress who was with him, They pushed their way into the crowd. They started making @ lot of wisecracks that Neb didn’t hear. They kept bursting out with a lot of dirty laughs. The crowd » fee Ge started to shush them but they didn’t quiet down much. The second sailor was trying to be funny too. He put his hands on the sides of his mouth and hollered something at the speaker. They seemed to make the speak- er good and sore. He stopped for “Heil, he wasn't interested anyway.” a minute. “If you'll listen, friends,” he said in an angry voice, “you'll learn something.” He. started to go on with his speech, but somebody came through the .crowd and whispered some- thing to him. The speaker turned again to the crowd. “I’m glad to see that some of the men on the submarines have heard our message and have come over to the meeting tonight,” he said. The whole crowd turned away’from the drawing board and looked at the sailors, “What was your ‘question again, friend?” he asked. “I didn’t hear it. If you'll repeat it, I'll be glad to try to an- swer it for you.” ‘The sailor seemed to be a little sorry now that he had said any- thing. But his pal jabbed him in the ribs and said something to him. He hollered out again. Neb couldn't make him out. Neither could the speaker. But somebody relayed the questioa up to the truck platform. “Our friend wants to know this,” the speaker said. “He wants to know why it is that if Soviet Rus- sia is, the only country that wants peace,, Why does it have the larg- est standing army ‘in the world?” Everybody watched the sailors who didn’t look so cockey now. ese re EB listened carefully as the speaker explained how the other countries surrounded Russia and were looking for an excuse to at- tack. her while Russia wanted peacefully to continue to build Socialism and that she kept an army only for defense, | all, who are you? | was glad that the joke was on them. | the working class, not to them (he By this time the sailors didn’t A STORY By Alan Calmer feel so high and mighty. They had shut up. One of the girls | tried to drag them away, but the sailor who was sober wouldn’t go, “Now understand, friends,” the speaker continued, “we're not | against you just because you work | on one of those submarines. After Are you sons | of rich millionaires? Do you ride around in Pierce Arrows? If you | did, you wouldn’t be scrubbing | floors and washing decks .. .” The crowd burst out laughing. Neb found himself laughing with them. The sailors got sore. Neb The drunken one looked like he wanted to fight. But Neb noticed that a tough bunch of guys had moved close to him. ‘The girl in the yellow dress started pulling him away. The speaker quickly quieted the crowd. “Don't misunderstand us, friends,” he continued. “We're not against you, just because you work on one of those submarines. Your fathers are workers like us. You're workers. You belong to the work- ing class. In spite of everything | you may say, you belong to us, pointed towards the submarines), not to the officers who belong to | the boss class.” He raised his/ voice. “Everybody in favor of soli- darity with our working class bro- thers, the sailors, say ‘Aye!’” ‘HE crowd thundered their proval, Even Neb joined in. The speaker stepped down. The drunken sailor was already past the crowd. The other one was still in the crowd. Neb saw a | clean looking fellow talking to the sailor. “All you sailors and long- shoremen who want t’fight fer better condishuns,” reeled off the ap- chairman, “come an’ join the | G-r-r-r-r B-u-r-r-r-r Union at 400 | Waterfront Street .. .” The meet~ | ing was over and the crowd began to scatter, Neb was still leaning against the rail. He watched the sailor who | was still talking to the longshore- | man. He saw them walk across | the street with the sailor's girl. | They walked into a store. It couldn't be a joint, Neb decided. Neb walked up to the next cor- ner, crossed the street and walked down again. On the window of the store he read — Marine Workers Industrial Union—in crude red let~ ters. Neb was a quiet guy. He didn't make friends easy. He always kept | to himself. He had always gone | his own way. He stopped for a | second, then walked up the street | and down again. He stopped once | | | | more when he reached the place | and then kept on going, Soon as he got something to eat tomorrow he was going to go into the place and sign up. ployed, later actually carried out ag the Reforestation Plan, and its vicious pro-war propaganda and attack on the working class. Far- ther proof of this closely-knit alignment is the fact that Roose- velt, at a private showing of the film at the White House before ‘it was released to the public, ce- manded that the episode showing America at war with Japan “bé eliminated entirely from the film; this sequence was never included in the final version. Later the Navy Department also prohibited Metro wyn Mayer’s production /of ‘Sky Man,” a film based on the crash of the dirigible Akron, be- y did not want any fur- or notoriety on the ase which probably ny high official heads. 1e methods of the ruling DID ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOUR PEOPLE” In an open letter to Roosevelt, which appeared shortly before his inauguration, the producers of “Gabriel Over the White House” wrote: “It is the delight of M. @/ M. to usher in your administra- tion with splendid entertainments for your people. It will be a wel entertained nation that views in coming weeks: “Rasputin and riel Ov the White House.” to these can be added “Look- And ing Forward,” “Men Must Fight,” “Prosperity,” “Storm at all M. G, M. productions. Here we have several typical Hollywood jingoistic and dema-. gogic films, aimed to “entertaiti” the masses. The first is one of the subtlest anti-Soviet films ever made—in which the Russian revo- lutionary workers are slandered to, create sympathy for the Roman-! | offs; the second was made in con- Junction with the U. 8. Navy ard glorifies submarine warfare; the next two reveal war as the supreme’ adventure of life; “Gabriel Over: the White House” is Yankee jingo+ ism at its loudest. “Looking For- ward” is another film bearing Roosevelt’s endorsement, a film that suggests that since the crisis has both workers and bosses in its coils, the simplest thing would be for them to unite to find a way out for their “mutual” crisis: “Men Must Fight” is propaganda pure and simple for war, especially” when the “defense” of the (Amer- ican) nation is at stake. “Prosper- ity” 1s strong ballyhoo against the depression. “Storm at Daybreak” is war-war-war-glorious war! These are the stupefying poisons that Hollywood and Washington are passing on to the workers in the form of “entertainment.” There. is no mistaking the intent of these films; they are an integral part of the program of the Roosevelt ad- ministration and the ruling class for beating down the growing re- sistance of the masses to unem- ployment and hunger, by trickery, demagogy and all the other | means at the disposal of the gov- ernment, and preparing the work- ers for the complete acceptance of. war as a matter of fact not to be disputed, And in the moving pic- ture the bosses have found their most effective bludgeon! e ORS RE y Ges same M. G. M. company fs - now working on the film “Soviet,” which is supposed to be a sympathetic study of present-day Russia, The director of this pic- ture is Frank Capra, who directed “Washington Merry Go Round,” the recent movie slandering the bonus marchers, insinuating that “stars” of “Soviet” are Wallace Beery, Clark Gable and Jean Har- low. With this array of talent there is no doubt that “Soviet” will present a pretty distorted picture of the Soviet Union, with probably a mad chase across Siberia, with the villain slightly in the lead at the climax! aI arte ORE dangerous in intent, how- ever, is the film about the Soviet Union being made by that Har and hypocrite, the explorer, Carveth Wells, and which is soon to be re~ leased. Wells is responsible for some of the filthiest and most idiotic Slanders ever made against the Soviet Union, and no doubt his film also will present as deranged # picture of Russian workers and peasants as his twisted imagina= tion can arouse. All these Anti= Soviet films are an important link in the chain of pro-war propa> ganda. But M. G, M. is only one of thé companies in Hollywood folloy the leadership of the New Administration. A high movie of- ficial, James R. Grainger, expresses pretty adequately the sentiments of the motion picture were panhandlers, etc.; the. industry, when he states the industry “will ‘? assist the Roosevelt administration to the utmost of its ability iff bringing about a reconstruction of our present national economic sit-' uation, This can best be accom- plished by ma‘ntaining the morale of the mass population by furnish- ing it with wholesome entertains ment within the reduced budgets of our American population.” And ~ by maintaining the morale of the mass population, they mean the production and exhibition of films like “Mussolini Speaks,” “India Speaks,” “So This Is Africa,” “Bits ter Tea of General Yen,” “Cavale cade,” “Pilgrimage,” “Song of the Eagle,” “Eagle and the Hawk,” ” “Red Meat” (life of Theodorg Roosevelt), “Firroes for Sale” (fors, merly “Breadline”), “Buy Amere | ica,” “New Deal,” “Inflation,” “This: * Is America,” and countless other” pro-war, anti-working class films that the masses have been forced bitterly to chew. But the fact that workers are more and more loudly protesting within the movie theatres against. war films and Roosevelt's raw deals, is'a sure indication that the. U. S, Government is going to have, @ tough job on its hands trying to compel workers to support the next, imperialist war and a sure indica- tion that workers will not accept, . Aunger and fescism peaceably, \ + |