The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 27, 1933, Page 5

WHAT WORLD! ——— By Joseph Freeman A Voge aaneses I promised to tell how our Scribe twisted a quotation from Leninin ortier’togrind his political axe. In the article on Stalin’s Literary Inquisition,”*our Scribe says: “Joseph Freemian quoted the following passage from Lenin and gave * his readers to understand that it was in process of fulfillment in the Soviet Union: “The independence of the bourgeois author, artist and actress (Lenin Said) is merely a pretended independence from the money bag, from bribery, from being kept. We Communists expose this hypocrisy, we rip ,off the false front... . De do this in order to expose to the seemingly free but actually bourgeois-bound literature a really free literature which is openly bound up with the proletariat. That will be a really free lit- erature because not profits or ambition but the idea of Communism and sympathy for the»workers will constantly recruit for it more and more forces.’ Our Scribe stops quoting right there, ‘sionate’ rlietori¢! “A really free literature,” he exclaims, italicizing his explanation. “—— ayd-men s0 kept, so bribed, so tied by profit or ambition, or rather by the fock-bottom necessity of having a vehicle of publication and a hite of bread to eat, that they dared not even raise the question whether the literature they were producing, aside from its loyalty to the politcal . Master, had any quality at all or not! We here contemplate the depth to which.religious, zealotry, when it is combined with some sort of solid : Position, in life, will reduce a man who pretends to be a critical thinker sin the style of Marx.” ¥ and bursts into his own pas- -considering our Scribe’s own unique “Marxian” rhetoric, let _* us gd ‘back fora moment to the citation from Lenin in Voices of October; which I ain alleged to have inserted, with intent to mislead the reader into thinking that it was a “process of fulfillment in the Soviet ‘What did Lenin actually say, and what was in “process of fulfillment in the Soviet Union?” If the reader will study the citation from Lenin, as quoted by our ‘Seribe,-he-will notice a series of dots. Such dots indicate that something * has been omitted...Had our Scribe been completely honest, he would havt similar dots at the beginning of his citation and at the end, for 48 Voiceswf October, there was much more of citation than our Scribe indicates: But the dots which our Scribe did put in represent a rather important emission. When the reader will consider the words omitted he will un- * derstand’ why our ‘Scribe took that “liberty” with Lenin’s words. For ~ What Lenin said, atid our Scribe omitted, is indicated below in bold type: “We Communists expose this hypocrisy; we rip off the false front; -BUT NOT IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A CLASSLESS LITERATURE <4ND -ART (THAT WILL BE POSSIBLE ONLY IN A COMMUNIST CLASSEESS SOCIETY).” * <* Now-why did our procurator of the Holy Literary Synod omit Lenin’s “words “printed above in bold type? Again because to have left them in ‘would have ruinéd’a case which falls to pieces the moment truth touches _ Not only did‘our Prima Donna of the anti-Communist opera bouffe omit a key senten¢e from Lenin’s statement, but he forgot to say in , What connection I cited Lenin. This is how I gave my “readers to un- -derstand” that something was “in process of fulfillment in the Soviet Union.”.. My paragraph immediately preceding the citation from Lenin creads: = “The Communists not only deny that art is something apart from the social structure; they further deny that artists are ‘above the battle.’ All att?’ they say; 1s CLASS art, and every artist is a partiicpant in the “class struggle. ‘The ‘absolute freedom’ of the artist, they maintain, is an illusiori=“In his essay on Party Organization and Party Literature, Lenin “addréssé“the exponents of ‘art for art’s sake’ as follows:” " Then. comes thé citation from Lenin which our Scribe mutilated; se. .and immediately “after the citation, I said: 5 “This. attitude. of the Communist Party has established the basis oa. which» Soviet..art and literature must develop.- No contemporary Russian: artist can-afford to be socially unconscious; no artist can. justify his work in the opinion of the revolutionary proletariat unless it is to ‘some extent in harmony with the proletariat’s fundamental aims—which “tnelude- not“only the*socialization of economic production and distribution “ut of2eultural “production aac a Ls well.” othé? Words, ¥ ised Lenin’s words as an suau of the CLASS NA- ‘TURE of art not only in bourgeois society but in all class society, in- Ouaine | the present stage of society in the Soviet Union. It ts Lenin | who Says ‘that literature bound up openly with the proletariat is a really 4 free Tterafure. ‘SAS mny belief that the particular kind of free literature which Lenin had iy mind under conditions preceding a classless Communist society is i process.of fulfillment in the Soviet Union.” he opinion of better men than myself, based upon ob- ‘servationof Soviet: literature even during the “exact mathematical cen- ter” of the “literary inquisition.” I have in mind men like Henri Bar- > ‘busse, ROmain Rolland and Maxim Gorki. : if our Prima “Donna does not believe that, he doesn’t understand Lenin; and he doesn’é know anything about the Soviet Union. ‘Thatis why-itstead of resorting to facts, he is compelled to resort to slander. And-what a spineless slander it is! Our indignant Scribe _eannof..miake up his mind which of two lies about Soviet writers he © should. -believe.” Aré they “kept,” “bribed,” tied by profit and ambition?” Or are.they compelled to serve their “political master” by the “rock- +. bottom: necessity of having a vehicle of publication and a bite of bread = “oto, eat.2’? ° ~~ ORy true. You cannot be at the same time tied by profit AND the rock-bottom necessity for a bite of bread. You ~can be both only in the confused sentences of a rabid partisan who has reached that point of frenzy when he flings words about indiscriminately. « « ite actual facets of the case can best be illustrated by Boris Pilnyak. This very gifted fellow-traveller, as we have seen, was one of RAPP’s | chief opponents. As a result of a novel he published in which he later ad- i mitted there wer®” marked anti-Soviet tendencies, he was removed as | Cehairman of the Soviet writers’ association, RAPP’s influence was evident ‘in that removal. RAPP conducted a sharp campaign against Pilnyak, Nevertheless, in. 1930—“the exact mathematical center” of the “lit- crary\ W4uuisition’Borls Pinyak earned more money than any single individual’ in the Soviet Union, regardless of position or profession. So much for the Soviet writer’s subservience to the rock-bottom necessitytfor a bitesof bread. But perhaps Pilnyak was “kept,” “bribed,” “tied: byprofit and ambition?” If so, how can we explain that the “lit- ’ evary“inquisitions which was “persecuting” Pilnyak was keeping him and ‘yribingshim to publish books which RAPP was attacking? “Fhevcorrect answer to these questions will illuminate the actual po- Similarly Afinogenov, whose plays aroused RAPP’s ire, was able to produte-those plays “and to EARN huge sums of money. ‘The Moscow, Art Theatre, another of RAPP’s betes noirs, was able, ~ silion°éf the writer in the Soviet Union, Boris Pilnyak EARNED his due #6 the intelligent attitude of the government and the Party, to pro- duce ts ‘plays and to EARN money. 26,000° Poubles if 1930 on the basis of royalties. For although RAPP .: | & Within obviotis class limits, within the necessary but broad revolu- opposed—him and-attacked him, the State Publishing House issued his | tionary ‘needs of Soviet society, no country in the world gives the writer , + *_books, and thousands of Soviet citiezns bought them. as much freedom and as much support as the Soviet Union. JIM MARTIN Orricer:- 30. 30 1S ON HIS WE HOME FROM 4 HARD Day IN Soo Wot _@ DAY DERN JUDGE KEPT WARING ME Quy MARK — wor feet '§ HE? HUMP — TAN DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1933 Boys Caused Death During Tour By HARRIET SILVERMAN In the records of the “Eye Opener” edited by Comrade J. Louis Engdahl, after the “American Socialist” was suspended in 1917, we find him writ- ing: “Recognize the Russian Soviet Republic and keep the Japanese out of Siberia. ... Let the U. 8. Govern- ment do this and act now.” It has taken 16 years to achieve this. Com- rade Engdahl did not live to rejoice over this new triumph of Bolshevik power. But he knew as surely as the sun rises and sets, “It is inevitable that the Bolshevik Revolution that put power in the hands of the pro- ducing masses in Russia, will spread to all the nations of the earth.” To accomplish this, to free the millions of toiling workers from hunger, mis- ery, unemployment, fascist terror, lynchings and war, he gave his life. Comrade J. Louis Engdahl! died in Moscow Nov. 21, 1932, stricken by pneumonia after an illness of three days, exhausted by the tour through the leading European capitals fight- ing against the monstrous lynch- frame-up, to Save the lives of the nine innocent Scottsboro youths. ‘The unrelenting fight which Com- rade Engdahl waged as National Sec- retary of the International Labor De- fense for more than two years, the unrelenting mass protest which re- sulted, held the bloodhounds of capi- talism at bay. They are ready to spring once more. Once again we must arouse all the fighting power of Negro and white workers to prevent this, to put an end to lynching! Comrade Engdahl came of prole- tarian stock. He knew what it meant to work at all kinds of jobs as a youth for a meagre existence. He in- herited his rebellious spirit from his father who was a carpenter, the first organizer and president of Carpen- ter’s Local No. 7. The difficulties which beset those who fought the battles of labor in the early days in this country, made a profound im- pression on the boy. Throughout his 30 years of devotion to the revolu- tionary movement, he remembered these lessons well. Comrade Engdahl entered the So- cialist Party in 1909. He became a leading force as editor, organizer and agitator. At one time he was secre- tary of Local Cook County, Chicago. He was a member of the Typographi- cal Union from 1914. He was editor of various Socialist organs including the Chicago Daily Socialist and the American Socialist. Before and during the last impe- rialist war, differences were develop- ing in the Nocialist ranks which were to split the Party into two histile camps. Comrade Engdah] was among the Left Wing forces who sincerely believed that the Left Wing should “bore from within.” Those who are familiar with the history of the So- cialist Party know that within a year of the St. Louis convention of 1917, the socialist leadership came out openly in favor of imperialist war. Engdahl was against the war. As ed- itor of the American Socialist he was brought to trial with four other Socialists for violation of the so- called “Espionage Act.” His stand be- fore the infamous labor-hating Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who sen- tenced him to 20 years imprisonment in the U. S. Penitentiary at Ft. Leavenworth, was as different from Victor Berger's and the other So- cialist officials, as day is from night. Eugene Debs, also sentenced at the time, was against the war, but he never found his way into the Com- munist Party, though he was op- posed to the reformist Socialist leadership. Engdahl’s posts in the Communist Party were varied as the struggle it~ self demands. As general secretary of the International Labor Defense he rendered splendid service in mobiliz- ing broad mass support against capi- talist justice—its courts and hang- men. Comrade Engdahl died at his post, in a campaign which has con- vinced broad masses of oppressad workers, Negro and white, of the sincerity and true working-class character of the LL.D. as a workers’ defense weapon, and of the Commu- nist Party as the fearless leader of all struggles of the workers and of the struggle for complete emancipa- tion of the Negro on an equal plane with the white worker. Comrade Engdahl hated capital- ism with every fibre of his being. He was the first editor of the Daily Worker. He loved revolutionary jour- nalism for the power it wields as an organizer of the masses. He was iden- tified with the revolutionary struggle on all fronts, and was at one time chairman of the Central Control Commission of the Party. The day to day battle for immedi- ate gains found him always ready, whether the call came to participate in the militant struggle of 1,500 women “bread strikers” in Brooklyn, a fight before the City Hall for re- lief for the jobless and unemploy~- ment insurance, a rent strike else- where, a cali of working class youth to explain the historical role of the working class, or the need to bring the class war issues into the heat of the election campaign of the capi- talist parties. His efforts were un- tiring. His zeal and enthusiasm, boundless. His faith in the final vic- tory of the working class burned with Fight f or Scottsboro The Contributions of J. Louis Engdahl to the U. S. Workingclass Movement —Drawn by Morris J. Kallem, J. LOUIS ENGDAHL a steady, intense flame. To fulfill the last great task, Com- rade Engdahl sailed from the U. 8. with Ada Wright, mother of the two Scottsboro boys, on April 26, 1932. That was the last time those who were left behind saw him alive. On the other side of the Atlantic the MacDonald government refused him entrance. The Irish henchmen of British imperialism followed Mac- Donald’s example. The King of Bel- gium issued a command “that for- ever after” John Louis Engdahl was not to set foot on this country’s soil! The chief of police of Prague issued an order: “I expel you from the whole country of Czecho-Slovakian Repub- lie forever.” Pounding on the doors of every leading European embassy, hounded by the police, yet never daunted, Comrade Engdahl and the | Scottsboro Mother covered 16 cities and 200 meetings in six months. “A | roar of protest” rose from the an- gered proletariat of TEurove and crashed with thunderous effect on| the ears of the imperialists. The U. S. | Supreme Court was forced to yield to | mass pressure. A new trial was grant- | ed. Comrade Engdahl saw the news; of this victory flashed to every capi- | tol of the world, but he warned us: | “Have no illusions. . . . Expect no- thing of the capitalist courts. . . .| Forward with the Scottsboro struggle | on all fronts until the Scottsboro boys are free.” ‘The untimely death of J. Louls| Engdahl “tears a deep wound in the | international working class move- | ment,” so read the cablegram sent by | the Central Committee of the In- | ternational Red Aid to its American | section, the I.L.D. One may say of | Comrade Engdahl, what he wrote at | the death of Bill Haywood: “The American capitalist over- lords breathe a little easier, seek- ing to enjoy for the moment the security they think is thetrs.” The best tribute -we can pay to the memory of our comrades, is to close ranks to destroy this. security, to unite our forces, Negro and white, to de- stroy the foundations of capitalism on which this security rests. J. Louis nist Party. He did. not live to see the Red Flag flying proudly over a Soviet America! We. have lost. a re- sourceful and staunch fighter, but we go forward in the living spirit of our comrade, bor Defense, building our. revolution- ary unions, winning the American working class into the Red: Battalions of the Communist Party Litvinof and Bulli itt | on the Screen in Movietone Interviews The News of the day, as far as the question of rscognition of Soviet Russia is concerned, is thoroughly covered in this week's program at the Embassy Newsreel Theatre. ‘There are two very interesting in-| terviews: with Litvinoff and with the new Ambassador tothe Soviet Union William C. Bullitt,-who has worked for recognition since 1919. He has made several trips to the Soviet Union since then. On his first trip |he met Lenin in Moscow and had several talks with him Soviet Russia. Latest film news from Moscow, showing the- cultural achievements of the Soviet workers, round up the Russian part of the} program. TUNING IN TONIGHT’S PROGRAMS WEAF—660 Ke. 1:00 P.M.—Shirley Howard, Songs; Jesters ‘Trio 1:15—Billy Bachelor—Sketeh 7:30—Lum and Abner 7:45—The Goldbergs—-Sketch 8:00—Dramatic Sketch 8:30—Young Orch.; Talk—Floyd Gibbons 9:00—Gypsies Orch.; Frank Parker, Tenor 9:30—Shin jof Joy, with Captain Hugh Barrett Dobbs 10:00--Wastman Orch.; Lullaby Lady; Gene Arnold, Narrator ‘ve ‘Tramp Steamer—Sketch ‘ewing the American Scene—John rskine 11:15--Jesters Trio 11:30--Whiteman Orch. 12:00—Sosnick Orch. 12:30 A.M.—Meroff Orchestra gi Poms ive WOR—710 Ke. 1:00 P.M.—Sports—¥ord Prick 7:15—News—Gabriel Heater 7:30—Terry and Ted—Sketch 7:45—John Kelvin, Tenor 8:00—Detectives Black and Blue—Mystery 10:90 11:09 Drama 8:15—Billy Jones and Ernie Hare, Songs. 30—Morros Musicale Variety Musicale 10:15—Current Everts—Harlan Eugeno Read 10:30—Alfred Wallerstein’s 10:30—Alfred Wallenstein’s Mina Heger, Soprano 11:00—Weather Report 11:02—Moonbeams Trio 11:30-—Robbins Orch. 12:00--Lane Orch, Sinfonietta; WJZ—760 Ke. 7:00—Amos 'n’ Andy 7:15—Baby Rose Marie, Songs 7 30—Potash and Perlmutter- 7:45—Frances Alda, Soprano 8:00—Morin Sisters, Songs; King’s Jesters; Stokes Orch.; Cliff’ Soubier 8:30—Paullst Choristers '45—Red Davis—-Sketch Minstrel Show ‘asternack Oreh.; Melody Singers 10:00—Marzel Rodrigo, Baritone; Littau Orch. 10;30—Henri Deering, Piano 10:45—-Federal Relief—Harry Hopkins, Fed- cral Relief Administrator 11:0-—Leiders Trio 11:15—Anthony Frome, Tenor 11:30—Hahn Orch. 11:30—Hahn Orch. % 12:00Bestor Orch 12:30 A.M.—King Oreh. ther “Sketch * WABC—860 Ke. 7:00 P.M.—Myrt and Marge 7:15—Just Plain Bill-—Sketch 7:30—Travelers Ensemble 7:45—-News—Boake Carter 8:00—Green Orch.; Men About Town Trio; Vivien Ruth, Songs 8;15-—News--Edwin ©. Hill 8:30—Bing Crosby, Songs; Hayton Orch. 9:00—NRA Speaker 9:15—Alexander Woollcott—The Town Crier 9:30—Gertrude Niesen, Songs; Lulu MeCon- nell, Comedtenne; Jones Orch. 10:00—Wayne King Orch. 10:30—News Bulletins 10:45—-Deep River Orch. 11:15—Boswell Sisters, Songs 11:30—Gray Orch, 12:00—Belnsto Orch. 12:30 A. M.—Lymen Orch. 1:00—Little Orch, Out to Get the Cause of It All mary, UH! TLL MARK Him ALL UP Boy! < GELIEVE, OY EARS 7 CAN J. Louis Engdahl, | strengthening the International La-| | | Bullitt is} the author of an interesting book on| | |Clyde Franklin, | 5, 1421 Prospect Ave., Br. New Masses Costume} Ball Dec. 1 to Aid the The New Masses’ annual costume dance to be held Friday night, Dec. 1, at Webster Hall, 119 E. 11th St., will be of special significance this year.| Not only will the revolutionary} writers, artists and their friends gather to make merry at this affair, forthcoming appearance, about Jan. 1, of the magazine as America’s first revolutionary weekly. Funds raised sustaining fund which will make the success of the new weekly possible. Several unusual features are ar- ranged for the affair. There is to be, among the entertainment, a political circus which will have Roosevelt as a ringmaster and several clowns who will represent Hitler, Mussolini and others. Also, the first copy of the weekly New Masses to come off the press when it begins publication, to be autogra} by the Board of Edi- tors, which includes Jacob Burck, William F. Dunne, Joseph Freeman, Michael Gold, Langstoh Hughes, be auctioned off to the highest bid- der. Tickets for the ball are on sale now at Webster Hall, at the New Masses office, 31 E. 27th St., and the Work- ers’ Bookshop, 50 E. 13th St. | Stage and Screen “Mary of Scotland” To Open Tonight at Alvin; “Peace This week will see six new produc- tions on Broadway. A seventh play, “Tobacco Road,” may also open, but this is not certain, for no theatre has been set. The list follows: “Mary of Scotland,” Maxwell An- |derson’s new play, will be presented this evening by the Theatre Guild at the Alvin Theatre, with Helen Hayes, Philip Merivale and Helen Menken featured in thé cast, which also includes Stanley Ridges, Ernest Lawford, Ernest Cissart, Anthony | Kembele-Cooper and Charles Dal- ton. “The Scorpion,” a comedy by Ber- nard J. McOwen, will have its pre- miere this evening at the Biltmore Theatre, with Annette Margulies in the principal role. Rodney Ackland’s British play, “Strange Orchestra,” will open on Tuesday night at the Playhouse. The players include Edith Barrett, Cecilia Loftus, Valeria Cossart, Dwight Frey and Patricia Calvert. “Peace On Earth,” Play by George Sklar and Albert Maltz, authors of “Merry-Go-Round,” which was produced here last season, will be presented by the Theatre Union as its first production on Wed- nesday evening at the Civic Reper- tory Theatre. The large cast in- cludes Robert Keith, Victor Killian, Walter Vonnegut, Halliam Bosworth, Millicent Green, | Thomas C. Cooke, Ethel Intropidi, | Frank Tweddell and Donald A. Black. Lew Leslie's “Blackbirds of 1933,” Leslie, will open Wednesday night at the Apollo Theatre. The company is headed by Edith Wilson, Kathryn Perry, Brady Jackson and John | Mason. “Haywire,” a play by Kenn Jewett, |will have its premiere on Thursday evening at the Bijou Theatre, with Tom Powers in the leading role. Others in the cast include Shirley Booth, Elizabeth Love, Harold Ver- milyea and James Spotswood. “Laughter Through “Tears” In Third Week at Acme Sholom Aleichem’s Yiddish talkie, “Laughter Through Tears,” remains a third week at the Acme Theatre. The Soviet comedy has ben breaking all records of the house. The pic- ture, which was produced in the U. |S. 8S. R. by Wufku, has created wide- spread discussion in film circles and has been highly praised both by pub- lic and by press. |ACTION THEATRE NEEDS HELP NEW YORK.—The Theatre of Ac- tion of the Workers’ Laboratory The- atre needs comrades to help in meking costumes for their forthcom- ing production. Needle trades work- ers especially are urged to come down to help. For further informa- tion see Technical Committee of the |W. L. T., 42 E. 12th St. Auspices:—Friends of the Chinese People, 168 West 23rd St. Room 12. Adm. 18¢. Tuesday OPEN UNIT MEETING, UNIT 11, Section Lecture—"Role of Communist Party in the last election.”” 8 p..m, sharp. Haverhill, Mass. LECTURE, Entertainment and dance ‘at Eagle Hall, 189 Merrimack St. Max Weiss, District Organizer of YCL main speaker. Angellot's orchestra will supply music. Ad- mission yolintary. Auspices YCL, Novem- ber 29, at 8 p. m. Boston, Mass. WM, L. PATTERSON, MAIN SPEAKER— ILD Banquet and Dance. International Hall, 42 Wenonah St., Roxbury. Excellent food, music. Adm. 25c. Including. meal— November 29, 1933. — ANOT SAYS AGAIN, You MARKS MY WORD If but it will be a celebration of the! through the ball will go to swell the) Ashley Pettis and Jack Stachel, will | China like those by Mrs. Alice Hobart On Earth” Due Wednesday the anti-war) an all-colored musical show by Nat!. - | Dorfman, Mann Holiner and Lew The Struggles | All Other Recent Page Five of the Chinese Funds for New Weekly Soviets Told in Outstanding Book on Present-Day China | Agnes Smedley’ “Chinese Destinies” Surpasses Volumes Written by Americans on China By ALAN CALMER CHENESE DESTINIES. Sketches of Present-Day China. By Agnes Smed- ley. The Vanguard Press. $3.00. and as literature. As a chronicle of life in China today, it is perhaps the only bookful of realistic sketches in English depicting the white terror of the Kuomintang reaction and the revolutionary struggle of the Chinese Soviets. Unlike other American wo- Men who have written books on China, Agnes Smedley does not stand within the walls of the white settle- ments, peering down at the “Inferior” face through a lorgnette. She goes where foreigners fear {to tread Guided by the outlook of Leninism, she sees events from the point of view of the Chinese masses. The difference between “Chinese Destinies” and typical siudies of (the wife of an American merchant operating in that country) is im~- mediately apparent. presents an illuminating picture of such people in her sketch, “The Foreigner in China.” “The chief complaint heard everywhere from foreigners,” she writes, “is that the | Chinese fail to recognize that the | most important. thing in China is the life, property and welfare of the foreigners. The life, property and welfare of Chinese is never men- tioned.” Welfare of Fore! In another sketch included in “Chinese Destinies” she illustrates this by a description of an English officer who runs amuck in the sireets of Shanghai. “Nobody was threat- Uke a mad animal, constantly blow- ing a shrill police stle ich he held between his tee’ He struck everything Chir and women.” behind Smedley club of the law. “Are you of help?” e armed foreigne to her. “Don’t you know in danger? ‘These Chinese are ng up foreigner There is somethihg quotable in most every paragraph of “C Destinies,” something on every which reveals the livid character the class struggle in China. In the A in imperialist like “A Moving Picture and “Nanking”; storie: like “Less Than the Di Money and Fear Not Di is a breezy sketch, “Mosquitoes Turned Guerilla Warriors, with the illegal Chinese pre: and | a note on an ancient “Song of Suf- fering” that has been transformed into “a revolutionary song, a song retaining part of the original words - But the rest of it is a story of the revolution which the people built, but which was betrayed by the Kuomintang.” Some of ume, like “The Revolt of the Hunan Miners” and “The Fall of Shangpo” are epies of the struggle of the revo- lutionary Chinese masses. Social | studies of the rebellious peasantry like “Peasants and Lords in China” and “Among the Peasants of Kwang- tung;” character sketches of noble women revolutionists like Communist” and “The Dedicated stirring stories of the Chinese Com- munist movement like “A Red Arm and “The Five Years"—all of these belong to the imperishable literature of the international working class. They are written in a simple yet) distinguished style that makes the biblical poesy of Pear] Buck (whose This book is important as history | Agnes Smedley | ening him in any way, yet he dashed | the sketches in this vol-| “Shan-Fei, | of China coated r ds of thousan | Sugarc novels gobbled up in hun of copies in this country) appear |forced and affected. It is to be re-~ gretted that these sketches, gathered together in what is today an expen- sive volume, are inaccessible to most workers in this country. A Story of Soviet China Perhaps some small idea of the power and beauty of this book can be obtained by means of a bald sum- mary of one of these sketches. We | select “The Fall of Shangpo,” a story of Soviet China. “To a million Peasants of south Kiangsi the very name of Shangpo was a thing of evil. There were other walled cities just like it in Kiangsi and other provinces, to be sure, but this know- ledge gave no comfort. For within these city walls lived the great land- lords, the eighteen powerful families who owned the hundreds of thou- sands of mau of land around the hundreds of decaying villages.” “As \the homes of the great landlords were magnificent, so was it * but |matural that the villages were piles |of mud and stone held together by |rotten timbers, sides of rusty tins, and old dirty rags. The village Streets were open sewers in which | pigs and naked children with scabby | heads layed. Debt weighted upon sant families like the corpse jot dead centuries.” In the spring of 1929, the Red Army | of China marched toward the strong~ hold of Shangpo. When the land- lords learned of it, they immediately |lowered the rents of the peasants | and warned them against the coming “bandits.” The peasants soon learned |that it was not a bandit army; yet were fearful of joining it. Sup- White troops were sent ? Contented by the eir rents, the peasants e against their: land~ st the Red Army er had they departed, then < t back the old ants pleaded but when the ned forces of the now flocked | to € tandard in such num- lbers that it emed the earth had erupted and thrown up myriads of \desperate ragged men and women.” | Finally Sh: po fell, and the peas- |ants cried for the blood of the Jand~ \lords. ‘When the Red Army tried to take the prisoners into their own jhands, the peasants refused, claim- ing them as their own. ‘As they have slaughtered our brothers, so will we slaughter them!’ they cried’.” | “Six weeks after the fall of Shangno, delegates were elected to | go to the first All-China Soviet Con- |8ress in Shuikin . . . The broad- shouldered men stuck the little red banners deeper into the bundles, laughing, then lifted them at the jends of bamboo carrying-poles over their shoulders, and with enthusi- astic cries of farewell began their jong, slow rhythmic run that would take them over the ranges of the hills and mountains and through the valleys to far-away Shuikin. “In such a manner, by such means, in such strange times, did the peas- | ants and workers of Shangpo become “masters of their own lives.” - @MUSE DAILY, “Players terization: THIRD BIG WEEK OF NEW SOVIET FIL) “A work of dramatic art.” excellent charae-_ WORLD TELEGRAM | SOVIET YIDDISH COMEDY with English Titles, ACME THEATRE Unton SQUARE MENTS __ | “An engrossing and an interest- WORKER | !ng film.” MORNING FREIREIT | “Highly amusing screen effort.” N.Y. TIMES 20c 2 1 >m., Exc. Sat, Bon. & Holidays. Midnite show Sat. { THE THEATRE “ EUGENE O'NEILL'S COMEDY AH, WILDERNESS! with GEORGE M. COHAN 52nd St., West of Bro Matinees Thursday, Friday MOLIERE’S COMEDY WITH MUSIC THE SCHOOL ror HUSBANDS with OSGOOD PERKINS and JUNE WALKER Broadway and 40th Street, Matinees Thursday & Saturday 2:40 P.M. GUILD THEATRE EMPIRE THEATRE MARY OF with | HAYES ALVIN THEATRE GUILD Presents Evenings 8:20. Saturday 2:20. Brenings 8:40 MAXWELL {. ANDERSON’S new play SCOTLAND MERIVALE MENKEN B&nd St., West of Broadway, Evenings Matiness Thursday and Saturday 2:30, LITVINOFF and i COME, SEE and HEAR BULLITT SPEAK from the screen in special movietone interviews. Also latest soviet film-news. EMBASSY NEWSREEL THEATRE {18 stzxer ANY SEAT, 25e, ANY TIME AND BROADWAY JOE COOK in OLD YOUR HORSES A Musical Runaway in 24 nee Winter Garden ¥ «,.°° Eves. 8:30. Mates” ‘Thorsday and Saturday at 2:30 RKO ith St. & Jefferson i" St * | Now JEAN BARLOW ana LEE TRACY in “BOMBSHELL” Also “THE KENNEL MURDER CASE” with WILLIAM POWELL & MARY ASTOR ipae YOUNG and Laura HOPE CREWS in \“Her Master’s Voice” Plymouth jras’ mar’ Sea's Opens ¥*°- NOV. 29 st bor Ome THE THEATRE UNION present ‘PEACE ON EARTH” & new play by Goorge Sklar & Albert Malte '~GO-ROUND” authors of “MERRY. Civic Repertory Theatre, 1dth St. & Oth Ave. WA. 9-7450, PRICES: 300 600 $1.10, $105