The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 31, 1934, Page 5

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1934 ¥ gait Page 5 | WORLD! ——— By MICHAEL GOLD “OBERT FLAHERTY is undoubtedly one of the finest +U film technicians alive. More than that, he is one of the bitter tribe of predestined poets who cannot yield to temptations such as Hollywood offers, but must ex- press their own hearts. He has struggled mightily to be honest, and it has resulted in remarkable pictures like his “Moana of the South Seas,” and “Nanook of the North.” One must be grateful for the work of amy creator; there are too few of them in this dollar-worshipping capitalist world. But Flaherty’s newest picture, “Man of Aran,” now showing in New York, though it has been praised ‘so lavishly by the critics, reveales a fatal flaw | in his esthetics. Mr. Flaherty, it is evident, believes in the specious glamor of capitalist individualism. Too much eloquent rhetoric has proved to hm that the only epic subject for an aftist is a lonely man’s duel with nature. Today, this cult of the individual results only in decadence or falsity. One develops the ingrown morbidity of James Joyce and the Surrealists, or one has to shut the eyes to too many obvious facts. It’s a blind alley, this individualism. The reason is mainly economic. There can be no more Robinson Crusoes. There isn’t a corner of the world that isn’t caught up in the social scheme. In the smallest Kirghiz village the breath of Soviet emancipation is stirring. In the remotest African kraal, the natives work and die to pay tribute to one of the European imperialisms. And how about the monopoly trusts in America? Marxists believe in individuality, in the right of each man to the highest flowering of his ego. This will be possible only under Com- munism, in a classless society. Under capitalism, where the ego of the masses is suppressed, exploited, or as in the case of the rich, mutilated into abnormal patterns, it can never be possible. Travesty on Truth A truthful artist wants to portray & man, he is bound to touch upon social problems. How can you picture a worker or farmer if you leave out the all-important problem of his wages and mortgages? Or how can you ignore the financial basis of the lives of the waste- fully rich? Some artists, therefore, turn to the primitive, in the romantic hope that here mankind may still be found unspotted by social determinism. I am sure Mr. Flaherty has done this kind of thing as a form of escape. His Moana and Nanook were lyrical poems to nature, and praise of the beauty and heroism of the human animal. In his “Man of Aran” he has returned to this theme, of the individual against the universe. And as the brilliant young Irish Marxian, Brian O'Neill, points | out so ably in the current issue of the “New Masses” weekly, escape from the social struggle results in a travesty on the truth. . * . The Battle Against Nature ‘HE Aran Islands are off the west coast of Ireland, and have a popu- Jation of 3,000. A steamer calls regularly from the mainland; the people, have to buy things from there, and pay taxes for the upkeep of roads, the county insane asylum, etc. “They have ceilidthe, (dances and sing-songs); they discuss poli- tics and the world with degreés of sharpnéss; they go to mass; the priest takes his tithe from them and strives to keep their mind captive. But of all this, of the warm human relationships that are the out- stending feature of island life, there is no hint in Flaherty’s film.” ‘HIS is true. There are the great terrifying seas in Flaherty’s film, as they break on the rocky coast of the Aran Islands. The hero, his wife and his boy, battle like mythical figures against the dangerous surf and the rocks. A few villagers help them occasionally with the fishing, but vanish like a well-trained and anonymous chorus when- ever the real heroics are on. The family seems to live on a desert island. . . . The Market Relation S O'NEILL points out, knowing the Aran Islands intimately, Mr. Flaherty has been constrained, in his search for a Robinson Crusoe theme, to revive an old custom of the Aran Islanders, and present it as if it were true today. ‘The climax of the film is in a shark-fishing sequence, where the men capture, after a mighty struggle, a huge shark, whose liver is then boiled down to give them lamp-oil for the winter nights. “But,” says Comrade O'Neill, “Aranmen do not hunt sharks at all! It is herring and mackerel they fish for, and their catches are sold on the mainland. In other words, their life is a constant market relation. And the collapse of the market prices of fish, together with the inability of their out-of-date curraghs (canvas boats) to compete against the French and Scottish steam trawlers that fish the Irish waters, is making their livelihood more and more hazardous. It is many years since Aranmen sought shark’s-livers for oil. They buy kerosene from the mainland. Again, Carlyle’s cash-nexus.” Escape to the Primitive fe is an intersting example that proves the Marxist contention that failure to understand the social relationships results in @ fail- ure of art. Robert Flaherty is a great artist of the film. He is an intensely honest person. The bourgeois film world forbids him from truthfully showing social relationships, and so he turns to the primitive, in the hope that he can make an epic that will be above the class struggle. And he does not succeed. He has to avoid a story, a clash, because that would involve social relationships. So his picture bogs down into dull spots, and its general trend is toward unreality. It is a great pity. What supreme pictures of the working class this man Flaherty 4s equipped to make. If he should ever decide to give up this whoring after strange gods, and dare to work in the Soviet Union, we would find that we had another Fisenstein or Pudovkin. Is it too late for him to dare? Contributions received to the credit of Mike Gold in his Socialist competition with Jacob Burck, David Ramsey, Harry Gannes, Ann Barton, del and the Medical Advisory Board, in the Daily Worker drive for $60,000. Quota—s500. Original French text by | Evoexe Porter In March Time J.» THE INTERNATIONALE Masie by Preene Deorvrer Jes - tice thunders con-dem-na ~ tion, A bet. ter worlds in Song of the Revolutionary Working Class + vied Shall be the ba-man #3 FH v — ® THE INTERNATIONALE, new edi- tion published by the Workers Music League, 10 cents a copy. Reviewed by | CARL SANDS | | ‘E Internationale! | Loved and sung by what mil- | lions of workers! On the march in} | China, on the picket lines in Con- | necticut, deep in Hungarian coal mines, in a secret place in Fascist lands where the mere humming of it above the breath means detec-~ tion if not sure death, and in the Soviet Union, in broad daylight, on a stupendous industrial or farming Project, men and women and chil- dren together, on a hike, at a so- cial gathering in the Railway Workers’ Clubhouse, shouted by choirs of full, healthy, free voices— how it is hated and feared by the few thousands who still hold in their hands the slipping control of capitalist greed, cursing as they watch the steady, relentless swell- ing of the great masses whose voices second only to whose hands shall destroy the exploiters’ web and shall build the International Soviet that will be the Human Race! The timid liberal half blushes stand in his place, ‘The Ta + ter-national So - ——S Vi-et Shall be the hu-man racet i ERP We want no condescending saviors, To rule us from & judgment hall; We workers ask not for their favors, Let os consult for ail *To make the thief disgorge his booty, To free the spirit from the eel, We most ourselves decide our duty, We must deelde and do it well REFRAIN i #5 - No rebm hey How many on ‘The blessed sunlight still will et REFRAIN THE INTERNATIONALE half blusters his embarrassment as the singing marches pass, But the young Heutenant turns again in his mind to the lesson wherein it is taught what to do when the enemy's voices are heard singing the song across no man’s Jand— again, too, with a shudder, to that other page that tells what to do when his own troops ... answers back with the same song! Eugene Pottier, the author of the words, was born in 1616, a French worker, After the siege of Paris he was elected a member of the Commune. With the bloody defeat of the Commune in May, 1871, he was convicted of con- spiracy and was forced to flee to the United States. When amnesty was declared in 1880 he returned to France. Inspired by the glorious revolutionary struggle of the Com- mune, Pottier write, in June, 1871, in Paris the poem, L'Internationale. This and many othérs of his rev- olutionary lyrics were collected and published in 1888, a year after his death. Pierre Degeyter, who wrote the music, was born in Lille in 1849— also a French worker. During the 1880's he organized a workers’ chorus in Lille. In June, 1888, he wrote for this group the music to a shortened version of Communard Pottier’s revolutionary poem. The song was first performed on June 28th of the same year at a gather- ing of workers in Lille. From here it spread to all corners of the earth. fa 1921, at the Socialist Congress in Tours, Pierre Degeyter was of- ficially greeted as the composer of L'Internationale. In 1928, the Com- | to its Sixth World Congress, where he was given a tremendous ova- tion. The workers of. Moscow wanted him to stay with them. But the winters were too rigorous for the aged man and he returned to France, where he died, September Denis, near Paris, ies, inet E new edition of the Interna- tionale does not change the | melody or the words as known now throughout America through the Red Song Book; but a new piano | accompainment, | has been added. rangements hitherto available, but not difficult in any way. The | chords in the right le wthin the munist International invited him | 27, 1932. He was buried in red St. long in demand, | Tt is fuller in| harmony than the European ar-| average reach and the bass always progresses in octaves. The bass is of the definitely “marching” type— it keeps going. | One weary bourgeois musician | who looked over the score com | plained “It wore me out before I reached the refrain: ‘ ’Tis the final conflict.’"” But the comrades has- tened to assure him that the work- ers were stronger—they could not only keep going until they got somewhere but they actually en- joyed it and didn't care much of & whoop whether the weary bour- geois musician dropped by the way- side or whether some soft-hearted worker picked him up and carried him along. The cover design by Bill Siegel, is in red, black and white—three marchers, one white, one black, one yellow—stepping up militantly with banners aloft and the other co- horts in the middle and near dis- | tance. This new production of the Workers Music League «comes not a bit too soon. As has only too often been observed, new recruits often do not learn the tune—and still less, the words—quite as quickly as they might. Scarcity of music has often been advanced as an alibi. | But no longer! This is the fourth installment of the fifth article by John L. Spivak, called “Plotting the Amer- ican Pogroms,” appearing weekly in the New Masses. In the pre- vious parts, Spivak exposes the anti-Semitic activities of Con- gressman Louis T. McFadden of Pennsylvania, who attacked the Jews in a speech on the floor of the House, and had this speech distributed widely with the help of the Order of '76 and the Silver Shirts. In addition, Spivak proves that McFadden is just a ¢plain crook, who speculated in worth- less oil stock, and gypped the public through shady banking en- terprises. By JOHN L. SPIVAK Iv. ET us study this honorable Con- gressman’s business dealing a little more. “I do not want to bore the reader, who must by this time be convinced that the Congressman is crooked. McFadden had a swell racket. He ‘organized a company, took this |company’s stock and borrowed real cash from his bank—(the people’s money)—and gave in return a piece of paper endorsed by himself. Let me illustrate. He had the Plotting the American Pogroms I could go on like this almost in- definitely, but I think I have proved |that McFadden had a habit of get-| series on anti-Semitism | ting the money and leaving, the| tnited States—” paper with someone else. As a mat- ter of fact, a study of McFadden’s creditors who got stuck with the paper, shows a long list of Jews! It did not matter at all to Mc- Fadden whether it was Jew or Gen- tile who got stuck trusting him. It did not even matter to him thai those who got stuck were poor work- | ers in his own home town to whom he owed one and two dollar debts! When he ieft the people holding the bag, he left them good and proper. do not know what the honorable Mr. McFadden’s political future will be. I do know, and by now I hope a great many more people know, what his past and present are. Congressman McFadden is obviously a little nervous, not only about his rather shady past, but his present when he is in such intimate contact with organizations close to Hitler's secret agents in the United States. When I called on Guaden some weeks ago I told him that McFadden had taken a bribe and had been mixed up in other peculiar transactions. Gulden refused to be- lieve it and said that he would write and ask Mr. McFadden about it and inform him that I intended to publish such charges. | He had just thought to ask. | “The New Masses is running a in the “Yes, yes, I know.” “I'd like to interview you since you are the only one who brought up this subject in Congress—” “That wouldn't do me any good— wouldn't do any good,” he caught | himself, | “There are also some véry grave | charges against you and I think you should have a chance to answer them—” | “Oh!” There was silence at the jother end of the wire. Then, “I have nothing to say.” His suavity was gone. The voice was hard, cold. “Tl take @ chance on finding you in the district. Suppose we make it Wednesday—” “I don't know where I'll be. Good night.” The telephone clicked. The hon- orable Congressman had hung up. eae aay hy lero eines morning I appeared in the little town of Canton where the Congressman had con- ducted so many of his borrowings | for his own companies from his own bank on his own signature. His wife did not know where he was and hag no idea of where he could be. From other sources I learned that he was to be in Athens that night. When I got to Athens he had already spoken and left hastily, In-| “You looking for Louis McFad- den?” | I nodded. | “He's apparently trying to avoid | someone,” he whispered through the |corner of his mouth. “But you'll find him in Wayne county.” With that my mysterious inform- ant vanished. | ‘Wayne county was something like | }a hundred miles away—almost at | the New York and New Jersey | border and the farthest point of | his district in that direction. It would take at least four hours driv- ing to get there. I was tempted to |leave immediately but wondered | why I had been singled out for that | bit of information and I telephoned |to a man in Wayne county who} | would know if McFadden was ex- |pected that night. No, McFadden | was not expected. As a matter of | fact he knew that McFadden was} to be in Towanda—not an hour's} drive from Sayre—at six o'clock that night to see a man. | Why my mysterious informant | | wanted to get me off to the other! end of McFadden’s district, I do not! know. At any rate I went to Tow- anda‘but by the time I got there| the Congressman had vanished | again—this time into thin air, It was really funny—this vanishing |Congressmen who hopped from | place to place like a flea, trying to | escape answering questions. ES Re 3 Next week Mr. Spivak will pre- LABORATORY and SHO By P David Ramsey PAVLOV AND THE SOVIET UNION When Ivan Pavlov was 8 yea old on September 27, the Council of People’s Comm: rs sent him gree’ ings: “The Council especially not your inexhaustible energy in scien- tific oreativeness, the successes of which have deservedly placed your name in the ranks of the classics of natural science.” Accompanying the greeting was a@ decree announcing an annual award to be called after Pavlov, the best work in the field of And to prai: the qualifi- of young physiologists, five stipends of 500 rubles a month are to be granted to the most promising students in the field. In addition the Council of People’s Commissars granted a million rubles for the Pavlov biological station at Kol- tushi, and next year will publish the full collection of aviov's works, which have revolutionized pt ogy, and laid the foundation materialistic interpretation of human consciousness and human personality This special concern of the Sovie Union for Pavlov and his researches is by no means exceptional. Every scientist who is conducting funda- mental research, whether in atomic physics or dynamo design, receives large sums of money with which to conduct his work, the best instru- ments and as many’s assistants as his work requires. In the Soviet | Union, science is not the mistreated | step-child of big business. It is re- garded as an institution of the highest social value and as such is used for the benefit of the whole of Soviet society. Paylov’s case is an especia: teresting one, since it d false claim, peddled by enemies of the Soviet Union, that the gov ment supports only those scien‘ who fully accept its principles and tactics. He was given money, ap- paratus and other assistance at a time when he was an outspoken critic of the October Revolution. Horsly Gantt, an American pay- chiatrist who was a pupil of Pavlov, titude towards science ana underwent considerable tion sociery modificas it by one of During the period of are “There is a revol you so lat ide.” “What diffe in the popula: He has superv about his researc everyone can understand Thi: not the place to evaluate the v: amount of knowledge that Pavlov has given to us on how the Zo brain functions, nor ean we to the limitations of his w | which are the result of his mech At some other time rch. We sh e tribute of H. M world’s greatest iven us a most fr reoy the phenomena method that lie at the root of consciousness ful jcan be investigated in scientific terms and, through his example and the world wide movement that fole lowed, it has tremendously strength- ened the materialistic attack in the natural sciences.” It is this materialistic approach that the idealists fear, and at- counts for their bitter attacks on his work at the recent meeing of th British Association for the Ad- vancement of Science. National Minorities | Discussed in Stalin’s ‘October Revolution’ Writing on “The October Revolu- ion and the National Question” in tells how “he was greatly depressed | his book, “The October Revolution.” by the Russian Revolution, because Just off International Publishers’ he thought that the devastation of | Press, Joseph Stalin gives a valu economic life (caused by the rav-|able example of the Marxist ap- ages of the civil war) would ham-|Proach to an all-important phase per science for a long time.” ‘of the proletarian revolution—the Despite the hardships of the civil fight for the freedom of enslaved war years and widespread sabotage | M@tions and colonies on the part of many scientists, a Stalin introduces his study, which decree was passd on January 24,| first appeared in the Moscow ople’s | Pravda in November, 1918, with a 1921, by the Council of People’s * Commissars that provided for the pia eae gy tie fear Btn encouragement and support of Pav- 2% MRE REVGRNEROS 38 ae lov’s research. Gantt further notes | ‘elation to the national question. that “the Soviet Government—has has brad ace ine oe aniven tee given him full liberty to speak and ts en "ald Lait lead to the aboli- act as he pleases even when the ob- j:arsi CO 00 | z “rh ject of criticism is themselves.” oon Ni eng ye pat Rae, Tn 1930, the Soviet government | Old, coarse form of national op: organized an experimental biological | Ra uate dangerous form “of op- station named after Pavlov, and de- presioh » Stalin shows. ‘In carty= pealeiy eels sale Work. on: te ing on the imperialist war, eis | g y lands an | The full significance of the treat- ee {new enslavement of peoples, the Teht sovorded to Favioy. can only | Kerenaky government intensified be gauged if one contrasts it with ithe treatment given to German | “ther than solved the problem of solentists by the Nazis. We must |"#jjonel freedom. ous that also remember that under the/ tne jiberation of the toiling masses Ozarist regime Paviov lived in &| of the oppressed nationalities and state of poverty. Because there| the abolition of national oppres- | Were no proper conditions for his! sion were inconceivable without a work, he had to keep his experi-| break with imperialism, without mental dogs at home. Although he overthrowing’ one’s own’ national had attained world-wide fame, he| pourgeoisie and without the seizure was black-balled by the University| o¢ power by the toiling masses of St. Petersburg while competing | themselves. This became apparent for a professorship. At another after the October Revolution.” time. he was denied the chair of| stalin brilliantly demonstrates physiology at Tomsk University, be-| the world importance of the Oc- cause one of the Czar’s ministers | tober revolution. He shows how it wanted the post for one of his|“has broken the sleep of centuries pets. of the toiling masses of the op- The discrimination against Pav- pressed nations of the East and lov was mostly due to the material- drawn them into the struggle istic nature of his work, despite the fact that he was the son of a priest and himeelf religious. This mate- rialism brought him into disfavor not only in Russia, but also in England. In 1912, Pavlov was told by an English scientist that his work was not popular in England, because it was considered material- istic. After the Revolution the barriers that had prevented Pavlov from reaching the full fruition of his work, were broken down. His at- against world imperialism.” It “is the first revolution in the world that provided the workers and pea- sants of the West with a living and salutary example and urged them jon to the path of real liberation from the yoke of war and im- Perialism. ... “Thus the October Revolution, by establishing ties between the na- | tions of the backward East and the advanced West, draws them together into the joint camp of the struggle against imperialism.” TUNING IN 7:00 P, M.-WEAF—Pickens Sisters, Songs WOR—Sports Resume—Ford Frick WJZ—Amos 'n' Andy—Sketch WABO—Myrt and Marge—Sketch 7:15-WEAF—Gene and Glenn—Sketch WOR—Marion Chase, Songs WJZ—Plantation Echoes; Mildred rohestra WABC—Alexander Gray, Baritone; Elizabeth Lennox, Contralto 9:00-WEAF—Fred Allen, Comedian WOR—Footlight Echoes WJZ—20,000 Years in Sing Sink— National Phonograph Co. of Canton, quiries in the adjoining town of) When I called McFadden by long Sketch, With Warden Lawes Charles Dzaldowski . . $1.00 Pa. At different periods the Na-|distance last week for an appoint-|Savre, where his campaign manager sent evidence to show that Ralph WABGouer Blain Bil-oretch | © WABO—Nino Martini, Tenor; Roster Geo. Kuchank .. 1.00 tional Phonograph Company (his| ment he answered the phone him-, happened to be, met with the infor- | M. Easley of the National Civic | 7:30-weaF—Uncle ©: coneteh ae 9:90. WOR-ties AHA Abner tleebok Al Michaelson .. 1.00 own) borrowed money from the’ seit, mation that the Congressman was| Federation, the hundred percent eo Wiz-—John MeCormack, Tenor See sit Wath h.ccc... cs 8.80 pitta Rana Bene tt Cenicy. Oise ipitalyals wally Tdon'h know (Some PO oem Where. Right) BETOES | Coxnninatien walk Baritone Allen, Comedians Fretheit Mandolin Orchestra . 20.00 bank but the people's money) and) where Ti be. T'll be. out in ‘the |im, the midst. of a political ae pooner tuo ahak nee wokabance busie. Sota labia 9:45-WOR—Variety Mi Max Batya: etic. 1.01 Soe Oy, Mec ty) HE Dee gor an district campaigning so I won't be Daign, a Congressman bed watiahed! | is Wsz—Dangerous Paradise—Sketcn | 1°°00-WEAF—Lombardo jestra; Pat Previously received . Total to date $229.72 Trotsky’s “History” of Russian Revolution Refuted THE OCTOBER | REVOLUTION note endorsed by McFadden! this way McFadden got thousands upon thousands of dollars of his! depositors’ money from his bank and when he entered the petition for bankruptcy the depositors were left holding the McFadden signatures, but the money was gone! : Little Leftv eek —_—_—> This mae INDICATES” a HE aS By Joseph Stalin een eee ‘ idk Stalin analyzes the main periods in -er-- +, ee the Bolshevik Revolution since 1917! International Publishers, LaLanoLoRD ; and appraises its international signi- | 381 Fourth Ave., New York Birmsorry> — JOHN'S DELE- Aeance. I am interested in your publications e GATION PRO- % 1 and would like to receive your ESTING THe Speeches and articles written in , *httlogue and news of new books. i Euicn October and in the course of the Name af ON OF polemics with Trotsky refute the ! = i ipielabied, 3 HIS NEGRO historiens of anti-Bolshevism. 1 Address Setussye | NEIGHBORS CLOTH... ... $1.00 NTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS I $381 FOURTH AVENUE, ® NEW YORK, N.Y. : / a “HOWEVER, + UNCLE JoHN Frome RELIEr HAS Ccan't help you > able to see you.” “But you have an itinerary. Cer- tainly you must know where you'll be during the next few days.” “I don’t know where I'll be,” he repeated. “What is that you want to see me about?” For a while I thought seriously of reporting his disappearance to the police! Despite all the precautions the walked over to me in the hotel where I was haying a late lunch and whispered secretly: Congréssman had taken a man | | president, has been secretly dis- | seminating anti-Semitic propa- | ganda, holding secret meetings to stop the Jewish boycott of Ger- man goods and secretly reporting on the progress of his activities | | to George Sylvester Viereck, paid | | Nazi agent. | WABC—Boake Carter, Commentator 8:00-WEAF—Just Suppost—Piay, Mary Pickford, Act WOR—Lone Ranzer—Sketch WJZ—Cell the Wagon—Sketch WABC—Easy Aces—Sketch 8:15-WABC—Edwin C. Hill, Commentator 8:30-WEAP—Wayne King, Orchestra WOR-—Variety Musicale WJ2—Lanny Ross, Tenor; Salter with GIy IN“HERE PUP x THIS 1S A MATTER OF LIFE N'oeaTH / WHATS he OER OF COVERIN' UP Your DOS by del QUIET! WiLLYa? HERE COMES “THE HOME RELIEF INSPECTOR BNO WE RINT ‘59059 “To HAVE NO voxurtes | Barties, Narrator WJZ—Dennis King, Songs | WABC—Broadeast to and Prom Byrd Expedition; Warnow Orchestra 10:15-WOR—Current Events—H. EZ. Read | W5Z—Mme. Sylvia, Narrator | 10:30-WEAF—National Forum WOR—Variety Musicale WJZ—Denny Orchestra; Harry Riche man, Songs WABC—The Making of Ameritans— Gertrude Stein, Author 1p:45-WABC—Mary Eastman, Soprano | 11:00-WEAF—The Grummits—Sketeh | With “Senator” Ford WOR—Moonbeams Trio ‘WJZ—Kings Gpards Quartet WABC—Belesco Orchestra Contributions received to the credit of Del in his Socialist competition with Mike Gold, Harry Gannes, the Medical || Advisory Board, Ann Barton, |] Jacob Burck and David Ramsey, |} in the Daily Worker drive for $60,000. Quota—$500. Kurtzman .......... Derethy BH. Mayer || Arthur G. ..... Anon 1.00 Jack Corey . 2.03 Unit 19 See. 1 10.00 Freiheit Mand. Orch. 20.00 || Previonsly received . 18.60 Total to date ......$54.73