New-York tribune., 1919-05-05
tInrl1ythmical Verses About
sRebs' and 'Debs' Feature
of Outing Programme Of
Socialist Sunday School
Dandelions and Doggerel
They Are Nice Children, Too,
Even if Teacher Believes
in ga Little Violence"

The stiffness of perfect May morn
on the banks of the East River yester-
day when a Socialist Sunday school
held its weekly meeting there and sang
the songs that go to make up the musi-
cal repertory of the "Reds."
The class itself was made up Of
charming children-good to look upon
and mentally keen. But there was a
certain incongruity between the child
ish way they searched for dandelions
and the extremely sophisticated way in
which they sang numerical odes to the
red flag, the international party and
the brotherhood Of man. The rebel
song was sung within sight Of the Star
Spangled Banner, which waved from
Riverside Hospital, across the water.
1t was supplemented with further
doggerel entitled "Kid Comrades":
"We'n sing YOU a song.
We'll not make 1t long.
Well sing of the Kids
In our dear Sunday school.
They're you1g and they're bright
Ailu luty it l'di iiilit " MIN ilhc IilOico.
"They call us yor%g rebs.
They say we're like Debs.
We hope it is true, sir,
For that is our aim.
we like to be seen in line with Eugene
For his name is a name OF good fame"
"Do you ever by chance pay defer
ence to the American flag or sing
American national songs? ?" Tribune
reporter inquired Of the Sunday school
teacher.
"Never- any chance" he en-
phatically replied eve are not al
lowed to hang the red flag up, but we
may have it in our possession"
The Socialist Sunday school at SAT
Prospect Avenue, which was having an
airing at the East River yesterday, is
not in a fourishing condition. It's
teachers, for the most part, have de-
serted it. 1t appears to be falling to
pieces. Not so long ago there was a
large attendance. Yesterday the rooms
where the classes usually meet were
undergoing repairs, so the children
went gaily forth for outdoor instruc
ton. 1t was impossible to have the
usual routine under the circumstances,
so "song fest" developed.
"l'm Socialist. but I'm not an ex-
tremist," confessed the teacher of the
class. "No, you couldn't rightly call
me q Bolshevist, but I do believe that
force and violence are necessary in
some instances. Take the strikes as an
example. They're righteous enough.
And force is necessary when the strik-
ers are up against the thugs"
UW h0 hv 40 tboN ~
'Secret Service men, detectives and
the 'scabs' that are put in to break
the strikes"
"Then you do believe in violence ?"
eyes, of kind But l don't believe
in going too far, and # it turns out
that those bombs were sent by Boshe-
visits the Socialist cause is going to be
hurt tremendously. People are only
too ready to jump at anything like
that to discredit them.
ITS ridiculous what the public
schools are teaching the children, but
We'll never be able to make much head
way against them until we have all-d day
Socialist schools.
81 have a scheme for calling con-
vention of 1000 Socialist teachers
from all over the United States and
getting each to subscribe IS or so to
build a school. 1t will be properly
graded and arithmetic, spelling and
so on, will be taught exactly the same
as in the public schools, but history
will be given its proper angle"
bright little Jewish girl escorted
The Tribune reporter to the subway
and chatted freely about her lessons
and what she learned in Sunday
school,"
Every one in my house is Boil
shevlst," she confided. "They're nice
people--the Bolsheviki. Fathers one,
and he's Socialist, too. He thinks
they're the only right kind of people,
just love being Bolshevist."
But the child, when questioned. had
not the faintest idea what a Boil
shevist was.