The New York herald., 1921-12-26
DESCRIBING HUNGER
BATTLES IDLE MAN
Other Speakers in Community
Church Tell of HObOing and
Hunting for Work.

More than a dozen speakers, well fed
on Christmas dinners but still full of
grievances. mounted the platform of
John Haynes Holiness Community
Church, at Park avenue ana Thirty
fourth street. last night and denounced
everything from the wealthy to the
Christmas spirit.
Taking the speakers at their word,
they included unemployed workers who
wanted jobs. Communists. Socialists.
hoboes, Nihiiists, philosophers, poets,
ex-convicts and simple members of the
great unwashed." The occasion was an
open forum conducted by Mr.. Holmes
and the Unemployment Council OF New
York The purpose. 1t was explained
at the beginning, was to find out some
thing of the cause OF unemployment
and to decide what was to be done
about it. The church was crowded with
persons OF widely differing appearance
who found much to laugh about and
much to applaud
First Mr.. Holmes spoke briefly and
then produced four speakers who had
agreed to tell some OF their experiences.
The first one, in trying to describe hum
ger, became baflled and sat down with
the declaration that he couldn't do the
subject justice.
The next speaker, a young man known
as Brother" Kaplan, who has addressed
several meetings of the Workers League
at open air meetings held recently, told
of his experiences as a tramp and
blamed the trouble on "the abominable
capitalistic system"
The next one was plain "Jim" Cod
frey. He had q grievance. He said
that he was out of work. that he had
some relatives to support and that he
couldn't get job. He didn't know who
To blame for 1t.
II remained for the last of the regu-
lar speakers, Abraham Siegel. to intro
duce philosophy into the meeting. Quot
ing from Karl Marx and reciting from
Arturo Giovannetti, he said amid ap-
plause:
'srhe only crime is an empty pocket.
I have worked hard and long and it
never got me anything. There is a
theory that a man must prove his right
TO survive And to do that he must not
ask FOR things He must go out and
take what he wants. either individually
or collectively. just as the masters take
what they want"
Then the meeting was thrown open.
There was a rush for the platform. It
was all Mr.. Holmes co1ld do to get the
crowd to speak one at a time. Some
spoke brokenly they were timid. and ex-
planned sorrowfully that, though they
had been well fed yesterday, they would
be hungry again to-day. Cthers made
some pointed remarks toward the better
dressed persons in the audience. More
quoted great streams of poetry. Some.
though poorly dressed spoke glibly of
Nietszche Anatole France, Bergson, and
otherwise proved their erudition.
"The A. f. of L." he said. 'is a self
protecting. self-perpetuating organiza-
ton, and it's hand is against all who op-
pose It's ideas or who want to change
in any degree the high wages and fancy
conditions which It's members enjoy. 1t
is as exclusive toward labor as the white
palace aristocrats are toward society.
That is why l have always been IN
terested in the l. w. W.. because ii is
based on democratic principles and
every worker lis entitled to membership,
whatever it's other faults may be-"