The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-05-22
The Soviet Union in 1926 By VIM Foster

4 11C OOV1CU Y
The foIEotoing are extracts from pamphlet by
VIM. q. Foster on "RWssiGn Workers and Work
shops in 1926" The pamphlet toiU be on sale
shortly. 1t giceS a clear and Uivid picture of
the successful efforts of the toorking masses of
the Soviet Union to build up socialist economy.
The author Of the pamphlet, bauimg spent several
months in RUssiG, is toeU equipped to give the
readers of the Neso Magazine an interesting and
Instructive story Of present dag Soviet Russia.
A Revolutionary Trial in EkaternosIav.
TN the evening, after the cooperative conven-
ton, we proposed to pay a round of visits to
the Workers Clubs, which are playing an i'm
portant role these days in the Soviet Union. But
first we dropped in for an hour or so to attend a
trial of counter-revoutionist then in progress
As we approached the place we found a crowd
of at least thousand people striving for admis
sion. The trial was taking place in theater,
which was evidently chosen for it's spaciousness
The place was packed from pit to gallery. The
court was being held on the stage, the whole
being draped with red. Many play had been
shown upon this stage, but this time it was the
scene of an actual drama from real life
The defendants were four priest worker,
They had been recently arrested and we're ac-
cused of having organized progrOms against the
Jews and generally acting as murderous agents
Of czardom in personal---very. days. The evil
dence against them overwhelming. Wit
ness after witness testified against them, show
ing graphically how their villanous activities had
resulted in the death of many people, the Ekat
erinOslav pOgroms organized by them having
been among the worst Of their kind in old Russia
MI L
the damning stories that poured from the lips of
the witnesses. 1t was a vivid recital of revolu-
tionary heroism on the one hand and of counter
revolutionary treachery on the other. On either
side ofAthe prisoners stood Red Army soldiers
with naked swords. The massed crowd of work
ers listened breathlessly to the stories of the
murders committed by the prisoners. In the
early days of the revolution such rats as these
four would have been given short shrift and an
early firing squad; but now, with the workers
uncontested masters of the situation, they would
probably be let off with short sentences. We did
not remain till the end of the trial
From time to time trials of such murderers
and spies, who were a prominent prop of the
czarist regime, take place in various cities in
Soviet Russia, as fast as some chance or other
brings about the exposure of these vermin A
few weeks before, in Moscow, we attended the
trial of one Krott, a provocatuer in Irkutsk be-
fore the world war. At the same time, in the
very next room, two ex-czarist officers were being
tried and convicted of brutally numbering a sol
der in 1918. Little did these two worthless think
when they cold-bloOdedly shot down that peasant
lad Is years before that the day would come
when they would have to face a Workers Court
and make amends for their crime. They were
given two and three years apiece in jail The
workers, victorious in the revolution, are in
clined to be merciful even to such unspeakable
creatures now that their fangs are drawn and
they can do but little harm.
Workers. Clubs