The daily worker., 1927-04-23
Cn1YgntEUentJ
By T. J. o'FLAHERTY.

- - . a.
beading books promises to become
Na popular indoor sport in this coun-
try before long if the authorities in
various parts of the country continue
TO suppress harmless publications. 1t
is true that some of the books should
be suppressed in the interests Of the
mental equanimity of certain Sec
ton Of the population. There is
ELMER Gantry" for instance. If /
were a preacher, man Of the cloth,
l would urge the authors deporUa-
ton on the ground that he was born
in Minnesota under false pretences
and therefore an undesirable citizen.
beading is an uncomfortable habit
AAfor those who read, as well as for
those who are written about. While
spending few happy weeks in Ber-
rien county Jail (Michigan) a few
years back, in company with several
other comrades we passed the time
pleasantly and instructively reading
books, magazines and newspapers. A
local pugilist who got into trouble of
a quite unpopular but not unusual
nature caught the reading habit much
to the amazement and horror of the
attending detective who shrieked:
"My God, so they got you reading"
Reading is habit-forming vice.
THERE is a delusion in existence
here in the United States that some
races are more addicted to reading
than others. The race from which l
have sprung may not be the greatest
book-consuming public in the world
but they are not as averse to burning
the midnight gas over a choice piece
of literature as is commonly sup
posed. And they have produced a
James Joyce much to their horror
1t must be admitted on the whole
that the Irish have not been encour-
aged by their spiritual overseers to
send theological ferrets prowling
among the spiritual rabbits in their
mental burrows.
DE that as it may l was more or
- less interested yesterday on seeing
sign over bookstore at 127 Uni
versity Place which seems to give
hope for encouragement. This place
is near branch of that gigantic ma
tional pawnshop known as the Morris
Plan on the corner of Broadway and
14th. The sign read: "The Jimmy
Higgins Book Shop" Gazing in the
window l was still more amazed. In
stead of seeing there "The Life of
Saint Patrick" or "The Story of the
Immaculate Conception" there were
books on economics, politics, biology,
historical works and fiction of the
kind that Boston policemen consider
inimical to their morals.
| DECIDED to drop in and see Jimmy
but apparently he was elsewhere.
So his manager replied to my ques-
tions and introduced me to his as
sistant manager who holds the fort
while the manager is at lunch. An
agreeable staff who know so much
about books that it is impossible to
leave this orderly, well stocked store
without purchasing something-if you
have the money. Whether you see
Jimmy or not can recommend his
book store to the readers of this
column. Jimmy Higgins is not a per-
son but an idea-Ed. D. w. What
of TIT. J. OFF,.
british propagandists in Shanghai
are successfully insulting the intel
ligence of the reading public by ex-
planning the split of Chang Kai Shek
with the Kuomintang as a vancouver
to save the face of the Nationalist
government owing to difficulties with
the foreign powers. A realistic mane-
ouver indeed! 1t is a rather serious
piece of diplomatic trickery for the
hundreds of trade union leaders who
are being beheaded by the mercen-
aries of General Chang Kai Shek.
The explanation of this cock-eyed
news" is that Chang is under the
tutelage of the foreign imperialist
experts who have advised him to con-
tinue to strut his anti-imperialist
stuff lest a sudden dropping of the
bostile phrases might leave him with
out corporal's guard of following
aneng the masses. But Chiang's
tricks are not fooling the Chinese
people. They are getting ready to
nete out to him the punishment
traitor deserves. The guns and
armies Of the imperialists will avail
him little when the mighty power Of
the Chinese workers and peasants
pours down on him like tidal wave.
THERE is serious financial panic
in Japan. So serious is the stu