The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-01-20
Copyright, 1926, by Upton sinolair,>

Annabelle had put Bunny beside
her, so that she might protect him
from assaults. Now she started
telling him about her new picture,
"a Mothers Heart" Such sweet,
old-fashioned story. Bunny would
call it sentimental, perhaps, but the
women would just love it, and It
gave her fine part. Also Wee had
a clever scenario for her new pic
ture, "The Golden Couch. Quite
fetching title, didn't Bunny think?
And all the time, above the soft
murmur of Annabelle's voice, Bun
ny heard the loud noise of John
Groby blessing the Legion. Bunny
longed to ask him what the veteran
would say to the "Ohio gang, steal
ing the funds from their disabled
buddies?
Someone mentioned another stunt
ting up censorship of moving pic
lures. One Angel City theater had
started to show a German film,
"The Cabinet of DR.. Caligar," and
this Hun invasion had so outraged
the Legion men they had put on
their uniforms and blockaded the
theater, and beaten up the people
who tried to get in. Tommy Paley
laughed-the courage of each OF
those veterans had been fortified by
a five dollar bill, contributed by the
association of motion picture pro-
ducers. They didn't want foreign
films that set them too high a
standard
Then Schmolsky. He was too fat
to comprehend such thing az
irony, and he remarked that the
directors we've mighty damn right.
Schmolsky, a Jew from Ruthenia,
or Rumelia, or Roumania, or some
such country, said that we didn't
want no foreign films breaking in
on our production schedules. An
hour or so later Bunny heard him
telling how the Hollywood films
were sweeping the German market
it wouldn't be three years before
we'd own their business. "Vae vic
tis!" remarked Bunny; and Schmol-
sky looked at him, puzzled, and
said, "Huh?"
VIII.
From such week end Bunny
would return to Angel City, and ac-
company Rachel to meeting of the
Young Peoples Socialist League.
In an obscure hall twenty-five OF
thirty boys and girls of the working
class met once a week, and read pa
pers, and discussed problems of pol
ities and economics, the labor move.
ment and the Socialist party. Ra-
chel had grown up with this or
ganization, and had prestige with it
because she had got college edu-
cation, and because she brot Com
rade Ross" with her. The most
thoroly "class conscious" young, peo-
pie could not help being thrilled by
a spectacle so unusual as a million
aire who sympathized with the
workers and had helped to bail out
political prisoners.
With these young Socialists, as
with the old ones, it was right wing
versus left; everybody argued tao
tics, and got tremendously excited
The Communists also had an or
ganization, the Young Workers
League, and the two rivals carried
on sniping operations; sometimes
they held formal debates, and young
people would jump up and down in
their seats, and carry on the contro-
versy in their homes and working
places for weeks afterwards. It was
Moscow versus Amsterdam, the
Third International versus the SEQ
ond, the reds" against the "pinks,"
as the mild Socialists were called.
And this same struggle was going
on in the soul of Bunny. Paul Wat
kins would pull him forward, then
Rachel Menzies would haul him
back; and his trouble seemed to be.
he was Of the opinion Of the one he
talked with last He was 80 prone
to see the other fellows point OF
view, and lose himself in that. Why
couldn't he have a mind of his ownf
Theoretically 1t was possible 10
bring about the change from Capt.
talism to Socialism by peaceable,
one-step-at-a-time methods and lay
out the steps. But when you came
to take the first one, you confront
ed the fact that the capitalists
didn't want to be evolved into So
cialism, and wouldn't let you take
any step. 1t was fact that so far
they had outwitted the workers at
every turn; they had even forced
the government to retrace the steps
which had been taken in the emer-
gency of war. It was also true, as
Paul contended, that the capital
lists would not permit the workers
to be peaceable: they resorted to
Violence every time, and set aside
the laws and the constitution when
II suited their convenience.