The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-11-05


honesty, humility and sobriety Of the
common man; he may even go to the
slums and show US the ways Of Mrs.
Wigs, her patient frugality and
beautiful contentment in that state
of life to which it has pleased God
to call her. In any OF these fields
the author, if he is worth his salt,
may be 'entertaining'-and so the
royalties will come in. If there is
any one whom this does not suit
who is so perverse that the bourgeois
do not please him, or so obstinate
that he will not learn to please the
bourgeois-we send after him our
literary policeman, the bourgeois re-
viewer, and bludgeon him into 81
lence; or better yet, we simply leave
him alone, and he moves into q gar
ret.
"These are the conditions under
which our literature is produced, and
which account for all the qualities in
it which Gertrude Atherton has per-
ceived but cannot explain. A better
witness than Gertrude Atherton could
not be had, for she herself is one of
the most bourgeois Of our writers. We
have no writer more readily i'm
pressed with bigness than Gertrude
Atherton, more ready to accept it as
greatness. 1t was the opinion of Shell
LEY that poets are the acknowledged
legislators Of mankind; in Gertrude
Atherton's opinion the Rulers of
Kings are not poets, nor are they
prophets and saints, with their visions
and aspirations; they are simply the
extra-heavy bourgeoisie. Gertrude
Atherton measures the greatness of a
man by the standard of the Indian
chiefly the number of squaws he
has; she knows nothing of the facts
Of life which make it true that one
woman can be more to man than ten
women can possibly be-which simply
means that she is not acquainted with
the phenomenon of spirituality"
Thirteen years passed, and Gertrude
Anterior, horror stricken by the war,
published novel called "The White
Morning" dealing with an imaginary
revolution in Germany. l had my own
magazine then, and reviewed the
book, pointing out an interesting sign
of the times: for the first time in her
life this novelist was willing to APP
prove a revolt against an aristocracy.
But her prophesy was unscientific.
"The heroine is a rich German lady,
/ Oh Oh IL,
is in violation of an elementary prin-
, ciple of revolutionary economies
Without meaning to be dogmatic, |
will venture to say to Gertrude Ather-
ton: When the revolt in Germany
comes-and it is very nearly due
you will not see rich German women
killingLich German men; you will see
rich German women killing poor Ger
man women, and calling on rich Ger
man men to help" That prophcsy
was made in June, 1918; and the
Spartacist revolt came year later.
welcomed Gertrude Atherton as
new recruit to the ranks of social
reconstructors. But alas, President
Wilson began his private war on the
Russian revolution. and ] began my
war on him, and Gertrude Atherton
flew into towering rage with. me,
and wrote NE that / was "no better
than Bolshevik," and she would have
nothing more to do with me. Sc even
wrote an article for that most odious
! of publications, the "Natinal Civic
Federation Review" attacking me for
having used her favorable opinion of
Jimmie Higgins" after / knew that
she disapproved the ending of the
book. That had happened by accident
the opinion had already been pub
lished, and was reprinted as matter
Of office routine; really | thought |
ought to have had request to cease
using it, instead of slashing in Ralph
Easley's snarl-paper.N
More years passed, and | ran into
Gertrude Anterior at dinner of the
?. E. N. Club in San Francisco. 1t