The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-11-05
"STICK TO YOUR LAST!o

THE New Masses is not-and expects it to be
Communist magazine The New Masses on the other
hand is not expected to be, but has shown tendencies
Of becoming anti Communist magazine.
The November issue illustrates this point. Issued
special number for the tenth anniversary of the Boil
shevik revolution the magazine contains an attack
certain fundamentals Of Marxism-Leninsm by Max
Eastman and attack the workers dictatorship by
H. N. Brailsford.
If the New Masses posed as liberal magazine, pur-
porting present both sides of the Russian Question:
the situation would be different 1t has, however
peatedy issued manifestos procaiming itself frankly
radical magazine of art and letters"
In carrying articles like Eastmans and Brailsford's
has steadily tended to become less and less maya
zine of art and letters and less and less radical 1t
has become sem-potcal magazine and its politics
have often proved myopic and dangerous to the Com
munst movement,
The publication Of Eastman's ceverly-wrtten arti-
ces not only harmful to the general which
the New Masses aims to further, but distinctly
side of the province of the magazne-uness of
the magazine has of late taken the whole world its
province.
Eastmans article is in the first place an attempt to
prove that Marxism (Which he distinguishes from Lenn-
sm) completely ignored the role of what Eastman calls
engineering" and Communists call practice" and
subimely by waiting for history to unro itself in the
form of Communist society
In the second place, Eastman attempts to prove that
Leninism (Which he distinguishes from Marxsm) COM
petely discarded the theory of historical rateriasm
holding that revolution is the business of small group
of inellectuals who by mystical process draw it out
of the thin air.
Eastman perverts both Lenn and Marx in making an
arbitrary distinction between Engineering" and his
torcal materialism. He does not choose to that
Marx like Lenin makes tactics (engneering) integral
part of his theory of class struggle that Lenin tho
living in the age of imperialism instead of living at
early stage of capitalism, careful in facing
the problems which confronted him to divorce
action from theory that Lenn in his mature writ
ngs made his engineers" integral part of the work
ing class movement and not group of professionals"
directing revolution from above.
Brasfords article is less dangerous than Eastmans
because it is papably ridiculous The Russian
tolerate dictatorship, he says, because they il
terate, suffered under a czarist despotism and
perienced of the blessings of British paramenar
ansm. (Such for instance, the Baldwin govern
ment displayed in the Emergency Powers Act during
the general strike, etc.
The effect of Braisfords article is somewhat neu-
traized by the leading article by Joseph Freeman de-
scrbing the achievements of socialist construction in
the Soviet Union in the ten years since the Boshev
revolution. The article appears review of the
American trade union delegation report
Other features of the magazine include an article on
John Reed by Michael Gold that does neither justice
Reed credit to God article the Soviet movies
by Ernestine Evans; excellent design "a draw
ing of Lenn) by Hugo Gelert, and clever review of
the American Caravan by Genev'eve Taggard.
The sins of the New Masses are essentially the re-
suit of its failure to "stick to its last" If the New
Masses confined itself to sociaterary studies of min
ing towns, John Roach Straton, the East Side Calvin
Coolidge the Elks, John L. Lewis etc. and stories,
poems and pictures rooted in American life and dealt
with from radical point of view it would not only be
better magazine of art and letters" but would be
much valuable to the labor movement (Which, l
understand, the New Masses wishes to serve).
HARRY FREEMAN.