davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17

tensity of feeling, exactness Of OBJ
servation, and depth of insight. 1t
has beauty, tenderness, wisdom; yet
it is nothing but the story of young
country couple, tenant farmers, who
struggle and suffer and fail, as mil
lion of the soil-slaves of America fail
ed last year. 1t is certainly an en-
during book, but l am not content to
have it recognized by the next gen.
Grafton. l want it to be recognized
now, so that its author can write
other books. Edith's husband is a
wage-earner, and she has two chill
dren to protect from capitalist Amer
lea; also, she is half blind. "Me, "
she writes, in letter not meant for
the public-"me, l am as discouraged
as wet caterpillar. For nearly a
year l have been taking an eye cure,
and although l have made a great
deal of progress, l am still a long way
from being able to read with any sort
of ease. Just think, for nearly a year
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
W Negro IN the Soviet Union

trip. This group was very much dis
appointed on finding that the Rus
slams were SO attentive to Hill. The
Russian students everywhere well
coined Hill as a comrade, and insisted
on his speaking, often asking for no
other speaker in the delegation.
Out in the wilds Of the Caucasus
one of the cars Of the delegation
broke down: and while they were
waiting to get started on the trip
over the mountains, group of cupi-
Gus peasants gathered around the
party eager to get the latest news
from America. The moment they dis
covered Hill in the rear of the car,
they crowded around him, and on
learning that he was an American
Negro, they began to ply him with
questions about the treatment Of
Negroes in America. Among others
the peasants asked: "Are Negroes
still lynched in American" "Can Ne
groes and whites intermarry DO
white and Negro students attend the
same schools and colleges ?" Every
where, according to Mr.. Hill, Russians
exhibited keen interest in the race
question and the Negro.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
By Upton Sinclair
By Burck

l have read absolutely nothing. My
daughter, who is now fifteen, occa-
sionally reads aloud little of an eve
ming and that is all. l am getting so
dead for lack of mental stimulation
that l sometimes wonder if l can ever
come to life again"
Having been myself at various
times both poor and i'll, l am aware
that fine words butter no literary
parsnips. / write this in the hope
that someone will not merely get
weeds" and recognize a proletarian
masterpiece, but will take steps to
see that Mrs. Kelly gets the help she
needs. She has another book under
way; and all my life 1 have been will
ing to do unconventional things to
save worthwhile book, my own or
another's. Great books are the seeds
of the future, and the most import
ant things we have in our world
Ito Be Comtinued.)
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
By THOMAS L. DABNEY.


THE contrast between the conduct
of the average American toward
the Negro and that of the average
Russian is clearly revealed in the ex-
perience which Richard Hill, senior
at Lincoln University, had during his
trip to Russia the past summer. Mr.
Ilil went to Russia as a member OF
Che second delegation Of American
Students.
White Students Object.
III conversation with Mr.. Hill re-
Gently the writer learned that his ex-
pcrienee with the white members Of
the delegation was, for the most part,
very discouraging. Some of the
whites objected to Hill as member
Of the delegation, and they tried to
have him displaced by white stu
dent almost until the day the delega-
ton sailed from New York. Mr.. Hill,
however, insisted in remaining on the
delegation, and with the help of the
better element in the delegation, he
succeeded in making the trip.
Tn disgruntled white students, who
objected to Hill, did all they could to
make him uncomfortable uring the
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17

THE most recent attempt of the Chi
nese workers and peasants to break
their chains has ended, for the mo-
ment in defeat. This is no new his
torical phenomena. But as sure as
the guns of the militarists spat out
their messages of death into the bod
les of the proletarian leaders Of the
workers and peasants, the Chinese
revolution will eventually succeed.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
xxx
A Friend In Need

THERE are other novelists who are
sticking to their jobs, and upon
whom my hopes are conferred. | be-
gin with one whom | know well, and
to whom cannot pay enough tribute.
Twenty-Five years ago she came to
be my secretary on farm near
Princeton a quiet, unpretentious
little woman, red-haired and bespec-
tacled, and glad of refuge from the
maulings of fate. She had been a
wage-slave of the Standard diction-
airy, and her eye-sight was ruined,
and her life a torment as a result.
When you got to know her you dis
covered that she could observe, and
understand what she saw, and her sly
sense of humor could become a weap-
on Of defense in case Of need. But
no one knew she was a genius--I
doubt if she knew it herself.
We took her to Helicon Hall, and
there she met Allan Updegraff, a
young poet, whom later she married.
Cup" was there as Sinclair Lewis's
chum, and those three had a little
table in our dining-hall, and doubtless
did no end of laughing at the queer
assortment Of humans about them.
1t was laboratory for writers-.-I
count ten who were then known or
have since become so. Edith and
"Up" parted, and she married work
ingman and went to live with him in
the tobacco country of Kentucky. So
we have one Of the classics of Amer
lean fiction, "Weeds," by Edith Sum-
mers Kelley.
I do not know of any quality which
a novel of workingclass life could
have which this novel lacks. It has
grace of style, dignity of manner, in
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
William Pickens Shows
Class Basis of White
Subsection of Negroes

white psychosis and theology has
for its purpose the sordid business of
one group or class living by the sweat
OF an economically subjugated
Negro, declared William Pickens,
field secretary of the National Asso-
citation for the Advancement of Col
ored People, before the Harlem Edu-
cational Forum, ITO w. 130th ST., on
the subject of "The Condition and
Prospect of the Negro"
"The color question resolves itself
primarily into the economic struggle
and only secondarily into the color
problem, he declared, after citing
the case of how the colored BARRIERS
monopolized their trade in the South
until the barber trade has become eco
nomically desirable and the whites
began to pass laws to protect white
women from Negro BARRIERS. "The
lot of colored people in the United
States is that of an economically in
ferior ella S with racial super
stition thrown in.
NEGRO capitalists have same out
look upon efforts for economic re-
form as the white capitalists"
"The ultimate solution of the prob
lem is really in economic cooperation
Of the white and colored workers."
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
Continued from Last Issue.)
XXXVIII
The Days Departed

THERE was another tramp poet in
that happy age. He wandered
over the country with bundle of
Rhymes to be Traded for Bread"
and he made strange ecstatic draw
ings of his native town, which was
going to become better than it was.
Being hungry for better America,
and for young poets to make it so,
| became a friend of Vachel Lindsay,
and cheered him up and up-like a
sky-rocket. We met in New York,
and it was a queer session; sitting at
lunch, he eyed me anxiously for a
while, and suddenly broke out, You're
disappointed, don't look the way you
thought | would" 1t was true in a
way, for Vachel doesn't appear the
poet, except that he has wild eye;
the rest of him might be any we'll
ordered young businessman.
l am disappointed nowadays, and
have told him so, because | can see
little purpose or meaning in the
Lhings he contributes to our highbrow
magazines. Long ago suggested to
MIN a theme for one Of his chants
the Soap-box. He promised to do it,
and years later | reminded him of his
promise and he told me that he had
written the poem; l had read it, and
hadn't known what it was about
Among my requirements for poetry
are that it shall lie within the limits
of my understanding! if it does not,
leave it for more subtle critics.
But / say of Vachel what | said of
Harry Kemp: what he writes now
does not alter what he wrote years
ago, and will not count against him
in the final reckoning. He has given
us one of our great radical poems,
the tribute to Governor Altgeld
"Sleep softly eagle forgotten
under the stone" And "The
Congo" is thing of glory, which
needs nothing else to support it. Very
probably, as Floyd Dell has pointed
out, its rhythm and spirit were de-
rived from Chesterton's Iepanto"
but that need not trouble us--al
poets have to learn their tricks, and
if there were no origins and influ-
ences, there would be nothing for the
compilers of doctoral theses to be
learned about.
Vschel Lindsay as man is worthy
Of honor. He has lived for his high
calling, and not soiled his name with
wantonness. He has earned a simple
living by lecturing and reading his
poetry to audiences. write of him
here as a comrade, and say only what
l have said to him personally when
we meet. | plead with poets, as with
all other writers, to make use of the
gigantic themes of our time, the So
cial struggles, and groupings of the
masses towards freedom. Also,
plead with them to write simply, as
the great writer's have nearly always
been willing to do.
And much the same l have to re-
port concerning another Socialist
poet, Carl Sandburg. got a thrill
out of his early Chicago stuff, which
| have failed to get from his later
writings. He is earning his living by
contributing to the Chicago Daily
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
By JAMES p. CANNON

The New York Times, the organ of
big business, is making it's annual
plea for contributions for Christina
to the 900 Neediest Cases." Other
capitalist papers and organizations
are conducting similar drives. The
men, women and children of the work
ing class who have been on the rack
of capitalist exploitation and are now
dropped into the abyss of misery and
poverty are chosen and classified by
these arch-hypocrites so their sancti-
monious appeal can be made to the
comfortable capitalists to soften the
bitterness of these few workers with
the Insult of charity and to salve their
own conscience by acts of "gen-
erosity."
This horrible farce is annually re-
peated in scores of other cities.
Xmas and Class War.
The militant Workers have nothing
but hatred and contempt for such APP
peals and drives. This year, there
fore, they are again following the
worldwide custom that has developed
in the ranks of the working class for
many years. 1t is the custom of rails
ing a special fund for the men in
prison for the labor cause and their
wives and children, of Transforming
the hypocritical spirit of Christmas
into the spirit of solidarity with the
class war fighters behind bars.
The International Labor Defense
has already started a campaign for a
Christmas Fund for the men in
prison, and their dependents who
suffer on the outside. The labor mill
tants throughout the entire country
are working to collect this fund. No
where has the appeal or the response
been made on the basis of charity.
That has been left to the harpies of
capitalism. Everywhere has been en-
phasized the duty of the men who are
outside toward the men on the inside.
Aid Class Prisoners.
The imprisoned fighters know the
value of the money that is sent to
them regularly by the International
Labor Defense, and especially the
Christmas gift Of $25 to each prison
err, $50 to each family, and SIS to each
child. And they appreciate even more
the feeling Of solidarity they get in the
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
A Christmas Fund of Our Own
ITO Be Comtinated.)

knowledge that the movement outside
is still interested and is still deter
mined to fight for their liberation.
The workers belonging to the l. l..
d. and supporting its work have not
forgotten them and their dependent
families.
The men in prison are still a part of
the living class movement. The
Christmas Fund drive of international
Labor Defense is means of inform
ing them that the workers of Ameri-
ca have not forgotten their duty to-
ward the men to whom we are all
linked by bonds of solidarity. 1t is
the Christmas drive of Labor and
must have its generous support!
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
Money Writes

News, and l understand our news
papers too we'll to expect him to say
much of Importance there, Just now,
as I revise these proofs, one of the
most popular of American journalists,
Haywood Broun, is separated from
the New York World, for the of
tense of speaking the truth about the
Sacco-Vanzetti case.
American journalism has devoured
one poet after another whom l could
name. l open Sunday paper and
find James Oppenheim writing about
psychoanalysis. | have no quarrel
with this subject, but l prefer Open
helm as the author of Bread and
Roses"
If we have single poet in America
who is able to live by his poetry alone,
l don't know who it can be, except
possibly Edgar Guest. Poets have to
recite, and give lectures-the wander
ing minstrel, as of yore. 1t is an
Improvement that the minstrel is not
drenched and storm-beaten, but ar
rives in taxi-cab, and has his berth
in the sleeping-car paid for by his
lecture bureau. But the fact remains
that a poet who has to travel with
the bourgeoisie, and be displayed be-
fore them, comes automatically and
unconsciously under the spell of our
system of mass production, which OPP
crates upon mems minds as we'll as
their bodies, and ordains that every
man shall look like tailor's adver-
tisement, and shall think like the
writer of the advertisement.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-17
WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST

" took the witness stand Thursday
in the senatorial investigation of his
Mexican forgeries and admitted that
he did not know whether the docu-
ments were genuine or not, but that
he believed some Of them were. The
suspicion that Hearst is the victim of \
mild form of lunacy may be diff
cult to prove, but that he took a lon%
chance in suggesting that four Uxi-
ted States senators took Gales money
"a chance only lunatic would take.
since senators are crazy like foxes
is now quite obvious. We shall wait
with more or less impotence to see
what happens to willie"
THE G. 0. P. may step into the
Queens sewer scandal, we hear.
This is not surprising. If there is a
scandal hanging around all dressed
up and with no place to go, you can
depend on the G. 0. P. to pick it up.
Juicy sewer scandals are it's favorites.
Since it happens that the democracy
also has crush on sewers there is
a good deal of rivalry. The logical
thing for both to do would to be to
try common ownership of sewer
graft. But apparently the boys can
not agree on the division of the
spoils. AS the anti-socialists say
"you cannot change human nature"
A FAMOUS last phrase: See you at
"a the Color-Light and Costume Ball
tonight.
IT. ]. O'ELA HERTY.
Evening star., 1927-03-25
Comments ON Estimate
of Roosevelt as Writer

From the Sioux City Sunday Journal.
Charles w. Ferguson, jr., expressed
the oninion in the Bookman that
theodore Roosevelt "bore the hall
mark of a genuine man of letters, and
had he devoted his life altogether to
composition ne would have gained for
himself a position in American ntera-
ture equaled by few other men," one
NAV wonder how much of this--if not
all of it's mere speculation.
Col. Roosevelt's reputation as a
writer was made because he already
had attained heights of prominence in
other fields of endeavor. At least it
NAV be said that he became the
famous writer after achieving fame at
other things. Just how far he might
have gone merely as Theodore Roose-
welt. private citizen, editors and pub
fishers might not be willing to say. for
that might, If revealed, challenge their
own judgment.
The Roosevelt style of writing was
most direct, like the man. 1t was
never elaborate. He rarely achieved,
or attempted, eloquence in expression.
No one would have accused him of
being a rhetorician. 1t is to be
doubted that Col. Roosevelt ever found
great pleasure in words themselves
save as Ln6y conveyed MS meaning.
Further, it is doubted that he discov-
cred, as some other men of letters
have done. the beauty, the music. the
poetry of language. He wrote much
as he talked, much as he discharged
his duties as police commissioner,
governor and President-straightf from
the shoulder and with no attempt at
the fine finish that would make a
ceremony of discourse. What con-
cerned Col. Roosevelt most in his
writing was to say what he had to
say and go on with something else.
Editors, publishers and critics may
insist all they like that the identity
of the writer means little, but it were
better to have the salt shaker close by
when they do. If. for example, Calvin
Coolidge showed a liking for literary
pursuits in preference to politics and
launched forth as writer, 1t would
be good wager at any kind of odds
that he should have no reflections.
Col. Roosevelt had no difficulty in
finding publishers for the reason that
they were hunting him instead. But
if he had been an obscure citizen with
the same literary ability that he pos
sessed his name might never have
been known beyond his own circle of
friends.
Evening star., 1927-03-25
"Boys Will Be Bows. g"

When fire destroyed a school build.
ing at Pierre, S. OAK, one boy, with
grin as broad as his face, ducked
under his teachers arm to rush to
the steps of the burning building and
throw his books inside" according to
the Associated Press.
With that gesture of childhood the
whole world must be in sympathy.
especially at this time Of the year.
when the great outdoors calls so
persistently with siren voice. Come
out, come out, come out!'
Perhaps there is not a boy alive
who would not wish to do the same,
nor a man who would not forgive
the elemental, and book learning" Is
sophisticated compared with fishing.
and hunting, and swimming, and
throwing. and leaping, and playing
"sheep, Sheep, Run" and hundred
other interesting diversions that might
be named.
School spells restraint, whole
some restraint. il Is true, but one
that irks the spirit of the boy as the
small bars of its cage do the canary
bird, or the iron bars the lion at the
geological park.
Education is well established, be
yond the power of most boys to break
b& II 10 constantly undergoing nuN
Evening star., 1927-03-25
Advice on Walking.

Edward Payson Weston, the walker,
speaking at a luncheon given him,
Expressed the opinion that business
men should make ii a point to walk
at the rate of four miles an hour y
The report does not quote Mr.. Weston
as saying how long the business man
should keep up that speed. Perhaps
II he had told his thought he would
have said that business men should
walk four miles an hour for four
hours day, and after adequate train
ing should walk from New York to
San Francisco every few months.
He would probably advise business
men to lay up their automobiles, boy
colt the street cars and give up bust
ness If it interfered with walking.
Mr.. Weston is eighty-eight years
old, and when seventy he walked
from New York to the Pa
citic Coast and back and declined
all offers of lift along the way.
The venerable gentleman is an en-
thusiast on walking.
Some business men will resist the
suggestion Of Mr.. Weston. They will
continue to take OH fat and trust to
Sunday golf to save their figure. To
walk at four miles an hour from the
house to the office, or even for two
blocks, would make some business
men puff hard. And with warm
weather coming on and the street
shade trees coming down, there will
be no rush of business men to take
Mr.. Westons advice or to follow in
his footsteps.
Mr.. Weston, because of his ex-
perience. might tell mankind how to
walk without being knocked down by
an automobile. He walked across the
continent without having his skull
fractured. An extraordinary man,
Most of us who believe in walking
because it aids health and saves car
fare find it hard to walk two blocks
without having hairbreadth escapes
or being carried to the hospital.
Evening star., 1927-03-25
Intolerance.

With the adoption of an ordinance
which will make the public wearing
Of knickers by women a felony, Col
lingswood, n. j., has given up all right
to be adjudged a progressive, modern
and tolerant town. To preserve pub
lie peace and good order this ridicu-
lous regulation provides that a female
who wilfully, maliciously and feloni-
ously wears knickers will be subject
to arrest and a maximum fine of two
hundred dollars or sentence of
ninety days in jail
1t is one Of the surprising things of
this new age of supposed tolerance
and liberalization Of thought that
such an ordinance could have the
support Of an intelligent community.
The chief proponent of the measure
In Collingswood announced that he
had received his inspiration from the
Old Testament, but without specify
ing the source.
Knickers on women will find little
point. They are homely and do not
tend TO enhance the attractiveness Of
the wearer. But who is there besides
q few bigoted. tyrannical, intolerant
Collingswooders who can say that for
woman to wear knickers is a
felony? Such regulations show a
spirit and an outlook divergent from
all the tenets of American freedom and
tolerance, and should be the signal
for a general exodus from this New
Jersey town.
Evening star., 1927-03-25
able source of real information on this
most interesting subject

able source of real information on this
| most interesting subject.
March. according to old gardeners
is always a month to be regarded
with suspicion in this particular To-
cality. There is nothing sure about
March, whether it comes in like a
lamb" or like a lion"
Rushing bulbs and seed into the
ground during this most tickle of
months will gain but little upon
neighbors, and may result in some
damage. especially if severe weather
follows the upcoming of tender shoots.
The middle of April is perhaps a
standard time in Washington to be-
come excited" about the garden.
But even then is too early in many
years. Rose growers declare that one
of their hardest problems is to pre-
vent their customers from demanding
bushes prematurely.
Evergreens and shrubs of various
kinds may be put into the soil profit
ably at this season, but patience is
demanded with other paintings. Sum
mer is long, and there is plenty of
time. Watch the trees.
Evening star., 1927-03-25

Wise educators will look upon the
action of the South Dakota boy as
expressing the suppressed desires of
boys throughout the land. They want
to throw their books away.
Why?
AS long as a normal boy wants to
cast his texts into the fire there is
something wrong with education. This
wrong" may not be q very drastic
one, but it is there, and the whole
hearted gesture of the Pierre youth
shows il.
Why cannot education be made so
interesting, so compelling, so natural,
that boys-yes, even boys-would
naturally run toward it. rather than
away from it? This is the dream of
the "old boys and of real educators
everywhere.