The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-09-12
THE WORKERS
\ TURN TO SPORT
By MARY REED.

Inc uiSpOSdI Oh LuG AGIGSdIlOllS IIIdG
have come to Moscow Tor the Red
Sport Week. Tall blonde Norwe-
gians, strong blue-eyed Finnish COM
rades, the women wearing their ma
tive costumes, swarthy athletes from
Germany and Czecho-Slovakia, where
the sport movement has been highly
developed, eastern and southern Rus
sian types-aII in Moscow for the
first time-all eager to absorb as
much of it as they can in their short
stay here.
Powerful Workers.
While their contact with sports in
the U. S. S. K. has increased their
enthusiasm for building up stronger
workers sport movements at home,
their contact with the constructive
work of the Soviet government has
opened their eyes to the fact that
the development of the sport move
ment here has been made possible be-
cause the power is in the hands of
the workers instead of in the hands
of the capitalists. AS one German
Social Democrat expressed it to me,
after seeing the Soviet health work
in operation: "At home there are
two classes Of doctors that work.
ers can go to: doctors who are paid
by the employers, and whose interest
is to give the minimum help neces-
sary to keep the workers at the ma
chimes, and private doctors who make
their living from the sickness of the
workers. and whose interest is to
have them keep on paying. In Rus
STA the doctors interest is to build
up the health of the workers"
New in Norway.
In Norway the workers sport
movement is still young, but in four
years the number of workers organ
lied in sports has reached $4,000
(about 20 per cent Communist), as
against 10000 in bourgeois sport or
CARNATIONS. The gain last year was
$500, and greater gain is expected
this year. These figures are signifi-
cant because in Norway every mem
Der Of workers sports organization
must be union member condi-
ton which is as yet only an ambi-
ton in other countries. And in Nor
way the bourgeois sport movement is
subsidized by the government. At
tempts are being made to obtain a
subsidy for workers sports, and it
IS hoped that the next parliament will
t'ass such an appropriation, but the
affiliation Of their organization with
the Red Sports International will, of
course, be counted against them.
Strong in Finland
In Finland the sport movement is
very strong, and closely linked up
with the political situation. Every
small town has it's sports clubs, and
as Finnish comrade puts it: "There
are twice as many sport clubs as
churches in Finland" The Workers
Sports League has a membership of
10000. Between seven and eight
thousand are women and over 5000
are children. 1t has three sports
paprs. The General Sports League,
which is the bourgeois organization,
is numerically much stronger, but
has recognized the superiority of the
workers organization by. making
constant overtures for cooperation,
which have been rejected by the
Workers League Both are officially
subsidized by the state, though the
proportion going to the General
League is much higher.
Formerly there was only one
organization, the General Sports
League, dating back to 1902, and
gaining impetus after the 1905 revo-
luton when growing class conscious
ness increased all forms of workers
activities. Since then the general
tendency was more and more to the
right, taking on a definitely bour-
geois character during the civil war
in 1919, when the Communists were
driven underground, and the left
wing was expelled from the General
League, which was then reorganized
by the white guards. At once the
Workers Sports League was organ
lied by the left wingers. and has
been growing steadily ever since.
While the general sentiment of the
new league remained left wing, a
right wing tendency developed, which
succeeded in capturing the convention
last June through the familiar meth
DDS Of recognition Of paper locals
and exclusion Of left wing delegates
from the convention. A hot fight is
now on in the league. This month
a referendum vote for secretary of
the league resulted in the election
Of a Communist, which was slap
in the face to the new right wing
leadership.
May Change Affiliation.
The Workers Sport League in Fin
land is affiliated with the Lucerne
international (Reformist), but since
the refusal Of this body to grant the