The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-01-03

My critic says "Then on the same
page he writes Of the spot where
jamestown, Va, stands today
jamestown was destroyed $50 years
ago, and even the spot can hardly
be recognized today" One may think
that this is small matter. l think
so myself, but MIR. Oneal insists on
making a big issue of it, and seeks a
chance to show that even he is not
as faultless as he thinks. He COM
ments: "The latter slip might be par
doned, but we are dealing with a
cult that has found perfection in all
fields of knowledge and the cultists
are legitimate game for u.s."
Now let us see what happened to
jamestown. 1t is true that PSI
years ago (1676) jamestown, Va,
was burnt to the ground by Bacon
that it might no longer hafbor the
rogues," chat is, such tyrants as
Governor Berkeley. But it was i'm
mediately rebuilt and for % years
more remained the capital of Virginia.
Then once more it was almost COM
pletely destroyed by fire, and in 1893
Williamsburg was made the state
capital. jamestown was left to
dwindle and perish. aBut in 1900 the
Association for the Preservation of
Virginia Antiquities bought it and
with the help Of the government has
built -sea-wall and saved the relics
from further destruction. In 1907
the jamestown exposition was held,
which attracted the attention Of the
entire state.
But our historian, Oneal, cannot
even find the spot" in his excite
ment. He does not know that after
the destruction in jamestown in 1876
it was rebuilt, and that its ruins have
been preserved, and therefore it
should be very easy for such promi-
nent historian as Mr.. Oneal to find
that historical place.
On pages IL and 10 of my book, l
deal first with the landowners and
masters of the South, and then with
the aristocracy of the North. After
very briefly, the ruling
class of both sections of the country
(and the masters of both of these
sections were quite similar in the
early period of America) I quote
McMaster on the everyday life of
the Southern masters. Then in a
separate paragraph l say: "Such was
the governing class of the colonies.
Under the iron rule of this society
the masses of white slaves, poor
white workers, and black slaves had
to live Now, this separate para
graph in no way says that the every
day life Of the northern masters was
exactly the same in every detail as
chat of the southern rulers as de-
scribed by McMaster. 1t is a reca-
pitulation of everything that was
said previously about the entire status
of the masters, and not only about
their idleness. Mr.. Oneal takes only
one sentence out of the paragraph,
and in effect exclaims: You see, in
the North the climate was colder
and, therefore, the masters could not
have needed slaves to ''fan them and
keep off the flies" And on account
of these unfortunate flies Oneal
charges me with committing a great
crime against the fsudal lords of the
North, as well as against history. He
forgets that even in the North we
have summers, sometimes very hot
ones, and also flies to be kept off.
Especially in those days when there
were plenty of swamps around New
York, there were enough flies to give
no peace to our rich forefathers, the
white slave owners. Furthermore:
Even Oneal himself says in his book
that these masters surrounded
themselves with courts in imitation
Of the ruling princes of the Old
World" But now he wants US to be-
lieve that these masters were really
industrious.