The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-05-03


arrogant banners of American i'm
perialism under which the socialist
party of America, the party once
of Eugene Victor Debs, now of Nor
ris Hillquit, was celebrating May
Day.
"Say, mister, take yer hat off"
paid no attention to the "com-
rade," waited until the Star Spangled
Banner was finished and then found
seat. The place was packed, Can
it be that the socialist party can ac-
tually muster so many thousands?
1t is true that tickets were given
away free, butt was not until
later that | learned the reason for
the big crowd.
Starting with the Star Spangled
Banner, amid a swarm of American
flags, the rest of the Socialist" May
Day celebration was thoroughly con-
sistent. Consistent until the final
ludicrous end, when the socialist
party celebration of May Day was
turned into tremendous demon
stration fora singer. But about
that later.
Speech after dreary speech-but
not single note of struggle, not a
single call to the workers to fight
for the overthrow of capitalism.
Pardon me, forgot, one of the
speakers did sound a note of strug-
gle; it was call to struggle against
the Communists.
The opening sermon was delivered
by the Rev. Norman Thomas, OK
pastor of the exclusive brick Fifth
Ave. Presbyterian Church, who also
acted as chairman. The mention of
the name of the late Samuel Com
pers, arch-labor traitor, drew ap-
plause from the Socialist" reliables
massed in trent.
In that throbbing voice Of his,
which has been known to move
weak-minded old ladies to tears,
Thomas spoke with deep emotion of
"our country" Today" he cried
out, "the oppressed in every part
of the world, in India, in China, in
Africa, are looking to America;
America with it's power, America
with it's freedom, America the hope,
America the ETC., etc., ETC."
Thomas was wound up. l ordered
an ice cream brick.
The second speaker was Ex-
Municipal Court Justice Jacob Pan
ken, who for ten years upheld the
capitalist laws on the bench. The
socialist party is not party of or
binary riff-raff. Judges, doctors,
lawyers-yes sir, the cream of So
ciety. If you've never heard Pan
Ken speak, you've missed something.
You may have heard people make
speeches and people read speeches,
but did you ever hear anybody sing
a speech? Panken, in fact, is one
of the most vigorous songbirds this
side of the ocean. 1t is true, he be-
came a little hoarse, but nothing
could choke those valiant trills,
those throbbing arpeggios of liquid
sound pouring from the Pankenian
larynx.
Penken spoke about the socialist
victories" Denmark has just
elected socialist government, Ger
many has a socialist government,
and, when the elections are over,
England will have labor govern
ment, too"
Perhaps it was not at the very
moment, history is not quite as
ironic as that-but certainly it was
within few hours of this rapturous
praise of the social-democratic gov
eminent Of Germany, praise in the
name of world "peace," of universal
''brothernood," that the Berlin po-
lice, at the order of the social-demo-
cratic police president, were shoot
ing down workers demonstrating in
the streets, were numbering valiant
| fighters who dared to raise the
flaming banner Of international
working class solidarity and revolt,
numbering workers in the name of
peace" of brotherhood"
More speakers: B. Charney Via
deck, the S17,000-a-year manager of
the yellow Jewish Daily Forward;
Louis Waldman, budding corpora
ton lawyer, who was socialist can
didate for governor in the last cleo
tons. By this time the crowd,
which consisted largely of old or
middle-aged people and children,
was getting noisy. Everybody was
restless. 1t was difficult to hear
the speakers. Toward four o'clock
large gaps of empty seats showed
in various parts Of the Garden. Evil
IDENTIFY many were bored. Others
were perhaps left wing workers, who
had come here out of curiosity and
were now going to the Coliseum to
take part in a real May Day DEM
onstraticn.
Waldman, following the lead of
Norman Thomas few days pre-
viously, praised Herbert Hoover.
eve join the President Of the United
States in war against crime and
lawlessness. We will do everything
possible to help stamp out lawless-
ress and disrespect for law"