davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21
Book Reviews

Reviewed by N. Sparks, THE Five
Year Plan" by CT. T. Grinko, In
ternational Publishers.
HOMRADE Grinko is Comisssr for
CFfnance of the Soviet Union and
Vice Chairman of the State Planning
Commission. Certainly no one could
+ be in a better position to give an
authoritative, simple and direct de-
scription of the Great Five Year Plan
which has abolished unemployment
and which has excited such tremen-
dous admiration and sympathy on the
part of the worlds workers, and such
hostility and alarm on the part of
the world bolTgeoisie.
Every phase of the Plan, the de-
velopment of industry, of agriculture,
of transport, of the conditions of the
workers, of personnel, of culture. is
covered in this book One by one,
the author takes up the daring pro-
jects of the Plan, and shows how
HEY are being constantly outstrip-
bed by the heroic achievements. The
russian workers are showing that
they know not only how to hold
power, but how to use it to build
Socialism.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21

already filled with inhabitants of the
town and surrounding districts and
vert up on the high bandstand. The
Minister greeted the town in the
name of the President of the Re-
public. and introduced the orator who
addressed the crowd at once:
"Citizens In the name of the
President of the Republic and of the
Ministry of Public Education. bring
you greetings!' 1t began to drizzie
in few minutes. The orator said a
little more, and then the Meeting was
adjourned.
Later in the day the Minister sent
.or the head of the experts. L hope
hat the final ceremony tonight of lac
closing of the institute win turn out
happily Is everything in shapc?"
Everything is ready, Senior Minis
iro. There is even a pleasant little
surprise in store for our public as well
as for our visitors"
Il am glad to hear it. 1t seems
that luck is with us. The weather is
clearing Up nicely. At eight-thirty
them"
"At eight-thirty" They shook
hands.
BY eight o'clock the school was
damned with people The large room
vas dimly lit by an old gasoline
lamp suspended from The ceiling
lafters. The first four or five rows
of benches were occupied by school
children from six to twenty three
years old. A few teachers sat among
the older students. To the rear, the
agrarians lined the semi-circular
outer passageway between the bench
es and the doors leading outside. AS
usual, they were armed With short
MauSsers, naachctes, and belts to
which were strapped leather packs
containing cartridges.
There were lot 4 women and
BABIES wrapped in rebe5os. You could
near Tic Scit voices Oh young nloth-
crs and children all over the room.
The minister anr lis party arrived
few minutes past eight-thirty.
1t was cool night, but the doors
in the room we're open on all sides
and you could see the plaza and
the sky right outside. The plaza and
the town were dark, except for a
few candlelights burning here and
there.
The curtain was full of Venetian
canals and bridges. Somebody rang
a feeble bell and the curtain went
up indolently. The head Of the ex-
perts welcomed the audience, intro
duced the minister, who went up on
the stage, and then disappeared.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21
Soup, Salvation, Jobless
Councils in Detroit

rags on" Bedlam breaks loose.
Shouts of derision come from all
sides. Throw him down MacClar-
key BUST him in the eye.") Quiet
is restored. All go to the wash room.
We all want to be first in ''chow
line" which is forming down stairs,
At tbs l get my chance to wash
In the smoker, three flights down,
$500 men are packed into the space
which holds comfortably ESQ. 1t takes
from one to one and half hours
to reach the dining room.
Proceeding at snails pace, we
notice every once in a while some
half starved worker that has jumped
the barrier; pulled out Of line ard
been smacked on the jaw.
In the cafeteria, hundreds of us
be at the Devils Tatoc" with spoons
on our bowls and cups. Some one
pushes you along. hollering; Wake
up step lively" Some one shoves
at me a bowl of soup. A few feet
further another one throws a spoon.
Some one calls out: Grab your
Java" Java: handles cup, contain
ing brownish liquid, is nothing more
than good water spoiled. More yell
ing: Get your Parker House rolls
here" 1 follow the man ahead of
me, where two perspiring slaves are
sccoping up cinnamon nuns with their
bare hands. Three buns are showed
into my bowl of watery mush One
drops t othe floor; it is picked up
and thrown back into the mush I
protest, and am told that I'll be
given a bust in the jaw.
The tables are reached at last.
They are dirty with split coffee and
mush. Some one spills his Java
The old timers get up instantly. I
am too late and get coffee all over
my trousers.
Meals" are twelve hours apart.
After breakfast, we go back to the
smoker dirty, crowed without spit
oons, where we are allowed to stay
until nine, and then told to "beat
it,"
We leave the building and talk
among ourselves. Someone asks if
Frank Murphy, "our mayor" would
have CUTS enough to put in one night
IN this Emergency Lodge.
We unemployed are getting tired
of Murphy's charity Walking down
the street afterwards. we heard
speaker from the Unemployed Coun-
Gil and some of lis joined up. We
can't go on living like rats any
longer.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21
LITERATURE FOR
CHILDREN

house did have polite atmosphere
of Jewish sentiments, My father
never talked religion, l did not go
to the synagogue Though l was
taught Hebrew-which I have for
gotten-and Yiddish--which I re-
member somewhaD, 1 received no re-
hgious training. 1 grew up with a
bad taste in my mouth for God. My
father had been neutral. and it
seemed was saved from blunders. as
see plumbers now. But no-four
years ago became interested in Jew
ish lore Today can attempt to APP
praise this lore dialectically. from a
Marxist standpoint, and put it where
it belongs.
But four years ago I did not view
matters dialectically. I thought it
enough. when writing for children. to
avoid the name of God. and hoped
my stories would be entertaining but
neutral, insofar as sectarianism was
concerned. Now I find on looking
back, that stories convey suggestions
as well as definitions. and unexpected
things happen in the childs mind
from supposedly neutral stories. The
worst part OF it is. to me now, that
these stories, accepted in heap b.
Young Israel" two. three and four
years ago. will be appearing for at
least another year; at this time. when
have moved irreyocably to the left
and wish to devote myself to revolu-
tionary childrens stories. ask my
comrades to accept my reputation of
those stories, and assist me in the
development of an acord with the
child of the Young Pioneers. have
made first attempt in my revolution
airy animals story, THE March Of the
Red Bear" In this Jewish children's
magazine, In an effort to balance my
debit. I have published two chapters
of this March of the Red Bear" a
story on the defeat of Denikin in the
Ukraine, and am preparing articles
OH child life in the Soviet Union, and,
in contrast. persecution in the stool
pigeon states of Poland and the Baltic
Bourgeois nationaiism does not al
ways operate directly. 1t can work
into the child by suggestion, SINH
larly all the evils of bourgeois society
have subtle, as we'll as pronounced,
ways of affecting the mind of the
child, most impressionable Of humans.
Therefore we must find our subtle, as
well as pronounced. ways of defeating
this insidious influence, and giving
the child a positive working-class
code.
My experience affirms such a pro-
ject as the Young Pioneer magazine.
We must do all we can to bring it
about and further 1t. The stories of
capitalist success handed to the
American child must be fought with
stories Of revolutionary success: the
lives Of Lenin, John Reed, Steve Ka-
tovis, Ella May, Gene Debs, Bill Hay
wood-these will be the child's folk
here's. Light humorous verse,
satir1cai and Observation-Disclosures and
jingles Of every sort-and serious po-
etry to be sung with music) or to
be recited. No closet verse, to be read
by kitchen-stove. Plays to be pro-
duced collectively. Stories to be en-
ded by the children themselves-the
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21

deductions to be made by them. Puz-
zIes with revolutionary slogan as the
climax, and strip cartoons. We will
take the devices that have proved
effective with children in the bour-
gcois school, moyic, press, and turn
them to our own account with cur
materials. And VIC will find our own
devices too.
We must remember that while one
of our purposes is to susy a;n the class
conscious child, the Young Pioneer,
we are aiming for a broad audience
We want to win the proletarian child
generally. and we want to win the
petty bourgeois child who is amenable
to things we have to say. And we
want to say them in such way that
he will be amenable. Remember, we
are attacking capitalism and not the
child The child is social-minded
despite his egoism; and he is STERN
that / have seen in the children's
handling Of court in the Play Viii
lage.. These virtues can be given
direction now and for the future.
Moreover, we must encourage the
child to participate as critic and as
writer, as correspondent, in the mag
azine. There should be an editorial
board of children. There should be
mass-meeSngs with children. There
should be entertainments where the
work appearing in the magazine is
enacted, sung, recited. And with the
publication Of the magazine there
should be issued also children's book
let's, such as appear by the thousands
in the Soviet Union. Unless the work
is extensive and coordinated, it is of
little value if,yT -
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21
A SPECTATOR
AT COURT
(By a Worker Correspondent

Once in q while I visit the courts
as a spectator. This is because I am
unemployed, am dead broke, and do
not know what to do to kill the day.
I go to the courts to see how Justice
is administered.
1 believe a citizen has right to
witness trials. Why don't they allow
spectators in court? l notice there
are usually plenty of empty seats in
side. The attendant outside does not
allow you inside the courtroom unless
you have business inside. Why not?
I refer to the General Session Court
and County Courts where big trials
take place such as grand larceny
cases,
1 get in usually by sneaking III
when the attendant has to go away
for minute. Once inside 1 look
around. The judge is stout, looks we'll
fed, and seems contented with his po-
sition which pays him a large salary.
I now look at the twelve men on
the jury. They are well dressed and
look also we'll fed; during recess
notice some taking out their watches
to see If their time is the same as
the courtroom clock There are
owners of gold watches among them;
their wrist watches too seem to be
worth a good sum of money.
I, worker. seem out of place here
somehow.
The jury looks composed of the fol-
lowing: lawyers, doctors, engineers,
landlords, business men. and manu-
facturers. I see no working man on
the jury. Why?
A man once told me that to be a
jury-man one must be worth a GER
tain sum of money. Some one else
has told me that one must own pro-
pcrty in order to qualify for a jury
man. 1t this true?
I now look at the prisoner himself.
have seen Porto Ricans and other
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21

The minister greeted the people by
groups, and pointed TO one of the
blackboards on which was scrubbed
THE teacher comes to bring only
light. only love" He ended his brief
speech declaring that 1.-THE govern
ment's goal is democracy and lib
erty in every sense" Some of the
audience commented on the minis
ters words, others on his sturdy
physical appearance. The agrar-
ians were quiet. They just stood
in the passageway circling the rear
half of the room.
Again the head of the experts APP
pearcd on the stage:
"Ci5izens! Before we begin this
program to celebrate the closing of
the institute, and in order to inject
ave might say--happy note of sur
prise into this beautiful gathering,
allow me announce that our little
group of experts has decided to pre-
sent this silver loving cup'-a little
girl suddenly sprang from the right
win gof the stage and nervously
handed him large loving cup. She
nearly toppled off the stage, but
managed to regain her balance and
quickly backed out of sight. The
head Of the experts continued: has
decided, as was saying, to present
this silver loving cup, to the student
who has made the best record during
the term of the institute. Incident
ally, it happens that this boy now
finishes his two years course at the
local school He is, / am happy to
announce, Rafael Moreno, of the
Agrarian Community of San Pedro
Let us hope that his return to his
pueblo will be only temporary and
that he will continue his studies to
prepare himself as a useful Mexican
citizen"
The minister and his party APP
plaudcd loudly. Others. including one
o. two agrarians, Immediately joined
in
A thin. dark youth about nineteen
years old walked up on the stage
an daccepted the cup. There was
more applause. The boy remained
standing on the stage. His face show
ed signs of excitement. He hesitated
for an instant, then spoke in a soft
slightly hoarse voice:
Il take this cup because it was
given to me, but now / day it down
here. disown H." And with mo-
mentary care he stood the cup on the
stage floor several feet away from
him.
Murmurs filled the room. The min
lister and the head of the experts
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21
a Worcorr From petroitl

(By a Worcorr From Detroit
THIS is my first night at Murphy's
Flop House 23rd st. and First
ST., Detroit. Michigan.
My credentials are examined by the
man at the desk. am assigned to
section EGO. Three hundred men
in this room. Beds are four inches
to eight inches apart. No pillow no
She's, nothing for a cover but a
cheap, shoddy blanket. I go to bed,
but can't sleep. Men about me are
discussing the sermon" that they
heard down stairs in the chapel. Some
one Git is dark to see) cries; RE
ligion is the dope" This stirs the
dopes up. Some one shouts: Put
him out" Back to Russia" Lights
are flashed on. The attendant, an
unemployed slave, tells everybody to
cut it out. Talk ceases. I lie in the
bed gazing about Shadowy forms
fit about dressed in white "nities. -
There is an endless procession going
to the toilet to smoke.
Seven hundred men use the toilet,
which is intended for twenty-five
twenty-five people. Shirts, sweaters,
underclothes. are lying on steam pipes
full length of the room. All win
dows are closed. No ventilation. The
stencil is sickening.
I am awakened at 6 o'clock in the
morning. Some one is calling: Rise
and Shine" We pull our street cloth
ing from under mattresses where it
has been lying all night. (Some guy
shouts: Get the he'll out of my
way" Gimme room to put these
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21
BY ALBERT MORALES

THE rcd clay road from the railway
terminal, on the plateau $500 feet
below, up to the mountain town was
dry and hard. Along the twisting
road, deep valleys and ravincs were
heavy with forests, wild vegetation
and some stray little farms and huts.
On each side CT the stretch rising
abruptly to the town plaza, school
children were lined up, holding large.
colored banners.
In front of the plaza, about half
block away, school teachers and
children also waited TO we,eome the
Minister Of Education OF the SO called
revolutionary government. The MIN
ister and his party drove up in an
automobile. preceded by several local
musicians playing march from an
Italian opera, and by an escort OF
mounted armed agrarians who be-
longed to the district community of
poor peasants who, in order to keep
the little land whier. they had won
through twenty years of bloodshed
and misery, had to attend" to every
official sent ythe central govern
ment. More children and teachers
struggled behind the automobile. Az
the school, there was a general s1ak-
ing OF hands. From the buildinT.
there was a good view of the little
town. with It's peaked wooden houJcs,
surrounded On one SIDE by mountains
which had been transformed by the
peasants into fields of juicy corn, and
o nthe other side by virgin ravines
shielded by forests and strong foliage
The Minister, with his secretary and
a pale youth accompanying them
were assigned the most comfor sable
house in town. The four intencctuais,
Two OF them American, were given
inc second best house. The director
OF state education and the minister's
o.1tlT Voc o472a room in the same
house occupied by tile instisu,c cx-
peris and the school inspector with
his crippled. feablc-E1ildcd son. The
armed agrarians were placed in a
long corridor. back of which was a
yard where they put their horses.
Just before noon, the Minister and
his group, accompanied by the munic-
ipal authorities, came into the plaza
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21

prison means confinement. which is
hell on earth, no pay for hard work,
and poor food,
The judge sits about 3 hours and
then orders court adjourned. The
next day want to listen to the same
case but they don't allow me in. That
is why I don't hear many cases in
full.
The judge and the jury go home,
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21

We welcome this statement from
Comrade Potamkin repudiating the ar
ticIes in the Young Israel and his
intentions of working In the fed of
revolutionary literature for children.
1t is necessary, at the same time, to
bring forward more sharply than this
article does, the class differences in
vpived in the training of children.
Young Israel tries to mask 1t reac-
tionary character behind progressive
phrases. Also, while our revolutionary
education must be based, more than
II has in the past, on the child's
natural interests, the primary pur-
pose of our wor kwith children and of
our literature for them is to arouse
their loyalty to working class aims
and to develop them along proletar-
ian lines, by drawing them into active
participation in the class struggle.
The development of the child rather
than an end in itself, is by-product
Of this larger mass goal toward which
all of our work striyes.-Editor.
BY HARRY ALAN POTAMKIN
fF is good to sec that the Com
muniSts have come to the point
where the child is no longer the OBJ
ject of blunt approach. Comrade
Harper has opened the way in an
earlier contribution to the Daily
Worker. The projected Young Pioneer
magazine would assure a regular, Gu
nulative relation with the child, who
must not be lost sight Of, even for a
moment.
The prrists and the timorous will
say the child should be left alone.
Propaganda is evil for the child. To
give the child ideas in contradiction
to his daily lessons--in school, home,
playground splits the personality Of
the child. Well, l have spent eight
years with children, five in the very
closest of relations. as Director of the
Children's Play Village in Philadel-
pl1ia. ! ran childrens camp for an
archists-petty- bourgeoisie in ideal
istic" clothing. l have written chill
dren's stories sincec 1927. And my
experience sums up now to this: any
erurnb you feed the child is sustained
by propaganda. l insist that not our
propaganda, but the negative prop
uganda of schools, home, playground,
betrays the child. What we must find
is the revolutionary propaganda that
the child can organically take in that
will not be simply routine of auto
matte imitation. Such propaganda
will explain thoroughly and funda-
mentally the environment to the
child, and it will give the child a
sense of what it's all about and what
to do about it. I will make him a
conscious and complete social being.
Childhood is valorous, at least in its
own fancy; we must turn that valor
to account by making 1t fact in
stead of fancy.
Let us avoid the pitfall Of neutral
ity In regard to the child. I give my
self as horrible consequence of that
laissez-faire conception. My father
was an anarcho-atheist In his youth
and his sentiments have always been,
for the most part. socially sylnpa-
thetic and anti-synsgogue. But a Jew
he was in his own mind. and the
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21


pretty far up in the mountains.
The automobile in which the min
lister was to have left was out Of
order. And it was dangerous to go
ON horses or mules, because the steep
clay road leading down to the rail-
road terminal was very wet. The
telephone line to the station was out
of order. and even if it had been
working. where was anyone going to
find an automobile to go up and bet
the minister?
So there was no way out of it, The
minister, his party an dthe experts
had to 60 on foot The road was
very slippery, they could fall any
minute. And there were deep ra-
vines on both sides Of the road. The
group stepped along carefully.
Up near Santa Maria, the armed
agrarians stopped for a few minutes
to have some food and little puIque
because the better part of the road
had been reached and the horses
we're having an carrier time of it. The
conversation got around to the pre-
vious nights scandal"
well said one of them---a roundl
faced young agrarian from Los Rem
edios. "at least they'll have to do
some climbing If they decide to get
u.s."
They laughed eagerly. Their voices
rang with ripeness of sound that
comes only from the Threats Of the
workers Of the soil. 1t was cold,
sunny morning, and the laughs re-
sounded very sharply against the lligh
crags, The echo was deep ard
iangl.id over tho surrounding 81.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21

most of them in their own cars and
taxis. A fine supper is awaiting
them. Perhaps it is soup, fried chick
en-, sweet potatoes, coffee, pie and
ice cream.
go home also. hop on to the
back of a truck and get hitch home.
When get home my supper con-
siSts of pumpernickel bread, raw on
ions, and tea without lemon.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21

(Mcmber of the Shock Brigade)
Under the benches OF the Pullman
= cars you will find long boxes for
wood. Gribkow was pulled out of
such box at the station of Tula,
and was sent to the labor colony of
waits and strays. Gribkov had been
tramping all over the country, and
was quite at home in the wood boxes
He was Ia years old.
In the Labor Colony near Tula they
taught him how to work at turning
lathe. For the first time in his life
he felt that he was needed for some
thing He was surrounded by young
fellows, fathers, and by grown up
people who were quite different from
the teachers who formerly used to
preach Anticipated morals. The teacher
of the Colony had formerly been a
sailor. He used to sing in. the MORN
ings, took a cold shower bath in the
court yard, and told the boys a lot
of things about Kamchatka where he
had lived for two years, Together
with the boys they built a sailing
boat. and in leisure hours he taught
the boys how to handle the boat on
the nearby lake. In summer he made
them live in tents, and map out the
neighbouring forests. The thirst for
tramping about was reshaped into the
study of their home country. and
boldness into competition to be the
first among the turner's, or swim
mers.
In winter the sailor took several
of the boys to Moscow, and found
jobs for them in the factories. Grob-
kov got a job in the power station
which was brilliant with hundreds of
glittering electric bulbs. Gribkov was
very cross when he came to the fac
tory. A gray sky hung over the
courtyard. Gribkov's face suddenly
lighted up; he saw several young
workers in the yard who were solder
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21
Next Week

SidelIghts on the Dress Strll
(strikers, send in your letters a.
stories); breadline story and sket
by Bard, "Why They Marched,
story by Valentine Konin; Lit
Frog and HisBrother', a story fro
revolutionary China; book revie'
by Bennett Stevens and others. CO
toons and other features.
The letter from the electrical ST
dents commune Of Leningrad,
which sherc was not space this we
will appear next Saturday.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-21
Starting Soon

The Holy Bed-bug". A cork
Sea-story by John Peterson. III
- t''c seas for more than s1vi
tcea years.