The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-03-09

1SNtSSldll SpGdhl4lS. Anu Willie 4lAdIlS
are class conscious workers, there are
some nmistakable white guard
types, and a considerable group of
those in between. The workers cheer
and applaud, and the whites turn
pale For the main thing on the
screen is the talking movie of the
Treason Trial in Moscow, of Ram
sin and associates Of the so-oalled
Industrial Patty" The film is dis
tri6uted by Amkino.
Titles are both in Russian and
English. The spoken words, of course,
are Russian.
The Russian-Speaking white guard,
who has made a pretense of believing
that all the newspaper accounts of
the trial are fake can now see for
himself these men on trial, public
figures well known by sight before
the revolution and impossible to fake
Ramsin and his friends get up, well
fed and healthy and without either
tine appearance or the manner of
victims of torture" and deliberately,
in long shame-faced speeches, des-
cribe in careful detail all their es-
pionage for the French, British and
American army heads, their close
knit conspiracy with the 'Torgprom, -
the plot of Poincare and Churchill,
and thei rown active attempt to
wreck the industry being built up
by the workers and peasants of the
Soviet Union. They tell how they
tried to prepare the way for bloody
invasion, a brutal militar dictator
ship and a general slaughter of the
leaders Of the working class, with a
return to ruthless capitalist exploit
alton. This plot is still going on!
But Ramsin and these defendants
have been rendered harmless.
Ramsin apologies to the working
class for the crime he has commit
ted; all confess, all express contri-
ton, all admit they ought to be shot
but ask for mercy, and pledge TO
devote the rest of their lives to work
for the revolution.
What comfort could a white guard
ret out of this? What lesson to
The liberal, the socialist, the doubt
Hi
But if you do not understand Rus
San, you see silent film of one
VI the historic events of the century.
1t is intensely dramatic because of
its very simplicity. The first thing
that strikes one is the absence of
led tape and legal chicanery which
are SO obvious in a capitalist court.
In the very first place, it is a public
trial, as no trial in America is pub
lie Instead of holding 35 or 40
spectators, the court room holds
1900 Much in evidence are the
microphones, this trial is broadcast
to every village and factory club
room. The Kleigg lights are shining
into the eyes of the front rows of
the audience in the court room
maybe that's harder for them, but
those lights give every country in
the world a chance to see movies of
the trial.
The picture shows the worker Lvov
from the Ano factory, and the work.
er Ivanov from the Putilov factory
sitting on the bench with two Sup
rene Court judges, all occasionally
questioning the defendants.
Outside in the street, solid masses
of workers move in procession, with
banners. There must be hundreds
of thousands of them. they fill the
street from side to side no thin
ranks either And as they go by they
shout defiance of the war makers,
death to the sabotagers.
The marching crowds are immen-
sely stirring.
Inside the court opens with little
Formally, the sabotagers are marched
in closely guarded, the indictment is
read, Ramsin and his associates
plead guilty, one after the other.
Then they tell their story, to be re-
ported by representatives of the
press of every nation. The sabotagers
fall into PROFESSIONAL manner, they
stand as they tell of their actions,
some speak distinctly and clearly
with good flow of words like Ram
sin, some utter the "oh's" and 'um's"
of their training as they carefully
pick out the words. None are bur-
ried, none are bullied, none are in
terfered with. AS matter of fact.
some of them talked for two days.
In the film you see only the high
points in their speeches. The pre-
siding judge addresses them as Mr.
or something like it. His tone is
firm, it does not insult.
Krylenko, state prosecutor, with
his stocky figure, shaved head, rather
thin face, resolute manner and sharp
gestures, tears into them, rises to a
tremendous height of denunciation
ends during wild burst of applause
from the audience. You get, with
out any knowledge whatever of Rus
sian, the impression that Krylenko
doesn't like these sabotagers.
One of the traitors, fat man
giggles little. The others look down
with shamed faces.
The defendants have the final
word. Then you see the presiding
judge reading very rapidly, very in
cisively, the verdict. The camera
swings from the judges, standing, to
The audience listening with painful