The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-09-03
BY L. MARTIN

Especial Correspondent to the Daily
Worker
DARIS-Can you imagine an AM
erican MAJOR joining with the
Unemployed Council to call mass
meeting of the jobless, where his
report is received with unanimous
approval? Can you imagine him
leading fight of the local unions
against all the big employers of
the city2 Can you imagine him
passing and actually enforcing an
ordinance to prevent evictions of
the unemployed?
Such ideas put strain on your
imagination because in the United
States we have as yet only capitalist
mayors-all alike putting business
interests" first whether they call
themselves Republican, Democratic
or Socialist. But there are some
mayors who do these very things
even in capitalist countries-who
use their office solely to further
the interests of the working popu-
lation, and who would be immedi-
ately kicked out of their party if
they failed to do SO. In word,
there are quite a few Communist
mayors in office in different part
of the world In France there are
about a hundred.
EVEN a short visit to st. Denis
Il (the biggest of the French cities
with Communist administrations
will answer many of the questions
an American worker will ask. How
much, for instance, can a Com
munist mayor do under capital
ism? In what ways does Com
munist administration differ from
a Socialist one? Is it worthwhile
fighting in the United States to
elect Communist mayors?
YOU'RE NOW IN
RED ST. DENIS!
Red Saint Denis hes several miles
outside Paris. The road there
passes thru endless railroad yards.
Notices of the Communist and other
workers meetings become more
numerous on the walls the closer
you get Finally forests of factory
smokestacks announce the presence
of big industrial city, and the
closely packed business and resi-
Dental section rises before your
eyes.
st. Denis has a population of
about 100000, made up largely of
workers in automobile. war muntion
and metal manufacturing generally,
besides many railroad men. 1t is
stronghold not only of the Com
munist Party but of the revolution
airy trade unions of the C. G. T. u,
affiliated with the Red Interna-
tioanl of Labor Unions, to which
our own Trade Union Unity League
belongs.
In the center of the city, side by
side, are two relics-an ancient
cathedral dating from feudal days,
and city hall belonging to the
rising days of capitalism. One day
capitalism will be smashed not
only in st. Denis but thruout
France, and Palace of Labor will
probably rise in the heart of Red
st. Denis.
TOR the City Hall does not yet
belong to the workers. Besides
Communist mayor and city off
ces it must house state and national
officials over whom the workers
have no control. And on demon
station days such as May LIST and
August I, the capitalist class shows
its power. Its police, controlled
not by the city but by the Depart
ment de la Seine corresponding
to an American state or county,,
surround the Town Hall with armed
display, as much as to say to the
workers: "You may have forced
your way inside, but outside the
bosses are still in power"
But that is not to say that cleo
ton victories do not count If they
reflect the organized advance of an
increasingly militant working class
The notice boards around the
CITY Hall were piastered with an