The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-02-06
&as~.A-
On Banquets and Behavior
BY JORGE

Dear Jorge:-We have great news for you.
You are going to eat a regular supper on the
night OF February 7. OF course you must pro-
mise us not to starve to death in the mean
time. The occasion of this revolutionary
change in your dietary hopes is the combined
dinner and banquet of the three English
speaking branches in New York City of the
International Workers Order The place is
Sollin's Restaurant, 216 East 14th Street. and
the hour, 9 p. m. We are having joint in
stallation that night, and we don't care who
comes"
So writes us the I. w. o. of New York City;
city in which there are four Americanskis to
every auSlander, yet nonetheless city in which
the English speaking branches still have to spe-
city that they are English speaking; namely,
they are yet only auxiliary to the foreign speak
ing branches, instead of being the main body:
We are anxious that this situation be re-
versed, and for that reason wish to give these
branches a lift. The offer of a supper has
nothing to do with it, as we won't attend be-
cause, as everyone should know who knows the
business manager Of the Daily Worker, we
starved to death long ago.
Aind lately we have been so nearly knocked
out that only by completely absenting ourselves
from the Daily Worker, following strict orders
Of our medico and writing only what we can
without effrt, are we able to stay our feet
at all. Which accounts for the hit and miss
mostly miss way this column has been showing
up, if any.
To get back to the I. w. Q. affair, however,
We are glad to see that they don't care who
comes" Last month the F. S. U. branch here
in New York had some kind of banquet, and
were invited to that, too But didn't CO.
Yet some non-party comrades who did go, and
took along some folks who had never before
attended meeting they regarded as red
came around and told us that they wished they
hadn't attended. Their story went something
like this:
when we and friends gave over our
tickets at the door, we were grabbed by some
body who seemed to think that he was county
register or a teller at the polls on election
day. He wanted to know all about US each
and every one, and he couldn't wait 10 find
out either. Our pedigree was DEMANDED,
and one of the questions which most annoyed
friends was: What political party do you
belong to-? Which was not only bad grammar,
but question our friends regarded as none
of the F. S. us business. Well after telling
the Inquisitor that we belonged to no party,
we are taken around somewhere under
stairway something, seated there and then
given no attention the rest of the evening,
with the exception of some of the FUNNIEST
service saw; apparently much worse
than the others got. Maybe if we had said
we belonged to Tammany Hall, this bureau
crat might have given us better seats and
some attention. Our friends swear they will
never go to an F.. S. U. meeting again"
We tried to explain that perhaps the F. S. o.
taking for granted that all Communist Party
members are friends of the Soviet Union, wished
to know what percentage of their audience fell
outside the category of Party members. But
we could not explain why the matter was
handled so stupidity as to offend people who are
really friends of the Soviet Union and drive
them away.
This is not Germany, where doorway ques
ton about political utilization is taken for
granted. There are plenty of other and more
pleasant ways of ascertaining the attending
percentages of party and non-pe~ty members
than by leaping at their Threats beft e they have
passed the ticket collector And II they are
non-party, they should at least &c, get the
worst service of all.