The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-19

American Life and the Temper Of
the American People During the
Depression, by Mauritz A. Hallgren
New York: Alfred A. Knopf. $3.50.
Mauritz A. Hallgren is perhaps the
best journalist on 1.-THE Nation" With
an eye well-peeled for observing facts
the march of the crisis inevitably
would goad him to ask: Where Is II
all leading? AS result, our liberal
reporter begins to dabble with--revo-
luton. He steps out Of the pages Of
1.-THE Nation rubs elbows with hun
cry masses, shifts around the Rand
School, scratches over the remains Of
Technocracy, and stands little be-
wildered before the Communist Party
Hallgren's book is rambling sort
of affair, filled heller skelter with q
maze of facts to prove: that hunger
grips the toiling population; that cap
italism is in very great difficulty;
that the growing discomfort, mainly
of the Electromagnetic, is forcing a
decision on way out.
He concludes that present-day capt.
talisrn is done for. And around his
rambling recitation he spins theories
on how the revolution is to be ac-
complished, if at all
Petty Bourgeois to the Last Drop
What bothers this liberal recruit te
boudoir discussions of revolution Is
the fact that the revolution is MOI
already accomplished. The fact that
the American Soviet doesn't rule
makes him doubt if it ever will. Why
hasn't the revolution come about az
ter more than four years of crisis?
Hallgren's answer is that there is
no insurrectionary party skilled in
conspiracy and military strategy, that
knew the art Of making coup d
etat.
A bourgeois to the last dror
in his fountain pen, he has the pro-
foundest contempt for the revolution
airy ability and creative force of the
American proletariat in general.
Toys With Instruction
Marveling at his own glib toying
with instruction, he concludes that
only the petty-bourgeois and the in
tellectuals have shown revolutionary
development. "And it is among these
people (the unemployed intellectuals
and the DECEASED, petty bourgeoisie) :
he writes, you really know that there
have been sowed the most fruitful
seeds of revolt"
Revolutions, he says, are never
popular uprisings 1t is a conspira-
tive action, putch, coup d. etat, a
Bakuninist plot which seizes the ex-
cuse of mass discomfort to overwheln
the ruling class. History shows
moreover" he writes, "that the classic
revolutions of Europe have been in
surrections rather than popular up
risings."
Blind to Historical Facts
Then all the great students and
leaders of revolution were wrong
Marx, Engels and Lenin, who never
had the benefit of the revolutionary
training afforded by 1.-THE Nation
or Harold Laski, viewed the matter
in exactly the opposite way. The So
called classical revolutions Of Europe
are the French Revolution of 1913
the Paris Commune Of 1871, and the
Russian Revolution OF 1917. Each
one was a popular uprising in every
sense of the word, leading to an In
surrectionary overthrow of the ruling
class, involving the support Of the
toiling population.
But what does the worlds revolu-
tionary experience matter when you
are out to prove your point?
Reveals Own Confusion
Setting out to discuss the role Of
the state, the development Of capt.
talism, and the relation of the vari-
GUS classes in capitalist society, Hall
gren succeeds in proving how con-
fused even the best-intentioned petty
bourgeois can be.
For example, Of the typical modern
proletariat in America. the automo-
bile workers Of Detroit, Hallgren says:
They are skilled artisans whom Marx
and Engels Jumped together with the
small manufacturers, the shop keeper,
and other members of the lower mid
die class" To call Ford, Chrysler
and General Motors workers skilled
artisans" Jumped with the small
manufacturers and shop keepers is
brilliant testimony to the lack Of un-
derstanding Of the class forces in
America and particularly ignorance Of
the most elementary lessons Of Marx
ism. "Appendages OF the machine"
Is Marks description and it fits per-
fectly the belt proletariat.
After shopping around for forces
to make the revolution, Hallgren con-
cludes: 1.-THE only hope lies with the
Communists"
Distorted Idea Of Communist Party
But god save us from our friends.
His choice lies in his distorted idea
Of the Communist Party as the party
of insurTectionary conspiracy. There
is no doubt that all revolutionary
hope lies with the Communist Party,
but not for the reasons given by the
Hallgrens.
The Open Letter Of the Communist
Party recently published tells how
the revolutionary forces will he or