The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1934-06-28
In Dixie Land We Take Our Stand

during my stay In birmingham
Tnroe hundred of them walked out ,
because the pay for working was y
actually less than the amount OBJ n
+ainable from direct county relief n
;f thew refused to work. The CWA D
nav ranged from $12.6O to $14.4O "
monthly. The strike was broken v
because the county authorities CO. b
onerated by threatening to cut off \
relief. At the same time, the sher- I
iff and his deputies appeared and
coorced the strikers. One hundred I
went back to work that day, and t
one hundred and fifty drifted back S
on the following day. That eve
ming | talked to one of the men t
who was still holding out: me I
and my family might just as well
starve all at once as do it slowly
But he finally decided to return to
the job the next day, and propa-
gandize among the other workers
for a stronger strike.
| saw the actual relief provisions
: on which a family of six was sup
posed to live for week: One
small piece of fat-back, one pound
{ of coffee, one dimes worth OF
dried beans, the same amount OF
4 dried peas, one-half pound of sugar
: and one can of sausage. This ra-
tion would not be sufficient to sus-
3 tain a dog in good condition for
d week. The children were so ex-
: cited by the sight of a bottle OF
: milk brought by a cOmrade that
S the mother, sick in bed, began to
e sob brokenly. A doctor was called !
: for the mother, but he found her
illness easy to explain. "Starva-
y ton" was his only comment. The
y father of this family was fired
g from a C.W.A. project shortly be-
s. fore the recent strike. The fore
, man had heard him discussing
u wages with two other men. The
three were fired on the spot; Get
IS out quick, we're not going to have
d any Of that fighting talk around
II here" One of the men tried to
II answer: 81 don't want to fight, all
want is to make a living" The
q boss cut him short: "I'll do my
= best to see you don't make living
:. :. around here; get out"
- =. The announcement of this story
~ - is important: The two other men
- involved in the incident knew very
y little about Communism. The next
day they came to see the third
Ga man; they wanted to know more
~ about it. The foreman had forced
he them to understand the issues.
,as In the early part Of this article
~ mentioned another question
&c which was raised at all the gath
-. erings attended: "How about thu
,on terror? Could the police interfere
.in with the development of the move
g ment ?" Individual reaction
- varied. Women were concerne'
i, about the possibility IF arrest, par
10 ticularly on account Of the chill
M dren: "Who will take care Of tn
49, kids" Another asked, "What wi
!, people say to my children if thei
- mothers in JAIL" To those VIII
,oar doubted or worried, comrades wer
rod ready with carefully cOnsidere
1rd answers: eve must be pruden
'a-a but we must redouble the work
'The terror is in proportion to OF
nm strength; the stronger we get, tn
1o+ more they'll try to bluff u.s." Nv
80 must not exaggerate the DANCE
p but we must see it clearly"
Young man denounced those VIII
Tho were weak in rather excessiN
ono terms: eff they're afraid of
lie little thing like this, where w
+;ai thew be in the revolution" L
.ovo was Immediately stopped by a
80 older comrade, 'You mustn't be Il
,Tso quick to call people names, yo'
must be patient, there's no sen
,;no in being scared but there's no u
nsf in boasting either. 1t tax
80, time to make a Bolshevik."
par looked around the room with
1o-o smile: '0There amt one of US ne
20 was born Communist; we learn
INV il and it amt easy to learn"
Since the terror began, the Pa
j II has answered with a quarts
,bi+e million leaflets distributed in t
- R;rroinOham area. I heard a gre
bano deal of discussion of methods
iob+ distribution; I realized the infini
care with which this job is CARR
horn out. the sense that every print
nm and mimeographed sheet is of U
and told value, that the waste Of
own word of propaganda is criminal.
-er a In the week preceding the tr
ar of the six arrested Communists.
ided. new members joined the LID. a
and 20 Joined the Communist Part,
The Many workers mentioned the f;
ding that the arrests are excellt
with propaganda. One railroad worl
isre- said: "When they stopped the M
ules Day demonstration, it got a lot
into people thinking-they figured,
,untv they won't let the Communi
been talk, they must have something j
Used portant to say. If they w
,ause against the working man, the
rmit could talk all they pleased"
hern arrests stimulated this impress
that there must be a reason:
that men in the coal and ore strik
4 Of have plenty Of evidence that
many police and all the forces Of |
sited, law are against them. The ARE
light, were one Of the main topics Of c