The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-08
FlOurishing Community
Visited by Foreign
Writers
BY BEN FIELD

III AooG udyo VI bue SONleL
Writers Congress, two former
criminals came to greet the Con-
gress in the name Of their Bolshevo
Commune. After the Soviet Writ
ers Congress, many of the foreign
delegates stay on to visit factories,
farms, schools, and other of the
powerhouses whose humming shakes
all quarters of our earth today.
One of the groups visits the Boil
shevo Commune the colony for the
rehabilitation of the criminal.
We start out in the forenoon in
two buses: Jean Bloch, Andra
Maulraux are the chief French
writers; Plivier and Graf are among
the German writers; JEFF Last,
Dutch poet, who was on the bar
ricadeS during the brutal police at
tacks in Amsterdam, and a num-
Der Of Norwegian and Spanish
writer's. Christopher Ellis, Strachey's
nephew comes along with Tanya
Litvinoff, who has been to the
Congress every day and will act as
interpreter. Tretyakov, author. of
"China Roar" and "a Chinese
Testament" is our chief Russian
guide.
We meet the director in the
Commune park under shady trees.
He is a doctor. He is spotlessly
dressed in high black boots and
linen breeches. A red star shines
on his hat And ringed around us
are the members of the Commune
ready to help him with answers.
Some have their arms flung
around the shoulders of their
friends. One woman is bouncing
a baby on her knee. One youth in
a gym shirt, biceps bronzed, holds
book. Boys and girls are run
ming with rackets to the tennis
field
Maulraux bends forward on the
bench and asks questions eagerly.
His hair falls into his unusually
large eyes. The dreamy look van
ishes, and the man is taut as
fine hairspring waiting for each
answer.
No Guards
The director gives us the five
principles that are the five great
cylinders moving the Commune.
There are no guards in this colony
of people who have gotten into
trouble, stolen or even murdered
in their attempt to steal. The
troubled" people come to the Com
nune of their own free will. The
members of the Commune enjoy
real self-government. Every Com
munar must work. All work is
paid for at the same rates as in
factories outside the Commune.
Then like a brilliant engineer
the director takes the cylinders
apart and examines them with us.
Nobody is forced to join the Com
mune. Its reputation is such that
many people who have never gotten
into trouble have applied for men,
bership and joined.
"Our commission visits prison.
1t invites the prisoners with the
best qualifications to join us. Fifty
of such people have joined us to-
day. No one is sentenced to live
with us. Our commission con-
siders applications, finds out what
trouble the applicant got into and
what connection he's had with the
criminal world. We admit people
from the ages of 16 to rs. Oh yes,
we've had people here who have
helped build the Baltic-White Sea
Canal. And on our commission we
tolerate no outsiders. Our commits
sion consists solely of members of
the Commune who have been in
trouble themselves formerly"
They Govern Themselves
This brings the director to the
second principle-"our people gov
ern themselves" There are num-
erous commissions. Some of them
are the Conflict Commission, the
Character Commission, the Man
agement Commission, etc. There
are 100 directors. The head direc-
tor tries to refer all questions to
the commissions. There is diff
Guilty only when the members of
the Commune fail to work collec-
lively, fail to consider their own
interests as whole, and to strive
to better their conditions.
But even the commissions are not |
the last authority. The commits
sions recommend. The Commune
as a whole decides. If a Com
munar wants to get married, he
must go to the Character Commits
sion. This commission decides
whether the man can earn living,
whether he is morally and physi-
cally fit to live married life. If |
the applicant rejects the commits
sion's advice, he can still get mar
ried The Commune, however, will |
not help him with room or with
a job. 1t rarely happens that the
advice is rejected.
1t is true that the Commune has
watchmen to guard its property.
But there are no wardens, no turn
keys and guards, no locks and bolts
against the members. 1t is rule
that everyone be in his room or
dormitory at II o'clock. If this
rule is disobeyed repeatedly, the |