The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-04-28
By V. l. LENIN

COMRADES, let us consider
" our situation carefully; let
us contemplate the conditions
under which we lead our lives.
What do we see? We work
hard, we produce countless
riches, gold and tissues, bro
cade and velvet; we haul iron
and coal from the depths of
the earth; we construct machinery.
All the riches of the world are Gre
ated by our hands, are produced by
our sweat and blood. What com
pensation do We get for our forced
labor7 If We had our deserts, we
ought to live in good houses, wear
good clothes and, at any rate, not
want for our daily bread. Never
theless, We all know that our wages
hardly suffice to provide us with a
bare existence. Our masters re-
duce the rate of wages and force
us to work overtime, they impose
unfair fines on us, briefly, they op-
press us in every possible way and
if we are dissatisfied, they turn us
out without more ado.
We have often convinced our
selves that all to whom we apply
for protection prove to be henchmen
and friends Of the masters. We
workers are kept in the dark; we
are given no education lest we
should want to fight for the i'm
provement Of our condition. We
are kept in bonds, we are driven
out of work, we are forbidden to
fight, anyone who resists the OPP
preston is deported and arrested.
Darkness and bondage are the
means by which the capitalists and
the government, which does every
thing for their advantage, holds us
captive,
What means have we for i'm
proving our position, for raising our
wages, for reducing our hours of
work, for enabling us to read in
structive books and for protecting
ourselves from insult? Everyones
hand is against us; that of the
masters, who live all the better the
worse of we are, and that of their
lackeys, of all those who live on
the crumbs which fall from the
capitalists table, and who keep us
in ignorance and bondage for their
advantage. We cannot look for help
from any quarter, we can only de-
pend on helping ourselves. Unity
is our strength; our weapon is firm
unanimous and unrelenting re-
sistance to the masters. They
themselves have known for a long
time in what our force consists,
and use all efforts to keep us dis
united and to prevent us from rea-
LIKING that the interests of us work
ers are common interests. They re-
duce the rates of wages, not all at
once but one step at time; they
introduce foremen and payment by
piece-work, even reducing the rates
Of wages arbitrarily, laughing in
their sleeve when they see that We
wear ourselves out at our work.
EVERY dog, however, has his day
Il patience wears out in the end.
During the past year, the Russian
workers have shown their masters
that the submission of the slaves
has been replaced by the steadfsst
courage of those who do not yield
to the insolence and shamelessness
Of the capitalists who banker after
unpaid work Strikes have broken
out in a number of towns; in Jaro-
slav, Teikov, Ivanovo-Vo ssnessj ensk,
Bielostok, wilma, Minsk, Kiev,
Moscow and other towns. The
majority of the strikes ended with
the victory of the workers but even
in those which failed, the failure
was only apparent. AS matter
of fact, the strikes thoroughly
frightsn the masters, cause them
great losses and compel them to
make concessions for fear Of fresh
strikes.
Even the factory inspectors are
beginning to get busy. and TO dis