Tragedy of Political Prisoners in Russia
Tragedy of Political Prisoners in Russia Hunger Strikes and Death From Disease Revealed in Letters From Revolutionaries Incarcerated in Soviet Prisons. The following article from...
...Spiking Rumor, Lee Denies Socialists Will Picket Soviet Consulate A LGERNON LEE, city chairman of the Socialist Party, on Thursday warned members and syrnpathizers not to be deceived by reports that the party planned to picket the Russian consulate in support of its demand for the release of political prisoners...
...Third, the present unregulated methods of private competition will be replaced by social and economic planning...
...His wife arrived just in time to see him die...
...The manifesto is remarkable for its clear statement of the C.C.F...
...1936, is based on letters written by Socialist political prisoners ia jails and Siberian concentration camps in Soviet Rossis, It is an unanswerable indictment of the Communist dictatorship...
...But what got &¦ nanny were the advertisemcpja^B nouncing his return to "Jumha* DURANTE *S BACK, shouted.]* ads...
...Well—watch those pickets Stepping 'round this town...
...That is why the C.C.F...
...Fourth, there , will be genuine democratic government, based upon economic equality...
...They know their fight is tough, But will they cry 'Enough...
...How do we propose to make pur . attack on the decaying structure...
...What is the nature of our "appeal...
...By Grace Maclnnis Special to The New Leader /YTTAWA.—A thoroughgoing program of Socialist reconstruction is the goal of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation of Canada, according to the National Manifesto issued by "C.C.F...
...Perhaps "it can't happen here" but we are tjiripg ao chances...
...In addition we aim to control the nine Provincial Legislatures...
...The Mitt ef Soviet neatest Jakoft* Arkadievich Yakovtoff, Soviet Commissar of Agricahem, predicted that, "every...
...Our first objective is the capture of political power...
...hemes come up again and again, alas...
...Socialist Party members by an overwhelming majority in a membership referendum have carried a resolution p r o t e s t i n g against the ¦nanniiiun ef the New York Mate charter by the National Executive Committee...
...Carsery Rhyme Fie, on Nazi bunting...
...He was, however, promised that he would be sent to a better place...
...They shed their monkey-suits: ' Like Mr...
...has chosen the method of political control in order later to press for economic control...
...E is a philosopher and a Menshevik, who has just completed his sentence of five years in an 'Isolator.'] He has now been banished to Akmolinsk and is in a very bad situation...
...teBS the way were you net one of teat who, at the Milwaukee Cuuiaateh with Norman Thomas, Paul Bosshard, Eddie Levinson, et...
...That man Jimmy <*rtahd* knows the anatomy of money-n3ting...
...But this did not save him from exile to Vjatka...
...This was a non-Marxist but Socialist Revolutionary movement with a Hg'fwniiwlng among the peasantry...
...The whole journey often takes months...
...What will be the characteristics of the cooperative commonwealth or Socialist state to Which we look forward...
...Daugherty, he said, was later found decapitated hi Chicago...
...r • - » • The United States Senate^mSt over $3,000,008 last your faejM phone...
...These leave untouched the cancer which is eating at the heart of our society, namely the economic system in which our natural resources and our principal means of production and distribution are owned, controlled and operated for the private profit of a small proportion of our population...
...But it was too late...
...Now that the popubjr...
...Some places of banishment are mere tolerable than others...
...E has no work, no money, no friends, not even a room...
...First, production and' distribution will be carried on, not to make profits for individuals or . corporations as at present, but for Grace Maclnnis the purpose of meeting the needs of all the members of the community...
...Besides the grave of Herman Kamenski [a Menshevik, who played an important part in Leningrad after the Revolution] I found that of Michael Kononenko and of that talented girl Minna Bauz [whose lister was shot in Solovki...
...Hunger-strikes go on for •a' very long -time...
...Prisoners are usually sentenced without trial, and sentences are often renewed by administrative order and without trial or even without rearrest—a departure from ¦ pre-revolutionary practice...
...Retail Cleaners Meet Sunday, March 8, to Demand State Law In connection with the movement by retail cleaners and tailors of Greater New York to obtain the enactment of a state minimum price law, a mass meeting will be held on Sunday, March 8, at 1 p. m., at Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, New York City...
...After all, those whose real interests are served by retaining capitalism are few in number...
...George Miller, Fresno insurance agent, swore that Melnotte McCants, assistant to the general manager of the United Railroads, told him Mooney and Warren K. Billings were not guilty of throwing a bomb into the Preparedness Day parade held in San Francisco in 1916...
...We are almost completely isolated from our friends...
...The water in the river is very low and the steamers can hardly reach us...
...nists have tabooed the esoterh compositions of ShcetakoviMa, Popov, Mosolov, and Litinsky es the ground that they are "bees geois musical conceptions" weB bet roubles to pirosoks that the season's song hit will be, "The Mujik Goes Ro'und and ArounoV* • • • Nomination for American Fascist Number 1: Associate lusty Arthur Grownover of the Teuaav see Court of Appeals who teen enlisting relief applicants lilts wmV diers...
...They include also the professional and technical workers, as well as the small business people...
...He often has.to change his corner, and therefore has no address...
...These Who Perished "I have found many graves here...
...LAUGHTER on the LEFT From teak te lock After grappling with the grte during the past week we natonte sympathised with Jimmy DuiuMH who bus had "a six-day tussle «9| the croup...
...paying them just enough te live on for working and "courtmartialing" those who Witt Mt work...
...ah,,attempted to take Morris Hillquit fa -a ride in the name of "Ameries* ism...
...The following article from the Manchester Guardian of February 14...
...Dead Hand of Capitalism Capitalism represents the dead ' hand of a past age of scarcity...
...government will rest content until it has eradicated capitalism and put into operation the full program of socialized planning which will lead to the establishment in Canada of the Cooperative Commonwealth...
...Sixty-million tee lauK nicklee for » lot of cheap tsaV...
...Forty versts from here are the graves of Tanja Soukhanova, of Jampolski...
...Indignant Member: Conn ste haven't we had enough dtseuate about the National Executive Gasmittee...
...Kipling's "Boots," \ They're marching up -and • down...
...G is a Left-wing Menshevik, a protagonist of the 'United Front,' who spent five years in the 'Isolator' at Susdal and three years of exile in Siberia.] He is in Orenburg now...
...Geaoje...
...And, further, we have made a beginning on-our capture of municipal institutions — city councils, school boards, park boards, library boards, etc We feel that local political control by the C.C.F...
...A [a Menshevik] ' starved-"fttr twenty-two days to ¦top an entirely absurd trial for welch he had been committed at Archangel...
...The "Isolators,*' sometimes called "Politisolators,' referred to in the letters are goals in which political prisoners serve sentences of solitary confinement...
...Production to meet human needs, ( classlessness...
...The concluding paragraphs of our manifesto are particularly explicit regarding the temporary value of emergency measures...
...C was taken for a new *werk' in June, but when his term of banishment expired he was summoned by letter and was told that be is to be banished to Siberia for thrae years...
...But still the . dying hand has power to keep us ' from our heritage of plenty and \ security...
...For the present depression is a sign of the mortal sickness of the whole capitalist system and this sickness cannot be cured by the application of salves...
...Why do they do it*" Passersby Give them the sour or glassy eye...
...Gees, "bud, it must be swell, To tell the boss 'to go to heW...
...It is such a pity that he is so utterly alonehe cannot stand solitude...
...C is a Menshevik Who worked Illegally' in Russia for many.-, years—he was banished to' SoioVki and sentenced to three years in the Isolator' at Susdal, to another three years in the 'Isolator' at Tcheljabinsk, and exiled to Central Asia and to Astrakhan.] took hhn [C] about three months to reach his place of banishment...
...i-ty of his probosis is wearingjfhe is apparently going to "'WSj other fortune with his uenaps back...
...In a later point we envisage the future of agriculture in a number of producer's cooperatives "cogging in" with consumer's cooperatives, the whole to be promoted and directed by Agricultural Boards working under the Planning Commission...
...It is becoming more and Wore Usual to pass new sentences without even a hint of a new trial i^r-W' « -reason—for example, D, who has already spent three years here, was told that he will get another three years...
...And better far defeat Than effortless "yes-men...
...We know they are not guilty...
...The passages from the letters follow (all names of living persons are represented by letters of the alphabet):— Hunger Striker Dies . - The winter is coming on...
...philosophy and a lucid summary of its program for realization...
...The old, sad...
...Why net pt some clothes of your own, Murnft Clothes that fit yon better ete that of Gene or Morris...
...A strike of alteration tailors at John W ana maker's department is now entering its 14th week...
...tej^HP must have a cow by the iff at 1936...
...will prove an invaluable assistance in the gaining and holding of federal power...
...sort of back slap-stickint ~~ * * » Japan is itching to commit |H tienal hara-kiri...
...is a firm believer in widespread education for Socialism...
...It is true that fascism in Germany and Italy has managed to enroll many from all these groups—and particularly the middle-class groups...
...That is why the speedy • death of capitalism must be as' sured...
...The climate may be relatively mild and ate exiles able to find work and earn a little money.- Banishment to Arctic regions, like Turucljansk or Obdorsk, is considered a very severe penalty, and the e&les are rarely able to find work there...
...1 Poor fellow—I saw him at Tcheljabinsk in 1931 to 1933, and he was a bundle of nerves even then...
...Add simibee: Aa easy bolting the budget...
...He caught dysentery and died in a few aays...
...No C.C.F...
...fa BEN BKL8ttV...
...They include the unemployed, the manual workers and the farmers who are merely the manual workers of the countryside...
...which also clearly outlines the first steps to be taken toward attaining that goal...
...Do you remember H? He has had bad luck 'and has again been sentenced to a concentration camp after spending years hi Solovki and in the 'Isolator' at Tcheliabinsk...
...Fourth, we -guarantee security of tenure for the farmer on his land...
...Members and friends of the Socialist Party are warned not to take part in this or any other DoHtical demonstration that may be arranged without the sanction of the regular party authorities...
...For over a decade he 'kg* been cashing in on his fsmsst Schnozzle...
...An undercover man, George W. Grimmer, employed to spy on Mooney after the 1916 explosion, testified that "Joe Daugherty" of Amarillo, Texas, admitted to him that he had thrown the bomb...
...We believe that each of them is an essential part of the foundation of an economy of plenty...
...And this time they have not marked him down as a Menshevik, so that he has to work...
...Our manifesto sets forth our belief that the capture of political and, later, economic power can be achieved by non-violent means, when enough thinking people can be induced to realize the necessity for far-reaching changes...
...We are deeply interested," said Lee, "in the 'thousands of men and women imprisoned by the Soviet dictatorship because of their fidelity to working-class interests and the ideals of democracy, but we have neither made nor approved any plan for picketing the consulate...
...filed into the street: § -M No heroes out of hooks, „. No movie-idol's looks, ¦ > - - , i—Bat men who walked with feet . Into the street...
...The three wives hat * dainty luncheon at the...
...They read: "Emergency measures, however, are of only temporary value...
...Those who will benefit by its demise are in the majority...
...Public works of various kinds are to be financed by credit issues based on the nationally-owned wealth...
...Here is an outline of Ite first four points in our program— the basic ones: We propose" the establishment of a planning commission to coordinate the economic activities of the nation...
...But he is not the only one to be lonely— there is F [a Menshevik who was sentenced to the 'Isolator' at Susdal and then banished to Kama where he was rearrested...
...To clinch his nominatte the jurist believes in the sacral ness of property right* and urge the deportation of agitators...
...His condition .was so grave that he was released In' Tjumcn...
...Second, the community will be classless, there being neither exploitation nor special privileges...
...We want to become the government in the Federal Parliament at Ottawa...
...His solitude oppresses him and he cannot i ears any money.* | Unbroken Spirit "We were glad to get a letter from E. He writes that he is not ill and that his* spirit is unbroken, but that he is depressed at being in such s hole...
...Woman and Baby, Exiles . "After we were removed they -rather- worried our people in Sarateff, Voronesh, Taschkent, and ether Central Asiatic towns...
...Widespread Appeal We believe, too, in making a widespread appeal...
...We are fairly well prepared for Iks winter and have hud in wood, eaOftuiu, and so on...
...Seen everything will be covered - with snow...
...The last point ' in our program is an emergency program, desigped for the transition period...
...This commission is to be responsible to the Cabinet, which is the executive of the government Secondly, we propose the complete socialization of all financial machinery, including banking, currency, credit and insurance...
...to record Local Philadelphia in faver of the action against the regular state organization of the party set up by the members in New York State, bat the rank and file rejected their pleas...
...Automatons—and then, They march into the street...
...Mooney and Billings are going to remain in prison just ao long as the United Railroads lasts...
...The meeting will be addressed by August Claessens, chairman.of the Labor Committee of the Socialist Party...
...Letters seldom reach us...
...But the promise turned out to mean Obdorsk...
...The C.C.F...
...The "concentration camps" are really labor camps to which political prisoners, "kulaks," priests, and ordinary prisoners are sentenced for forced labor on canals, roads, in forests, and so .on...
...The number of prisoners in these camps ia said to exceed a Oaarter of a million...
...is so anxious to point out to these groups in Canada just where their real interests lie...
...J|| And it won't be easy te atesote* age the elevator strikers...
...I e e * The Building Service Ute*J| showing the Realty AdvisorytefJf that it was sSngiruas te take elerater operators fee a ride...
...A spirited effort was made by supporters of the N.E.C...
...It sounds like an Wei the 1932 campaign—a chicks* is every pot, » • • ¦lock Lisa* !fS Now that the Russian Comma...
...Political prisoners in Russia were until recently exempted from the labors of ordinary convicts, but of late this rule, which existed in Tsarist days also, has often been broken...
...And how many perished in other places...
...r-^^nUHBUJUU^ePUJBSUIHMBjmHBMOJl &}uttJmg 09*vu* By Gertrude Weil Klein WITH faces set and white, No glance to left or right, iiHtey...
...McCants told him in 1919, "for w e thoroughly investigated them, bat they are agitators...
...Goering'e gone a hunting ••• To fitch tome brand-new PekmS twist t LSfe3$H| To torture Jews and Sttiumtw...
...G is better off...
...Taey-SW used to the aas aad dewus...
...The rumor has originated in the activity of a certain member of the Thomas ite secession ?roup, who has been trying to induce individual members of our party to participate in such a move...
...who was drowned, and of Anatoli Lewin...
...Let us hope that we shall not be too cold...
...I got two parcels of the 'Humanite.' I em very sorry the others were lost, for I hoped to have enough reading matter during the 'time of no ways' [the time when winter closes all communications and before the ice is firm enough for travelling], which in this part of the world lasts from the middle of October until the middle of December...
...He just has a corner of a room where he sleeps...
...Adopts Full Program Of Socialism Party Manifesto Endorses Democratic Road - Demands Complete Socialization and National Economic Planning Commission...
...The "stations*' I are the various stages where con. vey* of prisoners halt for periods, just OS they did in Tsarist days, en their way to their places of exile...
...i - Servility can gnaw Until one's nerves are raw...
...The snow will dominate our hves for six months...
...What impressed us most was the news of the death of N. A. Muehin [a Social Revolutionary...
...So Red Mm toaos Washington Society Note: lte Franklin D. Roosevelt Sates* tamed Madame (Cosmetief Jte lotov nee Olga Petrovns Isrpovskaya wife of Viach—tr Molotov, president of the Council of People's Commissars «T the Union of Socialist Sostet Republics and Madame flK ander Troyanovsky, wife ef te Soviet Ambassador in Wa*hiBf» ton...
...g|| From all indications the a* Army ia prepared to take the n% oat of Nippon.' *1tfl The next war leeks as if it *«• going to be stamped "Made a Japan...
...The C.C.F...
...Like them, capitalism \ must inevitably betake itself into the limbo of history...
...Not long ago we saw him in Kazan, where, he was living...
...It i can no more conform to the changed . economic and social conditions than | the great prehistoric mastodons and dinosaurs could conform to the , changed geographic and climatic , conditions which swept them out , of existence...
...There may well be several effective approaches...
...The tailors on strike are members of Journeymen Tailors' Union of America, Local 1. Witnesses at Hearing Declare Mooney Innocent SAN FRANCISCO—Two surprise witnesses appeared for Tom Mooney at the resumption of the hearing on his application for a writ of habeas corpus...
...planning, genuine democracy — these are the four great cornerstones upon which we intend to erect our new social order...
...We realize only too clearly that all this cannot be brought about in a day...
...People will settle down in their Booses, new-comers will be rare, jTSsduiTty tea, sugar, oatmeal, cigarettes, matches, and oil will disappear from the shops, for these goods hardly ever come here in whiter...
...Most of the prisoners referred to in the letters are Mensheviks who belong to the Second International (they are the BSfSSU counterpart of - the Continental Socisl Democrats...
...He leaves several small children .. . "Many Socialists, especially Social Revolutionaries, have been sentenced to concentration camps recently...
...I come representing the Socialist Party of Eugene Debt ssi Morris Hillquit," said Murray te ron recently to a Needle Treat Executive Committee...
...The meeting is being held under the auspices of the Provisional Committee for the Proposal of State Legislation for Tailors and Cleaners, which demands that the State of New York enact legislation protecting retail cleaners and tailors from cut-throat competition Condemn N.E.C...
...C.C.F...
...So he again went on hunger-strike and held out for twenty-eight days...
...Some are Social Revolutionaries...
...r —Skate...
...He kept np s hunger-strike until they promised to banish him to some more or less tolerable place instead of to the isolator (f«r the third time...
...A letter from IS came in the end...
...Action in Suspending N. Y. Charter (Special to The Sew Leader) PHILADELPHIA...
...At the Bensoahurat Branch Organizer: Next week Lose Goldberg will speak on "teste) Judges...
...J*iim^m see, the 'United Front' dees not apply ton...
...white House and chatted about te effect of lipstick and ma«cs«ete| the masses...
...We hear that B [a Menshevik] is ex-Ued here with her husband and her babsv...
...Other speakers will include prominent trade unionists...
...The Proa.ram In the third place we propose the socialization of transportation, communications, electric power and "all other industries and services essential to socisl planning" and their operation under the general direction of the Planning Commission...
...Hozt/d you like to pilot a cage, Or tend a fire for an office boy"s wage...
Vol. 19 • March 1936 • No. 10
