THE BOLSHEVIK GAG ON FREE SPEECH
THE BOLSHEVIK GAG ON FREE SPEECH Only As Persecution of New Ideas Leta Up In Russia Will Experiment in Working Class Government Be Possible, Friend of Soviet Declares. By ROGER N. BALDWIN...
...This means not only postponing the matter two more years...
...number of prisoners in concentration camps or priaoqs ran only be estimated...
...Dr...
...It is a pathetic tragedy of a revolutionary transition that those who disagree with the methods of the successful revolutionary party should have visited on them the same penalties which before were the common lot of them alL And there are some who are the victims of tha opposition not only of the old Government in Russia, and of the Soviet, but of 'the present-day capitalist Governments throughout the world, and who so find themselves virtual ly homeless...
...There ia even an offenaa indicate ' by the phrase "unconscious economic espionage," analogous doubtless to some of our definitions of criminal syndicalism in the United States, with which our Communist brethern ait familiar...
...The former bourgeoisie, the old aristocracy and tha ex-Ciaris» officers live in constant fear of exile...
...Former Labor Premier MacDonald, in a speech at Walsall, denounced the "gentlemanly party" amidst great cheering...
...Woman Suffrage Labor has made a fight for a further extension of the franchise to women and has lost it, but this loss will also come home to the Government...
...But I h«ve 'SmMjm* in polities for or nvuhnrt tha Russian Government, and I jK&btCpru&Oss to do so now To ^RKise «ny Government for whnl jre/Bpffijaril an a wot-fully /ni", 1aken tyflfSr'snay...
...There is a balance on hand of $265.82, the financial report says...
...Tha discussion of democracy within the Communist organization, inaugurated by Trotzky, inevitably makes in this dirr-rtion...
...Ward says: Soviet Constitution Nullified "The situation is parallel to that in some of our industrially controlled areas...
...Arthur Henderson pointed out that the Labor bill, besides giving women the vote at the age of twenty-one, would abolish the existing restrictions under which some million and a half are now deprived of the franchise...
...The hardships under thia system come from the fact that the persons sent away are left to shift for them selves in a strange environment...
...Tide Turns Against British Tories Unemployed Estimated at 3,000,000 — MacDonald Scotches Vicious Tory Attack on Socialism—A New ' Triple Alliance rLONDON.—That the prestige of the Tory Government ia waning is as evident as the fact that the Labor party continues to gain supporters...
...in the long run, '"' " 1 «tj...
...That there are sueh prisoners in Russia is now established beyond all argument It is officially admitted i the Soviet Government...
...The term of exile ia legally limited to three years as>d usually does not exceed two...
...Louis Fisher says, and Dr...
...Of this point Dr...
...Prisoners in Russia are divided into three categories—spies, counter-revolutionists and members of opposition political parties...
...By ROGER N. BALDWIN 1 Director, American C.ivii LiLettiea Union IDECLINE to accept the Communist notion that you must be 100 per cent with the Soviet Government or 100 per cent against it, J reserve the right to criticize my friends jwst.as I do my opponents...
...A Vicious Tory Attsck The Tories have sunk to the level of conservative parties in other countries in their attacks on the Labor party...
...Tories Attack Trade Unions Not content with attempting to deprive the Labor party of financial contributions from the trade unions, the Tory Government has also launched an attack upon the clause in housing contracts which guarantees that members of the trade unions shall be employed...
...Tha members of the deputation pointed out that the instructions issued by the Tory Minister of Labor, and already operative, under which applicants for benefit must show either that eight contributions have been paid since their entry into insurance, or, alternatively, that a total of thirty have been paid since tha entry, were seriously increasing the number of unemployed people...
...The number of Socialist prisoners increases daily...
...The Exiles Even more difficult than the position of those in prison is those exiled...
...The attack came through the Ministry of Health which reco'm-mended k> the Barking Council that the trade union clause should be deleted...
...the «r'"»'»t«''t friendli-ii.-s tttJgM'ytQpte whom that finv ' ' nmettjJBMC I cannot believe Hint >flQPVftttiHA ran make mure difflcuft^JpS always, difficult way which jjBisia lias t.> trend in the maze fcf complications and hostilities wfrii'li she has aroused...
...The home to be destroyed...
...Only as persecution of new ideas and experiments lets up in Russia can ws look to the da* velopment of that process Tiase Past for iiiMasha We here ean at least testify ta our faith ia tha quickening fares of freedom for thia sort of grown, by telling fur friends 4b Russia and pur Communist brethren—who will surely carry tha word to Russia— that tne time has passed (from tha point of view of their own good ia s wprld where they need friends) to lock up and exile those whota only offense Is their refusal to think like the crowd in power...
...A bill designed to give a company a virtual monopoly of electrical supply over most of the county of Essex, without any time limit or right of public purchase, was thrown out by 183 votes to 80...
...The definitions of counter-revolution are vague...
...Louis Fisher quotes "one csreful estimate of 3,000 in jail and 1,506 in exile in all Russia," and adds that "other figures are higher...
...help end Russian famines i.y replai ing primitive peasant tools sjith American machines...
...Sickness, unemployment and lack of clothing therefore make demands upon relief agencies...
...Wood concurs, that these persons "are banished administratively, that is without trials, perhaps after only a hearing for which tha defendant cannot employ counsel...
...Nevertheless, the Government assumed responsibility for defeating the bill...
...And experiment grows only in the free air of thought, opinion, trial and error, where there is no fear of the deadening chill of enforced dogma...
...A conference of the executive of these organizations is to be held to consider arrangements for an alliance...
...Ward quotes a figure of 1,600 which is that officially admitted by the Bolshevik press to cover al categories...
...It wss the threat of the Government to reduce the little the unemployed are receiving to live on which brought this demonstration...
...For rny participation in the Kuzbas Colony in Siberia, I have been indicted and I would be honored to be indicted "Hjpln for aiding Russia...
...the im-|iriMi*neiit by Communists in Russia or persons guilty only of views against their program...
...It also means that even the pledge of a vote at the age of twenty-one is not given...
...In this meeting we are, of course, interested only in those whose offenses involve opinion slone, those who merely by their utterances, public or private, express disagreement with the present dictatorship...
...The actus...
...A cable has just reached us about another hunger strike by Socialists in the Moscow and Susdal prisons...
...would not speak on this subject even though 1 held very strong convictions about it, if I felt that I would by doing so encourage those reactionary forces which are at tempting to defeat this first woik ing class Government in the world Although 1 wholly disbelieve in the principle of dictatorship, I recognize that a period of chaoa and transition may make it a practical in-, .---it v But the need for persecuting opponents merely for their opinions ia no necessary part evel of such a dictatorship...
...While freedom of assemblage is theoretically possible, practically it is impossible because of the control of the means of organisation and places of meeting...
...it ia established by such frr^.uitial investigators as Prof Harry F. Ward and Louis Fisher, writing in a recent number of the Nation, and by voluminous documents both from Soviet aources and from the political parties opposed] to the Soviet Government...
...The miners have taken the initiative in the matter through their executive which has invited the other organizations to meet the miners "to discuss the question of rendering mutual* support to our respective memberships in time of necessity...
...By a vote of 200 to 153 the House of Commons refused a second reading of the Labor bill to give women votes at the age of twenty-one...
...This being a private bill, for which the Government is not primarily responsible, the defeat does not involve a political crisis...
...Yet the dan ger in an entrenched bureaucracy grows daily, throttling those spontaneous experiments in industry ami social life on which the hope revolutionary progress depends...
...Religion to be stamped out...
...Politicals are condemned to prison for definite counter-revolutionary acta, but they may be exiled on no better grounds than a suspicion that they are unfriendly to the Government...
...Russia is today one of fn« most stable of Governments...
...This clause Is the security the workers have, which the trade unions and the Labor party have won, that trade union wages and conditions shall prevail...
...Either may be sent to a certain city or town or village, to remain there on parole, as it were...
...The bill was defended by the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, speaking in his official capacity...
...Exiled or imprisoned in the old days of the Czar for their revolutionary activities, those who disagree with the Soviet dictatorship still find themselves the object of Governmental persecution...
...It ean afford to be as generous in dealing with offenses of opinion as any other Govern men in the world And yet today we see a political censorship rigid to the point of excluding all organisations of opposing political forces...
...It will be remembered that a triple alliance of miners, railwaymen and other transport workers was virtually ended on "Black Friday" when, during a mining stoppage, a decision was taken against a transport strike...
...This leaflet carried the following as its first paragraph: "To Women.—Socialism destroys marriage...
...This leafflet," he continued, "is enough to brand the Tory party in Walsall as dishonest, ignorant, malignant, and having every vice which unfits that party to be entrusted with the votes of decent people...
...Dealing with the lie that Socialism destroys marriage, Mr...
...The regulation requiring that the applicant must prove he had made every effort to obtain employment was also so elastic that it left much room for discrimination and refusal of necessary aid...
...The House, however, found it altogether too impudent an attack on public rights...
...They were backed by a deputation to the Ministry of Labor, which presented the distress of tha unemployed which is estimsted at over 8,000,000...
...Under conditions such as these, it is inevitable that there should be political persecution...
...That, 1 suppose, must be the common lot of disbelievers in all organized Government, as are the Anarchists...
...Tory Bill Defeated The Tory Government is doing its best to serve big employers and capitalism in general but there is always the fear of alienating an increasing number of voters...
...given to Labor members to make an effective attack on the Government...
...Socialist Ideals are: Tha monarchy to be endad and a Bolshevik Republic to be set up...
...Tha last week in February witnessed tha march of 6,000 unemployed men and women on London through cold and rain...
...Ward, speaking of the exiles, who evidently are now as under the old regime suffering even greater hardships than those in prison, says: "There are various degrees of being 'sent away* for those charged, with political economic offences...
...The distinguishing mark of Soviet Russia is not that it has so changed the practices of the old regime as th^t it has wholly changed the objects of Government...
...There is, however, increasing freedom of individual expression...
...The need for help is great...
...Labor Councillors James and Whiting strenuously opposed the alteration of the conditions of contracts as suggested by the Ministry...
...When I Kj,eak in opposition to a policy in Russia today, I do it on the basis of tested support of, essential Russian-American projects directed to the colossal industrial problems confronting the Russian people...
...T«t those of us who nlnied JgfcltliB principle of free .spci'cjh '.'fflf^CommunuitH in the I 'nil ad Sjstiles'liWanse we tfelieve in 1he nrtyciphji^Ro" not...
...A number of by-elections and the London victory for Labor show the tide rising against the Tory Government because of serious neglect of unemployed distress...
...An appeal to sympathizers declares that "reports from Russia are very sad...
...The economic offender may be exiled from Russia, the political to one of the Siberian colonies...
...I nave sifcved in a humble way whenever I pould to advance those rausei which jpake for the upbuilding of industrf by common ownership and roopeffjsft* * management...
...Revolutions, says a distinguished jurist, seem to change everything except the1 form of Government...
...There is no freedom of the press, of speech, or assemblage...
...It is because I have a concern for the success of experimental processes in Russis, because I cherish the utmost possible freedom ia working out new systems of human relationships, that I am eager to see the first working-class Government in the world rise higher than the evil repressions of old-line Governments...
...On the eve of the poll at Walsall they issued a last-minute leaflet which beat all previous Tory records for lying...
...Persecution Established I know that to advocate the release of Russian political prisoners is to invite attack...
...in their pro urnm,'are oT}W8.tr-<t hy that very fact wjt speal nut agains...
...It is, however, a "smack in the face" for the Government...
...It has suffered a defeat, and a severe one, in this predominantly capitalist Parliament...
...On a motion to accept the Ministry's proposals there was a tie vote— seven in favor and seven against...
...Marriage to be only a civil contract...
...I.am atil.uj, «ii enterprise in th« < aurasus t...
...Scarcely * wBdjjrpa/ses that one or more opportunities are no...
...It withers only as it becomes crowded out by the fresh young growth which rises from the rich soil of experiment...
...Surely nonsuch atand will have the slightssl effect upon the Government Ht the United States in its relations to Russia for if there it one thing the two Governments have in common, it is the disposition to^ail their more militant opponents...
...Prisoners Under Two Regimes The peculiar tragedy of the Russian political prisonera today is the fact that many of them have been prisoners under two regimes...
...Steiraer, jailed here in the United States for distributing a leaflet attacking Wilson for sending troops to Siberia, later de ported to Russia and shortly thereafter exiled from Knssiai for refusing to accept the Communist regime, I am at least mjved humanly to condemn both Governments involved and to give her such aid as I can...
...The committee has forwarded $2,500 to Europe to be used to aid Russian political prisoners...
...The excuse for it in Russia has long since passed...
...But that there are many such prisoners is perfectly obvious on the face of the situation...
...Ball, Saturday, Will Aid Russian Politicals The Relief Society for Socialist Prisoners and Exiles in Soviet Russia will hold a masquerade ball Saturday night, March 28, at the Park Palace, 3 West 110th Street...
...MacDonald declared that modern capitalism, with its low wages, unemployment, empty cupboards, and broken hearts, destroyed the family life of great masses of people, and it is this system, he said, which embodies the Tory conception of the blessedness of family life...
...Just how many of these were locked up for offenses involving opinion alone, it is impoesible to say...
...so does the task of locsting deportees and keeping them in touch with relatives and friends...
...or they may be given a choice of cities or of location within a certain area...
...Finally it was decided that the Housing Committee should further consider the whole matter...
...Divorce to be obtained at will...
...It was Lenin who wr»te so vividly on Engel's conception of the withering away of the State after the work-era' revolution...
...But when 1 think of little Moil...
...Any member of these classes may any day be arrested and shipped off with little notice to the North, South or East for BiT aore reason than that he is suspected of having connections with anti-Boi sheviks abroad or because the G. P. U. imagines he has information about emigrant circles, or simply because he is what he is...
...Evidence of increasing Labor solidarity is seen in proposals for a new alliance of miners and transport workers, with the additoin of engineering workers...
...The Government declared that in 1927 a bill would be introduced to establish "equal political rights for men and women...
...In the matter of freedom of organized speech and even of political organization, the Constitution is in practice nullified...
...Yet the State withers of its own accord...
Vol. 2 • March 1925 • No. 12
