THE CHATTER BOX
THE CHATTER BOX Pilgrimage ' Over the way of Winter's wrath Over the frozen wineglass path They follow the Spring. . . World wanderers bewildering—, Weary of waiting, faint to start Down at...
...It is our candid opinion that any voter whose desire for some fundamental political change is so feeble that he can be scared by a name is p'recarious material upon which to build any enduring movement...
...This Nebraska person should be told to read all of Coolidge's sermons by way of inspiration and instruction...
...This is our answer to those who think that party names are of tremendous importance...
...They have about 70 deputies compared with 330 hi the last Sejm where they formed the bloc which supported Premier Wltos...
...Lookater she's hittln' thirty...
...Not satisfied with this plundering, the Puritan saints charged outrageous prices for cheap and worthless uniforms which speedily deteriorated...
...When he ts promoted he gets more money and that is the only difference, but it is a difference that means something to the ex-Congressman...
...Within the past few months The Neiu Leader has received an occasional letter from the West written by 'former party members who declare that what is Wanted is another party name and everything will be lovely...
...large sections sf the population are living in poverty...
...I know the guy who runs the dump an' take it from me hel a prince...
...Some boat eh kid...
...rural West with the capitalist parties, but outside of Minnesota there is no independent political movement aside from the Socialist Party...
...George B. Lockwood of Washington, scout master of the Republican troops, has sent a questionaire to papers throughout the country asking them to report Republican candidates for President in their respective localities...
...Letts' Smash The System" By Clarence C. Senior "T rrs vine out the whole cspttanst *"* system, then we can...
...He was short and gtooky...
...I notice that Henry Harrison, of late fame is the village and later aspiration toward pubusherbeed if reviving the Grub Street Club, on Monday Nights St the Greenwich Inn, East Eleventh street, near Bsoa» way . . . Many a poet has bad his start there toward fame or infamy...
...There are always those who hate to see ambitious chaps in the world...
...You will find beauty and proud peace Amid the wild wreckage of your daring, You will find wonder in your broken dreams...
...Why penalize ability, ambition and thrift by insisting that Congressmen would remain Congressmen and accept the salary that goes with the job...
...The Socialist Party and Alleged Third Movements fTROM present Indications there is no likelihood of a break on the part of any influential section of the trade unions or even the farmers for political action in opposition to the Republican and Democratic parties...
...He finds change romg on all the tune, "but it would be better done if we worked to same plan, some expectation by which results could oe judged...
...Moreover, an investigation and report by the Secretary of Labor isn't likely to be completed till after the election returns will he known and both Tammany and Congress can forget all about the problem...
...and when dark of night la gone— Oh, the wild rapture of the singing dawn...
...But the limit of this vulgar capitalist class had not yet been reached...
...World wanderers bewildering—, Weary of waiting, faint to start Down at the heels—Sick at heart They follow the Spring...
...Traded in a radio, a seventy five dollar equitty ona lot in Homeyhill subdivision an' fifty bucks tuh boo a. Some buy, what...
...New York has its Fifth Avenue, Chicago has its Boul Mich, but the most human of all thoroughfares, the one that best reflect* a city's spirit and tempo, is Detroit's Woodward Avenue...
...ef the best poets of CM land, whose vers* prut* against the evflo of the acoaemie opdrr, saat^Jg The Wagner Resolution T^HETHER Senator Wagner of New York had a political motive to serve Governor Smith's candidacy in introducing his resolution on unemployment in the Senate we do not know...
...Social control is becoming too Uve a question to be neglected—even in a department of economics...
...So one walks along Woodward JMM nue, enveloped in the odors of fryJaf foodstuffs...
...v - In winding mirrors of thawing snow Broken lives half-mended show They follow the Spring...
...is corning soon, that birds will be chirping over the heads of the idle poor in the parks, and that the wanderlust gripping- my stiffened resolves and hurtling...
...For a unrrersfty course in self-discovery, let me recommend alt scribes to the Grub Street Club...
...It is not strange that these years of war form a period \>t bitter antagonism between capital and labor...
...Congressmen are entitled to be promoted to corporation service and, if necessary, the Constitution should be amended to preserve this inalienable right of man...
...I feel that if we can send a few exmember lobbyists to the penitentiary," he says, "the effect might serve to make less offensive to the nose of common decency and less damaging to the public welfare the practices of those predatory interests which employ ex-members of Congress...
...So there...
...They apparently regard Congress as a training school for promotion to private corporation service...
...No one will raise any fervid disagreement, nor will it matter...
...Depressions still throw men out }f work...
...What may happen in the cities as a result of widespread unemployment cannot be forecast, but it does not follow that urban workers will turn to political action because of their distress...
...If there be any frowning wall that stands Between you and the fruit of your mad dreams— Be brave to storm the battlements and die, For death has glory life can never give...
...Things have been going great recently, I gatb**For...
...those of you who visit the city from the SF** spaces, try and make" your entry on Mondays, ss that you can visit the Grub Street Club of Poetry nights...
...Our War Parasites JJESPITE the sheaf of sermons preached about the "idealism" which war is alleged to cultivate it is a fact that war has always been a smoke screen to conceal the hatching of grafters and crooks in the upper range of society...
...These radicals seem to be of two sorts, those who have had Utile contact with the actual industrial organisation, and therefore have no conception of its make-up...
...the voices of Eli Siegel...
...gloom , , Ma>te> the inevitably-waning sight, I go ungrudgingly...
...the Congo Yodter, Msswe* Bodenhetm, the Ikon ¦masker, and Henry Harrison, Chairman, Patron, Poet, and anything else ha ten* you he is...
...Past bootleg joints, past shops with stocks oft vaged from seas of shoddy, past chines** with ossotrtc Sell-Jasus-to-the-workl signs, -past Pay-as-you-wear-'em starts, past auto sales rooms with preening safes* men - stdaad1 "^hrsilualsa, .^psss --was ojjsf where a couple of highjackers win bumped off...
...None of his Tammany associates in politics is able to see it...
...She's knocked off twenty thousaa' miles an' never a cent for repairs...
...Doheny', Fall and Sinclair are not new types in our history...
...Of the other parties, the Communists will have five deputies compared with the two they had in the oM Sejm...
...coal, textiles, and farming are weake even in times of "prosperity" education, while widely spread, is mainly conservative, and trained technicians are trained only in their little field of activity so that we see such examples of L-xpertness as that given by the engineering society which recently gave its support to the power Interests fighting Boulder Dam legislation...
...Believe me it's the real thing...
...Moreover, a movement that does not invite the bitter invectives of the ruling class and their sycophants isn't worth building...
...Our capitalist class since the end of the World War has written its epic in the war graft and the plundering of western oil which is still important news in the headlines...
...O youth find discontent and you will find A world aglow with vision, and although You beat with tiny bands against the skies— The things that stand betwixt you and the sun Will crumble...
...THE .OFFICII BOT...
...This remark, by the lecturer in a so-cahed workers' education class the other evening Is typical of the attitude of many present day radicals, even though utopianiszn is supposed to be passe...
...follow me over hill sad down valley, to where the liberated brooks and the emerging forests sing their own "Internationale...
...In a speech supporting the resolution Senator Wagner did a good job of puncturing Coolidge's sermons regarding "prosperity" and he declared that the problem of unemployment is one that must be solvedWe agree, but Senator Wagner is a representative of Tammany which controls a city of over six millions of people...
...My name ain't Mike—" he answered— "It's Pan...
...He makes the point that if either of his rivals is elected the capitol building would have to be guarded as it might disappear some night...
...and follow me...
...The Industrial sysem is like a ship with plenty of power, but with no rudder, no compass, and no captain...
...So I am safe in saying to you here, that spring...
...Its members endeavored to keep the whole of the loot by fighting the demands of the workers in the mills for higher wages...
...The busses and trolley-cars hat and creak, screech and scrape along ths six mile stretch from the Detroit stiver to the eerie lights of Fords where aa army of robots bend to their tasks...
...An' let me tell yuh sometbin' else...
...The Farmer-Labor nominating convention called to meet in Milwaukee next May was issued by a committee in Denver that has practically no affiliated organizations...
...Not unless our friends in the West can show us an actual and growing movement, one that has a membership following, one that is determined, one that is unreservedly committed to undying hostility tocapitalist parties and-.politicians...
...Spring is a most polite subject for discussion...
...And isn't this a land of opportunity...
...SINGING...
...One can take an evening's walk aktng -Woodward and commune with his fellow-mortals, aware of every word they speak, following every click of their thoughts as they whizz by In their tin lizzies...
...We observe, also, that the many Farmer-Labor parties organized in the states some years ago no longer exist outside of Minnesota and the so-called Progressive party of Idaho is now a remnant and is being delivered to the Republican politicians of that state...
...And may I alee advise those of you who can coots, that on Tuesday evening neat, March 13th, at OM Labor Temple, 343 E. 14th Street, N. Y. City, IBAntoni Romatka's Poetry Forum will allow thsBab...
...Production has Increased shout 39 per cent, in the past dosen years, Tugwell finds nine general, causes, for this...
...Even the war that resulted in the extinction of chattel bondage spawned as dirty a brood of parasites as ever disgraced a nation...
...third, Harry F. Sinclair...
...If he and his organization are so disturbed about unemployment, why is it that nothing has been done in New York City to meet it...
...It is time that this attitude should be considered...
...pierce the nine knees of the world, and scorn The rules the dead have given you to still' The crying of your hearts and blind your eyes...
...and the inheritance from Adam Smith in the laissez fairs- doctrine blocks every attempt to modernise social legislation...
...Including educational advances, urbanisation, and division...
...The neat stroke is a wage cut tor the steal Woodward Avenue — Detroit rjTHKRE are streets as well as clUes that have an atmosphere of their own...
...Death I cannot tell what Death in bis closed hands Holds fast: if Life within some ampler round...
...But my, since I got a tot of extrys an' a new wet of duco on the 111' ol' bus most enny iroad'll fell fer it 111 say it was a jood buy...
...eternal grin...
...When my phrases run forth like the foregoing, then too can you know that blasty tongues are softening to foollshment and waggery...
...Promoting Congressmen pOR years it has been a practice of many Congressmen after having served in Congress to accept a 'job as lobbyist for some big interests...
...These are the objectives the author sets for one who wishes, to take industry into account in planning for the future...
...The New Leader correspondent in the West has given our readers much important information of conditions in that section yet it does not appear that discontent is assuming any large political proportions of an independent political character...
...No doubt their record in Congress is scrutinized and if the statesman has a good record as a corporation poodle in that body he is in line for promotion...
...Those who are afraid of the mud of the enemy will desert any way no matter what the name...
...There remains the Socialist Party which will have a place on the ballot in all but a few states...
...Yet still to limit and occasion bound (For Law binds still Life's multitudinous strands), Or whether, as one lost in parching- lands Craves but one simple draught as the boon of Fate, So may the gift that wearied Life demands Be Sleep, sheer, absolute, Inviolate...
...LEONE...
...Funny that grin, . •*«¦ He smiled at nothing at all, and his face lit up In a terribly Impish way...
...We have no objection to a growing and powerful political movement of the working class under any other name than that of the Socialist Party, but we also know that if it becomes powerful it will invite all the natries that have been given to the Socialist Party...
...It will includejsssj...
...And I watched hifn In the smoke sad grlms Just to see hew he'd workHe seemed, as outa place there as a dove in a nock of 10-ton motor tracks But he was strong, 'that kid,» .. and near four, o'clock—when they begin, to run the heavy stuff— when we begin to sweat and curse— HE WAS SINGING...
...There were 33 parties or groups represented in the electoral contest and pilsudski's bloc of parties and groups will hold 140 mandates and will probably be able to rule in the Sejm...
...Two wool combinations appeared on the scene and dividends rose as high as 40 per cent, while the wool gang was clamoring for a high tariff to give them a free field to skin the people and the soldiers...
...His findings indicate that there are trends working toward a more humane organisation of the industrial system...
...it must begin to use honest and socially useful incentives rather than harmful ones...
...Now there is a proposal to wipe out this promotion and there are those who have passed the grade who feel indignant about it...
...Waitll we pass the Bouleyvard an' ni atep on 'er...
...and it must continue to grow Jtn its productive capacity so that a proper material basis of lice can be supplied...
...But this I know: that when my little sheaves Are garnered, and the softly-falling...
...The swindle became known as "shoddy" and the grafters who made fortunes out of it came to be known as our "shoddy aristocracy...
...I said, "D'ya like it...
...as one that leaves The heat and babble of a crowded room And stops into the groat, cool, silent night...
...Before proceeding to vVashington to tell Coolidge all about it he should have been able to say, "Here is what we have been doing in New York City to meet the problem...
...There is a vast and useful work to be done in New York City in housing hundreds of thousands in decent quarters and if the brokers who rule the city had any vision that program could now absorb thousands of workers and help take up some of the unemployed...
...in the smoke and soot—SINGING...
...ii-^X*--- , ; „_ Mythology To-Date In our shop, where they make steel ribbon for wagon-springs, a new kid was hired...
...MIND you...
...Post decayed mansions with cold-drink hetdsj frsnts and garbage can backs...
...talk about rebuilding...
...and his face was in An...
...The cost of living was soaring and living conditions were becoming intolerable...
...And If you are beyond ths self-revelation,' at least you can always find there...
...them out to the vagrant winds like so much loosened pollen for their frolicsome whims...
...bow far I go toward the left of this question...
...How'd I get 'er...
...It must je socialised, it must serve social rather than private ends...
...The Radical Peasants have won 60 seats which is an Increase of ten...
...The Nationalists, which include the National Democrats, the National Minority, and the Right Wing Peasants, have suffered a heavy loss...
...We are inclined to think that Wagner's speech is politics despite his disclaimer...
...Last week I resigned the column to the babes of our movement This week tits Ypsiantee are thunder* ing forth led by Mas...
...a week ago...
...But he makes up through the quantity ef business...
...I uster have a motorcycle an' every >ooe in erwbile I'd pick up a jane but bout as tar as I ever got with them waa holdin' hands in a movie...
...They are legitimate products of American capitalism as the New England grafters during the Civil War amply demonstrate...
...and twenty-two technical or specific causes, such as personnel work, elimination of waste, standardization of stses, scientific management, research, serialisation of machines, more careful planning, tendency for unnlons to organize industrially and the union's Interest in management...
...There is still much dissatisfaction in the...
...Yuh damn teotln' she...
...One is never atone on Woodward Avenue...
...Forty now...
...Socialist Party Makes Big Gains In Polish Election Warsaw.—The Socialists have come out of the elections last Sunday with 63 depuUes In Parliament, a gain of 22...
...The resolution instructs the Secretary of Labor to investigate the number of workers facing unemployment and parttime employment...
...I O Youth Be Gloriousl O Youth be glorious, O youth be keen To...
...MAX PRESS...
...At present, "we flounder...
...He is unable to say it so that his criticisim of Coolidge applies to himself as well...
...All our history shows that war provides a hothouse for nursing grafters and parasites and that these scoundrels wave the flag while looting the nation and the poor devils at the front...
...Many a one will find himself there after a half dosen sessions or so...
...The Pllsudskl Government, despite Its demonstration of power In the elections must look to either the Conservatives or Socialists for support There Is a growing feeling that Pllsudskl can no longer rule without Parliament, as formerly, especially since his pledged supporters form the biggest single Sejm caucus...
...Yup, she's a swell bq*j...
...I dare you, all you slaves of the pen, and tits lathe and the desk, all you white collared ones, all you dignified serfs of this industrial indignity called Office and Shop.....I dare you to tell your bosses, your task and your duties, to go fly a kite...
...You pay fifty cents for tea and toast Remember Henry loses on every customer in the ence...
...gasoline, raw whiskey, bam-' ing rubber and cheap perfume, ewmitf the spoken •words at his fellow rttlissS'i aware of every click of their thoughfs.'B&M BfcTJMKJTBgB<S...
...We now know through the testimony of Will Hays that a substantial portion of the plunder found its way into the hands of the National Republican Committee...
...the only spot left out of what was once the Latin Quarter of the City...
...As Stephenson wrote in his Abraham Lincoln and the Union, "prices in the main advanced about 100 per cent, while wages were not advanced more than 60 per cent...
...That policy keeps a poor man down by closing the gate to opportunity...
...Poets of America to hold forth...
...It will be in the fight this year...
...past efsssSst ladies of the evening slowly cruising hi smart coupes, past...
...Rexford Guy Tugwell of Columbia University, has made an analysis of Industry to determine the causes for its tremendous Increase in productivity in recent years in his recent book, "Industry's Coming of Age" (Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York...
...Senator Wagner can see the problem in the nation but he has never been able to see it in New York City...
...Too often such distress has left them in a mood of pessimism...
...Nawl let's wait till we gits down to the Eight daneehall: yuh kin git some swell chill there...
...Even the color regulations for uniforms was disregarded by the parasites with the result that soldiers occasionally fired upon their own comrades by mistake...
...When I git 'er tuned up there aint many that'll pass 'er...
...Let's cut loose...
...The Nationalists are too embittered to lend their support, while the Socialists are «i»m»»<Ung what the Government financially Is unable to grant Bethlehem Steel Corporation announced the advance of base price* for bars, shapes, and plates IttlDO psTton...
...limn, boy, ahe certainly can sing...
...About the most contemptible were the cotton and woolen magnates of New England, that pious region of Pecksniffs and usurers who still rule this paradise of the Puritan saints, This gang of "loyal" patriots cornered the supply of clothing during the Civil War so that the Quartermaster-General reported he was unable to obtain sufficient clothing for the troops who were compelled "to do picket duty in the late cold nights without overcoats, or even coats, wearing only thin summer flannel blouses...
...Finally I called to him— "Hey Mike...
...Whoa I Jese, I didn't see that traffic cop...
...It seems that a Nebraska Congressman who does not understand the way we noble freemen do things has drafted a bill to bar the way to advancement for ambitious Congressmen...
...wlfl it be1 worth while for the Socialist Party to consider any other alleged movement...
...Perhaps those who have become conservaUve after a tew vain attempts to introduce a realistic economics will be heartened by this attempt and come out of their shells, but the habits of years can not be so easily broken...
...With the red from the roller tables reflecting on his half-naked body so that he looked like an Ttw«mh god Singing . . . But when he sang, I felt that be wouldn't come back no more...
...that soon I will be gasolining over snowfree highways, ostensibly on business, but really in quest of questing;—knight-err an ting for that phantomesque maiden called freedom,—for that heartless, yet ravishing Queen, called living...
...The first step of one who caDs himself scientific must be to understand the nature of the system which is to be changed, if this is done adequately, some trends may be found which will help in the necessary reorganisation...
...The government then turned to Europe to obtain a supply which invoked a protest from the Boston Board of Trade against foreign importations...
...While these pickets were dying of pneumonia the cotton and woolen magnates were reaping fabulous profits...
...We*favor Andy first although he expects to appoint the other two to cabinet positions if he is elected...
...You will find glory when the swords have hemmed You in...
...The Socialist Party has honorable scars and despite all the mud hurled at it for more than twenty years it is the only national political organization that shows vitality and standing...
...second, Albert B. Fall...
...and those who have been hurt, mentally or physically, by Industry and strike back blindly...
...Our industrial system has been in its tdolescence, now that It Is approaching maturity we must see that it is to sbouller its proper duties to society...
...those who have fought the reactionaries and died in the fray will not be able to derive the satisfaction they could from this book...
...Because a man has faithfully served the capitalist class in Congress should not bar him from serving that class in a higher sphere...
...You know, another kid to work the bellows...
...Our locality is The New Leader office and we have taken a vote with the following result, which has been forwardJ ed to George: first choice, Andy Gump...
...Press in the shore ecstatic ptsttsmstsrs . .,¦ & ^.Z...
...Gee, them hot dogs smell good Let's pull upon' git some...
...Despite Increased Production In spite of all this Increased productivity, an honest observer must record some barriers to a better life for everyone...
...Straight as they make 'em too.' Well, as I wus sarin', this is some bus...
...Hasn't every man the inalienable right to be a corporation poodle in the hall as well as on the floor...
...but it Is to be hoped that this is the forerunner of many others of its kind which will give strength to those in the field of economics who entertain the revolutionary idea that man should control economic forces...
...At last it is becoming impossible for an economist to say such things about our sacred capitalist system and not lose his status...
...This will be the net result of the Wagner resolution...
...An' say—'Just "round the corner there's a joint that has some swell hootch...
...The election shows a drift away from reaction as it appears that the Socialists and progressive groups have generally gained...
...Goes nineteen on a gallon...
...Polish elections are conducted on a basis of proportional representation...
...It is the ghost of what remains of the old Farmer-Labor party which was wrecked by the Communists in Chicago nearly five years ago...
Vol. 7 • March 1928 • No. 12
