Young Socialists Magazine 1916 Jan June.pdf

10
offices. For lordly influence went
• long way. Some day-wben his
son was .(ter some big municipal
.ppolntm('nt-a word -from his
10rtll~hip would be helpful. •
Yes, it was just 3S well for Labor
Members to be tolerant to­
,,7.;ds lords. Not only was it businch;
but it WilS christian to be
charitable:
"""hat a splendid cigar it is,"
said the -Labor \Lember. blowing
out a fragr:ant .ncbula of !\moke.
And aoy such democratic views
as remained in the Labor Men.­
ber's soul were clouded, and obscured
by the lordly smoke.
THE COMIlADE'S WORTH
Do you know tht: \t ah~t: and tht:
worth o f a rtal Ih'c cro;"'d of young
Socialists Thl:' kind th., ("an go out
in a bunch and comc hom~ the §Rille
way without the leut bit of damage
done to health. happinul or friend­
.biP~ The 50rt of a crowd that will
sing an" dance, .wim and study, hike,
read, play, run, row arid be aame for
&II)' ord kind" of ' fun a't aflY old time
and place If you can tnuhfuIJ)' say
yes. 1 conaratulat~ you, and only
hope that you may ne"~r h."e to
leave them. 1 ha\'e been uud to
that lort of a crowd and ha\'~ had
to quit them-and now, take it fron1
me. you can ne\'er mealur~ the true
worth of a Yipici crowd until you ...·e
left them far behinq you, and you
know you can't get buk onr the
wuk end.
' Thil is how it works oul. You'r~
,ent way down into the countr), to
do the bOlSes' ~ wo rk, and incidentilly
to earn your bread. You don't want
to ao part:.:ularly-tbt:re's a number
of ',ood tilues jU·lt ahead, and per·
hap; you',vc' already ' ""ed lhe best
airl of all to go along with you.
You are nOt crazy about lea\'inr
town just then, but you ,4>-You bet
)'0\1 CO. ,,.11 th.t week it i,,,'t 50 bad
-of course. when lU(,etjn' night C01lle5
;.round you JUI' fa ll a thinlJln' about
wbo'U all be there .nd who they'U
have for chairman, and how 1000a the
meelin' will take.
But then Sunday comtl aroundand
it'. no usc-the bluff don't go
any further, you know by that time
you're rul homesick. No U5e cryin'
about it tboulh, 10 you ju.t pick out
the dandielt .ort of a place or trip
SO' take in, and you set out bold u
~ !'OVl!'l 1OOU1.III .... ~uoq J
ever yOu pleue, You're. not alone,
either, t)ecause your side partner ia
in exactly the same ho:u as you. H.,
too. has be·en used to life and , la uBh~rer.
10 you're partnen in mi5ery as
wdl as work. You -pick out a long
excursion trip and think eYerything
will be all rieht. You settle down
cnrnfortably and start to talk about
.cenery and carne.r.;, and work and
Shows -anagirll-oh, loti o· things.
You leave as the lua is jui t about
lettling down to relt, and you figure
out that the hikers back home are
b\9\ftt!i' "Tap," 9~ the bugh;s to sig.
t1al for the return journey. They
mun ha\'e had lome .port, you muu·.
Then you try to . ettle down and rut.
No use, it can't be done; 10 you start
10 wander round the limited deck
space of the boat. You (lm into a
cro ..... d or fello ...... and girls, about
Ihirty of them. That'5 strange, JUII
about the size of your crowd. There
il gou again. They slart to 5ingnot
your Socialist songs. to be 5urestill,
the tllnes are familiar. And
they're \'ery rrienlily ..... ithin their own
circle, thi5 crowd.
At last the m·o-o-n comu up-hig
and round and white. The crowd
ulkes a hint from him and 5w inKI into
a lIong.· What i5 that melody .0
.trangely familiar "Santa Lucia,"
d-n them, couldn't they try some·
thing el se Hut your mind goes back
to another river nnd another crowd
and other ..... ord. to the lame tuncthey
just keep rinKing into your ears:
Comradu so dear to me.
Hearts. warm and tender.
To them where'er I be,
My Ion! I 'll render.
U nder broad Hea\'en's dome,
\Vhere'tr on earth I roam.
With them I fed at home,
\Ve're Comrades' e"er.
"With them you fe el at home," yes
- and without them you don't.
You're ju. t perfectly rni.euble, and
you're lona.:ing ner 50 hard for the
hearty laugh of your boYli and the
.wish of the girls' dresses as they a:o
d:ancing and skipping past. But the
longest exile mu.t conle to an end
• ome time, and in a few weeks you're
bal'k ag:a in. They're all glad to see
yOll, but you're a whole lo t gladder
to he back with them. And the mi5·
erics of the put are: soon forlouen
in the pleasuru of the present.
But there cQmu :a time when you
can't 10 back-and you know you
ca n' t. Your life: t",ku you far awa,y
from the happy scenell and eompan~
ionship. The crowd regretll your I e-.
iDe. of coune. There is a short
period of farewdh, wbe~\!l'Drtin" is
suth .;w(el -OrlOW"; tht'n they .ru
'DIck .to their round, and you face a
world of (old . trangen aloae, You
w.nder from place to p1ace, never
resting~ ne\'er ·'at ·home." . Sllcced' fn
.onle -measure ~atteQdl your· efforu,
bnt ne\'er anyone to -rtjolce in it with
you. You feel the . tinrl of defeat
occasionally, and tbey r,nk\e deeply.
'cause there'l no hand of comrade·
ship to lIlap you on tht. b,l.ck 20114 bid
you ' ~b race up, it will aU come oul ,II
righl" You tty to - buy what'\'er
ph:asure you. think you' wafat-but
there- -il a 'dilferenee-and you : lind
that you cannot buy true comrade·
s hip. You think of the younKsten
back ·home-picture them aU perched
on a rence 'preparing for a race acroRS
the meadow. You lee them. like true
proletarian5, putting their lunchu to·
gelher in a communal pile: from
which everyone may h('lp himself.
Hut a Ijiht dawns-you lIettle down
in one 1)lace finally and you hunt for
your kind. You come to the:m with·
out any 'bl:are '01 trumpets. You only
lIt r~tcb out your 'hand and uk to be
one of th~m-the Italt If need bebut
one of then1. And they t:ake you
in and make you fed :at home. and
they (all you "Comrade," Gee! that
sounds "oed to your eatl a,ain.
You ha \'e n't heard it for a long time,
you nc\'er paid much attention to it
in the: old days. but ii's the sweetest
kind of music jult now.
,,",n~ tfle)' take yOu in. Soon you
ha\'e your regular pl3ee in their
he.rtl and lh('y in youn, The otheu
back ill the old home alway. remain
a most pleasant. memory; atld, when
tht! Rtory circle forms round the fireplace
you never tire of tellin .. yotlr
new C01l1radu about the efforts and
Rrank:l 01 those you left behind you.
You take your place in their .ong and
. tor)', you do your share of work and
play, and loon lOU just belon", that's
all-you just belong. ' ..
The story is almost done-an. counted.
This nferendum was propOHd by
the Pennsylvania State Cornmittet!,
It WI' aeconded by the followiDr
Leacuea. their mamberahlp ,iv~:
St. Paul. Minn., 35; Lawrence. M .....
15; Jamestown, N. Y .• 56: Chiclro,
UL (North Side), 40; Pitt.burch, PL
(J"'ah), 110: Cincinn.ti. 0., 21;
Peoria. Ill., 1': Waahinrton, D. C.,
24, Total. 319,
R.port Cardl
All Luguu iilre hereby warned
th:at untu. a report card hearing an
accurafe acc:ount of their good stllndina
membership is sent to tht' Na·
tjollal Office )'efore F~brtl:lfr 10 11('\
ballots will be ' the Direct..,r of thi, Ucpartment.
PROGRAMMES
This i, th\' la ~ t n il for l1l:atC'rial
fOr Ihe Fthruary program. Somo!
stuff .... l~ sent in by 50111(' of our lo)·al
worhn, hut not uutly en ough to
lI1akt' up the whole thing. Get bus)'
T ht' progralJl i. to include
an im prollll'tu mock-Iria l. subJecl,
"P~OI)lt \ ' 5, Tht' Reminl!{ton .'\.m"
Co." L~haqte: Aidin" :and abttrina
murder through the manufacture of
ml\nit l0n~ oi war.
---
Commemoration: Birthda),s. W2Ihington
and Autun Uebel, FdJru·
ary 2lnd
Vulenline's Party, Fehruary Hth;
Leap '{ear Dance, February 29th.
A call for Ilate~ for Ihe Krust lecture
tour will go out immelliatel)
after the new year. The lour will
take in only the Ea~le rn Statu 2011,1
will h('gjn ahout the iniddle: of .,",pd\.
The numbl'r of datu is strictly 11111-
ited. lIO immedialC' :action shl'uld be
taktn on rtceipt of tue p:arriculat5.
PLAYS
Sinclair's no\·cl. "Samuel. the
S('tktr." hai betn drumatizecl by
Comrade J. C Frost 9' -.'ew York.
1t will recei\'e it s firH productiun b),
Ihe ('omrade Club of Hudlon Coun'
ty. K J.
:\ new :Inti-military pl.y by \\'m.
F. Krusl". enlitled "Prelu.rednC'S5," i,
no ..... ready fo r sale. '(':an be gi\tn in
one act or two and plays for ont'
hour. A rulin~ clas~, bent on war.
find5 thtir efforts (rustrated by the
org:anized worken, ..... ho are willing
to ddend their Ow n countr), tlUt
rduse 10 attack anybody cl.e·l.
Twelve \'ery nsy speaking p3rB and
two good ludl. Can C'l\lily be pro·
duced by allY Y. P. S. L. Price 25c.
Fitchburg. Man.. though bUI recently
or~3nil('tI. is ~ howinK good
growth. They W(,T~' rCl' rl'Sen tc: d at
the Stlltt· t " n ~('nt' 'I' '11111 :IT(' pr.·
p:lrinR 3 1 d ll fCS and
uehatel.