sceatin an a thasaneen tilekietiataeidiaeentetieates

66TTHE real atomic force in
: the ‘world is in the Soviet
Union; it is that in the Soviet
Union they have created a new
man, a Soviet man.” It was
Pablo Neruda, the great Chilean
Poet, :
me his impressions after his re-
cent visit to the Soviet Union and
Several of the People’s Democra-
cies,

speaking, discussing ‘with

/
“The outstanding characteristic
of the entire nation,” Neruda con-
tinued, “is its calm and tranqui-
lity. Its people are characterized
by strength and a quiet power.”

This was Neruda’s first visit
to the Soviet Union. He attend-
ed the Pushkin celebrations, vi-
Sited a number of cities, examin-
ed factories and talked freely
_ with the people.

“The entire country has become
4 shrine for Pushkin,” he said.
- “Never in history have writers
‘been accorded such a place in the
national life. Pushkin’s works
_ Were printed in millions of copies.
In front of every cinema, every
Public building, even in the coun-
tryside some mark of commemo-
Yation had been placed. There
Were great posters everywhere,
- similar to the American coca-cola

excerpts from Pushkin’s poetry
instead of urging you to buy
Something. : %

“T .saw Leningrad and Stalin-
8rad,” Neruda continued. “In the

tractor factory “in Leningrad,
_ Which I visited, production pro-
Ceedg just as it was before the
War. The marks of war have
‘been completely effaced. There
are no signs at all to reveal all
_ that Leningrad suffered. It is an
Incredible feat and a ‘symbol of
the great vitality of the Soviet
Union and the Soviet people. —

“Bverywhere there is” abun-
_. dance,” said Neruda. “The con-
certs and ballets, the finest in
the world, are always full. The
. Shops | are always full.

“One of ihe greatest experien-

dreds of young people. whom I
have seen leaving Spain as chil-
aren during the civil war!” ‘he
Said,
and daughters of workers. They
Were about 10 and 12 years old
_ then,

“The day. I visited them a girl
hydro-electrical engineer who
Will supervise installation of hy-
dro plants. The others were

financial experts; — are ees
technicians, economists, various
types of engineers. All of them

haa university HegtsEs: i

“Most of these young ‘people
Still have families in Spain from
Whom they receive letters. These
letters reveal the vast gulf that
Separates fascism and socialism.
The brother of one shines shoes,
the sister of another is a domestic
Setvant, the brother of a third
is a peasant laborer who is un-
able to find work, Here are

4s

advertisements, only they carried ©

Ces of my trip was meeting hun- ~

“Most of them werg sons —

Now they are /profession-—
als with extraordinary careers.

Of 22 received her degree as a

He comes to the blue
~Water of our pure seas

his machine guns function
with strict precision,

each day

at his order the doric
heads—olive and grape—

of the corinthian corolla
fall in the Greek. dust.

The assassins

wine from Chypre with the
North’ American experts

clink their glasses of ‘sweet

there to wash his bloodied fingers.
He leaves to ordain the death
of two hundred young Greeks,

eyes of the antique sea, petals

between two bursts of laughter,
with mustache which streams

of cooking oil and Greek blood.

Mister Truman

A poem by PABLO NERUDA !

ISTER TRUMAN anives ab the le
the isle of Puerto Rico. —

there to wash

of distant blood, and then

decrees, prim and smiling 5
at the university, in his language,

close the castilian mouth

extinguish the

and. decrees:
; Puerto Rico.”

(Greek blood:

runs at this hour. The day wakes

on the hills.

It is a plain

stream among the dust and the stones
of herdsmen treading the blood
of other herdsmen

it is a plain

held thread which descends

from the mountains to the sea

to the sea which understands and sings.)
ee by Lee See

Truman to our waters

‘which wind this way like
- a river born of crystal

his red hands /

light of words

“Death ‘to your tongue

x

_ countries,

members of the same family un-,

Bt)

der Franco and under socialism.
e

Neruda was strongly impressed
by the extraordinary develop-
ment of cultural life in the Soviet
Union and in the People’s Demo-
cracies. “The position of the
writer in these countries,” he
said, “is almost inconceivable to
anyone coming from the western’
world. In Hungary, for instance
a writer wishing to work on a
novel, submits a plan of the book
and receives a trip to the place
we he wishes to write Jt.

“Of all the countries I have
“seen,” he said, “the life in Poland
is the most epical. Without ma=
terial, out of rubble, centimeter
by centimeter, they are rebuild-
ing their cities. The rubble, the
stone, the ruins, are pressed into
a new type of brick, the shattered
buildings are painstakingly re-
erected. Old sections of Warsaw,
entirely destroyed, are being con-
structed house by house on the
basis of a series of’ paintings

done during the 18th century by —

the great Italian master Cana-
letto. Not_ an inch of land is

uncultivated. -

only in great moments of history.

“The People’s Democracies are
moving quickly towards a new
life. Their progress is given dy-
namic power by the state. Noth-
ing can stop it. That is why those
who want to stop it want war.
But they will not succeed.”

e

* Neruda stressed the cont
between the life he has just seen
in the People’s Democracies and
the life that exists in his own

country, Chile, and in all of South

_ fine, beautiful modern apartment. .

‘lives in such conditions.

America,

, “] visited the home of a ceneh

workman,” he said. “It was a

The young mechanic who was my

host told me that in the past he.

had never dreamed of living in
such a house,

“My country is very rich, ” he
continues, “but no worker ever
More
than half of the five million peo-
ple of Chile have no meat. The
nutrition, is so inadequate that

even the average height of the
!

‘The scenes. which —
can be seen today are witnessed"

‘population is steadily decreasing.

« “When Mr. Acheson speaks of

freedom_he never mentions the
South American tyrannies,” Ne-
ruda said. “It is in the interest
of the forces he represents to
maintain them in power. These
\dictators see to it that their for-
tunes are safe in American banks.

When they are dethroned they.

fly to Miami. That is the classi-
cal pattern—the final payment.

“When oil was discovered in
the south of Chile, the Export-
Import Bank refused to help the
Chilean government procure the
necessary machinery for working
it. They said their funds were
available only for private exploi-
tation.

“Anaconda Copper.
must pay its workers

Company
in the

By LEE STANLEY

lists is tojoutlaw and destroy the
Communist party at all costs.
That is why they are concentrat-

, ing their severest attacks on the

countries where the Communist
party is strongest, in Chile, Bra-
zil and Cuba. The greatest re-
pression is reserved for these
The imperialists hope
that when the Communist party
is outlawed they will be able to
drag these countries into their
war plans.”

In spite of tyranny and repres-
sion, Neruda believes that reac-
tion in South America is growing
weaker,.not stronger, “The truth
is, he said, “that after a year

» and a half, the cynical policy fol-

lowed in Chile has met with no
success.”

As an -example he cited the
situation in ‘Lota where 4,000
workers out of a total of 17,000
were expelled from the mines
and replaced by the Socialist par-
ty and backward elements among
the peasants.

In three * successive elections
the miners have elected one of.
the men imprisoned in concen-
tration camps as head of their
union and have elected an execu-
tive board, the majority of whose
members are men who have been
branded as Communists by the
government.

“The Communist party of ‘Chile
was born of the struggles of the
people,” said Neruda. It was
founded. by the greatest popular

leaderon the South American

continent, Luis Emilio Recaba-
ron. Its national character has
never been doubted by the people.
When the general secretary of
the Communist party died, his

United States eight and ten dol--~funeral was attended by 65,000

lars a day. In Chile the copper
miners earn wages of 50 cents
a day. ‘

“The greatest danger fon the,
American companies,” said Neru-
da, “is a rise in wages. And ‘these
fights for wage increases are led
by the Communist party. That
is why the policy of the imperia-

people. In his union, 140,000 mem-
bers wrote their signatures in a
book commemorating his death.
These are defeats for the imperi-
alists.

“Imperialism is doomed in
South America,” Neruda sconclu-

ded, “and the war plans of im-
perialism are doomed also.”

Prague has world’s first ‘gramotone’ theater

spaniatt method . a bringing

music to the working people —
— art in Czechoslovakia no long- -

er being the prerogative of a pri-
vileged few — was inaugurated
at the beginning of last month,
when the Gramotone Theater was
opened in Prague, believed to be

the first > its mane in the. world. :

The idea of this new Ate of |

theatre was the joint inspiration
of the Czechoslovak gramophone
industry and Tesla, the national
concern, which was responsible |
for ‘the acoustics and sound
~equipment in the theater itself!

As its title suggests, ‘the new-
type theater presents. music on
records to its patrons. But this
is by no means its function. For
at all performances — if you can

use this term in connection with

phonograph recitals — @ com-
méntator explains and comments
on the program being presented,
well-known composers and musi-
cians deliver short explanatory
talks before the music is heard,

and, after the recital, discussions —

are held.

These last are a valuable contri-
bution to a correct appreciation
of the program and have already
led to an increase of understand-
ing and enthusiasm on the ays

: of theater audiences.

The theatre, which is equipped

not with the usual theater seats

but with comfortable chairs de-
signed to stimulate the occupant
into a musical mood, has excel-
lent acoustics which ensure per-

fect listening for its four pro-

‘laa a : a

}

From 3 to 5 p.m. the program
is devised for children and youth,
and includes light and dance mu-
sic and the popular songs of the
‘day. From 5-7 the program covers
chamber and _ folklore “music,
from 7-9 operas and other vocal
Pieces, and from 9 to 11 sympho-
nies can be listened to.

@ .

‘This type of theater is, of

course, only in its experimental —
stage as’ yet but it is an experi-_

ment which. has captured the
imagination of producers and au-

aT SR BOGS NS

~dience alike.

Novel features in-
clude the staging of dances and
poetry readings during the play-
ing of the music, this being one
more method of interpreting the
music to the listener. Another
method to be tried out isa type

of documentary film which uti--

lizes living people to illustrate the
co-relation between, for example
a flute, violin, cello and bass. ‘The
film will be shown during the
playing of the quartet and will
assist, it is hoped, the audiénce
to appreciate the role of the vari-
ous instruments. And, as the
direction of the theater is in the
- hands of experts — The Czecho-
slovak Union of Composers —
_there is small chance of a wrong
interpretation being put on the
composition being presented. |

But the responsibilities of the

management, both musical and
technical, do not end with bring-
ing music to the people.

In the mornings the Gramo-
tone Theater becomes a_ school
where lectures and demonstra-
, tions are given to the pupils of
Prague Musical College and to

#

other students af music, jwho are
thus given the opportunity to

_ Study their profession undee. the

best conditions.

Another service rendered to the
public consists of a shop where
any of the recordings heard may |
be purchased and studios where

‘records may be played to intend-

ing buyers. In other studios, re-
cordings are made of projected
programs and sent to the provirf-
ces, where other gramotone.
theaters are being set up.

Another novel feature lies in
the pricing of records. Those of
classical pieces are lower in price
than the recordings of “swing”
and “be-bop”, which, while not

_ frowned upon, are by reason of
‘their higher price,

contributing
their share towards increasing
the appreciation of good music by
the masses. This price policy
must surely be an unique method
of bringing music to the working
people, who, it must be remem-
bered, start with an ingrained

love of music derived from a past

rich in culture.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 18, 1949 — PAGE 5