OO often, when the world begets a giant, his human qualities become blurred with the passing years, and only the great- ness of his work remains, em- bodied in books and stone and people. On this 25th anniversary of the death of V. I. Lenin, greatest leader and liberator of the work- ing class, let us recall some of the human traits of Lenin, the man.. ‘ -First—and it should come first —let us record the fact that Len- in was a man who enjoyed life hugely. Nothing human was alien to him; he was a living proof that, Marxism is as broad as life itself. He bubbled over with the joy of living; his self-confidence, buoyancy, wit and energy inspir- ed everyone who came in con- tact with him. “He was a short, stockily-built man, with a bald dome, twinkling’ eyes, red beard and mustache. Gorky tells us that Lenin rolled his “r’s” gutturally, and had a jaunty way of standing with his hands somehow poked up under his armpits. “He was somehow too ordinary, did not give the im- pression of being a leader,” said honest’ Gorky, on first meeting the man who was soon to lead the greatest revolution in history. And how Lenin enjoyed a joke or witticism! Gorky says: “I have never met a man who could laugh so infectiously as Vladimir Ilyich. It was strange to see how such a stern realist, a man who saw so well, and felt so deeply the inevitability of great social catas- trophies, irreconcilable, relentless in his hatred toward the capitalist world, laughing like a child, till the tears came, till he choked with laughter. To laugh like that one must have the soundest and healthiest of minds.” e . - Lenin was a ‘hard worker and an exacting taskmaster. After the revolution his office was a large room, with two windows, in the Kremlin. The walls were lined with bookshelves. In “the midst of directing organizational work Lenin continued to devote himself to theory. In Lenin, theory and action were always. combined. His working hours were from 10 am. to midnight. He organ- ized his work well and demanded that his secretaries carry out his instructions accurately and promptly. He would not tolerate sloppy technical work and was very exacting with his subordin- ates, At the same time he was able to inspire everyone around him to give of their best, as no one else could. Lenin was a seeker pfter facts and figures and precise reports; and a sworn enemy of high-sound- © ing phrases, generalities, and ‘ voutine methods. When (as rarely happened) he got angry, he got very angry, and blistering words came tumbling from his lips. ® j Lenin loved children, and children clung to him. Comrade Shlovsky recalls: “When passing my apart- ment, Vladimir Ilyich would look in one window, then another, and if he caught sight of any of the _ children, would put his fingers to “his temples to make them look like horns, make a funny face, and rush into the house. The children would raise a tre- mendous racket and dive under the sofa or the table. Ilyich would chase after them and the romp — would continue till both sides were exhausted, and then peace would be made, soon to be broken again by one side or the other. Children loved Ilyich . . . for no cone ever loved children and en- Joyed playing and romping with them as he did, and every visit Ilyich paid us was a treat 10 the children.” | ® Lenin liked mountain climbing and swimming in the sea. He ie would have loved it here in Van- couver, where sea and mountains meet, While in exile abroad, Lenin and his wife often ‘shouldered knapsacks and took to the moun- tains for days and sometimes weeks. Krupskaya tells of one of these ‘trips in Switzerland: “Our _ wrote to his mother: Lenin---th 1870 - 1924 cash was none too plentiful and we did not go in much for regular meals, but lunched off cheese and eggs, drinking wine, and water from the springs.” And of another trip, Lenin “The other day Nadya, a friend and I went on a splendid excursion to Salive. By Aubrey Grossman. ] AST Monday morning, in ~ New York City, 12 of the 13 members of the national committee of the Communist party went on trial. What is the significance of this trial? It lies in the fact that this is not a ‘trial of 12 men. It is a trial-of a political party. It is a trial of ideas. ‘ What the government seeks from this trial is not the .con- viction of 12 men. It wants a decision that the ideas of two of the greatest thinkers of the and V. I. Lenin—-which are now lions of people throughout the world, are illegal'in the Unit- ed States. More than that, it wants a de- cision that the Communist party, or any other party or individual, cannot spread or ex- press these ideas to the Am- erican people. Must an idea pass muster by the attorney general and a jury of 12 men and women to be presented to 'the American this trial, There may be some, _ however, who say this trial will only affect ideas deemed seditious. ; ; So let us ask ourselves what ideas could be considered se- ditious by the attorney gener- . al, or the party in power at the particular moment, | Would you say ‘tthe ideas of Thomas Paine were seditious? last hundred years—Karl Marx - accepted by hundreds of mil-— people? That is the issue of. Yet, he was convicted of sedi- tion by an English judge and jury. Do you believe in the demo- cratic ideas of the French Revolution, which parallel the ideas on which our govern- ment was founded? But they, too, were found seditious by other English judges and jur- ies. i Or perhaps you approve the ideas of Thomas Jefferson? ~ His ideas were scheduled. to be - declared seditious under the Alien and Sedition laws, until the American people rose up in their wrath.and secured re- peal of those laws. i . Sedition can be anything the party in power wants it to be. For further proof, look at the indictment against the twelve communists. ; shows the attorney general is basing the government’s case ~ not.on ‘what these Communists did or intended to do, but ra- ther on the attornéy .general’s interpretation of Marxism- Leninism. To the government it is im- material how these ideas are understood by the Commun- ist party or the hundreds of millions of people who accept _ these ideas. What the govern- ment will present to the jury as Marxism-Leninism will be the version of its stool-pigeons and turncoats, like Louis Bud- enz, George Hewitt, Howard - Rushmore, Whittaker Cham- _ bers, Margaret Bentley. oe What is the greatest danger Trial--and error This indictment - . By BERT WHYTE Beneath us Geneva was wrapped in fog and gloom, but on the mountain there was glorious sun- shine, snow, tobogganing, a reg- ular fine Russian ter day.” Lenin cycled, hunted, and took part in sports in his leisure time. He understood the value of phy- Sical fitness, and even during ‘the hope of liberation. - periods in jai] followed a rigorous routine of ‘physical jerks.” cs) Lenin was always immensely concerned over the health and wellbeing of his co-workers. He fretted over ailing comrades like a hen over her chicks. Maxim Gorky, Clara Zetkin and others have commented on this — trait in Lenin’s character. He would go to extreme pains to see that comrades under doctor’s orders did not “duck out” and return to work -until they were fit and well. This sympathy, tact, and consideration for people applied mot only to comrades but to people in general. e é Lenin's comrade-in-arms, Joseph Stalin, said these words a few days after the death of his leader: “The -greatness of Lenin lies before all in this, that by creat- ing the Republic of Soviets he gave a practical demonstration to the oppressed masses of the world that hope of deliverance is not lost, that the rule of the landlords and capitalists is short- lived, that the kingdom of labor CAN be created by the efforts of the laboring people themselves, and that the kingdom of labor must be created not in heaven, but on EARTH. He thus fired the hearts of the workers and peasants of the whole world with This ex- plains why Lenin’s name has be- come the name most beloved of the laboring and exploited masses.” Lenin is dead, but Lenin’s teachings live on. Under the banner of Leninism the workers of the world are Marching for- ward to struggle and to victory: our generation will live to see socialism triumphant on a world scale. at this moment? It is that the progressive movement in the United States first of all, but also in other countries, will fail to realize that never before in American history has a po- litical party been forced to clear its ideas with the attor- ney general anda judge or jury before it could offer them , to the people. This precedent will be estab- lished regardless of whether the 12 Communists are acquit- ted or convicted, If they -are . acquitted the government can try again — if not with the same defendants, then with other Communists; if not with _ Communists, then with non- Communists. The very idea of such a trial must be defeated. : This trial must be stopped. If it starts, it must be dismi- ssed on the ground there is no constitutional right ‘to put ideas on trial or to censor them. e a What is the nature of the charges? The law, under which — ‘the - indietments are brought is the Smith Act, the federal sedition law. Henry Wallace, the Ameri- ean Civil Liberties Union, the National Lawyers Guild— all liberal-minded forces agree the Smith Act is unconstitutional. But this doesn't bother Attor- ney General Tom Clark. Clark is equally indifferent to the the trial? ing strengthened, Supreme Court in the Schneid- erman case, which said the Communist party does not ad- vocate overthrow of the gov- ernment by force and violence. The indictments — “charge a conspiracy consists simply of establishing and maintaining a Communist party. The claim- ed illegal. actions ‘are the spreading of the ideas of Marx- ism-Leninism. ‘The indictments charge no act of force and vio- lence, and no conspiracy to commit force and violence. What is being done to stop Thousands of trade union officials, Negro leaders, prominent professors, lawyers, doctors and outstanding wo- men have already Pro Taee against this trial. A Freedom Crusade was to | begin in Washington on Janu- . ary 17. dt is sponsored by such outstanding Americans as Al- bert Einstein, Charles .P. How- ard, Elmer Benson, Franklin P. Adams, Dimitri Mitropor- ous and Hugh Bryson. In the course of these ac- tions, chapters of the Civil Rights Congress, the main or- ganizer of this campaign of education and action, are be- and new chapters are coming into ex- istence to give new strength to the fight for American lib- erties. @ Aubrey Grossman is Pacif- ic Coast director of the American Civil Rights Congress. decision of the United States PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JANURY 21, 1949 — PAGE 5