Guide Text-New Masses, February, March, April 1927.

New Masses. February, March, and April 1927.
Published monthly by New Masses, Inc., New York, N.Y. Subscription $2 a year.

Journal of commentary, journalism, creative writing, reviews and and the arts by and for intellectuals and artists of the radical left. Some advertising for books, pamphlets, causes, lectures and courses of particular interest to the readership. Contributing editors include, among others, Sherwood Anderson, Eugene O'Neill, Stuart Davis, Louis Untermeyer, Van Wyck Brooks, Miguel Covarrubias and Claude McKay.

Entire issues reproduced as facsimile page images. 48 pages

Selected Page and Title List:

February Selections:

np, 32 Front and Back Covers presents the question "Is Oil Thicker Than Blood?" superimposed on an outline map of Central America. The back cover consists of a drawing urging Jews to give financial support to Jewish settlements in Israel.

2 Advertisement used from cover for various book and pamphlets written by Scott Nearing and offered by the New Masses.

3 Table of Contents

3 Cartoon captioned "Line of Rights Enrolling to Fight the Lefts" shows prosperous gentleman rotating through a door labeled "Zisman's Union (The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union).

4 Drawing by Hugo Gellert depicts U. S. Military involvement in Nicaragua and is accompanied by verses from "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean."

5 "Uncle Sam --Buccaneer: Daring Exploits of Star-Spangled Pirate in the Caribbean" by Scott Nearing is a critical discussion of America's motives for involving itself in Nicaragua.

5 "Is Oil Thicker Than Blood" by Scott Nearing talks about some of the consequences of America's economic involvement with Mexico.

6 "Excavation" is a drawing by Jan Matulka which presents a negative image of Booker T. Washington.

7 "Don't Fight With Sex: The Scientific Attitude for Proletarian Revolutionists" by Charles W. Wood is one article in an ongoing symposium on appropriate sexual behavior among left wing militants. It eschews the "ownership" of women.

10 "This Cock-Eyed World -- How I Became a Millionaire" is part of a regular series of cartoons by William Gropper. Here, Gropper pokes fun at the compromises necessary to achieve success in the business world.

11 "Strong Hands--A Story" by Don Ryan.

13 "Lenin" by Moissaye J. Olgin is a tribute to the man and discusses the myths that have arisen about him three years after his death.

14 "Departure" is a drawing by Wanda Gag.

16 "Coolidge Crossing the Gulf", a cartoon, represents Coolidge and his conduct of foreign policy in Nicaragua. It emphasizes economic motives.

18 "The Fat Boys on Crusade" by Michael Gold explores the struggle in American labor unions between Socialist leaders and those to the left of them. He accuses the Socialist leaders of intimidating the opposition, sometimes violently, and extracting "all the money they can from their jobs."

20 "Series of Satirical Drawings" by Otto Soglow.

22 "The Dirt Farmers Are Hungry" by John B. Chapple examines a division between two kinds of farmers: the "business man camouflaged as a farmer [who] has sabotaged the farm movement" and the true "dirt farmer" with whom the "city proletariat" could make joint cause. This article helps to clarify issues involved in the McNary-Haugen legislation. Illustrated with two drawings, the first by A. Walkowitz and the second by Boardman Robinson.

24 "The Russians in China" by Lewis S. Gannett is a journalistic description of "Red" and "White" Russian exiles and emigrés living in China. Some discussion of Soviet policy.

24 "Shore Leave" woodcut by Hans Skolle.

March Selections:

np, 32 Front and Back Covers

2 Advertisement for New Masses claims that reading the magazine is a way to combat "mental halitosis."

3 Table of Contents

4 Untitled drawing by William Siegel, depicts a man hanging himself on a dollar sign.
5 "Loud Speaker & Other Essays" by Michael Gold includes an observation that Americans perceive money to be the standard of all things.

6 "Subway Station" is a drawing by William Siegel.

8 "This Cock-Eyed World: The Ethical Professions -- I" by William Gropper is part of a regular series of cartoons which, in this issue, satirizes the legal profession.

9 "The Gentleman from Arkansas" is a story by Joseph Freeman and is about the love affair between a married American military officer and a Russian woman.

11 "Sex and Economics" by V. F. Calverton, offers the opinion that "Most radicals are conservative in sex. They do not see the relationship between sex and economics or between forms of family life and modes of production." Calverton concludes that the bourgeois family structure and sexual monogamy go with the old economy, one based on an individualistic ethic: "A cooperative, outmoded commonwealth cannot have a private-property morality." This is one article in an ongoing symposium on sexuality and political radicalism.

11 "Revolution -- Not Sex" by Upton Sinclair argues that " . . . the future of the working class is of more importance than their individual prosperity and happiness." Sex is appropriate if it contributes "comradeship and understanding to the cause."
15 "Paint the Revolution!" by John Dos Passos is a favorable discussion of the paintings of Orozco, Rivera and other Mexican painters.

16 "Distribution of Land Among the Peons" from a mural by Diego Rivera.

19 "Gangsterism Rules the Miners" by Powers Hapgood criticizes the United Mine Workers and its president, John L. Lewis.

20 "Panorama of the New Masses 'House-Cooling' Party--Chicken Chow Mein" depicts a crowd attending a party to celebrate the New Masses' move to a new office. In a footnote, readers are urged to put their name on an entertainment list to receive invitations to New Masses parties, lectures, dinners, debates, etc.

21 "Workshop Orchestration" by Ezra Pound comments favorably on Antheil's Ballet Méchanique for its efforts to replicate, musically, sounds of the machine shop and factory.

22 "Some Gifts of the Machine Age" by Floyd Dell argues that the factory system has destroyed the patriarchal family and allowed for a variety of voluntary sexual arrangements.

28 "Out-of-Bed Ladies" is a review by Paxton Hibben of Concerning Women by the feminist writer, Suzanne LaFollette and A. and C. Boni.

28 Advertisement to join "The Morons," a dining club devoted to "radical subjects."

31 Advertisement for Edward Carpenter's Love's Coming of Age.

31 Advertisement for the Fifth Freiheit Jubilee with the Freiheit Singing Society at Madison Square Garden on April 2, 1927.

April Selections:

np, 32 Front and Back Covers. On the back cover is an advertisement for a satirical anti-obscenity ball sponsored by New Masses .

2 "Appeal" for public contributions to New Masses which announces that it continues to publish only because artists and writers have decided to donate their work.

3 Table of Contents

5 "John Reed" is a poem by Arturo Giovannitti about a prominent American revolutionary living in Russia.

6 "The Red and Yellow Peril" by Howard Brubaker discusses the growing international concern about civil unrest in China and the rise of the Nationalists.
8 "It Was All a Mistake" by Kenneth Fearing laughs at the improbable way romance surmounts class barriers in modern moving pictures.

9 "Join the Maroons" by William Gropper is a series of four cartoons satirizing military recruitment campaigns.

10 "The Desert and the City" by Dwight Morgan compares the life of a prospector for radium in the West with life on a Ford assembly line in New Jersey. The author argues that it is impossible to escape from the growing power of the corporations that, in his view, erode freedom and the quality of life among working people.

10 "Shop Talk" by Rufino Tamayo is a drawing of three women clad in outdoor wear.

12 "Attaboy" by Reginald Marsh is a drawing depicting wealthy, inebriated, elderly men agreeing to sacrifice younger men's lives in the defense of American property.

14 "Pillow Shop" is a drawing of an urban street scene by Beulah Stevenson.

15 "Checker Board" by Louis Lozowich is a drawing illustrating the patterns of light shining on a street through an elevated structure, probably a bridge.

17 "George Grosz--Up Out of Dada" by Julian Gumperz talks about Grosz's anti-militarist social critique of post-World War I Germany. The article is illustrated by one Grosz drawing captioned, "Prost Noske! The Young Revolution is Dead!" and another titled "Enjoy Life."

19 "The Class War is Still On" by Robert Dunn sets forth positions taken by a conference of executives and representatives from employers' associations to counter labor unions and their legislative and economic objectives.

19 "The Needle Trades Stomp" by John Reekill is a drawing allegorizing class warfare through the assault on one man by two others.

20 "Nice Day, A Drawing" by Art Gunn portays a long array of identical working men entering a factory.

21 "Up-and-Up, A Drawing" by Jan Matulka expresses the identification of working-class men with Babe Ruth and baseball, as well as their tendency to ignore their own economic condition when looking at his success.

22 "Encore -- Saturday Night" by Wanda Gag is a drawing showing crowds who applaud musicians at a concert with their arms stretched out in the air.

22 "Morning Song of the Proletarian Poet" is a poem by Max Eastman.

23 "Episode of Decay" by Witter Bynner is a poem conveying images of a wife consuming her husband. It represents a critique of the economic dependence of women upon men.

24 "Relief Map of Mexico" by John Dos Passos combines a physical description of Mexico, particularly Mexico City, with social analysis.

25 "Ezra Pound & Antheil's Music" contains two reviews: The Personae, The Collected Poems of Ezra Pound and Antheil and the Treatise on Harmony. The first by James Rorty and the second by Whit Burnett.

26 "Whisky, Bullets, Opium" by Scott Nearing reviews Geneva Opium Conferences: Statements of the Chinese Delegation by Sao-Ke Alfred Sze and discusses British involvement in the opium trade.

27 "Bigger Than Napoleon" by Vincenzo Vicerca is a review of Italy Under Mussolini by the journalist, William Bolithò.

28 "Hand-Picked" by A. B. Magil reviews January Garden by Melville Cane, one of the younger poets associated with The Dial magazine.

29 Advertisement for The Daily Worker, the American communist newspaper.

30 "Can't Recall the Name" by John Waldhorn Gassner reviews A Victorian American. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Herbert S. Gorman. Gassner discounts the celebrated poet's importance: "Why waste perspective on a lost generation?"

31 "We Must Be One" by David Gordon is a call to unity in verse.

February Selections:
np, 32	Front and Back Covers presents the question "Is Oil Thicker Than Blood?" superimposed on an outline map of Central America. The back cover consists of a drawing urging Jews to give financial support to Jewish settlements in Israel.
2	Advertisement used from cover for various book and pamphlets written by Scott Nearing and offered by the New Masses.
3	Table of Contents
3	Cartoon captioned "Line of Rights Enrolling to Fight the Lefts" shows prosperous gentleman rotating through a door labeled "Zisman's Union (The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union).
4	Drawing by Hugo Gellert depicts U. S. Military involvement in Nicaragua and is accompanied by verses from "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean."
5	"Uncle Sam --Buccaneer: Daring Exploits of Star-Spangled Pirate in the Caribbean" by Scott Nearing is a critical discussion of America's motives for involving itself in Nicaragua.
5	"Is Oil Thicker Than Blood" by Scott Nearing talks about some of the consequences of America's economic involvement with Mexico.
6	"Excavation" is a drawing by Jan Matulka which presents a negative image of Booker T. Washington.
7	"Don't Fight With Sex: The Scientific Attitude for Proletarian Revolutionists" by Charles W. Wood is one article in an ongoing symposium on appropriate sexual behavior among left wing militants. It eschews the "ownership" of women.
10	"This Cock-Eyed World -- How I Became a Millionaire" is part of a regular series of cartoons by William Gropper. Here, Gropper pokes fun at the compromises necessary to achieve success in the business world.
11	"Strong Hands--A Story" by Don Ryan.
13	"Lenin" by Moissaye J. Olgin is a tribute to the man and discusses the myths that have arisen about him three years after his death.
14	"Departure" is a drawing by Wanda Gag.
16	"Coolidge Crossing the Gulf", a cartoon, represents Coolidge and his conduct of foreign policy in Nicaragua. It emphasizes economic motives.
18	"The Fat Boys on Crusade" by Michael Gold explores the struggle in American labor unions between Socialist leaders and those to the left of them. He accuses the Socialist leaders of intimidating the opposition, sometimes violently, and extracting "all the money they can from their jobs."
20	"Series of Satirical Drawings" by Otto Soglow.
22	"The Dirt Farmers Are Hungry" by John B. Chapple examines a division between two kinds of farmers: the "business man camouflaged as a farmer [who] has sabotaged the farm movement" and the true "dirt farmer" with whom the "city proletariat" could make joint cause. This article helps to clarify issues involved in the McNary-Haugen legislation. Illustrated with two drawings, the first by A. Walkowitz and the second by Boardman Robinson.
24	"The Russians in China" by Lewis S. Gannett is a journalistic description of "Red" and "White" Russian exiles and emigrés living in China. Some discussion of Soviet policy.
24	"Shore Leave" woodcut by Hans Skolle.

March Selections:
np, 32	Front and Back Covers
2	Advertisement for New Masses claims that reading the magazine is a way to combat "mental halitosis."
3	Table of Contents
4	Untitled drawing by William Siegel, depicts a man hanging himself on a dollar sign.
5	"Loud Speaker & Other Essays" by Michael Gold includes an observation that Americans perceive money to be the standard of all things.
6	"Subway Station" is a drawing by William Siegel.
8	"This Cock-Eyed World: The Ethical Professions -- I" by William Gropper is part of a regular series of cartoons which, in this issue, satirizes the legal profession.
9	"The Gentleman from Arkansas" is a story by Joseph Freeman and is about the love affair between a married American military officer and a Russian woman.
11	"Sex and Economics" by V. F. Calverton, offers the opinion that "Most radicals are conservative in sex. They do not see the relationship between sex and economics or between forms of family life and modes of production." Calverton concludes that the bourgeois family structure and sexual monogamy go with the old economy, one based on an individualistic ethic: "A cooperative, outmoded commonwealth cannot have a private-property morality." This is one article in an ongoing symposium on sexuality and political radicalism.
11	"Revolution -- Not Sex" by Upton Sinclair argues that " . . . the future of the working class is of more importance than their individual prosperity and happiness." Sex is appropriate if it contributes "comradeship and understanding to the cause."
15	"Paint the Revolution!" by John Dos Passos is a favorable discussion of the paintings of Orozco, Rivera and other Mexican painters.
16	"Distribution of Land Among the Peons" from a mural by Diego Rivera.
19	"Gangsterism Rules the Miners" by Powers Hapgood criticizes the United Mine Workers and its president, John L. Lewis.
20	"Panorama of the New Masses 'House-Cooling' Party--Chicken Chow Mein" depicts a crowd attending a party to celebrate the New Masses' move to a new office. In a footnote, readers are urged to put their name on an entertainment list to receive invitations to New Masses parties, lectures, dinners, debates, etc.
21	"Workshop Orchestration" by Ezra Pound comments favorably on Antheil's Ballet Méchanique for its efforts to replicate, musically, sounds of the machine shop and factory.
22	"Some Gifts of the Machine Age" by Floyd Dell argues that the factory system has destroyed the patriarchal family and allowed for a variety of voluntary sexual arrangements.
28	"Out-of-Bed Ladies" is a review by Paxton Hibben of Concerning Women by the feminist writer, Suzanne LaFollette and A. and C. Boni.
28	Advertisement to join "The Morons," a dining club devoted to "radical subjects."
31	Advertisement for Edward Carpenter's Love's Coming of Age.
31	Advertisement for the Fifth Freiheit Jubilee with the Freiheit Singing Society at Madison Square Garden on April 2, 1927.

April Selections:
np, 32	Front and Back Covers. On the back cover is an advertisement for a satirical anti-obscenity ball sponsored by New Masses .
2	"Appeal" for public contributions to New Masses which announces that it continues to publish only because artists and writers have decided to donate their work.
3	Table of Contents
5	"John Reed" is a poem by Arturo Giovannitti about a prominent American revolutionary living in Russia.
6	"The Red and Yellow Peril" by Howard Brubaker discusses the growing international concern about civil unrest in China and the rise of the Nationalists.
8	"It Was All a Mistake" by Kenneth Fearing laughs at the improbable way romance surmounts class barriers in modern moving pictures.
9	"Join the Maroons" by William Gropper is a series of four cartoons satirizing military recruitment campaigns.
10	"The Desert and the City" by Dwight Morgan compares the life of a prospector for radium in the West with life on a Ford assembly line in New Jersey. The author argues that it is impossible to escape from the growing power of the corporations that, in his view, erode freedom and the quality of life among working people.
10	"Shop Talk" by Rufino Tamayo is a drawing of three women clad in outdoor wear.
12	"Attaboy" by Reginald Marsh is a drawing depicting wealthy, inebriated, elderly men agreeing to sacrifice younger men's lives in the defense of American property.
14	"Pillow Shop" is a drawing of an urban street scene by Beulah Stevenson.
15	"Checker Board" by Louis Lozowich is a drawing illustrating the patterns of light shining on a street through an elevated structure, probably a bridge.
17	"George Grosz--Up Out of Dada" by Julian Gumperz talks about Grosz's anti-militarist social critique of post-World War I Germany. The article is illustrated by one Grosz drawing captioned, "Prost Noske! The Young Revolution is Dead!" and another titled "Enjoy Life."
19	"The Class War is Still On" by Robert Dunn sets forth positions taken by a conference of executives and representatives from employers' associations to counter labor unions and their legislative and economic objectives.
19	"The Needle Trades Stomp" by John Reekill is a drawing allegorizing class warfare through the assault on one man by two others.
20	"Nice Day, A Drawing" by Art Gunn portays a long array of identical working men entering a factory.
21	"Up-and-Up, A Drawing" by Jan Matulka expresses the identification of working-class men with Babe Ruth and baseball, as well as their tendency to ignore their own economic condition when looking at his success.
22	"Encore -- Saturday Night" by Wanda Gag is a drawing showing crowds who applaud musicians at a concert with their arms stretched out in the air.
22	"Morning Song of the Proletarian Poet" is a poem by Max Eastman.
23	"Episode of Decay" by Witter Bynner is a poem conveying images of a wife consuming her husband. It represents a critique of the economic dependence of women upon men.
24	"Relief Map of Mexico" by John Dos Passos combines a physical description of Mexico, particularly Mexico City, with social analysis.
25	"Ezra Pound & Antheil's Music" contains two reviews: The Personae, The Collected Poems of Ezra Pound and Antheil and the Treatise on Harmony. The first by James Rorty and the second by Whit Burnett.
26	"Whisky, Bullets, Opium" by Scott Nearing reviews Geneva Opium Conferences: Statements of the Chinese Delegation by Sao-Ke Alfred Sze and discusses British involvement in the opium trade.
27	"Bigger Than Napoleon" by Vincenzo Vicerca is a review of Italy Under Mussolini by the journalist, William Bolithò.
28	"Hand-Picked" by A. B. Magil reviews January Garden by Melville Cane, one of the younger poets associated with The Dial magazine.
29	Advertisement for The Daily Worker, the American communist newspaper.
30	"Can't Recall the Name" by John Waldhorn Gassner reviews A Victorian American. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Herbert S. Gorman. Gassner discounts the celebrated poet's importance: "Why waste perspective on a lost generation?"
31	"We Must Be One" by David Gordon is a call to unity in verse.