COMMUNIST SUNDAY SCHOOLS. T HE Patriot, a weekly paper which indefatigably

barks warnings and brings to light dangers, or at all events movements which might become dangers, to the State, has been publishing a series of articles on the teaching in Communist Sunday Schools. There are few papers to which we can turn for this kind of information, but the Patriot never fails. Some people, no doubt, think that the Patriot exaggerates dangers and scents trouble where there is none. We mention this criticism only to deprecate it, for a man of sense can measure and value dangers for himself when he is put in possession of the facts. The great thing is to get the facts. The Patriot states these as it discovers them or as it believes them to be, and that is no mean function to perform. It deserves both support and thanks. Having determined to investigate the working of the Communist Sunday School the Patriot sent a reporter to look round. He mingled with the ordinary audiences, for we gather that grown-up people can wander in and listen to the teaching in these schools if they like.

At the Communist Sunday School at Tooting on February 5th the preacher described the meaning of Communism in the following language :- " A boy named Jack Holt lived with his mother, who was very M. It was 120 years ago, in the days of the pressgang. They come of the very poor working-classes, and often went 'ungry—you know, children, what it is to see the very poor working classes go 'ungry ! (General assent.) (A Boy's Voice) : What happened to his father ? ' (Teacher) • He was taken by the pressgang, and sent to sea in one of Nelson's ships ; and then there was a battle and he was never heard nor thought of again.

Jack said, There is bread in shops, and we are starving,' so be took two loaves from a counter, and ran. (Laughter.) Jack Holt was right.

But the Law ! was after him! You boys know what it is to run away from the Law ! don't yer ? (Laughter.) But the police- man caught Jack at his door, and he was tried and sent to prison. The lecturer then goes on to narrate the further criminal adventures of Jack, whom the law could not catch,' and concludes : Then Jack became a Communist preacher. Good actions are evil ones. Jack Holt was right. Socialism is a grand religion, it is the only religion.

You must remember that the Red Flag is better than the Union Jack. Do not mind if you are jeered at for saying so. The Red- Flag is yours.

The Union Jack (in scorn) only flies over the British Empire (in scorn). The Red Flag is over the whole world. The Red Flag is the faith of Socialism to abolish misery.

We have the pressgang now, as in -Nelson's day (in scorn)—a pressgang forced us to fight for the British Empire (scorn) against our wills.

There is no progr6ss at all in the British Empire. Now we will all sing The Red Flag. ' " •

At the Communist Sunday School at Southwark on February 12th the lesson was on Capitalism. There was a long analogy about a country in which all the water was owned by a few persons who first made the people fill the only available tanks at a penny per bucket— piecework wages—and then sold the water out of the- tanks to the same people at the rate of 2d. a bucket. The analogy was rather well expressed—it was appar- ently drawn up for general use and was not an extempore lesson—but one wonders what the poor children could have made of the moral about " over-production " and other economic phrases. The teacher then went on to describe the happy state of Russia under Bolshevism. Apparently members of the audiences who " blow in " casually are always free to interrupt, or at least they cannot be prevented from doing so. Here is the record of what happened when the teacher was speaking about the Russian revolution :- "After their revolution schools and universities were built everywhere for the workers. Russia is now happily run by the workers. (A Voice : ' How do you know ? Have you been there to see ?') I have been near by and know it.' (Voice : I don't believe you.') (Another Teacher) : A parson came to my meeting. So I says : Do you believe in God in Heaven ? " Most certainly I do,' he says. Oh, have you been there to see ? ' says I. (Pro- longed laughter.) If you wants to hear untruths go to the clergy."

At the school at Kentish Town on March 5th the teacher talked about the importance of revolutionary demonstrations on May Day. The representative of the Patriot records what followed :— " What does May Day mean ? A holiday you shall take from your day school. They will not give you one ; you must take it, just as well as on Princess Mary's wedding you were given a holiday.

Child's Voice : Shall we have a brake ride on May Day ? ' ` Yes ; if we can afford it.' " •

The child's voice was surely an extremely pertinent criticism. It meant that in spite of all the talk about revolution the mind of the child is still mercifully able to turn upon games and little enjoyments. Many of the formulas which Communist teachers make their pupils commit to memory must be quite unintelligible to the children. We suspect that the children forget them as quickly as most people forget anything that has been learned by rote ; and in the childish mind their place is taken by thoughts of char-a-bans, and treats, and toys and Christmas trees.

At Southwark, on April 2nd, the representative of the Patriot found on the walls of the school three enormous posters. Whichever way the children looked one of the posters was on a level with their eyes :— " Fight, Fight, Fight,

Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Fight. Fight. Fight."

The authors of these incitements to the Class War were, of course, Pacifists in the Great War.

At Paddington, on April 23rd, the reporter found a small school of fifteen children between five' and ..eight years old. These children were learning the Proletariat Commandments : " Thou shalt not be a patriot," " Thou shalt teach revolution," and so on. The Communist leaders would be much more formidable if they had the least sense of humour. At Kentish Town, on April 30th, the reporter heard these Proletarian Commandments being explained. For example :— " Thou shalt not be a patriot.' What is a patriot ? He is a soldier, a sailor, a policeman, a boy scout, a girl guide. Never you become any of them, they only dresses you in a fine uniform and stuffs you with tales of patriotism and of soldiers ; these are trained to murder men of their own class. We have been soldiers, and we know. We were made to murder peaceful Germans we had no grudge against, and make their poor wives widows. We are not allowed to murder the class that has harmed our class at home ; you must not be a patriot ; you must be an Internationalist. The great day of Revolution is coming when the workers will lose their chains. Comrades, prepare for the day of Revolution, when the working classes will rise up, and take by force, what is their's by right.' " At Southwark, on July 2nd, the lesson was about the International Workers of the World. The teacher described the part the I.W.W. had played in Ireland. He gave reasons for the murder of Sir Henry Wilson. Some- body asked, " Do I understand that you justify the killing of Sir Henry Wilson ? " The teacher's answer was " Yes, and there will be many more than him. How many workers was he responsible for killing ? " We are all for the safety-valve of free speech, which includes free teaching, and we recognize that most of the pestilen- tial rubbish talked by the Communists defeats itself, but we suggest that the kind of language alleged to have been taught at the Southwark Communist Sunday School on July 2nd requires the attention of the authorities.

At Bethnal Green, on July 23rd, the children were taught that the King was not necessary and that a President would be no better. The question was then put : " Do you not believe in having any heads at all ? " " Yes," was the teacher's answer, " if they are the right kind." The right kind was suggested by a picture on the wall—a portrait of Lenin.

The Times of Tuesday published an article on Commu- nistic propaganda and quoted a Proletarian oath :- " I, —, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance

to my Class, their heirs and successors, according to the Class Struggle, without any God."

The absence of any sense of humour is here comically evident. The words " heirs and successors " are taken from the hated language of Capitalism without apology and apparently without any consciousness of incongruity. If the children were taught by the Communists that they were " heirs and assigns " we should scarcely have been more amused. Silliness beyond a certain point corrects itself ; and, for the rest, experience always teaches those who are compelled by events to acquire knowledge of classes other than their own. The hideous aristocratic teaching of the exclusive Communists breaks down under contact with other kinds of men. In the new Parliament there is only one professed Communist, and what his future social and intellectual development may be we do not know. But the Times of Monday published evidence that those extremists from the Clyde who have been returned to Parliament and who are known as the " Black Squad " are impressed by the traditions of the Mother of Parliaments in spite of themselves.

There is, for example, Mr. Kirkwood, whose activities as a shop-steward attracted much attention at one time and who was afterwards deported :- " The last three weeks have taught me (said Mr. Kirkwood) that before we are going to do anything really effective we must get a majority. The Constitution and everything else are such that unless we have a majority we are practically powerless. There is no chance at Westminster of making converts. I am one of those who believe we will have to get the country behind us first. It is not behind us at present. The West of Scotland is behind us. If we can do that in the West of Scotland, there is no reason why we cannot do it in other places as 'well."

Mr. James Stewart, the oldest member of the " Black Squad," admitted that he had found in the House of Commons " an earnest desire to make things better than they are." He and his friends expected to be at an educa- tional disadvantage. So far as he could see, however, it was " the other way about." He then added a remark worth noting : " If the other side were wise they would, instead of jeering at us, realize that we are the safety valve." The majority of the House were certainly mis- guided in not recognizing Mr. Johnston as the safety- valve when he objected to Mr. Asquith having led the deputation about the Sudan Guarantee, although some of Mr. Asquith's relations were financially interested in the scheme.

Mr. Shinwell, whose personality is commonly reported to be highly explosive, said :—" I have been immensely impressed by our opponents' manner of stating their case. There is no doubt the majority are actuated by motives of sincerity." Three of the " Black Squad " spoke most highly of Mr. Bonar Law, of whose ability they have formed an extremely high estimate. " It is a case of Mr. Bat= Law first and the rest nowhere," said one of them. Evidently the atmosphere of Parliament has taken hold of these men. A little more and they will be convinced Constitutionalists. When—constitutionally—they can persuade a majority to vote for the political measures they believe in they will win. They will then be the masters of us all, and we shall obey them—until we can persuade the electors to vote differently. That is demo- cracy. The Labour Party will grow in esteem if it works straightforwardly under Parliamentary institutions. It will decline in esteem in proportion as it tries to make hay of them.

We have tried to present the disease and the cure together. But though we believe that, thanks to the general good sense of the nation, the disease will yield to the cure, it is essential to know exactly what the disease is. The Patriot tells us some of the symptoms week by week, and we arc grateful to it.