She Never Was Afraid
The Biography of Annie Buller, by Louise Watson
CHAPTER TWO
The Rand School
The Rand School of Social Science in New York was
a centre for Marxist studies. Topics studied and debated there included
development of society from a materialist point of view, Marxist
theories of surplus value, the class struggle, etc., as well as courses
in natural sciences and the humanities.
Lectures were arranged on current public events
also, and lecturers were drawn from different organizations, such as
trade unions and socialist groups. The teachers at the school included
such personages as Alexander Trachtenberg, Scott Nearing, Algernon Lee
and others. The students came from diverse sections of society ranging
from middle class intellectuals to factory workers. It was inevitable
that there would be clashes of opinion on the interpretation of the
various subjects, not only between students and teachers, but between
both teachers themselves and students themselves. Some advanced the
social democratic approach, some the communist viewpoint.
Annie arrived at the school full of enthusiasm
and determined to glean every last bit of knowledge available. She was
surprised to find that another Montreal woman, Bella Gauld, was also
enrolled as a student. Their personalities were completely different.
Annie was very vocal and aggressive, while Bella was quiet and gentle,
but the bond between them was their mutual love for, and dedication to,
the working class and its advance to socialism. They formed the habit of
talking over with each other the debates and lectures of the day, and
soon became very close friends. They helped each other —Annie with her
instinctive grasp of working class principles, Bella with her way of
formulating the written word to bring out the most salient points. They
both realized that the theory of reform — while it could alleviate some
of the immediate problems — could not bring a complete and lasting
solution to exploitation. So long as the ownership of the means of
production, the factories, the machines, etc., remained in the hands of
the capitalist class, exploitation of man by man would remain in greater
or lesser intensity. To the extent that the working class advanced, to
that extent will capitalist governments tighten their control, even to
the point of physical repression. Only by an organized, united, and
politically aware working class can this control be wrested from them.
Then and only then will the exploitation disappear and workers plan
their own destiny.
The Russian Revolution provided a wonderful
example. Many of the sceptics predicted it would not endure, before long
it would collapse. Those who had faith in the working class felt it
would stand and flourish as a bastion of peace, progress, and happiness
for its people, in spite of the dark clouds of armed intervention
already being put into motion by the capitalist world. History has
justified that faith.
Some of the teachers adopted the attitude that
because of their superior knowledge they could be condescending toward
students who did not accept the opinions they put forward, and told
them, "When you are older you will change your mind." Annie didn't go
for that sort of thing. If she felt the need to challenge their
viewpoint, she did so. Her contributions in the classroom were forceful
and concise. She soon showed a real gift for oratory.
The school had an excellent library and Annie and
Bella made good use of it. Many of the books and periodicals were not
available to them at home. When the course was nearing its dose they
began to think about what they would do when they returned to Montreal.
The experience of the school had rooted firmly in their minds the
conviction that their path must be that of revolutionary struggle in
whatever field they would be most effective. Annie, being the woman she
was, and having been acutely concerned for some time about the working
conditions of the women and young girls employed in the sweatshops of
the needle trades, decided that one of the first tasks she would set for
herself would be the organization of a Needle Trades Union.
But as important as union organizing, they felt
there was a great urgency to educate Canadian workers along
Marxist-Leninist political lines.
They decided that upon their return they would
set up a Labour College in Montreal, and began to make lists of people
who could help them. There were grave differences of opinion among the
people who were organizing new unions, and such a centre could help a
great deal in arriving at correct policies, since to quote Alexander
Pope, " 'Tis education forms the common mind."
During the time they were at the Rand School the
Winnipeg General Strike had taken place. There were no strike funds
among the unions involved, and there was great hardship for the families
of the strikers. Annie and Bella visited several union locals in New
York, told them about the Winnipeg strike, and collected money to aid
the strikers. It was on this very practical act of solidarity that they
returned to Montreal.
continued
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