The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 13, 1924, Page 13

Our Aim, The Best Writers. The Best Artists. CaS EEC EE 1 cam, Special Magazine Supplement The Best Cartoonists, For the Workers! LO LEE LSS OS) OS SS SE) AE |) IDO SN) NO-ONE << e-em - % a ee am oS THIRD SECTION January 13, 1924. This magazine supplement will appear every Saturday in The Daily Worker. St. Louis and St. Paul By JOHN PEPPER St. Louis is the place where the national convention of the Confer- ence for Progressive Political Action will meet on February 12th. St. Paul will on May 30th, be the scene of the national convention of the Farmer-Labor Party forces of the United States. These two gatherings will decide the political fate in 1924 of the work- ing class of America. These: two conventions will decide’ whether the working class in the presidential and congressional elec- tions of 1924 will once more be only the tail of the capitalist parties, or whether it will take its stand as an independent political factor. The working class of America is in a state of transition. A minority of the working class is class-con- scious and is intent on fighting against the capitalist class and its government. Another minority, at the opposite pole, is in the service. of the capitalists (partly even in the direct service of the government)’ and it does its utmost to obstruct every independent political action of the working class. Between these two groups—between the organized class- conscious minority and the organized lackeys of the capitalists, the labor officials—we see those millions of American workers not as yet class- conscious, but struggling towards class-consciousness. The Convention of the Conference for Progressive Political Action in St. Louis, will be nothing else than an organized effort of labor officialdom to maintain the old state of things, and ‘to preserve the workers as the political serfs, of the capitalists. The St. Paul convention of the Farmer- Labor Party forces will be in sub- stance an organized effort on the part of the class-conscious minority to lead the great masses upon the road of class-consciousness, St.Louis—The Retrogressive Progressives ‘ The Conference for Progressive Political Action has undergone a re- markable development. Its name still remains Progressive, but its policy has gone a step backward with every one of itg actions. The first national convention of the Confer- ence for Progressive Political Action took place on February 20 and 21, 1922, in Chicago. The Conference was convened by the high officials of sixteen railway craft unions. Not less than eighteen international unions belonging to the American ederation of Labor sent delegates. even big national unions outside of the American Federation of Labor were represented. The. Conference was'called by the mighty international officers of the official labor movement who, in contrast with Gompers and his gang, were of the opinion that it was impossible to continue the tradi- tional policy of the American Federa- tion of Labor of “rewarding the friends and punishing the enemies” in the old capitalist parties. ~ These _ officials, Johnston or Keating or Lewis are themselves nothing else than capitalist agents in the ranks of la- bor. But they were forced to act because the discontent of the masses exercised a tremendous pressure up- on them. The deep-gi ing industrial crisis of 1920 which began in 1920 and reached its depth in 1921, the dependent party of workers, and the labor officials had to place themcelves at the head of this movement if they would “hinder the masses from or- organization of a new party should await developments.” In this betrayal by the labor of- ficials the Socialist Party played the role of accomplice. The Workers Party at that time did not recognize the great significance of this confer- ence, and did not send any delegates to Chicago. The labor officials would have pre- ferred to forget the Conference for Progressive Political Action entirely, but the masses again forceg them to act. The tremendous strike move- ment of the summer of 1922—the most gigantic known in the annals of the American labor movement—and the brutal intervention of the gov- ernment, the Daugherty injunction, the use of the army against the work- ers, filled the masses with a wild bit- terness, Millions of workers de- manded the forging of a_ political weapon, demanded the Labor Party. The labor officals were forced to con- vene the second convention of the Conference for Progressive Political Action in Cleveland on December 11, 1922. And extraordinary enthusiasm of the masses greeted the Cleveland cenvention. Through labor and farmer officials no less than three million organized workers and f:\rm- ers were represented in Cleveland. The convention was completely dominated by the officialdom, and it was therefore inevitable that it should turn into an enormous be- trayal. A shilly-shally center—the Chicago Federation of Labor, the Farmer-Labor Party, the Amalga- mated Clothing Workers, waged a feeble fight, but it was simply steam- rollered. The left wing, the repre- sentatives of local unions and the Workers Party were not admitted. The motion to form a Labor Party was defeated by a vote of 64 to 52. The Socialist Party was once more the most useful accomplice in the burial of independent political ac- tion of workers. But the Workers will never organize the Labor Party. The Cleveland conference taught the masses the other lesson that not only the reactionary, but also the so-called progressive labor officials of the: in- ternational unions, will not organize the Labor Party. The St. Louis con- ference will teach the masses the third lesson, about retrogressive pro- gressives. It will show that all these labor officials are hopelessly bound up with the capitalists and with. the capitalist parties. St. Paul—The Advancing Radicals The May 30th convention in St. Paul will be a gathering of all truly progressive, truly radical and truly revolutionary elements of the Ameri- can labor movement. The St. Paul convention will at the same time be a mass gathering of exploited farm- ers. The entire story is told by one fact—in the St. Louis convention the trade unions are represented by the officials of the intermational unions, while the delegates of local unions will not be admitted at all. In St. Paul organized labor will be repre- sented by delegates of local unions, and the international unions as such will have five-delegates each. St. Louis will be the field of betrayal by labor officials., St. Paul will be the field of batt'e of the rank and file. ; The aim of St. Louis is to bind the workers more closely to the capital- ists. The idea of St. Paul is to or- ganize the workers for independent political action, against the capital- ists. : May 30th, 1924, in St. Paul, would be impossible without July 3rd, 1923, in Chicago. The July 3rd conven- tion and the creation of the Feder- ated Farmer-Labor Party denoted a} declaration of independence of the American working class, meant the beginning of the formation ef a na-' tional political party of workerS>«nd | working farmers. The Federatcd Farmer-Labor Party contains today only a part of the militant workers Party appeared for the first time be-;#"? farmers, but it is a legitimate fore the whole working class as a dauntless and aggressive advocate of the Labor Party idea. The same high officials of inter- national unions who called the Chi- cago and Cleveland Conferences have called the third conference for St. Louis. This St. Louis conference w'll | not even play with the idea of a Labor Party, but will openly declare for the support of the Democrat Mc- Adoo, that is, the support of a-candi- date of an out and out capitalist party. The Chicago and Cleveland conferences were born out of the de- mand of the masses for a Labor Party, but they were convened by the labor officials, to prevent the for- mation of a Labor Party. The St. Louis conference will be the closing act of this drama of betrayal and deception. The St. Louis conference has nothing to do with the masses any more. It is obviously nothing but the political machination of the labor officials to sell out as many hundreds of thousands of workers as they can to capitalist politicians, But these conferences have not been in vain. The Chicago conference taught the masses that the Gompers clique ,a Labor Party on a national scale ang child of revolting masses. It was born of the discontent created by the crisis of 1920-21. It was born of the militant. spirit and bitter s'rugele of the summer of 1922. It was born of the frightful bankruptcy of the farm- ers. It was born of the dis‘llusion- ment which followed the betrayal by the Cleveland conference and the failure of the Non-Partisan League. The May 30th convention will be the continuation of the July 3rd con-; vention. It will take un the idea of | will continue to build it up, with larger masses, opening un greater possibilities. The historical signific- ance of the May 30th convention will be that it will be an organization on a national scale for a nation-wide ac- ion. Without a national crystalliza- tion, the various city and state Labor Parties are doomed to disintegration. The history of the American labor movement is full of tombstones of local Labor Parties which died a pre- mature death. There Are Compromises and Compromises St. Louis will be the compromise of labor leaders and labor aristocracy with the capitalists. The St. Louis Conference—if all signs arp not mis- leading—will decide to support Me- Adoo as candidate, that is, to sup- port the party of Wilson, the party of the world war, the party of the raids of Palmer. But the St. Paul convention will also not be a pure class gathering of workers and exploited thrmers. The May 30th convention will be a conglomeration of Thirg Parties and real T'armer-Labor Parties. There will be on the one hand representa- tives of workers and exploited farm- ers, and on the other hand, repre- sentatives of well-to-do farmers, small businessmen and intelligentsia. The St. Paul convention will not create a real class party of workers and exploited farmers, but a Third Party of all the above-mentioned ele- ments. But this new party will have’ within it the Federated Farmer- Labor Party which is the beginning of the class party of-the laboring masses and which will rally around itself the workers and exploited farmers. But even the representatives of small businessmen in St. Paul wil! be different from the Democratic or Re- publican Party. The small business- men and “well-to-do farmers who re- main in the old parties accept there- by the political leadership of the ca pi- talists. Discontended and revolting small businessmen and farmers mani- fest by their break with the old capitalist parties and their entering a Third Party that they no longer ac- cept the leadership of the capitalists, that even with all their characteristic hesitancy, wavering and half-meas- ures, they nevertheless want to com- bat the capitalists. ‘We Communists must understand this difference clearly, the difference hetween- ~counter-revelutionary and revolutionary compromise. -~It_ is counter revolutionary compromise when the labor aristocracy concludes an alliance within the old capitalist parties to conserve the existing soc!al order, But it is a revolutionary compromise when Communist work- ers enter into the May 30th conven- tion to form the united front with militant workers and desperate farmers, even though these masses do not as yet see clearly the differ- ence between themselves and well-to4 do farmers and small businessmen. It is a revolutionary eompromise when Communists seek and eecept the alliance of farmers or Third Party forces generally, if these ele- ments are in revolt against the two- party system end wish to fight ag-inst ruling big capital. A comprise which creates allies for the working class for weakening and undermining. the present social order is a revolutionary compromise, When Secretary of Commerce Hoover, the most con- scious representative of the interests of the capitalist class says that the two-party system is the best guar- antee for the prezent s-c’al order, Communists must und rstand the revolutionary significance of a Third Party. When Gompers, the capital- ist agent with'n the ranks of labor, recommends the policy of “Reward- ing the friends and punishine the enemies” w'thin the o'd capitalist parties, Communists must understand Murphy Hopes Daily Worker Becomes Worthy Companion of Pravda and the Rote Fahne J. T. Murphy, member of the British Bureau of the Red International of Labor Unions, sends his greetings to “The Daily Worker” and hopes it will become a worthy companion q: Pravda 6 the — gure the famous Com\ lies of Russia and Germany. He writes as follows: ——— West Ealing, London, England, Dec. 14, 1923. To: Workers Dear Comrades: Iam delighted to hear of the progress of the Workers of America and your innovation—The Workers Daily. to “The Workers Daily”. May it become a worthy companion great dailies, Pravda and Rote Fahne, in the great revolutionary of workers, as dear to the workers of America as a valiant cham- to — , as other great papers have become to _. Yours fraternally, E ile [ workers of ; fae J. T. MURPHY. | the revolutionory sien‘ficence of in- dependent political action of the working class, When the whole cap‘talist rress with urit-d ferces, dav by daw “rroves” th-t the in- trests of ‘ho fem avra wn “iP omant from those of the w rkers, Com- munists must nnderstong * ue tionary significance of the alliance between farmers and workers. When yellow Socialists yell that the Com- munists have become opportunists because they remain with the masses of workers and farmers, though these are not as yet class conscious, Com- munists must understand the revolu- tionary significance of the com- promise between the advance guard and the rear guard of the working class... ry na