The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 9, 1924, Page 11

(The review of the pamphlet by John Pepper is written by one of the best Marxists in the In- ternational. August Thalheimer is also the intellectual leader of the German Communist Party.) .: OMRADE Jchn Pepper has re- cently published, thru the Work- ers Party of America, a_ booklet which is intended to prepare the ground for the formation of a la- bor party in America, which wili embrace all the elements of the labor movement which stand for an independent proletarian class party, and which shall also rope in the proletarian and semi - proletarian farmer elements. The book‘et has already run into a second edition, the first edition having been pub- lished in October of last year in anticipation of the Cleveland Con- erence on the lith of December, 1922, on the agenda of which there also stood the question of the for- mation of a labor party. The pres- ent edition was issued in view of the +i conference of the 3rd of July, st. This booklet by Comrade Pepper, while serving the immediate pur- pose of facilitating the formation of a labor party as mentioned above, at the same time provides a very clear and thoro analysis of the re- lationships of the classes in Amcr- ica, which is of very great interest to the European working class. America is a country where the cap- italist system stands on the most solid basis and still, apparently, pos- sesses unlimited possibilities. In the course of the World Revolution, America will certainly form the strongest bulwark of counter-revolu- tion. Finally, America is the coun- try which is on the way to becoming the strongest imperialist power, and which already, in spite of her of- ficial policy of non-intervention in European affairs, has cast her net over all lands and seas. For the foregoing reasons it is of the ut- most importance that the working class acquires an exact knowledge of the class relationships and of the tendencies in the development of the classes in this capitalist Co- lossus. Such a knowledge reveals to us that this Colossus by no means consists of one compact mass, as is generally assumed in the west, but that a'ready, elements of so- cial disintegration are to be seen. Americans like to prate of gigantic figures and huge standards general- ly.. As a matter of fact, things in America are on a far vaster scale and proceed at a much faster rate than we are accustomed to in our narrow and Balkanized Europe, and we should be committing a great error were we to estimate the pace and the extent of social movements in America by the diminutive Eu- ropean standards. This is not only on account of the extent of the country, but is due before all to her relative freedom from those tra- ditions which check and hamper the broad masses in Europe. America is a young nation with a working class which is stil in the early stage of development. The writer examines in the first place the question as to how it is that, hitherto, all “Third Parties” which have arisen in addittn to the two old and the republican party—after a short time, during which they grew into more or less great mass parties, have, in one way or another, only disappeared. -Comrade Pepper gives a short, but neverthelss, a most striking analysis of these parties, which serves to fully explain why this is bound to be the case. Viewed tiod of parties—the democratic. million votes; but the prosperity which set in in 1880 destroyed it. The author has shown by this analysis that the mistrust of the In 1884 it could only command 175,-| American workers in the existence 000 votes, of Third Parties is quite justified There followed the “Knights of] in regard to the former petty bour- Labor.” This party appeared in| geois parties. He shows, howevcr, 1880 as a sect of no importance, but| that ail the causes which were re- in 1884, a year ef economic panir,| sponsible for the rapid disorganiza- it rose to more than 60,000 mem-jtion of the petty bourgeois parties, bers, reaching its culmination in| would not apply to a worker’s party, 1886 with more than 700,000 mem-| to a party relying upon the work- bers, and about 6,000 local groups.| ing class and including the small The period of prosperity, beginning in 1887, led to the decline of the party, which in 1889 had only 220,- 000 members. Thirdly, there appeared the Peo- ple’s Party. It traces its birth to the economic depression arising in 1890, reaching its highest strength in the year 1894, when it received more than one million and a half votes. ‘The period of prosperity following destroyed its independence, and it joined the democratic party as its Pittsburgh . | left wing. In the year 1900, when “prosperity was in full swing,” this party had disappeared entirely, even thay left wing of the Democratic The Progressive Party dates back to the crisis of 1907-1908. In 1909, the “National ogressive Repub- lican League” wa formed. A sim- ilar movement Manifested itself in the democratic patty as the “Demo- cratic Federation.” In 1912 an in- dependent “Progressive Party” was founded, which immediately grew to a great mass party. It received four million votes from farmers, lower middle class, and workers, while at the same time the Socialist Party gained near’y a million votes. In 1916, during the great prosperity engendered by the war, the progres- sive party again disappeared. The writer reveals quite correct- ly the causes of this phenomenon. All these parties were essentially petty bourgeois parties. Hence their vacillating and ambiguous character, their rapid rise in the periods of crisis, and equally rapid absorption by the great capitalist parties in the period of prosperity. The enormous- ly rapid rate in the development and downfalt of these parties seems to depend not only on their petty _bour- geois character in general, but on the specifically American character of the petty bourgeoisie, i. e.. the tremendous class fluctuations within the American petty bourgeoisie. The American i tenant farmers and the mortgage farmers and in which the working class hag the lead. The writer con- siders that the trade-unions should be the organizatory foundation of this party. He declares the present moment of transition from the pe- | riod of crisis to that of prosperity, to be especially favorable for the formation of a workers’ party. The writer then proceeds to the pre-requisites for the formation of a workers’ party ingthe foregoing sense. Two underlying facts are to be no- ticed which are highly important for the further development of the class struggle in America. The first is the development of a centralized governmental power, an extensive state bureaucracy. Amer- ica has been, up to now, and re- mains even so today, for Karl Kaut- sky, the example of a democracy ‘without autonomy. Kautsky has been dozing during the development of America in the last few years. non-bureaucratic, decentralized American democracy is already a thing of the past. It was, before all, the world war which swept away this old idyllic democracy and created the modern, centralized state, administered in a bureau- cratic manner and protected by mil- itarism. The great war brought about an enormous extension of the presidential power, a centralized gov- ernment control of the whole indus- triat life (shipbuilding, manufacture of munitions, coal, raw products of all kinds), the centralized govern- mental administration of railways and telegraphs, enforced labor in the war industries, the espionage act, the censor, a a army and an equally gigantic bureaucracy. rel. relating to the num- ber of government employees are especially interesting. In 1884, the state bureaucracy had only 13,780 officials, but 278,000 in 1912, 440,- 000 in 1916 and 918,000 in 1918. At the end of the war, bureaucracy was again reduced to about 600,000 members, but its nature remained; the bureaucratic centralization has remained; the railroads have been given back to their private owners, but state control has been retained. At present we have the interference of the capitalized Government as arbitrator in workers’ quarrels and as fighter for the interests of the employers in strikes. The formation of a_ centralized state power in opposition to : working class is one of the condi- tions for the formation of a cen- tralized proletarian class party. A second fact is the levelling down of the American working class. The differences between skilled and un- skilled, between American and im- migrant workers are being obliter- ated. Of special importance in America up till now was the differ- ence between the native American (workers and the immigrant Euro- “A Week” first installment of Feb. 16. - The daily installments w DAILY WORKER will live ‘A DAILY.” Our paper is from day to day. But this means that all Get others HE decision has been made. The world-famous story of Russian life since the great revolution of November, 1917, will appear DAILY in the DAILY WORKER. The “A Week” will appear Saturday, It wants its readers to realize this fact. It wants everyone to feel it. Publishing only weekly in- stallments of this great novel would still perpetuate the more, must get on the mailing list and stay there from to subscribe. See that your subscriptions renewals to The ORKER, 1640 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IN, JOHN PEPPER: “FOR A LABOR PARTY” - #a0cvsrraacienmen sexu pean workers, which often coincided with the difference between skilled and unskilled workers. The war has enabled the great mt oes, especially the unskilled immigrant workers em- ployed in the metal industry, to ap- proximate their standard of life to that of the old workers’ aristocracy. There is no longer any question of these masses going into agriculture. The land is already occupied. These masses, coming for the greater part from the East and South of Eu- rope, descendants of peasants, half- peasants or petty bourgeoisie, are crowded together in enormous fac- tories, transplanted into completely new conditions, and form the soil_of the revolutionary development in America. Further, the writer points out that, under the pressure of capitalist concentration on the one hand, and of the social pressure of the work- ing class and petty bourgeoisie on the other, the old capitalist parties are decaying and the soil is being prepared for the formation of parties accerding to the altered social struc- ture, i. e., a conservative reactionary capitalist party, including the reac- tionary elements of the democratic and republican party, a petty bour- geois radical party and finally a labor party. The writer considers that the conference of the 3rd of July will provide half a million of members at the very start. If this should be the case, it would betoken an immense progress, the beginning of independent action within the American working class, The American development is of special interest to the European workers. With the rapidly increasing capi- talist concentration, with the growth of American forms of capitalism in Western Europe, there develops at the same time the American form of the class struggle: before all in the economic field, as recent- strike movements have already shown. We recommend this excellent book- let to the thoro study of all com- rades, “The opposition between theory and practice vanishes, for theory is nothing else than correctly considered and generalized practice.” “Leninism is the highest embodi- ment and condensation \of Marxism for direct revolutionary action in the epoch of the imperialist death agony of capitalist society.” Join the “I want to make THE DAILY WORKER grow” club. The Tired Worker Resting for His Next Day’s Work. Every Day ere decided upon so that the up to its best traditions as a DAILY. It is in the fight our readers, and thousands your own ere will be no chance to get .