The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 9, 1924, Page 7

(Note: A declaration by the Com- munist Party of France giving a very good picture of the political struggles in France.) Against the Bourgeoisie Bloc, for the Bloc of the Workers and Peasants. ieee majority of the Parliament has rejected the principle of pro- portional representation, as it would have made all parties in the clectoral contest in the spring, appear under their proper colors. It has retained an election procedure, that falsifies the representation of the parties, and compels them to furm coalitions, that is, to an inevitable confusion of pro- grams. The Communist Party is of opinion, that the elections of 1924 have a significance far surpassing all pre- vious elections. The country will be able to judge even better than in 1919 the, policy of the war, and of those who brought it about. The Peace of Versailles marked the triumph of French im- perialism, whose policy, since the end of the war, has led the world to destruction, France to bankruptcy, and has created prospects of a new- war. Within the country itself, this im- perialist policy of the bourgeoisie is essentially anti-labor. The electoral contest must bring into the field against those responsi- ble for this policy, the mass of their victims—workers, officials and small peasants, tenants and consumers with small incomes. The country must sweep away those responsible for this policy of bankruptcy, famine and war. The party alignments are already becoming apparent. The bloc of the left is setting itself in opposition to the National Bloc which since 1919 was the support of French imperial- ism and which is directly responsible for the present state of affairs. The left, if not yet officially, contains the leaders of the so-called Left-bour- geoisie and the leaders of the Social- ist and Socialist-Communist parties. The Communist Party has refused to enter into such a bloc, and has persistently warned the workers and peasants against such a trap . . The division of the bourgeosie into a “Right” bourgeoisie and a “Left’’ bourgeoisie is but a superficial one. In reality, all the capitalists have common class interests. The em- ployers of the Right and of the Left have the same interest in exploiting their workers, the property-owners of the Left and of the Right have the same intention of plundering their tenants, the dealers and speculators of the Left bring about increase of prices in the same way as those of the Right. ; Before the Parliamentary Election in France This struggle between the Left and Right bourgeoisie, is simply a super- ficial political struggle for the privi- leges of power. At bottom the bour- geoisie class is always prepared to defend its prerogatives against the worker and peasant classes whom it exploits. This superficial division was only set up in order to conceal the real class division, and to prevent the struggle next spring from assuming its true character, the character of a class struggle between all the ex- ploited and their exploiters, Great masses of workers, employ- ees, peasants, clerks and small men are dissatisfied with the regime that continually renders their lives more insecure, and are prepared to resist, not only the national bloc, tut the very capitalist regime—the thing which is really responsible. The Bloc of the Left. The bloc of the “Left” is only a maneuver of one section of the bourgeoisie to prevent the expression ‘of this justifiable discontent from injuring the vital interests of the bourgeoisie, and under the mask of the “Left,” still to keep the discon- tented to serve the profit of the capi- talist system, as dividend earners and eannon-fodder. The proletarian par- ties which join in this movement, hand over a section of the proletariat to the capitalist class, and betray the working class. It is an absolute fact, that the bourgeoisie of the “Left”? does not differ from the government of the National bloc, that-it has not ceased to support the imperialist foreign policy of Poincare, that, immediately after the strike of 1920, it concurred in the anti-labor policy of the Na- tional bloc, and that it still today helps to support the ministry by means of three radical members. The Senate, which has a left majority, has recently agreed to a scandalous in- crease in rents gf 104 per cent. Renauld Jean has exposed the details of this out and out capitalistic and anti-labor policy from the tribune of the Chamber. The antagonism between the right | and left is so artificial, that their . | dividing lines are still very indefinite and they move more to the right ev- ery day. This goes so far that fin- ally even Poincare will be regarded | as an element of the “Left.” An/j editorial note, which the Ere Nou- velle recently made on the occasion of a speech by M. Chaumet, con- tained the following significant lines: “As soon as Poincare places himself on the side of the Republic against reaction, he will meet with no more apposition from us.” And that is the extreme “Left” of the Radical-Socialist Party, the “so- n jof all workers against the bourgeoisie, cialist” wing, which issues such dec. | tant action, in which it is a question larations! It is not the bloc of the/vf bringing the whole of the pro- “Left,” which will defend the inter-|letariat into the struggle against the ests of the workers in town and| bourgeoisie, the Communist Party is country against those who enslave | ready to set aside the questions which them. divide us, to set up the unity of the The Warkers: and. Beasseis Mave proletarian forces for a minimal pro- Thais Ove: Daunaade gram of struggle. In making this . sacrifice, it proves its will to see the The workers and the peasants have | unity of the forces of labor realized their own demands for which they jon the solid foundation of the class- can unite on the firm ground of the | way. class war against the whole bour-| The Communist Party, therefore, geoisie. suggests to all proletarian organiza- Together they must: tions, a Central Conference, to ex- 1. Set themselves against an ad-|amine the platform to be set up and venturous foreign policy, which|the practical problems which will brings destruction in the world, and ea = _ a of a workers bankruptcy in public finances. wpa co ane depres? : 5” Piahe Soidhe shnulmens ofthe This general discussion and the Se ae 2 ; formation of a class bloc of the Treaty of Versailles and its disas- workers and the peasants, necessarily trous results. presumes two elementary conditions: 3. Strengthen the solidarity and| 1. United tactics thruout the the will to peace of the workers. Say. = would be omar | a farce ‘ of the working class bloc, if it were Hh povarwe rae egg recognition only partly carried thru in certain lo- pre Paes P os calities, while in others the bloc of 5. Defend the working class, offi-;the “Left” was formed. The work- cials, clerks and small farmers against |ers’ and peasants’ bloc must at the speculation, increase of prices, high |next election evoke the class war on rents, and against attacks upon the ja national scale. eight-hour day. 2. <A practice of real class war 6. Demand for civil servants frec- | involving the absolute break with the dom of opinion and right of organiza-|bourgeois left parties. A certain tion, and the 1,800 francs bonus. number of socialist and socialist-com- 7. D a ‘ont of SaMAE in- munist federations have already cre- . ke a wh h Md b ated, with the radical party, the bloe surance, under which there can be no|o¢ the left in their districts. Altho fraud or theft. : _ _|the two parties have not officially de- 8. Demand a financial policy |fined their attitude their most emi- which abolishes wage taxes and in-|nent leaders are daily working at the direct taxation, and which takes/creation of the bloc of the left, to- from the huge capital of the war-|gether with the leaders of the radi- profiteers, dealers and speculators. ‘cals, both in meetings and at public 9. Strive for equality of political {demonstrations, as well as in the sve- and economic rights for working|cial press of the “Left” Bloc, Ere men and women. Nouvelle, Quotidien, Paris Soir, ete. The Workers’ and Peasants’ Bloc. One cannot maintain at one and As against the formation of ajthe — time, the left +s - we bloc of the left, the Communist |Workers’ and peasants’ bloc, the col- Party is setting up the idea of the|laboration of and the struggle be- creation of a workers’ and peasants’ rome << — b Therefore, eo bloc. The bloe of the left neces-}Vommuni arty by suggesting to sarily signifies the collaboration ana|the other proletarian parties the for- blending of classes, the workers’ and|™ation of the workers’ and peasants peasants’ bloc on the contrary, means|bloc, places before these parties the the clear and irreconcilable class|Unavoidable alternatives: with the war. Communist Party, to create the The Communist Party demands unity of the-struggle of the working from the other two proletarian par-|Class against the bourgeoisie of the ties, the setting up of a united front |left and of the right; or, with the a * fcially divided int Radical Party against the Communist sinrgh) ye ¥ eivided ito 4 |Party, which latter absolutely refuses Profound differences of opinion di-|t0 take part in the collaboration of vide us on the questions of defense |'the classes, of native country, the Dictatorship of} The Communist Party is prepared the Proletariat, and revolutionary|i) make the necessary sacrifice for methods. They render a unity of or- bin. Qnwninss f th + ate! ie ganization of the political parties of |“ *0Tmation o e@ workers an the proletariat impossible. But for|Peasants’ bloc, whose task it will be a definitely circumscribed and impor-'to arraign the whole capitalist regime. THE NEGRO AND AMERICAN RACE PREJUDICE By LOVETT FORT-WHITEMAN Ts student of social problems may easily discover, after but little investigation, that race pre- judice, almost all cases, has its roots in some form of economic or indus- trial competition. Race prejudice is not something inherite rans- mitted thru the blood from one in- dividual to another. Thus, despite the fact that probably most persons believe such to be the case. One may see in any place in the South, black and white children playing to- gether, even in sections where the test degree of animosity exists Coreen the seen. Nor is the Negro regarded in any of the n countries as a peculiar object of hatred or prejudice such as in the United States. No social bitterness greeted the Negro at his advent on American shores from Africa. His enslave- ment was a matter simply of meet- ing the need of a labor supply in the po he ne Further, it is a well- knawn fact that there was much in- of white women and male became slave-owning class, controlling the and christianity and elevated him to agencies of public opinion, preached the inherent inferiority of the Negro. It should be easy to understand that a public opinion wholly shaped by a slave-owning class, the belief of the inherent inferiority of the Negro and his social unfitness, after a time, became thoroly established, and part and parcel of the American social consciousness. : Even after the emancipation of the Negro from chattel slavery, it has remained to the interest of an ex- ploiting class, to maintain a popular opinion of the social inferiority of + a Negro. Today, Pn Lords of = 0% i thru a_ servile press, school, the church, and other agencies of public opinion, are able to keep the ranks of the working class di- vided on sentiment of race differ- ences. Some of the unions bar Negroes from membership, And this is tly to the interest of the capi- talist class. This permits of a sort of a reserve army of Negro work- ers that may be employed to break strikes. And to enumerate the most out-standing manifestations of this sickly sentiment of the American race prejudice as it effects the Negro, as follows: in the South, the latter is compelled to ride in rear seats in street cars, he is poli- tically disfranchised, ched and the North as well suffers industrial discrimina- social ruling or slave-|tion, residential segregation, and be such a thing as one tion. a natural antipathy for another, but this does not Strife between races wased on some economic condition.}as old as the institution of private And a struggle for economic and in-|property. When England entered dustrial advantages reflects itself in|India, she found the caste system mutual hatred and groundless pre-| Which had been created by a previous judice. conquering race, yet at the time was The Negro worker is unorganized|" ® State of rapid dissolution. It and everything possible is done to|h#s been of net sereetaye te keep him thus. We even find such|/ngland to keep this ‘social system organisations among Negroes as the alive. Thus rendering joint action Urban League, which is maintained against her rule impossible. In the by the capitalist class, and which British West Indies, she establishes functions as a nation-wide labor |? 5°Ci@l cleavage between the mulatto agency, supplying the Northern in-|2"4 Pure-blooded Negro. But in dustries with raw cheap Negro la- Ireland, where there is but one race, bor from the South. And this has she resorts to the religious sentiment. been a leading circumstance in the Protestants and Catholics are in- development of race riots in our to hate one another and even Northern cities. When unionized |? tted to a state of civil war. white labor finds itself confronted| _ The ‘working-class in America, in the labor market with the Negro |Shall succeed only after the workers who is willing to do the same work | have laid aside all racial bitterness for much less money, the natural re, and shall have recognized the fact action is one of hostility toward the that class interest far transcends race Negro. And the willingness of the ,interest; that as long as the workers Negro to work for less money than |fight among themseives and remain seg toogee eye a rather a necessity—| disunited, just so long will they be Bitterness re the Negro and exploited, robbed and plundered by the prhite man in n Americe, is stimu-|the employing class, ted and promo’ y the capitalist class who necessarily resort to such Likes Bedacht Article a method in order to split the ranks} To the DAILY WORKER. Please of the working-class as a whole and|congratulate Max Bedacht on his to thus better affect its exploitation.|“Our Attitude Towards the Third Tt is simply a case of “divide and |Party” in the Saturday magazine sec- rule.” But the practice having be-|tion of February 2nd. It is the most come deep-seated in our social or-|precise, concise, lucid explanation of ganism, it has colored the social|/the party analysis as of the last mind and the unthinking person re-|party convention and stand for the gards prejudice against the Negro as| party as well, that I have read. It is a natural inheritable mental condi-|as if I were at the convention myself not thru the direct description of Yet this principle in the art of|externals, but the abstract stand of subjecting one race or class to an-|the whole party. Lewis Mikelberg, - other is a world-wide practice and! Colorado,