The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 16, 1924, Page 5

“The idea becomes power when it pene- trates the masses.” —Karl Marx. By WILLIAM F. DUNNE. WE Communists contend that Samuel Gompers and the offi- ciaidom of the American Federation of Labor which he leads are part and parcel of the machinery of American imperialism. We zo farther than this and state than such policy as this officialdom has for its own guidance consists of aiding American imperialism in carying out its conquests abroad, in adopting the nationalistic viewpoint of American capitalism as its own and in attempting at all times to con- vince the masses of this country that American capitalism is a different and more altruistic brand than that in operation in other and less for- tunate nations, This means accepting American government as the beginning and end of all working class endeavor and it is on this premise that is based such programs as Samuel Gom- pers and his henchmen have. The truth of this assertion is altered not at all by the fact that from time to time Gompers refers to the fact that our institutions are not perfect; they are nearer to perfection than the in- stitutions of ofher countries and that is enough for him. American insti- tutions are the yardstick by which the achievements of the workingclass the world over are measured by American labor’s leaders, Weird Alliances. This attitude naturally leads the American trade union movement into strange alliances—alliances entered into by its officials with very few sops to dem thrown to the member- ship in the shape of information and — had thruout the movement tse Two events of world-wide import- ance have taken place recently. In the United States there has been a drive for recognition of Soviet Russia fol- lowed by the appointment of a Senate committee to investigate the charges and counter-chargés made by friends and enemies of Soviet R In Great Britain the Labor Party has come to power and its first offi- cia act was to extend full recognition to Soviet Russia. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the American Federationist for February, edited by Samuel Gom- pers, devotes approximately eight pages to these two events. Let us understand that in its loyal- ty to American capitalist institutions, the American Federation of Labor, as represented by Gompers, yields to no one. Since the Russian wahoo oy Gompers has even gone one ‘ar- ther tes now considers himself and the trade union movement the espe- cially appointed guardian of Ameri- ean capitalist government. The Great Defender. The reputation for unthinking pa- triotism which he acquirea as an im- portant cog in the House of Morgan war machine has been considerably enhanced by his activities in his new role of defender of our steel, oil, cop- per, railroad, shipping.and banking government against the attacks of the 25,000 Communists in America. This self-appointed savior of Amer- ica has thus been able to pose before the Civic Federation and other or- ganizations of employers as the knight in white armor repelling the red hordes of Soviet propagandists. We find on page 45 of the Amer- ican Federationist the Gompers credo —the ideological base on which has been erected a political structure in which are ensconced an bgmoniet ied misleaders of the le union movement, The structure creaks and groans as the winds of capitalist bankruptcy and mass discontent assail it but to Gompers and his kind the storm is mon 8 an artificial creation of a andful of vicious malcontents under the inspiration of Soviet Russia, The Gompers Creed. Here is Gompers’ confession of faith in American capitalist insti- tutions; oni America has_ established standards of life and living. Amer- Special Magazine Supplement THE DAILY The Sickle nen ee UE EE UID UnnEE EE EEEEEEE REE EEEEEEEIEEE aleenonceisliniastanttaiiantialomncensincatelieictiaialatatenamsinste gti soniaciantiasanieatiiis ica has established certain institu- tions and certain guarantees of freedom. America has established, above all, a certain rate of prog- ress and is working out a certain definite philosophy in regard to her industry and the relation of human beings to industry. . It is jast as well for Gompers that he does not try to be specific and tell us exactly what standards of living, what guarantees of freedom, what rate of progress and what definite philosophy America has established and is working out. We do not in- tend to ask him to be specific about these things and expose himself to ridicule but we do ask what and who he means by “America.” The Happy Family. No other conclusion is possible than by “America” he means the whole social grouping and that he intends to convey the impression that Americans are one large family which coliectively and individuatly is consciously striving to usher in an era of peace and plenty. In other words, Gompers, as the official spokesman of the trade union movement, rejects entirely the idea that there are two classes in Amer- ica. He telis us exactly what Elbert H. Gary, John D. Rockefeller, the plunderers of the natural resources and oppressors of the masses and their mouthpiece, like Coolidge and Hughes, tei us, that there is only one class—Americans, When the admitted leader of the organized workers of this country promulgates this puerile 100 per cent Americanism we can begin to under- stand that almost anything can be ex- pected when in his official position he comes in contact with a movement that laughs long and loud at a con- ception of modern society—European or American—that is at such obvious variance with the facts, A Major Mistake. Gompers is frightened by the strength of the movement for Soviet recognition in the United States; he has not been re-assured by the recent recognition of Soviet Russia by the Labor Party government now in power in the land of his birth. He has every reason to be alarmed. Gompers has made a major tacti- cal mistake in taking up the role of Soviet Russia’s bitterest enemy, of leading the fight against recognition and of making that fight for the an- nounced reason that recognition would be tantamount to ruin of the American trade union movement. He has placed himself in a position from which there is no retreat but which is untenable and the recogni- tion of Soviet Russia will in all prob- ability mean the downfall of the Gompers machine. Strange Bedfellows. Labor officialdom, led by Gompers, has allied itself with the worst ene- mies of the labor movement. It is the boast of Gompers and John L. Lewis that their Russian policy is exactly the same as that of the state department; in their propaganda against Russian recognition they have not scrupled to use material fur- nished them the worst labor-hat- ing administration in American his- The Senate has appointed a com- mittee to investigate the whole ques- tion of Russian recognition, includ- ing the charges of anti-government I call them beautiful certain || And I wonder where they are going. My People By CARL SANDBURG My people are gray, pigeon gray, da gray, storm gray. : 5 Vp ome propaganda which Gompers claims his efforts alone have made unsuc- cessful. Since the investigation began the whole Gompers machine has peeu half-truths and innuendos of Chester M. Wright and Wiliam English Wall- jing, the anti-Russian experts of the Gompers administration, | Every labor paper in the country ‘has been furnished with yards of janti-Soviet and anti-Communist ma- terial and many of them, particularly those that are privately owned and run in the interest of labor politi- cians, have printed it. Recognition of First Importance. Recognition of the workers’ and farmers’ government of Russia has been made the most important issue | before the American trade union movement, Gompers says in the | February Federationist: | There is no question in the whole field of international relations of | MOre importance to American labor than the question of relations with the Soviet autocracy. Because the British Labor Party before it became the government an- jnounced that one of its first acts would be the recognition of Russia, Swe victory that fol.owed brings no joy to Gompers. He speaks sneer- | ingly of the tremendous achieve- ments of the British workers. He takes the opportunity to show again his belief that his policies need never change tho the world may and does. He says: So there is in England a situa- tion well worth watching. In what may develop the American Federa- tion of Labor will be deeply inter- ested, but it will find there no rea- son for abandonment or modifica- tion of the political program and political methods which have so long served admirably to cope with the situation in the United States. The same yesterday, today, and forever and ever, Amen! It takes more than a Labor Party government in the British Empire or a workers’ and farmers’ government in one-sixth of the world’s surface to convince the cautious Gompers that labor should have a political party of its own. Not Real Reason. But is the conservatism of the aged and the hatred of class conscious | political action the only reason for the fury which the thought of Rus- sian recognition arouses in the breast of Gompers? We think not. Is it a sincere belief that economic action is all-sufficing for the workers that is responsible for the Gompers criticism of the British Labor Party and his campaign against the forma- tion of a Farmer-Labor party in the United States? Again we think not. The Communists have a clearly de- fined program which the experience of the last two years has shown makes a tremendous appeal to the organized workers and which includes amalgamation into industrial unions, a mass farmer-labor party and rec- ognition of Soviet Russia. Gompers has found it hard to fight against amalgamation and independ- ent class political action bythe organ- ized workers; there are no.arguments that can be brought successfu.ly against the use of weapons so clearly necessary so the fight against amal- set in motion to disseminate the lies, | nee ease e020, SECOND SECTION Febuary 16, 1924. This . magazine supplement will appear every Saturday | in The Daily Worker. cm) RD RH , the Hammer--and Gompers gamation and a labor party has been carried on under the guise of a fight jagainst the recognition of Soviet ; Russia, | Evading the Issue. According to the Gompers propa- |gandists, the Soviet government, the 'third International, the Communist Party of Russia and the Workers | (Communist) Party of America are |striving to enslave the workers of the world and the American workers | first of all. | The American Federation of Labor, | Says Gompers, is the only defense the ;workers have against the horrible jtortures the Communists are prepar- ing to inflict on them. ition, are only devices to distract the |attention of the workers unti, recog- jnition of Soviet Russia is had when jthe bloody rule of Communism will erush the free-born American waze- earners, The answer to the demand for amalgamation consists, then, of a recital and denunciation of the al- ieged atrocities of the Soviet gov- ernment; the answer to the demand for a class farmer and labor party is the recital of more alleged atroci- ties—generally furnished by the ac- commodating department of justice. The reai issue has become the rec- ognition of the Soviet government and upon this issue Gompers stands or falls. Gompers himself knows this and this is the reason for the deluge of anti-Soviet and anti-Communist propaganda that has flooded the edi- torial desks of every labor paper in the United States reaching flood tide since the Borah committee began its sessions. Laying the Ghost. Once the Soviet government is rec- ognized by the United States it emerges from the bloody mist with which it has been shrouded by the Gompers propagandists and becomes, for the organized workers of the United States, a reatity which they can investigate at their leisure. It will no longer be a horrid mystery to which the Wolls and Wal.ings can refer in trembing tones and with which they can cause cold chills to chase one another up and down the back of the dues paying membership. Amalgamation and the farmer-la- bor party movement then will have to be fought on their merits and not shoved into the background while the scarlet specter of Communism is pa- raded in front of the rank and file. Gompers made one of the great blunders of his career when ‘he car- ried the Wilson war against the workers’ and farmers’ government of Russia into the unions; he made an. other blunder when he used the ig- norant fear of Communists and Com- munism to prevent action for amal- gamation and a farmer-labor party and he made the blunder of blunders when he made the non-recognition of Soviet Russia a policy of officialdom of the American Federation of Labor. Stronger Forces. Gompers cannot prevent the rec- ognition of Soviet Russia because powerful economic forces are making it inevitable. He has made a major mistake and he is going to suffer all the humiliation of defeat in his pol- icy of enmity to the workers and peasants of Russia. Recognition means the loss of his leadership and it also means that he will—if recognition does not actually kill him—live to see the American labor movement progressing steadily and rapidly towards industrial union- ism and fighting its enemies on the political fied with a mass party as its weapon. These are the terrible consequences that will result from Soviet recognition—they wili fulfill the Gompers prophecies of disaster, The barrage of anti-Soviet and anti-Communist propaganda that the Wallings and Wrights are laying down at present is ail the evidence needed to show that Gompers re- peg pe. late—the desperate situa- tion is which he has placed himself, | Gompers has been nee by the point of the Soviet sickle. The hammer is ready if needed, | Amalgamation, class political ac- Sed