The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 22, 1924, Page 7

2 ' struction regarding the practical pol- Declaration Adopted by the Central’, That program is, briefly; to provide Executive Committee of the definitely in the Party budget for the Workers Party. educational work which shall be de- A’ THE present time some contro- | veloped along the following lines: versy exists in the Workers Par-' Selection of a national Educational ty relative to the general proposi-| Director; founding of “Lenin Col- tions of education, organization, and jlege”, a central school for Party Party strategy. - ‘this is because the workers; establishment of classes in Party has not yet’established a clear- | the various cities, organized in cir- cut, well-ba | program for the'cuits and covered by professional schooling, building, and functioning teachers; extensive tours for lectur- of our organization, Various groups ers on theoretical subjects; publica- lay greater or stress upon one tion of popular theoretical pamphlets or another of several activities: and books; periodic discussions ca necessary to the development and life ‘branch meetings of current events of our Party, some overstressing edu-|and decisions of the C. E. C. on par- cation, others attaching too much im-|ty policy. portance to bare organization, and| The beginnings so far made, in still others. devoting. themselves al-|the establishment of a circuit of most entirely to actigns and maneu- study classes in District 8 and in Dis- vers of the Party, to the negiect of | trict 1, a Party school in New York, education and organization. The|the projected “publication of the consequence is much confusion, wast-| ‘Lenin Library” of 10 volumes, all ed effort, and one-sided develop-|a part of the national educational ment. Only by a clarification and|system, will be supported and ex- unification of the membership’s con-|tended until every member of the ceptions of the questions can this in-| Party and every sympathizer has full ‘]- tolerable condition be remedied.|and complete opportunity for sound Hence the C. E. C. feels the necessity | education in every phase of the in- for the following statement upon the | ternational’ communist movement. general proposition of Party activi-|The youth movement shall be utiliz- ti es. od ed more and more in this same field. » In the development and utilization pA ictal ‘of the Workers Party in the class struggle it must be constantly borne in mind that it is a Commu Par- ty. This means that it must be ithoroly educated firmly organized, jand possessed of a militant strategy. ‘It. must be a revolutionary fighting \ wht S cotel tama at on he tte which unders' not only the ulti-},; wi bli in the mate goal of Communism but also the on j wand iM be ‘peblitiied in every-day program of the movement;! Jn the mean-time all educational it must be a compact, centralized, ‘and political activity must be closely disciplined," mass body, and it must ¢ojjowed by organization. The Party take a leading part in all the poli-' must absorb and make use of all the tical and industrial struggles of the workers brought into sympathetic workers. The building of such a contact. with the Party thru edu- well-rounded, balanced Party must cation or common participation in be our aim. Only a Party which car- | the struggle. Organization is a ques- ries on simultaneously the necessary tion of life and death to a Communist work of education and organization, | movement; our activities of every and which is animated by a militant! 57 must’ receive special organiza- strategy, can be in fact, as well 43 / tional attention, they cannot be al- in theory, the vanguard of the prole-|jowed to drift along in a vague and tariat. unerystallized form. The Party is the organizational eenter for the entire movement and must therefore have first organiza- tional attention. Many thousands of workers ate ideologically prepared now for membership, in the Work- ers Party, and it is a major task for us to reach them and bring them in- to the organization. From the Work- ORGANIZATION The . Y organization must be gradually and systematically trans- formed from its present territorial basis to that of shop and factory units. Special articles, communica- tions from the Communist Interna- tional and plans for this re-organiza- * * * t EDUCATION Educational work is one of the basic features of the general activi- ties of the Workers Party. This must reach not only the circle of sympa- thetic workers about the Party, but especially the members of the Party. In addition to the fundamentals of Marxian theory, this educational iat asic. chanid inalude an intansite in: ers Party as the center must radiate a complete network of auxiliary or- ganizations, crystallizing all com- munist activity and permeating the masses in all fields of struggle. In every case where Communists are ac- tive, organization and the Party must follow closely behind, the object of constant and energetic attention. Our campaigns for amalgamation, the Laber Party, and other issues of immediate appeal to the workers, must be followed up closely by the organizing machinery of the Party sO that the elements made sympathetic to us shall be absorbed into the Par- ty. EWery action supported by non- party elements must be made the basis for an appeal to them to join the Workers Party as the instrument that made effective action possible. Every party unit must have a perma- nent committee on recruiting new members. Party members must be systematically instructed in organiz- ational methods and plans for work within trade unions, fraternal socie- ties, ete. Only when system and or- der, with definite and authoritative organizational forms, follow all Com- munist activity, will the full results of our work be obtained. . On the other hand it must be pointed out that, just as a one-sided emphasis upon education at the ex- pense of other sides of Party ac- icies and every-day life of the Party. Thus the stream of new members constantly entering the Party will be assimilated and equipped for active participation in Party life. The Par- ty must lay greater and greater stress upon its educational program, systematizing it and institutionaliz- ing it as it develops. ut this does not mean that the Party shall be allowed to become merely an educational body, as some in our ranks think it should, .Such a course would condemn it to a sec- tarianjsm like that of the Socialist Labor Party and the Proletarian Par- ty, and would eliminate it as a vital factor in the class struggle. Our Party must first of all be a fighting organization and its educational pro- gram must be calculated upon the principle of bringing forth the Par- ty’s greatest virility and fighting strength. When thus connected and arlene tt toe wee saat We es working e Party’s educational work will be lift- and made a dynamic factor, at once re-enforcing the Party in the class struggle and. being itself vitalized and stimulated by the Party experi- ences, in the battles of the workers. 2 i. sig & ¢ 3 : 5 i ! : gers ee iE 4 g z s £ Ky i ‘Pious and sinner, and sot fi : : ‘ The Activities of t eo ere ne teenie a NY a tivity, produces sectarianism, so does sibility, and to participate in every INEVITABLE The tide sweeps all’slong with it, Driftwood and dreamer, undue stress placed upon bare or- ganization (the tendency to organi- zational fetishism) produce sterility and political bankruptcy. Organiza- tion alone is futile. Thus the Social- ist Party once had 100,000 members, quite an organizational showing, but because it had no solid educational basis nor possessed of a sound: and militant strategy in the class struggle, its organization melted away over- night. The problem of organization for a Communist party is the problem of keeping pace at all times with party education and party strategy, without allowing organizational work to become an end in itself. It is the intention of the Central Executive Committee to intensively develop organizational methods and activities, to constantly survey and appraise the working of each unit of our organization, to stimulate lag- ging sections, to correct errors and abuses, and draw the movement more tightly together everywhere. This it also lays down as the basic organi- zational duty of every party commit- tee. EP er PARTY STRATEGY. Party strategy is the systematic and planful application of funda- mental Communist principles in the class struggle. It is “The Party Inaction,” functioning as the leader of the working masses, organizing and educating them, crystallizing their revolt, giving them direction for immediate and definite actions, establishing a proletarian fighting morale, and occupying the front ranks in every struggle against the capitalist system, against the employ- ers, and against the agents of capi- talism within the labor movement. Party strategy is that expression of our organization that makes of it a communist party. Party strategy, to be fully effective, requires the intelligent participation of the entire membership. While it is particularly the responsibility of the Central Executive Committee, he Workers Party action of the working class, leading it on step by step to our goal. Those few individual comrades who object to this constant and active participa- tion in the every day struggle and who call for a life of quite study and peaceful organization of the Com- munists, show that they do not un- derstand the function of a Commun- ist party. wt On the other hand the Central Ex- ecutive Committee is determined to guard against the other danger, the tendency to wild maneuverings to running ahead of the Party member- ship, to ill-considered actions, that defeat our primary purpose by cre- ating distrust among the workers. Our Party strategy must be so sound- ly based upon the fundamental inter- ests of the working class, and so clearly explained to the workers, that it will at all times retain that mass support necessary to give it power. Strategy shall never be allowed tq degenerate into political maneuvers having no relation to the real facts of the class struggle and the relative strength of the party. In the immediate future the Work- ers Party will be engaged in most important political battles in which the Party strategy will be supremely important. Smooth and rapid adjust- men¢ of the entire Party to each de- velopment so that the Party may strike quickly and with ‘its entire power, is a supreme necessity. The Central Executive Committee is in- forming the membership from.week to week of its political estimate of the situation, the Party press is day by day carrying the story of the immediate struggle, the Party posi- tion is being explained on each issue that arises, the fult power of the Party is being exerted within the working class movement. The C. E. C. expects to intensify this active participation in the whole political life of the working class, which will become more complex and heated as the presidential campaign develops and the farmer-labor move- and the District Committees under |™&™t comes to expression More than its lead, to give direction and control, | yet the whole party which puts that strategy into effect in the life of the working class must be permeated with a deep understanding of what the party is trying to do and the methods of doing it. The Party as a whole must follow the stategy from point to point in the struggle, must pass judgment upon it, must criti- cize and correct it from time to time. Successful Party strategy is thus based directly upon the understand- ing of the membership (education), and upon its facilities for united action (organization). To the full extent that education and organiza- tion have laid the foundation the Party strategy must be extended and developed. : The capacity of the Party, mea- sured by its understanding and or- ganization strength, is thus of equal importance with a realistic valuation of the objective facts of the class struggle. That strategy which cor- rectly estimates the objective facts, the political and economic situation and the relation of forces, and also correctly judges the power of the Party, and which throws the Party energetically and intelligently into the struggle to the limit of those powers, is the successful strategy to- ward which we must strive. ‘Our Party is faced with a tremen- dous responsibility. It finds a work- ing class from which all other lead- ership has abdicated. The so-called progressives, by their cowardly re- treats and surrender to Gompers have left the labor movement with none but the Communists to lead the struggle for the Labor Party, amal- gamation and for even the mildest reforms. It is the duty of the Workers Party to accept this respon- ever it is necessary for all Party members and all Party units to study and to understand the Party strate- gy, and put it into effect with all jtheir ability and energy, constantly keeping before the eyes of the work- ers the ultimate aims of the class struggle, i. e., the seizure of power and the proletarian dictatorship. * * A BALANCED PROGRAM. Our supreme objective, our funda- mental conception in the period im- ] mediately before us, must -be the building of a mass Communist party. That means that the activities of our Party must be developed upon a bal- anced program of education, organ- ization, and strategy. Education thru intensive, systematic effort, hooked up closely with organization and ac- tion, will give our Party a sound foundation without leading the sec- tarianism or scholasticism. Organ- ization of all activities, definite in form and reaching out to embrace the workers prepared for our move- ment and its work, will put firmness and backbone into both education and Party strategy, steering clear of both organizational fetishism and jellyfish-like helplessness. Party stra- tegy, based upon education and organization, correctly adjusted to the resources of the Party and the facts of the class struggle, will act as a stimulus to all other phases of Party life, as an instrument of edu- cation and organization, and at the same time it will fulfill the responsi- bilities placed upon us, and will put our Party in its proper position as the vanguard of the proletariat, the leader of the working class. The Central Executive Committee calls upon the entire Patty to estab- lish this conception of a balanced as Bo of activities as a central and eading idea in the Party life. Let each of our work be developed to- gether and in harmony, without arti- ficial. differentiation or one-sided em- phasis. Each is necessary and is in- jtimately connected with all the other; jthey are but different faces to the one reality the Workers Party, which is the collective organization of ev- ery phase of Communist work in America. With consistent and sys- tematic study, with thoro and well- disciplined organization, and with in- telligent and energetic action, our Party will leave behind all the re- maining vestiges of factionalism, op- portunism, infantile disorders, and rag , and will march oe proper place as a mature an section of the Commun-. ist International.