The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 12, 1924, Page 12

Reply to the Thesis of Comrades Lore and Olgin (Continued from page 5) individuals. Until we-have succeeded in this, nothing will help much, not even a policy of straight lines. We analyse before the workers the social make-up of the two old parties and thereby show that they are con- trolled and dominated by big capital the master and enemy of the work- ing class. Candidates on tie tickets of the two old parties will either do! the biddings of the capitalists or fail. In either case, the workers are the losers. Therefore, don’t support can- didates of the old parties. We then analyse the social make- up of the Third Party and if we find that it is controlled by a petty-bour- geois liberalism, we say so. And we explain what it means in terms of the economic interests of the work- ers, poor farmers, wealthy farmers, other petty-bourgeois elements, and big capital. plain the political aspirations of the Third Party by means of its social- economic basis. In doing this, we will find that the “friendliness” to labor of a third petty-bourgeois party rests on an economic basis. The middle classes revolting against big capital need the assistance of labor and are, therefore, compelled to offer some concessions to labor. And it is here that we point out the limitations of these concessions and the general unreli- ability of the election promises. We proceed further to explain that the workers and exploited farmers ean best_utilize this division in the ranks of the bourgeoisie by organiz- In other words, we ex-| ing their own ‘party and _ fighting their own battles, at the same time giving their organized support, as an independent class Farmer-Labor Par- ty, to candidates of the Third Party where such support will assure the defeat of the old parties or increase the divisions in the ranks of tne bour- caoisie, or assist in splitting away \large masses of workers and farmers from the two old parties. 4—'lhe sense of the fourth argu- ment is that it is impossible to sup- port and criticize Third Party, can- didutes at one and the same time, which is the same as saying that. the Farmer-Labor Party cannot support a Third Party eandidate and at the some time carry on an independent | action, Farmer-Labor campaign. ;mass nature of the ous no one can deny, but this is no reason for not doing it. 5—Support of Third Party candi- dates “‘wouid make it appear to our members that we put ail our hopes in parliamentary reforms and that all our propaganda of mass action is no more than a phrase.” The direct opposite is true. It is those who cannot appreciate tae real present revoit against the two oid parties and wio refuse, by adopting elastic tactics, to divert the class elements of this mass | movement into the cnoanne:ss of a class Farmer-Labor lacty, that are making a mockery and empty sound of the Communist conception of mass Mass action ig not some- thing static, immovable and unchang- If this were true, then how couidjable. It is a process and a develop- a Communist Party support candi-|ment which has its beginning in such at the same time carry on an inde- pendent Communist campaign? And ‘again, how could the Communists of Mexico, on the advice of the Com- intern, support Calles (petty bour- geois candidate) and carry on an in- dependent campaign? And finally, how could the Comintern support the colonial struggles of the oppressed nationalities (petty bourgeois in cha- |racter) against European and Amer- ican imperialism and at the same time carry on among the proletarian elements of the same nationalities a class campaign along Communist lines? The answer is that of course it can be done as we have shown above. That it is difficult and even danger- dates of a Farmer-Labor Party and, mild occurrences as tne present movement of large masses of work- ers and exploited farmers away from the old parties and in the direction of independent political action and culminating, thru various changes and developments (not always run- ning in a straight line) in a direct struggle for power. This is the Communist conception of mass action ard it is such mass action that we will assist in develop- ing by adopting the tactics of the Central Executive Committee. _ Restating Our Objective. Onr immediate objective is the unification and consolidation of all politically mature farmer-labor forces in the United States for an independent campaign along class lines in the coming presidentiai elec- tion. Our aim is the formation of a mass party of workers and farmers, and the advancement of Communist influence within it. The convention of June 17th is the next point of concentration. In striving toward this objective we find ourselves confronted with a petty bourgeois Third Party move- ment which is neither of our making nor under our control. It is clearly a revolt of large masses of workers, farmers and petty bourgeois eie- !ments against big capil and tius {runs somewhat in the same reneral direction as the l’armer-Labor Party ‘movement. ‘This ‘lhird Party move- ‘ment contains in its ranks large |masses of workers and exploited farmers. Hence, the bigger the vol- jume of this movement, the better the ‘chances for a class Farmer-Labor Party, provided we meet the situa- ‘tion as it is and do not run away from it. This situation creates a- problem for us. The problem is to develop our Labor Party policy in suen a manner as to increase the volume and scope of the split-away movement from the two old perties; at the same time carefully and after proper pre- paration diverting the class elements into the channels of the class Farm- er-Labor Party. The thesis of Com- rades Lore and Olgin misses com- pletely this central problem of our ‘whole Labor Party policy. The thesis of the Central Executive Committee states the problem, analyses its fact- ors, and gives the best solution of it. Zinoviev Reviews the Main Points of Difference (Continued from Page 2) was in the hands of the naphta production had ceased, the rouble was no longer a rouble. If anyone was paid 100 million roubles, he found they had sunk in value to 80 mllions by the next day. How is it possible to execute any plan when the first necessities are lacking, when we have no bread, no means of transport, no money, no coal, no naphta? This is why Comrade Lenin insist- ed again and again on the recogni- tion of this crude reality, which . pointed out the path along which living Socialism had to march. Social- ism follows neither Bellamy nor the Erfurt program. It follows in the track of the erec- tion of disinfecting establishments, of the improvements of the condi- tions of the soldiers’ lives, of the struggle against poverty, against the depreciation of Soviet money, against the shortage of fuel, etc. And it seems to zie, comrades, that the obstinate persistence vin clinging to a beautiful plan is in- trinsieally nothing else than a con- siderable concession to the old- fashioned view that a good plan is a universal remedy, the last word in wisdom. Trotzky’s standpoint has greatly impressed many stud- ents. “The Central Committee has no plan, and we really must have a plan!” is the cry we hear today from a certain section of the students. ; Comrades! The reconstruction of economics in a country like Russia is indeed the most difficult problem of our revolution. As I have already stated, the two most important lead- ing institutions of our state have had to work without Trotzky’s aid. Trotzky does not work for them even yet. Rise In Russian Economics. We want to have transpert affairs managed by Dserjinsky; economics by Rykov; finance by Sokolnikov; Trotzky, on the other hand, wants to carry out everything with the aid of a “state plan.” ‘The state Plan- ning Commission is an important corporation, called into being by Lenin himself. But the “state plan” is no universal remedy, And what is our actual economic standing at the present moment? In October Comrade Trotzky, and after him 46 comrades of his frac: tion, addressed a letter to the Cen- tral Committee, stating that we are in the midst of an internal political and Party crisis; in a word: the country is on the verge of a preci- pice. This is the way it looks to these comrades. How does this come about? It comes about because (Comrade Trotzky has no eye for the actual situation of our country. He knows neither our peasantry nor our work- Whites, | ers to a sufficient degree. He knows Russia too little, and has no feeling for the realities of our country. Russia’s actual economic condi- tion is better today than we might have expected. The bread question no longer exists The year before last we exported 45 million poods: abroad, in 1923 this export had risen to 250 million pooas, and we hope to realize an even more exten- sive program in 1924, We are beginning to be felt as a factor in the international bread market. Further:- in 1922 our naptha output amounted to 218 mil- lion poods; in the year 1923 it amounted to 300 million pocds. Today we may regard the most urgent necessities of the country as covered, so that we ere in a position to export a part of oar real values. With respect to the coal of the Donetz Basin, fe have exceeded the fixed normal output, for the first time, by 10 per cent. The deficit on our traffic and transport, which was previously 150 millions. has_ beer .re- duced to 40 to 50 millions, so that our traffic is now almost free from deficit. Lenin’s Opinion. Comrade Dserfinsky has perform- ed perfect miracles here. We are now engaged in the promotion of our metallurgy. This is now ren- dered possible by the regulation of our coal and naptha output. One depends upon the other. Metallur- gical production increased fourfold in 1923, as compared with the year 1922. Naturally, this is but a mod- est gain, a_ diffident beginning. Metallurgy had reached a specially low ebb. You see, comrades, that we record progress even here. And above all we have one thing today: Money. ‘ After he had been ill for a few months, Lenin once usked us with a smile: “Comrades, how ia it that we manage to go on existing with our wretched Soviet rouble’” Lenin frequently remarked: “I have no fear that our power will be over- thrown by an insurrection. What I am afraid of is that our miserable rouble will strangle us some day by running us into financial bank- ruptcy. “To be sure we have secured our place in the Kremlin, but nobody will accept our rouble!” Scarcely a year has passed since Lenin said this. Today, comrades, we have the Chervonetz, known to all of you. At the present time there are 300 million gold roubles in circulation, of which 270 million are in, cher- vonetz, ‘The whole international bourgeoisie envies us for this. The cervonetz represents a real value. You know that finance mirrors the eis iaetitnnetenannatigiicsintte a ST RN ee en situation of the economie totality. If our economics had not improved, we should have no chervonetz today. We are now about to carry out a comprehensive financial reform. The Central Committee has already worked out a suitable project, and will submit this in a few days to the Federal Council Congress meeting in Moscow. This reform deals with introduction of a uniform gold and silver currency, having us security a considerable gold reserve which has accumulated of late. Our Condition Improving. At the Fourth World Congress of the Communist International, Lenin laid special emphasis on the fact that we had already earned 20 mil-! lion gold roubles by commerce, and observed: “So we have made a_ be- ginning.” Now, I am not betraying any great secret when [ tell you that since then we have earned 20 times 20 millions, if not more. We possess a real gold basis for our currency, and need no longer fear thet our rouble wiil strangle us. This is a fact, comrades. Even should the other symptoms proving the uplift of our economics be lack- ing—the increase of coal and naphtha output, etc—the above mentioned suffices in itself to prove the improvement of our ‘position. For it is perfectly clear that if our finances were to collapse, then not even an old Bolshevist guard could keep itsef above watt: by any heroic deeds, the less so that pre- cisely this guard possesses no very great experience in financial ques- tions. It is true that even before the war we raised international loans, as, for instance, when we borrow- ed the impressive sum of 25 francs at the time when we forined the Zimmerwald Left. We cannot cite any greater finan- cial operations from our past. But we were nevertheless successful in finding a member of the Central Committee, a comrade who is at the same time an old revolutionist, who understands financial questions, and has so far managed our affairs en- tirely satisfactorily. Further. Agriculture has re- cuperated in an equal degree. Pro- duction has reached 70. to 80 per cent of pre-war production. There are many comrades. even among those belonging to the “opposition” as, for instance, Comrade Sossnov- sky, who is well-informed on this subject, who even assert that we have reached 100 per cent of pre-war production. We have reached 40 per cent in state economics, whilst .we were only at 22 per cent a year ago. Change in Human Nature. You see, comrades, that we are marching forwards. Truly we are ‘advancing slowly, truly it would be | better if our pace were yuicker; but j at least we are prozressing. With respect to the position of the working class, we are by no means. satistied with this. We can- not by any means designate it as |good. It would be highly ugreeable . we receive 100 gold roubles month- y. ~But unfortunately we cannot do this yet. But we can at least main- tain that in all the leading centers of the country, the position of the working class is such that the worker can manage to live on his earnings. Everyone knowing the cir- cumstances will acknowledge this: In the most important centers: wages have almost reached pre-war level. Besides this, the average worker now enjoys a number of privileges jwhich must also be taken into ac- count. The productivity of work has. increased. During the war years, the posi- tion of the worker was the worst imaginable. In order to support bare life, he was frequently obliged to steal, or to produce articles quite outside his actual profession Thus many .manufactured lighters and sold them. Today we have an entirely differ- ent working class, with an entirely different psychology. This may be observed .with especial clearness in Petrograd. In 1922 we had 33,000 metal workers in Petrograd, and in 1923 almost double this number, 1,000. But today the workers work sys- tematically, as for instance, in the manufacture of tractors. This has made the workman an entirely dif- ferent human being. Realization of Actual Condition. Today he comprehends the needs of the country, and has taken up his real profession again, This explains the extensive support now accorded to our Party by the broad masses of the working class: The working class has not supported us to such an extent since the months of the year 1917. _And now, comrades, can you ima- gine it possible that Comrade Trotz- ky stands up before the Central Committee and declares that the country is on the verge of an abyss? “The state plan” exercises too little influence amongst us. The comrade who makes such an assertion is entirely lacking in ability to realize Russia us it ac- tually is. Trotzky 1s not Radek, When Radek does not understand these things, we can comprehend the reason, Radek has his own ling in which he is an expert, So much for our differences of opinion Pf the “opposition” in the (To Be Continued Monday.) o ee _