The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 12, 1924, Page 8

Our Labor Party Policy--Thesis by Thesis on the Workers Party Policy in the 1924 Elections By LORE and OLGIN . Ferces, Tendencies, Movements. ay \l ticipation in the election cam- | paigns of 1924, both presidential and congressional, we must proceed from the following considerations. 1. Negative. (a) The numerical weakness of the Workers Party; the lack of po- litical training on the part of its | members. fates (b) The organizatabnal weakness of the left. section of the labor movement. (c) The absence or class * con- ;sciousnesss among the large nfasses ‘of both organized and unorganized | labor, | (ad) The traditional mistrust of | the average American. worker for litical parties. : tay The zbsence in the United States of America in the clections N lLmiting a policy tor our par- | | HE theses submitted herewith is that of a minority represented by Comrades (Lore and Olgin and expresses the views of that section of the party which acknowledges what has been termed the ‘anti-third party”. tendency. “HE present theses 4 Committee. The theses in reply to Comrades Lore and Olgin, by Comrades Cannon and Bittelman also 1s pub- lished in this issue of the magazine. letarian class program. ‘They have not yet learned to rely on their own representatives as distincy from and opposed to bourgeois progres- rives calling themselves friends of labor. The so-called farmer-labor ‘parties have neither control over \their members nor even a strong in- fluence over their bebavior in times is written adopted at the last session of the Central Executive in answer to one of the average American worker. The _masses d sbelieve pre-election prom- j1ses of the old parties yet they have not realized the necessity of found- ing their own party. Instead, they ; look with contempt upon all parties, believing that the workers can | Stand aside from the parliamentary strife.; The example of the socialist of 1924 of a catastrophe situation | o¢ election, They are loosely knitted | party which even in times of its which would warrant the expecta- ition of a sudden and tremendous change in the political attitude of ‘the working miasses. | 2. Positive. (a) The growing influence of the Workers Party among the more dis- satisfied strata of the workin: claas. (b) The growing tendency of the left section of the labor movement towards consolidation into a sem-) blance of a distinct proletarian poli- weg marked dissatisfaction of a portion of the poorer farmers in the varicus states. d (d) AA. The so-called insurgent movement in the ranks of the old capitalist parties, especially _the republican, a movement identified with the name of La Follette. BB. ‘The Conference for Progressive Political Action. (e)The oil scandal tty investigation. “Bach a of these factors must be taken in its proper proportion In any elaborativn of plans for the coming election. A. The Workers Party. The number of enrolled members he Workers Party 18 in hushed of 25,060. This is the entire portion of the working class that the Workers Party can directly command thru its diseapline and or- ganization. The number of citizens among the members, entitled to 4 vote, is stall smatler. The Workers |Party as such is, therefore, unable to influence arestty - any be ee inble degree the outcome © Slactions. wre cannot threw — any social weight on the ss one political formation or the other. The membership of the Workers Party itself, on the other hand, _is not 2 homogeneous one. It is dis- tributed mainly among lanaenee federations. It has not yet. vege 3 assimilated the Communist idea. | ; is net thoroly versed in Comte tectics. This is mainly due to the recent {formation of the chang? ! Party and to internal straggles tha’ srecluded normal party life end ex- pansion. What has attracied the membership te the Workers Party and made it proud of the name Communist is the pomtion of the party, its outspoken and unwavering class line in matters political and economic. Any step on the part of the Workers Party which may be construed as a deviation from its radienl course must cause a de- pressing reaction in. the member- shp of the party in its present stage of development and result in abstention from activities und in a falling off of an appreciable number of mem)crs. B. The Left Wing. The left wing of the labor move- ment is a groping rather than a clear vision, a tendency rather than an organizational consolidation. The workers’, organizations represented in the various state farmer-labor parties are dissatisfied with capital- ist exploitation and disgusted with the political machinery of the old capitalist parties. They have not yet, however, acquired a full under- standing of the “necessity of organ- izing a class labor party with a pro- and the Daugh- | the | 'formations of very recent origin which have not yet crystallized into | effective organizations. Not even the Federated Farmer-Labor Party, the most radical of all these not | {and a conscious party cohesion, This !makes it very difficult, if not utterly impossible, to use the left wing of labor as a flexible instrument in Workers Party strategy concerning this year’s election. C. The Bulk of Labor. There is a vast difference between | the right wing of labor :n America and Europe. In the latter, cven the backward workers ha learned to rely on their own political 1epresen- tatives, differentiating their parties however moderate, from the parties {of the lower strata of the bour- geo'sie. Such is the case particu- larly in Germany and Engiand. In | America the vast masses of the | workers are still deluded by the idea lof an all-embracing national rathér }than a class party. Dissatisfied with the republicans they vote for the democrats. Becoming dissatis- fied with the democrate and repub- lieans they may transfer their vote jto a third, more radical bourgeois party if such were to be formed. The only means of splitting them away from the bourgeoisie is the formation of an outspolien labor | party with a form of organization, a | Program, a line of action and a per- }sonnel of political candidates of such a clear proletarian class char- f the} acter, as to pecome an irresistible | force of attraction to the masses of labor. Viewed in this aspect, the formation of a liberal third party which by its reformistic tendencies may strongly attach to itself large masses of workers, is a direct men- ace to the future of a proletarian elass policy in the United States of : America, It will be much more diffi- cult to combat a third party than it is to prove the exploitationist dic- tatorsh'n of the two ola parties. D. Traditional Disgust With “Political Game.” There has been no party life in the United States congress in re- cent years, i. e., there has been no marked clash of class interests in the political squabbles of the repub- lican and democratic parties, both of them representing, as they do, a united front of various economic groups and classes. The average non-socialist worker grew to look upon party activities as upon some- t thing that has only a remote bear-| ing upon his daily existence. The attitude is only another form of ex- pression of American individualism which relies upon immediate clashes of interest in actual life rather than upon political clashes in the legis- lative chambers. Taken as a whole, the American working class is far more revolutionary and class con- scious in daily struggles against capitalism than it is in its political expressions. The same workingmen who wage enormous battles against the exploiters by means of strikers and protection of strikes, submit unhesi- tatingly to the political leadership of the exploiters and their agents. “You cannot beat the politician at the polit- ical game” is the common conviction 'marked growth only fo'lowed in the | footsteps of the capitalist parties, | Solicitating votes thru pre-election | promises which it could not fulfill and | working thru a machinery of party fully class conscious political forma- | politicians who were not of the @ ork- tions, has developed a party loyalty | ing Ciass, only added ww tue disap- | pointment of the labor masses in | political action, | Under such conditions, only a clear | cut party of labor and exploited farm- | ers controlled by organized labor and | farmers, acting thru representatives | of workers and farmers, and nomin- | ating its own candidates on a definite |class program of labor and exploited | farmers, can dispel the mistrust of | the labor masses, destroy their polit- | jeal inertia and make them fight capi- _taism thru political weapons with at least the same determination as they | have hitNerto fought capitalism with ; the weapcns of strike and boycott. E. No Mass Revolt in 1924. The political strategy of the Workers Party in 1924 will be great- ly impeded by the absence of a sweeping national issue which would stir the laboring masses and lash them into spontaneous mass revolt in | the politics field. The economie sit- ‘uation is gradually approaching a cris.s. Economic depression has been on the increase thruout the lat- ter part of 1923. Yet there has been no rapid and alarming falling off on | production and transportation, and there is no state of panic. Unem- ployment is evident in various parts | of the country, notably in the mining and clothing industries, but it has not assumed and wil] not assume in the coming few months such proportions as to awaken the working masses to the realization of imminent danger. There is no atmosphere of deep un- rest in the industrial centers. There are no signs of politicat upheavals. Only in large sections of the farming districts is there profound dissatis- faction due to an acute crisis in agri- culture. The millions of farmers who are bankrupt or facing bank- ruptcy have given rise to a vanguard of radical groups who voice the im- minence for the farmers to influence ‘legislation in their own interest and thru their own spokesmen. This movement, the like of which has been witnessed in America in former decades, is here and there seeking an alliance with organized labor, yet it is just as eager to form affilia- tions with the lower strata of the city bourgeoisie wherever the latter are opposed to the dictatorsnip of big capital, and willingly submits to the leadership of liberal politicians. The / farmer movement is a typical petty | bourgeois movement, and while at | present a portion of the dispossessed | farmers are deeply stirred the farm- /ers en masse will naturally gravitate | towards a liberal bourgeois party {rather than towar€’ a class labor party. All these cireumstances are ob- stacles on the path of the Workers Party towards its historic task of utilizing the coming elections to or- ganize the working class, sharpen its class consciousness and deepen its war against capitalist dictatorship. * * * On the other hand, there are a num- ber of circumstances which augur well for our campaigns in the com- ing eleetions and which, when prop- -o Cr OO Oh + eS —_——__——-_-OooOoornma——————— erly utilized, may strengthen the working class and increase the influ- ence of the Workers Party. A-1, Influence of the Workers Party. The Workers Party has become an influence in excess of its numerical strength. Communist discipline, Com- munist determined appeal to class struggle, Communist boldness of at- j tack on labor fakirs and wavering labor politicians, Communist revolu- tionary determination in exposing the viciousness of capitalism and its sup- porters in whatever disguise they may appear, have won the Workers Party support and recugnition where- ever it came into contact with organ- iwed workers. The Workers Party has become the symbol] of straight and unyielding class szruggle. This position may be enormously strength- ened if we continue to be the crys- tallizing center for the formation of a class party of workers and ex- ploited farmers. in a great number of members. We heweversi ace for » may be weakened if we becloud our | Party, as it ¢ line of action and lose in the eyes of the masses the most precious quality which attracted them to us often [against their will: a revolutionary elass policy. | Bel. Tendency Towards a Class Party. The consciousness growing out of the participation in the world war; | the disillusionment in the outcome of | the war; the growing centralization | of power in the hands Of the capital- .ist class; the unemployment of | 7921-2; the reaction as expressed «in © open shop campaign; the strikes of the steel, texti'e, mine and ra.l- |read workers—all this has not re- ' mained without. influence on the work- ' jing masses. A change is coming over ; the American Working class. A ten-| }deney towards liberation from the | bourgeois ideology is on the increase. While the change is more of a mole- cular character, while there is no mass revo't and no spontaneous regroup- ing, there is a growing inclination to- ward what is vaguely termed as “in- dependent political action.” The va- rious conferences for the formation of labor parties in the last year, the formation of the Federated Farmer- Labor Party, the conference set for June 17, 1924, are only an expression of the political changes that aré tak- ing place in the working cass. This creates a favorable medium for our work of propaganda and organization for class struggle. We may become what the Communist party ought to be in every country—the leader of the working class. The success de- pends upon our tactics in the near future. We must follow a direct and obvious class line. Into the mass of disilusiéned and dismayed working- men we must bring the class under- standing of class division and ciass war. into the dimness of political gropings we must pour the light of revolutionary class consciousness. Out of the chaos of a transitional period in the history of the American labor movement we must bring a we!l or- ganized and well conscious class party. The inarticulate dissatisfac- tion of masses of workers must thru us find its expression and its organ- ized release in political struggle, This we can achieve, not by trying to lead the working class over devious ways over political machinations and ob- seure paths of dubious political deals with the petty bourgeoisie, but by re- maining Communistic thruout; i. e., by not relinquishing our class line in the eyes of the working masses. C-1, The Farmers. The bitter restlessness of a mass of farmers may be of advantage to our work in that it inereased ‘the range of dissatisfaction with the old political parties and creates a number | of ible allies for the future mass imbued with the ideology of the petty party of labor. The poorer farmers, bourgeoisie which in substance is op- posed to the revolutionary ideolo; Tabor, are situated on the soc scale between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Insofar as they yield to the influence of class conscious labor, may be an ally in the struggle. pos. Hor capitalism. Insofar as they make the workingmen yield to bour- geois leadership, they are dangerous to the working class. In the measure as the consciousness of the working. men wi!l grow and thetr determina- Lore (The. strengthening @zainst the % of cur prestige will inevitabiy result tion to fight ¢g manifest, ther yield to thé / tactics in 4 ’ lead, not t¢ mony of farm fied at the pre: masses of laboit ward independent but to the creati| tween workers a) on the basis o against capitalisi tion is favorabh controlled by 1 Much depends up in the near futur D-1. Republican ence For Pro A The so-called ranks of the re bodied in small of representative linked with the 1 is important for mainly thru the ; tation it creates particularly thru % + an all-embracir which is to save bo herence to the ™ ji bourgeois demo ¢ ring the class -e should not be ove | weigh the adva | by the working , | formation of a tl ' i] | | rially the chara’ |talism nor its poli It is fallacious to ¢ highly developed in _in the period of its | with powerful indus ; and an enormous ¢ capital, political pow ‘into the hands of small bourgeoisie, A third bourgeois | would be no more th ,of a portion of the | (primarily of the group) and the ma ;and petty bourgeois ance, coming into & pomp and pretensio the nation, may be for the creation of a ;and may subsequent difficult to combat t avowed enemy of th Realizing that tt wards a third, t no means as ff ‘as to create v | political jargon js ‘izing that even th. | third party under 1 ;an outspoken libera ilette type would no ‘mental change in thi American political actual power would the hands of a comb’ old parties; realizin absolutely improba power into the hand: would mean for tl infinitely less than power into the han of reform socialists ;in the European co that it is our duty t ing class from fall) 'arms of the liberal | Wilt De just as effic ithe life blood of t every variety of’ th alizing that oue v not in the natyre)o ganda only, bu?} .n separate and distin which would pe party, and wherever its growth so as to growth of a labor p: utilize the political ated by the insurge lieans and by the t ment; we must com and farmers who |} by the present polit induce them to cr which is care ‘ ward proletarian—< It is not our duty te chinery of capitalis is not our task to- in’ favor of one be 0 to the other possible for us to | wished to, becaus weight; it would b our class line if v propaganda in fa (Continued o