The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 12, 1924, Page 9

; ; and Jism will become ‘farmers. will \ “labor. Our / @tions must “i, # of a hege- jwever dissatis-| oment, over the hare striving to- | olitical expression, ' of an alliance be- mt til al exp:oited farmers © a common fight, isi rule. The situa-' bl. for a class party 1 up ur a working class. our line of action ' surgency. Confer- ‘essive Political 1 ion. | d |jmsurgency in the re fiblican party, em- 1 J-oups in the house and the senate and me of La Follette, the working c!ass pneral political agi- n the country and he attacks it levels i ca@italist parties, a grave men- -£ a proletarian 1 new illusion of oir national party e fabor thru strict ad- » “\inciples of liberal 0 cy, thereby blur- ‘es. This. menace vemooked. It may out- s to be derived d bourgeois party. not change miate- r of American capi- itical domination. to assume that in a ed industrial country f its vigorous growth, industrial corporations us centralized finance 1 power will soon pass s of the middle and 51e, regis party, at its best, re than a united front f{ the big bourgeoisie the manufacturing e mass of the middle gevisie. Such an alli- ate existence with the ensions of saviour of y become an obstacle of a proletarian party quently be much more bat than an open and of the working peop'e, at the movement to- roe party is by and spontaneous Ris termed in the )s a landslide; real- nithe formation of a der the leadership of iberal of the La Fel- id not mean a funda- in the character of the ical life inasmuch #s would still remain in ombination of the two alizing that even the, probable passing of ; hands of a third party or the working class than the passing of | hands of a coalition alists and bourgeoisie n countries; realizing uty to warn the work- falling into the soft eral bourgeoisie whicn | efficient in squeezing , of the workers as is f the bourgeoisie, re- ue warning must be "e)of negative propa- an the nature of a tinct party of labor empete with a third er poss‘ble hamper s to give room for the or party; we still may itical excitement cre- urgency of the repub- the third party move- come to the workers ho have been stirred political agitation and 0 create the weapon ble even to the back- ‘N—a party of labor. ty to improve the ma- italist exploitation; it . pe en our weight e bourgeois party as others; it id be im- do so even if we cause we have no id be @eviation from if we were to make favor of one: bour- ed on Page 7) SL ——————— netpnsnennenneees ' \straightforward, unyielding preach- By BITTELMAN and CANNON Olgin--Reply b | y Cannon and Bittelman The Present Situation. The thesis of Comrades Lore and The thesis of Comrades Lore and}Olgin does not disprove the fact that | Olgin on the Workers Party policy|we are witnessing now in the United in the elections for 1924 is based upon two fundamental] errors. 1—A mis-conception of the stra- tegy and tactics of the Communist International. £—A wrong analysis of the eco- nomic and political forces operating within the frame-work of present- day America. Strategy and Tactics of the Com- munist International. The strategy of the Communist In- ternational consists of the mobiliza- tion of the working class and ail other oppressed groups that can be allied with it for an aggressive strug- F itali stati ortant cardinal fact in present day Of these considerations. gle against capitalist exploitation, for | P P «3 that this movement “is’ important for the destruction of the capitalist state, and the establishment of the Dictat- orship of the Proletariat. From this it follows that a Com- munist Party, which is the one to carry on this strategy, must itself be a fighting organization linked up with every phase of the class strug- gle and moving along consciously and persistently in the direction of the fina] proletarian struggle for power. 3 The class struggle does not de- velop along straight lines. Its ways are devious and complicated. As Trotzky said, “In polities the short- est distance between two points is a zig-zag.” The thesis does not follow the method of Lenin when it at- tempts to speak of a “straight”, and “direct” and “unyielding” pelicy as opposed to a pelicy of devious ways, political machinations or obscure paths. A policy is correct, Communist and revolutionary if it promotes, deepens and intensifies the class struggle; if it accentuates class divisions and solidifies the working class as against the capitalist class and if it strenghtens the Communist Party and broadens its influence over the laboring masses. A policy which satisfies the above requirements is a good Communist policy, irrespective of whether the live of its path is straight, broken or circular. The shape of the line of our tactics is determined, not by our free will but. by the prevaiiing conditions of the class struggle. The thesis is wrong and non-Marx- ian, and manifests a failure to un- derstand the fundamentals of Com- munist strategy, when it attempts to dump all non-proletarian groupings into one reactionary heap which is to be condemned and fought against al- ways in the same measure and with the same tactics. The established strategy of the Communist Interna- tional, which is based on a Marxian lconception of capitalist society, al- ways differentiates between the im- mediate interests of the various groups and strata of the non-prole- tarian classes for the double purpose, of (1) mobilizing at a given moment the greatest possible force of anti- capitalist opposition, and (2) win- ning over all the exploited and op- pressed elements to the proletarian cause thereby bringing about the iso- ation of the ¢apitalist class. The thesis sins heavily against this prin- eiple of strategy and ‘also against the actual facts involved in the third rarty movement when it proposes to treat this movement, which is a re- volt against big capital, precisely as we treat the republican and demo- cratic parties, which are the parties of big capital. And, lastly, the whole thesis is | States a growing revolt of the work- ing masses on the one-hand and of the petty bourgeois elements on the other hand against the domination of the two old parties. The thesis is very careful to avoid the use of the term revolt. It says instead: “grow- ing tendency, growing influence, marked dissatisfaction,” ete. But this difference in terminology which is important, of course, does not, ers who are revolting and struggiing against the domination of big capital. For these masses the Third Party movement is objectively a transitory stage to the class Farmer-Labor Par- ty. The successful development of the Third Party movement will seri- ‘ously affect if not shatter the domi- nation of the Gompers machine in ithe A, F. of L. thereby opening the } way for favorable changes labor movement. in the 3—The movement toward and the formation of a third petty-bourgeois however, alter the fact that there is | P@%t¥ creates a favorable situation on foot a growing movement invoiv- ing large masses"of workers, farm- ers, and petty bourgeois ele ments tending to split away from the two old parties. American politics. Therefore, } } for the development of a class Farm- er-Labor Party which is the main ob- jective of our present strategy. ‘the thesis of Comrades Lore and This is the most. im- j Olgin fails-to take cognizance of any It admits strategy can be correct which fails|the working class mainly thru the to put this fact in its proper light general political agitation it creates and to analyze its basic factors. The in the country and particularly thru thesis of Comrades Lore and Olgin ‘the attacks it levels at the old capi- is deficient in both. It fails to probe talist parties.” But it faiis to un- down to the real economic basis of ; derstand the far-reaching implication the insurgent movement, inside and °”en of this statement. outside of the two old parties, and therefore misses its true volume, scope and significance. The Economic Situation. | What it does see is the probable coming into existence of “a third bourgeois par- ty, whicli would be no more than a United Front of the big bourgeoisie The thesis admits “the economic and the mass of the middle and pet- situation is gradually approaching ajty. bourgeoisie which would become crisis” and that “the economic de-|an obstacle for the creation of a pro- pression has been on the increase |letarian party and may subsequently thruout the latter part of 1923.” |be much more difficuit to combat This is correct but the present crisis is not of the type of the periodic, pre-war capitalist crises and herein lies its significance. It is not a tem- porary or passing affzir. It is a mani- festation here in the United States of the general critical state of world capitalism. This crisis may have its ups and downs but its lasting and permanent nzeture can not be dis- puted. It is this lasting and permanent nature of the present economic de- pression, plus the recent politica] de- velopments, which have unmasked the American government as the tool and sergeant of big capital, that is responsible for the acuteness of the class relations prevailing at present in the United States. The Political Situation. The thesis of the C. E. ©. which is to be submitted to the Communist International speaks of the mass re- volt in the United States against the domination of the two old parties as a revolt against the economic and political rule of big capital. And that is what it is, but this fact the thesis of Comrades Lore and Olgin fails to take note of. It speaks of a “growing dissatisfaction”, “bitter restlessnes” of the workers, farmers and petty bourgeois elements without realizing that what we are con- fronted with now is a movement and not merely a state of mind. A move- ment of large masses against the present rule of the bankers and big industrialists, and that this move- ment is tending unmistakeably in the direction of a third petty-bourgecis liberal party. Whether this party materializes—if it does—as a petty- bourgeois liberal party or as a reg- ular capitslist party similar to one of the old parties is still somewhat problematical. It may eventually turn either way, which does not in the least change the present tature and significance of the movement. As to our tactics and attitude to- wards a third party the thesis of the C. E. C. provides for either case. The thesis of the Central Executive Com- mittee lays down elearly and definite- ly the conditions and terms for a possible election alliance between the pervaded with a spirit of pessimism, |*armer-Labor Party and the Third passivity and fear of tackling a, Party: complicated situation, which is alto- gether out of proportion to and un- justified by the known’ facts of the Our Attitude Toward the Third . Party Movement. The thesis of -the Central Execu- present situation and the established ‘tive Committee bases its attitude to- policies of the C, I. formerly shared by ceriain sections This spirit is|ward the Third Party movement on peculiarly reminiscent of an attitude three sets of considerations, 1—The Third Party movement ac- of our movement that the beginning celerates the development of the and end of all Communist activities is propaganda of Communism~- ing of Communist principles. It is this attitude that prevented for a time some of our members: from -ac- eeoting the Labor Party policy of the Workers Party. class » produces a ciearer erystallization of political groupings on the basis of real economic inter. ests, and weakens the united capital. ist front against the working class 2—The Third Party movement ir volves and is followed by larve mes ses of workers and expolited farm- ’ } ' | | than an open and avowed enemy of the working people.” What this Third Party movement may eventually materialize into, no- body knows as yet. For the present, however, it is not a United Front of big bourgeoisie with the. middle and petty bourzeoisie but a movement of revolt of the workers. explo'ted and well-to-do farmers and various ele- ments of the petty bourgeotsie against the rule of big capital. That the Third Party movement carries with it serious dangers for the success of the Farmer-Labor Party movement goes withont saying. The thesis of the Centre] Executive Committee clearly points out these dangers, and proposes definite meas- ures to meet them. After setting forth the conditions under which it is possible for the Farmer-Labor Party to support the candidates of the Third Party in the 1924 elections, the thesis of the C. E. C. says the following: If under the eonditions set forth above an election alliance, either national or local, is made’ the Farmer-Labor Party must main- tain a distinet organization and carry on an independent campaign for its own program and_ utilize the situation to the utmost to crystallize in the definite form of an organized Farmer-Labor Party all those workers and exploited farmers who can be brought to the support of a clase party. Thruout any campaign in wich we maintain an alliance with the | third party, we must constantly eriticize and expose it and its can- didates, show up the futility of its program, and make it clear to the workers who are reached by our own campaign that the third party will bring them no salvation and | no relief. We must make it clear that the whole campaign is simply a starting point in the struggle for the establishment of a workers’ and farmers’ government, which in turn is a step towards the Prole- tarian Dictatorship, the one and only instrument for their libera- tion. All the elements of the classes which are participating in the re- volt against and split from the old capitalist parties will be represent- ed in the St. Paul convention on June 17th. But the probabilit- of the class farmer-labor elements— the rank and file wor’ers and poor farmers—predominating will be greatly increased by the aggressive role of the Workers Party in the campaign for the convertion and the tendency of the third party élements (including: the labor hureaucrats, who are ideoloe' cally > nart of the retiv bourveois'e) to turn to the Cleveland Conference of the C. P. P. A. or to some other Reply to the Thesis of Comrades Lore and Olgin center which may be created by the La Follette group to serve as the nucleus of the third party. Our task at the June 17th Con- vention will be to strenghten and clarify its class character, fight for the adoption of a class program, organize it into a class party sep- | arate and distinct from the Cleve- ; land corference or any other third | Party conference which may be | held. The party formed there shall negexiate, thru committees, with other conferences on the question of common campaign or common candidates only as an organized body. At the St. Paul Conference we shall nominate and fight for prole- tarian candidates as against any other candidates at the conference. We shall utilize the conference to lay the basis for the organization of. the Farmer-Labor Party thru- out the country and also advance there the proposal and pians for an economic organization of far m- ers to serve as the foundation for their political organization. This step of supporting the can- didates of a petty bourgeois liberal] Third Party, under the conditions laid down in the thesis of the Central Executive Committee, is a correct one; not only because it is in accord ,with the general strategy of the C. I. | (as manifested in its attitude to the i British Labor Party and the Mexican |Presidential elections) but also be- cause it offers the best tactical move of eventually separating the masses of workers and exploited farmers from the leadership of peity bour- geois liberalism and bringing them into the ranks of the class Farmer- iLabor Party, which is a step a’ong the road to Communism. jother hand the position toward the Third arty. movement taken by the thesis of Comrades Lore and Olgin offers the best means of perpetuating jPetty-bourgeois influence over the masses of workers and exploited farmers that are now following this movement. The thesis of Comrades Lore and Olgin takes the position of no sup- port for the candidates ef the ‘Third Party under any cirevmstances, and jthis for five reasons: 1—Our support would be - futile because we do not command large numbers of voters who actualiy in- fluence the outcome of the election. And suppose we did command large numbers of voters? Wouid we then be justified in supporting can- didates of the Third Party? Ob- viously not, according to the gen- eral strategy of the thesis of Com- rades Lore and Olgin. Then where is the point of this argument? _2—It would “perturb the class ;Vision of our membership and cause |among them great consternation, ap- pearing to them as an obvious devia- jtion from the straight line of Gass | struggle.” ‘This argument figures very pro- minentiy in the thesis that the work- iing class in America as a whole, be- ing disgusted with the poiticat game, wil not follow, let a:one approve, jthe tactical move involved in the sup- {port of a Third Party eandidate. | If this argument has aay validity jat all, then ihe only conciusion to be drawn is: Total sbstent:on from po- jlities!’ Boycott all capitaiist mstitu- jtions! No compromise! No dealings |with the enemy until we come to the find direct struggle for power and until then—preacn Communism! This is the straightest possible line of the elass struggie. ‘ihe ouly trou- ble with it is that it is wholly imagin- lary. 3—Support of Third Party eandi- dates would make it impossible for us to explain our refusal to support a “Friend of Labor” on the ticket jof the democratic party. | By this argument the thes‘s shows ithat it is dealing not with social jforces, classes, and parties, but with individuals. : The concevtion of “ which underlies the non-partfsan po- licies of Gompers and the C, P. P. A., can be exploded only on the basis of class relations and the social ana- \lysis of political parties. It is our jduty to teach the workers to think in terms of classes and parties and not (Continued on page 8.) ‘ Jabor friends’, rr