The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 15, 1924, Page 5

| Tuesday, April 15, 1924 INSPIRING MUSIC AND SPEEGHES AT \ }\ FREIHEIT AFFAIR Communist Celebration Stirs Chicago Crowd By ALFRED V. FRANKENSTEIN, Ivan Steschenko, bass of the Chi- cago ‘opera, won a tremendous ova- tion at the concert in celebration of the second year of the ‘‘Freiheit”, at Orchestra Hall, last Friday ewening. Steschenko is what Chaliapin was twenty years ago, Both singers have big bass voices, large in volume, per- fect in quality. But where Chaliapin , has dignity and reserve, Steschenko has the vigor, fire, and brilliance of youth. He appeared in Russian cos- tume, and, again like the better- known Chaliapin, acted every song as well as singing it. The ballad called “The Pedlars,” sung in Russian to a text by Nekras- Sov, a reckless and swaggering song, was the one with which he captured his audience, Volga Boatman’s Song. His singing of the almost hackneyed “Song of the Boatmen of the Volga” was quite new and different from the familiar interpretations. Where the average American conceives the tune as a slow and sobbing one. Steschen- ko, sang quite fast and staccato, with thé proud joy of a strong man, con- scious of his strength, and revealing in the use of it. A unique and wond- erful performance was) his, and it would, be hard to find anyone else capable of one like it. Great Russian Tenor. Ivan Dneiproff, tenor of the Russian opera, sang also, Dnieproff has been praised so often and so highly in these columns recently that further praise is unnecessary. But, when he goes to the Chicago opera next year, Polacco cannot use him too often to satisfy this writer. Minna Ysaeva, a dramatic soprano, who started her artistic career at a sewing machine in Rothchild’s shops, was the third soloist. She displayed a voice of fine quality and well- schooled, and considerable interpreta- tive ability. Fretheit’s Proletarian Artists. The Fretheit Singing society, prole- tarian artists par excellence, under the direction of Conductar Shaeffer, open- ed the concert with the Internationale. Other numbers were rendered to the accompaniment of the Freiheit Man- dolin orchestra, These two organizations are prob- ably the only ones of their kind in the city of Chicago; composed exclu- sively of workingmen and women at each of their appearances they sur- prise and please the audience by the perfection of their performance and tho variety of their repertoire. Their services are always donated to work- ingclass enterprises. Bittelman and Dunne Speak. Alexander Bittelman, magazine edi- tor of the DAILY WORKER and mem- ber of the Central Pxecutive Commit- tee of the Workers Party, delivered a short address in Jewish, conveying the question of the Jewish Federation and dealing with the mission of the Frei- heit and the party. William F. Dunne of the DAILY WORKER, delivered the greetings of the Central Executive Committee of the Workers Party to the Pretheit on its second anniversary and took up the collection for the sup- port of that paper. Comrade M. Backal, chairman of the meeting told the history and spoke of the task of the Freiheit in the fu- ture. Greetings in the form of tele- grams and short speeches were re- ceived from™the Freiheit offices in New York, from the T. U. E. L., Y, W. L., and several other organiza- tions. About 1800 people attended the con- cert. The affair was exceptionally well managed and reflects credit on the lo- cal management of the Freiheit and the Chicago section of the Jewish Fed- eration. RUBBER STAMPS AND SEALS IN ENGLISH AND IN ALL FOREIGN LANGUAGES INK, PADS, DATERS, RUBBER TYPE.Erc, NOBLER STAMP & SEAL CO, 73 W. VanBuren St, Phone Wabash 6680 wa iCAGo 4 Zinoviev Reviews Main Points of Difference EDITOR’S NOTH:—Today we continue publication of the famous report by Gregory Zinoviev, chair- man of the Communist Interna- tional, made to the session of the Executive of the Communist In- ternational held on Jan. 6. Zino- viev’s report deals with the main points of difference in the Russian Communist Party, clearly crystal- lizing the discussion that has so far been published in the DAILY WORKER. In order that our readers may get a broader view of thie discission, we are publishing enlarged installments. This re- port is divided into seven sections. Today we publish the seventh and concluding section. It is as follows: see Vil. The Proportion of Forces in the Party. In conclusion, a few words on the proportion of forces in the Party dur- ing the discussion. As in every struggle, a so-called buffer group has been formed in the course of the present conflict. There was a similar buffer group during our trade unoin debates in 1921. “At that time the leader of the buffer group was Comrade Bukharin. Lenin, when speaking of the buffer group, remark- ed: If I could draw as well. as Bu- kharin can. I should make a drawing of Bukharin with a bucket of petro- leum, which he is pouring into a fire, an] I should add the inscription: Buffer fire, Lenin was right. As a matter of fact the buffer fraction did not contribute to lessening the strug- gle, but rather to aggravate it. This “s always the case. Instead of stating clearly what the conflict is about, instead of analyzing the differences, quite another course is adopted: one of the fractions is actually supported under cover of intermediation. In questions concerning the vital inter- ests of the revolution, it is imperative to take sides decisively, and not to demand that good and bad be com- bined. Central Position Upheld. Comrade Radek is pleased at pres- ent with his role of mediator. But this is merely a move in the game o: his part, and only proves the exist- ence of a division of work in the “op- position.” In reality, Radek is a Trotzkyian. His past is almost paral- lel, and he possesses to a certain de- gree the same weaknesses and the same powers as Tretzky. Radek has been able to record a certain degree of success herein Moscow in his ca- pacity as mediator, but the majority of the Party, that majority in whose hands the fate of the Party lies, is fully aware that Radek is in reality no mediator, but an adherent of the Trotzky fraction. For. instance, he declares at meetings that the Com- munist Central is 80 per cent in the right, but at the same. time he ‘calls upon those present to vote for the resolution of the “opposition,” altho this must be 80 per cent wrong if we are 80 per cent right. The. proportion of forces in the Party is approximately 9 to 1. An attempt is made, in today’s “Pravda,” to give a numerical survey of the re- sult of the discussion. I may. inter- Pose that almost the whole Party has expressed its opinion, The result is as follows: 288 organizations for us, 8 against us. These figures give only an approximate idea of actual rel: tions. Not one of the eight opposi- tional organizations is an important center. All important and decisive industrial centers, possessing really compact masses of proletarians, as Petrogfad, Charkov, Baku, Yekaterin- burg, etc. are on our side with an overwhelming majority. Matters are somewhat different in Moscow than in other industrial centers; here the “opposition” is considerably stronger, Our opposition made the attempt to bring off a performance a la Berlin here in Moscow, but with the differ- ence that we are here concerned with @ really revisionist current. It is highly probable that in Moscow, the final proportion of forces will be such that about 20 to 25 per cent of the votes of the Party members will fall to the “opposition.” I must explain to you why precisely Moscow has a comparatively powerful “opposition.” First, it is to be greatly explained by the fact that we have about 20,000 students in Moscow. And then we have the war commissariat. I have already pointed out that the main center of the “opposition” is formed by the students and the war com- missariat. I must, however, observe that the greater number of the Red Army soldiers naturally voted against Trotzky. But the overwhelming ma- jority of the workers of Moscow ate with the Central Committee. The relative success of the “opposition” in Moscow is further due to the fact that it has concentrated its main forces in Moscow. Here there are over 1,000 responsible functionaries, many of whom have nothing to do after office hours, and have organized themselves illegally in the Party to a slight de- gree, after working in an oppositional direction for half a year. Thus the slightly greater strength of the “oppo- sition” in Moscow. The position of the Communist Central is unshaken among the Moscow proletariat. No Split Possible. I come now to the conclusion comrades. It goes without saying that the In- ternational must make a careful study of the reasons for our differ- ences. We do not think of asking the International to believe every word we say; on the contrary, it must have all the documents involved submitted 0 it, 1 believe, comrades, that after you have accorded careful consideration to the arguments brought against us by the “opposition,” you will approve of our standpoint in all essentials. That there is alarm with respect to a possible split in the Party is only natural. Well, we assure you that we do not in the least underestimate the importance of the minority around Trotzky. But nevertheless we can as- sure you that there will be no split in our Party, there will not even be a splitting off of any section of Party masses. We have every reason to assert that we shall succeed in liqui- dating the whole »affair rapidly and painlessly. The more energetic and determined our fight against the errors committed by the “opposition,” the more quickly will these be wiped out. No complications will arise in the Party, just as noné arose in 1921. ‘To sum up our differences with the opposition in a few words, I again recount the five most essential points. These are as follows: - Essential Points of Difference. 1. The essential character of our Bolshevist Party. 2. The question of the formation of fractions within a party incorporating state power. 3. The relations between olg and young. 4. The estimation of the part play- ed by the peasantry, as the main question of our differences of opinion, and finally, : 5. The role and character of our Party and apparatus. g These are the most essential points. I think that I have amply proved that we differ essentially from the opposi- tions in all these five points. If we sum up the divergence of our stand- points in these five points, we see at once that the views held by the two camps, taken on the whole, are di- vided from one another by a much wider chasm than that separating the Mensheviki and. Bolsheviki in 1903. But matters are, however, somewhat different today,.for now we are a large Party, comprising great masses of workers. These masses of work- ers are in a position to call to order those comrades who have drifted onto a wrong course, and to rapidly: cor- rect the errors made by these com- rades. Naturally, much depends upon the attitude of the “opposition” itself. If it holds obstinately to’ its funda- mentally wrong views on the above five points, then it is possible’ that such obstinacy may cause a cleft in the Party. I should like to remind you here of the pamphlet published by Lenin in 1904, dedicated to the London Party Congress held in 1903: “One Step .Forwards, Two Steps Backwards,” in which Lenin gave a graphic diagrammatic survey of the results of the divisions on the most important points of the agenda of the London Party Congress, showing that Martov and Axelrod inclined to the right in every question, not only in trivial matters, but in essentials. We yong ones did not quite comprehend the significance of this diagram; we shrugged our shoulders, and fgked one another; What is Lenin driving at? How can he take such slight dif- ferences of opinion as the basis for a whole method appeared to us some- what artificial. But it speedily proy- ed that Lenin was right. Comrades, were we to apply this Leninian method to our present Party conflict, and draw up a similar diagram, we should arrive at a result even more convincing than that come to by Lenin in 1904 by this analysis of the differences between Mensheviki and Bolsheviki. False Judgments. One more point, comrades. We beg you, before you: form a final judg- ment, to make a thoro study of the most important documents concerned. I accentuate this, because one of our best sections, the Polish, has pre- ferred to act otherwise. Instead of first studying the material and hear- ‘mg the disputants, the Polish party hastens to favor us with a love letter, ‘ys i THE DAILY WORKER telling us not to forget how necessary it is to come to an understanding with Trotzky, if we are to avoid disastrous results. I must tell the Polish com- rades candidly that if they have thought to impress us with such a love letter, they are quite on the wrong track. It may be impolite to say so, but the pious hopes expressed in the letter have not made any im- pression on us whatever. It would have had more effect if the letter had stated: You are wrong in this or that| point, this or that must be corrected, This would have been criticism, but it would have made an impression on us. We are fully prepared to give any Party full information at any time as to the steps we take. The parties have ‘a right, as the International, to intervene, but not until they have ex- amined all arguments, documénts and standpoints. Where this is not done, any attempt at instructing our Party is not only lost labor, but is an actual support of Trotzky. Comrade Varsky has explained that the Polish Com- munists are by no means on Trotzky's' side, but are opposed to him, as they are old Bolsheviki. Very good; but all the same they have lent their aid to Trotzky and Radek. Three weeks ago Comrade Radek prophesied at a local students’ meeting, that the Ger- man party would in the first place declare itself to be against us, the majority, and that in the second place Comrade Varsky had promised that the Polish party would protest against the false leadership of the Comintern. One part of this prophesy has come true. The central of the Polish Communist Party, without giv- ing us a hearing, without examining the arguments and documents, has sent us a letter which is practically an intervention in favor of Trotzky's fraction. I can only call this support- ing fractionism. Comrade Varsky, we shall reply to your letter, and shall explain our standpoint to the Polish Communist workers; and I wager hundred to one that the Communist proletariat of Poland, which has fought side by side with us for twenty years, will decide in our favor, in favor of the Leninian core of the Party. It will not be the diplomacy of Radek and Varsky even aided by Valecki, which will convince the workers of the Polish party; we shall do this. Those who have committed this error should hasten to repair it, and the quicker the better. Lies Spread. } The German comrades are equally disquieted, and are asking: What is to be the end of this affair? How will social democracy react upon it? The bourgeois press is already engag- ed upon a savage agitation, and is spreading the most unheard of lies | abroad. This is true. Thus the French bourgeois press, for instance, has already reported splits in the Red Army, risings of the whole army against thé Central Committee, and} similar nonsense. | We need not tell you that disagree- ments in the Party are no source of | Pleasure to us. Trifiy it is no pleas-| ure to hang about at meetings day and night, as I have to do at present. But it cannot be helped. There are| times when fundamental differences | of opinion inthe Party have to be fought out openly, and we are now} passing thru one of these periods, At the moment, this present struggle | is practically over. Its product is as| follows: If the minority insists on continuing the fight, its present un- favorable position will become worse from day to day. But there are many indications permitting us to hope that the greater part of the minority, in- cluding Radek, are beginning to grasp the significance of taking up arms against our Central Committee, especially with the most frivolous ar- guments. Examine Evidence Carefully. If the International is ready to help us: to smooth out our quarrel, we shall heartily welcome such aid. Our federal Party conference will take place in a few days. It is very im- portant that the executive be repre- sented at this conference. Naturally, preliminary consultations are desir- able. We are prepared to arrange these at any time. We are express Internationalists, and ready not only to hear the opinion of every section of the International but to accord every opinion the most careful con- siderations. But we beg you not to permit your judgment to be influ- enced by your sympathies, but the| feeling which .many of our best friends among the comrades of our brother parties express when they say that they feel equal love for both sides. But in political matters, in questions decisive for the fate of the revolution our slogan must be: Amusic Plato, sed magis amicus veri- tas! Plato is our friend, but the truth goes before Plato! In short: You must first examine into the true reasons of the Party crisis. Examine fairly and conscientionsly, without regard to your sympathy or friendship for this or that leading comrade of the Russian Communist Party, and you will all be on our side. We have no doubt whatever but that a thoro examination into all reasons and counter-reasons will en- able you to arrive at a mature and well-considered judgment. Finnish Eranch At Worcester Holds A Big Celebration By H. PURO. WORCESTER, Mass:, April 14.— Over 800 people attended at the open- ing celebrations of the new hall of The Finnish Branch here. Speakers were comrades William Marttila and Vilho Boman in Finnish and profes- sor Arthur Calhoun from Brookwood Labor College, who was visiting in Worcester. The program included the five-act Play “Mooloch”, which took all: Sat- urday evening. Sunday afternoon the program was given by Young Work- ers League, consisting of a speech by Comrade Ealonen, youngest member of Editorial Staff of Hteenpain, Fin- nish Daily, recitations, singing solos, Violin and piano solos and orchestra playing. The main program of the evening was given Sunday evening, when Marttila and Boman spoke. A big singing chorus of the Finnish Branch nspired the audience with its revolu-| jonary songs. Enthusiasm was very high, Many new members Workers Party. 7 The new building, in which the Et- eenpain printing plant, business and editorial offices are housed, coat over | $60,000. The financial income from Joined the |the work on this job began 480 cases HUDSON TUNNEL SAND HOGS REBEL AGAINST “BENDS” Strike After 480 Cases Of Collapse (By The Federated Press) NEW YORK, April 14.—Five hundred members of the Compressed Air Workers’ Union, commonly known as sandhogs, have walked out and tied up work on_ the the new vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River here in protest against working conditions. Their action fol- lows a blowout in the tunnel when 36 of their number narrowly escaped death April 3. On April 8 and 9 38 men had to be removed to the emer- gency hospital because of working too long under terrific air pressure. Since of “the bends” have resulted. The walkout is also a demonstration in favor of remedial legislation now before the state legislature at Albany Which is not expected to pass due to opposition of the city administration and the contractors. The scale of hours is fited by the air pressure under which the men celebration was over fifteen hundred dollars. Bank's Money Missing. KANSAS CITY, Mo. April 14— Henry C. Flower, president of the Fi- delity Trust Company, announced that an official statement concernig printed reports of a $600,000 discrep- ancy in accounts of the Fidelity Na- tional Bank and Trust Company would soon be given out. How many of your shop-mates read THE DAILY WORKER. Get one of them to subscribe today. A LAUGH FOR THE CHILDREN work. Most of the men work eight hours, but on varying shifts; six hours for pressure from 22 to 30 pounds, four between 31 and 35, three between 36 and 40 pounds, and one hour be- tween 46 and 50 pounds. The proposed bill would cut the working day to from four to six hours, Under pressure over 35 pounds shifts would be limit- ed to one hour. Wages range from $7 to $8.50 a day. All the men on the job are out, but are expected to return to work follow- ing the demonstration. Mellon Will Not Resign, PITTSBURGH, Pa., April, 14.—"1 never considered a thought of resig- nation,” Andrew W. Mellon, secretary of the treasury, said here today, speaking on his letter to the Presi- dent, which caused Mr. Coolidge to rebuke the senate for its * investiga. tion into the treasury department. “Of course, there are circumstances under which any man would be obliged to resign, but I never inti- mated that I would quit,” he said, Secretary Mellon arrived here to attend a banquet of the Pittsburgh chamber of commerce held in his honor. | How many of your shop-mates read THE DAILY WORKER. Get one of them to subscribe today. Page Five SE TTT TTL LLL LLL LLL 4 Z Penetrating Analysis! Burning Criticism! Sound Logic! THE NEW AND SIGNIFICANT BOOK ENTITLED The World’s Trade Union Movement By A. LOSOVSKY General Secretary of the Red International of Labor Unions In this book, published in March at Moscow, and now made available to American readers, the leader of 13,000,000 tr: ists depicts, dis- sects, and measures the relation of forces developed before, during, and since the war. The first book ever written dealing so comprehensively with this vital subject 2 William. Z. Foster says: ‘Here are described every political, economic, and organizational force of the world’s trade unions, and their role in the fight, developed since the war, between Reformists and Revolutionists.” 112 PAGES, STIFF PAPER COVER, WITH PHOTO OF AUTHOR. TUL FIFTY CENTS PER COPY. Bundle orders of ten or more, 35 cents each, with special rate on larger orders. Trade Union Educational League, 1113 Washington Blvd. Chicago, Ill. i SHNNNUUUNUAOUUOANOOONGONUNOQOUUNUUUANNEEGOOUAOULEOEESEUOOOOUUOOOUOUAOAAUASUEMOUOOSGANAQEUUUUUUAUAAANAGGE UO A NEETU Ee SERUUAUOUEUAAATEEEDS AOE ERAEAA ALTONA ERT The Labor Defense Council Cannot Do Its Best for Ruthenberg We Owe $5,000 Buy and Sell. Ruthen’ Get Behind the !. ~g Appeal Coupons! 1enberg Appeal! Send all Contributions to Labor Defense Council, 166 W. Washington St., Chicago, Ill. EXTRAORDINARY DEBATE! Can Capitalism Solve the Gigantic Problems That Face the Modern World? PROF. E. R. A. SELIGMAN Professor Political Science, Colum- bia’ University, says: says: “YES” “NO” BISHOP PAUL JONES, Chairman SUNDAY AFTERNOON, APRIL 27, 1924, 2:30 P. M., Sharp CENTRAL OPERA HOUSE, 67th St.. and 3rd Ave. ADMISSION 50 and 75 Cents. Auspices: Workers School Tickets at: Workers School, 125 Fourth Ave.; T. U. ©. L., 208 B. 12th; Freiheit, 153 E. 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