The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 19, 1924, Page 8

REVOLUTION OR WARP The biggest argument in favor of to injure men, expropriating it for the benefit of all. will “get” me, or I will seize capital- the fundamenta! Communist demand —the political and economic expro- priation of the capitalist class lies|ism by the throat. in the fact which dominates the pres-} outcome possible. This being granted, the question the expropriation of the nation by the |of method inevitably comes up. Yes, capitalist class (confiscation of com-|we are told, you are right. munal property, exploitation of la-|ist society has become bankrupt. It bor-power, the depreciation of cur-|steals, it murders. All those who have | der and it murders to steal. no class interest to blind their eyes producer it has become’ a destroyer. and to stop their ears should be| Yesterday an economic and social struck by this fact, which turns the shelter, today it threatens to tumble topsy-turvy. } about our ears and to bury us beneath ent situation and which consists in rency, taxation.) entire social economy This fact is not of a theoretical order. |its ruins. turn it? By the high | blood-letting? Is Blood-Letting Revolution? Now, this reasoning is artificial— It touches the most sensitive spot: the purse of every one. cost of living, it invades each house- hold, however modest it may be. It colors the setting of every-day life.| contrary to the facts. not necessarily a blood-letting. The Every man who thinks, above all] greatest revolution of all times—that every worker, every peasant, every |of November 7, employe, is obliged, in fact of this} more than a few dozens of victims. fundamental fact, to reflect as fol-|This is not too much for a social lows: Hither capitalism, in continuing | revolution which has overturned one- its thievery will force me to the wall, | sixth of the globe. expropriating me every day more and{the triumphant assault upon the more of the product of my labor, or} Winter Palace by my friend Antonoff of my small savings, or I will fore- Ovseeke, who, during the war, con- stall it by depriving it of the power ducted at Paris with Trotzky, Lozow- Capitalism Crumbling. The fourth congress of the Comin- tern gave our movement its policy in regard to the consumer’s coperatives, but in a country where these organi- zations are so comparatively little de- veloped as in North America, and where the party is so preoccupied with other pressitig problems, it seems that we are in some danger of neglecting this important part of our work. ‘The resolution on co-operation adop- ted at the 1922 Congress of the C. I. speaks of the aid rendered by the consumers’ co-operatives during the capitalist offensive, and also of the way in which the old social compro- misers have entrenched themselves within them. In certain countries, it states, the social-democratic parties, thru having the leadership of the co-operative movement in their hands, derive funds from it for the support of their parties. The same resolution points out especially: (1) the impe- rative necessity for all Communist Parties carrying out the instruction that all the members of the Party shall be members of the Consumer's Co-operatives and take an active part in their work. A plan for the orga- nization of nuclei in the co-operatives is outlined, and it is emphasized there must be no separation of the revo- lutionary elements into separate or- ganizations. On the contrary, on lines analogous to the trade union tactics, we must demand admission to, and do our work thru organizations which include all of the working class which is or may be co-operatively organized, and permeate them with our princi- ples and policy. Program of Action. (2) We have also to lead the co- operative movement into the political path, and carry on an energetic cam- paign against political neutrality, and against the illusion that economic sal- vation can be achieved by voluntary co-operation alone; and an extensive political and economic program is out- lined for the co-operatives. (3) Communist co-operators should also carry on purely co-operative work advocating the amalgamation of the smaller societies, repudiation of the old principle of dividends, and in their place the employment of. the|ff funds for strengthening the working “class movement, establishing strike funds, subsidizing the workers’ press, |] etc., etc, In moving around in the Workers |} Party one meets from time to time * workers who are actively hostile to many more who are, to say the least, indifferent to it. Yet the very fact of its weakness and newness in this country, due to the extreme develop- ment of bourgeois psychology among the working class, places upon those ! the very idea of co-operation and | | sky, Vladimiroff and your humble servant the newspaper called a Slavo” (Our Word.) It was after the seizure of the seat of the Kerensky government that the power of the Soviets was proclaimed, to the applause of the immense ma- jority of the population of the vast Russian empire, How are we to explain this thun- dering victory, which, without the armed intervention of the governmen- tal and capitalistic canaille of the entire world, would have been the least bloody in all history? The army, the expression of the people, was on the side of the revolution, The armed hand of the masses was put to the service of the revolution. It was thus that all the revolutions of history triumphed. It was the united front, the bloc of workers and peas- ants, which overturned everything at once, Czarism and capitalism. There- fore, the problem is to win over the masses of the people—the rest comes as a natural consequence if one knows how to maneuver—and the revolution is accomplished ‘Without, or almost without, the spilling of blood. But, EHitker capitalism There is no other Capital- It steals to mur- From a But how are .we to over- By revolution? By another Revolution is 1917—did not cost I am speaking of even admitting that the and it does Yet we and the help is working for all it is to their where |customers, tho the latter stand to the typical|them also in the relation of employ- The reason is that they are not shopping. |running around to a rival establish- You may see the housewife, getting That great |the week’s supplies, or she may send purchaser gets a brass check along These are the 4 occasions when the society declares Rochdale System. its diyidend on purchases, and the The store does not probably occupy |members receive back a proportion of the principal street. fancy prices for ground rent. Its “dis-|their checks. play windows” are smaller than those It does not pay |what they have spent in exchange for It is precisely this last named fea- Another Big Feature of ~ The Daily Worker What is behind the present strained relations between the Jap- anese and American governments? What is all this talk of “grave consequences” being hurled at Washington by Tokio? The DAILY WORKER will answer these and many other “ques tions in a series of articles beginning ‘Monday by Jay Lovastone on the growth and significance of American imperialism. These articles are the result of a thoro investigation of the policy of aggrandizement pursued by the American imperialists and their capitalist governments in the Far East, in Europe, in Africa, and against the Latin-American Republics. The series will be up to the ae a information gathered from the most authoritative sources available. If you want to know whom, why, where, when and how the bosses and their government have been and are oppressing and exploiting in the colonies and various spheres of influence now in the grip of, our ruling class, follow up the whole series of startling revelations completely disclosed for the first time by the DAILY WORKER. The menace of American militarism, the dangers of new imperial- | ist wars, and what the American working class and poor farmers can | and must do to save themselves from another world conflagration will | be brought home in these articles. | | | The series is a distinct beat for the DAILY WORKER. The ques- tion of imperialism is a most vital one affecting the fundamental in- terests of every workingman and exploited farmer in this country. This series will be a real arsenal of ammunition blowing up the argu- ments of the jingoes and militarists now getting on the job to fan the | flames of hatred between the American workers and the working - - men of Japan and other countries. | Make sure to read every one of the eight articles. Get your friends, your co-workers in the shops and on the farms to read them. Get in your order to the DAILY WORKER containing this series early so that you will receive the paper without any delay. Rush your | special orders today, NOW. ante DAILY WORKER, 1113 West Washington Boulevard, Chicago, nois. ‘ What Isthe Co-operative Movem of us who lived our early years in a,of the private traders, more or less co-operative atmosphere | practically no advertising. the duty of educating our comrades|find the store crowded to capacity, and fellow workers. Here let me take my readers in|worth. There is a noticeable, lack of imagination to a typical manufactur-|servility in their attitude ing center in Great Britain, Rochdale co-operation, working class system, is so strongly |ers. developed. Let us watch the work-|so afraid of the customer-members ers doing their week-end We shall probably find not a single | ment. “department store” on the American plan in the community. American institution is to be found in|friend husband or one of the children the larger cities, but its patrons are|with a list of what she wants, and the mostly of, the better-to-do classes ex-|distinctive feature of the transaction cept in London, which is scarcely ty-|as you see it in the store, is that the pical of the rest of the country. The village and small town depart-|with the goods. The check represents ment store are unknown, and even in|the amount of money spent, and it is the large towns théy play a far lesS8|saved up carefully until “divi” day, part tman in these United States. |usually a half-yearly event causing no Their place is largely taken by the co-|little local excitement. operative store. a By CHARLES RAPPOPORT aroused resistance of the fortunate masters brings about a bloody con- flict, it is, under the present circum- . stances, a saving of blood ,of violence and of sufferings. For it is beyond doubt that capitalist society, if it maintains itself, is heading toward a new world war. Moreover, it is al- ready known what will be the nature of the war which will come. Some days ago, M. Herbette took notice in his “Bulletin du Temps”’—‘capitalism made into a newspaper’—of the con- struction, in Wilson’s America, of giant aeroplanes which, in one week's time, could wipe out cities Jike Paris with its four million inhabitants. Mr. Lloyd George, the ally of the pacifist Ramsay MacDonald, builder of crui- sers and airplanes, truly said that the next war will be a war of extermina- tion and of obliteration of all the civilian population: men, women, chil- dren, old and young, well and sick. When he finds himself facing a fact as formidable as this, every man of good sense ought to say to himself: before capitalist society causes the whole of humanity to vanish, I will do all in my power to cause capitalist society, the murderer of the world, to disappear. ture which radicals admire least, and it is condemned by the Comintern, yet as practical people with an ap- preciation for realities we must re- cognize the part it plays in keeping the masses loyal to their store. The payment of “divi” on purchas- es, however, is but one comparatively small part of the system. The most important thing from our point of view, is that the workers own the stores, and back of ‘the _ stores, thru. the Co-operative Wholesale Societies, they own quite considerable industries. The English Co-operative Wholesale Society alone, in normal times, sells about half a million dol- lars’ worth of goods a year, mostly manufactured in establishments owned and controlled by the working class, co-operatively organized. It has its own extensive factories for the manufacture of soap, at Irlam, and it also makes its own tobacco, clothing, automobiles, etc. It has considerable arming property in Canada,, and tea plantations in Ceylon, and it brings fruit from Spain in its own fleet of steamers. In more recent years it has also developed banking and in- surance. Political Action. I am more desirous, however, of di- recting attention to the essential fea- tures of the local: societies, for they are the unit cells out of which the movement is built. Each such society has a certain share capital, sub- scribed almost wholly in small amounts by the proletarian class, and on this share capital a flat rate of 5 per cent interest is usually paid, and in all the well established societies the investment is regarded as a par- ticularly safe one, practically “gilt- edged,” in fact. Whatever profits are made above this 5 per cent, after pro- viding for the needs of the business, is divided into two portions, one of which is paid out as dividend on pur- chases, the other is spent for educa- tional and other purposes. The things which have been accomplished with this latter portion would fill an interesting and instructive book. The most recent important development is the financing of co-operative political candidates, some of whom have won seats in the recent elections and are sitting with the Labor Party. And they are not the least advanced of the Labor crowd. There is naturally a continual strug- gle going on between those workers who are reactionary in ideas, and those who have ideas above mere “divi.” As to the amount of “divi,” there is a pretty general understand- ing that it at 50 per cent of the available profits. We would like to reduce or abolish “divi,” but it has to be recognized that it has in the past had a useful disciplinary effect. (Continued On Page Five). —