The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 20, 1924, Page 6

cic — — : Page Six THE DA DAILY WORKER. Published by the DA by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1118 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ill. (Phone: Monroe 4712) SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail: $3.50....6 months $2.00....3 months By mail (in Chicago only): $8.00 per year $4.50....6 months $2.50....3 montus —_— Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER 1113 W. Washington Blvd. $6.00 per year Chicago, Illinois J, LOUIS ENGDAHL ) WILLIAM F. DUNNE) MORITZ J. LOBB..... Editors Business Manager Entered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1923 at the Post- Office at Chicago, Ill, under the act of March 3, 1879. <> 20 The Dead And The Living John Fitzpatrick, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, has at last taken his place along side of Samuel Gompers. Since Fitzpatrick discarded his policy of independent political ac- tion by fighting the organization of the Federated Farmer-Labor Party, on July 3rd, of last year, be has been traveling very rapidly to the right, swiftly and surely into the camp and arms of the most reactionary labor bureaucrats strangling the trade union movement. At Sunday’s meeting of the Chicago Federation of Labor, Fitzpatrick threw the last spadeful of earth on the grave of whatever little progressivism that he might have been accused of. Fitzpatrick ~ the central labor body to drop all notions of independent working class political action and to go back to the staid old bankrupt policy of “re- ward your friends and punish your enemies.” In practice this policy of Mr. Gompers has proved to the workers and farmers of the country one of rewarding their enemies and punishing themselves. It was the inevitable step for Fitzpatrick to take, once he fought the organization of a genuine na- tional farmer-labor party. Sad as this truth may be, it is precisely what the Communists said would happen to Fitzpatrick. The course of development of the class conflict, a war which has its battles inside the labor movement as well as in the ranks of the capitalist class and between the workers and farmers, inevitably drives the wavering, hesitating elements to the right or to the left. Having betrayed the farmer-labor politi- cal movement last July 3rd, having chosen Gompers in preference to the great mass of work- ers and farmers and their Communist spokesmen, it was obvious that Fitzpatrick would swing to the extreme right. But there is a certain measure of bitter historical Justice and atonement in another event of far greater importance to the workers and farmers of Illinois and the rest of the country that occurred sour the-same day at Peoria: While Fitzpatrick was signing on the dotted line of the death war- rant for his feintest pretense at progressivism, there was being organized the first genuine mass farmer-labor party in Illinois. The disappearance of all the farmer-labor paper groups and puppets of sundry labor fakers and so-called progressives and the rise of a living organization, a virile politi- cal party, of the workers and expropriated farm- ers in one of the key states of the country is an event of paramount importance. It bids fair to lend considerable impetus to the farmer-labor movement sweeping the land for the St. Paul con- vention. The simultaneous announcement of the collapse of the last remnant of progressivism of Fitzpatrick and Fitzpatrickism with the declara- tion of principles of the new fighting party of the workers and farmers only dramatizes this wel- come move in the direction of the achievement of complete working and farming class victory. _ Pullman, Boston, Peoria The DAILY WORKER admires the courage and the spirit of the delegates of Local No. 100, of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, in presenting resolutions to the Boston convention, asking it to express its appreciation of the splendid services rendered during the fhicago strike. This is the striking local of the Chicago dress- makers. Its members know the brilliant support they have received from the DAILY WORKER. They wanted ‘to place the convention of their “In- ternational” on record in favor of their views. ‘ The officials of the union knew the facts to be straight. The whole of the DAILY WORKER’S staff, from proofreaders to editors, had spoken at Advertising rates on application. strike meetings, or served on the picket lines. The} w DAILY WORKER was practically the official ex- meetings, denounced by courts and prosecutors, upheld by the workers. but the DAILY WORKER does more than support strikers in their daily struggles. It has a program of its own, the pro- gram of the Workers (Communist) Party. It -fights for that program, and the officialdom of “The International” is opposed to that program, and so they object to any credit being given the DAILY WORKER, for any service it may render, no mat- ter how meritorious. The DAILY WORKER fights for amalgamation, for the class Farmer-Labor Party, for the protec- tion of the foreign-born, for the organization of the unorganized, for the recognition of Soviet Russia, for a Workers’ and Farmers’ government, ‘for all power to labor. The officialdom of “The International” opposes these measures. It is, therefore, easily understood why the resolutions af Local No, 100, failed, and we feel that their failure is the greatest possible tribute that could oy sy the DAILY WORKER. iow different during the rank and file strike of the workers in the Pullman carshops, where the pression of the strike, circulated at all 3 this historical moment. workers themselves, on picket duty, sold the DAILY WORKER, by the thousands of copies to those who still blindly stuck to their jobs. No international officials, to safeguard their reaction, to wet blanket their enthusiasm. A great comparison this—Boston and Pullman. It is this comparison that again makes it easy to understand the attacks of President Frank Far- rington, of the Illinois Mine Workers, on the DAILY WORKER at the Peoria convention. Farrington is even more reactionary than the officialdom of “The International.” He is out for the republican governor, Len Small, for re-election. We have already pointed out the serious charges that International President John L. Lewis has made against him, and the charges that he has made against Lewis. These are facts that these labor officials would like to keep hidden. But the job of the DAILY WORKER is to, throw. light into the dark places. And it will continue with that task. The coal miners are reading the DAILY WORKER, at Peoria, just as it was read by the delegates to the convention at Indianapolis. They like it. They appreciate it. That will bring us their enthusiastic support. Which is all the sup- port that we need to keep up the fight. When the masses move, there is nothing on earth that can stop them. Meet the Issue The action of the United Mine Workers Illinois in adopting a modified, limited, resolution urging the recognition of the Soviet Republic of Russia, brings to the fore a phase of this question that needs particular emphasis at this moment. Today, with countries falling in line rapid- ly in resuming peaceful relations with and ac- cording complete de jure recognition to the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, it is only a ruse of self-defense on the part of the reactionaries that drives them to resort to miserable compromise resolutions on this problem. When Soviet Russia was blocked, when the Soviet power had not yet succeeded in breaking the iron ring of death thrown around the Workers’ and Farmers’ Re- public by the capitalist imperialists, the enemies of Soviet Russia openly fought American recogni- tion. The times have changed. Therefore, these enemies of Soviet Russia are no longer making frank, frontal attacks on the Soviet Republic, but are resorting to devious, labyrinthian methods having the same objective of preventing the com- plete recognition of the only Workers’ and Farm- ers’ Republic. These dishonest methods of fighting Soviet Rus- sia must be fought with as much determination by the genuine friends of the Workers’ Govern- ment as they fought the enemies of the Soviets when the attack was made in the open. There can be no hedging on the question of recognizing Soviet Russia. All conditions and limitations at- to the resumption of peaceful, normal rela- of tions with the Russian republic are only steps calculated to thwart their announced purpose. When Farrington and his ilk, or when Lewis and his gangmen, attempt to palm off on their con- vention delegates a modified indorsement of Rus- sian recognition, they are treacherously fighting the Workers’ and Farmers’ Republic as much as Gompers is when he openly denounces recogni- tion. In some respects Gompers is a less danger- ous enemy of the Soviet Republic because he fights it openly. The friends of the Soviet government, those who are animated solely by the welfare of the working and farming masses, those who owe allegiance only to the working class and are not subject to the beck and call of the reactionary capitalist inter- ests, should fight more resolutely than ever for unconditional recognition of Soviet Russia. The enemies of the Soviet Republic should be smoked out in the open and shown up in all their naked ugliness. They should not be allowed to dodge. It is time to meet the issue openly and squarely and to fight it out in the same fashion. Mr. James J. Hill is valiantly battling to save $200,000 from the hands of a 24 year old divorcee who claims that the son of the railroad king made violent love to her, which she just as violently reciprocated. The fire burnt out quickly as far as Hill was concerned, so notified the girl that her attentions were no longer desired. Thus the suit. It is hard enough for hardworking millionaires to fight the workers but the girls must also make life miserable for them. Love, unlike patriotism (the Coolidge brand) seems to have a price. They say “Cautious Cal” is suffering from “rose fever.” The specialists are trying to find out yhether the roses were red, yellow or blue. It is bod the great sleuth, “Bill” Burns had to be fired Join the Workers Party and subscribe for the DAILY WORKER. Communism leads the way to the final victory of the workers and farmers. Communism is the hope of the last oppressed class. Communism leads the way to the abolition of all class lines. Sommunism will lift all humanity to a new and higher civilization. Communism is constructive; capitalism is de- structive. Communism will usher in the next stage of civil- ization. Communism liberates; capitalism enslaves. Tee dhe taat A WORKER Double the Party Membership! By c. E. RUTHENBERG, Executive Secretary, Workers Party. T would be a great achievement for our party if we could double the strength of the party organization during the next two months. Every Iprty member would hail that as a @reat victory for the Communist movement in the United States. It is possible for us to. do that. While we may not be able to double the membership of the party in two months’ time, we can double the strength of our party in efficiency of working power during the next two months. At the present time the party or- ganization is working on about one- fourth of its potential Gtrength. Thru an aggressive and energetic cam- paign to increase our organizational efficiency and to increase the num- ber of members who actually partici- pate in the work of the party organ- ization, we can at least double the amount of work which we are doing. An illustration. of the way the par- ty is working as an organization is given in the figures which the na- tional office has received from the district organizers covering the branch reports for the month of March, The following table contains these figures: g te FS hs with gg ea os 88 £32 38 68 38 az 2 @ o @ A 68 Ge 28 8&3 sa 1 84 b4 88 1,506 985 2 127 58 96 2,825 1,757 3 59 \ 29 21 515 326 6 56 44 16 1,170 758 7 39 21 65 662 404 10 63 46 28 646 468 13 16 14 11 511 323 Agri. 13 5 2 91 33 457 271 276 7,926 5,054 Iwok at this table and see what it shows! First, out of 15 Party Dis- tricts, seven districts have reported the tabulation 6? branch reports for the month of March. That means that we have eight District Organizers who are not efficient enough to even carry out a little routine work which has been assigned to them. Then look at the picture of the way the branches of the Party function. In the districts which reported there were 457 branches. Out of these, about one-half were interest- ed enough in the Party work to fill out a report card requiring about fif- teen minutes’ work and send it to the District Organizer. Then take a step further and come down to the membership, In the branches reporting to the seven dis- triets which sent in their reports there were 7,926 Party members. Of these Party members, 5,064 had’ paid their dues to date, and close to 3,000 were from one to three months’ in arrears in making dues payments, It that the best we can do as a Party? Can we find only eight District Organizers out of fifteen who will send in their re- ports monthly and one-fifth of the Par- ty branches who will send their re- port cards to the District office, and only an eighth over half of the mém- bership who will pay their dues reg- ularly? These facts show that our Party is not paying enough attention to the organizational efficiency, Efficiency within our organization means a more efficient organization in conducting the work among the masses of this country. We may be assured that if we are only one-fourth efficient in our organizational work, then we are even less efficient in our organizational work outside of the Party. First Step Toward Remedy. The first step toward remedying this condition is to create an organ in every Party unit which will be charg- ed with the duty of developing organ- izational efficiency. This organ of the Party is the Membership Committee. The Central Executive Commitee at a recent meeting approved the recom- endation that every. branch, City Central Committee, and District Com- mittee at once create a Membership Committee. This Membership Committee must consist of Party members who take their duty as Communists seriously and who are ready to give their time and energy, even at some sdCrifice, to the work of improving the efficiency of the Party organizat ‘This work of the Membership Com- mittee cannot be left in the hands of comrades who have not proven by their past work that they can be trust- On to St. Paul! By HENRY GEORGE WEISS Ye workers in fields and in orchards, toilers in fact and mill, shackles that bi at ye. ‘kia the fetters tha bind?’ ae hate so a. frat sl lom, iia 1 Ne jer wi blinkers, walk lind For" wn St Ete your wasters Som For awa? ‘That they tread you in For what? That your children may And cures. the dark day they were born, i Sets sake awake and a wan whe "acy is cman the. ix Tey labora ‘aloft pad by? ul a in roach heir might: te aries ed to carry out ey any duties given them. Every Party unit should at once canvass the membership of its unit of the organization and pick out the three members of the Party unit who nearest fulfill the description above. Duties of Membership Committee. The duties of the Membership Com- mittee are threefold, One: the Mem- bership Committee must take the necessary action to see that every Party member regularly pays dues to the organization. Second: It must or- ganize a persistent campaign to ob- tain new Party members. Third: it shall assign work to every member of the branch so as to draw all the potential strength of the Party into the work we are carrying on. A Membership Committee which sets to work to carry out these three’ tasks energetically can, in a single month’s time double the working efficiency in a@ Party branch. It can improve the dues payments so that we will not have a picture such as the table above shows, It can organize so fiat new members are regularly brought into the organization. It can give some work to every member of the branch, thus increasing the amount of work which the branch does. Collection of Dues. The Membership Committee should, at the end of the month, examine the branch records to see whether all members have paid their dues. It should see that the financial secretary notifies those members in arrears and carries on a persistent campaign to collect back dues and to induce all members to pay their dues regularly monthly. Toward this end, the Membership Committee must conduct a campaign to see that every member who has not a good excuse, Shall attend his branch meetings regularly, and that those who neglect to pay their dues are called before the branch for explanation in case of persistent neglect in this respect. “If members.are out of work, they are entitled to exémpt stamps and should secure the stamps as evidence of their good standing in the Party.. With a roperly functioning Membership Com- mittee, we will have 25,000 Party mem- bers paying dues regularly by July ist. Campaign for New Members. ‘The second task of the Membership Committee, of equal importance, is to conduct a systematic campaign for new members. In carrying out this campaign, it should adopt the follow- ing plans: 1. It should secure a list of the read- ers of all Party papers in the territory which the branch covers and assign Party members to visit these readers who are not Party members and en- deavor to induce them to join the Par- ty. (Subscription lists of Party papers have recently been sent to District Organizers who in turn were instruct- ed to furnish lists to the respective Party units.) 2. The Membership Committee should, periodically, ask each mem- ber of the branch to come before it and should secure from such members the names and addresses of sympathiz- ers for the purpose of bringing them into the Party organization. 3. The Membership Committee should see to it that at every open Party meeting where non-members are invited, an invitation is extended to those present to join the Party. 4. The Membership Committee should maintain a mailing list of sym- Pathizers to be built up by securing names from Party members, and by using the mailing list of the Party branch and other means, send liter- ature to these sympathizers from time to time and should invite them to come to the branch meetings and at- tempt to get them to join the Party when the ground is sufficiently~ pre- pared. 5. The Membership Committee should see to it that every Party mem- ber who is working in a non-Party organization such as a trade union, co-operative, or fraternal organization, makes an effort to draw into tle Party those members of such organization who are sympathetic to our Party . It is not sufficient that we should carry on general propaganda for. in- dividuals along the lines outlined above and the Membership Committee should be charged with the duty of seeing that these appeals and invita- tions are made. Assignment to Party Work. The third task of the Membership Committee is the assignment of all Party members to work for the Party. organization. For this purpose, the Membership Committee should create a file of the Party members thru build- ing up a card file in wNich there shall be noted the organizations to which members belong, such as trade unions, co-operatives, fraternal organ- izations, and other facts in regard to their relationship with masses of workers such as the place of their em- *|ployment, The National Office will shortly print cards for this purpose so that these can be in a standardized form. The work of the branch should be divided as follows: 1. Work in other organizations, 2. Literature distribution, including DAILY WORKER. 3. Defense work. 4. Propaganda meetings, Work in other organizations: Those Party members who are members of other organizations such as trade unions, cooperatives and fraternal or- ganizations, must be assigned as their first task the work in these or- ganizations. By having a list of. all such members, the Membership Com- mittee can quickly mobilize all Pp: members of the branch when the Par- ty initiates a campaign. For instance, in relation to the June 17th Farmer- Labor campaign, it would give im- mediate instructions to these mem- bers, take up the questions of the or- ganization of a state Farmer-Labor Party or sending delegates to the Na- |. tional Organization. The Membership Committee would receivevreports from, all the members of the branch on what they have done along this line from time to time, and give such instruc- tions as are needed. The same would be true in regard to outside organiza: tions, These members, too, could be instructed, when the Party holds mass meetings, to advertise such meetings in the organizations in which they are members, to sell literature in these meetings, circulate Party defense and other contribution lists there, and gen- erally to secure support of the Party work. Literature distribution: Not all mem- bers of our branches are members of other organizations, and the remainder of the members should be organized in committees for the specific task of carrying on some other form of activ- ity. One such is the distribution of Party literature. Every Party branch should have a group of workers whose first duty is to devote themselves to the distribution of Party leaflets and the sale of Party pamphlets and books. These members should not only work in their own branch and at public meetings but should be charged with ystematic work in other organizations by canvassing to sell the Party liter- ature. Propaganda apetinba® Similarly, a group should be formed in each branch for the purpose of building up interest and bringing sympathizers to the open Propaganda meetings which the branch holds from tim® to time, and to support the general mass meetings which the ‘Party organization as a whole in any city holds from time to time. By having a special group of this character to do the advertising, meetings can be greatly improved in attendance and in the results for the Party. Defense Campaign: Another group of Party members should be organized for the purpose of supporting the de- fense work of the Party organization. It should be their first duty to sup- port the campaign to raise funds for this part of the Party activities. Other divisions of party work will arise from time to time as the party develops its campaigns. Whenever a campaign is initiated by the party, such as the Protection of the Foreign- born Campaign, and similar cam- paigns, the Membership Committee should assign the specific task of sup- porting these campaigns by all the means at the command of the party branch to a specific group of the mem- bers of the branch. If the Mémbership Committee does its work conscientiously, if it seeks to organize the whole membership of the branch and bring all the potential strength of the party branch into its work, the party strength would be doubled within the next two months’ time. This is indeed an achievement worth our struggling for. Let every branch appoint its Membership Com- mittee at once. Let us show by the efficiency of our work that we are Communists, that we are capable of directing our affairs and training the workers for the direction of the af- fairs of society as a whole. Brookwood Labor Graduates To Go “Back To Unions” (Special to The Daily Worker) KATONA, New York, May 19.— “Back to the union” is the slogan of the machinists, miners, seamen, men’s and ladies’ clothing, millinery and laundry workers who will graduate from Brookwood Labor College on May 30th. Every one of the second class to graduate from Brookwood is a union member and expects to go back to the industry from which he or she came better fitted to serve the labor movement. Brookwood has now been in exist- ence for three years, and the mem- bers of the first class, which graduat- ed in 1923, are back in industry work- ing in the labor movement whether in an official capacity or as active un- ion members. Several of the gradu- ates have already been instrumental in starting workers’ classes in Phila- delphia, Baltimore, Worcester and Cincinnati. The 1924 graduating class includes a former manager of the New York Waist and Dress Makers’ Joint Board of the I. L. G. W. U.,a former Presi- dent of the Salem (Mass.) Central La- bor Union and others who have held minor positions in their unions, The organizations represented include the International Ladies’ Garment Work- ers’ Union, the International Seamen's Union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, the United Cloth Hat and Cap Workers, and the International Association of Machinists. Preparations are under way at Brookwood for the Commencement ex- ercises on May 30th, The speakers who have been invited to address the graduating class on this occasion are all prominent labor leaders and men and women active in the Workers’ Education movement. eee SS \ Tuesday, May 20, 1924 AS WE SEE IT By T. J, O'FLAHERTY The local American Legion, most} composed of swivel chair warriors Ww] never heard any noise more close resembling the boom of a cannon tha one of the frequent bomb explosions which bootleggers in Chicago indulge in, to give the police something to get excited about, are all het up over the announced opening next Saturday of an international summer school. Aid- ing the American Legion is an aggre- gation of mentally fozzilized females representing various antique societies, such as the Daughters of 1812. These bloodthirsty Legionnaires have no ob- jection to the internationalism of Hell-and-Maria Dawes and the interna- tional bankers but they fear a spread of knowledge of the economic causes of war would bring the military busi- ness into disrepute. But behind the puppets who protest against peace propaganda, are the capitalists wi ear their supply of cannon fodder mi be polluted, so the brave heroes wi fought in Washington during the w are trotted out to do their stuff. “e * Even “Labor,” leading organ in boosting Senator LaFollette for the presidency, is not certain that the Wis- consin progressive will run even if nominated by the Cleveland confer- ence of the C. P. P. A. If there are any who are not yet fully convinced of the futility of expecting action from the C. P. P. A. for a Farmer-Labor Par- ty, the leading editorial in the May 10 issue of the above paper should com- plete their disillusionment. In order to help “Labor” convince the workers and farmers that the C. P. P. A. isa delusion and fraud we are reproducing its leading editorial on this page. Read it carefully and then forget July 4, and get ready for St. Paul, where the largest auditorium in the Twin Cities is engaged for the biggest Farm- er-Labor convention ever held in the United States. That convention is go- ing to act. ° . ° John L. Walker does not like to be referred to as a “renegade Socialist.” The definition of “renegade” given in “Funk and Wagnall’s New Standard Dictionary of the English Language,” is “one who selfishly or wickedly de- serts his party and joins another: a deserter.” Walker was a member of the Socialist Party and quit it for the Farmer-Labor Party. He left the Farmer-Labor Party and lined up with the Small wing of the Republican Par- ty of Illinois. He has left a party that stood for the interests of the working: class and joined a party that repre- sents the interests of the capitalists. Walker will not get away with his treason to the workers by a flood of crocodile tears and outbursts of moral indignation. ef Had Walker changed his allegiance from one working class political party to another, his explanations that he changed his ideas on tactics could be accepted in good faith provided his actions squared with his words. But he did not do that. He has lined up with the party which speaks for the Chamber of Commerce that Walker pretends to be so much opposed to. That Walker protests against being called a renegade shows that the mas- ses are beginning to call him to book and that the workers, particularly the miners of Illinois, no longer refer to him as “Honest John” but as the man who sold out his political convictions to the bosses. mK * * * Delegate Mercer, chairman of the resolutions committee at the Illinois Miners’ convention, proved how ignor- ant a payroll patriot can be when he explained the insulting resolution on the recognition of Soviet Russia he managed to sneak over on the conven- tion. Soviet Russia should be recog- nized of course, Mercer argued, provid- ed the Soviet government is willing to recognize other countries. If Mercer had knowledge instead of cunning he would know that Russia was the only country in the world fo recognize the right of self-determination, one of Wil- son's Fourteen Points. Russia freed several small countries long held i bondage by the Czars. The other capi- talist nations, instead of freeing the subject peoples under the rule added more to their list. And the United States is not lagging behind. Soviet Russia is no longer begging for recog- nition from capitalist nations. Huro- pean governments are falling by the wayside because of their non-recogni- tion policy and Senator Borah is writ- ing a Soviet recognition plank for the next convention of the Republican: Party. The labor fakers are as usual behind the times, The Poor Fish says: 1 hear that Calvin Coolidge has a bad cold in his throat. That is what a fellow gots bapdarnanse Aadearane caps amig é \ q