The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 28, 1924, Page 7

all - (Continued from page 1.) platform of the party and accept its leadership and control. This decision completely disposes of any possibility of the Farmer-Labor party, now or in the future, endorsing LaFollette as an ihdependent candidate, Thus our main aims have been ac- complished. At the same time we were successful at the convention in preventing an alliance between the center and the right, thereby com: pletely isolating the two reactionary gentlemen, Starkey and Taylor, who instead of staging a dramatic split vanished from the scene without any- one noticing it, July 4 and After. Which, however, does not close the fight. Quite the contrary, the struggle is just beginning. Only the accom- plishments of the June 17 convention have “placed the farmer-labor move- ment (and the Workers Party within it) in such a position with regard to the C. P. P. A. and LaFollette as to give the former decided advantages over the latter. These advantages are: A national former-labor center, in fact, the only national center in the country. This means leadership and organization, nationally, by states and locally, for a fight all along the line against the C. P. P. A. and LaFollette if they re- main true to their nature. It means, in addition, an election machinery: practically all over the country for the first real national cam- paign of a Farmer-Labor party. Also whatever sentiment of a working class nature will be generated and crystal- lized in the coming election, it will not be dissipated, but will be assimi- lated by the Farmer-Labor party and utilized by it for the building up of a real»mass movement of workers and poor farmers. ‘ Absorb Class Elements of July 4. JUNE 17th AND AFTER This should be the attitude of the | giance and join with the Farmer-Labor Farmer-Labor party towards the com- ing convention of the C. P. P. A. in Cleveland on July 4. All those in the C. P. P, A. who really favor independ- ent political action by the workers and poor farmers must be absorbed into the Farmer-Labor party. For this the convention of June I7 has made all necessary provisions, It is perfectly clear by this time that the dominating forces in the July 4 convention will oppose even the ideas of a farmer-labor party. If McAdoo Joes not get the nomination tof the Democratic party, then the C. P. P. A. nity endorse Laf¥ollette as an inde- pendent candidate. Which will mean, under the circumstances, just as seri- ous @ betrayal of the cause of the workers as the endorsement of either of the two old parties. When this happens, many of those at present supporting the C. P. P. A. | will ‘be ready to break their old alle | lis i party in a common cause. These ele- ments must be encouraged, supported and helped along generally to free themselves as soon as possible from the hegemony of middle class liberal- ism and to get into the rankseof the Farmer-Labor party. Our immediate objectives, fore, are: Build the state and locdl-organiza- tions of the Farmer-Labor party. Affiliate to it all organizations of workers and poor farmers. Fight LaFollette and La¥olletteism wherever you come in contact with it. Utilize the general. break-up of the two old parties for the building up of the Farmer-Labor party. And while doing all this, remember the oneslogan that holds good for all seasons and every situation which there- Build and strengthen the Workers Party. This view of one of the hastily organi DURING THE LAST MINERS’ STRUGGLE IN ENGLAND zed soup kitchens (taken in the South Yorkshire area) illustrates the purely spontaneous efforts at workers’ aid which have hitherto prevailed. The W. I. R. seeks a permanent organized expression of practical solidarity. character of ‘the - ~ Agricultural Tenancy in the South (Continued from page 2) explains the unkempt board and tim- ber constructions, the old log~houses, the barns and shacks which are com- monly found thruout the rural regions of the South. The usual habitation of the landless farmer of the South _consists of two rooms with a back shed room that is used both for a kitchen and dining room. A tenant who has screen doors is an exception. Mosquitoes feast on him at their plea- sure, : There is also a good deal-of neg- lect in the matter of drainage, proper water supply and decent. shelter for stock and farm crops, In many cases the families must bring the dally water supply in oft-repeated trips up- hill from springs; not all the houses have out-door closets, if they do have them, they are not fly-proof or water- tight. More frequently the bushes and the barn lot buildings are the screen of family privacy. Soil pol- lution by body waste is the rule here as elsewhere thruout the country re- gions of the United States. Shiftlessness and homelessness creates also an attitude of indiffer- ence of both owner and tenant par- énts toward the development. of schools. Tenancy and illiteracy go hand in hand. The poor tenant un- able to eke out a living are forced to pit the Jabor of his children against the owner's land and goods. Instead of being in the schools, the children are in the fields. Hence, the high percentage of illiteracy in the rural regions of South. In Tennessce, it was found that 70 percent of the children did not attend school be- cause their labor was needed on the farms. In other states, the percent- age of illiteracy is about the same. The scholastic attainments for 9.10 of '- the cropper’s children seems to ex- tend only to the fourth reader. The parents, on the other hand, lack read- ing matter and interest in the world beyond. All this means to lead an empty ex- istence. Besides, the croppers and renters, who are forced to move from place to place with the seasons, are considered mere outsiders and: are hardly recognized as a part of the community. They are left out of the local activities. In one locality it was found that 70 percent of the tenants had not attended a party during the year and had not been to a public mecting. Occasional visit to the city serves as a means to break the monotony of life. It is easy to ex- plain why horrible lynchings of Neg- roes thruout the South attract large crowds. Sad as it may be, it is an- other way of breaking the monotony of the miserable existence, Thus we see, that tenancy in the South means that the control of the farms is passing more and more into the hands of a few; it means that our tenants, who lack capital, must de- pend upon the fertilizer manufacturer, the supply merchant and the bank; it means, when the year’s crops are sold and debts settled, that there is practically no balance left for the tenant to help him in a new years’ start; it means in most cases that the ‘an@ord is the sole gainer from the fear’s farm labor; it means decreased sepport for the rural schools and il- Literacy; it means few comforts and conveniences in the rural home; it means constant migration of our rural population; it fosters absenteeism and political bossism, etc, In brief, under the tenancy system the land- lords become the masters of the com- munity politically as well as econom- ically, LN,