The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 19, 1924, Page 6

After the Russian Communist Co A SUM-UP OF THE By MOISSAYE J. OLGIN. “The Congress of the Russian Com- munist Party has not justified expec- tations.” This is how a bourgeois ‘Russian paper, Rul, Berlin organ of the right wing constitutional demo- crats, characterizes the great gather- ing of the ruling party of Russia. In- deed, the congress was not to the lik- ing of all yellows, pinks, whites ‘and blacks. The counteér-revolutionary crew had expected a row, a scandal, a rift, an explosion. The “men with- out a country” had disseminated thry- out the western world news of an im- pending split in the ranks of the So- viet proletarian dictatorship. There had been already “learned” treatises published in the menshevist press on the social causes of the inevitable dis- solution of Communist rule. Political fakirs had lived by the feeble light of newly kindled hopes. Russia her- self was looking with eagerness to- ward the coming of the highest gov- erning body of the republic. For had there mot been a great political storm raging only a short while before? Had there not been two groups, two orientations, denouncing each other thruout the entire party, from the Central Executive Committee down to the last nucleus in the last shop of the remotest province of the union? Ironclad Unity. Well, the Congress has come, and the Congress has gone, and such a manifestation of ironclad indestructi- bie unity of the entire party from top to bottom the world has never seen. If the Russian revolution is the great- est event in the history of the working class; if the fate of the Russian Com- munist Party is of the most vital im- portance to the working class of the world, then this Congress, just fin- ished in absolute harmony and with colors fiying high, must be a source of happiness and pride to every class conscious worker in every country of the globe. By their actions should one judge political bodies. By its results should a line of policy be tested. The policy of the Russian Communist Party, a expressed by its Central Executive Committee, has stood the severist his- torical tests—a front of hostility from without, a grave and evil-boding eco- nomic crisis within, a state of civil warfare within the party itself—and has proven successful, overcoming difficulties, removing obstacles, lead: ing the republic toward peace, pros- perity and socialism. Under this sign the R. C. P. Congress convened. Un- der this sign it conducted its deliber- ations. And tho heated skirmishes were not lacking, the most outspoken opposition (or, rather, the members of the former opposition) had to ac knowledge the substantial achieve- ments of the last several months and, with them, the correctness of the C. E. C.’s line of action. Political and Economic Achievements. It will require a special article to enumerate the political and economic gains since last October, when the fiame of discussion was kindled._We shall here confine ourselves to a brief mention of the most outstanding fea- tures. In international relations, a se- ries of recognitons de jure, notably by Italy, England and the Scandinavian countries—recognitons due, to use Zinoviev’s expression, not only to the “Tch” of Tchitcherin, but mainly to the “Tch” of the Tchervonetz, the sta- bilized Russian currency. In foreign trade, a growing import of raw mate- rials to keep Russian industries busy, an export of grains, furs and other na- tive products in increased numbers, a favorable trade balance which aided materially to the stabilization of the rouble. In the field of production, ag- ess | GREAT GATHERING WHICH PROVED THE PARTY TO BE AS FIRM AS A ROCK. of prices on agricultural products and a steady decline of prices on manu- factured goods, marking a narrowing margin between the famous “blades of the scissors” (Trotsky’s expres- sion), which on Oct. 1, 1923, stood like 64:172 for wholesale and 67:135 for retail trade, whereas on May 1, 1924, the divergence was 93:131 wholesale and 107:92 retail. In the budget, a rigid economy in expenditures, an opening up of new sources of revenue, a decrease of deficits, a possibility of realizing the 1923-4 budget without a deficit at all. In the problem of money, as a-result of improved eco- nomic and financial conditions and as an expression of a brightening outlook —a stabilized currency which, for the first time in many years, opened be- fore the workers and peasants on the one hand and before industrial and trade establishments on the other, the uncertainty prevailed. A group of comrades under the leadership of Trotsky issued then a cry of alarm. In the economic field they demanded a series of measures which, in their totality, would have amounted to an increase of the power of capitalism in Russia (tho some of the opposition de- manded more drastic measures against the NEP (New Economic Pol- icy) and better regulation of the en- tire economic apparatus—measures which at hat «time could hardly be carried out and . which, therefore, could only dishearten. In the con- struction of the party they demanded more democracy, special attention to the Communist students, curtailment of the rights and privileges of the old guard,“i. e., those comrades who be- longed to the R. C. P. before October, 1917, and who form the backbone of the party structure at present. ‘It was possibility of accurately calouléting |not so much the list of demands as the their incomes and expenditures and of making provision for the future. In relations of the various classes to- ward the Soviet system, a general and unshakable conviction that this work- ers and peasants’ government, uader the leadership of the Communist Par- ty, is the most stable in the world, that its integrity is beyond dispute ‘and that its closeness to the masses is the source of its strength. i Causes and Claims of the Opposition. With a record of this kind and with a reassuring prospect of further suc. cesses in every realm of life, did the |Communist Party come to its annual | Congress. What had the opposition been hammering at? What had been riculture reaching about 78 per cent of |the source of its criticism? In Octo- the pre-war output, industry approach- ing the 50. per cent level, with coal running as high as 60 per cent of the pre-war production, oil 65 per cent, woolen textiles 58 per cent—a healthy growth in spite of the absence of large foreign concessions and the depend- ence of the Russian industrial mech- anism on its own resources, In the ber-November, 1923, immediately aft- er the defeat of the German workers, the situation in Russia was rather gloomy. The workers were restless in consequence of inadequate wages, the peasants were chafing under high prices for industrial products which, with agricultural products selling very low, became almost prohibitive for the OLD AND YOUNG Joining Russian Communist Party tone of the criticism which set the en- tire party aflame. A man of Trotsky’s size and achievements accused the party of bureaucratism, of moving away from the masses, of growing petrified in revolutionary tradition, of losing contact with the workers in the shops, ®f becoming more and more a purely administrative apparatus. Those accusations were flatly repudi- ated at a genertl party conference in January, yet the oposition, tho dis- avowed and severely reprimanded, continued its criticism. Trotsky him- self a loyal and sincerely devoted par- ty member, could not stop the activi- ties of his followers, nor is he respon- sible for a great number of tactless |declarations and accusations made by irresponsfble elements who thonght themselves his disciples. Lenin Enrollment—an Enormous Event. When the Thirteenth Congress the R. C. P. convened, the wide range of economic success had proven the correctness of the line of policy pursued by the C. EB. C., not the least question of prices, a steady increase 'rural population. A general feeling of achievement being the rise of wages, ———————— — ———- or of which in certain localities and indus- tries reaches 80 and 90 per cent of the pre-war level. As to the situation with. in the party, an event of first magni- tude occurred between the conference and the congress. The Lenin Enroll- ment took place, The party appealed after Lenin’s death, and over two hun- dred thousand workers from the shop responded by becoming members of the party. Never in its history had the party seen the like of such a mass rush into Communist ranks. In two or three months the membership in- creased from over 500,000 to nearly three quarters of a million. The newly enrolled were only shop workers, pro- letarians of manuel labor. This broad- ened the proletarian basis of the par- ty, made it throb more energetically with actual proletarian life, brought it into most intimate contact with the lowest strata of-:labor, made it possible to draw new working class elements into the work of administration. The Lenin Enrollment was, undoubtedly, stimulated by the death of the great revolutionary leader; it was carried out in the heat of sentiment released by the loss. But the very fact that the masses manifested their love for Lenin by enrolling into the party of Leninism showed their great interest for the party. The very circumstances of the enrollment showed much more, The new members (the Lenin Draft) were actually elected by their non- . party shop “brothers to serve on the party. General meetings of the work- ers were held in the shops and fac- tories, and after a rigid examination of the candidates and-a thorough dis- cussion, the mass of workers voted who should and who should not be- come a member of the party. The workers of the country thus plainly said that even if they are not all party members they look upon the party as their own and are interested in its progress,—which would have been im- possible had the accusations of the op- position been true to any appreciable degree. Congress Unanimous for C. E. C. Policy The Lenin Enrollment made the position of the C. E. C. easy. The En- roliment had changed*the entire as- pect’ of the party, had made criticism almost impossible. By the time the Thirteenth Congress convened, the Central Executive Committee had taken from the opposition those ele- ments of constructive criticism which could be realized in practice and had thus improved the tone of party life pacifying many a nopponent. The Thirteenth Congress had only to sum up the situation. The delegates were unanimously for the C. E. C. with no dissenting vote and nobody refraining from voting. Trotzky’s speech at the Congress was a defense of his former stand and an effort to prove that it could not be called an opportunistic aberration as it was characterized by the January conference and by many a speaker at the congress. Trotzky, however, said expressly that he is not only against definite factions within the party, but also against indefinite groupings according to tendencies and trends of opinion. It is known that he has decided to work in harmony with the new Central Executive Committee. The Congress has thus closed a great chapter fim the history of the party. Tie party of the Proletarian Dictatorship stands today -solid as a rock.. Its leadership is the Lenin guard; its army fs the working class of the factories and shops. The party ideology has been tested in the heat of numerous battles. The outlook of the party is bright. There is a certain exhilaration thruout the membership. Everybody has a hopeful feeling. The party is without a fissure, without a crack. “We are not a patch party,” said Zinoviev at a meeting of party functionaries at Leningrad, and the echo of this proud declaration rever- berated all thru the party and the country at large. ° “Deper Into the Masses.” If we were briefly to characterize than than Zinaviev’s “Deeper into the (Continued on page”7)