The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 10, 1925, Page 11

(Continued fron from page 2) ductivity, we as the working class, the Soviet government, the party and the trade unions. We are a unit. We are doing one and the same historic work, We must boldly tell the man- agers that something depends upon them, and that something is about 50 per cent, the other half depend- ing upon the workers. The trade un- ioris should help the managers raise productivity, not in words, but in deeds. And now, at the sixth con- gress, we must say this more boldly than at the fifth, even tho because the wages and economic conditions of the ‘workers have begun to im- prove. True, not yet to the degree that is thought inthe village, where it is said that the workers are having a@ wonderful time. The question of labor productivity stands point blank, and you cannot back out of it. You must stand above the everyday, sometimes inevitable friction between the managements, trade unions and party members. You must understand and thoroly think out the historical task facing us. I understand that Vladimir [Ilitich’s words on labor productivity have al- ready been read to you. They have now become clothed with flesh and blood. Productivity of Labor is of Decisive * . Importance at Present. Our international situation de- pends to a much greater degree upon the productivity of labor than the ability of our red diplomats and even more than upon the Red Army. There was a time when the red army deter- mined our international stability 100 per cent. Of eourse, it is of great importance even now but at the present moment no one can make open war upon us; their hands are too short. The importance of produc- tivity of labor is of decisive interna- tional significance both for the des- tinies of our country and for the des- tinies of the international revolution. It should attract, like a magnet, the heart of the workers of all the capi- talist countries, for it shows them that socialism is developing here. It alone can strengthen us economical- ly and. politically and consolidate our union with the peasantry. Here is the key to the entire situation. Only in raising productivity lies the reply to the question of the relations be- tween labor and the peasantry, to the question of concessions and to our entire international situation. I heard men speaking along the line of “we are very much to the left, we are not interested in the country boors,” we are interested in the workers, we must raise the heavy in- dustries at any price. For this sake we must agree to concessions, and have as many of them as possible, Pt hesitating to give in to interna- tional capital, and agree to a loan even if the conditions may be very bad. Here you have the other side of this leftness which looks very much like menshevism. We think oth- erwise. We think that there fs no special need of being particularly lav- ish in distributing concessions at the end of 1924. In 1918, when things were pretty bad, this could be done. But now we can ourselves rafse the industry and there are no reasons for making special concessions to foreign capital. There is no need of letting the goat into the garden; no need of becoming the slaves of foreign capi- tal. We shall raise much on our own shoulders, but this can be done only if we all of us work unanimous- ly to the end of raising the produc- tivity. Despite all the bad features of this campaign which I have men- tioned, all of us clearly see tnat pro- ductivity of labor is onty begmning to increase and that some results are aiready evident. The Trade Unions Nearer to Produc- tion. The next question of princtple is the question of the trade unions ap- proaching more closely to production. At the Fifth Congress we spoke little about this. At the sixth this must be said loudly and resolutely. Two and a half years were spent to raise the workers’ wages. There fs no rea- son for repenting, that was quite as But now anoth- it should have been. er period is coming. The trade un- ions have made large conquests. This is a fact. During the two and a half years they came nearer to the work- ing masses, and this also cannot be denied. They have catered for their material interests; they have them- selves become greater mass bodies, and there lies the achievement of the labor movement. Our trade unions have made great progress also in their educational work. They have set up 2,000 clubs. This is truly pro- letarian work, instead of prattle about proletarian culture. The trade unions should continue to work in this line. But as regards industry, as regards direct participation of the trade un- ions in managing industry, we have, in my opinion, lagged behind during these two years. The production cir- cles now being set up are of course, very promising. But this is not enough, The trade unions do not make use of their industrial rights to the extent that Lenin’s resolutions have entitled them to, resolutions adopted unanimously. The trade un- ions were absorbed in other tasks. Of course, it is good that they had ful- filled them, but we are now entering a new phase. The trade unions should engage more closely than before in industry, in the drawing up of the production programs, in forming the administrations in fixing prices, etc. In all this the trade unions should take an active part, and they should raise productivity of labor to the highest possible degree. Only thus can the issue with the peasantry be solved. The Problem of the Commanders in the Real Sense of the Word. It appears to me that in this con- nection the problem of commanders in the real sense of the word again arises. I am not speaking here of the commanders in the red army. 1 speak of the teacher who also belongs among the eommanders. I am speak- ing here of the production command- ers. The trade unions have begun to promote the production personnel from among their ranks, have begun to remove the sham specialists, in or- der to replace them by thetr own peo- ple and support the truly honest and real specialists. The question of com- manders in the broad sense of the word, never stood as clearly as now. It now stands broadly in relation to the peasantry, in relation to land tm- provement in the village, m relation to culture, etc., etc., in every sphere in which our life is developmg. We cannot pass ovér this question, which is one of the, essential questions of our internal policy. This gave rise to the new attitude to the teachers. This is no mere unprincipled flirta- tion, but a new historical situation. A similar attitude is necessary all along the line. The production commanders, both the lower and middle should be sought primarily from amongst your own ranks, and this question should be tackled in all seriousness. Now that the country is warming up, when the alarm over bread and butter has been forgotten, when new political and eco- nomic questions are being ratsed, when new relations between the work- ers and the peasantry are clearly de- veloping, that represents a possible Menace (they are not necessarily a menace if the proper measures are taken), under such a situation the several hundred thousand men thru- out the country who make up the commanding personnel in the broad sense of the word, should be tdeolo- gically organized by us, should be ideologically with us, so that we could be responsible for them. This should become an object engaging the con- stant attention of the party and the trade unions. I do not know how this matter will turn out in reality, in practice, but any way, it stands as a political problem intimately affecting also the Sixth Trade Union Congress. I thought it my duty to touch upon it briefly. Attention to the Proletarlan Students. One of the sub-groups of this prob- lem is the question of the proletartan students, Let me say a few words on this question, Trade union nuclei are now beginning to be organizea among the students. You may discuss how they should be organized; the ? Sixth All-Russian Trade Union Congress question should be considered in the most serious manner. However, we have here also a political problem, for here you have a part of the ques- tion about the commanders and our congress should take up in some sec- tion or commission the question about the proletarian students and give it due attention. In 192 technical schools we have 20,000 workers, who will make up a large part of the future production commanders. This group of 20,000 workers should hear a word of interest from us, should hear a word of attention and support, should feel definite support and see a true Bolshevist attitude towards them, for I repeat, this is a part of the question about the commanding personnel. They Are Basic, Not Temporary Questions. Comrades, these are.the questions standing on the order of the day. Of course, there are many other ques- tions that are, so to speak, eternal, imperishable, fundamental. Among these are primarily the slogan “Near- er to the masses” and the question of the Bolshevization of the labor move- ment. During the last two years the trade unions have come much more closely to the masses, this is a fact. Still nearer to the masses! No mat- ter how near we come to them, we must not boast of the successes or stop there. We see how the cultural needs of the masses have changed. The worker is different from what he was in 1919. The needs and demands of the peasants have also grown, and our leaders should remember this fact, they should themselves grow and satisfy the growing needs of the masses. The material welfare of the workers and peasants has improved, and with it grow their cultural de- mands and grow politics. It is wrong to assume that if the peasants will live better he will think less of poli- tics. Just the contrary. With the growth of the material welfare of the peasants and workers will grew their cultural and political demands and in- terests, that they will put before us, the leaders of the trade unions and the leaders of the party. They must be answered. Always Learn From Leninism. We are now teaching the workers of the world to Bolshevize the labor movement. But we ourselves must also remember this. We are of course, the most Bolshevist party in the world, we are the strongest labor movement in the Comintern. But this dees not mean that we have been Bolshevized 100 per cent. Our party still needs more Bolshevization. The trade unions need Bolshevization, and our labor movement as a whole needs it. As long as you live, study Len- inism, perfect yourselves and then you will be a real Bolshevik. No self satisfaction. We know our strong sides. But we must also know our weak sides, but we must see both the conscious and unconscious attempts to revise Leninism, that are some- times made even in Lenin’s name. Honest and Dishonest Wrongdoers. You remember how at the begin- ning of the revolution, when Vladimir llitch came from abroad, he brought with him a new term “honest defend- ers.” When we lived abroad there was no talk about honest defendists. We only knew the dishonest, dyed in the wool fakers of the Second Inter- national who drove the workers to the slaughter. And when Vladimir Ilitch came here and saw masses of soldiers and peasants who sincerely and enthusiastically marched off to the defense of the revolutionary “fath- erland,” he nicknamed them honest defendists and he preached patient, systematic, constant explanation and patience for them, We now have among us some hon- est “misunderstandings” of Leninism. Let us see what is taking place. Bv- erybody now calls himself a Leninist. There are men who would like to Len- inists, but cannot be, because they have not been boiled in the fire of the organizational discipline of the Bolshevist party, they have learned little, etc. These are men who could be said to be honestly misled. They are honestly wrong; they need explan- ation; they do not quite understand Lenin’s ideas, the vanguard must therefore patiently enlighten them. But there are men who interpret [itr ener ee Leninism in whatever way suits them vest. They cannot be said to be hon- astly misled. There is very little hon- esty about them, and we must fight them ideologically in a most deter- mined manner. The Bolshevization of the labor movement is not only a slogan meant for export. No comrades, this slo- gan is meant for us as well (laugh- ter). We live in a country in which there are so many illiterates, in which the legal labor movement is just in its teens. We have a party with a won- derful past. It has gone thru three revolutions, has had an incomparable leader, and teacher, the like of whom cannot be found anywhere in the world. Still we worked in a poor illiterate country, and our organization is weak. And it would have been a miracle were the entire labor move- ment here Bolshevised 100 per cent. This of course, is not so. We will have to do much hard labor those of us who have learned something from Lenin, that is, the trade unions and the party, will have to work hard Many and many a year in order to promote the growth and Bolsheviza- tion of the labor movement, to make it keep abreast with the world events, to have it remember that is past ser- vices will not bring any more tributes on the world arena, and that it is time ~ to think of the future. Conclusions. I therefore think that we have a number of new problems. On the question of the internation- al labor movement we are for unity. We shall fight under this slogan reso- lutely and to the end like Bolsheviks. On the question of the peasantry we have a new situation. We have various difficulties that are perfect- ly surmountable, and we shall remove them. On the question of productivity of labor, down with “we” and “you”! It is clear that this is now the funda- mental question of our entire econo- my, of our world situation. This is of greater importance than diplomacy even than the red army; it is the question of all questions. The trade unions nearer to indus- try! The problem of the commanding personnel is raised for the first time on the proletarian arena, The problem of the proletarian stu- dents is a part of this question. All these questions are dominated by the economic question. Metal, was - the slogan raised by the Thirteenth Congress. We now can say more precisely: metal, textile, coal, oi] and railways. This is what decided the fate of our country and in a certain measure, the fate of the internation- al movement. Well then, the entire determination and passion of the Bolsheviks, which have heretofore been put into the civil war, and in the other businesses that were put forth by the precious situation, the entire determination and passion, the entire “die-hardi- ness,” which Vladimir [itch taught us. The entire energy, the entire power of the masses, all the brains and talents possessed now by the party and the trade union movement, all this must be put into metal. text- ile, coal, railways, oil, higher pro- ductivity of labor (stormy applause). and everything should be solved from the point of view of the problems which Lenin has taught us, in the light of true Leninism, in the Nght of the modest, quiet, unshowy, but firm work of Bolshevizing our labor movement. If we solve this problem, our congress will be marked as a seri- ous stage in the history of the labor movement of our country, in the his- tory of the struggle of the world working class for the emancipation of labor. (Stormy, lasting applause, deafening the sound of the orchestra). Watch for the Special First Anniversary Edition of the DAILY WORKER January 13, 1925