The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 21, 1925, Page 6

nearer SSaee i Page Six THE DAILY WORKER. pec Seactarh ait Sh 2 cnt madlataaanecnG asad Seeks aae REE ES Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING OO. 1118 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, ML (Phone: Monroe 4712) SUBSCRIPTION RATES By malt: $3.50....6 months $2.00...8 months By mail (in Chicago only): r $4.50....6 months $2.50....8 coast $6.60 per year 68.00 per year Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER Moh W. Washington Bivd. 3. LOUIS ENGDAHL { EB WILLIAM F. DU: MORITZ J. LOE! Chicago, tlinele eameesernsssesercomenveees ECItOPS stvmeeeee Business Manager | —_—$—$ $$ Entered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1923, at the Post- \ Office at Chicago, Ill, under the act of March 3, 1879. } << 200 Briand, Hun-Hater— Caillaux, Pro-German Advertising rates op app’cation | The Briand cabinet represents at least a tem- porary victory for one of the most reactionary groups in French political life, but it is a strange combination. It is understood that Briand will continue the relations with the vatican as a sop to the catholic royalists and will frown upon drastic taxation of big fortunes. A former socialist, Briand made his first bow to the bourgeoisie by calling railway strikers to the colors and by use of military dis- cipline, forcing them to break their own strike. This was about two years before the outbreak of the world war. During the war French imperial- ism found in Briand a loyal supporter. Caillaux, finance minister in the Briand cab- inet, has many supporters in the parties of the so- called left and many admirers among the liberal intelligentsia abroad. His foreign policy is of the Germanophile variety as opposed to two other groups which from time to time influence French diplomacy. One groups wants, and works for, complete French supremacy in Europe and is bitterly anti- English; another attempts to preserve the entente cordiale, the basis of which was an Anglo-Franco alliance against Germany. Caillaux has always regarded Germany as the logical ally of France and considers Great Britain the real enemy. The system of alliances which brought France and Germany into conflict was always fought by Caillaux. During the war he made a number of attempts to force a cessation of hostilities by work- ing for a separate peace between France and Ger many, basing his plans on the joint ownership of many industrial enterprises in the Briey basin. He went to prison for his pains, but it has been shown since that time, notably by Striet, in his “Where Iron Is, There Is The Fatherland,” that the Comite des Forges, the French steel trust, actually followed the Caillaux policy in the Briey basin, and that im that district from which Ger- many was securing her largest supplies of iron and steel, no offensive was conducted by the allies until the American troops arrived in that sector in 1918. Generals who sent over bombing plans were removed. Nothing was done by the French general staff to disrupt production in this im- portant area whose mines and mills were the joint property of French and German capitalists. But Caillaux will not be able to effect a rap- proachment between France and Germany. Such a policy would have to be based on the sacrifice of reparations and the French bourgeoisie, even those that prefer an alliance with Germany to domina- tion of western Europe by France alone, are not ready to do this. Neither can Caillaux afford to tax his friends among the industrialists. Briand himself is against a capital levy. With the need for a great increase in the government revenues, with the House of Morgan waiting on the doorstep for pay- ments on account, the Briand-Caillaux cabinet will probably try to raise funds by taxation mea- sures that will hit the working class and the lower sections of the middle class. The initiation of these measures will transfer the acute crisis from the realm of parliamentary politics to the entire social structure. We think it can be said safely that the crisis in France is just beginning and that no cabinet combination can hold power for any great length of time. The Caillaux policy with its emphasis on Ger- many is the logical one for French capitalism, but the big industrialists have had a taste now of the fruits of expansion since the crippling of German industry and will not easily relinquish what seems to them to be a favored position. Neither will the banking fraternity look with favor upon the can- cellation of reparations, the reparations without which the whole French financial system is a punctured bubble. The masses of the workers and peasantry have remained passive during the cabinet crises that have succeeded one another because they have not beet asked to pay for the war. But some govern- ment must pass on the war costs to the masses, None has yet dared to attempt this. Caillaux may be the one to show to the French workers and peasants that the war has not been paid for and that the real rulers of France—the interna- tional bankers--have presented their bill. Paul Revere—1925 Vice-President Dawes, speaking at the one hun- dred and fiftieth anniversary celebration of Paul Revere’s ride, held in Boston, furnished a fine example of what Paul LaFfirgue meant when he said that the bourgeoisie are torn between two ethical codes—one of business and one of private life. + The ram Mussolini, speaking from the old. North Oburch, from which we are told the lamps gleamed that gave the signal for arousing, “every Middlesex village and farm” in advance of the British, got the following off his chest : “The greatest question before the American people today is ‘Whatiis our character?’ For it is this, and this alone that counts in the long run.” The gents who chronicle the happenings of the anniversary for the capitalist press become almost lyrical as they describe how the hero of the Lorimer bank scandal made a plea for “sharper self-denial in the nation’s life,’ “for cleanliness of mind,” | “for subordination of the individual to the gener- al good.” The Back Bay aristocracy and the textile barons who heard the speech of Dawes were doubtless greatly moved. So was Senator William Morgan Butler, dauntless champion of the right of the mp w ners to enslave little children. s were wet as Dawes pointed out the lesson of freedom taught by the ride of Paul Revere, but the freedom to which they gave homage was freedom to rob the working class of America without interference from or division of profits with the exploiters of any other nation. Dispatches say that Dawes, invading the Cool- idge territory on this anniversary, was successful in lining up the “solid men” of New England be- hind him, We do not doubt this. Anyone who can combine sanctimonious utterance with. complete contempt for the masses, who can justify ruthless exploitation by biblical precept, whose American- ism is that of the rotary clubs, who preaches violent suppression of the workers in the name of the revolutionary founders, can get the ear and approval of the descendants of the “rum, molasses and niggers” aristocracy of New England, Puritanism has never been an obstacle to profits so Paul Revere’s ride becomes an excuse for a Dawes to deify plunderers and cover slavery with a mantle of christian ethics. . : reer ne The Class War in West Virginia Coal miners, members of the United Mine Work- ers of America, and many non-members of the uinon, are on strike in the Panhandle district of West Virginia to force recognition of ‘the organ- ization. The Richland Coal company, one of the biggest concerns affected by the strike, is preparing to evict the miners from company houses. The miners are given no notice and the company is. carrying out the evictions under a court decision that for- feits the right of the miners to the houses the moment they stop work for the company. The close co-operation of ‘the courts with the capitalists has been commented on in these col- umns more than once, but in no section of the United States is this recognition hi courts of the mastery of the capitalist more brazen than in West Virginia. The rule of capitalism that a worker is entitled to food and shelter only when he has submitted to a boss, is carried out to the letter in this paradise of the steel trust. Reports from Wheeling are to the effect that a number of miners have already been arrested for violation of injunctions and trespassing, the legal fiction by which miners are prosecuted for picket- ing. On May 3, in Wheeling, the contrast between the lives of the workers who dig the coal and those who liye on their labor will be shown in a remark- able manner, A memorial meeting for, the 128 miners killed in the Benwood disaster will be held and no blanket injunction, legalization of evictions or prevention of picketing can prevent thousands of miners understanding that under capitalism they live, work and die for the enrichment of a brutal, idle class. At this memorial meeting any attempt by of- ficialdom to gloss over the class struggle will be treason of the blackest kind. The miners’ fight in the Panhandle district of West Virginia can be won only by raising the standard of the class war that rages there in an especially brutal form. Foreign Agitators Portugal in the southwest of Europe and Bul- garia in the southeast, are torn by revolution. Both little states have been conducting mur- derous onslaughts against the workers and peas- ants. Both nations are bankrupt and both have dictatorial governments. The people of Portugal are Latins, of Bulgaria, Slavs. Portugal supported the allied imperialists in the world war, Bulgaria threw in her lot with those of the central powers. In both countries the condition of the workers and peasantry is pitiable, the economic breakdown complete. The capitalist press may rave about foreign agitators, but unless capitalism itself has created the conditions for revolution, agitators waste their breath, What really causes the capitalist press to foam at its collective mouth is ‘that there is today an international working class political party that connects these struggles of the masses in all coun- tries into a single struggle against world capital- ism. This is the Communist International. Communists are foreign agitators in that they acknowledge no loyalty to capitalism, in the sam way that capitalist agitators in the Union of So- cialist Soviet Republics are foreign agitators, To the struggling workers, however, Communists are not foreigners no matter what tongue they speak, A*revolution in Portugal, a struggle for power in Bulgaria, for ‘which the capitalist press blames the Communist: International, shows that a world state—a world workers’ state—is in the making—a state in which capitalists and their hangers-on will be the only foreigners, Every day get a “sub? for the DAILY WORKER and a member for the, Workers Party, ae ec ac 8 EST Se Ree PE MICO ne I FI AER ROC OA a THE DAILY WORKER Ore to Sessions of Enlarged Executive of the C. I. pp (Continued from; last issue.) MOSCOW, April &.—(By Mail).— IOMRADE LOSOVSKY then report- ed on trade union unity: The correctness of the policy of the Fifth Congress in the question of trade union unity is substantiated by facts. These facts are: The result of the British trade union delegation’s visit to Russia, the session and the resolution of the Amsterdam execu- tive, the decision of the general coun- cil*of the British trade unions to con- vene a joint conference with the Rus- sian trade unions, for the purpose of clearing the difficulties; and the relations of the Barmat-social-democ- racy to the bourgeoisie. HERE are two»oppositions in the Amsterdam Inteffational; a defin- ite revolutionary wing, definitely or- ganized and with a clear ideology, and a second, indefinite opposition with no clear ideology, which how- ever, reflects the discontent of the, masses, After the Ruhr catastrophe, even the Amsterdamers re¢ognized the nec- essity for new méthods in the labor movement. A large number of trade union centers are carrying on a fight against the left opposition. The re- solution of the Amsterdam executive has satisfied no one, hence the new conference, HE fundamental factor of the unity problem is the question whether the fight against the Soviet Union shall be continued or not. In the guise of the unity question, there is to be found the basic ques- tion of old and new relations to the Russian revolution. The difficulties of the unity campaign are as follows: In the trade unions there never was unity; they were always divided ac- cording to political, religious, national and. racial points of view. It is a question of winning over not only the masses organized in red or yellow trade unions, but also those masses which are organized elsewhere or not organized at all. HE systematic ‘sabotage of the unity movement by the Amster- damers must be broken. The social democrats energetically oppose every attempt at unity, and they reject all such proposals. In Yugo-Slavia the social democrats have replied that the unity of the rolitical parties must be established first. In France, the Amsterdamers de- mand the dissolution of the revolu- tionary trade ‘union fractions. Unity can be established solely on the basis of the class struggle. The bitter op- position of the Amsterdamers to the unity campaign is. by the fact that the « reject the class struggle:**te).; 0: 3 de speaker then points to five es- sential' deviations in our cam- paign: In the first place, an organiza- tional conservatism; secondly, the idea that the unity campaign was only @ maneuver; thirdly, the idea of an unconditional unity;: fourthly, the tendency to weaken. our struggle against the social. democracy; and fifthly, the view that we simply enter the reformist trade unions, RGANIZATIONAL, conservatism aims exclusively at the destruc- tion of the reformist trade unions and neglects the chief factors altogether. The view that the unity campaign is a maneuver is false. We want unity, because unity is the primary condition for a successful class struggle. In spite of unity, our ideological fight wgainst the social democracy must go on. Unconditional unity is nonsensi- cal, for in every country there are al- ready various conditions. The unity campaign is a matter of a long strug- gle which may last some years. The reformists demand that the R. I. L. U. be dissolved, but this cannot now be accepted, since unity has not yet been established. hyo speaker enumerates various types of countries: Russia, with a unified trade union vement; coun- tries with a revolutionary minority; countries where the reformist major- ity can only be sustained with the aid of the police; countries whose trade unions belong to'no trade union international at all; countries in which we have a majority. The speaker then proceeds to de- scribe the trade union unity campaign in various countries. In England there is a unified, well-organized minority movement. It is our task to support and to strengthen this minority, in order to steer the Whole trdde union movement to the left. The decentral- ized state of the British trade unions is very deterimental to the move- ment; it shall therefore, be our task to advocate trade unjon centralization. |, i Germany there exists an extreme centralism; the local organizations have no freedom of, movement and are politically paralyzed. Here we must therefore strive for political de- centralization, In Czecho-Slovakia . one-fifth of the workers are with us. The view en- tertained by certain Czech comrades that it is permissible to establish unity with the social democratic trade unions, but not with the nation- al socialists or christian socialists is essentially false. sox N France the C..@ T. U. has the majority of the onganized tr yet Jouhaux, the lqader of the C. G. T. declares that unity is only possible without him. We shall be glad to establish without Jou- haux. In France wo must oreate unity or- gans, unity committees, and mixed committees in the factories and shops, for the reformists themselves will, af- ter unity is established, try to, split the unions anew, because they only want unity with Herriot. In France the struggle for unity must be con- ducted from below. 'N the United States thére are the most reactionary trade unions which openly advocate unity with Coolidge. In that the struggle for affiliation to the Amsterdam Interna- tional and the campaign against the corruption pf the trade union bureau- eracy, are of revolutionary . signifi- cance, These are the five types of strug- gle for unity. In order to attain in- ternational unity, we must strive to establish unity on a national scale in every individual country. We must rouse the workers in the shops and factories for urity, MIGHTY factor in the unity strug. gle is the co-operation of the British with the Soviet trade unions. This co-operation began as early as 1920, when the first delegation vis- ited Soviet Russia; it was continued at the Hull Congress and at the 7th All-Russian Trade Union Congress. The Anglo-Russian conference will soon begin, and the representatives of the Soviet trade unions will bring up the question of a joint unity cam- paign. The Anglo-Russian bloc plays an important role in the struggle for unity. The joint activities of the British arid Russian trade unions de- pend upon the new tendencies in the British movement, namely,-upon the latter’s development towards the left. UR slogan remains: A UNITY CONGRESS. Special attention should be given to the trade union movement in the colonial and semi-colonial countries like China, Java, India. The united international must com- prise all. workers of the world, and not only those in Europe. The re- formists who are allied with the im- perlalists will oppose the affiliation of the colonial trade unions; we must fight for such affiliation. The struggle for unity is a strug- gle for the masses, a struggle against the bourgeoisie and the reformists, between whom there are no differ- ences, We Are confronted by a cap- italist offensive. Baas that the social democracy and the bourgeoisie have forced the 10- and 12-hour day upon the German proletariat, it is the turn of the Brit- ish and French workers next. The resistance of the working class must be organized against the capitalist offensive. Instinctively, the workers feel the approaching capitalist offensive, and they want unity. We must reach the masses by means of unity campaigns for concrete daily demands. We must form as: many unity organs, committees and mixed committees as possible; we must form a coalition with the left Amsterdam wing in the struggle for unity; we must strength- en and support the Anglo-Russian unity alliance, and consolidate the trade union movement in the colon- ies and our own organizations. Between two revolutionary waves, the struggle for unity. is a struggle for the majority of the workers, a strug- gle for the revolution. HEISS (Czecho-Slovakia) makes the announcement that the general Strike in Ostrau was declared against the will and in spite of the prohibition | of the reformist trade union bureau- eracy. HAKEN (Czecho-Slovakia) reads the resolution of the Czecho-Slovak- ! ian delegation, which supports the Ostrau strike unanimously. HE chairman, Comrade Dorsey, brings up the motion of the pre- sidium to the effect that the plenum declare its solidarity with the strik- ers; the motion is passed unanirh- ously. ‘ q GALLAGHER (England); The sit- uation in England is favorable to the movement... The urge of the working class to unite the scattered trade. un- ions, and to an alliance with the So- viet trade unions is growing. ever stronger. The greatest obstacle is the attitude of the trade union bureau- cracy. Between the December, 1924, con- ference and the January, 1925, confer- ence, the minority movement has made great progress. The slogans of the minority movement for the cen- tralization of the trade unions, for joint demands of the various trade unions, and for individual membership found a great response among the masses. At the head of the movement are the miners. The labor government had wor- sened the condition of the workers, and this strengthened the left ten- dency even in the general council of the trade unions.’ The conference of trades councils decided in favor of unity. The right wing of the trade union leaders is in favor of unity with im- perialism. The speaker proposes that the executive fest the tactics of the Communist; Party, of Great Britain. ARUS (Czecho-Slovakia): In spite of refofmigt influence, the work- ers of Czecho'Slovakia has remained on the side of the Russian revolution, To neutralize..the.influence of the Russian. reyolution, the _reformists have issued: the:slogan of “Neutrality of the. Trade Unions”; however, the workers, have, realized: that the econ- omic struggle. turns: into,.a_ political struggle. ' The slogan-of, unity must be retain- ed. Thewunityslogan. meets with great response from the masses be- cause in ,economie struggle the work- ers have aoreyolutionary. perspective. A Crow Bar ' By MORITZ J. LOEB. 0 we consider often enuf, in our striving, to build the Workers Party into a mass party, how seldomly the party itself as it is now function- ing conforms to the most elemental requirements for creating a mass party? A mass Communist Party is not merely an organization of a great number of workers paying dues and accepting Communist beliefs, A mass Communist Party among other char- acteristics, perhaps most important of any of them, is a party that acts as < mass—all at one time, upon the direc- tions of its leaders. - 'N still greater degree, a Communist Party which has yet to become a mass party must meet this require- ment. The Workers Party is one of these; its most pressing, immediate task is to build itself into a mass party, It has not taken the first steps toward this-goal until it can ifself act in the mass, until it can respond as e mass to the directions of its leader- ship. 10 be sure, our party has not by any means given any evidence of its nability to meet this requirement, In- numerable times, in big campaigns, uch as famine relief, labor defense n various political and industrial ac- ivities, the party has shown how it em act, But much too often, particu- lurly in the everyday work and for the veryday tasks of the party Wwe be- ome spasmodic and irregular, we work in fits and starts, some of us now, others then, some not at all, GLARING example of disunited and incoherent work has beer the support the party has given to the press in general and to the DAILY WORKER in particular. When the DAILY WORKER was established it was a thrilling new adventure for all of us, the most dramatic and excitins attempt of the party, For a time it re- ceived an almost universal support of the entire party membership, 'HEN the first glow of excitement had worn off, the bulk of the party settled back with a sort of sigh of satisfaction, an unuttered semi-conscl- ous thot, “Well that’s done. The being. Now we can go about to, for the next glorious adventure.” the work of maintaining the ‘Y WORKER and making it into organ was left to the fow here a red there to whom the DAILY WORKER was no romanti¢ toy but the most ser- ious weapon for the building of the party and the Seton of capital- ism. OW, the DAILY WORKER will be nothing and cin do nothing un- less it becomes an organ of the work- ing class mass. If the party needs a bulletin for party members it can find a less expensive method than that of a daily paper. Yet the DAILY WORK- ER cannot become a mass organ sim- ply by fighting for the interests of the masses any more than the party can become a mass party simply by reason of its program in the interests of the whole working class. OR can the DAILY WORKER be- come a mass organ by means of the efforts, no matter how energetic and conscientious, of a few DAILY WORKER patriots. On the day when the party as a whole, the party acting as a mass decides to put its mass strength and its mass energy into the building of -the DAILY WORKER, on that day the DAILY WORKER will take its first step on the road to becoming an organ of the masses, HY is this “mass action” necess- ary? Why is it impossible for 1,000 comrades by putting forth 26 times the ordinary amount of energy, to accomplish as much as 25,000 party members, each giving a part of their time and energy to the building of the DAILY WORKER? It is not necessary for one to be a professor of psychology to find the answer to ,} these questions. Anyone who has par- ticipated in any activity that brings one into contact with people in any number knows the answer. Hé knows the multiplied effect that mass activity has upon those who are par- ticipating and also upon those who are the objects of the activity. IMMIE HIGGINS may be the most earnest and untiring person imag- inable. He may be resolved to sell DAILY WORKER subscriptions to every Bill Smith ‘he meets and to ‘seek out those Bill Smiths with whom. he does not come into contact in his jordinary daily routine, But if Jim- mie Higgins goes out alone he finds |‘ .|DAILY WORKER has been brot into} that most eyery Bill Smith will ik} either say he isn’t interested or if he, And] admits interest will find some excuse not subscribing. Jimmie Higgins determined not to become discour because he knows the kind of unity} The . workers do not want to re nounce the revolutionary tactics. It is the task of the C. P. of Czecho- Slovakia to increase its influence in the trade unions. The question of trade union fractions is of vital im- portance. The Communist Party must learn to make a weapon of the Red trade unions. IOLA (Italy): The trade union movement in Italy is on the up- grade again. The Communists are heading the movement, whereas, the reformists and Maximalists are. sab- otaging it. At the reformist trade union con- gress in 1924, the Communist pro- posed a clear policy, but the reform- ists rejected it, and confined them- selves to petty statute modifications. j The most active elements were elim- inated from the congress. The C. P, I, has also done some work on the land, and has created peasant organizations. The reform- ists and Maximalists have only disor- ganized the movement; they only wisb to organize the exploiters. The reformists afte opposed to mase trade unions; to prevent unity, they even ally themselves with the fas- cists. However, the class struggle is becoming more acute from day to day, as was shown by the metal workers’ strike, The task of the Communists is te form shop committees everywhere, winning over the masses, to establish trade union unity in Italy, and to fur- ther international unity. ILKOVSKY (Poland): The unity campaign in Poland is no mass campaign because even the largest unions have but few members. The reformist policy and the treat- ment the Communists receive at the hands of the reformists, compels the masses to leave the unions. The C. P. realizes that the conquest of the trade unions is possible only in mass organ- izations; hence the efforts of the party to bring the masses back into the unions. The demand for the formation of shop councils is the best way of cre- ating militant organs. The party does not wish to have the shop councils compete with the trade unions. HE reformists are opposed to mass trade unions; they therefore split the revolutionary trade union move- ment and subject them to police per- secution. Simultaneously with the formation of shop councils, the party is issuing the slogan,“‘Back into the Unions,” in order there to fight for unity. Since the Polish trade union leaders are opposed to the British trade’ un- fon delegation, the party must un- mask them. Unity must be established even with the trade union of the national labor party. The 3rd Congress of the Polish C. P., has concretely formulat- ed the methods of struggle which will lead us to victory. or a Toothpick? work he is doing counts. But he often does get discouraged all the same. He feels kind of weak ana isolated. UT when twenty-five thousand ini mie Higginses go out all at one time they find that there are a lot of Bill Smiths. who will think that there must be something in the DAILY WORKER that is too valuable to go without. That must be the case or otherwise there wouldn’t be so many Jimmie Higgiqses reading it and talk- ing about it. Jimmie Higgins himselt feels more confident and militant be- cause he knows he has twenty-five thousand comrades helping him. Jim- mie Higgins can’t get discouraged; there are too many of him; where one fails the other will succeed. Jimmie Higgins feels that he isn’t any longer trying to pry loose the earth with a tooth pick. There are twenty-five thousand pair of hands at the end of a crow bar. ~ ROM May 4 to May 10 the member- ship of the Workers Party is go- ing to try out an experiment in mass action to build the DAILY WORKER. The entire party, EVERY BRANCH, EVERY MEMBER, is going to popu- larize the DAILY WORKER with the masses and to sell DAILY WORKER subscriptions ALL AT ONE TIME.” bi a details of the experiment are simplicity itself. Every branch of the party will receive a bundle of the current issue of the DAILY WORKER every day from Monday to Saturday. These .papers the. branch will distrib~ ute each day, for a week, taking care that the same houses are covered with all six issues. Then on Sunday the branch will go out in a body armed with determination and sub blanks to |Visit each one of these houses to so- licit subscriptions, OMETIMES the party calls upor its members to perform some difficult tasks. Sometimes these are so diffi- cult that there is some excuse when we fail to make a mass response. But this time there can be no excuses, This time we will be acting as a.mass to build our chief organ into a mass organ or we will fail because we are Jacking in Communist willingness. the: day the mass of the Workers Party membership moves to build the ‘DAILY WORKER we will be be- ginning. to build a mass paper. think that the beginning will be so ‘estly» successful that: the prac- tice will to be experiment but develop into a bit, nice tiiet = tebe Sei SR SRS