The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 20, 1925, Page 14

? x |New Forms of Revolutionary Agitation By Ss. a the many forms of agita- tion and propaganda work the form of mass agitation may be said to be the most highly developed. The Communist parties of the West have been born upon the waves of thé tide of revolution, with revolutionary slo- gans on their lips, During the first years of the exist- ence ‘of? the ‘party the whole energies of our-organizations were devoted| solely to agitation among the broad masses, sO that we have gained much experience in this line. If we. com- pare our organization of agitatorial | campaigns with our organization of| propaganda work or party press, it must be acknowledged: that we. have} already achieved much in the sphere} of agitation. Every extensive cam- paign is thoroly prepared. ee are proclaimed, appeals and pamphlets published, the press! utilized, numerous meetings organ- ized... It must however be admitted that all the measures taken bear a somewhat uniform and monotonous character, There is a danger that these: forms of agitation may cease to exercise effect upon the _ broad masses, especially in periods of revo- lutionary ebbtide, during which the broad masses of the working class are aroused to action with greater difficulty. For this reason we must endeavor to infuse as much variety as possible into our agitation; we must seek fresh ways and means of expanding our sphere of influence, Bourgeois ideology percolates thru a thousand holes down into the work- ing class, thru the. medium of the shops and markets, the bars and theaters, cinemas and press, We must endeavor to overstep the confines of agitations as we have hitherto understood it, and to ¢ombat the corrupting influence of the bour- geoisie and of Philistine socialism everywhere by our Communist influ- ence, Thisis, Ro-easy. task in face of the constant persecution to which the Communist parties are exposed. It is a task which frequently cannot be ac- complished at all by parties obliged to work illegally. Nevertheless, the question is an urgent one for a num- ber of the sections of the Comintern. The example set us by our Russian comrades shows us many new forms of mass agitaiton, such as may be employed with advantage by our western sections. Our youth organ- izations have already learnt much from our Russian comrades in this respect. It thus seems very possible to us that many- difficulties may be overcome, HEREVER it is possible, our or- ganizations should form Workers’ clubs, so that premises are provided in which party members and sympath- izers may pass an occasional leisure hour, may read a book or newspaper, or exchange ideas with comrades. It is not always possible, or even desir- able, to organize a club of this kind expressly as a party club. The existence of a club is invar- iably sectred if it is made the cen- tral point not only of the party or- ganization, but of our youth, and of the revolutionary labor organizations in sympathy with us. (Trade unions, co-operative: societies, sport clubs, ete.) ‘The youth in particular must be induced to take part in the organ- ization of such elubs. For the youth is the most active element, and ex- perience shows that the young mem- bers play a leading role in all club work. The. Russian Workers’ clubs have already gathered much experi- ence with respect to the independent work done by their members. Every club is supplemented by a number of circles of various descrip- tions, adapted to the various inclina- tions and mental needs of the club members. There are political and theoretical circles for the study of the practical and theoretical guestions of the labor movements. There are sport cireles (physical culture). The best attended circles attached to the clubs are those bearing a purejy artistic character: choral societies, circles for music and literature, etc. The creative energy of the revolutionary vof careful preparation. working class is offered opportunity of expression by these circles. They offer at the same time the material and the basis for various outlets of artistic activity: . theatrical perform- ances, recitations, etc, ‘These circles furnish the club with extensive posst i of. organizing’ new forms of 8 agitation by the aid of art, and ehable them to form centers of at- traction irresistible to even the most backward and least developed strata of the working class.': ‘The’ clubs possess ¢inematograph apparatus, em- ployed from time to time for showing films of revolutionary. import.’ © The extensive scale upon which club work is carried on is naturally proportional to the, extensive means furnished for this purpose by the managements of the state factories and works, by the trade ‘unions, and by the state itself (thru . its education authorities.) Under the conditions imposed on our Communist sections in Western Eu- rope the scope of club work is of course much smaller, . wits reference to the forms taken by mass agitation, two of these may be dealt with here in detail; propa- gandist performances of a more or less theatrical nature, and. the so- called verbal newspaper. Both of these forms of agitation call for a certain amount of artistic effort, and both require a considerable amount Our Russian comiades organize both of these forms of work in closest co-operation with the club circles. When the club undertakes some special campaign of agitation, it allots the various circles the tasks falling to their share. The circles decide who is to take part, divide the roles, rehearse the whole, and practically undertake the work. 1 simplest form of performance, and one invariably appealing to the whole public, is the so-called agi- tation or political trial. Any political question of the day may be made the subject of the trial For instance, the Ebert lawsuit lately formed a center of public.interest. At the time when the trial was proceeding in Magde- burg, and the working class was great- ly interested in the issue, an effective agitation could have been carried out by a mock trial at which the workers themselves tried Ebert. Much larger numbers could have been attracted to witness such a performance than to the ordinary meetings with Commun- ist speakers. A similar trial with MacDonald as culprit could also be arranged. Not only individual per- sons, but whole corporations, may be Placed in the prisoner’s dock, for in- stance the social democratic party or the bourgeois government, or “left social democracy,” or fascism, etc.; in such cases living persons among the leaders of the organizations concerned’ must take the place of the accused. — agitation or political mock trials are formed on the model of the revolutionary tribunal; three judges, a-chairman, a public prosecu- tor a barrister for the defense. The whole proceedure and wording of the trial must however be exactly ar- ranged beforehand; the indictment, the hearing of the witnesses, the evi- dence, the explanations offered by the accused, the speeches for the prose- cution and defense, the closing words, of the accused. The roles must be carefully allotted, and every role must be learnt by heart. The verdict must be very carefully thot out. It must be’ remembered that when the perform ance is well carried out the audience follows with the intensest inner par- ticipation, and is roused to a high pitch of excitement, so that the ever dict cam have a very considerable ef- fect, \ A political agitatorial mock trial of this description can be easily develop- ed into a real theatrical performance, with suitable costumes and disguises, Humor and satire may be extensively used. All this of course involves greater difficulties, and is by ho means absolutely necessary; it can however be carried out with advantage where sufficient capable actors, and other means are available, Ki epee organization of such political agitation mock trals is not confin- ed to the resources of any single cinb. A hall or other building frequented by the workers can be employed for the purpose, or other premises customar ily used for meetings’ or entertain- ments, ~ a : as organization of a verbal. news- paper does not require such comp- licated ‘preparations. This form of agitation is:more mobile im every respect, réquires a smaller number of participators, and can be arranged in the factory, restaurant, etc, The ob- ject of a verbal newspaper is to im- part to the audiénce, within the short- est possible period of time—say half an hour—everything of improtance for the political situation of the moment, but without degenerating into a weari- some and monotonous meeting. As a rule the verbal newspaper is arranged in the form of an editors’ consultation, Those taking part are allotted rofes corresponding to the division ot labor on an editorial staff: leading article, foreign’ editor, home politics editor, telegrams, factory notes, humorous supplement, scihtific review, etc. The editor of the paper, in a few plain words, ainounces the contents of the newspaper, and calls upon each of the editors ‘to narrate his share, no one Person speaking for more than 5 min- utes. The “leading article” then speaks, discussing the facts just heard, but no longer than ten minutes, A SECOND article may follow, etc. A verbal newspaper must not last for longer than 30 to 40 minutes at longest. Preparative work is re- quired if the whole is to be carried out effectively. The articles must not be read from manuscripts, but must be actually narrated, that is, they must be written down and learnt from mem- ory beforehand, i pew experience gained by our Rus- sian comrades, has shown: that by -means. of these verbal newspapers it is possible to arouse the interest of even the most backward workera, those who as a rule read no newspe per whatever, but satisfy their nat ural political interest by every descrtp- tion of political rumor and gossip. The greater the variety offered by the newspaper, the less it wearies the hearer, and the oft hear the paper again. Such verbal newspapers can be organized with a permanent staff, and at regular inter vals in the same places. By this means the hearers gain an affection for their newspaper. An “Answers te correspondents” can also be arranged }for, and questions from the audience collected. Thése are’then replied to when the next number of the paper ap- pears, The hearers can be induced to give. the paper a certain name. A verbal newspaper of ‘this’ kind grad- ually loses its atractidn “for & class conscious workers’ audience reading its own daily newspapers. Among our . Russian comrades the newspapers has gradually been transformed into ‘a so- called living newspaper, a form’ -re- quiring @ certain amount ae artistic es ? organization. It need not. be said that we: ye: could obtain the most effective results: if we could avail ourselves of the ‘attrac- tions of the “pictures”, one of the mightiest means of influencing the masses. But it is exceedingly diffi- cult to do this, especially under Eu- ropean conditions. Much has already been accomplished in this line in the Union of Soviet Socialist Russia. Some few of the films issued by the Soviet cinematography have already been ‘given in Europe. A more detailed treatment of this subject would go too far. Our aim is to draw the attention of all active workers to this serious question, and to call attention to fresh fotmay of agitation, ES Amalgamated SUM The Walden . Book Shop > 307 Plymouth Court (Between State and Dearborn Just South of Jackson) CHICAGO GENERAL HEADQUARTERS 81 East 10th Street, New York, N. Y. THIS IS OUR EMBLEM An Industrial Ohenhinasns For -- All Workers in the Food Industry — vuegttectnatnaeaeietccsiucuceeiecceetctnsivtveterecce tne Se ee Food Workers: as AMM Jte HELENE MEISTER Graduate from German Colleges, Studied at Sorbunne, Paris, Instructor of German, French and Russian 2433 W. CONGRESS STREET Phone West 3244 etn PITTSBURGH, PA, To those who work hard for ‘thely money, | will save 50 per cent on all their dental work, DR. RASNICK DENTIST Genova Restaurant ITALIAN-AMERICAN N. E. Cor, Elizabeth St, d Spaghetti Mr yg Our Special Arrangements for Parties on Short Notice he comes te :