The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 1, 1925, Page 8

Concerning Jackasses and Other ‘Animals By HARRISON GEORGE, “What the jackass communi ty where Scopes is held nee to convince them (that al things are forever changing) i for an amoeba to develop int a whale during the years thei: bosses let them live.”"—The In dustrial Pioneer, June, 1925. UT if, as the dictionary says—‘“thi jackass is to be distinguished b, its long ears and loud braying,” the above quotation from the editor 0! the Industrial Pioneer, is an obvious discourtesy paid by a jackass who be- lieves that nothing has changed in sociology since the I. W. W. pre amble was written, to his fellow jack asses of Tennessee, whose biological knowledge is begun and ended with the Book of Genesis. The sociological understanding, fui example, possessed by the editor o/ , the Industrial Pioneer, John Gahan has carried him no further than the conceptions of the yellow socialists of the Second International, that it is absolutely useless for colonial and op pressed peoples to try to throw off the yoke of foreign capitalist imperialism. Witness his editorial observations up- on the question of China driving ou! those who have oppressed her: “This is unadulterated bosh. China is to be developed by for- elgn capital. American wage slaves. . . are destined to fur- nish the surplus value used by their masters to get factories In China started, mills running, mines dug, and railroads thrown across the vast territory. And af- ter a while the goods pruauced tn Chinese factories are golIng to be on the world market. Another erstwhile backward country will have advanced to industrial prom- inence.”—Industrial Pioneer, July 1925, page 40. UCH good it will do the Chinese proletariat 6,000,000 strong, or the crest -of - the 443,000,000, Chinese fiedple: oppressed, by, foreign imperial- ism, to. come to the I. W. W. for a solution of their grievances against their oppressors. Are Chinese workers and ‘students massacred by British and American troops on Chinese soil? “No use kick- ing,” says John Gahan, I. W. W. editor, “it is all a necessary part of develop- ing China.” When an American marine named Dizick shot a strike agitator at Shang- hai last month, this act of imperialist butchery had the “scientific” approba- tion of the editor of the I. W. W.’s magazine—“China is to be developed by foreign capital.” And it is clearly inferred by Gahan’s social democratic theory, that Dizick’s bullet was just as helpful as the surplus value furnished by American wage slaves to “advance this erstwhile backward country.” ILEASANT reading is the L W. W. “magazine to Wall Street bankers. Tt tells the American workers that by way of incident to “developing” China, American workers who are unemploy- ed may get a job furnishing the sur- plus value. It tells the Marine Trans- port Workers’ Industrial Union of the I. W. W., pleaded with by the Chinese Seamen’s Union and the Red Inter- national of Labor Unions to block shipments of arms used to murder the Chinese workers, that such action is “scientifically unsound”—according to Marx! This editorial ally of capitalist im- perialism evidently regards the his- toric upheaval of the Chinese people as a silly mistake, the life long labor of Sun Yat Sen as misguided zeal, the Kuomintang party and the Canton government as a fighting center a piece of folly, and is prepared to sprinkle the holy water of “revolution- ary science” over any armed invasion undertaken by the imperialist powers to: drown it all in blood, with the bléssings of the I. W. W. I am sure that the Chinese seamen, who have heard of the beauties of the I. W. W. philosophy from the honest rebel sea- men of the I. W. W., will be saddened by their disillusionment. HAVE spoken of Gahan’s idea of the relation of ¢olonial and oppres- ed peoples to the proletarian revolu- ‘on as belonging to the yellow social- st Second International. This, be- cause under the period of expanding ‘apitalism, the Second International, listorting Marxism and giving mere ip service to internationalism, acted s handmaiden to nationalist develop- nent and taught that each nation was t s@parate entity, the possibility of ‘evolution within which corresponded o the completeness of mechanical de- velopment and financial concentration. In this antiquated socialist view, each nation was an isolated economic phenomenon, independent of the »thers—and it fll becomes Editor Ga- han to sneer at the jackasses of the fennessee mountains who believe in the independent creation and non-rela- on of the species, so long as his prac- tical solution of proletarian emancipa- tion is based upon a _ theoretical ground essentially antagonistic to the integrated view of capitalism as a vorld system, a single whole. - DITOR GAHAN may protest that he does ‘believe capitalism a world unit, but so long as he regards that an incomplete industrial develop- ‘nent in a particular country is an in- surmountable obstacle to a revolution herein, he does not exhibit anything sut confusion. For—once he grants ihat each nation is only one link in he great imperialist chain of the world system as a whole, he will hay to grant a conclusion to which hi “fundamentalist” fellow workers ar very loth to admit. For if capitalist imperialism is world system, then where would onc logically conclude the revolutionary proletariat would first break thru cap- italist rule? In the countries wherc the capitalist dictatorship was most perfected, with its schools, movies, preachers, police and press (including the Industrial Pioneer) to divert, chloroform and convince the workers that it mustn’t be done, or will the break come first in a country where the capitalist '¢hain Has “its “weakés? link, with. a» “homogenous®'' mag¢ schooled by the facts of life to revolt against universally hated exploiters’ Obviously, the imperialist chain is broken at its weakest —and not its strongest —point. And obviously, too, the I. W. W. does not understand this, because many of its spokesmen still insist that there has not been and could not be any proletarian revolu- tion in Russia, because “Russia was undeveloped industrially, is just a mass of small farmers and there ain't no proletariat.” Editor Gahan’s dic- tum on China is merely a sample of the stock argument. UT Gahan’s confusion on China is just one “fundamentalist” error of many which illustrates the ideo- logical confusion under the burden of which the I. W. W. is staggering ow- ing to his brilliant editorship. Onv can find as many solutions for prole- tarian emancipation in the pages of his Industrial Pioneer as there arc writers therein. P. J. Welinder, member of the I. W. W. general executive board, writ- ing in the Industrial Pioneer, May, 1925, issue, page eight, states that emancipation is not to be. consum- mated by “any general strike or any mass insurrection.” But that did not prevent Louis Bartha, editor of the I. W. W. Hungarian paper, writing. in the very next issue of the Pioneer from saying (page 18, June) that “This weapon of the working class was, and must ever be, Its economic action—the general strike.” AHAN makes no comment upon these conflicting theories of vital importance. One may take one’s choice, apparently, between I. W. W. theories, they contradict and cancel each other! Gahan merely adds to the confusion in both the May and June issues, by casual shafts at “poli- ticians,” some of whom he claims ad- vocate “voting” and others, more gin- ister, who observe that social revolu- tions. are connected with what he terms the “madness of Insurrection.” As for himself, Gahan can furnish the panacea for all* social tls. The I. W. W. has sold it for, lo, these many years (though not so successfully as the A. F, of L. it must be conceded). His remedy is so general and all-em- bracing, that it cannot be mistaken, and as he fails to go into details, no vne can trip him up, For years the I. W. W. has offered over its counter the good old remedy—‘Organize on the job!” OW, there is nothing wrong with that. It is a perfectly good direc- tion to put on the label. But when the workers take the wrapping oif, there’s nothing in the bottle—for tho L. W. W. fails to tell them just what ‘o do after they are organized on the job. “Ab.” but Gahan will protest, “didn’t I say to ‘take’ the industries?” Very true, my esteemed fellow, but you also objetced to insurrection! And you, as editor of the Pioneer, allowed Welinder to discourage both insur- rection and the general strike! How in hell are the workers going to get this. revolution, by immaculate con- ception? “Fundamentalism” again! ATURALLY, such sociological sur- vivals object to Leninist criti- cism of their pre-war ideas and anti- quated theories. Naturally, also, they find affinity in the labor fakers of the 4. F. of L. officialdom in waging war on the Communists and the terrible borers from within.” If there wer: nything needed to convince the mili- ant workers of the necessity of revo- itionary work within the unions they selong to, it is this general assault o1 hem as “borers from within.” When ‘ascals want to throw Communists out of the unions, it is proof that Jommunists ought to stay in—and work for revolution. Again stepping off into reactionary jaths as dark as his advice to the Shinese that they must bear with be- ‘ng shot down, beaten to death in the sotton mills and tried by foreign ex- ploiters’ courts set up by bayonets on Chinese soil—all in the interests of “developing” ‘and “advancing” them, so does Gahan take the side of craft union reaction and all its unholq brood of labor fakers, when he preach- es (Industrial Pioneer, April, 1925, page 46), that “It is folly to attempt the impossible’—in discussing the question of revolutionary activity in the craft unions. Not only does Gahan lend aid to the reactionary labor fakers by his advice, which—read by those I. W. W. members ‘and sympathizers who are, by reason of their jobs being control- led by the A. F. of L., members of such unions—actuates them to a pas- sive or even hostile attitude toward the left wing groups which are fight- ing bravely against the sluggers and organized machines of the labor fak- ers, but Gahan goes on to crow over the set-backs which this left wing movement has suffered in its initial battles. J NE battle (even many battles) is not a war. A war to revolutionize the trade unions, not to mention a war to accomplish to the overthrowal of capitalism, which is a uniformly suc- cessful war, which has no reverses and no defeats, would be a miracle, indeed. But Gahan, we must remem- ber, is a “fundamentalist.” He he- lieves in miracles. He sees his pillar of smoke by day and his pillar of fire by night. He makes a sacrifice before his god of dual unionism, he knows that his god is pleased to witness the reversals of his enemies, for his god is a vengeful god who permits no other gods before him. So in his editorial Gahan gloats that Bill Dunne was thrown out of the Portland convention of the A. F. of L. by Gompers, that the Communists were expelled by the reactionaries from the Seattle Central Labor Coun- cil, that Bud Reynolds was expelled in Detroit and Duncan MacDonald driven out of the Iinois Miners’ Union. E would think that after such an exhibition that Editor Gahan would take in good grace the accusa- ion of a “fraternity between the most reactionary labor fakers of the A. F. of L. and the fanatical anarcho-syndi- calist leaders of the I. W. W.”—which - { made in the March 31 issue of the DAILY WORKER. But anyone who reckons-on a “fundamentalist” think- ing about “what he thinks about,” is due for surprises, as Mr. Darrow dis- covered at Dayton, Tennessee. In a long article devoted to the gen- eral theme of showing the uniformity, in idea and co-operation in» practice between reactionary labor fakers and the present long-eared leadership of the I. W. W., I mentioned that “Gahan, editor of the Industrial Pioneer, is in- vited by the reactionary labor fakers of the Barbers’ Union of the A. F. of L., to speak against the Workers (Communist) Party to the local. He did so on March 26.” OW, as you will soon discover, Editor Gahan is adept at swal- lowing cameis while straining at gnats. And so while it is true that the labor fakers of the Barbers’ Union did, as stated, invite Gahan to speak to the local membership against the Communists, and it is further true that Gahan promised he would do so on the evening of March 26, yet it is not true that he actually did—for he failed to keep his promise to the fak- ers’ emissary sent to see him at his office on West Madison street. Whatever consolation Editor Gahan may get out of the fact that not know- ing him personally, I depended upon him being an honorable man who would keep his promise—that consola- tion he may have, for, writing the article previous to the date nfention- ad (as journalists often do) I rashly Jepended upon Gahan doing as he promised, and remarked, as noted, that he had spoken, But, alas, there is no honor among labor fakers. HAT may be Editor Gahan’s re- gards for promises, however, his conscience bothered him. not, at, all about a virtue of their non-observance.. Nor did his perception of the whole course of my article embrace the fact that the general charge made by me was that I. W. W. leaders and labor fakers work together against the Com- munists, Having been charged with collusion with the officials of the local barbers’ union—what does the man do but to rush down and get a certificate from these very officials, that he did not appear to speak at the meeting of the union and publish this labor faker’s letter to him as proof that I “lied” when I charged the two of them with collusion! He omitted getting a letter saying that he had not even been invited to speak, but it is to be presumed his collaborators in the Barbers’ Union will furnish him with whatever sort of statement he desires. shouldn’t the officials of Local 548 of the Barbers’ Union be very grateful to Editor Gahan? They have a revolt on their hands against a sell-out, a surrender to the bosses on the matter of wagés and hours—and both the bosses and the fakers are glad to see Gahan tell the member- ship that they “can’t do anything” about it. These officials lately sent one honest union man to the hospital and have a list of seven left-wingers already expelled from the union. The fakers furnish the broken ribs, fractured skulls and expelled rebels; Editor Gahan furnishes the editorials which the fakers can well.pass around among the membership they wish to see remain cowed and helpless. Like the Chinese workers, the members of the trade unions are told it’s no use— that rebellion in the unionis is “im- possible.” ‘ The fakers say so because it means hanging on to the treasury for them. Editor Gahan says so because—until he sees the Communist amoeba devel- op into a revolutionary whale right under his nose—he will remain a “fun- damentalist,” regardless of his scorn- ful braying at his fellow jackasses in the mountains of Tennessee, _— er