The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 7, 1925, Page 10

mx -tGraad 2 1905 Loe Four THE DAILY.,WORKER By EARL R. BROWDER. 5 tepa the world is interested in what ig going on in Soviet Russia. And especially all the world’s workers. Every bit of news that comes, regis- tering the victories and the setbacks of the first workers’ government, is eagerly read by millions. Because » very one knows that a tremendous and epoch-making step was taken when the Russian workers and peas- ants’ under the leadership of thé Bol- sheviki, took power in October, 1917, and every development since that time is either a step forward for the whole working class of the world or a defeat for the whole working class. For good or ill, Russia has for eight years stood as the vanguard of the proletarian revolution, The evi- dence that accumulates every day, that the defeats and hardships have been passing and temporary, while the victories and material benefits have been constantly growing great- er and more permanent, heartened the tolling millions of every land for new struggles against their exploiters. The Organs of Workers’ Rule. HE working class. cannot rule un- less it is organized. Under czarism, the Russian workers were denied the simplest rights of organization, and could act only in seeret, conspira- torial, underground How have they fared in this respect since they broke the power of the bourgeoisie? First, let us examine the growth of the political party of the workers— the Bolshevik faction of the Russian ‘ocial-Democratic Party which be- mme the Russian Communist Party. In 1903, the Bolsheviks had 825 mem- bers; after the 1905 revolution it rose to 46,146 members; then until the 1917 revolution it lived an un- derground existence during which it could not even register its member- ship. Beginning with 1917, the party increased its membership by leaps and bounds, in spite of the severe ob- ligations of membership, the rigid dis- cipline, and the most careful scrutiny and examination of candidates. To- day the Russian Communist Party numbers 850,000, every one of whom is a picked man or woman, pledged under the highest degree of discipline to the cause of the proletarian revo- lution and the service of the working class. The exact figures of the growth of the Russian Communist Party are as follows: Year 1903 Members 825° 5,150 13,800 46,146 172,625 148,000 313,766 611,978 1921 705,245 1925 850,000 (Figures to 1921 from Wm, Z. Foster's The Russian Revolution, page 35, Chicago, 1921; for 1925, from Re- ports of the Statistical Department of the R. C. P. No. 134.) « piganed re striking is the tremend- ous 5, 2 movement. This is reaching truly phenomenal propor- tions. The growth of the Young Com- munist League is aptly described by N. Bucharin, (in The International Bourgeoisie and its Apostle Kautsky,) as “an unparalleled stormy and extra- ordinary organizational development.” Developed entirely since the revolu- tion of 1917, the Young Communist League (not counting the very young people who are organized in the “Pio- neers”) has in 1925 more than a mil- lion and a half members. Its course of 1906 1907 1917 1918 1919 1920 organizations. | ] development is registered in the fol- peas (from The Young Communist League of Russia in Figures, Moscow, 1925, page 7): Young Communist ship League Member- 1922 Oct. (5th Congress) 206,000 1923 January 303,944 1924 January 500,700 1925 January 1,140,706 1925 April 1,432,608 Where else in the entire world has the working class youth found such a free and rich social life that would result in such a truly magnificent or- ganizational growth? the United States, where even the bourgeois-endowed boy scouts, backed by the untold wealth of the richest country in the world, gathers in lit- tle more than the children of the middle class. But if the growth of the youth or- ganization is remarkable, what then shall. we say of the drganizations of the children (of 12 to 16 years), called the “Pioneers”? This wonder- ful body, of which there is nothing to compare in other countries, increased its membership-more than one mil- lion in less than a year and a half. It is training the children of Russia to take their positions as responsible members of the ruling class of Rus- sia—the working class—to become the administrators of the future socialist state, and the builders of the Com- munist society. The growth of the Pioneers is shown in the following figures (from The Communist Children’s Movement in Figures, Moscow, 1925.): Number of Number of Groups Members 1924 January 3,000 161,349 1924 July 3,702 » 200,000 1924 October 12,000 760,000 1925 January 19,814 1,000,032 1925 April 25,866 1,299,519 'N the question of the organization of labor unions, the Russian work- ing class has been able, thanks to the revolution, to rise from their com- plete suppression under the czar, in the course of the eight years of work- Surely not in| ers’ rule, to the position of the most completely and scientifically organiz- ed working class in the entire world. In the first years of the revolution, every worker automatically became a member of the union, This fact was seized upon by the enemies of Rus- sia and of the working class, in order to claim that the union membership did not mean anything. But since 1921, membership is purely voluntary, and requires the continuous and con- scious action of each member to main- tain, membership fees being paid in- dividually. And still the union mem- bership continues to grow. The first period of this growth is shown by Foster (in The ' Russian Revolution, Chicago, 1921,): January, 1917 1,385 June, 1917 1,475,429 January, 1918 2,532,000 January, 1919 3,638,812 April, 1920 4,262,000 FTER the inauguration of the New Economic Poli the course of development is de: bed by N. Bu- charin (in The International Bourgeo- isie and Kautsky its Apostle,) as fol- lows: “A long time ago we left the me- hod of automatically organizing the working class in the trade unions; as we did during the period of war Com- munism, and went over to the method of individual voluntary membership. Nevertheless this did not result in a lecrease in the numbers of the union nembership, but on the contrary, it -esulted in an increase. On the Ist of January, 1923, the percentage of the ntire working ¢ organized in the trade unions was 95.9 per cent. “At the time of the Fifth. Trade Union Congress, the unions had a to- tal membership of four and a half millions, And the Fifth Trade Union Congress was able to show an in- 2rease in the total membership of 30 per cent, the total membership then being over six millions,” Surely there has never been before 1 working class which was so thoroly ind completely organized, that wield- ed such enormous power in society, as the Russian working class—thanks to the Bolshevik reyolutiop. Growth of Culture. HE tremendous development in or- ganization has been accompanied by a parallel development of culture among the workers. Whereas under the czar and the petty-bourgeois pro- visional government, the working masses had been denied largely even the opportunity to learn to read and write, under the Soviets, on the con- trary, the workers thru their organiza- tions and led by the Communist Party, have developed a rich and ac- tive iftellectual life. This is reflect- ed in the reports of the trade unions, and particularly in the fmstitution of the Workers’ Correspondents. The general leve} of culture is shown in the great wth of news- paper circulation. ie comparison shows: ze Daily circulation befdte ™ the revolution .... 2,500,000 Daily circulation in 192! 000,000 One edition, all papers, 1925 7,500,000 Thus it is seen that, the proletarian revolution gave to millions of work- ers and peasants in Russia their first opportunity to participate’ in politics, o know what is going’on in the world, o read and to think,-and thus to act with intelligence and power. And, quite to the contrary_of..what exists in the United States, every copy of the papers is written, by workers, for workers, and does not consist of the intellectual poison of the Chicago Tri- bune or the Hearst papers, of which, the more the workers read the more confused they are made. 1O show that these papers are ac- tually written by and for the work- ers and peasants, one needs only look at the institution of the Workers’ Correspondents. As an institution vith its own congresses and officials, his movement was only launched in late 1923. Already it has become a great national institution. Witness the following figures, reported in Pravda on the occasion of the second yongress of workers and village cor- espondents, and also contained in a jbered at report by the Publishing House of the Journalists’ Institute: Worker Village Cor’spdts. Cor'spdts Total 2,570 24,800 57,370 August, 1924 ...43,200 57,500 100,700 Dec., 1924 ........63,280 79,780 143,060 Accompanying this development of the regular press, with its hundreds of thousands of worker-editors, there has developed (due to the lack of printing presses and paper to fill the tremendous demand for ever more publications) the so-called “Wall Pa- pers,” newspapers which are written out by hand and pasted on bulletin boards, in the shops, mines, and vil- lages, These “wall papers” are num- present in tens of thou- March, 1924 sands. The part taken in this work, di- rectly, by the trade unions, is grow- ing ever more important. A short section of the report of the All-Rus- sian Central Council of Trade Unions for 1924 (pages 86-87), is so much to the point, and so brief, that it must be reproduced here: “The educational work of the unions is based mainly upon the fac- tory club. Of the 1,572 workers’ clubs (in 62 provinces), 1,049 are located in factories, the others being local and central clubs. “The unions pay special attention to the workers’ libraries, which consti- tute an important part of their educa- tional activities. The results of an examination of the educational activ- ities of the unions carried out in 62 provinces showed that in 1923 they had 1,608 union libraries, with 332,000 permanent subscribers, of whim 50 per cent were manual workers, 35 per cent clerical workers, and 15 per cent members of their families. The libraries had about 3,000,000 volumes.” (This was more than two years ago, and has been multiplied several times since then.) “There are at present (first part of 1924) in Soviet Russia a total of 835 factory apprentice schools with 60,000 students, 301 technical courses with 10,009 students, and 30 evening cours- te es with 60,000 students “It should also be pointed out that the unions are taking an active part in the selection of students for the uni- versities, and that workers 1 1d mem- bers of trade unions are given a high- er education.” (Trade Unions of U. S. S. R., in 1922-24, Moscow, 1924.) The unions thémselves directly pub- lish 24 newspapers and 63 magazines, with a circulation of about 785,000. The biggest circulation is that of the Gudok (The Whistle), organ of the Railwaymen’s Union, which has a daily circulation of a quarter-million copies. Conditions of Living. HE Russian workers are as yet far from having achieved a com- fortable standard of living. Inherit- ing a backward country, in which in- dustry was only beginning to develop; with even the backward industry com- pletely ruined by the war, the block- ade, and the civil war; being largely cut off from access to the resources of the rest of the world; with all of these tremendous handicaps, it will take the Russian working class some years to realize the full possibilities of a Communist development of eco- nomic life. It is absurd, however, to+compare the material conditions of the Russian workers with some “ideal.” The mea- sure of the revolutionary achieve- ments must be measured by compari- son with what the workers had before. And from this standpoint, the prog- ress of the working class is great in- deed. Production of the Russian indus- tries is rapidly approaching the pre- war level. And this: production, in- stead of as formerly being largely for the benefit of the exploiting class, is now all for the benefit of the work- ers. Today, in spite of the shortage of many necessary commodities, the Russian workers are not only living on a higher scale than ever before in higtory—they are also, as a whole, living on a higher level than the work- ing class of Central Europe. (An. excellent summary of current vial Eighth Soviet Anniversary Edition) ! iEight Years of Growth Brings Prosperity to Soviet Union economic developments in Soviet Rus- sia is to be found in the article of N. Bucharin, in International Press Cor- respondence, Aug. 27, 1925, Vol. 16, No, 67.) The Workers’ Rule. IGURES are dull, dry things, They give no adequate idea, of course, of the tremendous changes wrought by the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. For the greatest achievement, and the greatest change, was not the immedi- ate material and organizational bene- _ fits that came from the revolution— it was rather the reversal of the old order of society, the transformation of the subject class into the ruling slass. Even the conservative British Trade Union delegation to Russia un‘ derstood this, as was shown in their report when they said: “A report on labor conditions In the Union of Socialist Soviet Repub- lics must begin by pointing out that in Russia the workers are the rul- ing class. For unless the reader bears this in mind thruout he will be misled by much in the Russian labor conditions that at first sight seems very. much the same with us. Really everything is quite dif- ferent; because in Russia we have a regulation of the workers’ rights that they have put upon themselves for their own well-being. Else- where we have a restriction of the workers’ rights put upon them by the wealthy. . No one who grasps this will ever be misled by the lies he can read almost daily that the worker in Russia lives a live as limited as, and with even fess liberty than, with us. The Rus- sian jworkers are the ruling class of Rus: They enjoy the rights of a ruling class. They are beginning to exercise its responsibilities. They still have much to learn, but they have made a start. In a_ village school visited by one of the dele- «gates the children were learning to write in copy books in which over “God save the czar” had been past- ed, “Once we were s' are free.” The Bolshevik Revolution By G. VOITINSKY (Moscow) 'N the eighth year of its existence the importance of the Bolshevik revolution for the oppressed peoples of the East stands out with greater clearness than ever. China with its population of many millions, rent as- sunder. by world imperialism more than ten years ago, is now in the eight year of the revolution experi- encing a great revival among her population, who are uniting in order to resist the intervention of the im- perialists of America, England, France, Japan and other countries. With an unprecedented absence of concealment, the great capitalist pow- ers have undertaken a grand attack upon the toiling masses of China, At this moment the only ally of the Chinese masses and the Chinese peo- ple as a whole, the. only defender of their interests, is the Union of Soviet Republics. This fact is now known to the population of Southern, North- ern and Central China as well as to the peoples of outer China—Thibet, Chinese Turkestan and outer’ Mon- golia. The treaty concluded by the U, S. S. R. and the Chinese republic has shown to the Chinese people that the new state is inspired by the spirit of real national equality in its relations to a people oppressed by imperialism The enslaving treaties which were violently enforced upon China by, the The Locarno “Peace” in the Making Chamberlain ee the String i in the Fake Locarno “Peace” in h Germany Was Trapped, imperialists of all nations and by the, former ezarist government, were dis- closed to the Chinese masses by the Chinese-Soviet treaty and the great danger ‘»menacing China by further penetrations of imperialism became obvious. Ov: rite which once and for all} Oat P; ithe shameful privileges which permitted the czarist govern- ment, to;,haye. its own streets (extra- territorial ..concessions) on Chinese territory, its own courts, its own arm- ies, and, its own laws, aroused a. wave of enthusiasm among the Chinese masses,,.1t also intensified the hatred of these. masses towards the imper- ialists,who still continue to exercise and the Peop the possibility of entry into the stronghold of imperialisni. ‘Here the memorial of Lenin, whose" name is honored by the entire @hinese people, will serve as an inspiration to the toiling masses-of China and as a sym- bol of our great Bolshevik revolution. The Chinese: Eastern way, which was constructed by nan gov- ernment with the objec enslaving the Chinese people,)and. which later served as the highroad for the plun- dering expeditidns of world imperial- ism, has at last been torn from the cluthes of the imperialists, and ‘will henceforth serve as, the highroad for the victorious proletariat marching to the aid of the oppressed masses of these privileges. The annulment by the treaty of the Russian portion of the Boxer indem- nity, the’ annulment of ani imposition of many millions, laid upon the Chi- nése people in fayor of the im- perialists as a sign of the latter's vic- tory over the Chinese people in 1900- 1901, will have great influence in bringing the Chinese masses nearer to the revolutionary movement of the world proletariat. E Chinese people are beginning to understand the duel between our Red diplomacy and world -imper- jalism on the territory of China. In the hegrt of China, Peking, after a bitter struggle, the .red flag was finally hoisted in the stronghold of the imperialists, the legation quarter. The stone wall surrounding the. im- perialists’ quarter in Peking, thru the openings of which guns bitterly men- ace the Chinese people, has collapsed where the concession of the czarist government was originally; from this China, - the other end of fot the small country of Afghanistan, heroically fighting for its independence, and struggling desperately to rid itself of the remnants of medieyal, feudalism, finds in the U. S. S. R, a. trusty ally and a comrade who is prepared to de- fend it from aggression of British imperialism. The insurrections in- spired and nourished by, the “labor government” and headed by Prince Kherim Khan, who is aiming at the throne of Afghanistan, is serving still more to unite the Afghan people with the Union of Soviet Republics, which for many years has proved its sincere desire to help the people of Afghanis- tan to liberate themselves from the chains of feudalism and foreign inter- vention. The flight of the red airmen, who, with the audacity of eagles crossed the Hindu Kush into Afghanistan, serves as a symbol of the assistance which the victorious proletariat is side the Chinese people have secured | prepared ‘to lend the oppressed peo- les of the Colonies and Semi-Colonies ples of the East in their struggle against imperialism. HE people of Turkey, who experi- enced the revolution of 1908, the impulse to which was our revolution of 1905, who suffered from the inter- vention of impérialists after the world war, and who from peasant Ango’ fonght for the independence of Tur! ey, found a trusty ally and a friend in the U. S. S. R. in every stage of its struggle. With the aid of the Soviet diplom- | acy, and thanks to the firmness of Soviet policy, ,on questions of the Near East, people succeeded in retaining their) independence at the Lausanne confer- | ence. The Turkish people know that | their only friend both in the fight for political independence and in the fu- ture struggle for economic independ- ence, is the Union of Soviet Repub- lics, UR neighbor, Persia, who for long years has been the prey of the im: perialist powers of England and czar- ist Russia, has since the revolution en- tered on the path of national inde- pendence. At the present moment, when British imperialism, backed by the flag of the Second International, is instigating insurrections in south- ern Persia with the object of over- throwing Riza Khan, the leader of the national-revolutionary movement of sors. They know that in the north a powerful force has sprung up and is ripening, a force capable of inspiring fear even in the heart of “invincible” British imperialism. The toilers of In- dia know that the country of the So- viets is their one true and unselfish ad is not therefore surprising, that at the trade union congress in 1921, the Indian proletariat declared its | fraternal solidarity, with the workers and peasants of Soviet Russia. ‘It is not surprising therefore that ‘on the death of Lenin the oppressed the: straxsiing Turkish | masses of India united with the gen- eral mourning of the toiling masses of the world. ‘It is not surprising therefore when the blind hatred of the British bour- geoisie towards the Soviets is urging them to break the agreement with Soyiét Russia, the Indian revolution- aries are defending the Soviet Union ; against the attacks of British imper- ialists, even bourgeois and Indian newspapers, such as the Bombay Chronicle, are obliged to panile this fact. The idea of the revolution is becom- ing familiar even to the most back- ward and oppressed peoples of the Near, Middle and Far East. OREA, a country with a popula- tion of 15 millions, struggling in the iron clutches of Japanese imper- jalism, has since 1919, and under the Persia who succeeded in securing the} influence of the revolution, made he- independence, the mighty influence of! roic attémpts to liberate herself; she the Soviet Union is a wall against which the British schemes of plunder are being smashed. The innumerable millions of toilers of India have since the revolution ceased to feel that they are alone in their fight against the British oppres- NOVEMBER SEVENTH By MORITZ J J. LOEB. ICTORY! The Greatest Victory! The first 6f a series of victories which will end “the final conflict.’ +) November seventh! In every part of the world where workers strain against the chains of oppression and slavery, November seventh thunders to them, “The vic- torious Russian revolution means not only the liberation of the Russian masses but also the liberation of the toilers of the whole world. To the depth of every mine pit, thru and louder than the roar of blast furnaces, into every factory, into the fields and forests, unto the high seas, November seventh calls, “It is the beginning of the building of a new world.” Into marble pillared structures where “statesmen” do the bidding of their masters, into the skyscrapers from where bankers and captains of industry rule with the lives of thou- sands in balance, November seventh comes to warn, “For you and your power over mankind, this is the be- world revolution. In America for the,past years No- vember seventh has.meant all this and something more; something that symbolizes the growth of the Ameri- can party of the workers, that which is dear to the Workers Party above any of its other possessions. November 7, 1923... . Teng of thousands of workers jn every part of the country coming together to greet Soviet Russia with & powerful new weapon of the class struggle. The final effort being made to bring into existence The DAILY WORKER. From thousands of throats a greeting to the world proletariat, to its leader, the Communist International, to its front line troops, the Russian work- ing class. From thousands of pockets the funds which were to make pos- sible the first English Communist daily paper in the world. November 7, 1924, . . . Again the thousands assembled. Again our greetings, again our efforts for The DAILY WORKER, to insure it for 1925, to make our paper stronger and ginning of the end.” LL over the world on November seventh workers pour into the meetings of celebration, to greet the Russian revolution on the day of its anniversary, to greet Soviet Russia and the world proletariat and to pledge themselves to the task of better for the fight in the year to come, Nica year has come asdnow draws to a close, For The DAILY WORK- ER it has been a year of great achievement, but ing times and into a period of crisis. Danger threatens ominously. We may lose our paper; it cannot last long without immediate and substantial, support. Save The DAILY WORKER! Like a stream of fire the slogan spreads thru the militant working class, What we worked for and sac- rificed for in 1923 that We might es- tablish our daily, what we have sup- ported with all our strength in 1924, we will not give up in 1925, November 7, 1925, . . . meet- ings arranged everywhere. We will celebrate the eighth anniversary of the Russian revolution, We will, we must utilize this day of greatest work- ing class celebration to bring the campaign to save The DAILY WORK- ER to its height. 'HEREVER there is organization of militant wage workers there will be meetings this next week-end. If there are workers who willingly stay away from these celebrations they do not belong in the ranks .of the proletarian vanguard. November Seventh, Nineteen-Twen- ty-Five! Save The DAILY WoRKER! Hail the Russian Revolution! Put a copy of the DAILY WORKER in your pocket when you go to your union meeting. - has been swept by a revolutionary wave coming from. the west, from the Amur and the maritime regions. The cry “Hands off China” is being carried from the country of the So- viets thruout the whole world and will without doubt find a response in op- pressed Korea, the fate of which is so closely bound up with China, and will serve as a further stimulus to the Korean liberation movement, ( peoples of Arabia and the Af rican colonies who are fighting an unequal duel with the armies of the imperialists, are turning their eyes more and more to the Soviet Repub- lies, feeling that, they are their sole friend and protacton: in their strug- gles. These peoples ik found the way to Moseow, and on the eight annivers- ary of the revolution the representa- tives of Arabia will be able to cele- brate with us the victory of the work- ing class over the deadly enemy of the peoples of the East—czarist Rus- sia, and over international capitalism, Greater and greater divisions of the oppressed sections of mankind are marching under the banner of the Bol- shevik revolution. All. forms of strug- gle against oppression are being dedi- cated to the great idea of the revolu- tion; whether the struggle of the revolutionary proletariat in the capi- talist countries, of the national-eman- cipation movement of dependent peo- ples or the struggle against theo- crasy, against religious oppression— all these are becoming identified with the struggle of the vanguard of the world proletariat, the Union of Soviet Republics.