The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 4, 1926, Page 13

A Daily Paper of South Slav Workers ' Se By S. ZENICH. T was in 1905 and 1906 that the so- cial-democratic movement in the South Slavic parts of the Austro-Hun- garian monarchy began to develop with rapidity. Up to then there had been a very small number of the work- ers around the sociallemocratic party while the party was young, inexpe- rienced, and its official leaders already leaning to the bourgeoisie, altho that movement itself had been persecuted by the government. Their leadefs came mostly from the ranks of the bourgeoisie and from the Uberal intellectuals. The most promi- ment of these were: Duraj Demetro- vich (now one of the leaders of the Croatian fascisti); William Bugshek, supporter of the government during and after the world war; Vitomir Ko- rach, later a member of the Belgrade fascist government (now, as a former ministér of social affairs, on the gov- ernment payroll); Edbin and Anton Kristan, now both in the service of the Belgrade government, and some others. All of them have become traitors to the workers and peasants, but they were the leaders of the social- democratic party. Nevertheless, the movement slowly but definitely became a mass move- ment which created its own leaders. The masses were driven by exploita- tion to consciousness and struggle. Their wages were small—$1, $1.25 and $1.50 for fourteen hours work—these were the wages of the workers. They had no Jabor unions, they did not un- derstand the English language at all: they were exploited in all aspects of their life. These conditions forced to the fore new leaders. One of these new lead- ers that developed from the ranks was a printer, Milan Glumac-Jurishich. From the very beginning of his af- filiation with the movement he was very active and showed initiative. He néver ‘wag satisfactory: to the official leaders of the party because he did not agree with their reformistic att? tude, He was more revolutionary and was considered by party leaders a hot- headed, uncontrolled enthusiast. The government called him a dangerous socialist and sometimes an anarchist. From the beginning he was isolated in the party, but he was a real fighter in the eyes of the broad masses. In proportion as the party developed into a mass party Milan Glumac became more dangerous to the reformist lead- ers. In the meantime in the United States there were hundreds of thou- sands of Jugo-Slav workers. All large cities and industrial centers, especially Chicago, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Detroit, were inhabited by Jugo-Slay wage slaves. In these cities were some workers (qualified to follow a trade) who were members of the social-demo- cratic party and labor unions in Eu-|try rope. They felt it necessary to or- ganize Jugo-Slav workers into politi- cal organizations of the workers. Exploitation of the workers became more and more intense. Not only American exploiters but new Jugo- Slav agents of the bourgeoisie at- tacked the interests of the workers. Money exchangers, real estate sales- men, builders of new “banks” and churches, and representatives of va- rious political groups in Austria-Hun- gary—these gentlemen were .very busy trying to win over the workers. Of course, the conditions of the workers and peasants were such that they inevitably were forced to create their own leaders. The wages were small, working hours long and the peasantry carried burdens of taxes and military expenses. The leaders were not revolutionists—all that was a condition for the development. of new leaders. In the city of Pittsburgh there was organized the first Croatian Workers’ Club. Pittsburgh was followed by Chicago and general sentiment for in- dependent workers’ organization ex- isted in all larger towns and cities where lived Slav workers, During thé short time of activities of those clubs it became necessary to have a workers’ paper thru which the new idea of socialism could be spread. But there was lack of money and there THE STORY Nias pete Tati) was no capable man who could edit such a paper, That fact was one more argument for the necessity of a workers’ paper which would defend their interests. The Croatian Workers’ Education Club of Pittsburgh finally decided, first, to secure one good editor from Europe and, second, to organize a workers’ federation on a national scale. Communication had been es- tablished between C. W, E. C. at Pitts- burgh and the central executive com- mittee of the social-democratic party in Croatia (part of which was Aus- tria-Hungary and is now part of Jugo- Slavia). Social-democratic leaders such as they were did not believe in the suc- cess of the C. W. E. C. in Pittsburgh, but they did not refuse to send one of their capable comrades. To get rid of him the central executive committee OF RADNIK sharp, clear and enthusiastic articles in the paper were swallowed by the workers like hot cakes. Organizations were built in all larger cities of this country. One thing was characteristic of Radnicka Straza during the editorship of Milan Glumac—the writings of the Paper were not fully in the spirit of the socialist party.. Glumac said many timess “The socialist party is too soft for the capitalist class and its agents.” He was a left socialist in spirit and conceptions of struggle against the capitalists, Until 1912 the South Slav Socialist Federation grew numerically and the subscriptions increased to 3,000. Nevertheless the sickness of Com- rade Glumac forced him first to a farm, then to California, where he could not remain because he was iso- lated from the movement, He came Real Estate By HERSHELL BEK. Men who go by the name of brokers, ; On the corners of Main Street, in offices with “Real Estate” written in gold on the plate glass windows, Bargain and barter in slices of earth, ‘And thé slices pass from hand to hand, And each soft hand takes an easy rake-off of so many dollars of easy gain. And a grimy miner, And a steel worker, After a hard day’s work, Go home along Main Street, To their flats in a tenement house, And they ask themselves questions, “Why is the rent so high?” “And where is the rent to come from?” And the wind whistles answers in the night, : Answers they cannot understand, And men who go by the name of brokers, Keep on buying and selling slices of earth, And each soft hand . of the social-democratic party decided to send Milan Glumac-Jurishich. Milan Glumac-Jurishich had been convinced of his success since he came to America. In 1907 he was in Pittsburgh. The same year the W. E. C. was organized in Chicago and definite preparations had been made for other cities, In 1908 the C. E. F. (Croatian Educational Federation) was organized and its official organ was issued—Radnicka Straza (The Workingclass Guard). The edifor of the paper was Comrade Milan Glumac- Jurishich, At once he became a leader of the Jugo-Slay workers in this coun- In its first year Radnicka Straza was issued twice a month in half news- paper size. The next year—1909— the South Slavic Socialist Federation was definitely organized and affiliated to the socialist party of America. In the meantime, Radnicka Straza be- came a large weekly paper (like the Radnik or Tha DAILY WORKER now, in four pages). The socialist move- ment among the workers became a fact. Radnicka Straza was born in a hard time. In 1907-10 there was great un- employment in this country, Workers were hungry and desperate; the ig- norance of the workers was still strong; religion, patriotism and gen- eral backwardness ruled supreme among the workers. But the activity of the comrades under the leadership of Comrade Glumac never ceased. They were very active, Glumac him- self was editor and printer of the paper. He worked for four or ftve dol- lars a week, with which he had to sup- port his family and pay expenses for medicine and doctor (he had tubercu- losis), Many times he gave money y to hungry comrades. Radnicka Straza, under hig editorship, was. a strong whip in the hands of the socialists against the Jugo-Slav priests, business men, speculators and bourgeois in gen- eral. The paper gained daily in in- fluence among the masses. Short, 7 back to Chicago and finally died in January, 1924, His successor as editor of Radnicka Straza was Theodore Cvetkov, at pres- ent a renegade to the Communist movement. Cvetkoy was a pacifist by soul and an opportunist by political conceptions. After the death of Glu- mac the fighting spirit of the move- ment declined to a great degree. In 1915-16 came the discussion and split in the South Slavic Socialist Fed- eration. Two wings were created—a right-social-patriotic wing, with Kris- tan and B. Savich at the head, and a pacifist-opportunist centrist wing with Cvetkov at the head. In 1917 Radnicka Straza was sup- pressed by the authorities and Nova Misao (New Thought) was issued. After the first number Nova Misao was also suppressed and Znanje (Knowledge) was issued. Znanje was as large as Radnicka Straza in 1917. From that time up to 1922 Znanje was issued. The editors of it were T. Cvetkov and Geo. Kutuzovich, who became a renegade to the movement in 1923. Parallel to the left wing in the socialist party the left wing move- ment among the South Slavic work- ers'developed. The Cvetkovites were very weak as compared to the influnce of the left. The Jugo-Slav workers became class conscious to the degree that they knew that bolshevism is the solution for them. During the world war they passed thru hard expe- riences; they were attacking the pactfi- ism of Cvetkov, the membership were with Cvetkov because of his anti-mili- tarist attitude. But the membership felt that pacifism cannot save the working class from the heel of im- perialism, ‘ The workers passed thru great ex- periences, The American capitalist class persecuted them. Those who were for the allies w re forced into the army and forced to contribute special war donations; those who were for the central powers (Austria-Hun- gary and Germany) were threatened with jail, persecution, and many of them deported to Georgia prisons, etc.; internationalist workers (follow- ers of the left wing in the socialist party) were under the most terrible conditions, blockaded from all sides by the enemies not only on the part ef American capitalist servants, but by Jugo-Slay dollar patriots and priests. These conditions were the main rea- son for the large influence of social- patriotism on one side and pacifism onthe other, The left wing had no leadership, had no full and correct po- litical line because it was just begin- ning to develop. Later on the left wing became stronger and stronger and finally became a real power among the Juge-Siav workers in this country. The South Slavic Socialist (Interna- tional) Federation as a whole became & part of the left wing in the socialist party. Later on the federation was affiliated to the Communist Party of America and from that time remained am active section of the American Communist movement. In 1921 the decision was made to change Znanje to Radnik and that tn- stead of a weekly it should be a tri- weekly, = Cvetkoy and his followers were op- posed to both changes. In connection with other political and principal dif- ferences, the question of the press was one of the most important. For nearly one year the fight went on and finally Cvetkov left the party and the federation. Some of his followera went with him. All of them declared that the South Slavic Federation would collapse, that Radnick would not be able to continue publication three times a week. Their demoraliz- ing, pessimistic and opportunistic at- titude did not destroy the movement, They did not even succeed in splitting it, because the membership steod strong for Communism and party pol- icy and discipline was sufficiently ap- Plied. But they succeeded to a, eer- tain extent in isolating the federation and in shaking its morale. Neverthe- less, altho very slowly but positively the federation became stronger in all ways, Radnik 4s a tri-weekly paper, with a better political line, better articles and greater spirit step by step break- ing down the walls of isolation, be- came @ more popular organ. The ranks of the membership became closer and politically stronger. In 1926 the Bureau of the South Slavic Fraction (former federation) came to the conclusion that Radnik should become a daily. The ist of May was selected as the date. In reality, on the Ist of May, 1926, Rad- nik became a daily. The enthusiasm of the membership and subscribers, as a whole, was such that about $10,000 was collected for the daily, altho the Jugo-Slav workers gave for the International Labor Defense at least. $10,000 and for The DAILY WORKER at least $5,000 and for strikes and other campaigns a great sum of money. We must have in mind unemployment, also the offensive of the entire reaction and bourgeoisie (including opportunists in various forms), Radnik is a daily. {ts policy is the policy of the Workers (Communist) Party of America. It becomes more and more a mass organ of the Jugo- Slav workers in this country. More than that, Radnik is becoming a Com- munist (Bolshevik) paper. Its in- fluence reaches the Jugo-Slav workers in South America, Australia, New Zealand, not to speak about Canada, Jugo-Slavia and even Soviet Russia. Radnik has connections with Jugo- Slav workers in all those countries. The conditions of the workers are forcing them to come nearer to the vanguard of their class. Radnik is trying, with success, to reach all the Jugo-Slav workers in this country, to organize them for class struggle against the capitalists. The fighting spirit of Milan Glumac- Jurishich, the first editor of Radnik (Radnicka Straza), combined with the Communist idea, principles and poli- tics, is leading the Jugo-Slav workers into the ranks of the Workers (Com- munist) Party of America in the strug- en Plea. 2h me a