The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 3, 1927, Page 3

The Resolution of the Comintern on the ° THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1927 Page Three merican Question Endorsed by the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, July 1, 1927 (Continued from Page One) IN this sense the demonstrations organized by the Party in connection with events in China in front of the British Embassy and Consulates were right and a proper move. But the writer of some of the editorials’ in The DAILY WORKER (May 7 and 8) deviated from this line of action by minimizing the predatory role of American imperialism in China and by repre- senting it one-sidedly only as a tool of British im- periVism. HE Workers (Communist) Party must put the question of the recognition of the Soviet Union more energetically in the trade unions and in this way also fight against the pro-imperialist policies of the labor bureaucracy. its struggle against American imperialism, the Workers (Communist) Party must not overlook the question of the war and post-war debts of the capitalist states of Europe to the United States. Without getting into the leading strings of the petty-bourgeois politicians and without allotting these questions first place, the Party must actively support the international revolutionary struggles egainst the whole system of jmperialist “peace” treaties, the Dawes Plan, and the financial policies of the imperialists from all of which the question of our debts is inseparable. The attitude of the Workers (Communist) Party ean only be for the cancellation of war debts; na- turally not for the cancellation of the inter-allied debts, but of all debts of the last imperialist world « war. However, it is not the task of the Workers (Communist) Party to carry on a special, separate struggle under this slogan, but it must combine this question with its general struggle against American imperialism. All these questions must be utilized by the Party to rally the broad masses in defense of the Soviet Union and the Chinese revolution and to sever the masses from the imperialist ideology of the bour- geoisie and the labor bureaucracy. At the same time the Party must understand that in view of its numerical weakness it can act as a centre of at- traction for the broad masses only when it has complete unity. * * * 2. The Development of the Revo- lutionary Movement in America. Pe peculiar situation in the United States creates greater difficulties for the development of the revolutionary labor movement than in any other in- dustrial country. A great rise is not to be expected in the nearest future. However, strikes and mass struggles of a predominantly economic character are occurring. These struggles are frequently fought with great persistence and bitterness and greatly contribute to the radicalization of broad sections of workers. These struggles (the miners’ strikes, the strike in the needle trades, Passaic) are a breach in the class collaboration policy of the trade union bureaucrats. These class conflicts give our Party increased op- portunities to attract by active participation and leadership, increasing sections of workers and to create gradually a basis for a Communist mass Party. jee imperialism is still in a position to provide for a large section of the working class a comparatively high standard of living. In com- parison with the position of the workers in Euro- pean capitalist countries, the American working class as a whole still occupies a privileged position. What Engels wrote to Marx in 1858 about the bour- geoisification of the British proletariat may be ap- Plied to a certain extent even today to the Ameri- can working class: “The English proletariat is actually becom- ing more and more bourgeois, so much so that it appears that this most bourgeois of all na- tions evidently wants to bring things about to the point where it will have a bourgeois aris- tocracy and bourgeois proletariat alongside of the bourgeoisie. Of course this ‘is’ to a certain extent natural on the part of a nation expoiting the whole world.” This is ONE of the most important reasons for the backwardness of the American labor movement. A considerable stratum of skilled and privileged workers has developed in the U. S. A. on the basis of its powerful imperialism with gigantic surplus profits. In no other country is the labor aristocracy as numerous as in the U. S. A. At the same time, in no other country is the gulf so great as in the United States between the skilled organized native workers who receive high wages and enjoy political rights and the mass of unskilled unorganized for- eign-born workers who have no political rights. Not only by means of high wages, and a high standard of living, but also thru a cunning sys- tem of privileges and favoritism, (purchase of shares, etc.) imperialism has been able to bribe a considerable section of skilled workers and thus to draw them to its side. Together with the most venal and corrupt trade union bureaucracy of the world which has become an integral part of the capitalist apparatus of op- pression, the labor axistocracy is still playing a predominating role in the official labor movement. The result of this is: ideological bourgeoisification of very considerable sections of the whole working class expressed in inadequate class consciousness and in millions of workers following the capitalist parties. * * . ae with the help of this section of skilled workers, American imperialism hempers the de- velopment of the labor movement, still it is not powerful enough to corrupt the entire working class, for its attempts in this direction are subject to the ial limitations of completely Dank world con- itions. The United States is not, as Great Britain for- merly was, the workshop of the whole world. To- day we have to reckon with the existence of the Soviet Union. In a number of important capitalist countries in Europe the proletarian revolution draws near. The struggle for liberation of the oppressed peo- -ples from the imperialist yoke is developing in Asia. “In Latin America opposition to American imperial- ism is increasing. » The rivalry among the imperialist powers for the possibilities of export of capital, for spheres of influence, markets, sources of raw ma- terial and for the domination of strategical posi- tions is becoming ever more sharp, thereby the an- tagonisms among them increase continually. Along with a whole series of other important fac- tors these are the main reasons why American im- perialism cannot succeed in corrupting the labor aristocracy for decades as was possible in Great Britain. American capitalism is still on the up- ward grade of development. Notwithstanding its growing power American imperialism as one of the most important component parts of world capital- ism is drawn more and more into the antagonisms and crisis of the latter because of its close connec- tion with the capitalist world economy. Altho American capitalism is still playing to a certain extent a stabilizing role within world cap- italism, it is nevertheless making imperialist an- tagonisms more acute. The time is approaching when the crises of world capitalism will also extend to the United States of America, will lower the standard of living of the privileged sections of the working class as a whole, and will thus lay the foundation for a revolutionary mass movement. We see already in spite of the corruption of a numerically limited section of the working class thru a petty-bourgeois standard of living, simulta- neously the application of a system of intensive ex- ploitation of the mass of unskilled and semi-skilled, of the foreign born and Negro workers. In Amer- ica, too, there are millions of workers living in slums, tenements and miserbale hovels. In these districts under the direct control of the trusts in the coal and steel centres and in the oil districts, the workers are exposed to t oppression and terror of a brutal system of industrial skavery. In no country in the world are workers so rapidly used up as in the United States, * * * | es if the wages of American workers are higher than in European capital countries, the Party must realize that the reduction of wages in Amer- ica to the level of other capitalist countries is not the premise for the deyelopment of mass movement. In view of the peculiar historical development of America a relatively small reduction in the stand- ard of living of the American working class can be the signal for big class struggles, This is well-known to the employers and their allies—the trade union bureaucrats. They there- fore try to bribe larger sections of the working class thru the application of special methods, thru the development of a special American system for deceiving the workers, and thereby tie them up with the capitalist system and make them inter- ested in its continuance. They try to destroy the solidarity of the workers thru promoting deep di- visions in the camp of the working class and thus depriving the latter of its fighting capacity, Under the deceptive slogan “higher strategy of labor” the trade union leaders and the leading bourgeois eco- nomists have developed out of their political, eco- nomic and financial collaboration of a general reformist system. They are the advocates of increased production and are the agents of the capitalist rationalization process in the factories. They try to make the working class believe that by investing their sav- ing in labor banks and thru purchasing stocks the workers can gain influence—control over, or even ownership of capitalist industry. This special form of American reformism openly denies the 's struggle and continyally subordi- nates the interests of the working class to those of the employers and their allies—the trade union bureaucrats. Thru spreading dangerous illusions among the workers the class ideology and organiza- tion of the latter are weakened. Hitherto the cap- italists and the trade union bureaucrats have suc- ceeded in keeping away the mass of the American proletariat from independent political action.. There- by the trade union leaders have been ablé to in- crease their power over large sections of the or- ganized workers and to bind them with stronger ties to the capitalist system. The Workers (Communist) Party must ruthlessly expose this so-called “higher strategy of labor” as a deception of the working class and carry on an energetic struggle against this bourgeoisification For this reason the Party should pay the maxi- mum attention to all the manifestations of the ideological corruption of the working class and par- ticularly to those which made their appearance re- cently; it must study them in order to be able to launch the most effective struggle against them. This is all the more important because a number of other capitalist countries are adopting along with 3 (4b=z Declaration of the Political Committee on “The | American Question” RESQEGEHIN ADOPTED BY THE PRESIDIUM OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL HE Political Committee declares its com- plete acceptance of the resolution of the E. C. C. I. on the present situation in our Party. We propose to execute this decision without reservation. We feel confident that the entire Party membership will have the same attitude towards the decision of the Communist International. HE Political Committee does not consider this decision from the point of view of any group. We view this decision solely from the viewpoint of the Party. The Poli- tical Committee does not hold the decision of the Communist International to be a vic- tory of any group over any other group or combination ef groups. The Political Com- mittee welcomes this decision precisely be- cause it considers the decision as a hundred per cent victory for the Party and as against the idea of the hegemony of any special group or collection of groups. ‘E ask the membership to consider the C. I. de- cision only in this light. We call upon the mem- bership not to approach the interpretation or ap- plication of this decision in any way at all in the spirit of victor over vanquished. {ie resolution of the E. C. C. I. goes a long way towards clarifying the Party’s position and elim- inating disagreement on such basic questions as the struggle against Ameri¢an imperialism and the war danger, our fundamental trade union problems, the united front tactics, bourgeoisification, as well as the attitude of the Communist International to- wards the various groupings in our Party. * * * 4 Ee Political Committee asks every member of the Party to study carefully the resolution of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, 5 ey Political Committee greets the organization recommendations of the Communist International, especially the provisions for the holding of the con- vention, because we are of the opinion that these measures help to stabilize the Party and make it possible for the Convention to take effective steps to abolish factionalism, to unify the Party and-to establish a broad collective leadership representative of all sections of the country and inclusive of a number of additional proletarian elements. H Hees Political Committee accepts and agrees with the criticism of its past inner line made by the Communist International when it said: “The majority of the Party Executive did not sufficiently understand how to create such & condition of affairs as to bring about an amal- gamation with the forces which are today in opposition. . .It is clear that the Majority of the Political Committee followed a too narrow course within the Party and themselves essen- tially contributed to the continued existence of fraction walls.” a ges Political Committee fee]s that in accepting this and in correcting itself in this respect, it further strengthens itself for achieving the task of leading the Party to complete unity and mass work. * * * T the same time the Political Committee is certain that the comrades of the Opposition will whole- heartedly accept and agree with the criticism made of them by the Communist International when it said: “The Opposition Groups must cease their fac- tional methods.” + We are sure that the comrades of the opposition will, as the Comintern says: “Endeavor by their attitude to facilitate unity with the Majority of the Political Committee before and at the Party Convention.” ue Political Committee draws the attention of the Party to the agreement, ‘ived at by the repre- sentatives of the existing *firty groupings for the unification of our Party. We point out the great help to the Party in the line laid down in the fol- lowing sections of this agreement which indicate the road to the unification of the Party: “The first and most important prerequisite for the merging of all the factions is the com- ing nearer and the unification of the two main historical streams in the Party which, until now have stood most sharply against each other; the Majority of the Polburéau and the Group of Comrade Foster. We pledge ourselves to con- vince the entire Party of the need of such a step and to avoid any actions which would hinder this development. “At the same time we will make every effort in order to bring about a complete merger with the Weinstone-Cannon group also. This group likewise must work with all its power for the accomplishment of unity between the Majority of the Poleom and the group of Comrade Foster, with the aim to merge itself also with the other groups. Against the Cannon-Weinstone group there should be no struggle carried on any more than against the other groups. We are of the opinion that the leading forces of all three groups can work together as they contain in their ranks complementary elements.” * * * (ge Central Executive Committee considers it of great help and very fortunate for the Party that today there is no basis for any dispute in our Party over the interpretation of the decision of the Com- intern. All disputes or struggles in our ranks over interpreting the Comintern decision are unnecessary in view of the following supplementary declaration of the American Sub-Commission of the Presidium of the Communist International regarding the line it has been following towards our Party: “The following paragraph was adopted by the American Sub-Commission of the Presidium with the purpose to be embodied into the agree- ment of the American comrades as a statement on the policy followed by the Executive Com- mittee of the Communist International toward the different groups in the American (Party: “The Comintern recognizes that in many po- litical questions the Ruthenberg Group followed a more correct line in the past than the Foster Group. Because of this the Comintern has gen- erally been supporting politically the Ruthen- berg Group. On the other hand the Comintern had to protect organizationally the Foster Group from the Ruthenberg Group. Begause the Ex- ecutive had the opinion that the leading group of the Majority of the Polecom had not suffi- ciently understood how to estimate the full sig- nificance of the trade union forces in the Party and that Comrade Foster at that time was more correct on many questions of the trade union tactics, the line of the Comintern has been: on the whole for the political support of the Ruth- enberg Group and for bringing Foster nearer to the general political line of the Ruthenberg , Group, at the same time, however, following the course towards the correction of the trade union line of the Ruthenberg Group on the line of Foster thru closest co-operation in the Party leadership.” * * * (COMRADES, the time for factionalism and group struggle in our Party is over. Already in the American Commission, the representatives of the various groups agreed that: “ . the unity of the Workers (Communist) Party is now more than ever an imperative nec- essity. The international situation, the ever-in- creasing war danger, the increasing attacks of the government and the reactionary trade union bureaucracy demand the consolidation of all the forces of the Party for the fulfillment of the great tasks which are before the Party. “The unity of the Party can be achieved only thru the liquidation of the existing groups and factions, the cessation of the factional struggle and the amalgamation of the Party into one unified whole. We pledge ourselves to work in this direction with all our power and without any reservations.” * * * N the basis of the C. I. decision and with the support of the members of all the former group- ings which have outlived their usefulness, we pro- pose to unify the Party. The enemies of our Party cannot take heart at our previous differences. As Communists we can, until a final decision is arrived at by the highest Party authority, differ with cach other and engage in vigorous political discussions without in the slightest impairing our Party’s spirit or capacity for facing and fighting the common enemy. eee the Convention the Party will engage in a discussion. The Poleom desires and guarantees a discussion in a Communist, in a comradely manner, of the various problems confronting our Party. Per- sonal recriminations, insults, attacks, rumors, gossip, a factional spirit and a group attitude are all out of place and impermissible in this discussion. We must all discuss as members of one world revolutionary proletarian Party in a constructive spirit, in an ef- fort to improve the capacity of all of us as Com- munist fighters and not in the least to undermine the effectiveness of any Party member regardless of his or her past group allignments. ae * HE Presidium of the E. C. C. I. has declared: “The Presidium recognizes that despite great objective difficulties the Party has recently made important progress in many fields of ac- tivities. “In the trade union field the Party has achieved quite a number of successes expressed in the increasing influence of the Left Wing in important unions (the Miners’ Union and Needle Trades) and in initiating and leading big strikes. The increasing influence of the Party and of the Left Wing has called forth an offensive of the corrupt trade union bureaucracy as a result of which there are made far-reaching de- mands on the tactical adroitness of the Workers (Communist) Party.” * * * Ce we have many difficult tasks and problems before us. Great responsibility rests upon all of us. The Communist International has correctly said that: “The Party must understand that in view of its numerical weakness it can act as a center of attraction for the broad masses only when it has complete unity.” * * * HE Communist International has thru its resolu- tion, the various cabled declarations, and its supplementary decision made it much easier for the Polcom to be able to lead the Party towards com- plete unification. What is now most necessary is the full support of the entire membership for the unification of the Party. The surest road to the ending of all factionalism, to the liquidation of all existing groups, to the establishment of a broad collective leadership, to the further and complete unification of our Party, is to be found in the un- reserved support of the decisions and line of the Communist International, in fully supporting the Polcom under whose leadership the Party has made great headway in consolidating its ranks and in mass work. Forward to a unified Communist Party! Let us redouble our efforts in all our Party campaigns! Forward to a mass Communist Party in the United States under the leadership of the Commu- nist International! the introduction of American technical methods def- inite methods of corruption of sections of the we ing class (welfare schemes, company unions, e In addition to this the bureaucracy of the A: dam International is attempting by drawing in conservative A. F. of L. to drive the entire trade union movement still further to the Right. * * * by addition to a broad ideological counter-campaign the Party must adopt a number of effective me: ures for bringing ever-increasing sections of werk- ers into the most intense opposition to the capital- ists and the trade union bureaucrats and for mak- ing the proletariat adopt an independent class pol- icy. ‘As much measures should be considered: Increased struggles for the lishment of a political mass party of the wo. 's independ- ent of all capitalist parties—of a “Labor Party’— strengthening at the same time the Workers (Com- munist) Party. In order to accelerate the forma- tion of a Labor Party, not only politically but also organziationally, the Party should form local and state committees composed of Left Wing and prog- ressive trade unionists; trade union locals should be won for this work. As soon as a broad enough basis has been created, the Party shall take the initiative in the formation of 4 National Committee which should seek to form a Labor Party thru the calling of a national convention. The Labor Party, or a forerunner, a “United Labor Ticket” must have a strong mass basis in the trade unions. If this mass basis is not attained, then the Workers (Com- munist) Party must itself as a Party enter the elec- tions campaign. This applies both to local and na- tional election campaigns. The Party must con- centrate great attention on election campaigns. These have a growing importance for awakening of the workers to independent political action and for linking up the Party more closely to the masses. * * * eS Party must carry on the struggle against the reactionary trade union bureaucrats, for the transformation of the unions into militant organiza- tions and for broadening their basis thru the organ- ization of the unorganized masses. The economic struggles of the workers must be developed, extended and intensified by the Party, in order to increase the class solidarity of the masses. The Party must oppose the reactionary govern- ment as an executive organ of the imperialist trust and finance capital, as an enemy of the working class who in every struggle supports the bourgeoisie with all the means at his disposal and as an instru- ment for the oppression of colonial peoples and for fomenting new wars. In order to expose the anti-labor character of the institutions of trade union capitalism (labor banks, trade union insurance corporations, etc.) to under- mine the confidence of the workers in these institu- tions and to free the labor movement from their disintegrating effects, the Party must also put for- ward other specific proposals in accordance with the concrete circumstances. To this category of proposals belong: struggle for social legislation ad- ministered by the insured. This struggle must be carried on with the understanding that “reforms are by-products of the revolutionary struggle,” for social legislation is not, in itself, an effective weap- on against bourgeoisification, At the same time, the Party should encourage the development of a powerful genuine working class co-operative movement which, must be closely con- nected with the class struggle of the proletarian movement, All measures must be taken in order to eliminate the influence of the reactionary labor bureaucracy and to place leadership irf the hands of Communists and of other reliable left workers. * * * Toe freeing of the trade unions from trade union capitalism and the complete separation of the trade unions from the labor banks is an important premise for the development of the trade unions into fighting organizations. The Party must de- velop concrete methods of struggle in order to de- velop effective resistance against the linking up of the trade unions and labor banks. Whenever it ap- pears evident that the mobilization of the masses for resistance to trade union capitalism in the form of labor banks can be best effected by demanding the transformation of these enterprises into co-op- erative labor banks under the actual control of and direction by the workers, the Communists can bring forward such proposals, relating them with other concrete demands in their agitation and more ef- fectively counteracting, thereby, the demagogy of the reactionary trade union leaders. But the Party must certainly not allow itself to be carried away by illusions in regard to the possibility of such a transformation of the labor banks which may be possible only in a few individual cases. It would be a mistake for the Party to put these questions in the foreground of its work, The Party must do its utmost to expose labor banks which pretend to be co-operative banks, but which are in reality entirely bound up with the big capitalist banks. Where the possibility exists and where it seems advisable, and after making the economic basis of such institutions thoroly secure, co-operative banks controlled by the workers them- selves can be established in order to use the means at the disposal of the workers for strengthening the material basis of the labor movement. Under no circumstances can money raised in this manner be used for anti-proletarian aims—it must rather be used for building up of a powerful workers’ co- operative movement, and for other purposes in the interest of the’working class, as for example, grant- ing loans to the Soviet Union. * * * ies most important weapon in the struggle against the bourgeoisification of the working class is the strengthening of the Communist Party. With the greatest energy the Party must overcome the existing difficulties. The division of the working class into native, foreign-born and Negro workers makes great demands for increased activity among the Negroes. Work among foreign born workers must also be increased. But the most important task in the present stage for the development of a strong Party consists in drawing thousands of na- tive born workers into the Party in order to bring a fundamental change into its composition and to es- tablish in this way a closer connection with the de- cisive sections of the American working class, The Presidium recognizes that despite great ob- | jective difficulties, the Party has recently made im- ; portant progress in many fields of activities, } (Continued on Page Four) oe AL EAN ALT