The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 19, 1927, Page 4

a» —$————— Page Four THE DAILY WORKER NEW YORK, FRIDAY, A UGUST 19, 1927 DAILY WORKER Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. Daily, Except Sunday 33 First Street, New York, N.Y one THE Phone, Orchard 1680 Daiwork _ SUBSCRIPTION RATES &y Mail (in New York only): $8.00 per By Mail (outside of New York): $6.00 per years $3.50 six months $2.00 three months $4.50 six months 50 three months year Address all mail and make out chee THE DAILY WORKER, 33 First Street, New York, N. Y. J. LOUIS ENGDAHL WILLIAM F. DUNNE BERT MILLER........ Editors Spee He Business Manager $ second-class mail at the post t New of March Yor Nfs Advertising rates on application, Socialists Forced to Retreat On Stand Against Strike. ' Our Constitution and the Language Fractions — By ELLIS PETERSON. Language Fractions are still playing a too important role in 4 our party. The Language Bureaus however has not yet started to func- tion as they should. Ma: the leading thanguage ; Bureaus at the Central Committee of | the Party are still isolated to a very large degree from the real activity of the American Party, and the Party on the other side knows little about the vity of the Bureaus on their | special field of work. The respgn- for this rests both on { tions; their role and<their form. The | efinition given in the Constitution, | icle 17, section 7 is the following: | “The: language ‘fraction isan | auxiliary organization of the Party | for work among a_ particular | language group.” | This is wrong. It should be.for-| mulated: | The language fraction is an | auxiliary organization of the Party, | for work IN a particular language ORGANIZATION.” | the | URTHER the Constitution does not} of y leadership and on the comrades | differ between Language Frac-| eS anguage Bureaus |tions and Language Bureaus. It e. |speaks of two sorts of Language constitution a very great at-| Practions: (1) in the party, 2) in ‘gi the sorts of organizations, where) ~—— fractions can be organized. There is| no reason why the Language Frac- tions should be kept in a_ specific class for themselves, and not to- gether with the other fractions. Be- to: Produce tween the words “cooperatives” and Hear sorienereedebie ‘ “cultural societies” m Section 1, Ar- » Arthur Deagon an ticle 18 there could be inserted fan Harwood will have important sorts of language organizations,”| Cooreé M Ba hy Win Pe a oe teh. Ol epee tetangats Tce Language Fractions and their role in| ney pants . His ote players a ae Party, much clearer than did Ar ne, Donny Witt spate ecle. 17: , , on fete Newbold, Frank Otto, Leo Henning 'O clearify the role of the Language | and Feon Vanmarr. Bureaus there should be entered} a special section in Article 18: in Sept.—Leon Gordon The opening date for George M. New Cohan Farce Here ; tion is paid to our language- fraternal and benevolent language or- The Central Com- Cohan’s newest farce, “The Baby fractions. There is a whole article (17) on thé matter. This was neces- sary and natural at a time (1925), when our party was built up as a cen- tralized Communist Party, earlier be- ing a “body” of 18 language parties. Now the accordingly the Party must change the constitution on this point. Most of our membe: One of the luminaries of the socialist party leadership, Au- gust Claessens, its local secretary, has repudiated, in a mild form, the vicious public statement of Edward Levinson, of the staff of the reactionary New Leader, to the effect that the socialists would have nothing to do with the Sacco and Vanzetti strike on Monday. However, the statement of Claessens is not clear enough | and is an attempt to evade the issue. He says: “Whether or not the unions of New York City are to strike in protest is a question which cannot and will not be settled by the Language Fraction as a fraction of socialists. It is a matter for the unions to settle in their own the Party. This is absolutely wrong. | councils.” There are no Language Fractions in a es is : the Party. Ther mot be any It is quite true that the question will not be settled by the| 7° vee ig iar any Fees sea has A c 5 | Language Fractions in a Commun socialists. Their influence has dwindled to microscopic propor-| Party. There must not exist tions among the rank and file, but certain members of the so-| Language Fractions in a Commun uation has changed and} Convention | speak of a] X A “Section 9. ganizations. — See section 8 Article| mittee of the Party appoints special? 17!) The first form of Language| Language Bureaus as subsections of “Fractions” mentioned in this sec-| the C.C/s5 Agitprop Dept. The task tion 8 are the Language Bureaus.) of these Language Bureaus shall be |The other form comprises the real! t4 organize and lead the work of | Language Fractions. Article 17, section 3 sa “The language fraction their respective Language Fraciions in all non-party organizations of workers in their language group. all con- | sist of all the members of the | Likewise every District Committee, party who speak a certain | Section Committee etc. will have language, who are members of @ the right to appoint—when needed sub-section, section or city-organ- ization of the Party.” | The ac- under the Language Burea tivity of these Bureaus Section ete. | qe is wrong again. The language} | a party ractions are Communist parts of | anon-party organization. The limits | of the fraction are identical with the) thru the respective Language Bureaus at the Central Committee of the Party. control of the respective District, | committees. | There work has to be co-ordinated | | Cyclone,” at Henry Miller’s Theatre, has been set for Monday, September | 12. The piece is now playxg in Bos- |ton at Hollis St. Leon Gordon co-author of “W te | Cargo” in which he has been playi |in Australia, expects to produce two} | plays here this season. One is a! ~ 2 Poy ‘new play by Barry Conners, author| Plays an important role in “Tenth lof “Applesauce” and “The Patsy,”| Avenue,” the new melodrama at the jand is titled “The Devil’s Blessing.” | Z!tinge Theatre. |The other Ys by Mr. Gordon and is} se | still unnamed. | | _ Mary Nash, Basil Rathbone, Violet | | Kemble Cooper and Henry Stepheén- | DDER ;Son will be the featured players in| , “Phe Command to Love,” which Brady | jand Wiman in association with John! cialist bureaucracy are officials of unions. What must be de-| Party. es ee of vid Seana, Wr oe Soci a 4 7 er or air p: ra j { Language Fractions are no| tions 0: e org a y which | manded of the socialfsts is whether or not their members in the | GpERaRE OBE Gue Ba | they have been organized. ‘The limits| unions will fight for a stri of passing the buck will fool no one. What is now required is definite unequivocal repudiation of the former statement. We are not particularly concerned about the socialist bureaucracy recovering some slight degree of respect, all of which they lost by Levinson’s statement, but we are vitally concerned about the question of a united fight for Sacco and Vanzetti. The socialist twaddle about refusing to participate in demon- strations with Communists is nothing more nor less than a dis- honest manouver to evade any action in behalf of the elementary demands of the working class. They know that wherever there are demonstrations organized and fights to be made the Com- munists will be found in the front ranks, fulfilling their duty to the working class, so their refusal to associate with Communists would prevent them from ever participating in any mass struggles. There is no neutral ground in the fight to wrest from the hands of the executioners the tortured bodies of Saceo and Van- zetti. Either you are on the side of the working class and will leave no stone unturned to bring into the streets in a great mass strike the masses of workers or you play the game of the capitalist class. Either the socialists are on the side of the exe- cutioners of Sacco and Vanzetti or on the side of those who e on Monday. This cowardly attitude | tions are not identical with the limits of the Party nuclei, sec-| tions, or districts. The Language | Fractions are built up in the same | |manner as are the Trade Union) ions. Consequently they are no} of the party-body, but aux-| iliary instruments ef the Party wor work outside of the party organiza-| tions. Of all the sections in Article 17 hardly a single one is correct, except} the first one. The whole article gives | | | sist of party members i | of the | organizations, Party memk | ized for Communist work in those |non-party organizations. Hence the Language Fractions are Communists fractions of non-party organizations, | not fractions of the Party. We must} | not speak about the Finnish Fraction | of the Party, the Jewish Fraction of | {the Party ete. That is nonsense. | There are Language Bureaus of the Party. The Central Committee, Dis- When necessary these Bureaus may | Tuerk will produce. ‘e reduced for the | trict Committees etc. have their Language Bureaus for directing the | work of the Language Fractions in |non-party organizations, nationally or { locally. But in no way are comrades, | speaking a certain language, organ: | ized together as a group in the par They are organized in different | tions in a net of non-party orgar tions—these fractions directed ry | their respective Bureaus of the | Party. THE responsibility for the preval- | ence of wrong conception in the | Party about our Language Fractions | |lies to a great deal on our Constitu- | an absolutely wrong interpretation | of the work of the Language Frac- | tions and the way how to organize} them. The sooner the Party can get | rid of this obsolete Article in its Con- | stitution, the better for the Par There is no need to re-edit the ar-/| ticle, it can be scrapped altogether. | It played a role during the reorgan- , ization. 6f ‘the Party, but now. it is| only an hindrance for putting down a correct. policy for our Language | Fractions. | NSTEAD of this Article 17 there can be inserted an addition in the i _ the: e The opus is by} Best Seat: 2.20, with the authorization of its Party| Rudolph Lothar and Fritz Gottwald, aire, 48 “st Po of committee call together conferences | and the adaptation has been made|_____-_@ V#Y:_Matinee Wednesday. of language comrades in their terri-|by Herman Bernstein and Brian| }{ ap men tory, appointed by the Party com-} Marlow. hae ee GRAND mittee, or elected by the fraction | | Event STREET | MAT TUE Furthermore it is absolutely neces- aND THURSDAY, 2:30 FOLLIES | sary that the Organizational Depart- | ea =i zm > ment of the Central Committee as| { B._S.. MOS 1 soon as possible puts down rules for|ON THE SCREEN .... .. :....... | \ “ mI i W | the distribution of party work among; “The Adventurer,” is the title of | ‘CAM E 0 A NO a rl the language comrades, who at pres-| the latest Tim McCoy frontier drama, le ey Posehsational © ia | ent have no knowledge of how best] Vladislav Tourjanski, noted Russian | | § si ‘ inn Lg to organize their activity for the|director of “Michael Strogoff,” is| The Russian Revolution | Party. Very often they are over-| wielding the megaphone over - this} LENIN, VROTSK XY, KEREN:| loaded with double work, first in| Western picture as his initial Ameri-| | °° **, their nuclei and then in their|can effort. _ Sebastian McCoy’s is language fractions. The Party com-| leading lady. mittees do not yet understand that} = the Language Fractions are no party} “The Russian Revolution” is doing organizations of the same kind as| brisk business at Moss’ Cameo The- nuelei. We must once and for all|atre, and has so filled this tiny -play- stop our method of looking upon our) house since the film’s inception that Language Fractions as a sort of a| another week’s showing will ensue secondary party-organization. The! beginning this Saturday. The ‘pic- Language Fractions are fractions|ture’s intrinsic dramatic interest is quite ‘in the same sense as are our| unusual and a worthy achievement, fractions in trade unions, co-opera-| this taking millions of feet of news- tives ete. If we do not realize this,| reel film and from it evolving a Trus é:ama of War! F | | Noy Acted but Actual Oc |} reaching significance. The screen- ing of the log of “U-Boat 85” and Charlie Chaplin in “His Prehistoric ; Past” will also remain over another week.” “The Cossacks,” Tolstoi’s world- famous story, will be translated to |the screen with John Gilbert in the | tion, which gives an absolutely false following..article 18 (Fractions), in) we will not get our Language Frac-| compact cinema history of a social fight for their liberation. There is no third course. Window-Dressing For Tammany Hall It is an old stunt of the petty shopkeeper with a store full of dubious commodities to employ expert window-dressers to “put on a good front” for him. The rottener the: goods, the more es- sential it is to have good window-dressers and advertising agents. When the old firm falls into utter disrepute because of its swindling record, a big announcement appears before the place interpretation of the Language Frac- | its-first section, where is mentioned tions to work in a correct way. and political event that had far, starring role, George Hill will direct the new film. (Continued from Page One) But it is, quite natural, once pre- the opposition against the Party| suming that the thermidorian re leadership. | generation goes along the whole line, Proves Tactics Correct. | the picture of the development should The latest events of inner Party 100k different. From the thesis of bearing the legend “under new management.” life, the discussion at the joint “thermidorian regeneration,” eco- Blasts Opposition in Russian tionary elements, must, with absolute inevitability, come to the conelusion | that during a war this country will regenerate thermidorianism still more. Such an attitude will force its} apostles to seek for an outcome ‘of| difficulties, not in international revo- “Workers Pravda,” and several groups of the old workers opposition; the use of extreme leftist phrases with a Menshevik content. These menshevik reiterations testify to no | great originality on the part of the united opposition, but it is very sig- Capitalist politicians frequently resort to such tricks. Espe- cially is this the case with Tammany Hall today. Originating more than a hundred years ago that cesspool of political corrup- tion became the dominant factor in New York polities. under Tweed and Crocker. When the rest of the democratie party was bowling in the wake of William Jennings Bryan, as the political expression of the small bourgeoisie, Tammany Hall in New York remained a thing apart, a local political ring existing exclusively upon political favoritism and plain, unadorned graft obtained thru bribery, corruption, special privileges to criminal elements. When Samuel J. Tilden succeeded. nm sending some of its bright and shining lights, including Boss Tweed, to prison, the old den of thieves feigned profound and abject repentance. But it soon reverted to its old tricks and raked in the swag as of yore. Charles F, Murphy, in his heydey, was powerful enough as chief of the wigwam to extend the power of Tammany to the state house at Albany, to put governors in office and on one oc- casion to kick a governor out who would not turn the state gov- ernment completely over to Tammany. When, in 1910, the House of Morgan took the democratic party as its political weapon, the Tammany organization became very useful and was annexed to the main section of the national democrat machine. Before that time it had been a very ill- smelling pariah at democratic conventions. In 1912 at the Bal- timore convention it stayed thru the whole show in spite of the indignant bellowings of the virtuous Bryan who referred con- temptuously to the Tammany delegation of hooligans as “Charlie Murphy’s tin soldiers.” In 1924 the chiefs of Tammany tried to capture the demo- eratic convention. Wall Street backed its candidate, Al. Smith, but the middle and far west groups around William G. McAdoo, defeated the scheme. Now that another democratic convention approaches and Tammany’s man, Smith, is an active candidate, the old reprobate has to indulge in lavish expenditures for de- ceptive window-dressing. The old stunts no longer suffice. A brand new front must be put on and a vast and imposing array of respectability purchased. At one time the plug-uglies from Cherry Hill and Hell’s Kitchen looked with disdain upon people who spoke anything but the pigeon English of the barrel houses, but times have changed. Now the eminences of the university chairs serve in the city hall in the absence of the foppish Broad- way butterfly, Jimmy Walker, and sombre professors roam the country talking learnedly about the “new Tammany Hall.” The other day Professor Thomas B. Reed, in a roving trip | plenum, fully confirmed the correct- Nomic retreat, etc. the opposition on ness of our reiterated characteriza- the eve of preparations for new war | tion of the tactics of the opposition | Put forward in the person of Trotsky | as tactics dictated by a dread of the 2 new “philosophy epoch,” defined lution, but in making a whole series of disastrous concessions to enemies inside- and outside country; nificant from a_ political viewpoint /as far as it happens inside the Party. The oppositions’ approach to men- the proletarian} particularly inside and|shévism is explained by the fact difficulties, and an apprehension tha‘ the Party and the working class i: | Passing to an analysis of the views unable to overcome these difficulties. | ¢| by him as “political twilight which it s| iS necessary to dissolve.” Contrary . to this conception the tremendous | majority of the Party consider that “philosophy epoch” is a philosophy finally go over to a different class| that the basis of its arguments lies basis and start on the road of trans-|in Trotskyist theory and that Zino- formation to an ordinary bourgeois country. viev, Kemeney and others stepped on Trotskyist rails; that Zinoviev and of the opposition on the question of | 4 8 bps spilch: cisentian ee development. off feverish socialist up-building. the U. S. S. R. is taking, Comrade | Disease of Pessimism. = Bukharin pointed out that the opposi-| Defeatism, pessimism, non belief tion at plenum, out of Piatakov’s| in the upbuilding of socialism in the mouth, gave a clear formula even| U. S. S. R. is characteristic of the If everything uttered by the op- Kamenev consider it absurb to talk position would have been true the| about Trotsky having preserved idea naturally would arise as to what something of menshevism in his way the existing order of things idealogy. should be radically changed. From| Trotsky undoubtedly preserved in more removed from the general Party point of -view than before. Piatakov, analyzing the problem of | unemployment, declared that unem- ployment is due “mainly to the fact that industry, transport and munici- pal economy remain behind the gen- eral growth of the entire national economy.” This means that, in the opposition’s opinion, the socialist sector of eco- nomic life in its development remains behind the capitalist sector and that the power of the working class thus gradually diminishes, thus undermin- ing pillars of the proletarian dictator- ship. Thus, this thesis gives such an estimate of economic development that it suggests what, in language of the opposition, means “regeneration | of thermidore,” ete. | opposition. It is quite natural that/| j} such an estimation of the situation |results in special conclusions con- cerning war. If the Soviet country is | estimated as the opposition estimates it then it becomes impossible to ap- peal to the working class of the So- viet Union and the international working class for an unconditional fight for this country. Anti-Lenin Position. Lenin long ago wrote of the possi- bility of such a war as is now threat- ening, and the possibilities of new wars against the Soviet Union. As is well know he put forward the thesis that the Communist Party will | seek for support for the successful outcome of such wars not in any hope \for a friendly attitude on the part of |bourgeois countries but in interna- the viewpoint of a real revolutionary in this case it would be imperative to make disssention in the Party, over- throw the government, ete. If the opposition has not yet come to these conclusions, they are on their way thereto, Most acutely the questions concern- ing the war problem were put by Trotsky. His viewpoint may be summed up as “conditional de- fensism.” thus: “If the Central Committee will himself something of the old Trotsky. His old traits were less salient when | the revolution progressed to tempes- | tuous forms in the period of direct | revolution and during the civil war. But now, in the period of stubborn systematic upbuilding of socialism, | these old errors of Trotsky, partic- ularly on the question of the peasantry, bulge out conspicuously. And if the Central Committee de- It may be formulated ; fends so confidently its positions it does so in profound certainty that change its present course to the path owing to correct tactics towards the of the opposition everything will be peasantry the correlation, of classes quite well; such central committee, }“hanged even during the last year and such country, such party and such course would be defended. If, how-|i™agined by the opposition, ja half, but not in the direction but in turned the central organ of this group into its. own central organ. There isn’t a single important document or speech made by this or that leader of the opposition which did not find its way into the columns of that unprin- cipled organ of the “ultra lefts” and was not distributed at a’ reduced price. The “ultra lefts” have now become a.Zinoviev-Trotskyist party, receiving directions and guided by the opposi- tion. On the other hand the opposi- tion supports the treacherous right group of Souvarine and Monatte in | France and in the organs edited by them where the French rights speak in general the same language of the German ultra-lefts the speeches of the opposition ave published. It must be noted in this connection that the Souvarine-Monatte organ re- eeives financial aid from bourgeois sources, which was proved by unim- |peachable documents, | Anti-Communist Tendency. It happens that this opposition grows together with the anti-revolu- tionary elements expelled from the Comintern which conducts struggles with the Communists of Germany and France and use the organ of these anti-revolutionary groups for | attacks upon. the Communist Party |; and the Comintern. | At the plenum the opposition was | compelled to retreat on the question | of the groups expelled from the Com- ever, these organs and institutions 2?°ther direction, with definite gains) jntern, This part of the declaration tdo not change their course every | for the proletarian dictatorship. The o¢ the opposition cannot in any way worker and every peasant must ask | idea. of any victorious defense against pe considered satisfactory. Bukharin declared that whereas, | tional revolution. The fight of the for the entire mass millions, for the|Proletarian country against imperial- members of the Party, for the !st intervention must be transformed tremendous majority of the Commu- into the process of the international nist youth in general and each Party Socialist revolution. This way of put- member separately it is quite evi- | ting the question is absolutely correct dent that the U. S. 8. R. is passing and he who rejects it\ceases to be a thru a period of tempestuous growth. Communist. Everyone is convinced that never yet Those who think the Soviet Union has any country had such great ela-| is a thermidorian country, a country tion over the creative powers of the where the bourgeois reaction is masses. \gaining aseendency over the revolu- personnel. The lifting of the lid in the food inspection scandals Wimvele: Taf ; the threatening imperialist powers is auehea marcus trie ie fetend absolutely absurd without strength- test.” ening the workers and peasants bloc, ‘Is There a Class Shift? pu ES tLG aCiy Ute tenes notorious reference to Clemenceau | 4551, of Pra d th ti pointing out in 1917 the defects in the | ea Ugh tage ee ae imperialist military machine of} France his understanding of prepara- | tion for “defense” of the U. S. S. R. The opposition does not agree with the political line of the Central Com- mitice, therefore the “Clemenceau revolution” signifies a certain politi- eal shift. All this Clemenceau phil- opposition should have said clearly (that it stands for unconditional’ de- ifense of the U. S. S. R. but it did |not seperate itself with necessary de- icisiveness from the Clemencist thesis |of Trotsky as it did not want to be- exposed to the world a ruthless machine maintained through gambling with the very lives of the inhabitants of the working | class sections of the city. Poisoned and adulterated food is sold | | under the seal of approval of Tammany’s health department. The} jonly reason the graft obtaining in that department came to light | ‘tray its leaders. Only the complete ‘and unconditional retreat of the op- Position on all these questions will osophy encounters one basic question ~Is_it true or not true that state industry retreats before private in- dustry ? | of: 1 ite ciples of Trotskyism, . The tremendous majority of the) vehe Party chase all members: of. Party considers this an absolute and | the opposition to make this renunefa- lof the defense of the U.S. S. R,, and} the question on Clemenceauism. The, fy its renouncing of the’ prin: through the democratic states of the south told a gaping audience of pedagogues that Tamamany leaders “are now at home in tux- edos and dress suits,” the implication being that they are fit to meet southern gentlemen upon terms of social equality and that the old Tammany is no more. \the parties of capitalism. This is political window-dressing. Nationally the Wall Street! ness at the same old stand, gang favors Al. Smith as democratic nominee but his Tammany connections are a handicap so the game is to cloak Tammany with respectability. Political observers in New York know that the Tammany of today is just as venal as the wigwam of the days of Tweed and that the basis of the thing is municipal and state It is the mere grounds of corruption tense before its own associates ‘ ‘ i | \ lis because of an inner fight in the democratic party. | Not all the window-dressing by the prostitutes of high and low degree ean change the natur of the most corrupt nests of politicians to be found in either of |last year and that in a number of But as far as workers are concerned, we.do not fight it on | class. oppression of capitalist society, the whole gang of them in the utmost contempt and organize to graft in order to maintain the army of vandals that make un its| wine them off the face of the earth, | deliberate untruth. Everybody knows tion | pertectly well that the importance of | : | the state industry, trade and coopera-— Violated Its Pledges. Bukharin further dwelt upon the question of the attitude of the op. a ia ; yen Position toward the policy of the eg NEY HEE Hane ‘ommunist International and its re- ‘ | stance, grain acquisitions, tations with the expelled groups in AF f Menshevi | various countries. He recalled’ that i orm of Menshevism. ‘the declaration of October 16th of-the ; ey - In discussing the moral roots of We expose its pitiful pre-|the ideology of the ‘opposition Buk- in. order that workers«may hold | harin points out that: the united op- of ‘Tammany ‘Hall.* “It is‘one | tives has grown considerably in the .the same_old crowd doing busi- but because it.is a.part of the refrain from supporting either direct- ‘in ly or indirectly the group of Ruth Position headed by Trotsky reappears Fisher and Maslov expelled from the |how as the same position which was Comintern. In reality it “kept”. its ~ ee» Ponce taken be Misastcovy and the promise in such a way that it has HON 2 ; opposition’ solemnly pledged. to, | It must not be forgotten that even | here the opposition preserved against the Party a “stone in its bosom.” | Letiers From Our Readers oe Women In Industry. ‘Dear Comrades: The tremendous influx into the modern factory of women and child labor; the exodus of male labor thereby. resulting, presents a big problem for the labor movement. |. One good remedy that I can see | for this grave situation is the or- ganization, i.e;.’the unionization of all workers, women, men, and young es on an industrial basis. “As one the logical by-products of the present mode of production, I can ' foresee the complete liquidation of the ‘family, that is, the modern family of 'today.. Even today we can see signs | which testify to this statement. A new social form of life is gradually approaching, but it shall be impos- sible for it to exist under capitalism; Communism shall have the privilege | of seeing the dawn of this new form of society.—Leo Orsag. F Sacco’ and Vanzetti Shall, Not Die! -