The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 8, 1927, Page 6

The International Labor Defense In Action ¥N the ove of the Third Annual Conference a brief y review of some of the campaigns conducted by International Labor Defense in the past year or so will show that while they have been of a variegated nature, covering every field and section of the labor niovement, there has, at the same time, been a unifying thread that has connected one task with the other in a logical harmony with the work of creating a mighty instrument of struggle and de- fense for the American working class. The work of the past period that overshadowed all else was the mobilization of a world-wide move- ment for the release of Sacco and Vanzetti. The International Labor Defense was the organizing center for the protest movement in this case. The I. L. D. does not believe in confinihg defense work to the tortuous and corrupted channels:of the court- rooms. It was the I. L. D. and the militant workers everywhere that succeeded in taking the cause of Sacco and Vanzetti out of the poisonous atmosphere of the courts, and raising it as a banner to rally angry, determined armies of the people in every part of the world. Almost at one blew, in swerving the course of the movement from the hopeless, drab channels of the vindictive machinery of class law, into the vivid, tumultous torrents of the mass move- ment, the legal red tape that bound Sacco and Van- zetti like Prometheus was cut like the Gordian knot. The case of Sacco and Vanzetti was transformed from a “law suit” into a burning issue of the class struggle. Hundreds of mass meetings were arranged by the I. L. D. for Sacco and Vanzetti. The country was flooded with leaflets,and special issues of its official organ, “The Labor Defender.” Hardly a demonstra- tion or gathering of workers for Sacco and Vanzetti occurred without the striking poster of the I. L. D., drawn by Fred Ellis, having its place at the head of it. The Sacco-Vanzetti united front conferences organized throughout the country, which embraced hundreds of thousands of organized American work- ers, were formed in almost every case upon the initiative and with the energy and experience of the I. L. D. The magnificent international move- ment of solidarity, which pounded with sledge-ham- mer blows upon the prison doors until the very last moment, was greatly aided by the I. L. D. which appealed by cable to the sections in various countries and to the executive committee of International Red Aid for renewed support to the protest movement. At the core of all the work of the I. L. D. has been the belief that only in the creation of a powerful movement of the workers, on a non-partisan basis, but pursuing a class policy, lies the safeguard for A REP At the executive meeting on July 28th a paper was read by Comrade Losovsky on the character and outloak of the revolutionary movement in China. Comrade Losovsky pointed out that the counter revolution had already virtually engulfed the whole of China. Of course, the differences between the Peking, Nanking and Wuhan generals and their respective civil political advisers had not entirely been composed. Nevertheless, the fact was there that Wuhan had ceased to be a revolutionary cen- tre, that the power of authority had passed into the ' hands of the militarists, and the workers’ and peas- ants’ organizations had been destroyed. ; How had the Wuhan revolutionary government descended to such a stage, to sanction the military coup d’etat and to,allow the destruction of those ele- ments which had carried it into office? “While in Wuhan,” Comrade Losoysky said, “I frequently heard the statement made by prominent Kuomintang leaders, and even by some Communists, that China had no bourgeoisie of her own, that the entire big bourgeoisie consisted of foreigners. This ‘seemingly innocent theory furnishes the key to an- understanding of the position of the left wing of the Kuomintang. For, if the whole big bourgeoisie consists of foreign imperialists, and the Kuomin- tang fights only the foreign imperialists, then the ranks of the Kuomintang should be open to all the elements of the native Chinese bourgeoisie, and the Kuomintang organization should protect the inter- ests of all the bourgeoisie groups. Of course, this theory has no foundation whatever in the actual facts. There are considerable and influential ele- ments of purely Chinese big bourgeoisie, who own important industrial, transport and commercial en- terprises. This bourgeoisie is endeavoring all the time to make use of the antagonistic currents which spring up in the process of development of the Chinese revolution. “As the national armies continued their advance northwards and approached the important industrial centres, the struggle between the classes, which the Kuomintang leaders had been trying to direct into the channels of legal industrial arbitration and tame organizations of the peasantry, began to breax out on the surface. The clash of interests within the united front of the Kuomintang became revealed as soon as the national army came within sight of Shanghai. We have also witnessed the intensifica- By MAX SHACHTMAN (Editor of the “Labor Defender’). the successful conduct and conclusion of all its ae- tivities. This belief has characterized all the work of the International Labor Defense. The work of building a movement for Sacco and Vanzetti was not, of course, the beginning and end of the activities of the I. L. D, Literally: dozens of other workers and fighters have in the’ past year been defended, always on a non-partisan basis. The list includes men:and women arrested in all) parts of the country, belonging to different parties and organizations and holding various views, and vic- tims of capitalist persecution in other countries. There is the fight against the continued persecu- tions of the Passaic textile strikers who are being victimized because of the struggle they carried on for almost a year against the mill barons. Many of them have .been imprisoned already, on framed-up charges, and indictments still hang over the heads of numerous others. Most of the dependent families are in a destitute condition and the financial aid that the I. L. D. sends to them every month is a real material aid to them and a spiritual support to the strikers in prison. The fight carried on by International Labor De- fense against the deportation to Italy of Enea Sor- menti, one of the foremost working class opponents in this country of fascism, probably saved him from imprisonment or death at the hands of the black- shirts. Through our efforts Sormenti was permitted to depart for whatever other country he desired. Sormenti is not the only foreign-born worker against whose deportation the I. L. D. has fought. With the same vigor it opposed the deportation of the three anarchist workers in Fali River, Massachu- setts, and the Czecho-Slovak workers’ leader, Eman- uel Vajtauer. At this moment, it is conducting the defense of Stephen Zinich, a South Slav Communist editor, who is being held for deportation by the authorities. The L. L. D.'has not been lacking in the fulfillment of its international obligations. It is no exaggera- tion to say that the campaign of I. L. D. success- fully destroyed the value of “Bloody Queen” Marie’s tour and brought to the attention of thousands of American workers the frightful terror against. work- ers and peasants in. Roumanja. The new wave of persecution in Poland and Esthonia was exposed in the United States py the I. L. D. and warning pro- ORT.ON CHINA | _ By A. LOZOVSKY tion of the class struggle on the territory of Hunan and Hupei. The April split in the Kuomintang party and the treachery of Chiang Kai-shek did not arise from a dispute over platforms and programs, but on the pretended campaign of ousting “foreign in- fluences,” of having Borodin and other counselors removed. Chiang Kai-shek gained thereby credit not only in the eyes of the big bourgeoisie, but also in the eyes of the Nationalist sympathizers amorig the petty bourgeoisie. His words about Borodin the foreigner being an obstacle to the success of the revolution had their effect. One must also bear in mind that the split was sought also by the im- perialists, who acted through their armed forces and their diplomats. Two conditions had been put to Chiang Kai-shek by English, American and Japan- ese diplomacy: a rupture with USSR and a rupture with the Communists, promising him in return a whole series of economic and financial favors. This was the line chosen by Chiang Kai-shek, who began by breaking with the Communists, whilst hostility towards the USSR came as an automatic sequence. “The split in the, Kuomintang party and the for- mation of two governments—that of Nanking and that of Wuhan—proved a source of great friction within the Kuomintang ranks which grew in direct ratio to the growth of the workers’, and particularly of the peasants’ movement in Hupei and Hunan. A good deal was written about the objective circum- stances which drove the peasants to take to fight- ing. Mention ought to be made, however, of the particular features which render the peasant move- ment so exceedingly intense. These features con- sist, first of all, in the exceptional density of the population in the provinces of Hunan and Hupei, which affords good facilities for united action. An- other characteristic feature consists in the unique cohabitation of twentieth century social relations and tenth centugy survivals in present-day China, a mixture of capitalism and feudalism. There is a whole number of localities where there are no in- dustrial workers at all, and the leading role belongs exclusively to the peasants’ organizations. Yet the actions of the peasants bear the stamp of organiza- tion and of political consciousness. fag Waa test sent the capitalist executioners ef that country that the progressive workers of America demanded an end toe the reign of terror in those lands. The I. L. D. has been able in large measure to codrdinate and centralize the work of legal defense for workers in this country. Thousands of dollars have beer spent in the past year for legal defense in the scores of large and small cases that have come up in court. Every strike and action of the workers > has resulted in arrests or indictments, which the I. L. D. spared no resources to fight. In many cases the prompt and proper action of the I. L. D. has been the.means of releasing the arrested worker and enabling him to resume his place on the firing line. Not the least important work of the I. L. D. has been its policy of sending regular monthly checks for five dollars to all imprisoned class war fighters. Jt means a great deal to the men in prison-to know of the movement and interest among the werkers on - the outside, and to be able to purchase these little comforts—fruits, candies, cigarettes and tobacco— that they are otherwise denied by their jailors. Equally important has been the contribution sent to the dependent families of imprisoned workers. The twenty dollars they receive every month from the I, L. D.. is of considerable aid in relieving thé hardships of the mothers, wives and children of these soldiers of labor who have sacrificed their freedom. for their devotion to the movement of the working class. The pepularity of. the I. L. D. has grown through- out the country, steadily, since its organization in 1925. It is as yet small and weak in comparison with its gigantic tasks. But it is an upward-striving move- ment of solidarity which draws ever larger bodies of workers into its fighting ranks. The coming con- ference wili mark a new stage in this development and give a new impetus to its work. Every new struggle brings with it new victims of class persecution and justice. The frame-up system does its work with the cold-blooded regularity of a juggernaught. The I. L. D. has thus far proved a dozen times over its value to the working class and the labor movement by its militant class fight for labor defense. The signs of coming great struggles, which are already now apparent, are also harbingers of gréater battles that will be fought in the move- ment of labor defense, the movement of the great solidarity. The work that the I. L. D. has already accomplished permits one to say that it will be found in the van of the struggle—a shield of the working class. Ps “It is interesting to note the ideological forms taken on by the campaign of the big bourgeoisie and the military reaction against the peasants’ and workers’ movement. At Hankow, for instance, a theory was evolved about so-called “excesses” and “diseases of leftism.” This theory consists in the assertion that the Chinese workers’ and peasants’ movement is still in a stage of infancy, that it has not yet grown mature, and that therefore it suf- fers from “infantile left diseases,” resorting to “ex- cesses” of every kind. The term “excesses” is used here to describe such actions as are characteristic. of any revolutionary upheaval, such as the arrest of thievish officials directly by the people, the don- ning of a silk-hat upon a usurer’s head (a token of degradation according to Chinese notions), and so on. As excesses were also described: the most ele- mentary industrial actions of the workers, such as the presentation of demands for a weekly day. of rest, for shorter hours, te. “The peasants’ movement had scared the Kuomin- tang leaders.“ As the peasants’ movement grew, it began to encroach upon the interests of the army officers, the trading bourgeoisie, and the elements of the population associated with them. The peas- ants’ movement had hit the pocket of many a prom- inent Kuomintang leader. Efforts began to be made to curb the zeal of the “unripe” workers and peas- ants’ movement. At the sdme time it ought to be observed that the Wuhan government had never enjoyed real power, that virtually the power was in the hands of the military. It is for this reason that the counter revolutionary coup had been so easily effected in Wuhan. On top of this was the fact that the trade unions and the peasants’ organizations were led almost exclusively by intellectuals, and that the system of appointments prevailed, whereby the Kuomintang party had placed its henchmen in the mass organizations, which made it easy to liqui- date the workers’ and peasants’ unions. “Tt is difficult to understand the Chinese situation without knowing the structure of the Chinese army. The make-up and the methods of the military forces operating in the various parts of China do not at all correspond to what we understand by a modern army. In the matter of army organization the Chi- nese army reminds one of the hordes commanded by: Slav princes in pre-historic times. The Chinese gen- (Continued on page 7)