The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 26, 1928, Page 6

Page Six Baily <A Worker Central Organ of the Workers (Communist) Party EB Published by National Daily Worker Publishing As’n., Inc., Daily, Ex unday, at 26-28 Union Square, New York, N. Y. Telephone, Stuyvesant 1696-7-8. Cable Address “Daieoork” ROBERT MINOR Editor WM. F. DUNNE . Assistant Editor Rey. Thomas’ Post Mortem Appeal | to Progressives The “progre and “liberals” need not despair! So thinks the Rev. Norman Thomas. There is still hope if only they rally behind the right savior. Although most of them were stunned into silence when they realized that their idol in the person of Tammany Al Smith was buried under the Hoover land- slide, and though they cannot even yet speak for themselves, there is one of their number, the Rev. Norman Thomas, late standard bearer for the socialist party, who can still speak for them. Those “libera and “progressives” who went on the warpath behind the “happy warrior” chief of Tammany Hall need not sulk in despondency waiting for another de- liverer to appear four years hence. The Rev. Thomas calls upon them here and now to cast off their dejection and face the immediate task of ‘“‘an effective opposition to the republican party.” The socialist party spokesman declared before a meeting of the League For Industrial Democracy: “Some of you good liberals must stop wait- ing for the Messiah and resting until the next campaign. We must start the work of organization now. ‘We cannot expect the labor movement to take the lead considering the leadership it has.” Is anyone so Plind as not to see behind this “liberal” gibberish, the socialistic theolo- gian’s idea—that the political party of which he dreams must not hope for “the labor movement” as its base, We know that the socialist party in the recent campaign spoke less of the working class than did even Hoover or Smith, and that the Rev. Thomas went out of his way to make his written re- nunciation of Marxism. Now he says “we cannot expect the labor movement to take the lead,” and that the “good liberals” must “start the work of organization” of some sort of a political party which will not be of the working class. His reverence dreams of a political party of the petty capitalists, third-rate lawyers and confused intellectual hacks. It is true that this is what the existing socialist party already is, but the reverend thinks to en- large it by devices such as dropping its name. The Rev. Thomas is rather hazy about just what is to be done at once in the way of de- veloping a body of theories, a philosophy, a program and a skeleton of an organization, but promises that he will soon propose a plan on which those -“ erals who supported the other two parties of capitalism may “get together.” The offer to sacrifice himself in the cause of liberalism and progressivism was not fully appreciated by such good liberals as Dr. Henry Moskowitz, husband of Al Smith’s ad- visor. The good doctor prefers to remain in the Tammany. wigwam.' Ex-Congressman Chandler, a “liberal” republican, considered the election of the imperialist, Hoover, a triumph of liberalism. The Rev. Thomas was sadly humiliated at the reception accorded his offer. The lib- erals and progressives in the camp of the re- publican and democratic parties seemed to resent the proposals of the “socialist” leader as somewhat impudent. After all there is no fundamental difference between the lib- erals in the democratic and republican par- ties and the liberals masquerading as so- cialists. Thomas’ party is only the tail end of the kite of the capitalist liberals, For these middle cl. “liberals” to accept the Thomas proposals would be for the dog to agree to let his tail wag his body. The claim of Thomas that he does not ex- pect the labor movement to take the lead is only an expression of the fear that the so- cialist party feels for the working class. In alliance with the trade union bureaucracy against the workers, the socialist party is obliged to speak of the reactionary bureau- eracy of the American Federation of Labor as the whole labor movement. For the benefit of the eminent socialist pulpit-pounder it is necessary to repeat that the interests of the labor movement are not represented by the A. F. of L. officialdom, but by the vanguard of the working class of the United States, the Workers (Commu- nist) Party. Furthermore it is not the task of the labor movement to organize the liberals in the three capitalist parties—republican, demo- Donate Turkeys for | 28. Chicago Thanksgi NZ | The various industrial groups are 'good” progressives and lib- | |St., on Thanksgiving eve, TH E DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1928 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By Mail (in New York only): $4.50 six mds. $2.50 three mos. »By Mail (outside of New York): $6 a year $3.50 six mos. $2.00 three mos. Address and mail all checks to The Daily Worker, 26-28 Union. Square, New York, N. -Y. $8 a year erat and socialist—into a “national move- ment,” but to win the working class to sup- port the revolutionary program that will challenge the entire capitalist class. Indicative also of the complete bankruptcy of the socialist leaders, of their inability to analyze even the plainest facts of contem- al and political forces is th y of a liberal and progressive party. The class from which such a party would draw its support, the middle class, hasn’t sufficient ality to lead an indepen- dent political existence. It could only be the camp-follower of the big parties of finance- capital, as the socialist party is today. And every day the rapid advance of the chain store, the elaborate medical centers, the con- solidated law offices, the “canned” sermons over the radio, sees more and more of the backbone of that class to which the socialist parson appeals—petty “merchants, doctors, lawyers and preachers—either declassed or reduced to mere clerks for big capital. As against the victory of imperialism, personified in Hoover, there is but one class that can prevail. That is the working class whose rise and final victory is assured by the same inexorable law that renders every class that stands between the imperialists and proletariat impotent as a political force. And the socialist party has nothing to do with the working class, except as a strike- breaker with an ideological system for its purpose. : Intensifying the Imperialist Drive In Europe At the Saturday morning white house breakfast with a number of senators, Cool- idge, whose trousers will polish the white house chairs but a few weeks longer, let it be known that another plan has been laid to ‘ obtain the éntry of the United States gov- ernment into membership in the “permanent court of international justice,” otherwise and better known as the “world court” of the League of Nations. This is one of the pieces of “unfinished business” that the president wishes to clear up before he turns over the job to his successor, Hoover, as chairman of the executive committee of yankee perialism, In keeping with the current practice of concealing war preparations under ‘pacifist slogans in order to deceive the masses, Cool- idge depicts the new proposal to enter the world court as further evidence of the peace- ful intentions of his government. Neither during the period of the famous senatorial debate about adherence to the world court in 1926, or today, has American imperialism had any other motive in con- sidering membership in the legal branch of League of Nations than to be in a position to wrest control of the league, or domination among the nations constituting the league, from the hands of its imperialist rival, Britain. Wall Street imperialism wants to put itself in a position to be able to mobilize under its own leadership this bloc of capi- talist nations, to be used for its own ends against the Soviet Union, against the Chinese revolution, and for general world reaction. The world court move is no more pacific than the so-called “good-will” journey of the im- perialist butcher and robber, Hoover, to Latin America, Adherence to the world court does not mean, as Borah and other “liberals” contend, the entry of the meek and innocent Ameri- can lamb inte the den of man-eating Euro- pean lions. It means the entry of an im- perialist giant into the court, the backdoor of the league, for the purpose of trying to crush its rivals and pave the way for domination of that instrument of imperialist aggression conceived at the “peace” conference at Ver- sailles. It means that every means at hand will be used by yankee despotism to protect its billions of investments in Europe and to try to extend its power over still more terri- tory. In short it is another step on the road to that world-slaughter toward which im- perialist rivalries are plunging the world. Every move on the field of diplomacy is a new warning to the working class, a danger signal that ought to impel the workers and farmers to new and more determined strug- gles against imperialism and all its agents. Only the relentless fight to destroy the | Power of capitalism can avail against the | plotters of new blood baths for the masses. im- | November British Jobless Rise 30,513 in Dinner for the Miners collecting contributions from their members and competing to see who jean donate the largest number of urkeys. e a Single Week LONDON, (By Mail).—During turkeys have already been donate: the week ended Oct. 29, the total of for the Thanksgiving dinner to be Dan Slinger, Secretary of the Na- unemployed workers registered at given by the Chicago Trade Union tional Miners Union, Illinois district, the exchanges rose to 1,374,700, a Educational League for the benefit who led the 1919 wild-cat strike will rise of 30,513 in that week alone. of the Illinois coal miners at the be the principal speaker. There will The total was 268,643 more than a Workers Center, 2021 W. Division, be a dance after the dinner. lyear ago. CHICAGO, Nov. 23. — Severa’ CHOPPING AWAY FOR THE NICARAGUA CANAL Stalin (NOTE:—The following speech | was delivered by Comrade Stalin,| secretary of the Communist Party | of the Soviet Union, at the Plenum | of the Moscow Committee and Mos-| cow Control Commission of the C.) P. S. U. held on Oct. 19, 1928. cee ee (Continued) | Dear Comrades. The development | of our economy is characterized by a distinct upward tendency, by the growth of the productive forces in |town and country, by an extension of the socialist elements of economy. We have completed the process of the restoration of economy. We have entered on the period of recon struction of economy, the period of the immediate socialist transforma- |tion on the basis of the new tech- nique. The slogan of industrializa- tion was and remains the chief slo- gan of socialist construction. The key to the development of industry and to a certain extent of agricul- ture is, however, heavy industry, the production of the means of produc- tion. “We know,” said Lenin. “that Russia cannot be saved merely by a good harvest of the peasant eco- |nomy—that is not sufficient; not only by the good situation of the light industry—this also does not suffice; we also need a heavy in- dustry. ... “Without the restoration of heavy. lindustry, without its reconstruction, | |we shall not be able to build up in- |dustry. Without it we are alto- |gether doomed as an independent jcountry.” : Difficulties of Reconstruction But the period of reconstruction, \the period of the transformation of industry and: agriculture on the basis of the new technique has, un- der our conditions, special diffi- jculties which sometimes cause vacil- |lations in some sections of our Party, which must be overcome at all costs if we are to be successful. z | Unlike the capitalist countries, we have built up our industry, both the heavy and the light industry, |without any influx of means from jabroad (without any loans from the \capitalists), by means of our own linner resources on the basis of the |common efforts of the working class and the peasantry of our country. {But in view of our technical back- wardness it is impossible to develop industry at such a rate, that it does not lag behind the capitalist ‘countries, but reaches and overtakes \them--as Lenin has taught the | Party—without the greatest exertion of the means and forces of the coun- itry, without, creat perserverance, \without iron discipline of the pro- |letarian ranks. : | The difficulties arising on this path—the straining of our material | resources, the shortage of goods ete., create certain vacillations both in) some strata of the working class and in some sections of our Party. On this basis there sometimes arise in- clinations towards a rivision of the course of the Party, towards a slow- ling down of the rate of development lof industry in general and heavy in- dustry in particular. In place of a Bolshevist overcoming of the diffi- culties there is a flight from them. These tendencies lead to a loss of the perspective of socialist construction and betray a failure to understand that the slowing down of the rate of development of heavy industry would result in the near future in still greater difficulties; that the material and cultural situation of the working class would be worsened jand that the country would fall into ja state of dependence uvon world capital which would weigh heavily upon it. The Party, in defending the |present rate of industrialization, proceeds from the fact that without |a systematic development of industry in general and of heavy industry in particular, a serious improvement of \the material and cultural situation lof the working class is impossible. | Agrarian Industrialization Needed. The industrialization of the coun- itry, however, is not exhausted by |the development of light and heavy industry alone. same time the development of agri-| jculture upon a new technical basis, | the supply of the individual peasant | jundertakings with new means of, |production, the raising of their out- |bining into collective undertakings. | jthe creation and development of, powerful Soviet undertakings. | If agriculture cannot develop to the necessary extent without indus-! ~ It means at the} on EK ight De Secretary of Soviet’ Communist Party Speaks Before Moscow Plenum on Right Errors try, without agricultural machines, | without tractors, without fertilizers, | in the same way industry cannot de-| velop to the necessary extent with-| out an increased rate of development | of agriculture, which supplies in-}| dustry with raw materials and food-| stuffs. The rate of development of | agriculture, -however, lags behind | the growth of industry and can} hardly meet the growing require- ments of the country. Agriculture} does not furnish a sufficient amount} of raw materials, of goods for con- sumption and export.. This does! not mean that with us agriculture is | declining or that it is passing over) to natural economy, for agriculture, | including the grain cultivation, is growing and developing from year to year and increasing its output. But it means that the present rate of the growth of agriculture is no longer sufficient for us. 34 Hence the gradual transformation of agriculture on the basis of the new technique, the mass. production of the collectivist peasant under- takings and, consequently, the in- creasing rate of development of our agriculture is a chief task of Soviet economy. Of course, the great difficulties jlying in this path arouse vacillations lin the weakest sections of our ‘Party. These vacillations find ex- pression in the underestimation of the role of the Soviet, and collective undertakings and in the efforts to lrevise the decisions of the XV. Party Congress on the reinforced attack upon the kulak elements in the vil- lage. These vacillations show the failure to understand that without the transformation of agriculture on the basis of the new technique, with- jout’ the co-operative and collective | peasant economy, a powerful ad- vance of the productive forces of the | village is impossible, the million] ‘masses of the peasants cannot be} \freed from poverty and the victory lof the socialist elements of economy ‘over the capitalist elements cannot |be ensured. | Difficulties Cause Deviations. These difficulties, which are closely connected with the solution of |the fundamental tasks of the recon- | struction period in the sphere of in- \dustry and agriculture, are increas- | ling with the accentuation of the istruggle of the imperialist states |against the first proletarian state. | This is shown in the new attempts of \the international bourgeoisie to dis- jturb the socialist construction with |all means—by preparation of an eco- inomiec blockade and an attack upon \the Soviet Union, by bribing the |commanding staff of industry |(Shakhty affair, ete.) | All these difficulties, as well as ‘the development of socialist con- | struction at the present period, stim- julate the activity and the struggle of \the capitalist elements of the country (Nep peonle, kulaks, bourgeois in- telligentsia) against the policy of the proletarian state. At the present |stage of socialist construction, which ‘finally leads to the annihilation of ithe classes, there is proceeding ‘an intensification of the class struggle, which is particularly noticeable in the village. The Party, in its nolicy. is proceeding and must proceed from the fact that the class struggle in ‘the village is becoming accentuated) ‘and found special expression last ‘year in the serious resistance of the} |kulak elements to the economy of the ‘proletarian state during the grain | provision campaign. ‘ | Fail to See Village Classes. _ Under the inevitable pressure of ‘the petty-bourgeois elements, which jare still a great force in our country, some sections of our Party organiza- |tions lost the clear Party directive. | Already in its letter of February |18th the Central Committee re- imarked that: | “in our organizations,~both in the | Party as in others, certain ele- ments have recently arisen which are alien to the Party, which do not see the classes in the village, do not understand the reason of our class policy and wish to con- duct the work in such a manner that nobody in the village is of- fended, which wish to live in peace with the kulak and in genera). wish to maintain popularity among ‘all sections’ of the vil- lage.” This underestimation of the role of the classes in our country is specially dangerous in view of the intensification of the class struggle, because it disarms the Party and deprives the working class of its fighting capacity. This underestimation of the fac- tor of the class struggle is an open opportunist deviation, a loophole for bourgeois-democratic tendencies. Another deviation, which is also a result of the disbelief in the so- cialist construction and of the cap- itulation” before the difficulties, is ance of the alliance of the working class with the middle peasants (Trotskyism). Party Fighting Both Deviations. The Party conducted and is con- ducting a decisive struggle against both deviations. The Central Com- mittee emphasized both in its Feb- ruary letter and at its April and July Plenums the necessity of the decisive struggle on two fronts, against both deviations. “The Party must proceed in its policy from the decisive struggle, both against those elements which are the expression of bourgeois tendencies in our country and wish to sabotage the decisions of the XV. Party Congress with re- gard to the increased attack up- on the kulak, as well as against those elements which by means of extraordinary and provisional measures, wish to abandon the systematic and firm course and thereby endanger the alliance be- | tween the workers and the main masses of the peasantry.” (Reso- lution of the July Plenum of the C. C. of the C. P. S. U.) For only on the basis of the con- solidation of the alliance of the workers and peasants, under the leadership of the working class, can socialist construction be success- fully completed. The Party will therefore fight as decisively as it fought against Trot- who adopt a conciliatory attitude to- wards it. Moscow Supports C; C. In this fight of the Party against the deviations from the Bolshevist line, among them: being the Right deviation, the Moscow organization stood and is standing in the first ranks. It was and remains the strong support of the C. C. in the defense and the decisive carrying of the Party. It has given the Trotskyist Opposition a decisive blow and has overcome the ideolog- ical vacillations in some “of its strata. The Moscow organization stood before the XV Party Congress and is still standing fully and en- tirely upon the line of the Party; ‘t fights uninterruptedly ageinst all distortions of the Party line. Po- litically grown, matured in Bolshe- vist traditions, the Moscow organ- ization showed and still shows great jsoberness and makes great claims on the Party leadership in regard to firmness to principle; it offers de- blur the political attitude of the Party. It is true that some members of the Moscow Committee and the lead- ers of some sections have recently shown a certain inconsistency and |vacillation in the struggle against the Right deviations from the Len- inist line by admitting an attitude inaeceptable to the Bolshevist Party towards these deviations. This has aroused the dissatisfaction of a cer- tain section of the Party function- aries of the Moscow organization who wished to correct these mis- takes. This dissatisfaction began after the September Plenum of the ‘Boscow Committee and of the Mos- their resolution on the question of the decision of the VI World Con- gress of the Comintern and of the Plenum of the C. C. regarding the struggle against the Right devia- tions and the conciliatory groups, have not sufficiently clearly ex- viations the underestimation of the import- | skyism, also against the open Right | deviation, as well as against those | out of. the Bolshevist, Leninist line | cisive resistance to every attempt to | cow Control Committee, which, in: |pressed themselves in favor of this struggle. The C. C. records, however, that the Moscow Committee already in its letter of October 2 has adopted all the necessary measures in order to correct this error. The C. C. de- clares that the Moscow Committee | as a whole and its leading nucleus | carried through and are carrying through the line of the Party and are unconditionally executing the decisions of its organs. The C. C. repudiates as being | contrary to facts the rumors to the | effect that the Moscow Committee is opposing the Central Committee of the Party. The C. C, therefore expresses its firm conviction that the struggle which recently took place within the Moscow organization will be imme- | diately liquidated. | Appeals for Complete Unity. | | The C. C. appeals to all members of the Moscow organization to se-! cure the complete unity of the Bol-| sheviki’ on the basis of the Party decisions and the corresponding let- ter of the Moscow Committee re- garding the new election of the Nuclei committees. The C. C. is convinced that the new | elections of Nuclei committees and | the preparation of the Party Con- | ferences will be conducted in com-| radely unity, accompanied by the broadest development of self-criti- cism and the mobilization of the whole mass of the Party and the working class round the chief slo- gans of our Party: For the unconditional preserva- tion of the present rate of develop- ment of industry! For the transformation of the vil- lage tova co-operative and socialist basis! For the alliance of the workers | and poor peasants with the middle | peasants on the basis of securing | the leading role of the working | class! For raising the material and cul- | tural level of the working class and | the toilers of the village! s Against the vacillations in pol- icy, for a firm Leninist leadership! For Bolshevist unity of the Mos- cow organization! | Grain Purchases in | USSR Exceed Last | Year’s Total 16.4% According to cable reports re- ceived by the Amtorg Trading Cor- poration from the Commissariat for Trade of the Soviet Union, pur- chases of grain from Soviet peas- ants by official procuring agencies amounted for the first 15 days of November to 559,191 metric tons. Procurements of grain showed an increase of 60.9 per cent in com- | parison with the corresponding 15 |days of November, 1927, and were but 10 per cent below the purchases for the entire month of November last year. The total purchases of grain for the four and one-half months end- ing Nov. 15, 1928, amounted to 4,- 378,590 metric tons, as against 3,- sponding period of last year, a gain of 16.4 per cent Moliere Is Too Much | for Japanese Reign of Terror, Is Banned (Red Aid Press Service) TOKIO, Japan.—tIn relation with the repeated reports of arrests of Communists in Japan and the fear- ful sentences imposed on them, it is not uninteresting to report that the persecution of every movement for freedom has extended to the French dramatist, Moliere, who was widely known in the seventeenth century. Moliere is looked upon by Japan- ese authorities as a subversive writ- er—he undermined the authority of ages, for in his plays he turns the younger generation against the older, and campaigns against certain social evils. BEAUTIFYING THE LADIES WASHINGTON, Nov. 25.—Per- fumes, cosmetics and toilet prepara- tions valued at $177,061,000 were manufactured in the United States in 1927, accord’ng to statistics of | strike, | breakers wherever the companies jat large with corruption. 753,870 metric tons for the corre-|* the American Labor Unions BY WILLIAM Z.° FOSTER. P. M. Arthur, grand chief of the] B. of L. E. from 1873 to 4903, orig-U inally elected as a radical, soon be- came a loyal servitor of the railroad companies. As early as the great 1877 strike he began to line up the engineers for the companies and against the rest of the railroad workers. He kept his men out of all joint strikes with other groups. |Some Railroad Labor he oh |He bitterly fought the A. R. U. freely furnishing strike- wished them. He was a life-long opponent of every form of railroad federation and amalgamation. The capitalist press was filled with his praises. While in office he became ja real estate speculator, amassing a considerable fortune. He owned a beautiful mansion in Cleveland and died worth half a million. dollars. Thus was this cornerstone of co: servatism and corruption rewarded. E. E. Clark, long head of the Conductors, was an active agent against everything progressive on the railroads. Samples of his pol- iey were seen in the Switchmen’s) strikes on the D. and R. G. in 1901- / 2, when he ordered members of his” union to take the place of strikers, In 1894 he worked openly with the General Managers’ Association to break the A. R. U. strike. As point- ed out in a previous chapter, he has been well taken care of by the companies for his loyalty to them. They Become Rich. P. H. Mortissey, former president of the B. of R. T., helped to poison this union and the railroad workers One of his outstanding achievements was the organization of that remarkable experiment in class collaboration, American Railway Employes and Investors’ Association, which has been. dealt with in a preceding chap- ter. Morrissey became rich through his treachery to the workers on the | railroads. Warren S. Stone, successor to Ar- thur as grand chief of the B. of L. E., followed a craft policy fatal to the development of a powerful rail- road unionism. He defended the en- gineers at the expense of the mass of railroad workers, which means that he played the railroads’ game. Stone was the “business” trade union leader par excellence. He was a pioneer in labor banking and his temporarily successful financial jag- gling gave the entire movement for trade union capitalism a great im- pulse. Meanwhile he took good care of his own personal interests. He amassed at least $500,000 from his huge salaries and many investments. He was a “progressive” in polities. The difference between him and Lee was that Stone was a liberal capital- ist, while Lee is a conservative capi- talist. Stone was a pillar in that enemy institution, the National Civic Federation. In a later chapter | shall have much to say about Stone’ and his disastrous speculations in trade union capitalism. An Arch-Betrayer. Wm. G. (“Bill”) Lee, grand presi- dent of the B. of R. T., is the arch- betrayer of the railroad workers. He is the worst traitor in the entire Listory of the railroad unionism, and that is saying a great deal. His working policy is a combination of the very worst features of craft unionism, reactionary capitalist poli- | ties, and personally corrupt leader- ship. There have been no real be- trayals of the railroad workers for a generation in which Lee did‘not take an active part. He has fought steadily against every effort to unite | the railroad unions and has consist- ently sold out the interests of every union in the industry, including his own, He has broken strikes of the switchmen, lured his membership into republican politics, and discrime inated against the Negroes. (A mere detail of Lee's reactionary course was the signing of an agreement with the Memphis Terminal Gore pany providing a wage scale of $1.00 per day less for Negroes than for > whites.) He has plunged deeply into trade union capitalism and is proud- er of the union’s $10,000,000 com pany to manufacture locomotive parts than he is of the union itself. Lee, more than anyone else, was re- for the loss of the 1922 ns. strike. He was also the prime nt'ver, in conjunction with Atterbury and other great railroad capitalists, in framing <p the in- famous Watson-Parker railroad law. Lee, one of the most sinister figures in all American labor history, has grown wealthy from his servility to the companies, A. A, Roe, a B. of R. T. militant, sized him up cor- rectly when he said: “Christ had his Judas, Caesar his Brutus, Washington his Ar- nold, and the Brotherhood of Rai'- road Trainmen its Lee.” To the foregoing typical list of misleaders of railroad labor could bef added the names of scores of others, the Grables, Jewells, Whartons,|_ Ryans, Doaks, Fitzgeralds, eic., whose melange of reactionary and corrupt practices stand as a wall against the development of a power- ful and militant railroad unionism, a barrier against which the efforts of the masses of progressive work- ers in the industry have so far beaten in vain. ARBITRATION FAILS STOCKHOLM, Nov. 25.-—Com- pulsory arbitration is admitted to have failed in Sweden. The conser- vative government has admitted \the United States department of commerce. Killed it. i that workers’ resistance tothe act pe 7 = | at |