The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 23, 1929, Page 6

< Page Six Saar Baily $25 Worker Central Organ of the Workers (Communist) Party Published by the SUBSCRIPTION RA’ Work Publ eof New York): months The Red Army—Whose Army? ry of the founding of the Soviet Republics. Today is the eleventh annive Red Army of the Union of Socialis Lenin once wrote, in criticising the counter-revolutionary utterances of Kautsky: “If the exploiters are defeated only in one country—and this certainly is the t a s simultaneous revolution in a series of countries is the rare exception—then they remain never- theless stronger than the exploited, for the international con- The transition from to Communism i i long as Jed, the hope of a restoration inevitably remains with and this hope is transformed into efforts at restora- of the exploiters ar it the exploiters, tion.” Of course no one doubts today that without the Red Army, the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics would not now be a reality, put no more than a heroic memory, a glorious tradition of proletarian valor to add to that older chapter of proletarian heroism, the Paris Commune. The Revolution was not begun with a Red Army ready athand. The whole first phase of the s ruggle, from Novem- ber 7, 1917, until February 23, 1918, was carried on with the ragged, untrained masses of workers and peasants with a few regiments still remaining intact after discarding their offi- cers and coming oyer to the workers’ cause, plus a few frag- ments of the scattered armies. In those first four months desperate battles and splendid victories were won by the Red Guard, and by isolated regiments, and “partisan detach- ments.” a : : In the middle of February, 1918, chaos reigned in almost all of what remained of the oldarmy. The old discipline was a thing of the past and fleeing hordes of unattached soldiers stampeding through the cities, drunkenness, pogroms—and the opportunity for counter-revolutionists—were becoming the characteristics of the day. Only a few regiments, notably the Lettish Sharpshooters and some sailors’ detachments from the Baltic Fleet still remained in a condition of revolu- tionary morale at the side of the Red Guard companies of factory workers. It was clear to the Bolshevik leadership that a new disciplined military organization was the alter- native to destruction of the revolution; and this organization, of course, had to be built on an entirely different basis from the old army of Russian imperialism. But, because the Communist Party of Russian under the leadership of Lenin had mastered the revolutionary experi- ences of the past, had brought to its highest development the revolutionary science of Marx and was able to apply this science courageously to the revolutionary situation in Russia the Communist Party was able energetically to carry the revo- lution forward, incessantly on the offensive, and organized the fighting forces with the single revolutionary discipline which alone could bring victory. On the days preceding February 23, the advance of the German Kaiser’s armies against Petrograd became a cer- tainty. On the 2ist the Soviet government issued the his- toric slogan: “The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger!” and called for the mobilization of every possible revolutionary force for the defense of the revolutionary capital. Re- actionary and counter-revolutionary elements were mobilized by force to dig trenches. Out of the masses of the factory workers and the regiments loyal to the revolution, with every possible addition of disbanded soldiers, the beginnings of the Red Army was formed. The success of the formation of the Red Army is history. What, then, is this Red Army? When bourgeois newspaper scribes write of “the Rus- sian Army,” they are, of cou trying to put before the eyes of the working masses a picture of a nationalist military force of a foreign power, to be conceived as, at least poten- tially, an “enemy” of the masses of other countries. When the ly ng agents of the capitalist class who are the leaders of the socialist parties of all countries speak of “Red Imperial- ism,” and of “wanting guarantees” against the Red Army of the Soviet Union, of course, this is nothing but the most - treacherous effort to lay the basis for the capitalist govern- ments successfully to crush the Union of Socialist Soviet Re- publics under the bloody heel of imperialist war. But the “Russian Army”—in the imperialist, chauvinist sense in which that term is used—went out of existence when the Red Army of the Soviet Union was formed. The Red Army is the direct opposite of the old, imperialist, nationalist army of Russia,—the direct opposite of every imperialist force. The Red Army of the Union of Socialist Soviet Repuouc. is the international army of the workers and peasants of the entire world. In the whole world there is not one member of the working class, not one hard-working, exploited farmer, who cannot truthfully say: “The Red Army is my-army, which has but one single motive—the liberation of the toilers of all countries from capitalist slavery !” More than ever before it is necessary to drive this truth home to the working class and toiling farmers of all coun- tries, and to the hundreds of millions of exploited colonial victims of imperialism. For war is coming. Imperialistywar is only a short time ahead of us. Again the whole world will flame with fire and drip with blood in the struggle of the im- perialist governments among themselves to seize the greater portion of the world for exploitation, and against the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics to destroy the hope of emanci- pation from capitalist-imperialist exploitation and slavery. In that cataclysm it will be necessary to transform the imperialist armies into the opposite of imperialist armies— into Red Armies. It will be necessary for the class-conscious - workers in each imperialist country and in each imperialist army to struggle fearlessly and ably to bring about the de- feat of their “own” imperialist government as a part of the work of transforming imperialist armies into armies of lib- eration of our class. . It is necessary for the working class of the whole world to be mobilized in defense of the Socialist Fatherland of all workers and its Red Army. ‘ ‘It will be necessary for workers and farmers, mobilized the United States imperialist forces facing the Red Army the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, to go over en e to the side of the Red Army. fore it is necessary to show the workers of all coun- that the Red Army is our international working class po, 4 SAARI Dalla a Lo DAILY WORKER, NEW YOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1929 THE RED ARMY—THE ARMY OF THE WORLD REVOLUTION! By Fred Ellis | T. U. E. L. Report at Mexican Congress _ The first part of the speech of Albert Weisbord, fraternal dele- gate of the TUEL to the Mexican Unity Congress of Workers and was printed in yester- day’s issue. It dealt with U. S. | imperialist aggression against Mexico and other Latin American countries with the new friendship between Morrow and Gil, with the growth of the Left wing unions in the United States. Comrades, your present convention is an historic one. It is a gre step forward in the unity upon {basis of class struggle of the ing masses of Mexico and Latin America. The Trade Union Educa- tional League hails this convention with joy and through it the prole- tariat and peasantry of Mexico. We are aware of the difficulties you have to face in your struggle for trade union unity in Mexico, to at-| tain the utmost struggle and to eradicate self-seeking bureaucrats whose interests incite divisions of yeur forces. We are aware that under the pretensions of a code of labor laws supposed to “protect” la- bor, the interests of the U. S. perialists aud of Mexican ex ers are being foisted upon the Me ican workers. We are aware that a}/ most grave danger menaces, tiat fascism, new nascent in Mexico, will assume the open forms it has ome other ready taken in American coun’ tempt to destroy them by violen having failed to corrupt th We point to the assassinatior Julio Antonio Mella as a sign of the me ace of fascism on the soil of ico, which will, of course, be tively supported by Yankee im jalism. | With such a perspective facing) |the proletariat and peasantry of the| | Americas unity against all imperi- |alism and all exploiters and all re-| jaction is imperative. To organize| |this unity the better the Trade League makes | Union Educational | the followirig proposals to your Na-| \tional Assembly: | 1—An exchange of :Jelegates to} the national conventions uf the 1e-| spective organizations. 2—Exchange of written yreports on the conditions of labur and ihe peasant masses, actions of the] enemy classes, the conditions of the organizations of workers and peas- ‘ants and their defensive and offen- sive actions. Such reports to be ex- changed each month. 8.—Articles for the press, mutu- ally exchanged, to inform the toil- ing masses of each country in a popular way of the struggles going on and to lay the basis for actions of solidarity. 4.—A written and signed Solidar- ity Pact, to be written by the Mex- ican comrades of the Workers and |Peasants Assembly of Mexico, which the T.U.E.L. suggests should deal with the following probiems: a) For a joint struggle against American imperialism, especially |pledging the assistance of the T.U. |E.L. to the armed struggle of Latin- |American peoples against United States imperialism for genuine na- \tional independence. |b) For actions of solidarity in ‘support of the prcgram of demands jot the signatory organizations, against the exploiters of the prole- tariat and pessantry, native and foreign. | ce) Mutual struggle against the | danger of a new imperialist, war and |for defense of the Soviet Republic of | Workers and Peasants. d) Against capitalist rationaliza- \tion of industry at the expense of |the workers; against the extortions lof landowners from the peasantry jand a defense of the demands of the peasant organizations, fs he e) Against fascism and all forms} of reaction in either copntry. f) Against the Pan-American Fed. eration of Labor, its Monroe Doc-} of Labor and for expulsion} from the trade unions of corrupt and class collaboration leaders. g) For trade union unity on the basis of ‘the c struggle, both national , and on an in- tional scale, in accord with the s of the Red abor Unions, to great danger of war. In the United}American imperialism and capital-| States we have 4,000,000 Spanish|ist war. The mobilization of these speaking and Latin-American work-| workers would be a distinct help in} ers, 3,000,000 of whom are Mexican. the mobilization of the agricultural The organization of these Mexican|workers as a whole and of the Ne- and Latin-American workers within|gro masses in the South whom our the U. S. must become a basic task|Mexican comrades could most eas- for us. Situated in the oil indus-|ily lead into struggle. The mobili- | try, the railroad industry, the min-|zation of these Latin-American toil-| ing industry and in other basic in-|ers in the U. S. would be of tre-| dustries of America, composing a big) mendous aid to the revolutionary part of the agricultural workers, the struggles of the Latin-American Mexican and Latin-American work-| masses against American imperial- ~|and for ~\ the case of the “| gua, China, “\diers are being trained to under- ers in the U. S., most bitterly ex- ploited of any of the foreign-born | groups, can strike a vital blow at Wall Street. | Comrades, I believe that a few! The organization of this great| additional proposals are necessary |mass of workers will be a tremen- in view of the situation existing|dous blow against Wall Street and| within the United States and the|a tremendous demonstration against | one single Trade Union International. Tasks Before Left Wing. Lessons of the Red Army By GEORGE PERSHING. OUNG militant workers of al)|i the U. S. army and foreed to countries will hail the 11th ‘An-| Hehe ue. pets peters niversary of the formation of the|™@nd of 2 Wall Street-Washington ficat raeang elaeteane {government, the Red Army 11th The Red} Rs an ? Army of the Soviet Union is the|Anmversary is ¢ mile post to free- defender of the workers of the world dom. Freedom from a corrupted and the bee f all x | System of capitalist greed and ex- fought the battles of the workers |°9S* en ci and have wrested one-sixth of the) gous, Workers. of the United world from the clutches of the capi-| St#tes are the soldiers of the next and the ezar. Today the Red imperialist world war being pre- soldiers stand ready to fight | To the American soldier enslaved pared by Wall Street behind a for the defense of the Soviet Union|*™oke screen of pacifism and fake the defense of the work-|Patrictic preparedness programs. | Meciclase veh whe sprigs jane so-called Citizens’ Military| : seid : raining Camps, the Reserve Offi-| ie ts he perenne fore: | cers Training. Corps are training ing the workers of other countries) thousands of young workers cach| Oa ¥ a fib: Ni _|year to fight the workers of other tho Rad ye _ aa. lands and to destroy the first work/ » the Kea Army S0l/ing class Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. The Young Workers | (Communist) League fights these imperialist war preparations and ef : trains the young workers in the _ The Red Army is a school, not|class struggle in preparation for for the teaching of racial hatred as| the overthrow of the capitalist-im- in the armed forces of the United | perialist government and the estab- States and other countries, but, for |jishment of the Dictatorship of the instruction of the Russian work-| Proletariat. Defend your class by ers in the class struggle and in| preparing now to turn the next war See as alee: of all oe a bie to free the workers of| vorkers country. the world. The Red Army is a lesson of in-} Workers in uniform, workers in ternational cooperation and friend-|the shops and on the farms, join liness to every worker; not an army|the Young Workers (Communist) of the dupe: not = lavah a core and oe oe ve Sov- conquest; not an army for the de-|iet nion. nite with the Red ret a pera ae ae mang Army Se for the defense of ‘oster, fig! ‘or, an ‘en ie} your class—the working class, on working class and the Union of So-|the anniversary of the first Russian cialist Soviet Republics. Red Army Corps. stand the role of the imperialist armies and to defend and protect the oppressed masses of all lands. = Meet of Mexican Worker and Peasant Congress ac A meeting of the Mexican Unity Congreze of Workers and Pea- sents, held at the end of January in Mexico City and organized a mili- |movement in the U, S., and capable | this series by Albert Weisbord, ism, These great tasks before us make a few additional proposals absolute- ly necessary if we are to map out @ program of work and carry out our | tasks. A capable Mexican comrade should become part of the appara- tus of the revolutionary trade union Mexican organizers sent into the key cities of America where the Mexican workers predominate to or- ganize these workers and mobilize them for struggle. Simultaneously a most capable representative of the T.U.E.L. should be stationed in Mex- ico to help out as much as possible and to coordinate the work in the; two countries to the greatest pos-| sible extent. When this first step will have been accomplished we will be well on the road to living up to our historic duty, Montevideo Conference. Finally, a word as to the coming Montevideo conference. _ We have} been informed of the coming con-| ference at Montevideo, Uruguay, in May, at which will be organized the Confedercion Sindical Latino-Ameri- cana, We greet that movement as} the most valuable means whereby | the solidarity in action of the trade unions of Latin America with the revolutionary trade unions and mili- tant minority of the U. S. can be af- fected. We trust that your assembly will unite with the other Latin American unions represented at the Montevideo congress. On our’ side, we have the duty of fighting the im- perialist policy of the bureaucracy of the American Federation of Labor officialdom from within that organi- zation and outside of it, where the 90 per cent. of the proletariat are still unorganized, of organizing new and militant unions which will func- tion in the interests of the whole working class, both here and in foreign lands, and which will be the power within the fortress of Yankee imperialism, that will des- troy it from within as our Latin American comrades attack it from without. Forward, then to unity, nationally and internationally, of the trade unionists of all America and of the world. Down with the yellow and class collaboration officialdom: Away with the Amsterdam and Pan-Amer- ican Federation of Labor traitors and splitters. The TUEL, United States section of the Red International of Labor Unions, through your assembly, sends to the trade unions of Mexico and of all Latin America, its fra- ternal greetings and earnest pledge of every support within our power. Long live the unity of the work- ers. Dowa with imperialism, the ene- my of every worker. and every peas- ant from Behring Strait to Tierra del Fuego. \ Down with the agents of imperial- ism in the labor movement. * * * The seventh and last article of fraternal delegate from the Trade Union Educational League of the U. & to the Mexican Unity Con- gress of Workers and Peasants, which will be published tomorrow, deals with the death of Mella, the great mass memorial meeting in his honor, and with its significance tant mass organization in which the Mexican Communist Party is wed @ leading role. “ for the Communist movement in: the Latin anes countries. Copyright, 1929, by Internation Publishers Co., Inc. BILL HAYWOOD’S tion forbidden except by permission. hat Martial Law Means to the Workers “To Hell with the Constitution” Axiom of Militarism. In previous chapters, Haywood told of his early life as miner, cowboy and homesteader in Utah, Nevada and Idaho; of his working up through the Western Federation of Miners to its executive tary; of its struggles in Colorado against the Mine Owners’ A ciation and Citizens’ Alliance; he is now telling of the great Cri Creek strike of 1903. Now go on reading. cr * * * PART XLIV. * By WILLIAM D. HAYWOOD. Cae Bier '(OVERNOR PEABODY said the soldiers were in Cripple Creek to assist the eivil authorities. They showed this by arresting, among the first, County Commissioner Lynch and Justice of the Peace Reilly. They took Lynch from his dinner table, put him on a horse, and with troops and trumpets brought him into the presence of Generals Bell and Chase. They had served .no warrant on him, and had made no charge, but the generals told him they did not want him to talk about the militia in the terms that he had used, and that he would have to quit bolstering up the strikers. After this catechising he was permitted to go home. The same treatment was given to Justice Reilly. The bull-pen was established in connection with the military camp at Goldfield. Charles Kennison, president of the Cripple Creek Miners’ Union Num- _ ber 40, was the first man arrested and put in the bull-pen, although when he heard: he was wanted he had given him- self up to the sheriff. The sheriff turned him loose and then he was arrested by the military. eon + * * Sherman Parker,’ Bill Davis, Bill Easterly, Paddy Mullnay, Laf- ferty and others were arrested without charge and thrown into the bull-pen. We got the firm of Richardson and Hawkins of Denver to take part in the defense of these cases, with Frank Hangs and old General Engley as well as John Murphy. These lawyers sued out writs of habeas corpus and had them served upon Chase and Bell. There was much delay on the part of the generals in bringing the prisoners into court, and when they finally did so, it was under ah armed force with a gatling gun trained on the courthouse and sharp- shooters stationed on the roof of the National Hotel and adjoining buildings. While the court was in process of hearing the cases, twenty tin soldiers armed to the teeth stood with their backs to the judge, their rifles in their hands. John Murphy, addressing the court, ‘said: “T refuse to proceed with this case under the conditions which surround’the court. This is not a civil process, this is an armed in- vasion.” The prisoners were taken back to the bull-pen, Dear ae 3 Next day they were brought back into court. “This time the sol- diers again filled the court, but they left their gatling guns behind them. Judge Seeds’ argument for his decision to release the accused ‘was long and very strong. In scathing language he discussed the usurpation of authority by the invading National Guard under Generals Chase and Bell. He ordered the prisoners discharged. General Chase announced that he would not abide by the decision of the court, and to the dumfounded amazement of every one, he com= manded_the soldiers to take the prisoners, who were marched out of the court that had freed them. Later, in the evening, without any ex- planation, the men were released. The governor must have telegraphed Chase that he was going too far. . * * * The Colorado militia was made up of clerks, business men and lawyers who in peace time were using the organization for dances, boxing matches and other amusements. Most of the clerks were mem- bers of Max Morris’ union. Max was a, member of the executive board of the American Federation of Labor, and the international union of which he was secretary was an artificial organization which existed for the purpose of allowing Max to hold his official position. He was a personal friend of Sam Gompers, who was frequently criticized for allowing a few hundred clerks to be represented on the executive board. Many of these so-called union men were at this time in Cripple Creek, Telluride and Trinidad doing the dirty work of the Citizens’ Alliance. The long campaign in Cripple Creek compelled the militia to offer bounty for substitutes, as they were being kept away from their busi- nesses too long. The militia was then filled up with thugs from the slums of Denvef, Chicago and other cities. General Sherman Bell had three leaders of our women’s auxiliaries arrested, Margaret Hooten of Anaconda, Estelle Nicholls of Cripple Creek, and Mrs. Morrison of Victor. They were brought before the generals and told that they would have to “behave themselves” or they would be put in the bull-pen. The women wanted to know just what was meant by “behaving themselves,” but they got no answer to this question, and were turned loose. * * * Then Bell issued orders that all guns in the district must be regis- tered.. This order was not complied with to any extent, as most of the miners had no intention of turning over their arms, or even reg- istering them with the military authorities. General Engley, the Civil War veteran and attorney for the Federation, deliberately strolled through the streets with his shotgun over his arm. John Glover, an- other lawyer, wrote a letter which he published, saying that he had two unregistered guns and if the militia wanted them they would have to come to his office for them. .A detachment of soldiers did go to his office. He held them at bay, until, seeing that they were trying to fasten him in, he began to shoot. The soldiers returned a: volley of twenty-five or more shots, one of which struck Glover in the arm. Then he surrendered and was put in jail. Before he was released they compelled him to say that he would not give an interview to the press. about the incident. General Bell, trying to earn his extra salary, sent a detachment of soldiers to the office of the Victor Record one night. The Record was publishing the official statements ,of the Western Federation. They arrested the entire staff, taking them off at once to the bull- pen. Emma Langdon, the wife of one of the linotype operators, her- self a printer, got out the paper that night, with a flaring headline, “Slightly Disfigured But Still in the Ring.” General Sherman Bell, anticipating the Kaiser's “me,and God” by several years, announced to the people of Cripple Creek and the world at large: “No one knows but me and God and Governor Peabody what} is going to be done.” He wanted it known that he was “going to take no further orders from the civil authorities unless specifically in- structed to do so by rernor Peabody.” General Tom McClellan said, “To Hell with the Constitution. We are not going by the Constitution, we are following the orders of Governor Peabody.” The phrase, “To,Hell with the Constitution,” is famous to this day. This was such a glaringly unpatriotic statement, coming from a general of the militia, that I used it as the headline of a poster, printing below it some parts of the Constitution that had been\ violated by the soldiers and authorities of Colorado. The boys pasted, these up at night on bill-boards and telegraph poles and other places. Next day soldiers under the orders of Genera) Bell were busy scratche ing them off. i 4 About this time the Citizens’ Alliance managed to have us turned out of our offices in the Mining Exchange Building. This would have fi happened sooner, perhaps, but it had been our custom to pay a yea! rent in advance. We moved into the Pioneer Building only a block, away. * * * « In the next instalment Haywood writes of the famous “dese- erated” flag poster which caused such a stir in the strike; of the Vindicator mine explosion; of the Thiel detective and the Citizens’ Al-, liance attempt to wreck a train in order to frame up the union miners. Readers who wish to get Haywood’s book for reading all at one time, - or to-add to their library, can receive it free by sending in a yearly subscription renewal or extension to the Daily Worker. a | | | | |