The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 26, 1929, Page 4

i i Central Organ of the Communist Party of the U. S. A. Published by the Comprods ng Co, In aily, except | Sunday, at Ly 3 7; Telephone $8.00 a year $6.00 a year Address and mail all checks to t New York, N The Victims of the Imperialist War of 1914-18 The war of 1914-18 which was waged concerning the re- distribution of the world, affected hundreds of millions of human beings in all parts of the earth. For over four years millions of men fought and died in Europe, ia and Africa. Today, when imperialism is once again rattling the sabre of war in its ard, when the question of a new re-distri- bution of the world is again acute, labor should remember and. then fight with tenfold energy ag t and for the overthrow of the capitalist The following figures should awa itred by the workers against the wa and se them to join with rev ation the fight against the danger of v France (without colonies) Great Britain (without colonies) . British Dominions, Colonies and Russia .. Italy The United States . Roumania .. Germany ... Austria-Hungary Approximate total... Approximately 70 million of. the most fit were wi drawn from the process of production and delivered over to the terrors of death and disablement and to the suffering of | life in the trenches. Seventy million wage-slaves of capital- ism took part in an insane slaughter in order to protect the interests of capitalist profit. Millions of deceived and be- trayed workers and peasants fell in the war and millions of others returned to their homes as cripples. LOSSES DURING THE WAR. REMEMBER THE HA | Dead and Permanenily Died of Wounds Wounded Disabled France ...... 1,550,000 3,100,000 800,000 Great Britain 725,000 900 | Germany 1,835,000 665,000 | Russia .... 700,000 410,000 | Approximate total | losses of all belligerents .......++- 9,000,000 19,000,000 3,500,000 In ten European countries alone the population dimin- ished by 35 millions as a consequence of the world war. In the post-war years death also reaped a rich harvest. Many millions of people constitutionally weakened and undermined by the sufferings of war, privations and lack of sufficient nourishment were swept away in numerous epidemics. Ap- proximately 12 millions of people died in all countries as a _ result of influenza. In order to produce the enormous quantities of war material, the following numbers of workers were withdrawn in 1917-18 from the normal process of production: In France + 1.8 million workers In Great Britain . 2.0 million workers In the U.S. AL. 1.2 million workers During the war all factories worked feverishly to pro- duce modern instruments of murder. The tremendous armies and the machinery of destruc- tion used up not only the total national income of the belligerent nations, but also a considerable part of the na- | tional wealth, as can be seen from the following table: | What Does the Comintern Address Mean ? Enlightenment Campaign on the Comint ape Polbureau is desirous of securing the broadest pos- sible Enlightenment Campaign on the Comintern Ad- dress and the immediate Party tasks outlined therein. All Party members and particularly the comrades active in the workshops in the basic industries are invited to write their | By ISRAEL AMTER. No comrade, not even still share the illusion th: those who at the posi- National National Immediate War Costs tion of Cor:rades Gitlow, Wolfe and Country Wealth Income Total Yearly Average Lovestone is correct, will state that Great Britain with- Rs the decisions of the Ccmmunist In- out colonies 70.5 to 33.4 ternational as embodied in the Ad- France 58.5 6.0 31.3 dress to the Party incorrect. Some Germany 80.5 10:5 46.3 of them—particularly those of the Austria-Hungary 40.0 38 24.8 former majority—complain that Russia 60.0 6.5 26.5 some of the names used agajnst the A total of eleven : \leaders of the majority are very important belligerent . harsh and are such as to discredit the countries 567.0 80.8 249.4 57.5 former majozity leadership. Some of The fact that many millions ofthe best and most capa- ble workers had been withdrawn for over four years from the normal process of production, the fact that industry as a whole had been adapted to the production of war materials and finally, the devastation caused by the war, produced in the most important belligerent countries a general economic decline and the general impoverishment of the toiling masses. Years of hunger and chronic undernourishment are still fresh in the memory of all the people of Central Europe. “The proletariat manufactured machinery of destruction. Together with the peasantry the proletariat served behind these engines of destruction. The proletariat and the peasantry of various nations murdered each other mutually. Today everyone asks himself: How, was such insanity possible? But another question is of much greater present importance: are we threat- ened with a repetition of this insanity? “., . All the creations of humanity on the fields of econ- omics, politics, science and art recede into the background in face of the tremendous task of preventing a new war at all costs and saving the whole of humanity from decay and decline. Only the®broad masses of the toilers under the leadership of the revolutionary proletariat are capable of carrying out this great task. If the proletariat rises in a united front against war, then all measures of repression and all the forces of mili- tarism are powerless. The greatest engines of destruction are helpless unless they are set in motion hy human hands. “, +, The struggle against militarism must not be post- *ponec until the moment when war breaks out. Then it will be too late. The struggle against war must be carried on now, » daily, hourly.” - On August 1, 1929, the fifteenth anniversary of the outbreak of the imperialist world war that brought such de- vastation and misery to the working masses of the world, the toilers of all lands, under the leadership of the Com- munist Ipternational, will rise in great demonstrations inst the preparations of world imperialism for another d-bath. The workers of America must stand shoulder shoulder with their brothers of other countries! ‘On August first demonstrate against the danger of a % a : ust first demonstrate for the defense of. the n the road to peace throughout the them complain that although the! 'Communist International categoric- ally declares that it does not and di not intend to hand over control of | the Party to the former minority, nevertheless the very decisions of \the Communist International do put | control in the hands of the minority. i This illusion, all of us at the Party convention shared. We declared that regardless of the words of the deci- |sion, the Communist International ‘is working in a diplomatic, suave |manner to take control out of our hands. We decided that it would be |the worst thing that could happen to the Party. We had been the creators of the Party. We were those who through various struggles in the Party had been considered “more loyal and closer to the views |of the Comintern. We were the | Bolshevik group in the Party—and through the various factional con- troversies were stamped as the “Marxian trunk.” In the last controversy, when the Communist International found the right wing danger that was crop- ping up in our Party and manifested itself in the ranks of the former majority and former minority. When the Comintern found that the Party was moving fast to the right, then an analysis had to be made—on the basis of the Sixth World Congress decisions. Was the majority so cor- rect? Was the minority correct? The Communist International found that neither was correct—on the contrary, both of them were wrong, and the Communist International realized that even though the source of the opportunist viewpoint of each group was a different one, neverthe- less cach one was a source of danger to the Party. ‘ s Before and at the Party conven- tion, it was impossible for either group to recognize its mistakes, B " illed with a per- DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MART RS! RKET 1886 opinions for the Party Press. City. verted interpretation of the Contin-|vention did not consider the resolu- tern decision. Unquestionably the’ tion. Comintern Open Letter was intended] ‘The delegations went to Moscow. to correct the serious mistakes of| They discussed and debated, A free. the majority, said the minority. The | for-all—but the situation became all Open Letter was to correct the out- the clearer to the Communist Inter- © discussed. Here was an acute disease to cor- —factionalism, which made it im- ortunist mis-| possible to cure the Party but by a takes of both groups. in order to do!serious operation, That operation so it was clear that a situation in) meant a condemnation of all non- the Party had to be changed, viz., Communist practices, views and poli- the factional situation which made | cies; it means a condemnation of in- it impossible for the groups to think| dividuals who embodied these prac- Comintern Open Letter w: rect the dangerous opport erm Address to the Communist Party also will be printed in this section. ing with this campaign to Comrade Jack Stachel, care Na- tional office, Communist Party, 43 E. 125th St., New York in a Communist and not a factional manner, But was the matter as imple as this? It was not. In oth groups in the Party speculation | was rife—on the situation in the |Communist Party of the Soviet| Unon. Although we of the majority | were not informed about the situa- tion and had to accept much that | was told us—just as we had to swal- low a lot of bunk that was sent |across the ocean from factional ‘sources, showing that the Communist | \International was upholding the | majority despite its attitude at the |Party convention—nevertheless now pas the light of later developments, it is clear that some of the majority leaders, with Comrade Lovestone at | theit head, had associated them- selves with the right tendency in the | controversy in the Russian Party. | Pepper's recall to Moscow; Pep- _per’s remaining in this country de- | spite the decisi:n of the Communist International, and protected in his | refusal to return by the Polcom of the American Party; Pepper’s ex- pulsion on political grounds, and ac- cused of political cowardice and his virtual reinstatement by those who expelled him- what kind of political lJegerdemain was this? What kind of trafficking was this with the Com- munist International and the mem- | bership? keeping with the Communist Inter- national and the membership? The Party convention was a heated war. Resolutions were adopted to beat the other fellow—resolutions that the delegates knew nothing about, were not discussed. Resolu- tions were introduced in the heat of the fight against the very spirit of the Communist International Open Letter. I, with the proletarian dele- gations from Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh aad Philadelphia, was What kind of double-book- | tices. The resolution became sharper when those who were guilty of the practices and policies insisted upon their point of view. Where was the Marxian trunk? Where was the loyalty to the Com- munist International? Where was the pledge to the Convention and the Communist International that no matter what the decision of the Com- munist International would be, it would be accepted by the delega- tion? Flown to the winds! Communist discipline was forgotten; Communist policy was a thing of the past. The leaders of the majority—Lovestone, Gitlow and Wolfe—forgot that they were in a Communist Party—forgot that the Communist International is a revolutionary organization—forgot that the Communist International must insist upon revolutionary Com- munist discipline or it is no longer a Communist International—forgot that others had criticized and as- saulted the Communist International in the same manner and soon found themselves in direct opposition to the Communist International fight- ing the Comintern. from the view- point of an enemy of the Communist International. To date, Gitlow and Wolfe have not changed their position. Love- stone's “acceptance” is no acceptance, It is a call to the Party membership not to engage actively in carrying out the Comintern’s policics, but to be neutral. Speculating on what? On what the right tendency in the Russian Party are speculating on? Speculating on changes that will bring them back to power? This Is their policy. As a representative of the Party in the Executive Committee of the Communist International, I saw how guilty of proposal and support of one intended to discred' By Jacob Burek | aos. < BOURTS Resolutions of Factory Nuclei Send all material deal- and Thalheimer. {t was clear that Lovestone and Gitlow, however val- uable to the Party, were a liability cept Communist discipline. Speculation does not pay in the Communist International—it leads to destruction, Speculation on what will happen in the Russian Party; speculation on what the 85 per cent j of the American Party membership |would do that supported the majority in the Party controversy! The comrades forgot that this majority of 85 per cent was built on the theory that we were not only “more loyal,” but “loyal” to the Communist International and that if we wished to be Marxians, we had to correct our theory and policies on the basis of the experiences of the best revo- lutionary experience in the world—- that of the Communist International; that our practices had to be in con- foumity with those of proletarian revolutionists and not of speculating politicians. The functionaries meeting in Cleveland on June 15 demanded that Lovestone, Gitlow and Wolfe not only accept but endorse the decisions of the Communist International be- fore they shall be allowed to return to work in the Party. The same de- mand must be made «* them that was made of Zinoviev and Kamenev. Although the struggle in the Ameri- can Party has not taken on the same form as that in the Russian Party in 1926-27, nevértheless for the American Party it is suicidal to ac- cept any leadership that does not recognize that the Communist Inter- national decision is correct and no matter how much it hurts, it must be accepted and endorsed as the correct one. For myself, when the decision was I declared that it was impossible; when it appeared in full form in the Daily Worker, with the analysis and exposition, it was different. It ex- plained, it elaborated, it brought for- ward the proper position as the Com- munist International understands it, and as the membership must under- stand it. Has the majority suffered a de- feat and the minority a victory? The Party has a victory in corrected line and a loss in the defection as yet of a few of the leaders. It would others assumed the same attitude|be well for the Party if they cor- a Ronse toward the Communist International: | rected their views and returned to the Scandinavian Parties; Brandler | to the Party when they could not ac- | | Co-operatii | was with the By FEODOR GLADKOV Translated by A. S. Arthur and C. Ashleigh All Rights Reserved—International Publishers, N. Y. ICEMENT Gleb Chumalov, Red Army Commissar, returns to his town on the Black Sea after the Civil Wars to find the great cement works, | where he had formerly worked as a mechanic, in ruins and the life | of the town disorganized, He discovers a great change in his wife, | Dasha, whom he has not seen for three years. | | She is no longer the conventional wife, dependent on him, but has b a woman with a life of her own, a leader among the Communist women of the town, One night: Dasha tells Gleb what happened to her when he went away to join the Red Army. The town was invaded by white guards nd she and her small daughter, Nurka, were seized and tortured. ally they were released. An old soldier, Efim, brings her a mes- sage from Gleb and tells her to organize all the Green women (those loyal to the Soviet Union) of the town. Dasha gets a job in the balery. * * FHE: Green Wome! included: Fimka, a girl bride whose brother Petro ms. She ‘had the’ delicate air of a refined lady. | Domasha, a big-built woman with florid complexion, who had three whimpering little children. And Lizaveta, a childless young woman, high-chested and with a brilliant color, in spite of the famine. s submi: he ever Fimka « her, nor dit e, she never refused a man when he desired ise. a woman a share of her bread ration, Domasha was vindictive and ready to gratify her desire for ven- geance on every one. Lizaveta was reserved, and during the daytime in front of other people was inaccessible. These were the ones whom Dasha had formed into a group. They were the only people with whom she spent her free time. Efim, of the long moustaches, used to come to her at ni; and would tap her knees with his revolver while saying: “You must know, Women-Comrades, the main thing you have to do—keep mum, and die rather than speak. Bite your tongue out. The tongue’s the worst part of human flesh. . . . If you found out, bite your tongue off and it out. But don’t anyone with your ey Understand? The tongue won't lift a moun- tain but it can destroy whole range This was their first teacher, and a sure one. And thus passed about a year. And this year steeled Dasha with experience, cunning and strength. How that came to her she did not know. The other women shared in her strength and she became their leader. And it was at the end of this first year that Dasha was again shocked to the depths. From that time on he: eyebrows became knotted, and her eyes cold as crystal. * * * VE morning—it was a fine, bracing morning, clear and smelling of the autumn—as Dasha stood at the counter with the bread before the long queue of applicants, some officers came in, rifle in hand, jostling through the crowd, seizing her and dragging her out of the shop. The people, terrorized, ran away towards their houses. She was put on a motor-lorry among a number of officers and was driven to a villa—the same in which she and Nurka had been locked up be- fore—and thrown into the same cellar. Just as before, many people were here, lying or seated on the ground. As before they were all strangers to her, and each of them wrapped in his individual mis- fortunes. But Dasha was now different from what she had been. She knew that she was running a great risk and was prepared. She had thought a great deal as to how she would behave in such a case—how she would betray no weakness. She could go through anything: torture and perhaps death. But one thought lurked in her mind, intolerable: they might try to force her through Nurka. She could not stand that, | | if She looked round in the shadows of the moist cement walls and suddenly saw a great. moustache and eyebrows like tufts of tow. The eyes did not recognize her, they were gleaming over the others there. She understood: one must not recognize another. Then she saw Fimka, lying on the ground in disorder shaken with sobs; near her sat her little brother Petro, his smooth boyish covered with down, as though with dust. He was stroking her hair and shoulders, and caress- | ingly whispering to her; his face was that of a man recovering from | a drinking bout. Here for the first time she realized the horror of human suffering, . yet moustachioed man was dragged out first, and she after him. They brought her into a room, but Efim was not there then. The same vindictive young Colonel was there and he recognized her at once. “You've come to visit us again? Well, this time you won't get away from here. Well, how have you fed the Greens? Why did you lie when you told us you didn’t know where your husband was?” Dasha put on an imbecile look and staring at the Colonel answered: “How do I know where my husband is? You’ve taken him away from me and now you turn round and ask me about the Greens!” “We'll verify this. Take her into the kitchen and feed her well.” She was dragged to another smaller cellar. The floor was covered under an offensive congealed mat which stank of decaying human flesh. In the filthy slime were clots of congealed blood. A naked man lay on the floor, abominably dirty; he turned his head from side to side in the viscous slime, bathed in his own blood. Two big Cossacks were whipping him, their hoarse panting mingling with the whistle of the swishing leather whips. Someone, she could not remember who, burnt her back and shoul- ders with fire, but it was really a blow from a whip. She screamed savagely. “One! Two! Now you've got it, bitch! in a minute like him! there. * * See, you’ll be down there Show this beautiful creature that carrion over Do you recognize this swine?” given to me in an abbreviated formg| * “Why are you torturing me? this man?” the faith and confidence of the membership in them. They have been a startling example for the American Party of how a leader should not be. If they return, it will require years of work to regain the confidence of the membership. If they do not return—then the Party has not lost, but has gained, for they will have proven that they were unfit for leadership in a Communist Party, particularly at a time when the Party must be steeled in policy and discipline—when it must face the imperialist world mobilizing for international war. What effect had the factional sit- uation on the work in the district? The factional situation in District Six was not a reflection as a whole of the national situation. It was pretty much ‘allayed, but manifested itself in various respects. There was some shielding of inefficient func- tionaries; there was a favoring in a few instances of comrades of the majority for positions. But worst of all, owing to the lack of trust that some comrades of the two groups put in one another, the membership did not work unitedly, but wasted time and energy in factional dispute. The factional situation did not make it possible for discipline to be established. Action was hampered because of factional considerations: some majority members were shielded, action could not be taken against minority members because it would be interpreted as factional. Political errors were not disclosed for factional considerations—altho, ‘and others of|Party work. ‘They have destroyed I believe that it may be said, that|olutionary m E felt nothing but her nauseated heart. She gathered together all the strength of her soul so as not to fall down. What for? How should I know “Give that fellow his second course!” (TO BE CONTINUED.) political errors of a major character were not made by the District Bureau except in so far as it partici- pated in the errors of the Polcom. Errors were made in the district, but remained uncorrected or were { not taken in hand properly. Organ- izational mistakes were made in large flumbers; organizational weak- nesses were not altered. The district did not and could not change the situation owing to factional consi- derations, which necessitated the concentration of forces where they would be available for the factional dispute. The situation is now changed by the Comintern Address. Loyal mem- bers of both former groups will ac-/ cept it. The minority has no reaso1 to gloat—neither politically nor ganizationally has the Comint supported it. The majority has reason to complain—it di criticism that it received. Is there 2 Communist so: clear as to believe that he not made serious errors? Is a Communist who believes that he knows better than the ‘intern? Does the individual stand above the Communist _ Internatio! or the Communist International above the individual? The membership of the American Party in spite of and be- cause of the faith it had in some of the leadership of the former major-— ity, today has lost its faith in It places its faith in the Com it Pineecipilne sapere nee of wl ; ter, and the best guide afid }