The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 21, 1929, Page 4

+ anegoe y Publishing ( Y. Telephc to the Daily Wo PARTY LIFE ORTH AND SOUTH ALIK CLEANSE ITSELF AND MARCH WITH ATLANTA! Page Four THE HELP WORKERS OF YOUR PARTY aid down the , and the Address to Atlanta unit by t out more clearly than in the ness men, and was ge in Party d the ridding of ny of the little busi- proletarian ele- s composed of a few n’s Circle. With the ing class battles ahea group, organized with he unit orientated itself on mass and the workers in the chan; line Lovestone nit was t in it ressed Negro mas y proletarian Halt the members from fact ories, ilroac ps, etc. Only a unit carried thru a successful 12th Anniver- where ck and white workers came together and celebrated the 12th Anniversary of the founding of the Soviet Union. Anyone who ws the South knows that this was nothing short of a little revolution—to hold a Communist meeting south of the Mason- Dixon line where th Negro and white workers would sit in the same hall t the fact that the Party is leading both white and Negro work- B in the South is directly a result of the new line wing overboard of the old, petty-bourgeois ele- and lazy in the Party under the benevolent gaze hom they instinetively recognized as their ideological he stt arty and ments who waxed of Jay Lovestone, v the elements who were expelled from the Party unit same ones who used to scoff at the notion that me of he very ble to unite white and Negro workers or to lead the “back- it was pos ward American workers”—have chr allized themselves into parlor al groups bitterly fighting the Atlanta unit of the Party, boy- meetir ete is typical of the times and period—the slid- “disguised” In Atlanta, how- ng back of these elements into reaction. se elements masquerade under the protection of bona fide left ganizations, the left wing Workmen’s Circle and the Icor. Atlanta unit of the Party, while not neglecting to expose these elements, is forging ahead with its work among the bitterly exploited Negro and white workers. Special attention is being given the textile workers and the work of the NTWU is supported to the utmost. Marked success has already been achieved among the Negro workers, six Negro workers having joined the Party in Atlanta as a result of the work of the Pa in the last two weeks. The conclusions are very clear: Under Lovestone and his right wing line—stagnation, petty-bour- eois sectarianism, actual decay With the new line of the Party—growth and development. —SI GERSON. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT THIS. The Tenth Anniversary of the founding of the Young Communist International comes on Nov. and all revolutionary workers, espe- cially the members of our Party, will be proud of the YCI’s record of heroie struggle during the decade, and will look with more approval than ever on the effort of the Young Communist League of the U. S. to measure up to the full capacity of its task. Moreover every aid to the YCL must be given to that end. ‘And just now a bit of criticism might be helpful. For example, at the Gastonia mass meeting at the New Star Casino last Friday, with many workers present who were not yet members either of the YCL or our Party, three members of the YCL in uniform occupied seats toward the r of the hall, but throughout the entire meeting disturbed others by’ continual talking and joking among themselves, and when ked to be quiet merely sneered and kept at their disturbance. Such youth disgrace the uniform they wear, which should be an honor that goes only with revolutionary discipline and gives no shelter to hood- lumism. But the adult members of our Party must set the youth an example. A few set a bad example. They come, for the devil knows what reason, to meetings, not to listen to speakers, but to chatter among themselves. Maybe those, for example, who came to Comrade Foster’s lecture Sun- day evening at the Workers Center, thought they knew everything ‘al- ready and needed nothing more. If so, why then did they come and take seats near the rear of the hall only to gabble ceaselessly among themselves all through the meeting? Such things keep workers away from our meetings and our Party. Now, will the YCL and Party mem- bers read this and let things go on this way or will something stern have to be done about it? THE STOCK MARKET HARRY GANN There is much speculation on the deeper economic significance of stock market decline. Certainly the capitalist class is extremely neomfortable about it and are now faced with the full import of the Marxian characterization of capitalist economy as chaotic and anarchis- Hoover and the whole line of ‘ economists” who banked on an even tenure of prosperity, in spite of optimistic pronouncements, are in reality whistling to keep up their own courage. The most outstanding question in relation to the Wall Street de- bacle is: Does the stock market crash indicate a severe economic crisis which will seriously affect the productive and distributive s: American capitalism, or is it, as the bourgeois economists repeat in a uniform and mechanical manner, merely a readjustment due to over- speculation and gambling in the profits wrung out of the workers? The entire capitalist press is unanimous in declaring the Wall Street crash is not based on any fundamental injury to production. Lovestone, in chorus, chimes in with the assurance that, “The panic in Wall Street did not come as a result of the decline of American capi- talist economy.” But Hoover is not so certain. He appoints a National Economic Board “with a view to the co-rdination of business and gov- ernmental agencies in concerted action for continued business prog- ress.” Evidently “business progress,” Hoover’s new name for his old theme of prosperity, has not been so continuous, or at least seriously threatens to be decidedly reactionary. Is the stock market a barometer of business conditions? Every severe crisis in the United States and Europe has had its reflections in stock market crashes. While the stock market is by no means a complete gauge of the conditions of production still it is ridiculous to argue that the most tremendous drop in the past 50 years in values of capitalist securities does not reflect a severe rupture in the fabric of capitalist economy. The basic industry of American imperialism, iron and steel, shows a decided decline. “Operations in the mills generally were down to about 60 per cent of capacity in the valley districts, with Chicago and Pittsburgh operations at 75 per cent of capacity.” (N. Y. Times, Nov. 17, 1929.) “Automobile production,” also “is at a slow pace.” One thing conveniently overlooked by capitalist economists when speaking of the stock market, and completely overlooked by Lovestone’s Revolutionary Age in its “analysis” of a “tremendous American im- perialism,” is the concomitant decline in the price of farm products, particularly wheat and corn. No one claims over-speculation in these. In fact this much-overlooked facet of American imperialism is in such a bad way that the Ninth District Federal Reserve Bank (the most mportant farming section in the country) reports the astounding face that farm income from cash crops and hogs marketed during October was 45 per cent smaller than in the same month last year. The stock market crash is not an isolated fact in the picture of capitalist economy. For instance, as is quite generally and correctly pointed out, speculation had reached a very high and unsafe point. But why? The speculators, with the assurance of Hoover, Mellon and Co., believed in an even and continued growth of American imperialism with an even and continued growth of dividends and profits. In spite of the artificial barrage of propaganda and statistic-twisting stunts to make the American masses believe American imperialism immune from the historical disease of crises inbori imperalism, and to lull them into a secure belief that U. S. capi m cannot be affected by any instability of world capitalism. What has happened is that the finance imperialists realized that they were betting on the Hoover illusion of security when in fact the present, and more especially the immediate future, was extremely uncertain. What hope for the future? If the stock market crash is a passing phenomenon, and is not based on any inherent contradiction in Ameri- can capitalism, the economic effects should not be deep-ging. If the stock market crisis is connected bk severe economic crisis, the effects would he Jasting and will have fawreaching reverberations in the class By the We | DATWORK-? York, N.Y Union Square, New rk, AGAIN! — SAVE ACCORSI! SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By Mat! (in New. York only): $8.00 a vear $4.50 six months 250 three months By Mail (outside of New York): $6.00 a year; $360 six months; 00 three months pennies 6 asprin scor ne RAE o— Resolution of the November 1929 Plenary Session | « ings. of the Chicago District Committee ot the C. P. U.S. A. on the Economic and Political Situation and Tasks of the Party (Continued) SOME SHORTCOMINGS. e following shortcomings, remnants of the pre- wrong orientation of the Party under the Lovestone-Kruse reg must be noted in connection with the work of the Party and the Party leadership. he enlightenment campaign looked upon too much as the work of a few comrades and was separated from the concrete campaigns of the Party. There was insuffic cussion in connection with the At the time ceding period and of the th same ne enlightenment car ign, of the akes daily being made by the Party in all of its campaigns. Insufficient developments of inner Party democracy and of the development of Bolshevist self-criticism and in connec s insufficient drawing of new comrades into Party work, the tendency to centralize all activities in the hands of the few leading comrades, certain remaining tendencies toward bureaucrac; Still insufficient connection between the District Office and the se tions and insufficient political direction to the sections. There was a certain underestimation of the response of the mas to the various campaigns of the Party in this period and the failure on numerous occasions to prepare organizational efforts brought (Red Day and Tenth Anniversa of the Party) insufficient preparations of Party campaigns. A weakness with regard to following up our agitational activities with well worked out organizational measures which would result in the bringing of new proletarian forces into the Party and to our auxiliaries. Insufficient efforts to build the T.U.U.L. in the period preceding the Cleveland Convention, the weakness of our city T.U.U.L. conventions, the failure to hold such conventions in a number of important outlying sections (Milwaukee, Southern Illinois). Weakness in T.U.U.L. work since the Cleveland Convention. The-almost complete neglect of Negro work until recently. Weak connections be- tween the Party and the Young Communist League and insufficient aid by the Party to the Young Communist League in solving its in- ternal difficulties and in carrying on its mass campaign. The delay until recently in setting up a functioning women’s committee and the insufficient carrying on of work among the hundreds of thousands of women who are being drawn into industry. Insufficient reaction to international events and insufficient support to the struggles of the colonial Peoples. n wit struggle. Why do the capitalist economists look to a revivifying of building operations as a way out of the present difficulty? Because they recognize the fact that production on a wide scale is being choked and they must look for a way out of the crises. But will building help? Living accommodations in most parts of the country, from the view- point of profit, are overbuilt. Plant and connected structures (offices. warehouses, etc.) certainly are not required at this time with a pro ductive machine already too unwieldly. The fact is that, nationally. building permits have dropped 7 to 8 per cent below the level of last year. There is inflation in building financing as well as in production financing. Most of the past building boom rested on the far-flung use of the mortgage bond, and that game doesn’t provide such good pick A New York Times dispatch from Chicago informs us that “Building materials reflect the falling off in new construction and mill- work bids are aimed more to keeping current working forces employed than any hope of profits.” That outlook is*not so good. Yet in spite of the fact that steel production is down to 60 or 7 per cent of capacity the Ilinois Steel Company is preparing to put up a $200,000,000 structure; in spite of the fact that car loadings have dropped seriously, and that production all along the line threatens to decline (with a future promise of decline in car-loadings and a drop of need of railway equipment), still “Railway equipment buying con- tinues to be the backbone of new business” (N. Y, Times). Certainly a weak and unstable backbone. American capitalism is attempting to revive its declining industry by every means available. The strengthening of transportation facili- ties together with the enlargement of the most necessary war indus- try, steel, points to a r much different from the over-advertised peace path. Imperialism a complex structure and does not exhibit its crackings and crumblings in accordance with specified plans. That an economic crisis is here cannot he overlooked. The stock market heing the most sensitive point in present-day American imperialist economy gave way to the strain first. The severity of the crash is an indication of the severity of the erisis which, is already Pemsunthg to show its face in production, building and agriculture. *. | Trade Union Unity League must be built. j These and many other shortcomings in the district must be over- come by instituting the most ruthless Bolshevist self-criticism and by energetica lly carrying through the line laid down in the thesis of the . and of the Tenth Plenum of the Comintern. 13.—MORE STRUGGLES—AND NEW FORMS. The ( Thesis correctly points out that the development of the general features of the world crisis and in the United States, the coming of the economic crisis means sharper attacks on the working class, the growing radicalization of the workers, and the development of the class struggle on a higher plane. The events in the Chicago District (Southern Illinois, Seamen Body, attacks on the Party in Chicago as well as in California, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York) and since the C.E.C. Plenum show the rapid tempo of the developments in this period. The sharp developments | of the past few weeks which mark the be- ginning of the economic crisis will still further accentuate the class antagonisms and lead to still sharper class battles in which the workers will turn more and more to the revolutionary trade unions and to our Party for leadership. The Party must, therefore, intensify its struggle against rationalization, wage cuts, speed-up, long hours, the war danger, esp! lly by increasing its activities in the war industries, and for the defense of the U.S.S.R: A program of concrete demands, including political demands, must be worked out for each industry.* The sharpening attack against the workers and the attacks agairist our Party as the vanguard of the working class inereases the oppor- tunities of our Party to recruit new proletarian forces. As the C.C. Thesis correctly states, “the present situation demands the orientation of the Party towards new methods, new ferms of struggle, new forms of mass organization, new ways of getting hold of the masses (new revolutionary trade unions, strike committees, etc.)—only by such tac- ties, by making use of the new forms and methods for organization of the working class, will the Communist Party be able to bring over to their side the majority of the working class and to march at the head in the struggle for power and for proletarian dictatorship. Therefore, the Communist Party must participate in and secure the leadership of every strike, every struggle, every demonstration of the working class must strive to convert the economic battles of the workers into major political struggles (into struggles of the whole working class against the triple alliance of the capitalist state, employers’ organizations and veformists) an] carry on a ceaseless propaganda for the mass political strike,” In this connection it is necessary for us to systematically under- iake the task of turning the economic struggles of the workers into olitical struggles. For example, in Southern Illinois, where the work- ers are engaged in the bitterest fight against the mine owners and heir reformist agents, against rationalization and for the establish- ment of decent conditions in the mines, we find that the capitalist state nower is being openly and consistently used against the miners (break- ing up of meetings, issuance of injunctions). The Party must rally the workers there, not only for the struggle on the present basis, but systematically endeavor to raise the struggle to a higher plane on the basis of the political issues arising in the course of the struggle. One of the main tasks of the Party is to continue the energetic struggle against the war danger. The Party in its everyday agitation and propaganda should link up the struggle against rationalization, the attacks against the working class, etc., with the struggle against the preparations of the bourgeoisie for a new war. The Party should organ- ize a systematic work in the army and naval forces and set up for this purpose a special commission, with the active participation of the Y.C.L. Our district trade union work especially must be strengthened. The The struggle of the miners against the coal operators and the Lewis-Fishwick machines and the building of the National Miners Union must be placed in the forefront as the major tasks of the Party. The task of assuming the leadership in the organization of the unorganized workers in the steel mills and packing houses, the agricultural machinery plants, the oil and chemical industries must be energetically undertaken by the Party. The leader- ship of the Party in the existing new unions must be strengthened anc the most trustworthy and reliable Communists must be placed in posi tions of leadership. The work in the old ynions must be strengthened The Party fractions must be organized anf put on a functioning basis The most ruthless struggle against the social reformists (A. F. of 1 burocrats, socialist party. Musteites) must be wared. The Negro work must be taken up at once and energetically carried — * | white chauvinism, { new members to the Party must be s | systematic re THE CITY o2008= OF BREAD Reprinted, by permission, from “Ihe City of Bread” by Alexander Neweroff, published and copyrighted by Doubleday—Doran, New York, TRANSLATED PROW THE RUSSIAN (Continued.) ” “Are you back from Tashkent already? He looked more closely at the dog, it was a horse. him and also spoke in a human voice: “Get up—I'll carry you on my back!” Mishka got up on his back and rode away. The horse suddenly reared on his hind legs, threw Mishka to the ground, and struck him on the forehead with its hoof. Some one pulled at Mishka’s leg and said, “Get up, boy, or are you dead?” There weren’t any dogs; there weren’t any people, only the feeble station light shining in his face. Mishka came to his senses, felt for his knife in his pocket, and his thousand ruble note, sprang up, shook himself and began to run. The station was small and deserted. Be- tween the rails lay the shells of melon seeds, trodden into the dirt, and bones. Some one had been here, some one had gone further, there remained only the scattered bricks of the campfires, rubbish, dung, dark voiceless silence. Two rghiz came along, looked at Mishka, Mishka looked back at them, picked up two bones. A third Kirghiz came straight toward Mishka with outstretched arm Mishka backed up to the station door, and the Kirghiz followed him. Mishka’s legs trembled, his head was in a whirl. He clutched his knife and his thousnad ruble note in his pocket, and plunged through the station door. He saw another door opposite, pushed it open softly, sprang down the back steps and ran out through the station garden. His heart was thumping, he stumbled as he ran, In the station some one was shouting in a loud voice, not a word that he said could be under- stood. Mishka had never been a coward in the past, but now he sud- denly grew timid, he hung his head, he didn’t know what to do next. What if they killed him, God forbid, and took the shirt from his back? No one around to come to his aid, no one to hear him if he shrieked aloud. . . . He stopped to get his breath, crept farther, passed the station building, and coming out behind it, halted near a little signal hut. The hut was deserted, the windowpanes broken, tin roofing hang- ing loose, the brick oven falling apart, the floor torn up. Out of the broken window flew an owl. Mishka’s legs gave way beneath him. When he grew a little calmer, he timidly made his way into the de- serted hut. Night went by slowly. The wind rose, it tore at the loose tin roofing, it rpuced, beat’ against the walls, it howled like a pack of hungry dogs. Then came a clap of thunder. The house was lit up as if it were aflame. A jagged streak of lightning, like a pair of sharp-pointed open scissors, illuminated every corner of the hut; and then the black wailing night crept back through the broken windowpane. Mishka sat in his corner with his arms hugged tight across his breast, shivering, shrunken together, and all his former life, simple and secure, seemed to have been torn loose from everything, lost utter- ly and forever. Where was he now? Nearer to Lopatino or nearer to Tashkent? He didn’t know which he could get to sooner. Perhaps he wouldn’t get anywhere at all. He would lose his way. His strength would fail him. He would remain here in the midst of the steppe. The shrill whistle of an engine broke in on his troubled thoughts. It pulled him to his feet, and drew him out of the hut, into the rain and the wind and the pealing thunder and the blinding lightning flashes, through the wet rustling grass to the little station. The head- lights of an engine cut the darkness. Falling, his sandals slipping to the wet earth, stumbling over the railroad ties, heeding neither the rain nor the wind that flung him from side to side, Mishka ran toward the train. It must be the Tash- kent train, because the headlights were pointed in that direction, and he must get away with it, or he would perish ‘here in this desert place, and death would get him. Near the engine men were moving around and hammering at the wheels. Mishka came up behind them, then rushed to the cars, beating at the locked doors. Panic-stricken lest they should refuse to admit him, he turned and ran back to the engine again. Out of the darkness somebody shouted: “Keep out of the way!” (To be continued) It knelt before out on the basis of the line laid down at the C.C. Plenum. The Party should carry out a merciless struggle against all manifestations of A full-time Negro organizer must be maintained. The most energetic measures must be taken to carry through the recruitment campaign of the Party in connection with the intensification of our struggle against rationalization, the war danger, and for the defense of the U.S.S.R. By drawing in hundreds of new proletarian elements into our ranks we will be able to fulfill the revolutionary role we are called upon to play in this period of sharpening class struggles. At the present time our Party in the Chicago District is insufficiently strong in the key industries of the district and is not sufficiently orientated in that direction. In the recruitment campaign which must be undertaken following the Plenum, emphasis must be placed upon the basic industries, upon the orga! tions of shop nuclei in these industries and the establishment of factory papers. The recruiting of stematically carried out. The uiting of new members, the organization of shop nuclei and the putting out of more and more shop papers is of major im- portance in the struggle to maintain the legality of the Party and to j prevent isolation from the masses in the event the Party is finally forced to carry on its work illegally. In the past various campaigns of the Party have been undertaken and carried through without serious consideration to the winning of new members. We have confined our- selves primarily to agitational measures. Systematic organizational efforts have been neglected. In the future work of the Party this weakness must be overcome. The same criticism must be made with regard to our auxiliaries. There also systematic efforts are not yet ‘made to establish these bodies (I.L.D., W.IR., F.S.U.) on a sound organizational basis, without neglecting our agitational propaganda work. The organizational phase of our activities must be strengthened. This must apply to the activities of all units of the Party from nuclei up to the*district committee. Systematic organization plans must be worked out in connection with every campaign which the Party under- | takes. Systematic and persistent efforts must be made following the Plenum to develop the political life of the Party nuclei. The units must be encouraged to study and discuss the conditions of the workers) in the shops and factories and the ways and means of drawing them stand on all Party questions and take the initiative in working out programs of action for the struggle against capitalist rationalization | in the factories. Due to the drawing in of large numbers of young workers and women into industries in this period and to the greater exploitation to which they are subjected, special attention must be devoted to work | in those fields. The Young Communist League must secure the ful support and political guidance of the Party and every effort must b made to aid the League organizationally. The women’s work must alsa be strengthened. The attacks that are now being made against our Party in Chicago District as well as throughout the country, the efforts of tl bourgeoisie fo drive our Party underground will not weaken our Part | but will lead to the development of our Party into a more firm Bolsh vik Party. Our members will learn how to carry on the strugg'e agai the employers, reformists and state, will become hardened in the cou of the struggles and become better fitted to carry out the tasks bef it in this period. All the forces of the Party must immediately employed to energetically resist the bourgeois attacks and to mobili the working class for the growing struggles. To enable the Party to intensify its work in this district and ta more quickly and efficiently reach the masses of workers in the basic} industries, in order to carry through the organization of the unorgan: ized, the building of the new revolutionary trade unions, the building of the Party ,the establishment of Party leadership in all class strug- gles, the District Plenum decides to immediately undertake a campaign *o launch a weekly paper in the Chicago District, one page of which is to be devoted to the situation in the mining industry and to the sharp struggles developing there. This paper is not to become the substitute for the Daily Worker but must be linked with the intensification of our efforts to build the Daily Worker irto a mass organ as the central polities! organ of our Party (THe END). a af into struggles under Party leadership. The units should take a political