The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 30, 1929, Page 4

Page Four Teleph to the Daily Worker, New Dues System Marks Statement of Central Committee on Increased | Dues Payments | after cussion on the financial situation in | tain fundamental changes in the finan- | et of these will be to stat e Party the amount of money which is de- id collected rv nits, and at the sam the Pa mand nbers, in an a se the income of the P: o immedi, arehistic way in our w to enable e prac Poleom decisic ‘o institute a uniform system of dues payments based on 2 per cent of the wages received by each member, to be payable weekly, 50 per cent to go to the National Office, 30 per cent to district, 10 per cent to the section and 10 per cent to the unit.” APPLYING THE DECISION. le to collect le to use | approximated the 2 per cent, graded according to earnings, All members receiving less (inel per week y $30 per week pay 50 ce Between $31 and $40 per week pay 75 cents dues Between 41 and $55 per week pay $1.00 dues wee All over y their $1 dues plus special tax. Members will pay dues according to their earn Whenever 4 mber is unemployed he is to receive Exempt Stamps. New } are being printed which will be so constructed as to provide | for weekly payments of dues, receipted by dues stamps. Dues stamps must be bought by the District from the National Office at 50 per cent of the retail price. The District in turn sells them to the Section at 80 per cent of their retail price and the Section to the Unit at 90 per cent of their retail price. Where no Sections exist, the District sells them to the unit at 80 per cent of their retail price. This change in dues system is absolutely necessary to provide ways and means for the Party to take advantage of the present growing favorable situation for intensified Party act y and for building the Party. The increased income from the inex dues, will liquidate the periodic crises and appeals and will normalize the Party finances generally. The decision to increase the dues has been long overdue in our Party. In y Communist Party in Europe the dues are on a per- centage basis of earnings—either 2 per cent or 3 per cent. While this necessitates certain sacrifices on the part of Party members—it is un- derstood that sacrifices are demanded from Communists and if our com- rades in Europe, where living standards are below those of American workers, have enthusiastically decided upon and are applying thi - $12 per w Between Between ives) pay 10 cents dues weekly ues weekly ts dues weekly weekly kly ember: al Forward Step for the Party | v, at 26-28 Un ALWOT N . New York, Y is Orean o| tem successfully, then obviously members of the C.P, U. S. A. must and will do likewise. E WEEKLY PAYMENTS. Of importance is the fact that the dues payments must be paid weekly. Also members pay according to their earnings. Further, the following rules have been decided upon and will be strictly adhered to: 1. All auxilliary organizations are prohibited from making finan; cial appeals inf the Party units and are prohibited from selling tickets in Party units. These auxilliary organizations must turn their activity to the broad non-Party masses. 2. Neither the district or any Section Committees of the Party has the right to levy any kind of an assessment or make collections in the units, except by special permission of the Poleom. 3. The DEC must see that the finances of the Party in all lower Party organizations are strictly budgeted, handled by competent and responsible financial secretaries and that periodic audits are made of the books of all Party units. The financial stability of the Party is a problem of major political importance and must be treated so by the Party. Any financial looseness must be checked and strictly called to order. The increased income accruing from the new dues make it possible for the Party to cheapen the price of t s for all mass meetings. The present practice of charging 50 cents, 75 cents and 1 for admission to Party meetings must be radically changed, so as to enable the broad masses of workers to attend our meetings. This also will lessen the financial outlay demanded from Party members at present. From the above decisions, it is obvious to all Party members that the new dues tem is absolutely necessary for the life of the Party and in actuality it will not iner but in most cases, decrease the financial demands made chaotically upon the Party members at the present time. Every Party functionary and Party member is urged to discuss the application of the new dues system and the District and Section Committees must make preparations for its introduction on January Ist, 1930. of tem* must WHAT MUST BE DONE. 1. Every member must show'his 1929 Membership C: thru Dec. before receiving a new Membership Book. 2, Every unit must make an intensive drive to have every mem- ber paid up in dues thru 1929, immediately. 3. In order that the new dues system shall work effectively, it is necessary that every unit shall have a capable financial secretary. This comrade must be alert and alive to the political importance of the finnces of a Communist Party and specifically to the basic political importance of regular payment of dues, as a fundamental condition for membership in a C. P. If your present financial secretary is not capa- ble of handling the post in a responsible manner, elect another one. 4. The Section Committee must also -have a responsible comrade as Financial Secretary. On a District Scale, some comrade shall be charged with responsibility of seeing that every member is paid up in dues, this comrede to work sin conjunction and under supervision of the District Organization Department. 5. The dues under the new system must be paid regularly each week. The Financial Secretary must not awaif till a member comes to pay dues, but must be on the job constantly collecting dues weekly. Monthly reports must be made‘to the Unit Executive of the dues status of each member of the unit and the necessary’ steps taken to provide every comrade is paid up. Whenever a comrade is out of work, it is better to take Exempt Stamps than to accumulate a large debt which will seldom be paid. 6. The units must meet regularly each week. 7. Any comrade found not reporting his or her correct wage to the financial secretary must be dealt with severely. 8 The DECs are held responsible for seeing that capable reps are sent from the Sections to al] units to explain the new dues system. The District’ Organization Department must take up each unit separate- ly, if necessary, and give them direct personal assistance in establish- ing at once the new dues system. 9. If any unit after reading this letter has questions as to the | application of the new dues system they should immediately take it up with the Section Committee. 10. Dues Stamps must be bought from the higher committees for cash only. PARTY RECRUITING DRIVE EPORTS begin coming into the national office of the Party’ telling of the Recruiting Drive getting under way in many districts. New York, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Minnesota have held special meetings of their District Buro to discuss the Recruiting Drive and to lay out plans for mobilizing the entire Party membership thru functionaries meetings, meetings of units, fraction meetings, ete. New York has worked out a thoro plan which concreteizes the tasks set for this District by the Central Committee, assigning to each section a quota of members, specififying the industries and even the plants where we must concentrate upon to win new members. The Party has rapidly taken to the idea of conducting the Recruit- ing Drive.on the basis of “Revolutionary Competition.” Already the following challenges have been made: 1. Detroit District, whose quota is 400 new members, has chal- lenged the Pittsburgh District, whodg, quota is 500 new members, that a ag ard, paid up Baily’S2 he Communist Party of the 1. Worker Mik ee ee Rect s A S' $9.00 a vear: By Mail (outside of New York): $6.00 a year; BSCRIPTION RATES $4.50 six months $3.50 six months three months $2.00 three months By Fred Ellis i LONPOn DISARMAMENT” — CONFERENCE The New Reactionary Civil War and the Prospects of the Revolution in China By N. DOONPING. (Continued) CHANG HSUEH-LIANG AND THE KWANGSI MILITARISTS. EFORE discussing the two militarists in North China, Feng Yu- Hsiang, and Yen Hsi-Shan, let us take a casual glance at the two distant “brothers,” Chang Hsueh-Liang, the war lord of the ex- treme North East and the Kwangsi group, the militarists of the South West. About these two we do not have to say much, because their color is so clear and their position is so nortoriously known that a detailed analysis would be superfluous. Chang Hseuh-Liang stepped into the shoes of his father, Chang Tso-Liang, and took over the leader- ship of the Manchurian land owners and bourgeoisie. Manchuria is so openly and completely under Japanese control and Chang Hsueh-Liang is so protfouncedly a tool Japanese imperialism that to say that Japan is behind y important move of Chang Hseuh-Liang is not an exaggeration. recent statement that he found “reason- able points in the manifesto” against Chiang Kai-shek and that “the central government does not mean the government of one man,” (New York Times, Oct. 16) clearly indicates on which side of the fence he stands. H phical position makes it inconvenient for him to take an ai 1 a war against Nanking. However, it would be very bad for the anking bloc if he actively supported Chiang Kai-shek. By merely remaining neutral and thus depriving Chiang Kai-Shek of a powerful ally in the rear of the enemy Chang Hsueh- Liang is rendering a great service to his allies Ever since their defeat in the Nanking-Kwangsi war this spring, the Kwangsi militar- etreated to their “home” province i,’ and have been in- ely preparing for revenge, and a ‘ The Kwangsi clique most outspokenly championed the cause of the semi-feudal gentry and the old trade compradore bourgeoisie connected with British eapi- tal, and constituted the extreme right wing of the Kuomintang. Wheth- er the Kwangsi clique will emerge from the struggle weaker or stronger, the sethi-feudal gentry and the old trade compradore bourgeoisie will remain a potent force in Chinese politics as long as semi-feudal econ- omy and imperialism hold sway in the country. . FENG YU-HSIANG, THE “CHRISTIAN GENERAL.” Now we come to Feng Yu-Hsiang, the so-called “Christian Gen- eral,” who i Christian not by birth, but by choice. I want to em- phasize the word choice because, like everything else that Fenk Yu- Hsiang advocated and believed in, he became a Christian to serve his own purpos It is not necessary to mention the advantage of having a close connection with the Christian church and the well organized Y.M.C.A. in China. Even the Christian title which he earned by al- 46wing a priest to sprinkle a few drops of water on him, no doubt serves him as a good letter of introduction to his imperialist masters and, I may add, it also happily possesses the great quality of saving his they will recruit more members from basic industri both proportionately and absolutely. Pittsburgh wr in “that they accept the challenge and will give Detroit a run for the’ 2. Cleveland District, whose quota is 400 new members, similarly as Detroit, has challenged Detroit that’ they will reach their quota in a shorter period than Detroit. New York District, whose quota is the largest in the country 1,000 new members, challenges Chicago District that (1) they will secure proportionately more members than Chicago and (2) that they will recyuit more Negro workers during the drive into the Party than the Chicago District. Chicago in return, whose quota for new members is only 600, writes “that they will recruit more than 1,000 new members in the drive.” All other districts, sections and nnits are urged to send in reports of their activity in the Recruiting Drive to this column. 3 As a part of the Recruiting Drive, it has been decided to sell 100,000 copies of a new pamphlet just coming off the press, entitled, “Why Every~Worker Should Join the Communist Party.” New York District has already purchased 15,000 copies as their first order. Detroit, following New York’s lead, has ordered 5,000 copies as their first order. These pamphlets sell at 5 cents a copy and the Party slogan is “Every Member Must Sell 10 Copies.” Every district should rush in their orders for this new pamphlet which will come off the press December 1, to the Workers Library Publishers, 39 East 125th St. Special rates have been provided to guarantee the wide sale and distribution. In bundles of 1,000 copies, one-third off; in bundles of 1,000 to 5,000 copies, 40 per cent off; in bundles of 5,000 and up, 50 per cent off. All orders must be accompanied by cash. The Party Recruiting and Daily Worker Building Drive must have every Party membee behind it. Lets hear from every Party member on his aetiyity in the Drive, ji G s than Pittsburgh, masters the trouble of memorizing his name. But he is not merely a tool of the imperialists. Every Chinese militarist plays a double role, first as an agent of a certain brand of foreign imperialism, and second | as the leader of the native semi-feudal landlords and bourgeoisie of the particular region over which the militarist has control. It is true that Feng Yy-Hsiang put through some “reformist” measures in Shensi, Honan and Kansu, such as the prohibition of luxurious habits, the decree forcing all men living in ‘his territory to share their herds, the closing of houses of prostitution, the building of workers’ baths in one or two cities and official labor unions {these only in a few local- ities in Honan). But these measures are either of a distinctly back- ward character (prohibition of Tuxurious habits such as wearing good clothing and giving entertainments and feasts) or reformist demon- strations (exhibitions) with the specifie purpose of fooling the masses ana bidding for their support. The fact that he builds bath houses for workers while they have not enough to eat indicates clearly the purpose of these establishments. , Comrade Dun Tsun-Shia of the Prof- intern correctly calls this a “policy of charity.” I disagree with some Comrades who consider Feng Yu-Hsiang as representing the petty bourgeoisie. Considering the economic structure of the provinces he controls, where the system of small landholdings dominates, with little or no modern industry, it is very likely that Feng Yu-Hsiang represents the interests of the dominant social strata, the landowners (whose holdings are usually smaller thar®™ those of southern landowners) and focal commercial ‘capitalists. Most of the officers in his army come from landowning families. His ruthless suppression of the Moham- medan peasant revolt in Kansu and the latter’s bitter hatred for him is another indication of the direction of Feng Yu-Hsiang’s political orientation. Backed by the landowning class and commercial capitalists (who are closely related to each other), of the Northwestern provinces, and under the direction of his Japanese advisers whom he engaged since his betrayal of the revolution in 1927, Feng Yu-Hsiang is n@w pushing southward to wrest the hegemony of the national government from the hands of Chiang Kai-Shek, who is the agent of American imperial- ism, and also the representative of the Shanghai bourgeoisie and land- lords and local commercial capitalists of the Southeastern provinces. In Feng’s demand for the removal of the capital back to Peking, which he made public through an interview with the Associated Press (New York Times, Nov. 5), we see clearly the working of the hand of the commercial capitalists in the north. If we recall the grave economic crisis which Peking and almost the whole of North China (except Manchuria) suffered ever since last year, owing to the removal of the Sopa le Nanking, we will understand the full significance of this lemand, YEN HSI-SHAN, THE “MODEL” GOVERNOR OF SHANSI. But Feng Yu-Hsiang is ‘not the only spokesman of the Northern landlords and bourgeoisie. Although, when he asks for the removal of the capital to Peking, he speaks for all the Northern Chinese land- lords and capitalists, his main support comes from the Northwest. Another war lord of North China is the co-called “model governor” of Shansi—Yen Hsi-Shan. The son of a native banker and pawn broker, he ruled Shansi with semi-feudal methods, more or less suc- cessfully for eighteen years. The secret of his success, to a great ex- tent, lies in his “village policy,” by which he consolidated village organ- izations by conferring governmental appointments upon village elders, thus increasing their power and responsibility and bringing them closer to the higher authérities. This‘amounts to a conversion of the old self-governing autonomous village system into an almost military organization, which naturally greatly increased the efficiency of the governmental machinery. Here we must point out that since the so- called “village elders” come almost exclusively from the landlord com- mercial capitalist class, the tightening up of the village organization and the increasing of the efficiency of the village government means the tightening up of the control of the exploiting class over the ex- ploited. .Here lies the secret of the comparatively “peaceful and or- derly” condition of Shansi. This situation cannot last long, because. no mater how tightly and efficiently exploitation is organized, the ex- ploited cannot always be kept down. A better means of robbery may prolong a little the grim business, but it can never be a guarantee for the perpetuation of the system of robbery. And further, partly on account of the protection afforded him by the favorable geographici! position of the province, Yen Shi-Shan for many years successfully manouvered to remain outside of the various civil war combination: in the country and thus postponed his downfall. At the brink of every civil war he walked on a precipice and every time, somehow or other. he balanced himself successfully and was saved, But the situation is becoming more critical; every additional civil war deepens the contra- dictions in China and it is becoming increasingly more difficult for the “Model Governor” to hold his balance. Since 1926 he has already lost his balance twice. Fortunately for him, each time he fell in a The Struggle of the Miners Against Increased Rationalization By BILL GEBERT. S| og aaa the coal fields of Illinois tens of thousands of miners are in open revolt against the coal operators and the United Mine Workers of America which is instrumental in putting over rationaliza- tion in the-mines. The mines today are no longer mines; as the miners say, they are factories, Machinery is making speedy inroads in the mines, replacing tl pick and shovel by conveyors, and even conveyors today are out of date. New machinery is replacing the conveyors, such as the Hogg Loading Machine. Men are driven practically to death working on these thachines to produce more and more coal for less wages. “Wild cat” rikes are breaking out in many mines against dis- crimination, worsening working conditions, cutting of wages, ete. Miners in thousands are beginning to realize that only under a revolutionary union, the Natjonal Miners’ Union, can they put up% front against driving them ifto industrial slavery and starvation—starvation for the tens of thousands who are driven away from the mines by machinery, as well as for those who are still working. HALF UNEMPLOYED. The Illinois State Department of Mines reports that in the month of October 175 mines were operated, producing 5,723,402 tons of coal. 51,037 men were employed, who worked on an average 17 days. But there were in Illinois, according to the same sources, in 1924, 338 ship- ping mines which employed 95,499. Together with local mines, there were 99,763 men employed in 1,032 mines. But in 1928 only 206 ship- ping mines operated, and only 61,154 men were employed. There were 992 mechanical loaders used in these mines. To show how the ma- chines and rationalization of labor affect production we will take the ies concerning production in one of the largest coal producing counties—Franklin County. In 1924 in Franklin County there were 26 mines operating in which 15,962 men employed produced 12,288,745 tons of coal. In 1928 there were 19 mines operating, employing 14,- 259 men, and producing 14,078,923 tons of coal. In other words there were 1,073 less employed and 1,790,178 more tons of coal produced. Although the production, as it is shown, increased with the decreased number of men employed in the mines, the wages of the mine workers were reduced considerably and working and safety conditions were taken away. Speed-up and rationalization also causes an increase in casualties in the mines. In the month of October 13 men were killed, and 1,318 were injured, working in the min One passing by a mining town can see deserted little miners’ hous In other places where there are company houses, the company forces the miners to live in company houses and pay rent, so they also must desert their houses. Poverty of the miners is generally noticeable throughout the fields. Day by day tens, hundreds of miners stand on the sidewalks of these small mining towns. One can read on their faces bitterness and suffering, But there is also a spark of hope that the National Miners’ Union, which they are building, is taking up the struggle and fight against the corrupt and bitter enemies of the miners, the officialdom of the U, M. W. of A. and the coal operators. \ NO USE FOR TRAITORS. The miners have no use for traitors and stool pigeons. They treat them all alike, Lewis, Fishwick— Alec Howat, who once commanded the respect and to whom the miners looked for leadership, are now hated—hated as anyone who went to serve the tools of the coal oper- ators, the officialdom of the U. M. W. of A. Miners picking up the “TIlinois Miner’? with hate in their read that this “fighting Alec” today is with Fishwic and Farrington—they know both of them. They know it is Fishwick who threw out their votes no” against the sell-out agreement. They know that Fishwick is part of Farrington, the famous Farrington who sold himself out to the Pea- body Coal Company for $75,000. Every miner knows that is a fact and today when Lewis and Fishwick are fighting for control of the U. M. W. of A. racket, they expose each other. Lewis officially declares that Harry Fishwick from the 19th day of April, 1928, to 13th day of July, 1929, withdrew from the Illinois District U. M. W. of A. treasury the sum of $28,202.10, and misappropriated that sum. Farrington, answer- ing Lewis, declares that it is nobody else but Johr L. Lewis, the “great- est labor leader the world ever knew,” who got from the Kentucky coal operators $150,000 for the privilege of working during the strike and an additional $50,000 per month for each successful month of strike lasting after the first month. But this is not everything. TRAITORS’ NEW ALLIANCE, The “struggle” between Fishwick and Lewis is a struggle of two groups of coal operators for the control of the U. M. Wi of A, Both of these cliques are equally servants to the coal operators and they speak with pride of it. Alec Howat, Powers Hapgood, who were once upon a time so-called progressives, are joining this treacherous outfit. Inside of the National Miners’ Union John J. Watt objectively gave | help to the scheme of the operators by joining Lewis-Fishwick and Co. in spreading the “Red scare? among the miners, to fight the Com- munist leadership of the N. M. U. But the miners were not fooled. They told their highest official that. he is no more—that they won't listen to him and told him openly that he must get out from the N. M. U. as there is no place for anyone who is fighting against revolutionary class union program of the N. M. U. The miners in Illinois, under the leadership of the N. M. U., at present are mobilizing all their forces for open struggle against the coal operators, and the U. M. W. of A.—both factions—Lewis and Fish- wick. They are beginning to fight for local demands. They are begin- ning to strike one mine here and there, This is a sign of growing struggle of the miners in Illinois. Mass meetings, conferences are at- tended by hundreds and thousands of men, who say in short—“now is the time,gnow is our opportunity to smash the U. M. W. of A,, to smash the treacherous outfit, to strike and to establish the National Miners Union under whose leadership we will march forward to estab-. lish the six-hour day, five-day week, social insurance for the unemployed miners, double crew on the conveyors (“Scotch pianos,” as the miners call them), equal pay for young miners, for full social industrial and political equality for Negro workers, against Jim-Crowism and dis- crimination, for rank and file control of the union, for a pit committee to lead strikes, for a_real fight against the bosses. They are taking up the struggle in their local unions to smash the Idtal machines of the U, M. W. of A. by taking down the company union charters of the u M. W. of A. and hanging on the wall the charter of the fighting mili- tant union, the National Miners Union. FIGHT WILL SPREAD. The struggle of the miners of Illinois is not an isolated striggle. It is a struggle part and parcel of the working class of this country and throughout the world, It can be clearly seen that the struggle of the Illinois miners is not only an economic struggle. It is of great political importance, and must be looked at as such. The Communist Party is supporting the Trade Union Unity League and the National Miners Union, is giving its leadership and guidance in the struggle, and will mobilize the working class of the whole country in support of the struggle. a eRe | pool of water and was saved. But there cannot be a pool of water waiting for him all the time! Those who believe that Yen Hsi-Shan * is immune to the fate of all militarists in China are undoubtedly betting on a losing horse. However, this time Yen Hsi-Shan may be saved again. Although he is as conscious of the interests of the Northern landowners and bourgeoisie as his temporary ally, Fen Yu-Ssiang, and though he him- self controls both Shansi and Chihili, which includes the important cities of Peking and Tientsin, Yen Hsi-Shan is not unaware of the favorable position which he now occupies. He takes full advantage of the situation and is letting Feng Yu-Hsiang fight the battle for him, while he is saving his military strength for later use, The fact that Yen Hsi-Shan did not come out openly against Chiang Kai-Shek earlier does not mean that’ he was wavering. The hatred of the North- ern landlords and commercial capitalists for Chiang Kai-Shek, their resentment of the domination of the Central Government by the Shang- hai bourgeoisie, and their determination to remove the capital from Nanking back to Peking, is strong enough, I think, to bring about a temporary united front of two agents of the Northern ruling classes, Feng Yu-Hsiang and Yen Hsi-Shan, Recent reports that Yen Hsi- Shan, speaking as a mediator,*considers Chiang Kai-Shek’s resignation necessary as a condition for peace, and that he has refused to receive Nanking’s delegftes, certainly confirms this view. However, he is not ukely to relinquish the favorable position of a “neutral” unless it be- comes absolutely necessary for him to do so. He is taking part in the struggle as an arbiter, and after the conclusion of the war, will place himself in a comfortable seat in the new government. (To be continued)