The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 7, 1930, Page 4

Page rour reniishing Ov. te . ne Work aans 1698-7-8, >> Union Square, Cabie: excent Sunday, at 26-28 Union “DAIWORK." New York, NT Baily SQ: Worker | Central Organ of the Commuuist Par y of le U. S. A. By Mail (in New York City onl; ye $8.00 a year; By Mail (outside of New York URSCRIPTION RATES: ity): $6.00 a year; $4.50 six months; $2.50 $3.50 six months; $2.00 three months three months THE MEMBERSHIP DRIVE AND WORKING WOMEN By PAULINE ROGERS. Vie Recruiting Drive of the Party is in full \ any of the dist show splen- However, which did result en we Party, is the per ge of wom- been recruited to the districts. This ion of the im- in the class strug- anding of the chang- orkers er: Hour Day For Women. e taking the places of men heavy industries. The pro- ¢ ing millions of wo: ear the number s ortant industries women are employed almost ex- ve 60 per cent of the rayon work- > receive wages ranging week. The rayon plants e Southern states where they the day and 12 hours teadily increas- nd steel y factories, in the automobile, ae and munition factories. Women 25 cents workers earn from } Their piece rates are never know what they to 40 cen In munition plants and es the number of explosions ereatly increased because If the Party is to re- struggles of the be representative of ad ranks 1 class. Women and War. in the present period of increas- ing econor , When the danger of im- perialist war is always present women workers d for the class struggle and nderstand what an important ie cr must be org mz must be millions of wo- role they pla: During war, men and children are forced into industry, in addition to those that are already working. Women workers not only manufacture chemi- cals, ammunition, uniforms, hospital supplies | but they will man the transportation system, they will have to keep the food and industry generally going. The masses of working wom- en who are already being mobilized for war, who are being betrayed by the A. F. of L. and other government agencies, who are being fool- ed and deceived by the bourgeois women’s or ganizations with’ their patriotic propaganda and their pacifist bunk, must be won for the Communist Party. The Party must turn its face to women workers without of course, neglecting the other section of the working el and more women especially from the industries must be recruited. For a Mass Paper. The membership drive gives us a splendid opportunity to build the “Working Woman” into a real mass women’s paper, which it must become in order to meet the growing demands of the present period of sharper and more in- tensified class struggles. Very few of our comrades realize that the task of building a mass paper for propaganda and agitation among the millions of exploited women work- ers is an important task, for the entire Party How many of us have a copy of the “Work- ing Woman” when approaching a woman work- er to join the Party? ‘How many subscrip- tions for the Working Woman” have our Party members secured? The “Working Woman” must reach every shop and factory where women are exploited, every strike headquarters, every home where there is unemployment. In wide-spread and effective distributions of the “Working Woman” we are spreading the message of Communism to the masses of work- ing women. A three-month subscription drive for 10,000 new subscribers has just started. Let every comrade do his share in the building of the paper by getting at least one subscription. More women workers into the Party More women workers to read the ‘ Woman.” Build the “Working Woman’—10,000 sub- scribers by May 1. bas) rking Murder of Communists Legalized in the U.S. A. sed Bronx County Grand Jury that the murder of Steve Katovis “reflects credit upon the officer and the police depart- ment of the City of New York.” This is noth- ing else than a direct appeal to the police to go ahead shooting Communists and revolution- ry workers. The police will not be punished for such deeds in this “country of the free,” just to the contrary they will get reward and the capitalist courts and by the press. The capitalists go farther than that, the: openly and directl. In the January issue of “The Massachusetts Guardsman” the official organ of Massachu- setts National G “Riot Duty” by Lieutenant Paul W. George, where the technique of mass-murder of revalu- tionary workers is explained in detail. He speaks about the equipment of bourgeois guards- men when on duty against workers. He gives instructions, some of which are useful for our Workers Defense, when it at last will be or- ganized, so that we do not stand unprepared, when the capitalist attack comes. We will not at length from his article, only give a ure of how the capitalists of this country plan to murder workers that dare to fight for their cl: The adv begins with stressing the im- portance of “steel helmets” as protection against “stones and other missiles and ds hav- ing a “moral effect on a disorderly crowd.” After speaking more on equipment in general he comes to the question of arms. “The rifle is the weapon with which most of the battles in riot service will naturally be fought .. .” At close quarte the aim must be low, never the heads of rioters.” This is in so ‘ill the revolutionary v " fire over many words: After we find the following: hurt, it should be the rioter: planation: “On the other hand its killing power is so eat, and its range so extensive, that its use as a firearm against crowds is generally pre- vented by local conditions and its moral in- fluence is greatly diminished by the general belief of the crowd that the order to fire will not be given.” No illusions, the American officers will give And more ex- has decided | the order to fire. | Katovis was murdered, and when workers were already prepare mass murder | d, we find the third article | | capitalists, “If anyone is | | Thomases & Co. will take active part like Noske | mass-slaughter of American Whalen’s cossacks showed their spirit and “good” intentions to kill, when clubbed at City Hall, “Our” lieutenant gives still better advice: “The sawed-off shotgun is by all odds the best firearm for riot duty.” You see, it kills better at close quarters. “The great reserve weapon is the machine gun,” but “a granade or two accurately aimed will do. the business promptly.” Field guns, light mortars or howitzers are weapons that are warmly recommended by this paper of the Na- tional Guard. “Blank cartridges should never be fired at a mob.” “An unloaded rifle or revolver on active service is’ little short of a crime. An officer who sends his men out to disperse a crowd with empty firles deserves to have half of them brough back as casualties.” Here we have the capitalist |class-hatred; do not threaten the workers, kill them! To be sure the author adds: “Officers and men should not fear reprisal, in case one or more people are killed. A soldier is not punishable for such an act, even though he uses bad judgment.” The Bronx County Grand Jury gave legal confirmation to this order to kill. We communists know what we have to expect. We have no illusions. We must see to it that the masses of workers will un- derstand the problem correctly. The socialists with Norman Thomas at the head cover up the bloody deeds of the New York police by throwing dirt upon the mem- ory of Katovis a brave proletarian fighter, whose death was a warning to the whole work- ing class of America. Their role as social fascists is to cover up the preparations of the so that workers will not stand un- prepared, when the attack comes, Then the and his like did and do in Germany today, in murdering masses of workers. The article men- tioned above is only one among many preparing workers, The working class has only one Party. The Com- munist Party, the only leader of the proletariat in every country in its hard struggles for vic- tory thru the revolution, —P.S. The National Training School xTo Raise the Political Level of Our Party By SAM DARCY. het activities of the Communist Party are expanding at a rapid pace. The economic and political developments are putting tremen- dous new tasks upon us. greatly lacking functionaries, who are trained in Marxist-Leninist theo especially as it applies to the current struggles in the U. S. \ This is without doubt one of the chief factors which is preventing our Party from moving forward more rapidly. Let us take some ex- amples. ord e In Jersey City, an important industrial city with many Negro inhabitants, our Party unit is composed of comrsdes who received their training in one of the old language federations. They meet in a hall the controlling body of which has many Communis' Yet they do not advertise their meetings in the hall because However, we are | ‘this might antagonize non-Party members of | the building.” The unit has won only one new’ member in the last eight months. It does not have a single Negro member. In fact, when the question of organizing the Negro workers arose, one of the leading comrades said, “We van't bother with this question because even if we won them for the Party where will they meet?” ’ In Unien City, New Jersey, our unit was in- structed to hold a Lenin Memorial Meeting. The idea of mobilizing the masses of workers in the important industries located there for struggle against war and unemploy- j | ment obviously never entered their minds. In- stead, they wanted to hold a “respectable” af- fair. The unit secretary wrote to the section organizer as follows: “It was agreed upon at a meeting of the executive committee held Sunday morning that the Lenin Memorial Meeting should be held as a lecture by Scott Nearing for that would assure us a success as he js well lnown and respected here. The nature of the lecture should be similar to all other lectures by Comrade Nearing but to add a bit concerning Lenin thereby giving it a memorial character. The theme should be one which can easily include something Len- inistic.” One gets a conception of the lack of contact with the masses from this bit penned by one of the members of the unit which gives us a picture of their life. ye In Cliffside, N. J., we are ready to issue our first shop paper in a sugar refinery. When the question was raised in the unit as to. the distribution of the shop paper it was found there was considerable resistance. After some discussion it appeared that the leader in the resistance against the building up of the shop paper was a boss barber who said: “Some of the foremen in the refinery take shaves in my shop. If we issued a shop paper they won’t give me their trade anymore. I can’t have any- thing to do with it.” Unfortunately, the com- trades argued with him on the basis that even if the foremen stop coming. to his shop, more workers will come as a result of the shop paper. This is no solution for such elements in our units: Petty-bourgeois people who re- fuse to do Party work for fear of losing their “PLL NEED YOU SOON!” "By Fred Eli THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND TASKS OF Y.C.L. Katovis Answers Lovestone AN obscure worker lay dying in a hospital, with a bullet from a policeman’s gun lodged in his back. Night and day he was guarded by the police for he was under arrest for mur- derous assault—though the bullet was in his back. He lay dying because he had caurageously performed his duty to his class and the Party which is leading his class. He was slowly and painfully giving up his life for his Party. He, an obscure worker, had done his reyolu- tionary duty at the call of his Party, and pluckily he was appealing to his comrades with his last breath to keep up the fight. At the time that our comrade lay there dy- ing, there lay in the hands of the printers one of the most outrageous and unscrupulous documents of villification against his Party as could well be conceived. A new recruit in the corps of bourgeois spokesmen—a former leader of the Party (the Party for which Comrade Katovis gave his life), is the author of the document. Lovestone’s pamphlet, “The Crisis in the Communist Party, U.S.A.,” was being printed as Comrade Katovis breathed his last. Before the pamphlet was ready for distribu- tion, there took place the tremendous demon- strations against police brutality, against un- employment and for the defense of the Soviet Union at the City Hall, and the still greater petty-bourgeois standing must be quickly elim- inated from our ranks. y In speaking to the masses and to new re- cruits to our Party, we must simplify our term- inology. But Marxist-Leninist analysis can- not ‘be made in the old bourgeois phraseology. Now that our discussions are taking on a non- factional constructive character the political backwardness of many of our functionaries comes to light when we find that many im- portdnt and leading functionaries are under | the impression that the Party must discuss the program and thesis of the Comintern in the language of bourgeois daily metropolitan newspapers so that they—the functionaries— should understand it. These comrades fail to recognize that in order to carry on agitation and propaganda wqrk among the masses, they must learn the method, content, and inevitably the phraseology of Marxism-Leninism. They must not succumb to the jeers of the cheap bourgeois Journals which talk about, the “slogan makers” and the ‘jargon of Marx and Lenin.” The failure of some functionaries to understand these things is hindering the political develop- ment of the Party. Some comrades, fortu- nately not characteristic of the Party, have even shown the old LW.W. “know-nothing” attitude—they are under the false impression that ignorance of Marxism and Leninism is a sign of proletarian character. au ae These things are not true of the entire Party. They are remnants of an un-Communist past. They keep our Party from greater progress. But we must answer them. There can be only one answer—to raise the political level of the Party through study of Marxist-Leninist theory, through discussion and in Party schools and classes so as to better understand mass activity. The Central Committee is under- taking a six weeks-national training school to begin February 10, If all the districts and sections cooperate, a corps of newly trained comrades could be made available for various sections of the Party, to infuse new Bolshevik spirit and knowledge and methods of work where slovenly, sloppy and social-democratic characteristics yet prevail. Every support should be given to, the National Training School.* It is a means of insuring Communist leader- ship to our future struggles, | i | one three days later at Union Square on the occasion of the funeral of our dead comrade. There is not one single event in the life of our Party recently which more clearly repre- sents the embodiment of complete refutation of Lovestone’s political line and his vicious at- tacks on our Party than the period from the day Comrade Katovis was shot in the back at a strike demonstration, thru the week of demonstrations culminating in the monster fun- eral procession, until the day the policeman who shot him was commended for doing his duty so well. Practically every aspect of the class struggle was brought out in bold relief. But this eloquent refutation did not deter our former misleaders, who profess to fight for “Communist Unity in the Revolutionary Class Struggle,” from going ahead with their at- tacks. Here are some of the gems from this new pamphlet which Katovis so effectively an- swered: “A serious revision of some of the basic principles of Leninism, especially in strategy and tactics, in the direction of ultra- left sectarianism, leading to an increasing loss of influence among the proletarian masses and to growing isolation.” (p. 11, empasis ours.— Ed.) Answer of Katovis: Over 50,000 workers demonstrating at Union Square before the funeral. Lovestone-—“A huge loss in membership through wholesale expulsions and demoraliza- tion, a sharp decline in the quality and social composition of the membership .. .” (p. 11.) Katovis.—Raise the quota of the New York District in the Recruiting Drive by 500. “Five hundred new members to replace Comrade Ka- tovis!” “Fight the Right Danger. A Hundred Proletarians for Every Petty-Bourgeois Rene- gade!” And we are getting them throughout ¢the country—-3,718 new members by Jan. 31, 52 new shop nuclei, 620 new Negro members, 86 new shop papers, and more constantly com- ing! Lovestone.—‘In every document of the new leadership, in every issue of the Daily Worker, we find that the American working class has begun ‘its counter-attack and even a direct offensive,” that the American workers ‘are taking up revolutionary activity.” To substan- tiate these fantastic claims . . .” (p. 33, em- phasis ours.—Ed.) Katovis—We made Chief Cossack Whalen back down on the prohibition of the Union Square demonstration. Cossack Whalen said: There will be ,no march. Twenty thousand marched in defiance, ready to face machine guns and tear gas. We lost our pay and we imperilled our jobs, but it was a call for work- ng class solidarty to defy the bourgeoisie, and we had to respond. Lovestone.—“The real nature of the fantasies of ‘social fascism’ ... (p. 41). All these oppor- tunist illusions and passivity are covered with the frantic shouts of ‘fascism’ ani social-fas- cism’ on every page in every issue of the Party press.” (p. 60.) Katovis.—No wonder Lovestone must try to laugh off the developing social-fascism, when he himself is already an agent of imperialism and is rapidly lining up with the social-fas- cists. Norman Thomas, who personifies social- fascism today, openly exposed himself in his press comment on the City Hall demonstration. He said: “Why do we unnecessarily gratify the Communist mania for martyrs?” Note especially the “we.” It means Whalen, Thomas & Co., a partnership which will soon add the name of Lovestone, Lovestone.—‘Instead of possessing the abil- ity of tying itself up closer to the proletarian masses our Pa is fast falling into a posi- tion of sectarignism and isolation from the masses and thir struggles.” (p. 70.) Katovis.— y new members joining the | Note: The following is the third install- . ment of the resolution adopted by the last meeting of the National Executive Commit- tee of the Young Communist League of the U.S. A. « 8 # The Basic Reason For Unsatisfactory Situation. V. The basic reason for the unsatisfactory situation in the League is to be found in the sectarian isolation and separation from the basic masses of the young workers. The League has not begun to follow the course for winning over the masses by the development of a broad Communist “Youth Policy” as out- lined by our 5th National Convention, and the criticism that “the League has not yet under- stood how to develop a real youth policy and has not a correct line towards the young work- ers both inside and outside the League,”. still applies, i. e., the failure to correctly approach them on the basis of their everyday needs. A guage of our sectarian position can be seen in the bad national and social composi- tion of the League and in the failure to retain young proletarians in the League once they are recruited. As a result of the factional strug- gle and the unprincipled methods used, for a whole period the League indulged in exaggera- tions as to its strength and painted a rosy picture of its situation. The analysis of our membership made. by the NEC on the basis of a national registration in which 1589 com- rades participated, served to dispel these jlu- sions and show us the real facts of the sit- uation. The registration showed us that only 41 per cent of our members are industrial workers, while only 20 per cent are working in any of the main industries, the rest of the comrades being employed in more or less highly skilled and organized industries where the masses of young workers are not concentrated. The bad connection of the League with the basic sec- tions of the working youth is displayed by the fact that the bulk of the industrial workers in the League are. employed in the small or me- dium sized factories (87 per cent in factories employing less than 500 workers). At the same time more than 50 per cent of our mem-. bers are students, office workers, and petty bourgeois elements. While the League has made certain progress in raising the percen- tage of American born members, the national composition of the League is still entirely out of proportion with the national composition of the working class youth. Thus, more than 50 per cent of the League membership is to be found in Superior and New’ York, where the bulk of the members are either Finnish or Jewish (in the latter case, foreign born)—and also of very bad social composition. Thus out of 1589 members registered, 655 are Jewish and 453 are Finnish, and only 119 are Anglo- Saxon, 20 Negroes, 30 Italans, etc., despite the fact that the native born American, Negro, Italian workers, etc., are concentrated inthe basic industries. While young girls are being drawn into industry and into the struggles of the workers at & very rapid rate (even con- ducting their independent strikes), there isan absolutely insufficient proportion of working girls in the League. Numerically the proportion of girls is satis- factory, but most of the girl comrades are students and office workers, or as in some eastern districts, needle trade workers. Since then the composition has somewhat improved, especially since the membership drive, and in the improvement in the National and Social composition of the New: York, De- .troit and Cleveland Districts. However, the social and national composition of the bulk of the membership is still extremely unsatisfac- tory. The sectarianism of the League is further expressed’ in its separation from the daily class struggle events, in its failure to react not only to local strike movements, but imper- missible passivity on the part of whole sec- tions of the leadership and membership to such politically important events as the strug- gles in the South and the miners’ strikes. This Party at the Union. Square demonstration, many applications received by mail on the Ka- tovis leaflet, even some on the reproduction of the leaflet that appeared in the New York Evening Journal. Workers in a Brooklyn res- taurant stand at -attention in. honor of the death of a member of the Communist Party, forcing the patrons to do the same, Next day entire restaurant organized and agreement signed with the boss with the left wing Hotel, Restaurant and Cafeteria Workers Union.” Lovestone.—“The results of the imposition of anti-Leninist line and ultra-left policies were certain and inevitable. These results we have already described as they have shown them- selves in America and in other sections of the Comintern: isolation, confusion, disorganiza- tion, demoralization.” (p. 76, emphasis ours.— Ed.) Katovis—At the general membership of the New York District the night of the funeral demonstration, after a week of demonstrations, beginning with the tremendous Lenin Memorial meeting and ending with the successful defiance of Whalen, in an atmosphere tense with excite- ment and exhiliration, the first remark of every comrade was—What an answer to Lovestone!” February First was a big day for the bour- geoisie. The Bronx Grand Jury absolved Pat-. rolman Harry Kiritz of any blame in the fatal shooting of Steve Katovis. The document, signed by Edward ©. Delafield, president of the Bank of America, foreman of the Grand Jury, said: “He performed his duty in a way that reflects credit upon himself and the Police Department of the City of New York...” On Februaty Fjrst the class collaborationist Ladies’ Garment Workers Union announced the calling of their fake strike of 36,000 dress- makers. “Mr. Whalen assured Mr. Schlesinger that the police would be neutral...” (N. Y. Times, Feb, 1.) And on February First, trying to make the day still bigger for the bourgeoisie, Lovestone adds his mite by beginning to hawk his new anti-Communist pamphlet. * 6 « The. name of Steve Katovis, the obacure worker, will forever be a symbol to the working class. of courage, fidelity, fighting spirit and sacrifice. And the name of the ex-leader Love- stone will-be the symbol of the belly-crawling deserters of the working class in a period of new and fiercer Kid battles. & Resolution of the NEC Plenum! was shown in-the failure of the League to give real support to the Gastonia campaign and the campaign to raise funds for/ League organ- ization work in the South. This sectarianism. also shows itself in the failure to develop con- sistent mass work, especially in the large fac- tories; in the failure to build YCL factory groups and in the extreme weaknesses in the economic trade union work. It expresses it- self also in the lack of work in the various mass organizations of the working youth and in the organizations of the opponents; in the detachment between the upper and lower bo- dies of the-League; the failure to draw the entire membership into the everyday work and the failure to carry out these decision deeds. There are an absolutely insufficient number of leading comrades, either nationally or in the districts, directly engaged in the work in the large factories and in the building of YCL factory groups in proportion to the weaknesses of the League in these spheres. The tendency to conduct work more-for a show than from the point of view of permanent re- sults which was so conspicuous during the fac- tional struggle, still exists as a very strong expression of the League’s isolation. The League leadership has been very critical of the weaknesses of the present League situa- tion, but its self criticism has not always been of the best character. Criticism of the work in the districts has often been bureaucrasic, and not accompanied by the necessary concrete guidance as to how to improve their situation and correct their mistakes. The leadership has not provided for sufficient control over the execution of these decisions by the lower bodies and the entire membership as the best guarantee that they will be carried out. We have not made the functionaries of the YCL responsible, before the entire membership, for the carrying out of decisions, including the promotion of new leading forces in the place of those who prove themselves unable to apply the League tasks. The present unsatisfactory situation in the League cannot be separated from the question of the absence of real political leadership to the League on the part of the Party, fac- tional misuse of the League to the extent of its virtual liquidation as a definite organiza- tion of the young workers has in too many cases been replaced by an attitude of indif- ference on the part of leading Party bodies. This has often been encouraged by the pas- sivyity-of the League in relation to the Party and its most important problems.’ The pres- ent League situation cannot. be changed, how-° ever, without real political leadership by the Party and real attention by the Party com- rades to its problems. The Party core in the League must. be immediately strengthened. Formal representation by. the Party in. the re- spective bodies of the League (today in many cases there is not even this formal representa- tion!) must be transformed in favor of real work and leadership in these respective organ- izations by the delegated Party comrades. (To Be Continued) F.S.U. Issués First Two Pam- - phiets on Five-Year Plan™ The first two pamphlets in. a series on the Five-Year Plan.of Socialist, Construction and Industrialization have just, been issued by the Friends of the Soviet Union, American Section, 175 Fifth Ave., New York City. The pamphlets are “The Unbroken Working Week in ‘the Soviet Union” and “Socialist Competition in the Soviet Union.” A third pamphlet, “Soviet Agriculture and the Five-Year Plan,” will soon be. ready. These pamphlets, which are written in a popular manner, are intended to educate work- ers and sympathisers on various aspects ‘of the gigantic Five-Year Plan and to enable them to combat the lies and slanders of the enemies of the Soviet Union. They are ten cents each and can be bought direct from the F.S.U. or at book stores. As One Cossack to Another And now comes C. Y. H. Tarosovich, white guard emigre, who protests in letters to the press, against the use of the term cossacks to describe capitalist cops: “I am a sad exile of my native land—the old and glorious Russian empire—where for forty-three years I served his Imperial Majes- ty, Nicholas II, the Czar of all the Russias (may his soul rest in everlasting peace). For ten years before the hated Bolsheviks made their revolution I was colonel of the 298th Imperial Cossack Regiment, stationed at Odes- sa. “It is true we Cossacks are stern and relent- less soldiers, but never in our long and glori- ous and distinguished history have we attacked defenseless. women and children as did Mr. Whalen’s. gendarmes.” Correction In the article, “Fight Underestimation of Shop Paper Work,” appearing in the Feb. '5 issue of ihe Daily Worker, in speaking of the National Agitprop Department and National Organization Department, the phrase was used: “Both departments, we know, are frequently busy.” The original text read: \;“Both de- partments, we know, are fearfully” busy.” Workers! Join the Party of. Your Class: Communist Party U.S. A.‘ : “43 East 125th Street, New York City. ‘ I; the undersigned, want to join the Commu- nist Party. Send me more information, ° MUNG sha stunceteds Sonscer ean vueot merece Address Hitetaatorabnnet Uity.csesocce Occupation ..cesscecsecscsscveces AG@sevees Mail this to the Central Office, Communist Party, 43 East 125th St., New York, N. ¥» 4 '