The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 25, 1930, Page 4

Published by the Comprodaily New York City, Page Four Square Note: In the first part of this article, Bill Dunne quoted government facts which completely smash the lies of Hoover and his imperialist cohorts on the extent of the present crisis. The following is the con- cluding section of this article: BILL DUNNE. f capitalism » the fact that one-sixth of nd 150,000,000 of its jrawn by the strong asses from the fram The irresistible march on in industry and in he imperialists astounded, By world a i Yate large degree surface m has been the earth’s rk of capitalis ist cons ure leaves ghtened and furic ocialist ind socia ict agriculture is upset- ts force felt in the e making and creating problems for im- tions like America, which still find to sell wheat and other food- the world markets in great quanti- proble for imperialism has no 0 solution but intensified attacks on the orking class at —and wa The Agricultural Crisis. rview has this to say about Iture—a subject on which now impossible even ose in and at the disposal T ected stimulus from the activities he Farm Board has ly come... e the middle of January pandemonium has reigned ... , the recent collapse in wheat prices has been described as panicky, and is, nath of what took place in stocks in October and November. It was aggravated the last month by the fight between Eng- lish wheat buyers and the Canadian wheat Hoover b rat the “farm relief? ma- p will be able to placate the peaks more frankly than:about It is a damning con- Fact and Fictio 1 to this picture of crisis in agriculture ation in industry to be visualized from the recent figures on unemployment which the Department of Labor has released under pres- sure: According to their own figures, the Depart- f Labor, run by James J. Davis, the nemy of the low-paid, unorganized workers in basic industry, Negro and white, foreign-born and native alike, admits that one open its survey on 12,500 plants employing 3,000,000 workers and con- cludes that employment increased in February over January exactty one-tenth of one per It is upon this microscopic and purely cent! fictional increase that the capitalist press pic- tures Hoover as believing that “the dawn of prosperity is breaking.” One-tenth of one per cent increase in em- ployment is made the occasion for a tidal wave of optimism and typographical paens of joy! To what sad straits bas come the once proud land of prosperity! Tt seems that the one-tenth of one per cent i se in employed workers is obtained sta- tically by adding in the small army of ad- ditional clerks hired to collect figures for the Hoover optimism offensive. Notes of Skepticism. It could have been obtained no other way and it is not surprising that here and there a note of skepticism creeps into the editorial comment of such journals as the Pittsburgh Press, a Scripps-Howard paper catering most- ly to the middle class and ing to build ma ulation among a working class popu- lation where unemployment runs as high as 40 per cent. The press comments on March 18: “The department reports that there was the slightest possible improvement in Feb- ry over January, the figures being 90.3 In giving these percentages, rt 1 an average year, is taken as 100 per cent. Even in ‘normal years’ we are supposed to have from 1,000,- 000 to 2,000,000 persons on the average out of work, so that this 100 per cent skould be taken with some cantion. . . Combined figures for these manufacturing industries and seven other major industries show in- deed that there was a slight decrease in February as against January.” (Emphasis ter congratu eral that the “ March 6 were so ting the country in gen- mmunist demonstrations on futile,” the press editorial ess and mail all checks to (he Daily Worker. 26-28 Union Square. | talist rulers Publishing Co. Inc., daily, except Sunday, at 2 Telephone Stuyvesant 1696- Cable New Yors N. ¥. appetites on this cannibalistic hors d’oeuvre, sally forth to battle for Wall Street, popes, prelates and preachers, to put down with blood and fire the proletarian government of the Soviet Union which alone holds and defends the torch of freedom for worker and peasant, black, white and yellow, in all lands. This is the answer of the black-robed. breth- ren of the cross to the jobless and starving millions of working class men, women and children in the United States—an answer car- rying the imprimatur of his holiness, the pope, side by side with the great seal of the Amer- ican republic, placed there by Herbert Hoover, the lying prophet of capitalist prosperity. The Answer of Wall Street and the Social- Fascists. The answer of the government proper, aided and abetted by the clergy as at all times since government and religion arose, is clubs, tear gas, machine-guns, policemen, jails and prison sentences for, the workers and the leaders of workers who protest. The answer of the social-fascists of the American Federation of Labor and of the, so- cialist party is to entwine themselves still more closely into the suppressive fabric of Wall Street government, to take part actively in suppression of the masses or to distract the attention of workers with hypocritical phrases while a cop nails them with a club from behind. : The Communist Answer. The answer of our Party is organization and struggle. Work or wages! ‘The fight for the organization of the millions of low paid and jobless workers into union’ of the class struggle! Our Party fights and will continue to fight for every single inch of advantage our class has won in years of struggle. “Com- munists disdain to conceal their aims” and we organize and fight openly, under the standard of the World Party of Lenin, the Communist International, for power for our class, for the dictatorship of the working class as against the dictatorship of the capitalist class. “Out of Their Own Mouths.” No figures have been used here that are not furnished by Hoover’s own government departments. No statements have been as- cribed to him that are not from the lips of Hoover himself, or what he wished published, or from the article by his fellow-disciple in the Wall Street faith,’ Julius H. Barnes. On the basis of the evidence we must con- clude that these two spokesmen of American imperialism are trying, by specious and lying statements, to cause further misery for mil- lions of our class by leading them to believe that relief for their poverty and hunger is in sight when no relief on the basis of their pro- gram is possible. The Hoover program is a program for capi- for the class for whom $160,000,- 000 in taxes were remitted while black paup- erism invaded the dwellings of thousands of workers, An Imperialist War Program. The Hoover program is a war program—war on the working class, war on the Soviet Union, war on imperialist rivals. Taken in connection with the rabid denunci- ation of the workers and peasants government of the Soviet Union by the clergy and their |. dupes and the mobilization of their followers concludes: “The major question remains: What | are we to do about it, for next year and the next?” The Answer of the Clergy. Only the € munist Party of the United working class to this questic The prelates and preachers who purvey “the opium of the people” in churches and schools of all creeds have answered that a holy war against the Soviet Union is the correct reply. The sleek bishops and car- dinals, the Mannings and the Hayeses, have nothing to say about the millions of job- Jess workers except that they should muster at the communion rail, satisfy their hunger with the wispy wafer whom the holy sham- ans have turned into the body and blood of a dead god and then, having whetted their 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- Send me more information. nist Party. Name ... Address ..cccescocscccerecses Uit¥rrsssoeee Mbcupation oc. cccssecsceccececes ABCsccese Mail this to the Central Office. Communist Party, 43 East 125th St.,.New York, N. Y. States has given the correct answer of the | which, like the attacks on the unemployed and their Communist leaders, is rapidly taking on a fascist character, taken in connection with the sharpening imperialist antagonisms mark- ed by the collapse of the London Naval Con- ference, the Hoover program as outlined in his recent interview, is a war program. The Working Class War Program. War against imperialist war is the program of the Communist Party and in every action | ranging from the organization of the smallest® shop committee to mass strikes and demon- strations, the struggle against imperialist war, and for the defense of the Soviet Union comes to the forefront showing with crystal clearness the exact process by which in this “period of wars and revolutions,” in the strongest imperialist nation, the daily strug- gles for ‘the even smallest demands of our class become political struggles. The period of “permanent prosperity,” thru the intensification of the contradictions of capitalism, has become in the United States a périod when the political strike is on the order of business of the working class, The Municipal Election in St. Paul : | ‘THE result of the Communist campaign in the 4 municipal primary elections just held in,St. Paul, are a proof of the rapid growth of the influence of the Communist Party. This was the first time the Communist Party has’ run Communist candidates, on a Communist Party platform in the St. Paul municipal elections. In previous municipal elections the Commu- | nist candidates ran on the Farmer Labor party ticket. In the 1928 election camnaign for Con- gress the Communist Party polled 692 votes | for its candidate for Congress. In the present election campaign the’ vote for councilman was 1324 for Bartlett, 1780 for Rebecca Grecht, and “4.467 for Anderson. In the vote for mayor the Communist Party polled 813 votes for Karl Reeve, the Communist can- didate. All of these candidates were known as Communists. In their statements published in the St. Paul press, all of them stated, “I stand on the complete program of the Com- munist Party and the Communist Internation- al.” The Communist program, in,sharp and clear terms, was given by all candidates. The smalled vote for mayor was due pri- marily for the reason that more votes’ were stolen from the Communist candidates for mayor and that some workers have not yet rid themselves of their Farmer Labor illusions to the extent that they would vote for the Com- munist candidate for mayor, as against, the social fascist, Farmer Laborite Clancy. On the other hand the fact that 1300 workers voted for all of the Communist candidates for council- *men, shows that the workers are fast losing their illusions, and that they have come closer and closer to the leadership of the Communist Party. The extent of the votes stole from the Communist candidate for mayor may be judged by the fact that in one small precinct, preeinet four, ward nine, two votes were counted for the Communist candidate and already six work- ers have informed the district office of the “HOPEFUL HOOVER AND THE HOLY WAR” - — Gaily SQ Worker Central Organ of the Commuuioi « of the U. S.A. 1 (in New York City onl: BY Mall (outside of New York © RATES: $4.50 six mont! $3.50 slx mon eis a ¢- t $2.50 three months =; $2.00 three months “Yellow Dog” Howat The following is the report of an- inter- view which Comrade Rykov granted to* the representative of the “United Press.” 3 bs OU come to me with a request which I am sorry I am unable to fulfil.. You ask me to give you. information regarding the number of and the reasons for acts of repression against priests and clergy of various religious denominations. I cannot comply with your wish, for I am not aware of any cases of such | acts of repression. Inasmuch as such repressive measures, or as you express it, brutalities were not applied against priests and clergy of religious denom- pressive measures be mitigated, has no point. Does this declaration of mine mean, per- chance, that no priest or minister of a reli- gious denomination has even been arrested, handed over to the court, or sentenced? There and ministers of religious communities have rests and sentences were not in any way con- nected with the religious convictions of the condemned and with their cult. In these cases the priests and clergymen of religious denom- inations were, accused of having contmitted crimes which violate, our criminal edde. The priests and clergy must be héld responsible for such crimes just as all other citizens of the Soviet Union. In this connection one cannot’ refer back’ to the* whole period ‘since the October Revolu- tion and pick out every case where this of that clergyman has been brought before the party that they voted for the Communist can- didate in this precinct. The elections in St. Paul are “non-partisan.” This method serves to disfranchise the workers Partv, the Communist Party, from the final elections, to hide the fact that the candidates of the Republican, Democratie and F.L. parties are running on a capitslist program, to. blur the class issues. However, in this primary campaign, the issues were brought out. The candidate’ receiving the most votes, Bundlie, who received 27,000 votes, ran on a fascist, war platform. He appeared as the representa- tive of the American Legion, and advocated the big new airport program for St. Paul. Clancy, who received fifteen thousand votes, was the candidate of the A.F.L.-Farmer Labor “progressives.” His program was the typical social fascist program. He tried to please everybody, employers and workers alike, and boasted of the confidence “industrial leaders” place in him. On unemployment, he advocated nothing but registration of the unemployed. He is the present commissioner of public safety. The third candidate, Hodgson, the present mayor, who received fourteen thousand votes, immediately after the election made a state- ment that he will sunport Clancy in the final election. He said, “I cannot go back on my old friend, Jim Clancy, with whom J have served so many years in the administration of city affairs.” In spite of the shortcomings of the Commu nist Party campaign, due to lack of finance, weaknesses in Party forces, etc. in. spite of the “non-partisan” character of the elections, which confused some workers"as to who were the Communist candidates, the vote for. the Cofhmunist candidates which, in the °vote for Councilmen ran from 1300 to 4500, proves the great gains made by the Party during the course of the campaign against unemployment. fot defense of the Soviet Union, for the or- ganization of: the tnorganized, against the war danger, etc., asthe leader of the workers in St. Paul. ; inatiohs, your other request, that these re- | have been and there are cases where priests { been arrested and condemned, but these ar- | ~ Against the Religious Anti-Soviet Agitation e | court for defending some religious thesis or | other as, for example, propounders,of such doctrines as the Immaculate Conception, the creation of Eve out of Adam’s rib, Dead Sun- day (Al) Souls Day), Transubstantiation, etc. We have removed the religious factors from the whole educational activity and from the system of enlightenment in our country, and we secure and promote with all the means* at our disposal the development of science and spread it among thé breadest masses. And with us such a trial as the “Monkey Trial” in the U. S. A. would of-course be im- possible, as we promote in every way the spread of scientific knowledge. The spread of scientific knowledge and the overcoming of every kind of prejudice naturally and of nec- essity leads to a decline of the influence of religion and a falling off in the number of those holding religious beliefs. This decline of the influense of religion and the number of its adherents is also a result of the fact that a number of religious organ- izations have compromised themselves by their open support of counter-revolution (the Jésus regiment in the army of Admiral Keltchak, the recent declaration of the Extraordinary Church Conference of the Ukrainian Autoche- phalic Church, that under the flag of this or- ganization White Guardists clothed as. priests prepared an armed revolt against the Soviet Power, and a number of similar facts.). I am asked another question if regard to the closing of churches. Without doubt a number of, churches are being closed. But this is taking place as a resulé of the decisions of meetings of the people, in cases where the population itself regards the existence of the church as superfluous and prefers to employ the church buildings and premises for cultural purposes, schools, clubs, etc. If I am not mistaken also abroail churches are sub-leased, closed and used for this or that institution of a secular character. With us the closing of churches takes place with sufficient guarantees which are con- tained in the decision of the Central Executive Committee on religious communities. I men- tion for example paragraphs 36 and 37 of this decision, which was adopted in April, 1929, and also the fact that a considerable portion of the applications of the local authorities for the closing of churches were not granted by. the higher organs. The last question is what are the causes ofe the agitation in other countries for the pur- pose of raising the question of religion in the Soviet Union? I believe that these causes are not of a religious, but solely of a political na- ture. Those groupings whicl. have launched this campaign and are conductipg it in a con- siderable number of foreign press organs, are endeavoring to use the question of religion as a weapon for political purposes. Here we have without doubt to do with circles which proceed from the standpoint that in political warfare all means are permissible. This alone, would explain firstly, the appearance of ab- solutely wild inventions in the bourgeois news- papers, and secondly, the circumstance that groups and persons have come forwarduin de- fense of religion, who for the most part them- selves hold religion to be mere prejudice and ignorance, and who with their political activity could never guarantee those forms of religious eliberty which exist on the territory of the So- viet Union. Fight the Bight Danger. A Hundred Proletarians for Every Petty Bourgeois Rene- gade! [ by Ped HK INTENSIFY THE DRIVE FOR SOUTHERN COMMUNIST WEEKLY ns yeh following chart contains the results of ‘our drive to establish a Communist weekly newspaper in the South, up to March 21, The “Punikki” still holds the championship and the champion is an exceptional ‘honorable one betause this paper did not only reach its. quota so soon, but has even surpassed its quota by 44 per cent. In spite of this most satisfactory record made by the Punikki, the drive as a whole is going too slow. The total percentage reached is not even 10 per cent! The Language Department therefore again calls upon the different papers and language fraction bureaus to intensify the drive, so that we can reach, or even surpass, | the quota of $5,790 without dragging the drive | too long. It is necessary to point out here that the | drive is not merely important in regard to the | raising of the necessary funds, but it should | also be utilized to stimulate the interest of the masses connected with the language papers taking part in this drive, in the struggle of the southern workers, ‘and further strengthen the feeling of solidarity between the southern workers and the foreign ‘language working masses. The different papers should conduct this drive as a mass campaign and appeal to the widest masses for contributions. Mobilize all of your forces and the-masses in the fra- ternal organizations with which your paper has connection for this drive! Try to send in your full quota next week before Friday, 3 p..m., to the Language Department, Central Committee, Communist Party of U. S, A. Rovnost Ludu, Liberator, Negro Tyomies, Finnish -$ 60.00 . 350.00 | Toveri, Finnish...... 200.00 Eteenpain, Finnish... 300.00 $100.00 33.3% Toveritar, Finnish ... 100.00 Punikki, Finnish .... 50.00 72.06 144% Laisve, Lithuanian .. 400.00 200.00 50% Vilnis, Lithuanian ... 400.00 Freiheit, Jewish .... 700.00 25.00 3.5% Daily News, Ukrainian 650.00 50.00 7.6% Obrana, Czechoslovak 50.00 Rovnost Ludu Czechoslovak ..... 600.00 —-——- —— Uj Elore, Hungarian... 500.00 —_ Radnik, South Slav.. 500.00 Novy Mir, Russian... 300.00 61.06 20.3% Ny Tid, Scanudinavi 250.00 Empross, Greek 100.00 10.00 = 10% Tl Lavoratore, Italian, 50.00 Sasnanie, Bulgarian .. 50.00 os Arbejter, German .... 50.00 6.25 12.5% Nor Ashkar, Armenian 50.00 — Amerikas Zihna, Lettish 50.00 14.00 28% Uus Elm, Esthonian.. 30.00 13.00 43% Total........$5,790.00 551.37 7.5% Some Lessons in Strategy By PHIL BART. | aes the first time in the history of our Party | have we succeeded in rallying over a million workers to demonstrate on International Un- employment Days This number can very well | compare with those in the larger parties in | Europe. This demonstration therefore opens new problems for us. We have already had | demonstrations, such as Sacco-Vanzetti, which | were partially legal, and we were permitted the use of the squares ‘in the various cities. In this demonstration, howeyer, we found ‘that with very few exceptions, struggles took place: between the police and the workers for the right of the streets. ¢ In analyzing the experiences we must point out in the beginning that in each city we are faced with somewhat different problems. First- ly, the question of certain squares, where the workers have. established a tradition of meet- ing, such as the Cleveland Public Square, New York Union Square, ete. In Detroit, however, no such central place is in existence. Secondly, the question of reaching these squares, which are different in various cities, The writer, however, having mostly experience with De- troit will therefore confine himself to that city primarily. However, some basic principles are applicable all over. Especially at this time is it important to take this question up seriously and. with ‘all earnestness, because in a short time we will be called upon to prepare for an even greater edemonstration on. May First. necessaty for us in the shortest. possible time to’ estimate our experiences, look over our shortcomings, and to “corréct: our mistakes. - Some Criticisms of Detroit. The resolution of the District Committee cor- rectly states that, “though orientating on a large outpouring of the masses and applying correctly the line of the Central Committee, we underestimated the tremendous response of the masses to the call ‘of the Party.” While everyone expected a large outpouring of mass- It is therefore | | ner. es, no one estimated the possibility of 100,000 workers responding. That this figure is. not exaggerated is observed by all capitalist pap- ers. The, Detroit Times admits that there was a larger turnout than on Armistice Day. Our strategy was not entirely suited to the large number of workers. It was necessary for us to change our strategy with the new situation. Here again the resolution points out that, “. . . The steering committee at. the demonstration suffered from too much formal- ism and lack of initiative.” It was the duty of that committee to adapt itself to the new problems. This-it did not do. While Commu- nists are expected to carry out instructions, this must not be done mechanically. Commu- nists must be flexible and adapt themselves to* new situations as they arise, in order correctly to give leadership. Gathering Before ‘Demonstration. In the past we used to: gather our forces in various halls and send the comrades to their designated places. This plan does no longer work today. We “have seen’ for example in Chicago and ‘Detroit where meetings were raij- ed prior to the demonstration’ and wholesale arrests took place. Therefore the congregating of large numbers of workers in our halls would only give our enemies a chance to cut off the leadership from the demonstration by arresting many of the leading comrades, This does not preclude that we are to give up the idea of marching to the demonstration. This can be done by holding meetings at fac- tory gates and getting the workers in large numbers to go to the demonstration in an or- ganized way. Similarly the calling of strikes and having these workers march from their place of work to the demonstration. It can also be arranged for small groups of workers to meet in different homes in a certain vicinity. (if possible near the place of the demonstra- tion), and each group as it walks along will meet with the next group until all of them’ have been gathered together. Then. organized in a large body they march to a. designated place. Similar'groups can be organized in dif- ‘ferent parts of the city, each to march from a different direction. But as much as possible this should be timed so that each section reach- es its assigned place at about the same time. The Leadership of the Demonstration. To have a successful. demonstration. it is necessary to throw in the whole Party force. The Third Congress of the Comintern points out on this question, “The backbone of the demonstration must be formed by a well ,in- structed and experienced group..of diligent .of- ficials, mingling among the masses . . .” With an organized and diligent group of comrades’ we can successfully carry through our tasks. This has been demonstrated in Campus Martius. While the workers responded militantly to the “short ‘time away. - organize a bloody attacks of the police, there was noticed a. lack of leadership in fighting in an_organized man- Sporadic fights would take place, where groups would resist the attacks of the police on some worker. If we had had groups of “ex- perienced and diligent” comrades they could have succeeded to a larger extent to bring out the militancy of the masses and resist. the pol- ice attacks more effectively. * Workers Defense Corps. We. have spoken considerably, and written, even more, on the question of Workers Defense Corps.. Yet, we must record that insufficient work-has_been done in: this field, This dem- onstration. has shown a lack. of: resistance to the police attacks. Wherever workers. did fight, it was done in an unorganized manner. Of course, we must take many factors into consideration. Firstly, this was. the first time that we participated in such a large demonstra- tion, and secondly, the inexperience of’ the masses in resisting. police brutality. Yet the newspapers here admit that the police were unable to. cope with the situation, The Detroit News of March’6 gives the strategy of the pol- ice. It writes: “The big cars and busses scat- tered the crowds as no number of police‘could have. Almost at once the mass was split in twain and the danger was oyer.” In other words, it was the running of street-cars through the crowds of workers that did the trick. We must therefore be. prepared in such con- tingency. An organized workers defense ¢orps in this case would have given leadership to the masses. and stopped. the. cars which would have tied .up traffic and would have made it even more.difficult for the police to ile the situ- ation. As it was, the police succeeded in carry- ing.through their plan.” he The organization of . Workers’ Self-Defense Corps must be done with the initiative of the Party and League. In every. sympathetic or- ganization we must get groups of workers that are suitable for this purpose and train them for effective work, They must, be. prepared to act, during demonstrations for defense of shop- gate meetings, and in all other cases, We have seen, for instance, in Hamtramck where an or- ganized group of workers were able promptly and effectively to stop hoodlums from breaking up our hall there. These groups must receive regular training of work for demonstrations, ahd how to defend our speakers and placards during the demonstrations, With the crisis developing rapidly, bringing an increased radicalization of the massés, we will have more and more’ demonstrations. May First as has already been pointed out, {sa very These demonstrations will midre and more take on a political ‘character, , and the workers. will rally not only on the immediate demands, but on the slogans of the Party’ for struggle against imperialist war pre- parations, defense of the Soviet Union, against the whole capitalist system, and for the rev- olutionary workers’ government. Great tasks are therefore placed upon us. We must quickly learn to respond to new situ- ations as they arise. Underestimating the tempo of radicalization of the masses can no longer be tolerated, as it can become a serious error in this period for which the Party will have to pay a big price. We must proceed with preparatipns at a more rapid tempo for May First, and carry through the following immediate tasks: 1. Ideological preparation of the Party and the masses for May First. 2. -Organize groups of comrades that have the qualities and initiative to lead the demon- stration. ‘ 3. Organize workers’ self-defense corps in all. workers ‘organizations, and on the basis of the experiences aleardy gained, prepare to re- sist the attacks of the Police, organized fascist gangs and thugs. h i From the attacks against our Party follow- ing the March 6 Demonstrations, we can al- ready foretell the actions of the enemy for May First. In nb be York, where the workers for many years have gathered on Union’ Square, we find Whalen organizing the pba taka ican Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars to a attack. against the workers on. May First. In other cities, similar problems arise. This means effective organization of the Party to lead the tens of thousands of workers that will respond to our call against these attacks, which will train us to lead the workers in the final struggle against capital- ism, | This article dealing with some of the ex- Periences of the Detroit demonstration points out the necessity of a thorough discussion on this question, We expect in the near future to deal with many other problems such as the calling of strikes, organization in the factories, the work of the nuclei, etc. This article is written with the hope of stimulating more dis- cussion by the Party members, especially those that were active in preparation fi 6 Demonstrations, a st ae oT +t Joe