The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 1, 1930, Page 6

| | MAY DAY IN RUSSIA FROM C By J. M. working class of Russia began its strug- les only in the nineties. Small groups of @emscious workers were being organized in @ircles. The sporadic strikes and struggles of the-workers did not always have a conscious wevolutionary, Marxian leadership. In time the @ewenizational contact between the then exist- | Socialist groups and the workers broadened. struggles of the workers took on a more Mitieal character and the advanced cadres of working class more fully grasped the fact that their economic and political struggles were a part of the general task of the proletariat— the destruction of the capitalist system of pro- @uétion and the establishment of Communism. A Great Political Demonstration Im the revolutiongry struggle of the Russian Werkers the First of May occupies an impor- tant place. The Russian workers, above all workers, grasped its revolutionary significance. The opportunist tendencies in the Socialist Movement prevailing in Russia at that time ould neither pervert nor dentoralize the work- ir revolutionary ardor, nor lead the to paths of reformism. he political system of feudal au- eracy—like the existing imperialist autocra- cles, persecuted the workers by police terror, IdVing, jailing and exiling the best representa- tives of the working-class for presenting de- mands to the capitalists and the government, All these persecutions did not prevent the ad- vance forces of the working class from broad- ening the struggle against autocracy and cap- ftulism. New cadres, new masses of workers joined in the battle. Starting with 1899 the 1st of May was celebrated in open street dem- onstrations and political mass strikes, “In many cities the workers downed tools and @e@monstrated in the streets against the Czar atid for international solidarity. The eight- hour day, the struggle against imperialist war, and the destruction of Czarism became the per- manent demands of the working class. Writing on the lessons to be drawn from the May Day demonstration held in Kharkov in 1900, Lenin says:* “The Charkov celebrations illustrate how the celebration of a labor holiday can be- come a great political demonstration and they reveal what it is we lack to make these —— Lenin works, Vol. IV, part 1, page 44. ternationa! Publishers Edition. In- celebrations « really great All-Russian demonstration of the class conscious pro- letariat. What made the May Day celebra- tions in Kharkov an event of outstanding importance? The mass participation of the workers in the strike, the huge mass meet- ings in the streets, the unfurling of red flags, the presentation of demands indicat- ed in the leaflets and the revolutionary character of these demands—the eight-hour day and polities! liberty. The legend that the Russian workers have not sufficiently grown up for the political struggle, that their principal duty is to conduct-« purely economic struggle, and only slowly and very gradually supplement it by pertial political agitation, for partial political re- forms; that they must not take the struggle against the whole of the political system of Russia—that legend has been totally re- futed by the Kharkov May Day celebra- tions.” In the same article Lenin calls the atten- | tion of the comrades in Russia to the neces- sity for. differentiating between the small economic demands that the workers present in each factory and the general demands that the workers present to the whole capitalist class. “Demands for wage increases and better treatment can be snd ought to be presented by the workers to their employers in each separate trade. The demand for an eight- honr day is the demand of the whole pro- letariat presented not to individwal em- ployers but to the government as the repre- sentative of the whole of the present day social and political ssytem, to the capitalist class as a whole, the owners of ‘all the means of production.. The demand for an eight-hour day has assumed special sig- nificance. It is a declaration of solidarity with the International Communist move- ment. We must make the workers under- stand this difference, and prevent them from reducing it te the level of demands like free tickets or the dismissal of a watchman. Thronghont the year the work- ers, first in one place and then in another, continuously present a variety of partial demands to their employers and fight for these demands. In assisting the workers in this fight, Communists mus always ex- plain the connection it has with the pro- letarian struggle for emancipation in all countries. The First of May must be the day on which the workers solemnly declare DAILY WORKER, NEW YorK, '// /{7'\):))!" that they realize this connection and reso- lately join in the struggle.” More Such Victories Will Bring Defeat In May, 1901, the striking workers of the Obukhov Steel Works of St. Petersburg (now Leningrad) were massacred by the police and military forces. Lenin, commenting upon’ the #@ ON TO THE DEMONSTRATION! £8 brutality of the government, says: “The gov- ernment emerged victorious, but victories like these will bring the government nearer to- its ultimate defeat. Every fight with the people will tend still more to rouse the workers to indignation and stimulate them to fight;. it will bring to the front more experienced, bet- ter armed, and bolder leaders. We have on more than one occasion pointed out to the neces- sity for a sound revolutionary organization.” May, Day. acquired’ more and more impor- tance in the struggles of the Russian working class. The mass. strikes and demonstrations of 1900-04: were the prelude to the revolution of 1905-6, There was a lull in the movement and there were hardly any struggles of the. workers be- tween 1907 and 1910. Small skirmishes took place in 1910 and 1911. The proletariat of Rus- sia was: conquered but not, vanquished. The Bolshevik Party was re-forming its ranks. The idea: of class solidarity, the hatred toward Czar- ism:and capitalist oppression. was alive in the breast of the working class. . The signal for new revolutionary struggles was given by th: Lena massacre, which oc- curred on April 4, 1912. The: Lena gold mines were exploited’ jointly. by* Russian and‘ English capitalists. .When' the miners presented some minor demands, the servants of capital and of the Czar answered: these demands by _ killing and wounding several hundred’ workers. Mass political strikes ‘and demonst?ations was, the answer of the Russian working class to the brutality, of the capitalists and its. government. May Day, 1912.. The working class was. once, more in, possession of the’streets. Two: hun- dred, thousand workers were striking and dem- onstrating, on that day,in St. Petersburg alone. The revolutionary, character of the demonstra- tions was manifested by slogans raised by the workers—slogans. issued* by the BolsheVik party: “Democratic Republic,” “The Eight/Hour Day” and “Confiscation of the Land from the Nobles.” aot With the rising revolutionary wave of 1912- 1914 May Day became a day for mobilizing the workers for further revolutionary struggles and international class solidarity. ‘ Ugly Head of: Social Chauvinism The Imperialist World War of 1914 drowned the revolutionary struggle of the working class in blood, The best representatives‘of the Rus- sian working class were sent to’the front... The Party was destroyed. The Socialist parties:of Europe, which were. permeated with‘ oppor- tunism and saturated with reformism and-na- tionalism, turned Social Chauvinist. t Again as ‘in 1908-1912 Lenin and the Bol- ZARIST DAYS TO THE REVOLUTIO of history and to declare that the epoch of Imperialism is the epoch of Social Revolution. The proletariat of Russia was overwhelmed by the war; and, as mentioned, the more ad- vanced, more conscious elements destroyed by the Czarist-capitalist government. But tha Czarist government could not (and no capitalist government can) eliminate the miserie* that. it creates for the working class and laboring pop- ulation. In 1915 economic struggles commenced. In 1916 these struggles were not only economic but also political. In 1916 the workers in many places cajled political strikes on the 9th of Jan- uary and on other occasions. The First .f May was also celebrated through political striker, The Bolshevik groups came to the forefront es the leaders of the struggles. The struggles of the working ‘class in 1916 were a prelude to the great’ historical struggles of March and Oc- tober, 1917, which ‘first swept away Czaris™ and -then capitalism. v . Since 1918 the proletariat of old Russia, the proletatiat of the Socialist. Soviet. Republic, has been: celebrating May’ Day not only as the day of international solidarity and universal peace, but as a day of victory—victory over the class enemy, victory over hardships. Soviet Union and War Danger The Five Year Plan and the achievements of the working.¢lass.of the Soviet Union expose the lies of the capitalist class, its servants and intellectual. lackeys, the lie that humanity stands ‘in eee, of capitalist exploitation in order to live in misery and:degradation—the lie that’the farmer ‘and peasant are happy in the destitution and-idio¢y of peasant life because they are! allowed:to, pay tribute to the finance capitalists in the form of interest and rent and are'at the mercy of the middlemen. f The. imperialist governments’ talk peses by preparing: for: wat; the: “labor” governments participating in ‘these talks deceive the workers and ‘play the: ganie. of the Imperialists. The working ved of Russia paved the way for the world:prolefatiat.. On this May Day it again, proélaims:the international class solidar- ity with'the ‘workers ofthe world. ‘ The workers:of the world and the American workers/will‘answer this call and proclaim their solidarity; with) workers and: peasants of the Soviet! Union,’ ..)>,.. 4 te inst, Imperialist War. shevik Party: were the only ones true to the teachings of Marx and Engels. Lenin was the only man at that time to fathom the secrets For the Deferise of the Soviet Union. For a World: Soviet-Republie. May Day Established By Strike Called By VERN SMITH. «QPHE class conscious worker knows, but finds . it-hard to believe, that the craft-unionist, job trust, anti-revolutionary A. F. L. started the train of events that makes us celebrate May Day, and did it by means of a general atrike. Samuel Gompers claims some credit for this —Gompers the foe of revolt and the friend of the bosses, the civic federationist, the man of the war labor board. In “Seventy Years of Life and Labor,” he states that he wrote the résolution in the 1884 Chicago convention of the A.F.L. which called for the Eight Hour Movement to starf May 1, 1886. He says that he sent Hugh McGregor as a delegate of the .L. to the International Workingmen’s Con- gress held July 14, 1889, in Paris, with a let- ter calling for support to the May 1 strike in the United States, scheduled for 1890. That congress voted, in honor of the heroic general strike of 1886, to observe May 1, 1890, by demonstrations in every country in favor of the eight hour work day, and from this dates the workers’ First of May, denounced and dis- avowed by the A.F.L., which even by Gompers’ admission (you might almost say, “boasting”) brought it into existence. A glance at the facts surrounding the “lead- ership” the A.F.L. gave the 1886 strike move- ment will clear up much of this mystery. Gompers’ own words on the subject of the 1890 anniversary give the matter the twist that the A.F.L. has followed since. He states (70 Years) “My letter informed the Paris Congress of our American efforts to celebrate the coming May Day by establishing the eight hour day for the carpenters, and urged them to co- operate,” and “That was the origin of Euro- pean May Day, which has become a regular institution in all European countries.” (Em- phasis by V. 8S.) The resolution passed in the 1884 conven- tion does not call for a strike in plain terms. It says: “Resolved by the Federation of Or- ganized Trades and Labor Unions of the U. S. and Canada (the name then of the A.F.L.) » that eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s labor from and after May 1, 1886, and that we recommend to labor organizations throughout this jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to conform to this resolution by the time named.” This might mean a general strike for the eight hour day on May 1, and the masses of workers did so consider it, The largest workers’ organization of the time was the Knights of Labor, with 700,000 members. The A.F.L. had about 100,000. Pow- derly, grand master of. the K. of L., sent a secret circular to his lieutenants ordering them to stop the eight hour day movement. It didn’t a secret, and the K. of L. went down in shame. Some 400,000 workers took part; 200,000 won a shorter work day, and the A. F. of L. gained immeasurably in influence. Be- ginning from about this date it. became what it was until the time of the world war, a nar- row craft-bound organization, but a real work- ers’ organization, with a membership which fought for better hours, wages and conditions. A wind of revolt blew over the labor world in 1886, and the A.F.L. kite flew high. But Gompers and his clique during all this time were holding down on the string of that kite, no less than was Powderly trying to hold down the K. of L. The wind was strong, and occasionally Sammy got his foot tangled in the string and was lifted a little, but he kept forcing the A.F.L. to the ground. He and his kind finally made it the social fas- cist, company unionized body it is today. Gompers did not work as crudely as Pow- lerly. He always said he approved of the eight hour movement. But he spent 1885 and the spring of ’86 signing up as many, employ- ers and unions as possible on a general, stereo- typed contract surrendering the right to more wages in return for a formal granting of the eight hour day—thus limiting the scope of the strike movement as much ‘as he could. He quit at the first opportunity. In his bio- graphy he says he regarded the Haymarket affair as “a catastrophe, halting our eight hour program.” He tells, in “Seventy Years” (p. 295) how, before the 1890 strike movement, the second May Day, he sent circulars not only to unions and employers, but to the: President of the United States, the cabinet, 40 senators | and 75 representatives, “to forestall any as- sociation of the movement with the anarchistic influences .. .” that is, those same “anarchistic influences” that had led the strike of 1886 to success in Chicago, and whose leaders were martyzed in the Haymarket trials. They were actually not “anarchists” anyway, but class conscious fighters, though with a confused, semi-syndicalist philosophy. In 1887 Gompers delivered in Brooklyn his famous speech: “ .. . with fairness’ on the part of the employer there is no desire .to strike on the part of the men + We are opposed to sympathetic and foolish strikes.” (“Seventy Years,” p. 286). He recites, with pleasure (70 Yrs., p, 296), how, in the days before May 1, 1890, when Gompers and his aides had-limited the second eight hour day movement of the A.F.L. to a strike of. one union at a time: “I squelchéed an "i oe incipient rumor’ that a general strike would | be called May 1.”. ‘ ; To conclude: in the only industrial erisis be- fore the: present in which radicalization pre vailed, the workéra made the eight hour move- ment, ahd made May First. a revolutionary an- niversary. The A.F.L. rank and file were heart and soul in.the;movement. The A.F.L. bureau- cracy was caught.at the head of the procéssion, and ‘was: pushed along, pushing back as much as it could. ’It.has never recognized May First, or-any of its class and revolutionary signifi- cance. It was, celebrating the first Monday im September, and the Chicago “anarchists” were holding’ counter ‘demonstrations to it on that date, in 1885. It still celebrates this holiday, handed to it by. legistature acts of the: bosses’ state, as a review of voting. strength for sale, two months before elections. ‘But May First is the, day of strike and struggle of the workers, not only of the world, but particularly of America, where it started. The A.F.L., which renounces it, should not have even as much credit as it usually gets for starting it. “Raise High This Day the |A NEW STEP IN BUIL Blood-Red Standard of | DING A MASS DAILY WORKER From day to day a large part of rades distribute daily 1,500 copies, the working masses under the. ob-| where every day the number of sub- the Revolution” May Day—the Day of the Working Class—Wrote Debs |most class-conscious By EUGENE VY. DEBS (From the New York “Worker,” April 27, 1907) -*This is the first and only Inter- national Labor Day. It belongs to the working class and is dedicated to ‘the Revolution. Today the slaves of all the world are taking fresh breath in the long and‘weary march; pausing for a mo- ment to clear their lungs and shout Tor joy; celebrate in festal fellow-| ship their coming Freedom. . All hail the Labor Day of Ma: The day of proletarian protest; |The day of stern resolve; ~The day of noble aspiration. .,Raise high this day the blood- red Standard of the Revolution! “The banner of the Workingman; ‘Whe flag, the only flag, of Free- *As the slavery of the working class -is international, so movement for its emancipation. 3 e salutation of slave to slave perc. goes ringing round the ‘The ,many millions are at last awakening. For countless ages they Have ‘suffered; they have drained tothe dregs the bitter cup of mis- ery; and woe. 2 At last, at last the historical lim- itation has been reached, and soon Rew sun will light the world. Red is the life tide of our com- humanity and red our symbol eniversal kinship. Tyrants deny it, fear it, tremble ae and terror when they be- it. . S\We reaffirm it and on this day Mage anew our fidelity—come life or, death—to the blood-red banner ‘efithe Revolution. Y i Socialist creetings this day to. all our fellow-workers! ‘To the god-like se . in Russia marching grimly, ly:into the jaws of Hell with ps aed of the Revolution in their desth rattle; to the Orient, to the is the} ‘day is repeated in every human| Revolution Belongs to | Occident and all the Isles of the | Sea! | Vive la Revolution. | The most heroic word in all lan-| | guages is REVOLUTION. | It thrills and vibrates; cheers and inspires. Tyrants and time-ser-ers ear it, but the oppressed hail it) | with joy. The throne trembles when this | | throbbing word is lisped, but to the |hovel it is food for the famishing |and hope for the victims of despair. | Let us glorify today the revolu-| ions of the past and hail the) | Greater Revolution: yet to. come be- | fore Emancipation shall make all the days of the year May Days of peace and plenty for the sons and daugh- ters of toil. MAY DAY 1930 | Down with the second interna- | tional! Long live socialist eompetition, |herald of the triumph of Commun- lism! _ Long live revolutionary interna- tional competition which means the mutual incentivee of the world’s workers! m | Imperialism is mobilising the church for struggle against the Soviet Union, Workers, break the chains of re- | ligious serfdom! Fight for the victory of socialism in all countries! Soldiers and sailors in capitalist |countries, refuse to be misused against your class brothers! Proletarian Youth, rally to the flag of the Young Communist In- ternational against world imperial- ism and for the world dictatorship of the proletariat! Toiling Farmers, expropriate with the assistance of the proletariat the capitalist, noble and churchly landowners! Long live the revolutionary alli- |more fighting spirit in their strug- icalized, more class-conscious, show | gle, recognize our Party as the stronghold of the American’ work- ing class, as their vanguard. The. workers feel the necessity not only to be active | in the struggle, but to join our) ranks, to accept the discipline of the Communist Party, to march, to | fight in the line of our Party. There still remains a dispropor- | tion between the Party’s influence | was clearly manifested in the March | 6th demonstration, a. disproportion | between the influence of the Party | and the number of readers of our | press in general, and our Central organ, the Daily Worker, in par- ticular. Nene This disproportion must be over- come and will be overcome with the | concentration of all the party’s | energies, if the comrades, together | with the every-day tasks of the Party in the bi viigern of. new members, will ‘also ‘clearly under- | stand the necessity of strengthen- ing the central organ of the Party, of strengthening the weapon of the Americay working class, will under- | stand the necessity that the Daily) Worker shall. penetrate the larger | masses in the shops, in’ the minés, in the mills, among the agticultural workers, among the poor farmers, to of the most conscious section of the American proletariat, to give them thé line in their daily struggles, to lead the struggles. Together with the growth of the Party, it is an absolute nécessity that our central organ shall grow to the same extent. The hundreds of thousands of workers whom our Party reaches with the Daily Worker, the language press, with the numerous leaflets, etc, through the districts, by. the shop papers, etc, should also be made subscribers, propagandists and agents for the. Daily Worker. The masses today feel the need of our press, look for it, but we have not as yet found the correct metliod of bringing to them the Daily Worker, ot developing the workers as agents ance of the workers and ‘the toiling Peasants! “i ee e ~ an distributors of our paper. The cmenie. © Rytiglh matte str came: bring there the word .of the: Party,’ jective situation become more rad-|scribers are increasing, must be fol- lowed in every district. The units, that the distribution of the Daily | ;,, Worker in the workers’ houses, be. fore the shops, that daily propa- ganda for the Daily Worker is one of the most important tasks. It is not correct to let things wait until they are done by the Daily Worker agents, believing that we have noth- ing to do with such work. é Every member of the Party must learn to be an agent of ‘the central | |the nuclei, must become conscious | jour struggle, of our agitation and| arid its organizational strength, as| organ of ‘the Party, that one of his| tasks is to bring new workers into the ranks of the propagandists, dis:| scribers and readers. GET NEW SUBSCRIBERS FOR International May Day -- The Day That Inspires the — tributors and agents of the: only paper of the American working class. ion day, a culminating point of propaganda among the workers ti bring the masses closer to the Party, to strengthen their fighting will, but also a culminating point in our or- ganizational task in the recruitment | of new members, in the strengthen- ing of our ranks, in the mass distri- bution of our press, and’ especially our central organ, the Daily Worker, in raising the number of its sub- Answer Police Brutality With Mass Political Strike ‘ntot7ttt wt, scr Day shall not only be a mobil- | - | bring other thousands and thousands | THE DAILY WORKER! | BRING THE DAILY WORKER | AMONG, THE LARGE MASSES, BUILD THE. DAILY WORKER | INTO.ONE OF THE STRONGEST | WEAPONS OF OUR PARTY! | These should be among the most important slogans to concretize in| | this May First campaign. If.the comrades are conscious of | the situation, of the increasing radi- | calization of the masses on the basis | of the objective ‘situation, and the growth of the economic crisis, if they. are conscious ‘of the dispropor- tion between. the .Party’s influence and its organizational strength, end the tremendous disproportion be- tween the circulation of the Daily Worker and the million circulation | organ, in organizing and leading the | struggles against world of en-; |emies, conscious that the — Daily. | Worker is supported by the. pennies: | of.the working class and has to fight | the capitalist: press, they must un- derstand, they ‘must be more con- scious about the necessity to mul- tiply their energies, their efforts in the task of making.the Daily Work- er a mass paper, a paper of the thillions of workers in the United States, to build the Daily. Worker into a powerful weapon of the Party, of the working class against the fortress of the bourgeoisie. , Together with the other t&sks one of the first and the most im- portant of this ‘May Day. campaign ‘| should be the raising of new 25,000 subscribers, and,’ besides this, new 25,000: readers for.the Daily Worker -as the first step in‘our march along the line of the Daily. .Worker cam- ‘| paign to build.the Daily: Worker into }@ mass organ, into a strong organ- izer and leader inthe daily strug- strong. organizer and leader in. the great struggles of tomorrow. Conscious of this task, every party member. should become sn enthusi- ‘| astic agent and distributor of the} | Daily Worker, and propagendize to By CHARLES E. RUTHENBERG (From “The Worker,” New York, April 28, 1923) May Day—the day which inspires fear in the hearts. of the capitalists and hope in the workers—the work- ers the world: over—will find the Communist ‘movement this year stronger.in the: United States than at any time in its history. of the United States were driven un- derground, their organization de- stroyed... They were outcasts, de- spised and ignored. May -Day of 1923 will find all this changed. The Communist move-.| ment, which Palmer and the various state governments which participat- ed in the.1920 persecution thought MAY DAY 1930 Working women of all countries, join the revolutionary ranks, under the flag.of the world wide Bolshe- vik revolution! Only the proletarian revolution can free womankind! Colonial Masses, freedom’s path leads thtough revolutionary alliance with the revolutionary proletariat! Long live the flag of struggle against imperialism! i Long live the Chinese, workers ‘and peasants, rising again ‘in a revolutionary. wave! : i Down with the counter revolu- tion of the Kyomintang! Long live Soviet China! Revolutionaty India will win les. of the working: ilass, into | wmder proletarian leadership! Down with British imperialism! Down with the. treacherous: par- ties of the Indian bougeoisie, prech- ers, capitulation:and passivity! © - 3 oF il live the gerat Indian revolu- ion! 7 ay ; of workers ‘into the ranks of agents, distributors and. propagandists of the central organ‘ of: the’ party. The Communist . International is, the leader of the revolutionary struggle , of the toilers of all , and Oppressed Peoples, rally to the’ banher of the Comintern, . the! barine: th eld | (anemia is —_, m. Alongs ‘to Workers to Struggle Ruthenberg Never. Called for a Retreat in the Face of the Bosses on May Day they had destroyed, is again carry- ing on its workin the open. Through the Workers’ Party is is publicly ad- vocating the principles of Commun- ism and winning the support of the workers for these principles. ' The Communists organized in the Workers’ Party are no. longer the outcasts of the labor mévement. Through their work in the every- Three years .ago the Communists 'day struggles of ‘the workers, through their programs of action and leadership they have won the confidence and support of an ever- widening circle of sympathizers. ; Today the Commonist movemet is on the road to becoming that pow- erful influence in. the labor move- ment of this country which will in- fluence the millions of workers and give them leadership and direction in the struggle against capitalism. The inner changes which: have taken place in the party have bees with dogmatic reiteration of funde- mental Communist principles, It holds fast to this principle: It will never compromise. on ‘the question of publicly advocating these prin-' ciples, . But it has‘ also learnéd' to apply them. It has learned to make its beginning with the present mep- tal, attitude of the workers‘ of the United: States.‘ It has learned te ‘realistically study the workers of this country and the facts life and to base its policy and tactiea. its methods of teaching the Amer- ican workers that their road to free- dom from exploitation and oppres- sion lies through Communism, on ‘the conditions as they exist in the ‘United States. * “> Every. worker who {s a Commun- ist_can-eelebrate May Day. this year secure in the ‘confidence that tne Moyement she; supports has. made great strides forward, that the road is clear, for . greater. achievements, that in the U; ‘Btates, as else |