The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 12, 1930, Page 3

_ DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1930 LETT NOT ITE Page Three PRE-CONVENTION DISCUSSION Dae by | ae IN by UU i RECRUITING DRIVE By JOHN SCHMIES. increased deepening of the economic crisis develops still more favorably the ob- ‘HE | jective conditions for the building up of the | revolutionary trade union center. The attempts of the bosses to shift the burden of the econ- | omic crisis upon the shoulders of the workers | by the increased cf rationalization means for creased speed-up as well as ar increasins army ef unemployed workers. This attampt on the part of the bosses to overcome the ever deep- ening development of the economic crisis is be- ing coupled with a savage ettack by ernment «nd the fascist and social- fas ship of the A. i of L. against th® growing ilitancy snd g radicalization amon’ tre masses ot American workers, The indict- went of « ur nore workers cn a death cha :ge ® the South, the attempts of the bosses to system end Comrades Powers and Carr to the electric hair, the jailing of the leaders of the Im- perial eral Hey strike in California and the gen- on the part of the government atta the through a powerful organizational ed upon the class struggle pro- e building up of our revolutionary nto independent mass organs of stryg- a L. Drive. ip must appreciate its bility in or to really become the e in the building up of the T.U. e for 50,000 new membe' « discussions and resolutions of the Plenum as well as the reso- Must recruiting drive, ken up seriously the de union work. The izing of the trade uniou ent of shop commit f the the ac tablist s within the reform- for the T.U.U.L. re- the ig up of the T-U.U.L. ell as the intensifying of the rmist unions and the build 1 councils, ete., are stil! ntial phases which will ease the Party’s prestige s of workers and thereby lay e for the development of our Par- s Communist Party of the Amer- building powerful revolutionary well functioning Party fractions ble for the Party to mobilize workers in tle important poli- ic pirveples that stand before iod of sharpening class struggles. t henceforth be given the major attention of our Party membership. It must be linked wp with all of our other campaigns and the activity of our Party. A. F. L. Influence Weakens. The influence of the A. F. of L. and the Musteites among the masses of workers has been weakened, whereas the influence Trade Union Unity League is growing Nevertheless, unions led by will of the more rapid'y than ever before. up to the present we have failed to take ad. tage of the increased opportunities peforc The opportunist tendencies existing in us. ome of our Party districts as well as among he leading members in the shoe and needle workers union must be checked and ruthless]; burned out of our movement. tendencie Such opportunist create hesitation and pessimism, and ral diminishing of the grow- ney on the part of the magges uiting drive of the Trade ie in the maing shows an tion of the trade union work, and must ‘ply bring this fact to the atten- tion of our Party membership. Up to the present time the reports sent into the national office show the following gains in membership: Marine Workers Industrial Union, 1,500; Metal and Auto, 525; National shi ~ Results of of Recruiting Drive the workers more wage cuts. in- | the Trade Union Unity League to 5,725. These revolutionary movement, must be | | Textile Workers Union, 450; Needle Trades Workers Industrial Unign, 750; Railroad Wor! ers Industrial Leasuegi¥0; Food Workers In- dustrial League, 600.Q@ he total recruited in all of the districts into our T.U.U.L. groups and revolutionary oppositions, not connected with any other national unions or national leagues, is 15,000, which brings the total of new members as reported to the National Office of are the reports sent in the last few days. This is not a satisfactory situation and the Party must redouble its efforts in order to increase the tempo of organization for this drive. Build Revolutionary Unions. The entire Party membership must be made acquainted with the necessity for the building of the revolutionary trade unions- We must discuss the status of the trade union work in the T.U.U.L. recruiting drive. This discus- sion must be organized by all of the district bureaus, by all of the action committees of the Party and must be carried into the Party units in each case on the basis of concrete plans to be followed. Our Party trade union fractions must be held responsible for the carrying out of the program of the T.U.U.L., such as the calling of mass meetings, and the distribution of leaflets snd literature; all to be based upon the program of action in accordance with the specific tasks of the unions in the industri Leading cadres must be supplied to the T-U. U.L., and the Party must assist in the devel- opment of these new cadres. The best forces of the Party must be: mobilized for the build: | ing up of the T.U.U.L. driven order to‘give | political and organizational leadership. Our district trade union departments ngist assume the responsibility for the actual carrying out of this program. The district trade union de- partments, as well as our Party fractions in the national centers of the unions, must see to it that the recruiting drive is linked up with the daily struggles of the workers in the shops. All of the shop nuclei and street nuclei of our Party must be orientated towards shop work in order to concetitzate on the building up cf shop committees inside of the factories. Our revolutionary opposition within the reformi play more of an independent lead- T-U.U.L. The Party districts should concentrate in the | building up of this drive in accordance with the basic industries withi atve rion mus: te given by the Party and aU nter to ihe buildin up of the metal and conver ijcns: ponement of the Fi fth gale We must call to the attention of our Party district and our Party, Trade Union Fractions the serious underestimation and the complete failure in building up the official organ of the Trade Union Unity League. Unity must be really made into a mass orgar. for the revolutionary trade union in this coun try. The Labor Unity, must be made part and parcel of the entire campaign. Every Party listrict must see to it that a qualified comrad is put in charge of the Labor Unity to buil up a net-work of agents in all organization and new unions. Fifty thousand new subscrip tions for the Labor Unity must be placed into the center of all of our activities. We must sharply call to the attention of our trade unions the importance of building up the mass unemployed councils around our unions in order to build up the T.U.U.L- unemploy- ment convention in the City of Chicago, on July 4 and 5. This is in accordance with the pro- gram sent out to the Party district and af- filiated unions. All the above mentioned points, as well as the outline sent out by the Party ip in accordance with the program of the | ion on ; prniand Agena of | This is of funda- | The Labor | time and again must be closely checked up by | the Party trade union committee. by LFIM G. ANAFF. bs ISULTS and shortcomings in our last re- ng drive must be analyzed much more ly because at this period we have many zl reasons to be serious about: our ac- ties, our achievements, our weaknesses and ur shortcomings. What are the reasons? (1) The present collective leadership of our (Party has accepted the C.I. line, not in words, but in deeds. (2) The present leadership has succeeded with the help of the C.I. to eliminate the rotten factionalism which existed in our Party since its inception and which kept us fighting among ourselves and isolated us from the masses. 3) Our Party for the first time starts housecleaning, and kicks out the op- portunists, right wingers from our ranks, and really begins to Bolshevize the Party. (4) Ourg Party is for the first time applying its theor- ti | etical knowledge and ideological understanding | to the practical phase’ of our tasks. Party for the first time begins to have a clear conception of the importance of building up revolutionary trade unions, and making all pos- sible attempts to organize millions of workers in the T.U.U.L. (6) Our Party for the first time has proved to the American working lass that we mean what we say by rallying hem by the hundreds of thousands and by iving them the leadership with the correct policy to struggle against the master class, especially on March 6 and May 1. (7) Our Party for the first time has succeeded with its mass activities to familiarize the American® Workers to the successful Socialist Construc- tion that is going on in the Soviet Union for the interest of the toiling masses and also win the confidence of ‘American worker to the fact that the Communist International is not only composed of a few Russians, and concerned only with Russia, but is composed of the best brains of the working class of the world, is functioning as their highest staff and is concerned about the American workers as well as Russian and all other workers. (8) Our Party is for the first time paying special attention to the doubly ex- ploited Negroes and colonial workers, not only to those who are in the U.S.A. but is trying to connect the struggle of the workers in the colonies with the struggles of the workers in the U.S.A. (9) Our Party for the first time is (5) Our | ing out with open sharp Bolshevik self- ism and is more conscious of the fact that it cannot consider itself a Bolshevik Party un- less it roots its body in the factories instead of turning its face to the factories, and making all possible efforts to penetrate into all im- portant industries. our American Party, which is an important section of the C.I., in a position to become a mass Party of the American Working Class. Recruiting Drive Not Successful. I think it’s safe to say that results from our recruiting drive in other districts has much similiarities with District 13, with@the excep- tion of few districts, but I will use for a base our District No. 18. Let us see if our con- crete results are satisfactory. Of course not; then we must examine very carefully in order to find the reasons, not for the sake of finding them, but to be better able to prevent the same reasons from interfering with our future work. Because oyr recruiting campaign is not over by. any means. Some comrades, think our cam- paigns are periodical and that it docs not apply All the above points put | to every member to participate in it. We must | get rid of such ideas, Our recruiting drive applies to all members and it has no limit. | Did we acquire our quota? certainly we did. Were these new members brought into the Par- ty through activities of the Party Units ?—ot course not. Were thése new members brought from the shops and factories Were there many Nefroes?—-few. Were there many women workers ?—an insignificant num- eber. Was there a ‘certain amount of good material for the Party?—yes, there was. Did we succeed to crystallize this good material as much as we should?—-we failed to do it, Why? 1, We failed to have sufficient unit function- aries meetings and to show them clearly the importance of the drive, especially at the pre- sent period and to politicalize them as gener- ating factors for the units to carry out the work. 2. We failed to have sufficient meetings with the old members to explain to them the responsibilities of each member, and to give them encouragement: and simplified detailed pictures of their duty, to be carried out, ang how to handle the new members. To some extent a gap has developed hetween the higher committees and old members and between the Of course not. | Build District and Unit Leadership By FRANK O'BRIEN HE majority of articles which have found their way into print since the pre-conven- tion discussion opened have proven both in- teresting and worthy study, but one glaring omission is noticeable: that is the almost total absence of contributions written by comrad actually working in shops and factories. | Party has spoken so frequently of ihe neccs- sity of “sinking our roots in the shops,” and drawing into leadership proletarian elements, that it is surprising that the Central Commit- tee has noc insisted on articles from comrades on the job. There is still too much of a tend- ency to publish articles written by those whose only claim to leadership is their ability to deliver longdissertations on Marx, and Engels, who have never spent an hour in the shop, or factory. The Party continues to err when it keeps such: elements in leading positions on central, district and section committees, instead of drawing. in the real proletarian from the shops. Ask, the intellectuals the question, “How many new members have you brought into the Party,” una- you are a:swered by a vacant stare which says “None.” But these same com- rades possess unlimited «bility in telling others | how it is done. In the Chicago district a few comrades were assigned to, the shop nuclei to assist in carry- ing on the ‘work. The wiiter knows of no in- stance in which any of these technically signed comrades were in a position to contril ite to building the nucleus, or aid in the ec complishment of its tasks. They have not po. essed organizational ability and seldom show- ed any marked degree of political leadership. Such mechanical assignments constitute a seri ous mistake which can only serve to retreat the growth of the movement, rather than build it. When assignments are to be made an examina- tion should: be conducted to determine just hiw ry the comrades wishing to be as- s, whether they are good or; ers, practical theoreticians, and know the par- ticular industry which the nucleus covers. Otherwise, there is no sense in assigning a comrade to:a task when he doesn’t know what it is all about. The meetings of shop nuclei must be made much more interesting than they have been in the past. Often they are long drawn-out af- fairs, devoted chiefly to speeches by “long- winded” comrades who just have to get it off their chests. The result is that if the nucleus happens to have a new comrade, he becomes bored at hearing such silly twaddle and is lost to the Party. I do not mean by this that we are to lower the ideological level of our meni- bership to fit in with that of the American worker who dashes off to the ball park on Sat- urday afternoon and Sunday; I only desire to point out the neces: of stopping this flow of flowery oratory which consumes so much valuable time, and which reeks with high- sounding revolutionary phrases, seldom appli- cable to the every-day class struggle, con- tributing nothing to the building of the nucle’ and the Party. Let’s leave such speech mak- ing to the S.L.P. and the Proletarian Party, the Communist Party is the active organizer of the working class and has no room for “in- tellectual” spéech makers. Close observation indicates that our shor nuelei work is being carried on in a hapha: manner and many right wing tendencies mani fest themselves, Some comrades, as this ap- plies frequently to foreign-born comrades, arc inclined to display hesitancy in carrying out decisions of the Party as regards participation in shop activity, generally resolving into 2 situation where one or two comra‘les are con) pelled to do the bulk of the work. The excuse most often heard is that by doing Communist work in the factory one endangers his chances of keeping his job—therefore “Hang your revo- lutionary principles on a nail when you enter the shop.” That, in effect, is the attitude of many comrades. Often where old, fasvist 1 unions (A. F. of L.) exist, these same comrades refuse to be a in them, ing it is use- less to work within reactionary organizatior, | or that they cannot speak on the floor of a meeting. Yet, when the nucleus gathers, these same timid souls display tling orator ability. Funny, no, ridiculous. ~ In the past sued by the eral months the literature is- | Party has shown great improve- ment. Still some of the leaflets put out b the dist nd sections are wor in s a manner that they go way over the heads average American worke When we talk rationalization, post-war capitalism, et we do not stop to explain what these term mean. The trouble no doubt is the failure of | the Party leadership to consult often enough with comrades who spent eight, ten or twelve hours each ¢ alongside other workers, and therefore it cannot grasp the psychology of the worker at the bench and machine. As a member of a shop nucleus in one of the most important basie indus I would like to suggest that every di: organizer adopt | the policy of frequently into his office | leading members of shop nuclei, individually whenever it is possible, for interviews. Shop conferences of a general nature are, of course, invaluable and I do not wish to discourage the holding of same; but the discussions which take place at such conferences are always more or less of a general nature, while the patie inte: w between the district organizer and leading member from the shop will prove of even greater value and will assist the district rganizer in formulating plans for increased tivi It will also be of help,in that the District Organizer will have the opportunity of acquainting himself with actual conditions ° in the shops, how the workers respond to Com- | munist propaganda, reactions to moves of the bosses, ete., and with such information he will be better equipped to direct the organizational work and to impart information to the Party memb hip. eral weeks ago the writer suggested to ', Comrade Bill Gebert the visability of the Daily Worker establishing a Chicago section, with a Chicago comrade who knows Chicago as its editor. Since that time I have heard some talk to the effect that | such a move is contemplated, but have noticed | no real, concrete action looking *towards its | establishment. It is to be hoped that this won’t fall down in the same manner as the Chicago weekly which we heard so much about | for a time and which died down so suddenly. Let’s not go about boasting and talking of things which are impossible of, accomplish- ment. Our task in the Chicago district is to build a section of our own in the Daily Worker, which will assist in increasing its influence upon the thousands of slaves in this | vicinity, and which will give leadership and | guidance to the workers in their every-day struggles. Leaders Should Come From the Industries The Communist Party, in this period of growing radicalization of the workers, has many giganticg tasks to perform. Only by | selecting and developing leaders from the comrades who are actually employed in the industries can we hope to build the movement. The ‘social composition of the Party is being changed all too slowly. The prdétess must be speeded so as to make the Party the real mass movement of the American workers. The Party must rally the leading comrades from the shops and bring them to the next national convention as delegates. In this manner opin- ions on how to carry on shop work, actual e: é periences on the job, ete, may be exchanged and much good derived therefrom. It is our duty as Communists to make this next na- tional convention one which will go down in history, as the convention which turned the Party’s face toward the factories and started it on its way to bacoming the mass leader y of the American workingclass. | ous Seneca | SITUATION AND TASKS IN LEHIGH VALLEY By MAX HARRIS. Conditions in Lehigh Valley Prove Decaying Capitalism. 0 E need not look to the South for some of the grossest examples of the dec: ng cap- | y In many respects some of these characteristics can be found among the condi- tions of the workers in the Lehigh Valley. Here | | we find a impressive economic crisis, with mass unemployment reaching an enormous stage, which the local capitalist press was finally fonced to take cognisance of. In order to hide the seriousness of the unemployment situation, the press carries fake editorials promising future prosperity for the workers, while corrupt politicians 2re trying their level best to ease the mood of the masses with the al 2 relief measures and road building programs. The Allentown Chamber of Commerce readily extends an open hand to merchants looking a location where they can exploit the worke to their hearts content. This is done by point- ing out to the greedy bosses that the vast majority of the workers are native born, coming from Pennsylvania dutch ancestry, docile and immune from any form of union organization, And in order to make sure tht the workers remain docile and immune from organization, we find such fascist outfits as the Klu Klux Klan, Daughters of the American Revolution, American Legion, ete., car bosses propaganda among the workers. This is done by stirring up race prejudice, anti- semitism, fomenting nationatisin, and espe- ying on the usual | cially instilling within the minds of the work- | ers a hatred for “those damned Reds.” The peeeveuryeure churches of Allentown and the many other religious organizations and institu- tions located in the Valley, are also contributing their bit for the “downtrodden bosses.” It is not accidental therefore that quite a number of new industries have been established in the Lehigh Valley. Still others, such as dress goods, textile and leather, have moved their plants here from N. Y. and other large cities. The bosses have entered the Valley with these additional industries in order to take advantage of the much advertised “docile and vheap labor.” Native Workers In Revolt Against Bosses. However, following the example of the awak- ening proletariat in the South, the native born workers are gradually showing signs of milit- ancy and are fighitng against the vicious ex- ploitation of their labor power. The spontane- strikes (Allentown, Easton, Nazareth, Strousburgh, Slatington) which con ly of native born workers, are definit the awakening class-consciousness these workers. Wage cuts, curtailed production, mass unem- ployment and further intensified rationaliza- tion methods occuring especially in the silk mills, Mack Truck and Bethlehem Steel com- panies, have greatly served to strengthen the militancy and spirit for organization among the workers. In order to offset all attempts at organization, the capitalist class has resorted to legalized terror, and holds the criminal syn- licalist law as a whip over the heads of the work An attempt to hold a mass meeting e proof of amongst in Bethlehem a few monjhs ago resulted in | a raid by the local police and the arrests of comrades Burlak, Murdock, and Brown. Charles | Schwab, who recently made an untrue state- ment on the “wonderful prospesity” confronting the American workers, has made sure that his Sasionwiers ataipts to » hold meetings and organize the workers have: been smashed by the hirelings of the local capitalists. The present conditions with their radicalizing effect among all varieties of workers in the Valley, afford our Party ample opportunity for growth and influence. This is a highly in- dustrialized section in the state of Pennsyl- vania, and contains such industries as textile, rayon, steel, leather and automobile. Despite the favorable situation and the many oppor- tunities afforded through the various strikes, the Party has not been able to gain any real organizational results or root its influence amongst the masses of native and foreign born workers. This shortcoming must be analyzed | in the light of Bolshevik self criticism, so that we can be better prepared to overcome our dif- ficulties, and gain the full fruits of our future activity in the Valley. Looseness of Organization is Barrier. The main barrier toward the growth of the Party has been the low ideological level and or- ganizational loseness prevailing in the section. Due to the past Lovestonite leadership, no seri- ous attempts have been made towards the ideol- ogical development of the comrades. T!2 sec- tion as a whole was abounded by the Jistrict and was mainly used for factional purposes in maneouvering for delegates. As a result prac- tically no Communist activity was carried on, and the units developed into “family circles” instead of regular functioning Communist units. Meetings were not held regularly and no func- tioning section executive or other important committees were established. The new turn which the Comintern established for our Party brought to the surface some 6f the fruits of the past degenerated leadership. Due to a complete lack of the fundamental principles of the Communist Movement, many good prolet- arian elements dropped out of the Party com- pletely with the announcement of the new dues system, and the general political reorgan- ization of the Party. As a result the Easton Unit consisting approximately of 35 members = >=:VVKl—"n—"—Ne"TuRe"—"="—@=@"®@»@»$@S$S®$0$™*™q€UTS old members and the new members whic! has a bad effect on the whole work. 3. Too many instructions sent to the units through com- munications which were difficult for function- aries to bring out clearly. Too much of shoving important work upon the committees, without giving them’ sufficient guidance. 4. Too much attention to the generalities and to the past achievements and not enough attention and con- centration on specific points and to our future work. 5, Too many decisions are made which do not correspond with the limited forces and this prevents the comvades from completing the more | i joning Negro department in the dis- Department in this District. 8. Puilure to build ’ Having tendeney to look at the T.UU.DS nportant tasks. 6. Failure to build - lure to build a functioning woman's , and‘un- * employed council as a one man affair, failed to mobilize whole Party members hack of them. Failure to penetrate sufficiently into our basi¢ ground for our activities, shops and factories. Talking of colonization, but not making. pos- sible provisions for comrades to get into the important indusivies, especially the most ad- vanced comrad Naturally we could not get sufficient number of new merabers from the shops and factories into the Party.* A great bulk of the new members came dur- ing the drive from our general historic de- monstrations, most of them unemployed, and we failed to pay sufficient attention to them; | to analyze their backgrounds. We didn’t carry | out concrete educational work. We have mis- a functioning District language Bureau. & | \alerpreted the Rarty slogan to awaken the new members to actual work. We tried to ar them only by using them for Jimmy Higgins work distributing leaflets, go to street meetings and sweep up the headquarters, which resulted in favorable materials drifting away from the Party without having any conception of class struggle, for which we stand. What We Must Learn From Our Drive. 1. Not to under-estimate our achievements, and not to overestimate our shorteomings. 2, The worging class in the U.S.A. more than ever before is ready to fight. We are as Bolshevik’s responsible to give them leadership. ‘They are looking to our Party as their backers. 3. We must build up a Communist Party ted main- | in the U.S.A. for final victory of the toiling | masses, and fos foramtion of proletarian dic- tatorship mn membership of six. Some back into en to under- f the Party, and had seen eryday vccur- s and estim- to our Party. dwindled down to a > elemen ent after line have come record he completely past deg ded s been made in the comrades, regu- of dues, there some co: yment lla (Easton) ar re ¢ of lifficulties and to ney on retreat he the This finds fight fore local for Another the workers ¢ tion Philad fon 4h for the comrade to the mm. It is true that the Pi elphia distr 1 9m our usu ail ) ck o ‘ nsufficient f ces, nevertheless, a r attempt could have been made co-c on to the section. t zed and one of the district, re- ceived the from the leading comrades. WwW was compelled to > charge of e Party, LL.D., Union, activities. Due to the the work of the N.T.W.U., Pa o r activities were ir meeting place With wi office it for us to carry on a real propaganda campaign among the silk ite many decisions at the unit dily f funds in the section. ‘d some real Comm through the e: 1 he Mack Truck Bethlehem Ik ( These func; time were com=) In the E em Steel, they to pieces in ror of the steel f immediately assuming the he terror, our comrades com- thereby failing to tion already establ smashed but some 'y dropped out of the e elements have since re- entered the mo and preliminary steps: for their reorganization have been accomplished. A detailed plan fo the organization of the shop nuclei will be submitted to the forthcoming setion membership meeti: Unemployment Aids Con was made of shop bulletins i Steel and Areac tioned well for then a pletely liquidated. simply went good prole Party. Some of tt tional r; at the st unempl in Allentown, Over § unemployed council. 6 demons’ tion brought more than 800 workers to our demonstration. Actually 200 mimeographed leaflets were d 1 and only two d We did not 1 0} were had to prepare. wd, undere marching to City a result had no r¢ Labor Herald, or came to.the aid of by cai demons led to fe ganization established be ause of the inal: to carry on a s} the unemployed. We can record decided ‘prog work. A branch wa: campaign am s in our LL.D. s recent] in Bethlehem with 18 members enrolled at the first meeting. Although this | ch is only ence for the past two weeks it already has tal ken the necessa finar and enroll new membe: ps have been taken to hold an LL.D. conference in Ea on a br 5 langu; and fraternz ions. formulated plans for the additional branch in Aller The bosses who have m organized The few spontaneous tions of the future m: struggles. Because of the many shortcomings enumerated we were not fully able to capitalize the struggles which developed. As a result the fascist and social- fascist labor leaders were practically given a free hand in their line of class-collaboration schemes and betrayals of the workers (Naz- areth, Easton, Strousburgh). It is necessary that all measures be taken to overcome our basic weaknesses and short- comings. The ideological level of the comrades must be raised through political discussions in the units and the carrying out of everyday practical ta: All remnants of right wing tendencies towards m: i inated from our rank: A special campaign ,must be carried on against the criminal syn- dicalist laws. Steps also must be taken through our foreign pres age and fraternal or4 ty, to organize thé ‘aw them into the respect a special 5 the great in the es are but indica- campaign m number of Bethlehem More att to the ship the sect ald by the district ng th vestonite leadet+* or n was ortunism and suffered ivom cor m trom mass activity. This niust | through more serious at neo! strict ex? ecutive r ational loosene: be ated by the means To iurther neglect the section would e criminal to the workers but to the Party as well. More eo# operation, a sharp turn toward mass activity in the factories, the eradication of all rem~ nants of opportunism in any form, and we will eventually go forward toward a mass Party in the Lehigh Valley!