The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 21, 1930, Page 3

2 i 4 he the Party in the United States today are: ate o oad DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1930 PRE-CONVENTION D SCUSSIO FOR OFFENSIVE STRATEGY By PETER CHAUNT- - District Organizer, District 15 NCE the perspective of the further deepen- ing economic crisis is clearly established, j the key-note of the Party program must be an offensive strategy. The growing resistance of the American workingclass to the drastically increasing burdens is beyond dispute. The big task of the Pary today is to engineer the strug- gles of resistance in the direction of advance. This is the strategy of the Comintern since the 9th Plenum, but with particular clarity since the 10th Plenum of the Executive Com- mittee of the Communist International. It is imperative that the offensive character of our strategy be stated categorically at once giving a decisive line to our entire program. All comrades must bear in mind this decisive gen- eral strategic line in all revolutionary activi- ties today in order to understand the need of “a decisive turn in our methods and tactics.” ‘Tactics Range from Strikes to Retreats. The tempo and size of the crisis develop- ments, the depth of depression, the process of rationalization, the acuteness of the class |struzale, the shifting of political forces, are {not of the same degree everywhere in the coun- try. The Party adopts such tactics as necessary in the particular circumstances. Thegrange of the tactics extend from aggressive strikes and demonstrations for immediate economic or political demands to compromises and retreats. pInnumerable mistakes and opportunist ten- dencies, success “dizziness” and defeatism, left and right deviations of many kind develop in the course of the ebb and flow of the struggles. All tactics of the Party however, whether of advance or retreat, must enable the working- elass to continue the attack and advance with the least possible delay. That a serious under- estimation of the strategic line is prevalent thruout the Party, has been shown in recent months particularly in the unemployment movement After the first stage of the strug- gle, composed mainly of formation of unem- ployment councils and street demonstrations, leading up to March 6th, the organization of the unemployed and the development and ad- vance of the struggles for work or wages, were almost completely neglected notwithstanding the further increase of unemployment. The failure to enforce the line of the Central Com- mittee for a speedy organization of shop com- mittees and for the initiation of struggles in the industries for immediate demands to build the revolutionary unions, is another proof of our lack of consciousness of the strategic line. To Advance Systematically. The essential tasks of an offensive strategy 1. The organization of mass struggle for immediate, partial demands. (Increase of wages, governmental unemployment relief, shorter hours, no speed-up, right to organize, absolute race equality, moratorium for the poor farmers, etc). The organization of shop com- mittees and unemployed councils to act as the shock troops of the revolutionary unions in the economic and political struggles. 2. The consolidation and continuity of the struggles. All mass organizations must be led along the lines of the particular attack in a united front. Uncompromising attack must be launched against the Right and against the f ts in this process of winning the of the decisive sections of the working the strategic line cf the Party. must be renewed and broadened , needle, ete.); branches of a single in- concentrated upon (mining, railroad, ical, metal, ete.). The orientation of the line of attack in the economic struggles towards political de- Y is. The mobilization against imperialist s and for solidarity with the colonial revo- lutions. The development of the struggle for political power. Gross Opportunistic Mistakes. The most serious test of our Party in the organization and development of the struggles wes always the continuity of action. In Di: trict 15, for instance, gross opportunistic mi: takes were committed time and again by com- yvades failing to understand the need of system- atic preparation and organization of the work- s step by step in the struggles, We failed to id shop committees in Easthampton (tex- tile), Waterbury (brass), New Britain (hard- ware). Above all, we failed to organize shop nuclei for months while the Party and Trade Union Unity League gained the confidence and support of thousands of workers as a result of the persistent struggle for the unemployed and against the intolerable conditions in the fac- tories, even succeeding to break partially the reign of terror ,(Waterbury). This resulted in ent of the leading comrades. The failures of entrenching the Party nucleus in the Win- chester, Remington, Colt munition and arms factories at the time when shop bulletins have been issued and successful factory gate meet- ings were being held, the failure to spread out our forces of the Party members in the fac- tories, again resulted in isolation from the fac- tory workers after the victimization of our comrades. Opportunism, whether in the form of failure to prepare and organize the workers for a major action (Stamford, May 1), or in re from the masses after the imprison- the form of surrendering the strategic line of the Party in mass organizations (Ukrainian Toilers. Polish I. L. D., Bridgeport), or in the form of failing to prepare the workers for the continuation of their struggles (Blumenthal strike, Bridgeport, Ludlow textile strike, U. S. Rubber lockout, Underwood strike, Hartford), lead to isolation from the masses, Revolutionary Initiative. Revolutionary initiative of district and local Party committees as well as of individual comrades, is an outstanding problem of our Party. The enormous size and uneven develop- ment of the crisis in the United States requires the greatest possible initiative on the part of the comrades. Too often we see the failure to carry out the political directives of the Central Committee in important industrial sections due to the lack of initiative on the part of leading comrades, The failure of the district committees in the Pennsylvania-Ohio steel and coal regions as well as in the rubber industry (Akron) to ini- tiate a struggle for immediate demands since the beginning of the crisis (except in the Youngstown section), is a clear example of this. Likewise this failure of the District Com- mittees in New England (Mass., Conn.) to util- ize the despair of thousands of workingclass families in the decaying textile regions for the development of political struggles (Free rent, immediate relief, no evictions, etc.). Particularly important is the development of revolutionary intiative in the one industry company towns Hardly any metropolis shows the class lines so sharply as these company towns where the interrelation of economic, political and social forces in the struggles are daily exposed. Our District has organized and engaged in many struggles for immediate economic or political demands (against wage cut, against. speed-up, for more wages, against the terror, etc.) in the metal and textile towns. But the failure to develop sufficient initiative on the part of the local comrades often resulted in entering the struggles from the “outside.” Such leadership often fails to win the confi- dence of workers envolved in the fight. An- other dangerous system is the reliance on “colo- nization,” frequent rushing of “flying squa- drons to strikes and demonstrations in small | towns, and the monopoly of publishing shop bulletins in the District Office (with few ex- ceptions). This reliance on the colonizers or on special distributors is likely to develop even in the daily activities of the local comrades a tendency of breeding instead of destroying op- portunism. * Tactics Must Fit Tempo Our tactics must be adopted to the tempo of development of the economic crisis. Unemploy- ployment, for instance, is steadily increasing in New England for the last 16 months. This particular steady growth here is due to the aforesaid decay of the textile industry (due to the international crisis of the industry and to its moving to the “cheap” South). An almo: steady decline is also noticeable 4a the brass and light-metal industry. This fact alone war- rants a strong well-organized unemployment campaign to be conducted by the Party and the T.U.U.L., more so than in some of ihe heavy industries, where altaough the effects of the crisis are sharper, a slight and temporary re- covery was noticeable in the months of Febru- ary and March. Also, the development and background of organized struggles is an impor- tant factor in determining the tactics. In the South, where the development of ration: tion and mass production is more rapid with its | drastic “stretch-out” systems results in a much faster growth of militancy of the workers than the relatively slower industrial “adjustment” of the North. In the former aggressive 3 ace tions can much sooner be organized. Political Developments Uneven The political developments are equally un- even in their course. The effects of the tariff bill are very acute in New England, which has been one of the most important exporting sec- tions of American manufacture. The democra- tic party is already making headway in the “wettest” state on this issue, linking up the prohibition and tariff issues with unemploy- ment. It is evident, too, that the socialist party, discredited as it may be in Connecticut, will play once more an important role in the coming elections. The situation imposes addi- tional tasks upon cur Party in the coming elec- tion campaign. The tactics of our Party are, as a rule, too stereotyped. Demonstrations developed into a system (particularly in our District), A strong opportunist tendency developed to substitute every-day revolutionary organizational work with occasional distribution of leaflets. This reliance on the spontaneity of the masses often results in failures (Hartford anti-lynching)» or defeats (New Britain, May 1) with retarding effect upon further advance in the struggles. An offensive strategy for our Party today means neither putchism, nor head-on-collision struggles. It means careful, thorough organ- ization of the Party, and under its leadership the revolutionary unions, the left wing in the A. F. of L., the workers in the ¢ultural and social-mass organizations, and the entire Ameri- ican working class for a struggle to advance, step by step, but in a revolutionary direction. On Unemployed Work By J. WEBER 'N A recent article, Comrade Nelson of the { Chicago District states that “we should not uild unemployed sections of our industrial leagues” and that our general councils (old form J.W.) “should be a sort of gathering center that will turn over members gradually to our leagues.”. This opinion, it is claimed in the article, is prompted by a number of experi- ences with general unemployed councils in Chicago. While the second statement faintly resembles the correct line, the first is utterly wrong, ignoring completely the R.I.L.U. line of solidarizing the unemployed and employed workers on an industrial basis within our revol- utionary industrial unions. Such a conception is'a capitulation before the difficulties of organization in a “new” field. If, Comrade Nelson, 40,000 leaflets issued by the industrial league mobilized only a handful of workers, then something is wrong with the leaflet, or the distribution, or the local T.U.U.L.} but it certainly is no excuse to alter the R.J. L.U. line. If, on the other hand, general coun- cil No. 3 did good work, that only proves the correctness of the R.IL.U. line and is the most condemning criticism of the failure of the local T.U.U.L. in its unemployed work! The present deep-going crisis is increasing the misery and exploitation of both unemployed and employed to an unprecedented degree. Speed-up, part-time employment, wage-cuts, and mass lay-offs produce the conditions for a fighting ele between the workers on the job and the workers out «i & job. It therefore be- comes the task of the Trade Union Unity Lea- gue to weld this fighting unity of employed and unemployed closely and firmly, so that in our struggles we present a solid, united front. The unemployed workers (who in “peace-. time” are reduced to the most abject misery and in war are the first to be slaughtered!) The Professional Juggler; Juggles Figures —By GROPPER. and Lies Equally Well By ALFRED WAGENKNECHT | ‘OR a month my unit has been discussing the right danger. The four meetings held lasted until nearly midnight. The members | ofthe adjourned unit meetings in the section headquarters, gathered around to listen. A | number of comrades ins my unit argued as fol- | lows: The workers are not radicalized as much | as we think they are. We tried to sell them | Daily Workers in the shops we covered and ; many would not even take them free. The | Party may he tco much to the left. We do not yet understand the psychology of the worker There may be radicalization in other countr there may be revolutionary upsurges in India and China, but American workers are slower, \* they are still too well off. There is very little unemployment in Fra: so France must be | an exception and maybe the United States is | also, Our principal task should be to build a | ) left wing in the A.F. of L. and in the Muste | | groups. Every time we tried to do shop gate work we met difficulties, the workers did not listen; they are not rushing to join the revolu- tionary unions and the Party. Several unit meetings ago, brought in a resolution which ov nated the power of Am imperialism, said it being drawn into the world crisis, and orient- ated the unit towards street corner meetings and away from shop gate meetings. Today I was assigned to shop gate meetings in the same several buildings where, other unit comrades had been before. On the basis of | which some of them evolved a platform of in- | surmountable difficulties. Five comrades had been assigned and only three appeared. The section headquarters was locked anf remained locked. We could not get our leaflets. Two comrades {rom another unit were sitting on the steps waiting to get in. They told us that eight comrades had been assigned to go to the West- inghouse Electric neighborhood. The other six never appeared. These two had leaflets for the Madison Square Garden Party convention rally. | We*had none. We had a small bundle of Daily Workers which I took along (none were ordered in advance) and the other comrades had no Daily Workers. All inexcusable shortcomings. We decided to form one shock troop to in- vade the territory assigned by my unit. In this territory there is a big print shop, a big shop that makes army, navy and police uniforms. and a shoe factory. It had been reported in our unit that the workers in the shoe factory were a backward element and might as weil be left alone. Without flag or stand we held three short curb meetings, two of five minutes each, one of ten minutes. At the first two we had a total of about 25 workers. At the last one about 35 workers gathered around us. A dame from the Daughters of the American revolution invited us all to go back to our own countries, and engaged me in a rapid fire argu- ment until one worker said “we'll give you a revolution here,” whereupon she fled across the street. The speeches were sloganized. “Another big crash in Wall Street. Read about it in the Daily Worker. A sign of the big capitalist crisis. Seven million workers out of jobs. You may be next. What are you going to do about it? You get low wages and speed-up. You've got to organize at once. Join the revolutionary unions of the Trade Union Unity League. Employed and unemployed workers must get together and — fight together. Organize unemployed councils. | The bosses are trying to save their necks by unit buro the st Right Danger and Radicalization preparing another werld war and fighting the Soviet Union, where the workers are in power. Read the Daily Worker carefu Learn what the Communist Party stands for. It bur Party. The Party the ses talk agai and fight against, you should join. Cc to the meeting advert The workers we: refuse to take the On the contr: got five con “backward” wor ne Did th Jorkers The; readily ¢ Arid a comr names. sitting fo with me { watched “the four y a little bac I noticed they wer id not talk to the wor! ‘aternize with ther 2 positions of | the werkers to wu their side for every ¢ Gid not have enough confid They expected the work first apprcach, whereas it is 9 the factory gates to cz y cid not y did net this one cone achievement we prove to the n bers in my unit t platform of “insurmountable cifiicultic wrong, that their “rig! been proven to be in ence we must draw lessons. rades in how to do facto: teach them to make slog s insist that they talk to th contacts. W t develop rev magination, troops for t adequate com until resul study the factory and the workers ircumvent obstacles and difficu know exactly v ers go to work, come from work. lunch period; find out all about working cc tions in the factory, num how to get leaflets and D: the shop. gate meetings must be in charg comrade who can give directions with almost military precision. District 2 just had i trict convention. Sixty comrades spoke al “right” dangers and shortcomings rade gave a graphic picture of an achievement obtained by factory ¢ tact with workers. The Party suffers {vom in- digestion because Party members are not at factory gates. We must cite “right” dangers and short comings, but with this must go cor- rection, actual application to factory work and, what is very important, a system of reporting | methods for organizing this work, doing this work, These experiences and achievements must be listed in the press, in bulletins, in all meet- ings. This is what I ;wanted to talk about and elaborate upon at our district convention, but there were too many other sneakers and I could not get the floor. form a section of the working class which is , speedily being radicalized, in many cases to the | point of desperation. The workers out of a job | become and should he the shock troops of the working class in every class battle. Further, the unemployed workers at the pre- sent time comprise :nore than one-fifth of the whole working-class in this country, and are constantly increasing in number. To isolate them from the employed through faulty organ- izational methods would mean to betray the | ployed directly inte the hands of the bour- geoisie as cannon-fodder, and as a lever to re- duce the conditions of the employed to a more miserable level. : We must immediately throw all our energies into the work of organizing the masses of un- | employed en an industrial basis, that is, directly into the unemployed councils of our industrial unions and leagues. This does not eliminate the necessity of unemployed work by the Party. whole working class and to play the unem- FOR WORKINGCLASS POLICY IN THE COOPERATIVES and institutions, | class jee capitalist crisis and consequent radical- struggle izati ation of the working class and sharpen- | (e) An unprincir fight over jobs. ing of the class struggle calls for greater All tions of opportunism exertion on the part of the Communist Party | have found more or less sharp expression in and all class conscious workers in the effort | all our cooperative fractio to mobilize, organize and give leadership to in the fraction the the workers for the fight against unemploy- Camp Nitgedaiget Coc ment, rationalization, wage cuts, terror and letarians must be ed, must con- imperialist war. The period of “peaceful de- | demn and fight agair he Party must take velopment” is long past. Our revolutionary the most drastic steps to uproot every vestige movement grows and consolidates itself | of this dangerous opportunism which is the through actual struggle on the class-war | result of the pressure of petty-bourgeoise | front. It is to this front that the major at- | ideology upon the comrades and non-Party | tention of the Communist Party must be di- workers in the cooperatives. rected. On the other hand, we must take note of The recent letter of the Polit-Secretariat of definite anarcho-syndicalist tendenci on the the Executive Committee of the Communist part of many of our comrades in the unions International on the struggle for a working- | (especially the Food Workers I.U.) whose mem- class policy in the cooperatives, refers to the | bers employed in the cooperative institu- | Communist position as established in the Pro- | tions, Tendencies to exploit the cooperatives, | gram of the Communist International with re- | which are organizations that must serve the | gards to the cooperative which “under the dic- | class interests of the workingclass, in the in- tatorship of the proletariat...will be of ex- terest of a few wo treme importance ... but under capitalism | are forced to play a very modest role especially now when the monopoly organizations of capi- tal are of enormous might (and) the workers cooperatives have very. limited possibilities for rs who would escape the effects of unemployment. A tendency to take advantage of the organization | unwar- rantedly poor performance of duty. To demand of ooperatives wages and conditions in ex those that the union has been able to the developing... .” enforce in capitalist shops through struggle. Communist Party Watches Workers Efforts to the leadership elected by Organizations large numk of workers cooperators and im- This by no means relieves the Communist pose the will of a small group of workers who ; Party of responsibility for leadership of the | employed in institutions. Finally the | workers cooperative organizations. On the | unions must guar ainst the tendency on the contrary, at the present time it is the more part of some of their members to evade the important that the Communist Party shall watch carefully every development in the co- operative as in all workingclass organizations so that all the forces of the workingclass may be united for common struggle on a common need for struggle in the capitalist shops by locating themselves in ¢ ve institutions. Since the Party represents and must deal with all problems from the viewpoint of the interests of the working as a whole. Since class line. Such watchfulness is the more it is the duty of the Pa to coordinate the necessary because in this period those who activities of all workingclass organizations so | shrink from the dangers and sacrifices in- that the class interests of the workers are volved in the struggle s served, we must take the most d possible to bring abou tic measure an improvement in the situation in the cooperatives; to guaranty the / workinge integrity of the institutions and to provide for proper relationships between these and other organizations involved. 1. A thorough discussion should be instituted in all cooperative organizatio Party has fractions. This d serve to make clear the position of coopera- ti and their role in the present period. The difference between consumers and housing co- operatives and the perspectives of the coopera- tive movement as well as its limitations should be fully brought out in such a discussion. The relations that must exist between cooperative and other workingclass organizations and the revolutio: movement as represented by the Communist Party and the menace of oppor- tunism in the cooperative in the entire work- ingelass movement should be thoroughly ex- plained. In this connection the experiences of our Finnish comrades in the Cooperative Cen- tral change and the role of the Lovestond/ renegad ord valuable jessons for us. 2. By means of constructive proletarian ticism and self criticism, the serious errors and dangerous tendencies in the cocperatives must be sharply exposed. Bureaucratic ele- | ments must be eliminated and replaced with | broad proletarian leadership from the ranks. | | | not only to abandon | | but also to drag others away from the class war front. | The Party must exercise the greatest vigil- | to | prevent the cooperatives, s auxiliaries in the struggle against unemployment, to organize the unor- g d, to mobilize against imperialist war and in defense of the Soviet Union from be- ing turned into “mere appendages of the capi- t regime.” We must not permit a single ance in order which must serve 3 Fy 3 8 2 D ° R FS e & 3 misled by opportunists and renegades. we are responsible to the work- ers who have confidence in the party and must therefore not permit of “the slightest negli- gence in ihe matter of careful and efficient conduct of the business and the commercial | and financial operations, or the efficient hand- ling of the technical work” of the cooperatives. The struggle against opportunism must be waged whenever opportunism manifests itself. | The danger of opportunism in the cooperat is clearly greater than in those organizations ence is dependent upon readiness in open conflict with the coercive capitalist ruling class. This is | © those cooperatives whose is evidence of illusions at the of capitalism and whose main organi- pport comes form the mor illed > of The tendency to rely on cooperative “Spets” on that our most difficult | and to put paid functionaries into every post and ¢ expressions of oppor- instead of developing rank and file voluntary i e arisen in connection with the co- work and committees must be abandoned, ore ve housing projects. 3. he cooperatives must be induced to tion is not’ much different in any of » York cooperatives since all of don rect basis which h cooperatives as cor- make a sharp turn in the direction of the un- and in conflict with class interests must be d to conform to the means of these work- Every tendency that restricts the organi- zations must be replaced with a conscious 3 pre not really cooperatives in the proper sense of the word. This is an important factor that must be con- sidered by our comrades who are active in the ic tive workers. coop The Prese 8 wards liquidation with the greatest possible speed of all indebtedness to worker creditors. All elements of personal interest as opposed to and in conflict with cl interest must be eradicated. With this must come elimination t Situation of Our Cooperatives, t of the defeat of the opportunist leadership in the cooperatives and the firm actions of the left wing workers un- der the influence of the Party, it was possible | of i i 3 ; cheap intrigue and goss one | to overcome the very dangerous crisis that | {onatiem Bhd haveaining fee pate facy | confronted all our cooperatives about a year | Qc. The test of the vaccne or en te | : ERI Aue NOIE Saf aaron esas Z S he success r coopera- ; seer eal Tras) secured eich tives must be the degree to which they serve ta _ bs c ce support the stri es of rki q the workers creditors of these coopera F ugel ete workingelass bes promote understanding of the principles of proletarian cooperation and consciousness of the need for revolutionary class struggle. 5. Only union labor under maximum union conditions can be employed in proletarian co- operative institutions. All workers must be secured through the respectiye unions. Any management of a _ proletarian which makes those workers whom it employs regard them as they do capitalist bosses is manifestly unfit to head proletarian institu- tions, On the other hand, no class conscious worker will fail to take a serious interest and to lend utmost support to an institution which serves the workingclass. The members of the cooperative alone have the right to select management and the workers while guarding their union conditions cannot expect to enjoy more rights to determine policy and manage- ment than is enjoyed by the worker coopera- tors. 6. At present although still in a precari- ous position these cooperatives are in better ition from the point of view of ability to ee a greater return of the workers in- is error of launch- tives cannot be entirely s suffered in consequence ly made up and the problem created by an institution that cannot be ex- | panded but can at best be conserved, is a seri- ous political problem which reflects itself in the life of the organization which must main- tain such an institution. An institution which cannot grow not only stands still but tends to degenerate and stagnate. The elements of de- generation and stagnancy reflect themselves in the organization which is based on this in- stitution. Against these elements our Party through its fraction must conduct an unremit- ting struggle, otherwise these elements will poison all about them. The consumers cooperatives (camps, stores, aurants) although much more stable finan- ly, also are in danger of losing their work- We should direct ourselves to an early centralization of the various cooperators. A federation of proletarian cooperatives will serve to provide for an hange of experi- re: ing class identity unless unremitting struggle | &"¢e, for a uniform policy, advantages in buy- is conducted by the Party against all right | iS» ete., etc. Such a federation should be wing tendencies within the organization and | {med in the nearest future. particularly within the Party fractions in these | 7 Close cooperation between consumer, organizations. Such tendencies find expression in (a) bureaucratism, underestimation of political and organizational work and exaggeration of petty financial and administration detail on the part of comrades in the administrative or- | (guests, ete.) workers and cooperator must be effected. Joint committees of these with con- sultative power should. be formed in all insti- tions wherever p The Party in w cooperaior: are responsible must undertake to through the fractions and directly to as abilizing these on the ‘ ~ Our comra must understand they are required to be active in the work and in assisting in the carry- ing out of the Party policy with which all pro- letarian elements in cooperatives will ree. By these means we can und will make the cooperatives more useful organs of the class conscious workers who understand the role of cooperatives in the society of today and the society of the future, gans of the cooperatives. (b) Petty factional intigue and gossip and complete disregard of the serious problems which involve the in- terests of thousands of workers who are mem- bers of these organizations and the workers whom these institutions must serve, on the | part of leading and rank and file comrades | alike. (c) Efforts to solve financial problems by putting greater burdens upon and reducing the wages of workers employed in these insti- tutions and inereasing costs for those who use | them. (d) Attempts to meet financial prob- lems by withholding funds and support from | ist in correct se organizations s of a policy of drawing in all workers regardless of | nationality and especially the Negro and na= | Our financial policy must be directed to= institutions