The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 15, 1930, Page 6

Page Six Cable: — OF TH DEMOCRATIC “VICTORY” The victory of the democratic party can be { prets its victories of November 4th as a mandate | to lead the country out of the crisis and “solve” | The democrats have already | attributed to the following main factors: @) The industrial and agricultural crisis. (2) The collapse of the Hoover administration im its wake and, of course, futile efforts to solve the crisis and unemployment. (8) The skillful demagogy of the democratic Party and the so-called progressives, in making the masses believe that they are going to do something for them. (4) The conscious help of American capitalism to the democratic party in order to weather the crisis, at the expense of the masses and to head off the mass discontent. (5) The revolt of the petty bourgeoisie against trust domination, which is squeezing them out of the economic system. Of course the change from a republican con- trolled congress to a democratic-progressive eoalition is not radicalization. On the contrary, it is a strengthening of reaction. The American workers, however, have dem- onstrated thier radicalization in the course of the very class struggle in the country. This was shown in a series of strikes, in the mass dem- onstrations for unemployment relief in the strug- gle against wage cuts and the brutal capitalist §peed-up. The fact that the Communist vote, from all indications, will be above 100,000—more Whan doubling the 1928 vote, in spite of the fact that we were on the ballot in eight states less, is in itself not only an important indication of radicalization of the working class, but also shows an increase in the number of class-con- scious workers in the U. S. It must be remem- bered that the democratic landslide, the in- creased vote of the socialist party, came as a result of a wide-spread mass discontent with present conditions which capitalism temporarily, Succeeded to head off into safe channels, but which in itself, already coniains all the ele- ments of disillusionment of the masses, leading to their further radicalization and political maturity. ‘The bourgeoisie is conscious of this situation. For example, if we are to take Detroit mayoralty fs an indicator, we will see that the ruling class is very much afraid of the reaction of the masses after they will find out that Murphy, the out- standing demagogue of all the capitalist candi- dates in the elections, never intended to carry out the promises he made to the masses, par- ticularly to the unemployed, prior to his election. The Detroit Saturday Night, the outstanding pen shop paper in the country, therefore Warned capitalism of the consequences: “What will happen when thousands of other jobless appear to callect on the Judge’s (Murphy's) promises. + It is certain that most of those who voted for Murphy in the expectation of having their pay envelopes filled up again, are doomed to receive a jolt.” ‘We therefore must state that for the present, the radicalization of the American workers is not yet crystallized politically. Masses of work- ers who follow the Communist Party in their economic struggles were misled by the social demagogy of the democratic and socialist parties ‘and voted for the capitalist candidates with ex- Pectations of immediate betterment of their conditions. There are two reasons for this Situation: (1) The methods used in the campaign by the Communist Party itself. The inability of our | Party to concretize our general political slogans, so that “Vote Communist” would also mean to the worker an expression of struggle for his Gaily immediate demands and needs such as Struggle against wage cuts, struggle for imme- diate unemployment insurance, for emergency unemployment relief, etc... . @) The working class still has not broken with the old political parties. To date, while millions of workers are ready to fight off the attack of the bosses on their standards of living, while the workers are ready to follow our lead- ership for unemployment relief, yet it must be recognized that only a small section of them are revolutionary-conscious, them are still under the influence of the bour- | tive proposals in the new congress. unemployment themselves declared their methods of solution do not differ from that of the republicans. The general plans of capitalism will only be carried out more effectively, under the cover of “prog- ressivism.” The Scripps-Howard press heralded the democratic victory as “a great progressive victory.” The bourgeois sociologist, Professor Barnes, expect the democratic party “. . . to fling overboard the vestiges of reaction and step forward boldly as the representatives of liberal American political ideas and practices.” ‘The republican party, however, has not ex- pressed any signs of uneasiness and apprehen- sion with the contemplated democratic legisla- Not only will not the democratic party propose any legis- lation concerning unemployment insurance, lynching, injunctions. ete., but no one will even | dare to raise any question not in harmony with | their votes. | ests? the vast majority of | Beois political ideology as forced upon them by | the still powerful bourgeois party machinery. The real meaning, of the democratic landslide, for the workers and farmers, is a further strengthening of capitalist exploitation and an increase of their own misery. The democratic party will only further carry through the process of fascization of the state apparatus. It inter- —— | | capitalist interests. One of the outstanding re- publican newspapers in the country, the New York Evening Post declared editorially on the day after the elections: “We are not letting into national control an outfit of Bryanistic radicals. Al Smith took care of that during the last presidential elections, when he changed the democracy so fundamentally toward the side of con- servatism.” The democratic party has no responsibility towards the workers and farmers. Their objec- tive was only to mislead the workers and get In this they have succeeded. The day after the elections the seven leading figures of the democratic party hastened to repudiate any promising gestures that have been made during the elections, and rushed to assure all business interests that “business should not be frightened,” and the policies of Wall Street will be uninterruptedly carried out with their full co-operation. “., , the 72nd congress will not be an ob- structive body. It will not seek to embarrass | the president of the United States, but will | be glad to cooperate with him and with the | members of the opposite party in House and Senate in every measure that conduces to the welfare of the country.” The offer of co-operation of the democratic party was enthusiastically accepted by the re- publicans. In reply to the democratic state- ment, Senator Watson, the whip of the Hoover administration, stated, +. We are faced with a national situation, where the only patriotic solution lies in co- | operative action, and I welcome it, and Iam | sure my colleagues will welcome it also.” | Do these statements mean that all inner | differences of American capitalism disappeared —that no struggle will take place between the various capitalist groups for their special inter- Of course not. After the publication of these statements of the democratic and repub- lican parties, leading democratic congressmen immediately declared that they will not accept the decisions of their party leaders, that they will also have something to say. Senator Brook- Published By the Comprodaily Publishing Co., Inc., daily, except Sunday, at 50 East 13th Street, New York City, N. Y. Telephone Algonquin 7956-7. 4 Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, 50 East 13th Street, New York, N. ¥. THE MEANING “DAIWORK.” SUBSCRIPTION RATES: LET HIM HAVE IT! By BURCK Refuge in the Camp of Renegades 'YLVAN A. POLLACK, who disclosed himself as a despicable coward, when he led the po- lice of Scranton, Pa. (in July, this year), to the confidential address, where Comrades John Little and Dan Slinger were then arrested and Party records seized, and who is now trying to hide his shame in the camp of the renegade Trotskyites, stands expelled from the Commu- nist Party of the U. S, A. by action of its Cen- tral Control Commission, and is hereby exposed as an enemy and a traitor to the working class. The fact that he has been a member of the Party fcr many years and that he has held a number of responsible posts makes his crime only more odious and inexcusable. Pollack’s cowardice and treachery are plainly | shown and proved by his own statements before the Central Control Commission. Although deny- ing that he led the police to the confidential address, and trying to explain that the polite knew the place themselves (on which point the Central Control Commission has evidence that the police did not have this information before they arrested Pollack); by a close examination he was forced to contradict himself almost on every essential point; such as, was he or was he not threatened and rough-handled by the hart, of Iowa, also issued a statement in which | Police; did he or did he not give any hints as he declared, | | “the progressives of both parties will fight.” | This shows that the inner-capitalist differ- | ences cannot and will not be abolished. On the contrary, with the deepening of the crisis, the inner-capitalist differences and antagonisms will become more sharp, particularly in regards to the policies to be pursued in placing the burden of the crisis upon the shoulders of the masses. However, we must remember that the present situation holds grave dangers for capitalism as a whole, that calls for a united struggle of all capitalist forces against the working class. to the location of the house, was he asked for information about the house where he (Pollack) lived or about the house where Little and Slinger were staying. And he floundered miserably when confronted with three important questions: (1) If you really refused to give to the police the informa- tion which they were insisting upon, how did it happen that, when they took you into the auto- mobile to go to the house, you were so friendly with them aé to offer them your cigarettes? (2) If they did not know the number of the house, how did they come to the exact floor and room The capitalists are not a monolitic class as | 7 which Comrades Little and Slinger were the working class, yet in the face of an emer- | § gency, such as the war preparations, the deep- | 8S, did you hide from the Central Control ening crisis, and the radicalization of the working class they will agree to cooperate. Be- cause of this the New York Times said editor- ially on November 9th: “There is really as good a reason today to sink party differences and unite for a com- mon national purpose as there was in the Great War.” Upon completion of the reports from the dis- tricts, we shall discuss the role of the Commu- nist Party in the elections in another article, Assignment ot Party Tasks ij (Resolution Adopted by the New York District.) ie major task of our Party is the building of the revolutionary unions of the Trade Union Unity League. No less than 8 per cent of the Party activity must be directed toward the building of the T. U. U. L. | The above correct policy of our Party must be concretized and definitely translated into Bolshevik organizational steps, measures, meth- oda and tasks. | The main task of our Party of concentrating om thé shops and basing our activity in and round the shops, factories, and mines is the ‘further concrete formulation of our task of building the revolutionary unions. Each shop nucleus has the concrete task of ‘working in the shop with the immediate main object of building a shop committee which is the basic unit of the revolutionary union. ‘The fact that the overwhelming number of our Party units are still organized on the ter- ritorial basis makes the principal task of these ‘mits the concentration of their activities on a specific shop in their territory again with the main concrete object of building a shop com- mittee in the factory in addition to the agita- tion for other Party slogans and campaigns and ‘winning the workers for the Party and establish- ing a shop nucleus. In the shops the building of the T. U. U. L. must express itself in the concrete formation of a shop committee of a specific revolutionary union—metal, needle, food, etc. Task of Every Party Member. Every Party member must be a member of & revolutionary union. Every Party member must attend his union and shop meeting. Every Party member must attend at least ‘ene fraction meeting monthly. Every Party member must recruit workers - for the revolutionary unions, Every Party member must agitate for the revolutionary unions in the mass organizations he is a member and in the shop where , he is working. Every Party member must attend Party unit meetings and pay dues. Every Party momber must give at least one evening to direct Party work under the guid- ance of the unit in addition to. the unit meeting. The above in general are the tasks of each and every individual member of the Party with- out exceptions. These are the tasks that fall under the general policy of Every Party Mem- ber Must Build the T.U.U.L. Assignment of Tasks Among Party Members. In addition to giving each individual Party member the tasks outlined above, it is of ut- | most importance that the members of our Party be given as their major task some specific ac- tivity in the building of the revolutionary unions, the Party, and other mass organizations, To this end the District Committee has adopted as a principle the division of our com- rades among the various activities of the Party in such a way that the largest possible num- ber of comrades are released for the direct and indirect work of building the revolutionary unions and the Party, We have in our district over 100 different mass organizations. Up to the present time the individual comrades decided for themselves to which of these organizations they shall devote the major part of their time. Bolshevik organizational principles provide that the Party through the units and sections shall determine the specific activity and the organization for each individual comrade. In this way the Party assigns a given num-: ber of comrades whose major task shall be ac- tivity in the I. L. D., the revolutionary unions, the cooperatives, the Party unit, the fraternal organization, etc. On this basis the District Committee in con- sultation with the leading fractions of our mass organizations has assigned a definite number of comrades for each organization under our guidance or in which we are conducting work. The actual number of comrades to be active in the given mass organizations is based on the actual needs of the organization and the num- sleeping; and (3) Why, through several hear- Commission the fact that you lived in a dif- ferent place from the other comrades, and that you could have led the police to your own ad- dress, instead of going with them to the con- fidential address? The Central Control Commission was con- vinced of Pollack’s guilt right after those hear- ings, and a formal decision was delayed only for certain reasons connected with the coming trial of the Scranton case in the courts. Know- ing his guilt, and feeling that the Central Con- trol Commission also knew it, Pollack estab- lished secret connections with ‘the Trotskyites in preparation of a political refuge, regardless of how greatly discredited it already was. When called before the Central Control Com- mission again, and questioned about these con- nections, Pollack repeated his whining and scoundrelly tactics. He denied having any such connections; he faked angry resentment when he was asked, if he had any sympathies with the renegades; he promised to give a written statement denouncing the renegades as a coun- ter-revolutionary group; and he repeated this promise several times up to within two weeks of the date w... “e came out with his slimy ad- herence to and endorsement of the Trotskyite renegades. It is quite natural that the renegades, Trot- | skyites as well as Lovestoneites, extend a broth- erly welcome into their camp to any and every cowardly traitor and scoundrel who is found out ‘and cast off by the Communist Party, but all class conscious workers and workers’ organiza- tions will turn in disgust from any contact with them. CENTRAL CONTROL COMMISSION, COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE U. 5S. A. ber of available comrades best fitted for that particular activity. On the basis of the lst of comrades sub- mitted by the leading fractions of the mass or- ganizations the section committees shall choose those comrades who shall give their major ac- tivity in the given organizations. Great care must be exercised in the assign- ment of tasks so as to divide the most capable and responsible forces among the most impor- tant organizations. While the revolutionary unions must be supplied with the best forces available, care must be taken to retain reliable and developed comrades in the section leader- ship as well as to include leading comrades in the unit bureaus so that the Party organiza- tions are organically connected with the life and struggles of the revolutionary unions, It must be borne in mind that the building of the T.U.U.L. unions is not confined to the unions alone but that the comrades actively engaged in concentrating on the factories and shops are also directly engaged in the work of building the revolutionary unions. Checking Up the Activities. ‘The reorganization of activities and assign- PRE-PLENUM DISCUSSION Young Communist League, U.S.A. Our Trade Union Work is not necessary for us to speak any more about the deepening of the crisis or that Hoo- ver’s properity is a bunch of lies. It is also an established fact that the young workers are doubly exploited, paid lower wages, working longer hours and discriminated against. I don’t believe there is any need for us to dwell on this point much. * However, it is necessary to ask ourselves the following questions. 1. We say that the young workers are exploited, we say that the young workers are radicalized, we claim that the young workers suffer from various diseases and dis- crimination, we also claim tha: the young work- ers are ready to be organized as correctly proven by the various demonstrations and other occas- sions and yet the young workers are not found in our Y.C.L. nor in our revolutionary trade unions. Frankly in a Bolshevik spirit analyzing this criminal situation we must admit that up till now and even now to a considerable degree we are only paying lip service or correctly stat- ing phrase mongering, as for an example in District No. 6, our T.U.U.L. youth organizer was not supposed to have been critisized because of the fact he was a new comrade, and especially since it is established that the weakness of the T.U.U.L. is a national phenomonen, so say our leading comrades to critisize a new comrade or an individual for his responsibility would be phrase mongering. Another example an unem- ployed demonstration was called for October 27 at the City Council to present our demands, first let’s see how this demonstration was arranged. The Party secretariat makes a decision a-couple of days before this so-called demonstration, not even taken up with the Trade Union District Committee, there is only one that knows about this demonstration, the T.U.U.L. organizer. When we come to the City Council and look around, we find only one Y.C.L. member, four Party members and about a half dozen of unemployed workers. And then we begin to criticize each other, swear at each other, and accusing each opher of being guilty of this criminal neglect. Finally these questions are taken up at the dis- | trict bureau, unquestionably, these mistakes are admitted and the shortcomings are exposed, but these mist:.kes and shortcomings are continually being repeated and repeated. The best way to do away with these mistakes and shortcomings is to stop talking about building the T.U.U.L. and making fake mechanical decisions, but act- ually begin to go out to the factories and do the T.U.U.L. work Comrades, if it were neces- sary to point out shortcomings and mistakes only, we could point out hundreds of them. But | I believe it is more important for us to find a way to g-i out of these shortcomings. Therefore our task in my opinion must be the following: 1. To stop talking about T.U.U.L. work and begin to do T.U.U.L. work. 2. We must establish a functioning Trade Union Department. 3. The comrades on this department shall not be on a half dozen other committees. 4. To i ‘op using this general phrase of build- factories, make contacts with young workers, as we are attempting to do now and this way build the Metal Workers Industrial League of the T.U.ULL. 5. Stop talking about the importance of hold- ing a youth conference for three months, but instead these three months should have served as a campaign of intensive work for at least creating a basis for a youth conference. Above all it is necessary to awaker our league mem- bership to the importance of T.U.U.L. work. And the rule of the Y.C.L. building the revolutionary | trade unions. Our league membership does not understand trade union work and especially the role of a youth section. It is therefore important to start an ideological campaign on a national and district scale. Not from the viewpoint of becoming a theoretical professor, but from the viewpoint of becoming a good practical organizer of young workers. Six Months Marine Workers’ Industrial Union By H. RAYMOND. Failure of the Craft Unions EVIOUS to the First National Convention of the Marine Workers Industrial Union (April 26-27, 1930), the marine workers had no real organization capable of leading them in a suc- cessful struggle against the shipowners. Craft unions under the control of A. F. of L. bureau- crats and conciliators defeated completely all ef- forts of the seamen, longshoremen and harbor workers to better their conditions. Immediately following the war, when practical- ly all workers in the marine industry or- ganized, a dozen different craft unions, with as many different agreements with the bosses, kept the marine workers divided amongst themselves to such an extent that any successful concerted action against the powerful shipowners was ab- solutely impossible. The LW.w. The Marine Transport Workers Union of the LW.W. was the only industrial union in the field at that time offering a militant program of industrial unionism. In 1921 and 1923 the M.T, 'W.U. led strikes against the shipowners. The workers rallied on each occasion deserting the A. F. of L. unions in flocks, but these strikes went down to defeat because of the I.W.W. policy of decentralization, its opposition to the political struggle and its failure to adjust its program to the immediate needs of the workers. The I. W. W.'s opposition to the Soviet Union and its ne ments on this basis will be a process that must be carefully supervised by the units and sections and extreme care must be used to prevent me- chanical application. However, with this system in actual operation the Party units will have a complete record of the activities of all mem- bers and will be in a position to actually check up on the activities and determine the results of these activities and the development of the individual comrades, The units as well as the fractions in the mass organizations will regulate the activities on the basis of the amount of time each comrade has been assigned to the given organization. failure to recognize the only leader of revolu- tionary industrial unionism, the Red Interna- tional of Labor Unions, made it impossible for the I.W.W. to build a solid fighting union. Today the M.T.W.U. is a mere shell, having lost all semblance of militancy, and the few who still remain in its ranks stand 100 per cent in the camp of the shipowners. The LS.U., under the leadership of Andrew Furnseth, and the LL.A,, led by Joseph P. Ryan, both of A. F. of L. organizations, are controlled by gangsters in the pay of the shipowners and are today the chief strikebreaking organizations of the bosses. Launching of the M.W.LU. The Marine Workers Industrial Union, estab- lished April 27, 1930, at a convention of seamen, longshoremen and harbor workers, called by the Marine Workers League, drew up the first real revolutionary program of industrial union- ism for the marine workers and gave for the first time in America real leadership to the struggle of the seamen, longshoremen and har- bor workers. Immediately following the convention, the M. W. I. U. launched a membership drive. Series of meetings were held in every important sea- port. Aroused by our slogans—Prepare for the Struggle! Organize! Fight for Better Condi- tion! Strike for an Increase in Pay! ete.—the seamen, longshoremen and harbor workers, tired of the sell-out tactics of the A, F. of L. and the degeneration of the I.W.W., began joining the M.W.LU, All our locals grew considerably in membership; the Philadelphia local did excel- lent work in recruiting longshoremen. First Strike, A strike situation soon developed in New Or- leans among the dock workers. The M.W.LU. was on the alert; it arose to the situation, or- Banized the dock workers, set up strike com- mittees and called a strike of New Orleans dock workers for an increase in wages. Shortcomings and Setbacks e Although our union, since its launching in April has grown considerably in membership, \we have made many serious errors in policy. s ing the T.U.U.L. but begin to go out to the metal | Foreign: One year, $3; By mail everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; two months, $1; excepting Boroughs ot Manhattan and Bronx, New York City. six months, $4.50 Today in Workers’ History November 15, 1777—~American revolutionary Continental Congress adopted Articles of Con- federation. 1881—Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada (later the American Fed- eration of Labor) organized at Pittsburgh. 1905—Second Russian general strike began on order of Petrograd Council of Workmen's Deputies. 1916—Many injunctions given United States railroads to prevent operation of 8-hour law. 1917—Victory of Red troops in Moscow; declaration of the right of self- determination for the working classes and the people of Russia; peace negotiations between Soviet Russia and Germany begun at Brest- Litovk. These were due partially to a shortage of lead- ing cadres and chiefly to our failure to liquidate the hangover of wobblyism brought in by the old syndicalist elements. Many of our local secretaries, not thoroughly acquainted with the line of the R1I.LU. and the T.U.U.L. and following the old wobbly policy of decentralization, set up a policy of local auto- nomy, many of the locals failing to keep in touch with the national office. Some sent no reports at all, while others reported only when extreme pressure was exerted against them by he Center. This practice, however, is rapidly being liquidated, but all forces must be brought to bear against its continuation or repetition. Reports and funds must be sent regularly and promptly to the national office. Philadelphia—Failure to Follow R.LL.U. Line. In Philadelphia a very bad situation developed. Following the convention our union did much propaganda and agitational work among the longshoremen in Philadelphia. The longshore- men were ready for struggle under revolution- ary leadership. The speed up on the docks was terrific. The gangs were cut and the drafts increased. Ryan’s thugs opposed the demands of the dockers for larger gamgs and an increase in pay. The LL.A. delegates turned their backs and winked while the boss stevedores hired men for wages far below the union scale. These workers were ready to follow our leadership, but we failed utterly to fetch them out on strike because the Philadelphia comrades did not put into practice the celar cut organizational policy and strike strategy of the R.LL.U. and T.U.ULL. Our union started out correctly by bringing the growing dissatisfaction sharply before the waterfront workers. Our slogans were good and the treachery of the A. F. L. bureaucracy was ruthlessly exposed. The economic demands, however, were not sufficiently popularized. Not enough stress was placed on the organization of dock committees; no real conferences of actual dock workers were held and no broad rank and file strike committees set up. The strike was called then in the dark of the moon before sufficient preparatory work had been carried out. In the manner of pronounc- ing a decree, the Philadelphia comrades called the strike and the workers confused and un- prepared, failed to respond. Must Learn from’ Mistakes. These tactics harken back to the days of LW.W.ism. They show that the Philadelphia comrades, although sincere revolutionary work- ers, did not understand, or at least did not put into practice the correct Leninist trade union Policy. These mistakes should prove to every revolu- tionary worker the correctness of the policy of the R.LL.U. All members of the M.W.LU. must fight vigorously all deviations from the line of the Profintern, which is the only tried and proven line of struggle that will lead the work- ers to triumphant industrial unionism. The Marine Workers Industrialism Union is now correcting the mistakes of the past. and is preparing for the big struggles of the coming winter. We have learned from our past short- comings, lessons for the future. Opportunists and Renegades. But we still have one more danger to elim- inate: the danger of pessimism, Pessimism, which leads to opportunism, reformism and the actual giving up of the struggle, has cropped out lately in our union. This danger is bound to show itself here and there in our ranks as the struggle sharpens. This manifestation of pessimism is the logical psychological reaction of those in our ranks who through fear can no longer bear up under the rigors of the fight. This pessimism, according to all reliable re- ports that I have been able to gather here in jail from militant seamen and comrades on the outside, is expressed chiefly through the actions of a group of three members of the M.W.LU, John S. Morgan, John Anderson and Joe Golden. These workers have definitely .deserted the ranks of the Communist Party and the T.U.U.L. and have gone over into the ranks of the rene- gades. Instead of doing everything in their power to build the union they have done their utmost to wreck it. Instead of doing the or- ganizational work alotted them, they wenbabout at first secretly, and then openly, slandering the T.U.U.L.and Party leadership with the vilest lies. Hurling cries of “bureaucracy,” these. three. renegades, in an infamous document, which spread a lie about Comrade Mink receiving $4,800 from Moscow, had the audacity to call on all members of the M.W.LU. to desert the union and go into the ranks of the LS.U. and form a united front with the A.F.L. bureaucrats, All members of the T.U.U.L. must vigorously fight these disrupters and expose them in the union as weak sisters, who, to escape the sharp- ening struggles, are trying to wreck the M.W. IU. One of our tasks is to completely discredit and liquidate these elements. Must Follow Leninist Line. “ ‘The Marine Workers Industrial Union, which has just completed its sixth month of existence, has indeed gone through a severe crisis. Such crises have been experienced before in revolus tionary organizations still in their infancy, The M.W.LU., however, has been quick to see its mistakes; it is conquering its growing pains and liquidating its shortcomings. The M.W.LW. now growing up to adulthood, is girding its loins for the great working class struggles c. the fue ture. The M.W.I.U, can and will lead the seas men, longshoremen and harbor workers in the greatest struggles of their history. But we must remember that these struggles can only be won by following the Marxist-Leninist line as laid down by the R.LL.U, and T.U.U.L. ; November 13, 1930.