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

PRE-PLENUM DISCUSSION Publishing Co., Inc, daily, except at 50 East Y¥. ‘Telephone Algonquin 7956 Cable: “DAIWORK. to the Daily Worker, 60 East 13th § New York, N. Y. By mall everywhere of Manhattan and Bronx, SUBSCRIPTION RATES One year. $6; six months, 35: two months, New York City, Foreign: One year, $1; excepting Boroughs $8; six months, $4.50. Development of New Youth Leadership By LEO THOMPSON uggle for tl youth is throughout the world. The old w by severe economic cri already of the world, sees its main salvation in winning to its side the younger generation who 2 play a very impor role in the class strugg and who will be called upon in the near future to decide the fate of wars and revolutions.” (My emphasis) —From the open létter to all Y.C.L.’s from the ECYCI. Basing its work on the above political premise laid down by the E.C.Y.C.L, our coming Y.C.L. Plenum must becon the whole develop: movement in tI Plenum tion of how to unsatisfactory situation in the Li self-criticism and immediate s should be one of the slogans of of the revolut U.S.A. It is an extraordinary ced “with the burning ques- quickly change the basically registered, the basic isfacto. portant part of the Plan of A n youth work—remains the sorest spot of our work. We have fe low up the meetings of youth connections in vari- ous shops. We ny day-to-day systematic act nh work. For this I am inly responsible as T.U. Youth Secretary The outstanding achievement of the Detroit League is the considerable success with which we raised funds for the “Young Worker.” We also succeeded in drawing new young forces into leading work. But we can see that instead of really orientating our League towards the shops and trade union work—we tackled the easiest and simple part of the Plan of Action. This is because we are always more anxious to get im- mediate tangible results, and when we get some money or subs for the Young Worker we feel that we are doing good work. But when we go to the shop day after day for a few weeks and still do not get one Y.C.L. member—we are apt to get discouraged and demoralized. In other words, in all of our League activity the general tendency is to take the line of least resistance. Instead of building shop nuclei, we raise a few dollars and subs for the Young Worker (not that this work is not also important—quite the con- trary). Instead of doing consistent work in the basic military forces of the Army and Navy— we satisfy our consciense with a semi-annual leaflet distribution at the National Guard Ar- mory or at the Citizens’ Military Training Camp. ‘The national league leadership contributed to- wards encouraging this line of least resistance by its emphasis on financial questions. Many times I have heard threats of being brought to the Control Commission for failure to settle debts or raise enough money for the Young Worker—but never was any disciplinary action taken on comrades’ failures to build shop nuclei, ete. Another important criticism not only of our work in Detroit. but of the entire league is the failure to develop youth independent activity that will attract young workers to us. Even the money we raised for the Young Worker was | based on Party activity, and in no way on our own independent youth work and league initia- tive. Another reason for the failure to carry through the Plan of Action—failure to develop broad ideological enlightenment campaign on the meaning of the Plan of Action, drawing in all the league members into concrete practical daily work. This Plenum must objectively criticize our work, mistakes and shortcomings in an iron de- termination to correct ourselves in rapidly bring- | ing about the turn in the masses of young work- ers. On the question of the achievements, mis- takes and capabilities of our present national league leadership—which is mainly responsible for our failure to carry out the Fifth Y.C.L. Congress decisions—this Plenum must give its frank Bolshevist estimation. We must not be afraid to make definite political conclusions and organizational implications from the discussion and analysis made at this Plenum. We must learn from the experiences of other Y.C.L.’s in solving our problem of leadership. In a word, upon this Plenum falls the great task and re- sponsibility of clearly and decisively laying down concretely the political line for the immediate and paid transformation of our Y.C.L. in mak- ing the turn from our present small isolated league into a mass Communist youth organiza- | of Action? | of their mistakes in the field since the beginning | I believe that Comrade Steuben’s following con- Young Communist League, U.S.A. | from the league membership. m that will really be “a school of struggle for nunism for the young proletarian genera- tion, Comrade Lenin spoke of it. | I believe that the pre-plenum discussion ar- ticles that already appeared have not dealt suf- ficiently with the basic requirements of the YCL in its present situation. They have almost en- y omitted the big question of the respon- ities of our national ‘leadership. Especially | do I consider Comrade Steuben’s article unsatis- factory in this connection. No concrete self-crit- nicism of his own mistakes as well as those of Comrade Harvey, as the two leading responsible comrades of the N.E.C. Buro. Not one word is mentioned in self-criticism of the impermissible suppression and withholding of the Y.C.L. letter Is there any won- der why the league membership did not under- stand its role and task in carrying out the Plan Not one word is said in criticism of the Plan of Action in June. For example, clusions in his article in the “Daily Worker” are guilty of a bad tendency to self-satisfaction and over-exaggeration. “1, Even though the concrete organizational results are very unsatisfactory, the steps that we (that is, national leadership) have taken in connection with the carrying out of the plan prevented the league from entering a crisis and furthermore makes it possible to proceed at full speed toward developing genuine mass youth activity.” Now can we honestly say that this political estimation is really correct? Can we correctly says, as Comrade Steuben openly implies, that the danger of a crisis in the league is a thing of the past? Can we say that the small unsat- isfactory results of the plan have already made | “it possible to proceed at full speed toward de- | veloping genuine phraseology.” This is selfsatis- faction and over-exaggeration. Such philosophiz- ing on the League situation is harmful and inad- missable. Another question: Nobody can deny at the present time that unemployment is the most burning question facing the American working class today. Without correctly tackling the ques- tion of unemployment, it is impossible to. organ- ize the unorganized in this period of permanent | unemployment. The youth is sharply affected by unemployment. Still how is it possible that’ our national leadership has completely failed to give the league membership a political line on youth unemployed work? There seems to have been an almost irresponsible lack of seriousness and understanding of the Y.C.L. line the whole attitude of the League leadership on the basic questions facing the youth. The league leader- ship seems to have entirely failed to grasp the political meaning of the organizational proposals laid down in the suppressed YCI letter. Instead of really taking immediate measures for the cor- rection of our mistakes—the National leadership merely satisfied itself with drawing up a state- ment endorsing the YCI letter in words, criti- cally emphasizing the tardiness of the YCI in forwarding us the letter, instead of really try- ing to politically convince itself in deeds of the correctness of the serious criticism of the YCI. And then above all these mistakes—in the old factional, petty-bourgeois politician’s style, the national leadership has the guts to suppress and withhold the YCI letter on the basis of fluky technical excuses. And to this date, not one statement has openly appeared from the leader- ship criticizing this grave political crime against. the YCL. Furthermore, how can it be possible that at this time the YCI complains of not being informed of the true situation in the American League? Why hasn't the national leadership cooperated with the YCI, giving it a correct un- exaggerated picture of our real situation, and in this way help to quicken the process of making the turn? All this convinces me of the urgent necessity of developing a new youth leadership in our League that will be able to cope with our gigan- tic tasks, and that’ will enable the League to take maximum organization advantage of the present economic crisis. We must understand concretely just how this crisis affects the youth, and what new forms and methods of work are needed to attract them to the Y. C. L. This plenum must develop a new youth leadership that of the best youthful fighting material that we have in our districts—a youth leadership that is to work very closely under the constant guid- ance and supervision of the YCI with the steady co-operation of the Party Central Committee. St. Louis Convention of the League of Struggle for Negro Rights - By CYRIL BRIGGS. Article No. 3. TT adoption of a new and more appropriate name with a looser form of organization was not one of the least of the problems which faced the convention of the American Negro Labor Congress at St. Louis. The new name adopted is the League of Struggle for Negro Rights. Since its organization in 1925, there had been objections to the name American Negro Labor Congress, some legitimate, some unfounded. ‘While the new name has not disposed of all ob- Jjections, it was nevertheless the considered opinion of the convention that the name League of Struggle for Negro Rights more adequately expressed the scope and purpose of the organiza- tion than had the old name or for that matter any other name proposed. The convention was unanimous in its adoption of the new name. It is manifestly impossible to get into a name fll the ideas behind an organization. The League of Struggle for Negro Rights expresses the main ideas of the purpose of the organization and that it is based on struggle and not on reformism and legalistic petitions like those organizations dom- inated by the belly-crawling petty bourgeoisie. Moreover, the name itself stresses the important Tesson that struggle is essential to the securing of Negro rights, to the achievement of Negro liberation. The new name further removes the misconception that the league is confined to Negro membership alone or that its activities are limited to the confines of purely economic struggles. The fact that over one-third of the delegates to the convention were white workers, ‘and that a number of them were elected to the National Executive Committee, gave unmistak- able emphasis to the character of the league as an organization of white and Negro workers banded together in the struggle for Negro rights. Words like worker and labor were deliberately omitted from the new name. The convention did not intend that membership in the League of Struggle for Negro Rights should be confined to Negroes, nor yet to the industrial proletariat, Negro and white. The convention intended to draw into the struggle for Negro rights the broad masses, white and Negro, the farmers and agricultural laborers, and even those elements of the petty bourgeoisie who while not willing to support the economic struggles of the workers and poor farmers could yet be won on a na- tionalistic basis for the struggle for the right of self-determination, state unity of the Negro masses in the Black Belt. By omitting terms like labor and worker from the new name of the organization the conven- tion also gave notice of its intention not to con- fine its struggles for Negro rights to the field of labor. By designing its purpose as a struggle for Negro rights and not only ultimate Negro liberation, the convention rightly interpreted that struggle as including the very smallest fight against oppression and for all immediate demands clear up to complete Negro liberation. The convention also decided that the organ- ization should have a looser form than in the past. It is now possible for the masses to join the League of Struggle for Negro Rights in any form they desire, through affiliations of their lodges, clubs, unions, etc., or by joining a branch of the League. They can join any of the existent branches or they can organize a branch with six or more members, without regard to the existence of branches in any city, That is, they can organize as many branches in any city as suits their convenience. Each branch elects a small executive committee to direct the 4 By BURCK Ninth Int'l Conference of | Revolutionary Miners Part Ul. By JOE TASH. E must effectively learn how to expose those enemies of the working class on concrete is- sues and their program. Underestimation of the social fascists can mean disaster to the rising militant struggles of the miners, for they to whoin the name “social fascists” applies, cloak themselves and their black deeds with progressive phrases and sometimes are able to fool the work- ers to the extent that their militant efforts are dampened and their struggles steered into harm- less channels. In order to fulfill our task, that of organizing and leading the struggles of the miners, it is necessary to carry into life all decisions of the Fifth World Congress of the R.I.L.U. and the specific decisions applying to the mining indus- try, of the Ninth International Conference of the Miners International Committee for Prop- aganda and Action, whose name at the confer- ence was charged to International Committee of Revolutionary Miners. Hesitancy and fear to lead strikes has no place in our ranks and must be eradicated. It is our task to learn the correct tactics and strategic methods to organize and successfully lead’ the miners to victorious battles. We must base ourselves primarily on the immediate demands of the mine workers, local demands, while at the same time popularize the national demands, linked up with the political ones, with a view of broadening and politicalizing the struggles. In the face of the terror we must organize defense corps involving the miners themselves. sWe must, learn the role of strike committees and the elec- tion and not appointment of such committees, representative of the broad masses of miners in- volved in the struggle. We must refrain from making promises of strike relief which can’t be fulfilled, be elected of the miners while at the same time the district and national unions should send out broad appeals in close connec- tion with the W.LR., to immediately set up a relief apparatus. In order to draw the miners into struggle, we must explain to them the close connection which exists between the development of the capitalist rationalization and the forcing down of their standard of living. To explain that the capitalist rationalization brings to them the lengthening of hours, the increased intensifica- tion of labor, rapid growth of the number of accidents and sickness and growth of unemploy- ment. The miners must struggle against all new methods of exploitation. We must carry on a vigilant fight against op- Pportunism within the top circles of the union, and against left sectarianism which would nar- Tow our unions down to a sect isolated from the miners. We must not depend on the spontaneity of the miners, it is our task to organize and lead them. The development of the youth sections in the M.O.8.W.LU., the American section of the International Committee of Revolutionary Miners, must go hand in hand with the development of the union itself, this field of work can’t be underestimated and those who have a reluctance to it must be fought as elements who do not understand the revolutionary role of our union. Of utmost importance is the organization of the Negro workers within our ranks, placing them on the same level with the white miners, the Negro miners are militant fighters and our class brothers. The Womens Auxiliary must be de- veloped into a weapon of the union. The ninth world conference of revolutjonary miners analyzed the crisis of capitalism as it ef- fects the mining industry and made decisions accordingly. We must struggle against any me- chanical interpretation of the decisions. Un- less these decisions are put’ into effect, we will not be successful in the organization anf lead- ership of the huge economic struggles which are developing so quickly. Only with the applica- tion of these decisions, that we will build our revolutionary Mine, Oil and Smelter Workers | Industrial Union in America, capable of leading | the miners to victory over their bosses. Striving | to coordinate and link the struggles of the miners of capitalist countries under the leadership and direction of the International Committee of Revolutionary Miners, thus achieving our aim, that of making the International Miners move- ment an integral part gf the revolutionary trade union movement under the leadership of the Red International of Labor Unions. work. Each branch and affiliated organization elects a delegate to the City Committee. In this way the convention laid the basis for the building of a real mass organization and for the prosecution of a militant struggle against Negro oppression and for the unconditional equal rights of the Negroes. : Dressmakers Betore NewStruggles By I. WEISSBERG. T= dress trade of New York today employs about 35,000 workers who are spread through- out 2,000 or more shops. Only a small portion of these shops are manufacturing establish- ments; the rest are contractors. The jobbers, who are the actual employers of the contractors, carry no responsibility for the conditions of the workers. The contracting system is used by the jobbers as a means of keeping the workers di- vided in small units and promoting competition amongst the contractors so that the greatest portion of the huge profits in the dress trade goes into the coffers of the jobbers and the chain store owners, who are becoming a more dominant factor in the dress trade. This system has broucht about a situation where the dressmakers, though working in sep- arate establishments, are nevertheless being ex- ploited by the same employer, and the trade as such is becoming more and more monopolized by finance capital. Although competition amonest the jobbers has not been entirely wiped out, the control of finance capit-1 is so great that the trade is fast being standardized and sales prices classified on the basis of $3.75, $6.75, $10.75, $16.75, etc. Whatever competition still exists in the dress trade is carried on exclusively at the expense of the workers. Youth Go Into Shops. ‘The 35.000 workers employed in the trade are composed of almost an equal proportion of men and women. The nationalities of the workers are mostly Jewish, Spanish, Negro, Italian and many young Americans who have been drawn into the trade in recent years. Despite the fact that there has been very little improvement in the machinery for the production of dresses, the productivity of the workers has doubled nevertheless, due to the inhuman speed- up system. The trade is working on a piece work basis. Fixed prices, decided on by the job- bers, manufacturers and contractors, are paid the workers on garments, regardless of the amount of work involved and the time spent in making it up. The worker has no say on the question of prices, with the result thaf the standards are becoming lower from day to day. To temporarily pacify the workers, the bosses in many shops permit the skilled workers to em- ploy helpers so as to increase their own earn- ings. These helpers, many of whom are mere children eager to learn the trade, agree to work for the most pitiable wages. In many instances the bosses exploit the learners directly. In shops of that character the week work system prevails. A few skilled workers are engaged by the firm and together with a herd of learners. The skilled workers are poorly paid and the learners get still less. Section work predominates and the workers are driven at top speed. Low Wages. ‘The piece work system and the fixing of prices by the bosses have created a situation where the skilled workers earn not more than $25 to $30 per week, The earnings of the unskilled are pro- portionately smaller. In order to make both ends meet the workers agree to slave unlimited hours of overtime. This has reached such a stage that no worker dares to refuse to work as many hours as the boss dictates. Young workers receive $10 and $15 Per week, working at least 44 hours. Those who attend continuation school lost part of their wages. The Negro workers, most of whom are women, are equally exploited working as pressers and finishers. Fierce Competition. Competition amongst the workers, resulting from the piece work system, has reached such proportions that not only do the workers of one shop compete with the workers of another shops, but cut-throat competition is to be found amongst the workers within each shops. This competition takes on a character of fighting for larger bundles and easier style garments. The intense competition resulting from piece work gives rise to conflicts amongst the workers and tends to further increase the speed-up and slavery in the dress shops. In recent years the jobbers have begun. oper- ating on the basis of mass production, opening up large cutting departments where they engage a few skilled cutters and many learners who receive no more than $15 per week. The cut bundles are sent out to numerous contracting shops where they are quickly made up and rush- ed out in the hope of getting more orders . * All these evils are not new in the dress trade. They existed in 1929 when the Industrial Union began to prepare for the general strike in the dress trade. ‘The leadership of the union during that period failed to correctly estimate the objective condi- tions in the trade and thus failed to adopt the proper methods to fight these evils. Without. sufficient preparation, the workers were called upon to fight for the 40-hour week, guaranteed minimum wage scales, higher prices, provisions which were already part of the old agreement and had failed to adequately meet the crying needs of the workers. Workers for Struggle. Despite the fact that no concrete new de- mands, aiming to wipe out the existing evil, were formulated by the union, ten thousand workers answered the strike call. This mass re- sponse clearly proves that the workers were ready to fight against. the bad conditions in the trade. The bosses in many instances readily agreed to sign an agreement, granting the 40-hour week since they know quite well that so long as the piece work system prevailed the 40-hour week would not be enforced. The union was unable | to keep the strikers out of their shops for.any length of time for the purpose of spreading out and developing the strike, only because the work- ers who had come down could not see why they should remain on strike if their bosses were willing and ready to sign the agreement on the basis of the terms demanded by the union. After returning to the shops the workers im- mediately encountered difficulties in settling prices. The union encouraged the workers to fight for better prices, but when prices for new garments must be settled day in and day out and such price settlements involve constant hag- gling and close bargaining for every cent, the workers very often became discouraged and did not persist sufficiently. As for the young workers and the Negro work- ers, who are the most exploited, until very re- cently they were given very little attention by the leadership of the union, and thus a large portion of the workers in the trade stood aside from the strike and campaign conducted by the The Fake Strike. In 1930 the company union with the aid of the association, which was then at the point of dissolution, launched their fake strike to “stabil- ize the dress trade.” Many workers oppressed by the miserable conditions weer influenced by the propaganda of the company union and did not offer sufficient resistence when the bosses sent them to the strike halls of the company union, hoping that possibly some iniprovements would be gained for them through this fake strike. Through the intervention of Governor Roosevelt. and Lieutenant Governor Lehman, a treacherous agreement was concluded which brought the workers under the domination of the bosses, and in return the bosses agreed to collect dues for the company union. One year has passed since this fake has been perpetrated against the dressmakers and there are very few workers today who dispute the fact that this was an outright sell-out which further enslaved the dressmakers and brought about the present degrading conditions. The speed-up system has greatly increased the unemployment, so that even during the height of the season thousands of workers are unable to find jobs. The general crisis in the country, which threw eight million workers out of em- ployment, hes seriously aggravated the: situation and has added still more to the vast army of unemployed dressmakers. This army of unem- ployed is used by the bosses to further reduce the already intolerable standards and conditions of the workers. These serious conditions make it imperative that every dressmaker in the trade should care- fully weigh the situation and see what can be done to make an end to the chaos and disorgan- ization, which brings untold misery to all workers and their dependents. The Industrial Union has carefully consider- ed all the problems confronting the dressmakers and has come to the conclusion that something radical must be done to bring about improve- ments for the workers in the trade. What can be done in this situation? This will be dealt with in the following article. Down with deportation, lynching, Jim- Crowism, segregation; elect delegates to the National Conference for the Protection of Foreign Born, Noy. 30th, Dec. Ist, Washing- ton, D. C. Workers! Join the Party of Your Class! Communist Party U. S. A. 43 East 125th Street, New York City. Please send me more information on the Com- munist Party. NAME ...ccececcceecsccseccecsererreees CY cecececcerccecsccsoeesces BHAtO sescssseees Occupation ....ccesescccesesceresees ABO veceee -Mail this to the Central Office, Communist Party, 43 East 125th St., New York, N. Y. By JORGE Tribulations of an Editor The woods are full of people who know exactly how we should run the Daily Worker. Through mere mischance, however, they are not running it. But that don’t discourage ‘em. Swarms of them have typewriters and fill our office with instructions, .protests at neglect of such instructions and loud outcries that we are the basest of villains because we can’t see how wonderful are their ideas. Comrades who can turn out articles like Ford does Lizzjes, but not invariably of the same high quality, wail loud and long if each and every article from their sacred typewriter is not pub- lished at once and in toto—as though their ar- ticles and their ideas are the only thing to be considered and should be cherished like manna dropped from heaven or wherever manna drops from. These comrades are blessed with a bumptiousness that originates in a petty bour- geois self conceit that does them no credit. ‘Then we have the “spetz’ type, with interests so narrow that the material supplied by his or her organization is insisted on as the most fear- ful importance, the fate of the world revolu- tion hangs on the putting it “on the front page” and—usually—“in a box,” or “with a big stream- er headline across the page.” This type will argue (if in the office) for end- less time, to convince us that we are counter- revolutionists, nothing less, if we don't see eye to eye with him, as though the deepest desire of the comrades on the staff is to spoil a good story and make the revolution difficult. If rejected, he goes out with rage in his heart to spread the message far and wide that the editor should be shot ind the Daily is “no good.” If accepted, even, he suspiciously glares at us and wants to follow us into the printshop to assure himself that he is not being hood- winked by these scoundrels on the staff. Others, outside the city, but of the samé type, will send us a wire, containing not only the story, but detailed instructions, nay, ORDERS! telling us just what sort of a headline to use and, of course, “on th- front nage” and other minor things. Purely disregarding little matters like technical possibilities, or political consider- ations. Away with all trifles like a revolt in Argentina, an anti-Soviet plot, a maneuver of Hoover which must be exposed! Their stuff must take the mainmast or we are cursed high and low and a protest is dispatched to the Secretariat—which also knows beans about the problems of actually getting out a paper, and may be impressed by stern and self-righteous protest. Then we have those who get a bricht idea that time don't exist. If they dash off a story - by mail from their village two days out of New York, on a Monday, it must appear miracu- lously in Tuesday’s Daily Worker or solemn com- plaint is registered with the Polit-Bureau of the Comintern that the Daily “is criminally neglect- ing” so and so and such and such. ‘The most amazing thing about this fs, that, with many such comrades, they dash off their protest practically im the same mail with the article! Thus we have the following: An incident oc- curred in Pittsburgh on Friday, Octobeer 17, on Saturday the 18th, a Pittsburgh comrade sent it in. We get it on Sunday the 19th, and promptly put it in Monday's paper the 20th. Our comrade, who has abolished time, sits down on the 20th and writes us a vitriolic proteest. We are this and that for “neglecting” it. The stupidity of this comrade is the greater be- cause he has worked on the Freiheit and is sus- pected of having good sense. This is not to say that the Daily Worker never makes mistakes. We do—who does not? In the same Pittsburgh district the comrades ar- ranged a demonstration for Saturday November 1st. They let us in on the secret a bit late for us to help, as the best we could do was to get it in the paper of Friday, October 31st, which wouldn't get there till Monday. And by pure carelessness on our part, the headline we wrote said that the demonstration would be on Monday, while the story said Satur- day. Did we do that by design, just out of cus- sedness? One would think so from the way the comrades, the same one as mentioned above, writes us a long-winded protest that he and others are “testing the edge of their tomahawks in preparation for their scheduled scalp hunting trip to the New York woods.” The comrade, being raised on Second Avenue, we explain, does not know that tomahawks are of no service in scalping. Likewise, the staff, perhaps even Red Sparks, who had nothing at all to do with it, is belabored because somebody. probably the head of the Na- tional Election Committee, who blithely agrees with the protest of the comrade in question without perceiving his own fault in the matter, arranged for “election editions” that were fore- doomed to be disapnointing. Foredoomed, as our “desk-man” warned, because in the Mid-West edition, for example, we had to cover six dis- tricts and the lord knows how many states’ elec- tion problems. This rather obtruse genius follows this. with a coniplaint that the appeal of the Central Com- mittee on the elections, printed in the Daily of November 3rd, reached Pittsburgh when they were “busy tabulating the election returns,” and says sardonically that a city editor “must have @ head on his shoulders.” He ought to know, because he was a city editor once but is no longer. Thourh how in the heck @ city editor, with even a dozen heads, could generate a Central Committee statement before the Central Committee had something to say about it and said it, is beyond our ken. Perhaps genius is out of date, but such héeavy- hahded humor don’t pass current with us. And he winds {t all up, this bleating lamb, by de- manding that we print the whole eleven hun- dred words, in which there is just one error chargeable to the Daily Worker staff in Red Sparks coumn! The moral of this is,—for better or worse the editor of the Daily Worker is running the Daily Worker! } it