The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 28, 1931, Page 6

Page Two DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1931 Before the Red Kremlin Wall By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL Before the Red Wall of the | others on the continent, fulfilled the hopes of Samuel Gompers by Kremlin in Moscow are the graves adopting or aping the “industrial Wee ce Piienn Hokters) an the | Peace’ program of the American American revolutionary struggle: Federation of Labor. C. E. Ruthenberg, the founder and leader of the American Communist Party; William D. Haywood, feared | strike leader, and John Reed, | writer, speaker, author of “Ten Days that Shook the World.” The four years siice Ruthenberg died have brought great changes. The bubble of American “pros- perity” has exploded. The “Ford System” has been forgotten as the | cure-all for the ills of the profit The fourth anniversary of the| system. Workers in Europe sweat- death of Ruthenberg, March 2,| ing under it have repeatedly re- 1927, recalls sharply the fact that | belled. Under the lash of the his ashes lie buried in Moscow. | British Labor Party, the German One almost hears again the salvo social- democracy and the French of shots from the rifles of Red|S lists, the workers in these Army infantry atop the Kremlin/a other countries suffer increas- Wall, as the Red Army Band in} ing rough wage cuts, the the Square beneath ends the |len-thening work-day, intolerable | Funeral March. In the Red Square coriditiony, lockouts, the terror of itself stood thousands of Red} boss class justice, especially when Army soldiers and other thousands | 4 strike. they go ¢ of workers from shops and fac- | All this time, however, the tories. They had just listened to! 9..; Tinian of. ihe ee ee speeches delivered from the Trib- | Plan and W a Street imperialism | une of the Lenin Mausoleum. iting unemployment and Symbol of Solidarity. ery remain at oppo- The Ruthenberg Funeral ha been reviewed in these speech as an expression of the growir unity of the workers in two na- of. the new s ‘ial e one hand defending lecaying, disintegrating so- tions at-opposite poles—the work- r on the other—Commu- ers of the Soviet Union just en- against capitalism. This means tering upon the period of Socialist} that today the war danger is construction, and the workers of | greater than ever, -It was immi- the im- the United States of America, land of the most powerful perialism. In the days quickly following the Ruthenberg Funeral in Moscow, black world reaction moved quickly in its 1927 war moves against the Workers’ Republic The British government raided - Arcos, the Soviet trading organization in England; trade and diplomatic re- lations were broken off; the Soviet ambassador, Voikov, was assassinated in the Warsaw rail- | road station as Poland’s effort to | provoke the war on behalf of her | masters; American ambassadors in West European countries joined verbally in the attack on the Soviet Power. These were the 1927 days of boasted American “prosperity” with huge profits, when the “Ford System” of mass production and good wages was heralded espe- cially by the German social, de- mocracy as the cure for the ills of capitalism. In these days the British trade unions, as well as is among the group. ‘ nent in 1927 when the Five-Year Plan was still on paper. It stands black and murderous upon the hor- izon in 1931 in the third year of victory of the tremendous Five- Year effort cf Russia’s toiling mil- lions that will be completed in four years, even in three and one-half years. Ruthenberg was a_ fighter against imperialist war. He suf- fered many months, years, in prison because of his opposition to the last world slaughter, 1914-18. The burial of Ruthenberg’s ashes in the Red Kremlin Wall in Mos- cow is an American Communist pledge to struggle more ener- getically than ever against the growing storm—the threatening j imperialist war. The four years since Ruthenberg died seem to have passed swiftly. But they cover years of tremendous change —the Workers’ Republic rapidly on the uperade, the premier capitalist republic slipping, plunging down- grade, yet seeking by every means to organize the attack, the war, against the Workers’ Power that threatens its existence. In memory of Ruthenberg the American Com- munist Party gives greater energy than ever to building the war against the war, for the rising of | American labor and its revolu- tionary victory. $$ $a, — ‘ pikes mie A delegation of the Communist International which met the train on which Ruthenberg’s ashes were transported to Moscow. J. Louis Engdahl By GIL GREEN Comrade Ruthenberg, was an un- ampromising fighter against Am- erican imperialism. He fought re- lentlessly against the reformists and. betrayers of the A. F. of L. and the socialist party. His heroic struggle against the last war, marks one of the best examples of revolutionary struggle against imperialist war. ‘ Fought Against War. On May 1, 1917, Ruthenberg or- ganized the largest .demonstration ever held in Cleveland, against the war, He spoke to the tens of thou- @ands of workers and called for a fight to the finish against capital- ism, as the only way to abolish war. For his courageous struggle against the war, C. E. Ruthenberg, like Karl Liebknecht in Germany, was thrown in prison. ‘Whfen the Russian workers took power in November 1917, Comrade Ruthenberg was one of the first who worked for the aid and the Gefense of the Soviet Republic. Realized Importance of Youth Many times Comrade Ruthenberg wrote and spoke of the importance of the young workers in the class struggle. In the youth, Comr Ruthenberg saw the new genera- tion of fighters that would lead the American class battles. Just prior wrote: “On the new = generation of workers, which is just learning from bitter experiences the char- acter of the existing system of exploitation, rests the hope of creating a working class move- ment...” ? The importance of the Young Communist League as the instru- ment through which the youth are to become imbued with a new fighting spirit, was constantly em- phasized by Comrade Ruthenberg. “The work of imbuing this spirit in the young workers who will be the militant fighting cen- ter of the working class move- to his death, Comrade Ruthenberg | Ruthenberg and the Youth ment tomorrow, is the task of the Young Workers (Communist )* League. In directing the work of the League inte these channels fin an effort to reach in- fluence the young workers in in- dustry, teaching them the neces- sity of their organizing te fight against the capitalists to make of them militant trade union fight- ers, the Young Workers (Com- munist) League is taking up one of the most important probléms of the working class movement.” Comrade Ruthenberg, realized ‘| that in order to be successful in winning the working class youth, the Communist Party must give the Young Communist League not only political guidance, but every day help. He wrote in the same article, “The Youth and the Trade Unions” “Our Party must give earnest and enthusiastic support to the work of the League. The task of spreading our ideas and our cam- paigns among the young workers has not been supported to the full extent, that the Party is able to give support... The Party members must study the propo- sals, organization plans, cam- Paigns initiated by. the Young Workers (Communist) League, and devise ways and means of aiding them in carrying out the campaigns.” The young workers today, with the growing danger of an imperial- ist war, especially a war against the Soviet Union, must turn more and more to the life and struggles of Comrade Ruthenberg, for in- spiration and guidance. We must conduct a merciless struggle against the preparations for war, and pre- pare the youth for the active de- fense of the Soviet Union. This can best be done thru following the E iropresd of Supeete: pgs y by. Ruthenberg As A Practical Worker By ALFRED WAGNKNECHBT. It is fitting, upon this anniver- sary of the death of Comrade Ruth- enberg, to place before our Party and all workers a scene from his revolutionary activities which is seldom referred to. As secretary of the socialist party in Cleveland he created one of the largest and best functioning or- ganizations in the movement at the time. Allowing fully for the left trend in the Cleveland organiza- tion, due to Ruthenberg’s class struggle policies (as differentiated from the opportunist, class collab- oration policies of the socialist party leaders at the time) which wrote May First in Cleve- land indelibly into the history of working-class struggles, Ruthen- berg understood thoroughly the im- ; mense value of ke eh day to day | work, Every day for many years, after a full day’s work for his boss, he would come to the headquarters at prompt 6 p.m. He then began his second day's work in one, laboring | feverishly to midnieht in order te | break the chains that bound him and all workers to the capitalist | system. No tasks were too routine, too | ordinary, too small for him. He kept the books, receipted for dues | and other income, edited the Cleve- | land Socialist, developed its circu- | lation, participated in a dozen. local | committees, himself kept a careful | card file of every contact and of | every worker’s name and address | he could get.. In short, he under- stood clearly that although polit- ical leadership was paramount, to | achieve organization and mass power it was fundamentally neces- sary to weld and to rivet, to bind and tie the members into a solid unit by constant attention to every small and large practical and or- ganizational detail. He did this all, these six hours’ and | work a day for years, upon a volun- reach higher achievements, build a mass Party. tary basis. He mobilized similar loyal elements around him to give voluntary assistance. When a com- mittee had to know upon what night an A. F. of L. local union met, his file would tell. If a hurried mass meeting had to be called he could write to ten thousand sym- pathetic workers whose names and addresses he had on file. * s * When the world war broke out in 1914 Cleveland at once stood out jas a fighting center against this imperialist shamble. We were both sentenced to prison (1917-1918) for one year for anti- war activities and when, during the first days, we were hanged by the wrists in the black hole for rebelling | against prison rules, it was appa- | rent to me that it was not so much | the prison regime that Ruthenberg was rebelling against, as it was his | reaction to being jailed just when | the well-functioning, tightly welded together organization he hed cre- ated could hit its hardest blows for the working class. The lesson is plain. Lenin was as practical as he was political. | Ruthenberg laid great stress upon the hundred and one tasks, little | jobs, that had to be accomplished | day after day to create organized |Mass power. Our~—Party members and functionaries, must be mindful | of all the practical details which some even now in derision call “dirty work.” This work for the | Party is not only dirty, but it con- stitutes the vehicle upon which the | further political development cf the |}masses of workers. goes forward. | 'The carrying out of practical tasks |is highly essential. Without this the Party cannot live. Without this we have no Party. We must per- | fect our organizational machinery if | we are to enter greater struggles, Facts of Ruthenberg’s Life | Born July 9, 1882. Died March 2, 1927, at 11 A. M. in the Ameri- ean Hospital, Chicago, Ill, after an operation for appendicitis, at the age of 44. His father was a longshoreman, and he himself after primary school education in a Ger- man Lutheran school, and com- pletion of Business College was in turn factory worker, clerk, news- paper correspondent, and from 1009 until the day of his death, active fighter in the labor move- ment. Activity in the -Labor Move- ment: Helped to build I. L. G. W. U. and took active part in the Cleveland strikes of that organi- zation. He participated in and took a leading part in many other strikes in Cleveland and in the state of Ohio. Joined the Social- ist Party January, 1909. Remained in it until 1919 when the Com- munist Party was formed, and was one of the founders of the Com- munist Party and of its successor the Workers (Communist) Party. He was an official of the Socialist Party from 1909 (a few months after joining) until he entered the Communist Party. In November, 1917, after convic- tion for anti-war activities, and while pending appeal, he ran for Mayor of Cleveland and received 27,000 votes out of a total of 100,000 cast. First Communist detsnies, Delegate to every Annual State Convention of the Ohio Socialist Party from 1910 to 1919. Delegate National Convention of the Social- ist Party 112. National Commit- tee Convention of 1915 and National Emergency Covnention of 1917. Elected secretary and organizer of the Socialist Party in 1919. Editor the Socialist News from 1914-1919. Executive Secre- tary Communist Party of America 1919-1920. He went to jail and was therefore unable to serve. Upon getting out of jail he became sec- retary of the Workers (Com- munist) Party from its inception and remained secretary until the day of his death. He was at all times a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Com- munist Party and its successor, the Workers (Communist) Party. For the last few years of his life he was a member of the presidium of the Executive Committee of the Communist International. Indicted June, 1917, charged with obstruct- ing the draft through speeches made on the public square in Cleveland. : First Jail Sentence. He served one year in the Can- ton Ohio Jail. It was after Debs visited him in the Canton Jail that he (Debs) made the speech that caused his own indictment and im- prisonment. He was indicted and convicted under the Criminal Anarchy Law of the State of New York in November, 1919, and served 22 years in Sing Sing Prison on an indeterminate sen- tence of from 5 to 10 years which was terminated by pardon issued by Gov. Smith, who based his de- cree upon the minority opinion of the Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court to the effect that the con- viction was unconstitutional. Died in Shadow of Jail. In 1922 arrested for attending the Michigan Convention of the Communist Party and convicted and sentenced to an indeterminate sentence of from 5 to 10 years. At the time of his death he was out on appeal against that sen- tence which had already been up- held by the State Supreme Court of Michigan and was in the hands of the United States Supreme Court. THE COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL ON RUTHENBERG “The Executive Committee of the Communist International ex- presses its profound sorrow in the death of Comrade Ruthenberg, member of its presidium. We express our deepest sympathy to the Workers (Communist) Party of America in the loss of its general sec- retary and leader. Our mutual bereavement is a great loss especially tog Red Flag against | eq hignan bet ces ‘ship been more 2 gang of America,’ At no time since Comrade Ruthen- i i i