The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 8, 1931, Page 4

Page Four Published by the Comprodaily Publishing Co., Inc., daily except Sunday, at 50 East 18th Street, New York City. N. Y. Telephone Algonquin 7956-7, Cable: “DATWORK.” Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, 50 East 13th Street, New York, N. ¥. Dail orker Dorty USA . SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By mail everywhere: One year. $6; six months $3; two months, $1; excepting Boroughs x ot Manhattan and Bronx. New York Ctiy. Foreign; one year, $8+ six months, $4.50. RESOLUTION ON THE NEW YORK DISTRICT (Adopted by the Politburo of the C. P. U.S. A. on the work of the New York District of the Party, and on the necessity for new and better methods of work and leadership.) «Th c eC. P. U. S.A, in examining work ¢ 1¢ York District of the Par w n substantial of the Party, im- ior beginning of toward mass work, that the district is he possibilities afforded able situat mass Com- bered that munist the Nev n to the new methods which emphasized by the Cen- ard for the Dis- or counter- work of the Districts as shown to set up and maintain regularly funct d Councils, Grievance and Shop Comm > locals of the T. U. U. L, L. S.N. R. branches, etc., capable of leading per- sistent st les of the workers against hunger and starvation ,against wage cuts, and for their immediate partial demands. The Politburo considers it necessary, therefore, to call-the attention of the District Committee, first, to the continued weak orientation of the District towards serious, thorough and contin- uous work among the unemployed and at the factories and, secondly, to the persistance in loose, haphazard and chiefly agitational methods of work. The failure to make the sharp turn ‘demanded by the 12th Plenum constitutes an opportunism in practice which greatly limits the extension of the Party's mass influence and especially -the organization of broad mass strug- gles of the employed and unemployed workers against the bourgeois offensive which can be the only real gauge of the Party’s work. (2) The principle weaknesses of the District in developing serious and effective mass work are the following: (a) Lack of collective leadership in the Dis- trict. While harmony exists between the com- rades in the District leadership, each one is in- volved almost exclusively with the routine work of their particular departments. There is insuf- ficient collective responsibility in the working out of policies and programs and in checking up on the carrying through of decisions made. (b) Lack of coordination in the work, This practice of individual work leads to an almost complete lack of coordination in the work of the various departments and especially to a lack of coordination between the work of the Party (District, Sections ‘nd Units) and that of the mass organizations (Unemployed Councils, T. U. U. L., L. S. N. R., etc.) where, in fact, there is even the tendency to regard mass work in these organizations as being in conflict with so-called Party work. Insufficient and irregular attention to the Y. C. L., and the failure to draw the Y. C. L. into the Party’s mass campaigns is an- other example of the failure to utilize all the ble forces in developing effective mass av work, (c) Weak contact between the District lead- ership and lower units and fractions. Lack of collective leadership in the District, plus certain bureaucratic tendencies, and too much reliance still on circulars and “orders” is one of the chief reasons for the failure to rally the Party for mass work. This gap between the leadership and the comrades directly engaged in mass work among the unemployed, at the shops and fac- tories and in the trade unions has led to serious mistakes in formulating strike demands and in properly carrying through strike struggles (dress strike, Eagle Pencil Strike, etc.). The initiative of the units, sections and fractions has not been feveloped nor have they been taught to carry for- ward the work in a planned, thorough and sys- tematic way. “New Methods of Work” has be- come too much of a phrase and the leading comrades of the District and sections have given insufficient attention to helping the units and fractions in actually working out such new meth- ods in accordance with the concrete situation in each factory or neighborhood. (d) Insufficient arid improper self-criticism. Self-criticism has been conceived of in a nar- row, bureaucratic way. It has been practiced too much in the form of criticism of the lower units by the District and it has not been systematically encouraged and developed from below. It has not been accompanied by simultaneous and de- cisive self-corrective measures, (ec) Failure to develop struggles on local issues. Local issues (graft and corruption in the tity government, issues before the state legisla- ture, activities of the Negro misleaders, betrayals and demagogy of the socialists, Musteites and A. F. of L, fakers, etc.) have not been sufficiently or continuously utilized as a means of exposing the bourgeois and social reformists and of de- veloping and broadening the workers’ struggles & their partial demands (unemployment re- . for Negro rights, etc.). @) Failure to develop self-activity and ini- @ative. The District Committee, by failure to #t up functioning fractions in the Unemployed Councils, the T, U. U. L, unions, and other mass bodies, by failure to guide and direct the mass work, and by too much reliance on circulars, etc., has failed to develop real leadership in mass work. This is especially shown by the few work- ers (both Party and non-Party) brought for- ward and developed as leading forces in the mass organizations and in mass work. (g) Divorcing “Party Work” from “Mass Work.” The failure in practice to sée that the chief tasks of the Party—that Party work—is precisely the building of the Unemployed Coun- cils, the buflding of the T. U. U. L., the building of the L. 8. N. R., etc. in course of our efforts to develop mass struggles against unemployment, | against wage cuts, against persecution and dis- crimination against Negroes, etc., remains one of the chief weaknesses of the District. The con~ and ever-lasting meetings which com~- work largely accounts for the failure to fenetrate factories and sct up a real unemployment movement (3) The Politburo, however, is of the opinion the New York District Committee, by im- mediately inaugurating the sharpest Bolshevik self-criticism from top to bottom in the district, accompanied by decisive self-corrective meastires, and with more help and guidance from the Cen- tral Committee than has been given in the past, will be able to quickly overcome the present un- satisfactory situation and make the turn to more effective work among the unemployed, at the shops and factories, and in the Negro field, which in this period constitute the most important tasks for the District In order to overcome these grave and serious weaknesses, though, the Party organization in the New York District must make a sharp turn in its methods of work and methods of leader- ship. The Central Committee makes the following proposals to the District, Committee as the basis | for its future plan of work around which the entire Party membership must be rallied for thorough discussion of the weaknesses and im- mediate tasks of the Party to be followed by a collective effort of the entire membership, with firmer leadership by the District Committee, in overcoming these weaknesses and mobilizing the Party for effective mass work. The Central Committee proposes that the Dis- trict Committee and Bureau be broadened by | adding a number of workers from the shops. The District Committee must become the lead- ing Party Committee with meetings. The District Bureau must assume full respon- sibility for the organization of collective work and collective leadership through functioning de- partments supervised and coordinated by the Bureau and the Secretariat. A live personal contact must be established and maintained between the District Committee and the Section Committees and Units on the basis of assigning members of the District Com- mittee to these bodies to give them effective | guidance and assistance in developing the initia- »tive and authority of the lower Party Committees. ‘The development of new cadres must become a planned and systematic process of drawing Party comyades from the factories into the responsible work in the Party Committees and departments j{ and giving these comrades systematic training and comradely guidance. The District Committee shall create and work out a plan of frequent meetings of an ‘‘Active” on a District and Section scale, of comrades who maintain close contact with the masses and the rank and file of the Party. The work of the leading forces in the Dis- trict and Section Committees as well as of Unit functionaries shall be so organized that a mini- mum amount of time is spent in inner Party meetings so that they may be organically con- nected with all phases of mass work by actually participating in it. ‘The remnants of bureaucratic tendencies and forms of work must be exterminated through the organization of systematic self-criticism as a method of mobilizing the entire Party member- ship into active participation to overcome the weaknesses of the Party and its mass activities. Development of new methods of work essen- tial to the carrying out of the line of the 12th Plenum of the Central Committee can only be achieved effectively if the leading comrades and the Party Committees actively participate in the mass work of the Party and carefully examine the inner life, activity and experiences of the lower units. The Party must be orientated towards activity in the shops and factories with the objectiye of quickly transforming the Party on a shop nu- cleus basis, as the basic work of the Party. To this end the Party in New York District shall concentrate its best forces in the Marine, Textile and Needle industries with the immediate task of building factory groups, Grievance Commit- tees, Shop Committees and factory branches of the TUUL unions on the basis of the struggle for the workers’ partial demands. There must be established a coordination of activities in the shops and concentration points by the Party and the revolutionary trade unions. The,Party Committee must make a thorough examination of the weaknesses of the TUUL unions, including recent strike experiences, and give adequate guidance and its best forces to the unions at the same time organizing their activities in such a way that the leading forces in the unions are actively drawn into the lead- ership in the Party Committees of the District, Sections and the Units. The Directives of the Central Committee on Unemployment work must be immediately car- ried out,’ Leading forces of the Party are to be assigned to. Unemployed Councils, functioning fractions organized and given day to day guid- ance and assistance in mobilizing and activizing the masses of unemployed and employed work- ers on the basis of burning local issues and con- crete cases of suffering and starvation. The lead- ing committees of the Party must give special at- tention to these daily activities and the inner life of the Councils and its branches and on the basis of the thorough examination of the work, problems and experiences in this sphere of Party activity work out concrete directives for the establishment of branches of the Unemployed Councils throughout the District and especially in the proletarian neighborhoods. The grave weaknesses in the Party’s work among the Negro masses and in the struggle for Negro rights can only be overcome when the District Committee takes direct responsibility for this work and assigns leading members of the District Bureau to the Negro Department and to the Section Committees for Negro work. The District Committee shall especially concentrate in the Harlem Section by assigning some of its best forces there to carry through with District Committee guidance the sharpest struggle against the Negro misleaders and in the course of which all chauvinist tendencies in the Party ‘and mass organizations must be decisively com- batted and overcome, By clearly recognizing the serious situation in the District and by taking immediate and deci- sive measures to correct the District's weaknesses and shortéomings, a beginning already having been made in the adoption of the Three Months Plan, the District Committee can quickly rally the Party membership for successful mass work, for the building of the revolutionary mass or- | Blcnpd, Negra and white wakes a frequent regular | THE RED CROSS IN. NICARAGUA By BURCK A. F. of L. Leaders Betray Tom Mooney - (OM MOONEY’s last installment told how lib- | erals condemned the State Supreme Court’s | second frame up of Mooney and Billings last | year, in its fake “investigation,” but the A. F. of L. labor leaders accepted the Supreme Court’s decision that Mooney and Billings should stay in | prison for life. Now he goes on. | * * * The silence of all the high officials of the A. F. of L. is an unequivocal indication that they approved the decision of the California Supreme Court. The “labor leaders” know Mooney and Billings must remain in the penitentiary merely because they are workers and organizers in the labor movement, and therefore unwelcome to the California capitalists. They know that the Su- | preme Court’s decision was the voice of political | and economic prejudice in California. But, they are too craven to publicly commend the decision of the great public utilities and other industrial organizations, so they, remain silent. Edward Nockels was savagely attacked by the Supreme Court justices for helping Mooney and Billings. He was covertly accused of suborning perjury, but even though he is one of the most important leaders of labor in this country, not one of his associates among the A. F. of L. offi- cials uttered one word in his defense. Fremont Older, one of the truest friends Labor ever had on the Pacific Coast, was viciously slandered by the Supreme Court for helping Mooney and Billings. But, notwithstanding the great obligation of Labor to Older, not one Ca- lifornia “labor leader” uttered a word in his de- fense. Frank P. Walsh, recognized as an outstanding friend of Labor, was shamelessly calumniated by the Supreme Court. But, in spite of his years of service to the cause of organized labor, not one A. F. of L. official uttered a word in his defense. The perfidy of the A. F. of L. officials is all too evident. .So is the hypocrisy of the Cali- fornia labor leaders. Two more damning facts against them should conclusively prove their treachery to the labor movement, and to Tom Mooney. Frank McDonald, the President of the Cali- fornja Building Trades Council, recently defi- nitely proved himself an arch hypocrite and dangerous enemy of Tom Mooney. On several occasions during the past few years, he has | addressed Mooney-Billings protest meetings, and’ | publicly demanded their release. After one of these meetings, Frank Mallet, a Building Trades official of San Mateo County, California, asked him to tell him frankly what was the real at- titude of the California labor leaders toward Tom Mooney. He confidentially replied: “We do not want Mooney out. He is all right where he is; leave him there.” Assuredly, McDonald expressed the real desires of all the California labor officials. If they were certain their con- fidence would not be violated, they would all echo McDonald’s words. They remain silent be- cause they remember the fate of A. W. Brouillet, and are afraid of being exposed. “Mooney is guilty,” California labor leaders confidentially tell their friends. As proof they state: Immediately after the arrest of Tom Mooney and his co-defendants, Charles Fickert sent for all the major labor leaders in San Fran- cisco, and at a conference in his office showed’ them a large table on which was spread “evid- ence proving their guilt.” A suitcase filled with dynamite. A time clock mechanism to set off the dynamite. Bullets, Ball bearings found in the homes of Mooney, Billings, and Nolan. Pow- der for high explosives. Boxes of “radical” li- terature, ‘That is why Michael Casey and his ilk go about the United States and repeat: “Moofey is no good”; that is why the major labor officials have often stated the Mooney-Billings case was not a labor issue; that. is why they have con- stantly tried to block an effective Mooney-Bill- ings defense. ; The “labor leaders” fail to tell their friends that none of the “evidence” Fickert hati shown them in his office was produced at the trials. ‘That it was proven none of the bomb defendants ever owned a Suitcase full of dynamite, or a time clock mechanism. That the bullets were for a “22” rifle used by Billings to go hunting. That the “high explosive powder” was some Epsom Salts found in Nolan's home, and used for bath- ing. They fail to state they never visited any sf fhe, Cefendanta tn fhe Ran Bsancteco Comnty, | asking for a parole, Jail, in order to ascertain whether Fickert was telling the truth. In 1916 the California labor officials all too willingly accepted the word of Fickert and the Chamber of Commerce that all the defendants were guilty, and during all the intervening years they have acted as their spokesmen, and re- peated this ghastly lie. The labor leaders do not yet appreciate the depth of horror and resentment that has swept over intelligent men and women everywhere as a result of the frame-up. They do not yet real- ize the contumely that must be their’s because they chose to stand with the frame-up crew. But soon they will hear the angry protests of the workers, and they will know that Labor's wrath has been aroused by their hypocrisy, treachery, and infamy. H. L, MENCKEN ON “TOM MOONEY AND THE UNIONS” H. L. Mencken, the iconoclastic editor of the “American Mercury,” in an article tinged with bitter sarcasm, published in the Baltimore “Sun” June 17, 1929. accurately characterized and sum- smed-up the role of the labor leaders: “These Babbitts (the Big Businessmen), know their State (California), and what is more, they know its labor leaders. Upon all save a few of the latter the lesson of Mooney’s fate is surely not lost. They not only walk very softly, where- as formerly they were full of malicious animal magnetism; they even work against Mooney be- hind the door. What they fear is that if he is released unconditionally that he will upset their apple-cart. Things, at the moment, go well with them, They are on good terms with the Bab- bitts, keep the slaves they lead in order, and get their fair share of public jobs. Scores of them have their snouts in the trough. They are invited to all considerable banquets, and sit on innumerable boards and commissions. Not a few know where and how to get good tips on the stock market. x “Mooney, turned loose, would spoil all that. He harbors what are called radical ideas, and does not believe that it is wise for labor leaders to be so complacent, He would try to stir up the slaves against them, and hence against the Babbitts. So they refuse to ask Governor Young to pardon him, but content themselves with Out on parole, Mooney would be safely hamstrung. The moment he uttered a word against the Babbitts or against the labor leaders who play their game, he would be clapped into prison again as a Red, and there he would remain for life, Naturally enough, he protests against being paroled. What he de- mands is a free and unconditional pardon, as befits an innocent man, “The whole affair throws .a curious light. upon. the present status of the whole American Labor movement. It has got so conservative that its chief dignitaries are quite, as conservative as Andy Mellon himself. They are slick and shiny fellows, hobnobbing. with bankers, bishops and such highly respectable fowl, and ready and eager to put down every sign of radicalism. They draw big salaries, travel incessantly and luxuri- ously, break up all strikes that look serious, and are first over the top when there is a banquet. A few weeks ago a group of them went to West Point, reviewed the Regiment: of Cadets, and were given royal honors. Simultaneously an- “It may seem incredible, but the highest authority that it is ing the 13 years Mooney has been ‘American Federationist,’ the organ PARTY LIFE Conducted by the Organization Department of the Central Commitiee, Communist Party, U.S.A. Extending the Frontiers of the Fee In the recent period the Party has made the greatest advances in new territories composed of native American workers <nd poor farmers. Hundreds of applications pour into the Central Office from the small towns of south-western ahd western states. Units are springing up and rapidly growing.in Alabama, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, | as well as in the smaller cities of our estab- lished Districts. The new members joining our Party in these territories are almost entirely native American workers and poor farmers. The test of leadership in our Districts will be deter- mined by the ability of our Party Committees to retain these new members, to give them sim- ple and concrete guidance in organizing and leading struggles in their given territories. The task of retaining and developing these new units and members sharply raises the prob- lem of revising and improving our methods of leadership, guidance and work.” The Party Life column in the Daily Worker and the Party Organizer are open to suggestions, proposals and experiencies of our new Party comrades as well as the organizers responsible for the new territories. Organize Unemployed Councils to Fight for Unemployment Relief. Organize the Employed Workers Into Fighting Unions. Mobilize the Employed and Unemployed for Common Strug- gles Under the Leadership of the Trade Union Unity League at one time it threatened international compli- cations. But though Mooney, without the slight- est doubt was railroaded in his character of a union man and would not have been accused at all had he not. been one, the chief journal of the union movement in the United States is silent about him! “And so on most of the Federation moguls, Federal and State. There are to be sure, some exceptions—for example, James M. Maurer, the Socialist boss of the Pennsylvania Federation— but they are not numerous. The overwhelming majority have dogged the case from the start, and are palpably less than lukewarm about it today. The agitation for Mooney’s release was begun not by union meh, but by independent libertarians, and they are keeping it up today. In California itself they are not getting effective help from the leaders of the Federation, they are facing very formidable opposition. “Why this should be so it is hard to make out. In every country in Europe organized labor is an active fighting force, and jealous of its com- mon rights. If a Mooney had been railroaded to prison in England, France or Germany, the unions would have risen as one man, and forced his Telease. But in the United States unionism is most unbelievably flabby and timorous, Its main purpose seems to be to convince the Bab- bitts of its complete conservatism. Its leaders, with few exceptions, are slimy and subservient fellows, and a pat on the back from some mag- nifico of the established order is enough to set them purring for a week. © : “If there are any union men in America so dumb that they fail to see that Tom Mooney’s case is essentially their own case, then they are dumb indeed. For what the massed Babbitts of California can do to him today, the massed Bab- bitts of the United States can do to all the workers tomorrow. The question to be decided by Governor Young is not whether Tom Mooney 4s Innocent or guilty, for on that point all fair men who know anything about the case are un- animous. The question is whether an admit- tedly innocent man, alarming the Babbitts by trying to lead the workers against them, can be thrust into prison on false charges and kept there indefinitely. ‘That is what every union By JORGE anes Library or Penitentiary We have spent some years in a pentitentiary, so we know just how it feels to visit the New York Public Library, about which a reader writes us as follows: “Let us picture, Jorge, a neatly dressed young man sitting in one of the reading rooms writing a short story. It is 9.30 a.m. of a Monday morn- ing. He scribbles continually for about two hours when a guard thrusts his head over his shoulder ‘What are you writing?” and asks him: ‘The young man thinks it none of his busi- ness and keeps on writing: The guard insists, adding that he will give him over to the head guard if he does not tell him. The writer per- sists in his refusal.. The guard walks away. Two minutes later the head guard demands that he take his hat, coat and papers and come along with him. If not, he will be ejected from the building. A “The young man gives in and is presented be- fore an official. The latter demands to know the nature of his work. The young man thinks it none of his business and goes back to his seat, Five minutes later a burly person, a sort of bouncer, approaches the young man and says the director would like to see him. | “The young man’s patience is by this time ex- hausted. He feels like a criminal. The finely co-ordinated hafmony of his being is broken and dispelled. The bouncer leads the young man to the director, Mr. C. K. Metcalfe, for question- ing. It turned out that the young man has, in- deed, committed a crime. Instead of using books for reference work, he was taking his brains instead of them. Surely this was abnor- mal, unique, extraordinary. “His Honor finally passed sentence upon the young man. He said, in effect: ‘You shall come to see me on June 1, before I can reinstate you as a member of the Public (sic!) Library. If you are caught attending the Library before then, you shall be prosecuted according to law!’—Sin- cerely, D. J.” | | P. S.: The editor of the World-Telegram re- | | | fused to print the above letter.” ‘The adventures of a young man in the private | institutions known as the “public” library would | have been incomplete without that post script. | You see, my dear young man, the editor of the World-Telegram was too busy seeing that So- | viet Russia was properly exposed as the one place | on earth where intellectual initiative is repressed | and where genius is restrained within the “intol- erable” bounds of Marxism and Leninism, Where, indeed, such prodigies as Haywood Broun are noi appreciated, even spat upon. oe wT Beauty Shop For Poodles While the lumber industry is sick in bed, we learn from Portland, Oregon, that a beauty ex- | pert there is doing a thriving business in a beauty shop=for dogs, to marcel and manicure them so that they may make fit companions for their capitalist parasite owners. ‘The moral influence of a sawmill owner's wife on a perfectly innocent dog seems to have been left out of account. Portland is the city where 14 workers are be- ing tried for “criminal syndicalism”, jailed and “treated like a dog’—that is a dog of proletarian origin. Portland workers will demonstrate on May First against the attempt to jail and deport these worker victims of “criminal syndicalism” laws, The “criminal syndicalism”’ law is so anti- worker, that no doubt any worker who glares at one of these manicured poodles will be subject to prosecution. If a worker's pup so much as ventures to sniff the doorpost of the canine beauty parlor, it will doubtless be kicked, under the law duly made and provided for punishing “criminal syndical- ism.” x eo 8 6 It Gets Four Out of Five “A Later Day Saint (Mormon woman)” writes an Arizona reader, “that had been in the habit of pushing the Daily Worker aside with a stick, as though it was an unclean thing, so as to im- press her children in that way, now plainly tells her children that.she was once a needle worker in North Carolina and that she is now a Red, and she is quite slighted if she does not get to see my Daily Worker for a few minutes regularly.” Mormon or no Mormon, working class women and those of the toling farming masses whose lives are stunted by capitalism, will find soon, or late that only the revolution of the toilin: masses will free them from the hell of toil, ig; norance and anxiety that is the especial curse every working class wife and mother. Every re| volutionary worker, particularly every man} should make an especial effort to win the wom- en toilers for Communism. Once convinced, they make the most persistent fighters. Good Medicine For Bad People ; “Henry Wails of the Dismal Tales,” is nomi: nated by T. E. N., of Chicago, who’ refers Henry otherwise as the “T¢ibune Correspondent in. Russia”, as a candidate for claiming copy- \right on the marvelous fig trees .tecently written up in the Daily in the lively imagination of social fascist paper of New Golos.” Maehl) T. E, you refer, perhaps to about the “appalling sufferings” kulaks at Archangel, He dwelt for a. more on their lack of food and but had to spoil it for the discerning. mentioning that they are the ones who to work. He also omitted, of course, by “accident”, that these “innocent kulaks” had “resisted collectivi- Henry i & g All man should ponder. And pondering it, should ask himself what kind of aid and comfort he would get himself in a time of serious trouble from craven leaders who now desert iy 0. BB_contINUED ; zation” by such little pleasantries as fire to the buildings of collective farms, asiving iron spikes in the soil to break sate eat aa eens ith choice of wor E cating ta. a S i pe eR EM AP RIE ie ee a leet “a a Pa. ey aww