The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 7, 1931, Page 4

New Ieee Four 13th Stret Address and mail all check e Datly W TURN “LABOR” DAY INTO A DAY OF Statement by the National Executive Board of t* Unity worker: aside by zed by day, It w the mer of struggle. day iis fellow bet ks of the d this a symbol of their collaboration and bet They ab’ the camp of rayal of the ndoned May ceserted to the workers? their improvement of t of the workers? What hes thet y of the B. & O. plan, labor bankinz. stock mal etc., as against strikes and militant je lead to? What has their policy of sup- port of the capitalist parties led to? The work- can cee for themselves today what th ve led to, Their po are mir in the present conditions of the workers. Elev million unemployed, millions of others on p: tim?, buze sieshes in the wages of the ity from unemployment, sickn’ strug insecy the A.F.L policy of class collaboration. This picture is repeated in every esuntry in the world where the labor bureau- ts and the so have carried on their ‘2 elass* collaboration. The socialists of ‘acDonalds of policy have es in cutting and the vut- y the workers waists (AFL- lead to the further en- es and the constant wors- fons. it cf the ma { their eond On the other hand we have before vs the pic- ture of th Its of the policy of class struggle. The existence of the Soviet Union for and the constant improvement of ry standards of the workers is the bert answer of the correctness of the policy of the class struggle. That it In only ror cauce there the ¥ lovrnent. 3s, The AFL, is 19 © sa the militant struggles of the workers and to destroy the militant tions of organiza- the workers. The AF.L. is taking the n to terrorize and discriminate ign born workers. It is assisting ng class of the South, as well as North, to carry through its policy of and discrimination against the Negro = American Federation of Labor is cnerly calling for war on the only workers’ gov- ernment in the world, the Soviet Union. The socialist party and the Musteite wing of the American Federation of Labor, while more at in the use of sweet words to cover up iis betrayal, in reality is but a cover for the Greens and Wolls to carry through the bosses’ pro n of starvation, terror and war prepa- rations against the working class. “Lal 1931, must serve not only to draw the balanc2 sheet of the treacherous policies of the bureaucrats and their ruinous effects upon tte working cl: but to hasten the gathering of the forces of the working class, under militant STRUGGLE League leadership for the intensification of the struggle nst the bo: offensive, which can only be carried throt labor bt class ch, by the merciless struggle against s in s of the of the United The working s, which in Ja May Day he bosses’ day, ‘ struggle against the bosses and the A.F.L., so- ist agents of the bosses ade Union Unity League, the center of the revolutionary trade unions and militant op- must con- | n inside the r the AFL. calls upon the workers ever’ nere to c on the fight against the policies of the A.F.L. and its hangers-on, to organize inside the shops. to | re to s le agair age cuts, against | the stagger m, for the 7-hour day without | reduction in pay, for unemployment relief, and a genuine unemployment insurance, for the rights of the workers, against discrimination of the foreign born, for equelit ss es, and inst the war the master class. The TUUL calls upon the members of the | American Federation of Labor viens to briny the program of struggle inside their locals, to expose the labor bui who stand in the way of the development of the struggle. and in- side these locals to fight for the united front of the wo: on a platform of gle agains the bes: Let us convert Labor Day from a symbol of sla the bosses’ holiday, ry and ruination of the mbol of solidarity of the nilitant struggle against the the building up of the pow- ng class, for the mobilization of es of toilers against the capitalist sys- m and for the defense of the interests of the it be converted into te unemployn: nt , into a day of | nee. Into a day loyed and unem- | upport of the stril and all worl miners, te: rs engaccd in strug- . AS a day for the Mners’ Relief | and for the Pa strikers. | “Labor” Day must be a day cf preparation for | the struggle against wage cuts now being pro- | d for the stee! revolutiona: ailroad and other workers. ns of the TUUL must | up Strike Funds in | | | | | | ize this day to build i on for the coming struggles. This re- | the str. ening of the revolutionary ms, which must be built on the basis of the ‘d to develop the work in the A.F.L. and other reactionary controlled unions. To build oppo-itions in these unions, a7 d front cf all workers again: the bosses’ offensive and the labor bureaucrats. str against the growing fascist Against the gangster and racketeer attacks b~ the bureaucrats who control the A.F.L. and other reactionary urlions. “Labor” Day must be a day of struggle for the freedom of Tom Mooney, Billings, the Ha: and Pa.-Ohio-W. Va. miners, the Scottsbcro bors, Imperial Valley, Centralia, and all other class waz prisoners. “Labor” Day must be a day of struggle against imperialist war, and for the defense of the So- viet Union. “Labor” Day must be converted into a day of | militant class struggle against all enemies of | the workers. For the defense of the interssts of the workers. For the abolition of the capitalist | | system of exploitation and oppression. | Gov. Roosevelt’s Plan of Social Demogogy--Called Relief! By EVA SCHAFRAN Wn it E have pointed out at the beginning of this article w Mr. Roosevelt, the faithful serv- ant of the bi class, came out with his “relief” Plan—a plan which is part of the fake man- euvers of social demagogy of Hoover-Gifford et al. Roosevelt shows still more clearly the true character of this social demagogy in his “in- troductory remarks” to this plan, in his mes- Sage to the N. Y. Legislature. He asks: “what is the state?” and answers hypocritic- ally: “It is the duly constituted representative of an organized society of human beings, created by them for mutual protection and well being. The ‘state’, the ‘government’ is but the machinery thru which such protection is achieved... The duty of the state towards its citizens is the duty of the slave towards the master.” Mr. Roosevelt .realizes that the toiling masses of the state of New York, as thruout the coun- try, have learned by their own bitter experience as to what the state really is and whom it serves and protects. They have learned this on the picket line when in the fight of the New York Food Workers, Steve Katovis was shot dead; in the struggles of the miners and textile workers; the lynchings of white and Negro workers by efficial and “unofficial” government agents; all this has given a practical lesson to these masses es to “what is. the state” that Roosevelt is try- ing to explain, in the interests of the bosses. All these acts have exposed the boss govern- ment in its true light, and have greatly dis- eredited it in the eyes of the workers. It is therefore the job of Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt to restore the lost prestige of his state and city cossacks, of the federal cossacks, and therefore his “thouzhtful utterances” of “the purpose of the state.” But the experiences of the masses thems the clubbings, jail sentences, boss cou: tought the workers a lesson, The mas from all these experiences learned the truth of: “The state is a product of class struggie... The state is the product and manifestation of the irreconcilability of class antagonism. ..'The (capitalist) state is an instrument of exploit- eon of the oppressed masses.” (Lenin.) how much Mr. Roosevelt and . Ha phout “hs state ber b, ra ent for mutual protection for all peopl: stands cut as a 12 in the eyes of the masszs, nd what Lenin said, and what the Communist Party says about the boss government, stands out as the truth, in the face of the masses’ own experiences in their struggles and daily life. This truth is more and more accepted by the masses, and therefore the need of Roosevelt’s bluffs and demagogy. Roosevelt, in his anxiety to fool the masses and make them believe that the boss govern- ment is their own government, so that they be- come more docile and accept the clubs of the brutal police without a word of protest or oppo- sition, even uses a terminology (in many instan- ces) that the workers, under our influence, are starting to use. Often you can hear a worker who has listened to some of our speakers at our mass meetings and dempnstrations say: “This rich country owes me a living; the government is responsible that I get this. Roosevelt therefore tries to take over these words and says: “the government is ‘only the servant of the citizens... In broad terms (very broad in- deed!) I assert that the government owes the definite obligation to prevent starvation or the dire want of any of its fellow-men or women who try to maintain themselves and can’t. To these unfortunate citizens aid must be ex- | tended not as a matter of charity but as a | social duty (our emphasis). Yes, Mr. Franklin D.! Is that so? “To these unfortunate citizens aid must be extended b: the government”?—So why don’t you! Why di’ your state troopers club down the unemploye: when they came last winter, and just before you “new plan” was made public, to demand jus what you say “is due to them”? Why do yot arrest and beat up the leaders of the unem- ployed for demanding just what you say is “due to them”? And why did your chief Mr. Hoover, do the same thing you have done to the New | York hunger marchers, when the national dele- gation of the unemployed last February 10 came to demand from the White House just “what is due to them”? You are a liar and a hypocrite, Mr. Roosevelt, and you know it! The unem- ployed council, the Trade Union Unity League and the Communist Party will see to it that not enly you, but all the unemployed and the em- | lov-2d yc t 2and | | tical ends, si clear, ae Control Ong me &; Daily, 2Worker LABvu. DAY PARADE of Marhe By maf. everywhere: One year SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $6; six mon n and Bronxs New York City. Foreign: one 8, $3; two months, $1: excepting Boroughs year, $8; six months, $4.50, wnist Party U.S.A. By BURCK ta ButR, the master class whom you represent, They will carry on a well organized militant struggle against your lies and fake plans for “unemploy- ment,” and for a system of real social and un- employment insurance, paid by the bosses and their government, for the sole use of the dis- tressed workers and farmers, and lead these masses to their final emancipation from the yoke of capitalism, to a workers’ and farmers’ ninent. in the U.S.A.! Some More Social Demagogy of Reesevelt Roosevelt's plan is very well worked out for the deception of the masses. As in the other cacc mentioned above (his “what is the state, end its duties” fable), he here also tries to pick uo the demands of the workers formulated by Unemployed Councils, Trade Union Unity end Communist Party, and trics to je these demands, by pretending that this at he proposes: The masses, under ip, demand a system of unemploy- mi and scciel insurance for the wo; , paid the rich, Roosevelt pretends to do “just proposes that the $20,000,000 fund be raised $2 a special levy on personal income, a increase over last year’s income—this “levy” iaced on the rich only”! Here are the cups that will be “taxed”: Married Pers, and Heads of Families (Two Children or Income Singie Persons Other Dep.) $2,500...... $0.00 $0.00 3,000... 2.50 .00 4,900. . 7.50 .00 5,000 12.50 1.00 37.50 26.00 125.00 102.00 425.00 402.00 100,000... 1,162.50 1,128.00 This is the height of social demagogy! Roos- evelt will come out to the workers and say: “Here, I have given you just what you wan I taxed the rich to help the needy. All this, I did because I recognize the ‘obligations’ of the government to the needy men, women and chil- dren, its citizens.” This is how Roosevelt will try to bluff. And upon this basis, no doubt, he will ask the workers and farmers to give him reir votes in the next presidential elections, to become president of the United States. But in reality what does all this mean? Will the $20,000,000 be a rela help to the 1,600,000 un- employed in the state? Of course not. Does Mr. Roosevelt in any way hinder his masters when he “forces” them “to pay” to this “fund” that is supposed to “relieve” the sufferings of the unemployed? Of course not! Imagine a fel- jJow that gets a $50,000 income annually will have to pay the “magnificent” sum of $425 yearly! This is certainly going to make him poor, poor fellow! A guy that has a yearly income of $100,000 will have to pay $1,128 annually—this is sure going to be “hard” on the poor fish! Well, why then, not hindering his master, not helpin= the unemployed, should not Mr. Roosevelt. mak~ this political investment in claiming that he di something for the workers, so that he can gc their votes, and try to stem the fight for rer unemployment insurance? He proposed an u> employment “relief” fund! This demagogy mu be bitterly fought and exposed before it tak any hold among the masses. That the whole plan is a great big bluff i tended to fool the masses, should by now | clear to every one. That the concessions gain by this plan is merely a gesture in so far ; Mr. Roosevelt is concerned, for his own po! © Nevertheless, this is a ga to the extent that the master class was forcc to listen to the demands of the masses, ar ‘orced to make pretenses that it helps. Tr iasses, under the leadership of the revolutior labor movement, will see and realize th set very soon. But we must realize that the: mall, meager concessions, could never have bee ‘von if not for the militant fight that the ur mployed and employed workers have carrie: 1, under the leadership of the revolutionar: working class movement. The lesson of this gesture is that only by further, more invigorated, militant sharp struggle will be able to wrest real concessions from the master class and its government! For this struggle we must now get reedy. We must mobilize still greater masses of employed and unemployed workers, form a united front from helow, lead by the Unemployed Councils T.U.U.L, and Cemmunist Party for real relief for a sot'2m of uncirsoyment and rociel a7 curance. Eveiy ounce of energy, every coir | Shop Organization and Shop ~ Activity By WILLIAM Z. FOSTER In the ve: mer of the recent CC Plenum stood the quest.on of a greatly sharpencd Party orientation to the factories. Conereicly, this expressed itself by thé great siress laid upon the building of shop nuclei, the development of th? Party activities gencrally with the ghop es the base and especiclly the extension and inten: ca‘ion of trade union organization and struggles in the chop. This creat emphasis on shop activity, amount- ing to a real turn in the work of the Party, is indeed timely. It is part of the general devel- opment of the Party from its previous agita- tional stage to one of mass struggle. It is en- tirely in line with the central emphasis which our Plenum 9 mcenti:s ago placed upon the ques- tion of partial d2mands of the workers wiich is the very starting point of all real shop work and of mass struggle generally in the United States. For years the Comintern has been urging upon us the fundamental necessity of building the Party upon the shop nucleus basis and of centering all its main activities around the shops; the Profintern has followed a similar course regarding our trade union work; and from Plenum to Plenum and Convention to Con- vention of our Party, we have adopted resolu- tions to this general effect. But very little has been done, to put all these good directions and resolutions into effect. In fact there are mani- fest tendencies to accept the street nucleus as our basic organization form, and to think of shop organization and activitics only in terms of trade unionism; that is, of ’ committees, grievance committees, shop branci: «, ete., and their immediate fight for particl, ec-nomic de- mands, instead of in terms which are based on the Party organizationally (shop nuclei) and its whole revolutionary program. The famovs roorgenization of the Party of several years 230 did no more. than to produce a lot of talk about the shop nucious and to shift our Party from a language to a street (ar resi- dential district) hucleus basis. When our recent Plenum went into session we had (aside from the new mine nuclei) not more than 10 per cent of the Party membership organized in shop nu- clei and these nuclei were quite inert and showed.a tendency to. decline. This is an impossible situation which must be available, and every worker and farmer must be mobilized for this enormous fight. As for New York state and Roosevel’t fake “unemployment” plan we must demand: That the whole $20,000,000 appropriated by the New York ‘Legislature be used for cash payments to the distressed unemployed! That the $20,000,000 ‘ould be only e beginning of the gains of the orkers thru their struggles and that a fund >a hundred million dollars be set up, thru -avy taxation on the incomes of wealthy per- ns and corporations, for immediate unemploy- ‘ent relief! Cash payments of $15 a week for ch unemployed worker and $3 for each dep- ident, That the $20,000,000 fund and th lerger nd to be raised, be turn ‘wployed councils for administration and dis- bution, so as to avoid the major part of this nd going into the pockets of the “commission- ‘es” and the contractors as graft, end not te jrade the unemployed to the position of beg- These are som? of the immediate demand ound which ‘to develop a gigantic strugg]- tht here in New Yo: We can annex som’ ’ this demends, for the New York. Unemploye~ cuncils have a whole set of additional demands t the same time we must fight against the osses of the White House who intend to refurr ny federal unemplyoment relief on the basir “{ such fake plans as Roosovelts; the bosses ir ©gton who will pretend that “the states cre taking care of their own needy.” This struggle must be developed at once. The master class was forced to make some conces- sions because of our struggle—now is the time to develope our struggle to 9 higher stage, to wrest from them real cons2scions—a system of ‘mem=loyment and rovial in . 5 prepesed , the Une the TUL, end she Communi: spéadily remedied. For a long time we have poinied out the s¢vious danger of the wide ten- dency in the Party to lag behind the masses in the developing struggies. A major cause of this 3 behird is due to the fact that our Party et organized upon the shop basis. It is B. C. cf Communist organization that for to be the real leader of the masses, it musi base its organization and life directly upon the shops. Shop nuclei sve much superior to street nuclei for developing mass struggle. This is true not only with regard to strikes, but also unemployment work, anti-war work, Negro work, election campaigns, the fight against the social fascists, and all the other major ac- tivities of the Party. While it is true that we must build street nuclei wherever our forces for the time being are too weak to build shop nuclei, but our Party must and will be fundamentally built on the shop nucleus basis. A deci.'v2 turn of the Party towards the shops is now k ically necessary for its further growth and dev: opment. Great strikes and other mass struggle: now stand before the American work- ing class faced as it is by the deepening crisis, wage cu:s, mass unemployment, increasing ter- rorism, etc. If our Party is to play a leading role in the coming fierce mass battles, it must prcceed vigorously to strengthen its position in the shops, especially in the basic and war in- dusiries. The same is, of course, true with re- gard to the Yovng Communist League. The mine strike teaches us clear lessons in this respect. When this great struggle began we head in the mine fields, in spite of the great radicalization of the workers, only a few scat- tered fragments of Party organization. These collapsed under the big tasks at the outset of strike. If we had a real Party base, and it could casily have been so, we could have organized three times os large a strike, controlled 1t much mor? ‘firmly, and generally developed to a far greater degree the leading role and organization of the Periy. But we had to build the Party from the ground up in the struggle, which con- stituted a great handicap, In the future we must. not wait till these big strike storms burst about our heads before we start Party building. We must now take time by the forelock by system- atically developing our shop nuclei in the key and besie industries. The whole Party and the YCL must be orientated upon this task. £o far as our present Party membership is concsrned, it is not so much a matter of re- organizing the existing street nuclei into shop nuclei, as it is of building shop nuclei out of and with the support of the street nuclei. We are long past the stage (1925-27 period) where some thought we had reorganized the Party onto a shop nucleus basis six weeks time. The build- ing of shop nuclei out of street nuclei, indeed the building of shop nuclei’ generaliy is a diffi- cul tasks requiring the close attention of the Party leadership. It must not be done sche- matically in this initial stage would it be well for each district committee to make the most intimate study of a single nucleus in a given plant, so that the basic lessons learned there may be carefully applied elsewhere. Our teks is more than one of simply reorgan- izing street nuclei into shop nuclei. We must especially branch out into theindustries, recruit- ing new nuclei in many plants and industries, where we have no reorganized Party. This will roquire a skillful mobi'izction of cur contacts in prolecarian fraternal erg: tions, the readers of our language press, etc. It also necessitates ‘he werx'ag out of concentration points by the capective districts. Such Party concentration ork in the industries must, of course, dovetail ‘ith the concentration programs of the revolu- ‘onary unions. In establishing contacts to begin shop activity he questicn of work among the unomployed, “nd especially the part time workers, is of the “veatest importarce, Mass mevements among these workers can readily be set into motion and these furnish a bridge to the masses in the shops. The Party can be built in the shops on the basis of struggle. Party shop nuclei must be born out of the furtherance of the Party cam- paigns, and Party nuclei can live only by car- f 7 On & program of struscle. Here th? trad union wosk sssumes basic insportance. § By JORGE re) Church and State : The “socialist” party of Spain has been the dominant part of the government. Now see what happens! According to the N. Y. Times of Sep= ‘ember 3: “The State will give the Chu:ch the right of demanding its arbitrary tax ... The amount of the Church tax has not yet been fixed. It appears that the State put its tax-collecting organization at the disposal of the Church in order to assure the Church a fixed income.” Now, when you remember that the Catholie Church has been one of the vilest of exploite ers of the workers and robbers of the peasantry of Spain, so much so that the masses spontanee ~ ously attacked and destroyed numerous church- es when it became clear to them that the Church was not only exploiter and robber, but also a political force supporting the monarchy against the republic in which the masses still have illusions—then you will see how renegade the “socialists” in the government are—even to their capitalist republic, not to mention any really “socialist” principles, In case any worker Is not convinced that the Catholic Church in Spain is the exploiter and robber we call it, let us quote for the N. ¥, Times of August 21: “The first solid blow in the battle between Church and State was struck today when the Spanish government issued a decree prohibit. ing the sale, transfer or mortgage of properties belonging to the Church or religious orders or institutions, thereby tying up millions of pese- tas in cash lying in banks all over Spain and making it impossible to dispose of the shares in subways, railroads and utilities which are held by these institutions.” So! Besides being the biggest landlord that robs the peasants, the Church not only has mil- lions in cash (while millions of the poor go ragged and hungry!), but also the Church holds big blocks of shares in “subways, railroads and utilities”! Incidentally, you see that between August, 2r and Sept. 1, the “solid blow” supposed struck by the government dominated by the “socialists” —has turned out to be an agreement with the Church that the government will use its tax- collecting—and that means its police power— to help the Church rob the masses! When you hear that the Spanish’ workers are deserting the “socialists,” going over ‘to the Communists and are fighting the “ capitalist republic, remember these ‘reasons for it. District, Section and Unit Literature Agents See that you are supplied at once with following literature for current campaigns: For SOLIDARITY DAY—September 7 Work or Wages.-by Grace M. Burnham 10 Social Insurance, by Grace M. Burnham History of May Day, by Alexander Trach- tenberg Race Hatred on Trial Graft and Gangsters, by Harry Gannes Lynching Negro Children in Southern Courts, by Joseph North ; Little Brothers of the Big Labor Fakers by William Z. Foster The Frame Up System, by Vern Smith Tom Mooney Betrayed by Labor Leaders 10 For INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY—Sept. 8 Youth In Industry, by Grace Hutchins 10 No Jobs Today, by Phil Bard 05 Life In the U. S. Army, by Walter Trumbull .10 For the UNEMPLOYMENT CAMPAIGN Fight Against Hunger 05 Out of a Job, by Earl Browder 05 20,000,000 Unemployed 10 50,000,000 Unemployed 05 Also Work or Wages and Social Insurance For the ELECTION CAMPAIGN Why Every Worker Shuld Join the Com- munist Party } 05 The Herita: > of Gene Debs, by Alemander Trachtenberg American Working Women and the Class Struggle Revolutionary Struggle Against War vs. Pacifism, by Alex Bittelman 05 Also your local Election Platforms, “Out of a Job”, “Fight Against Hunger”, “Graft and Gangsters”, “Race Hatred on Trial’, “Lynching Negro Children In Southern Courts”, “Work or Wages”, “Social In- surance”. 10 nucleus must definitely set forth with the policy of building united front grievance committees, of working out the workers’ economic demands, and of developing the trade union organization (shop branches, etc.) and struggle in support of these demands. This question must not be mechanically put as if first we must build the Party nuclei and then the revolutionary union. Both must go ahead simultaneously. In certain cases of sud- den strike movements, especially in view of the Party’s weak base in the factories, the union must sometimes set up its beginnings of organ- ization before the Party does, as in the miners’ strike. But we must not make the serious error of relying upon this, The Party must at once begin to build its nuclei and to develop its pro- gram of struggle in the key plants in the var- ious districts. In shop organization and activity it must lad, not lag behind, the TUUL unions, More shop activity is vital to our Party in every respect. Thousands of our old Party mem- bes, convinced revolutionists, who have been recruited mostly by agitational means, will by shop work, be drawn into real struggle. And as for the hundreds (yes, thousands) of new Party membors, who are coming in primarily because of tho Party's militant struggle for pare tial domands in strikes, unemployment cam- paigns and Negro work, will, by shop work, find it much more possible to remain in the Party and to tome real Communists. Shop work is a bre, way to the Americanization of the Party. ‘(G9 recent CC Plenum, especially be= Every | cause c{ \"s heavy emphasis upon shop activity, will staviet ev ay x milestone in the life of our Pariy. Ps