The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 2, 1931, Page 4

Page Four . New Yo Address and mail all checks to the Daily We ast On the Carrying Out of the 13th Plenum Decisions | PIPE THIS, MR. MAC BETTER PREPARATION OF THE PARTY FOR STRIKE By I, AMTER Nee Thirteenth Plenum of the Central Com- n & the Party pointed out basic weak- Party and the methods of over- In enumerating the weaknesses, the Cen ; re Party must recognize the need ion of: shop of mem- n the decisive industries in the fac- 1 r of mem- step for the mass struggles.” nesses of ming them. the resolution of ship , in criticism of the nbers of the and committees are busy W ie of who rty on a mass scale number of misconceptions the role of the particularly during to eptions are e the members of the strike and in the unfon of the strike, cannot take simultaneously the e the individual lead- y are entirely exempt the Party (nuclei, dis- ithin committees, etc.) ‘The Part n of the functioning of the tions during the strike to the limitat organi: point of liquidation of the regular function- ing of the nuclei y must work only through and not come forward as an inde- t force among the mass of the strikers, and at the same time failure to organize even the fraction ings of the Party, as exempli- strikes, were present in a very so in the Paterson strike. fied in other harp form The Paterson silk strike has many lessons for he Pa nd for the entire working class. It shows the st points of the Party and its harp weakr . as perhaps few str shown recent times. The Paterson strike was success for the Party. It established tile Worl Union and the in the eyes of the workers of Paterson. It built the N.T.W.U., increasing its membership by about 1,000. T! strike taught the workers on, both those in the N. T. W. U. and these who were misled and were forced to join the United Textile Workers, how to conduct the fight against the Musteites and the renegades from Communism, even though this was done inadequately and not with complete success, ow- ing to the demagogy and treacherous methods these social fascists, linked up with the depart- ment of the police, the mayor, the bosses ani ang: The Paterson strike was not organized upon correct organizational principles and methods in the preparatory stage. The Party failed to establish itself in the shops (for which the dis- trict is responsible), relying on the so-called of the workers of Paterson, who ver built up organization,” but were consid- ered and considered themselves radical and would respond without organization gle. This is supposed to be the history and if it is, it is one of the reasons been defeated in the therefore re to build the Party in the shops meant: (1) isolation of the Party from the masses in the shops—no connecting belts with the masses: and (2) that the union (which beforé the strike had @ small membership, many of therh unem- ployed, the remainder working in small shops) also was isolated from’ the shops. The strike committee was formed on a basis that could not connect the union or the Party with the workers in the shops, in an organized manner. It was ituted at meetings of work- ers of various languages, with many unemployed in their midst. T vas an improper form, but the cenditions der ded such action. It is ob- vious, therefore, that the first prerequisite for the ‘orga: tion of a strike is either a shop nucteus from which the strike may be organ- ized, or a shop committee, out of: which a shop nucleus should be formed With no nuclei in the shops the Party was divorced from the shops, and the recruitment of ™Tembers for the Party could only be at mass meetings, by picking out the most militant-ele- ments in the strike, etc. This was seriously ne- glected, the comrades being too “busy” to per- form their most important duty in the strike, viz., to build up the Party, so as to provide the strong basis for the organization of the workers in the shop, for the present and future strug- Only about 25 members were recruited ing the strike, but the Party now is so well established in the minds of the workers, that recruitment has only just beguri. The Party as a party played no independent role in the strike. Although the speakers at the mass strike meetings were in the main Com- munists, and were presented to the workers as such, nevertheless, the Party played no part whatever in the strike as a Party. No state- ments, practically no meetings, even hesitancy in Women Work Among All talk about winning the majority of the | working class, without making a revolutionary change in the attitude of the entire Party to- wards work among women, is nothing but idle chatter. While certain advances in this work are to be noted (International Women’s Day | campaign, organizational achievements in the miners’ strike, building of auxiliaries, recruit- | ment of women into the Party, improvement of ; the “Working Woman,” growth of circulation, | etc.), the main characteristic of this important | phese of Party work is that of almost complete neglect. The tasks of the districts are to find | forces and to build functioning departments for | work among women and to give them political jand organizational guidance. om the Resolution of the 13th um, CC, CPUSA, on the Main sks of the Party, published in the | October “Communist.” | results.) | speak of their brand of “Communism | on | si | not because of earnest STRUGGLES ringing the t Party b exer ecore the workers at the plified the Party attitude. e election cam to e has been discon- nected frofn the strike, that the new mem- bers must-be considered as coming to the Party efforts made, but be- cause they were merely waiting to get in. The Party at the beginning and even before the strike began was completely absorbed into th strike. The Party machinery was liquidated. The section committee did not meet. ‘The lead- ing Party members did no Party work during | the strike, no recruiting, etc. Every Party mem- ber became a worker in the strike, until the District took drastic steps ‘to. correct the situa- tion, although only with partial ‘results. District continually the strike, together with the comrades, making decisions for their correction, but with meagre This was not only one of the serious weaknesses of the strike, but helped materially to weaken it still more, owing to the demagogy of the Loyestoneites, who made Paterson their campaign and hunting ground, not hesitating to ” to at- tack and slander the Communist Party and at the same time to march in a parade, each car- rying a U. S. flag! On Lahor Day, Gitlow spoke one platform with Mayor Hinchcliffe—a unity fest! Had the Party played an inde- pendent role, had recruiting begun at once, had efforts been made to build shop nuclei among the strikers, the strike would have been much stronger, the Lovestoneites would have been | compltely defeated and the union would have | members were not continually been built up even more strongly. Quite naturally when the whole niachinery did not function as Party machinery, when Party reminded and checked up on their Party duties, when units and the section committee did not function, no new leadership was developed. A few Party members came to the fore, but with the usual shortcoming of our work when strikes take Place and forces are thrown in, these forces monopolized the leadership, and not only were no new forces consciously developed, but they were forced back. The second prerequisite for a successful strike is the building of the Party, the building of units of the Party among the strikers in particular shops, so that nuclei will be established in the shops when the workers return, and the development of new forces takes place, for the Party and for the union. The Party has the task of politicalizing the strike, that is, of connecting up tke developments in (The | pointed out the defects in*| the strike with all political events, of generaliz- | ing the experiences of the strike agd of inter- preting these experiences in terms of the class struggle, so that the ideology of the workers is broadened and deepened and they see in the Communist Party their leader in the struggle. Third prerequisite: that the Party plays an in- dependent role, thus becoming in fact the leader of the workers, as a Party, in their struggles. | Thus and only thus, will the workers learn that not individuals, good brave leaders with good policy, but the Party as a Party leads them in the struggle. The failure in this respect of the Paterson comrades must be remedied. ‘The situation in Paterson allows of splendid recruitment for the Party. The workers respond to the call of the Party. The recent meeting of the union, which was attended by about 600 workers, at which the strike was discussed, but the questions all related to the Party, the role of Gitlow & Co., and the response to the answers given show: (1) The underestimation of the Paterson com- | rades of the willingness of the workers to join the Party. (2) The seriousness of their failure to recruit for the Party during the strike, and thus estab- lish the Party in the shops for the coming struggles, which will inevitably come in a short time, owing to attempts of the bosses to take advantage of the new general wage cutting cam- paign that has been inaugurated. (3) The necessity of building shop nuclei (and in the, buildings containing a number of small shops, of building nuclei) for centering the Party in the shops. This the District Committee ne- glected in the past and must immediately rectify. (4) The building of a strong, functioning’ sec- tion committee, functioning units, with good buros; (5) The necessity of the Party members in the | leadership of the union remembering that they have a dual function—that of building the union and also the Party, both before, during and after the strike, Read the Plenum Reports an Resolutions in ; “The Communist” The October issue of The Communist contain- ing valuable material for the study of the deci- sions of the recent Plenum of the Central Com- mittee has already appeared. The following articles on the Plenum will-appear: The XI Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Comintern Extracts from report to the 13th Plenum of the C. C., C, P., U.S/A. By William W. Weinstone To the Masses—To the Shops! Organize the Masses! Extracts from the Report of the Political Bu- reau to the C. C. Plenum. By Earl Browder Tasks in the Struggle Against Hunger, Repres- sion and War. Resolution of the 13th Plenum, Central Com- mittee on the Main Tasks in the Organization of Mass Struggles Against the Offensive of the Capitalists. Resolution on Work Among the Unemployed. Adopted by the 13th Plenum, Central Com- mittee, C. P., U.S, A, Besides these articles this issue contains an excellent article by Comrade A, Landy, entitled Cultural Compulsives or Calverton’s New Cari- cature of Marxism, No Party member or revolutionary worker should fail to read this issue of The Communist. Order from your literature agent or send direct to The Communist, P. O. Box 148, Station D, New York City, | y, at 50 Steg ee nt a ot SUBSCRIPTION RATES: mail everywhere: One year, $6; six months, $3; twe months, $1 thattan and Bronx, New York City. Foreign: one year, $8; six months, excepting Boroughs $4,50, 5 MAC DONALD Be The Legion As the “Savior” of Capitalism — . HE National Convention of the American Legion, which was held in Detroit, Mich., reflected with the utmost clearness the deep- ening of the economic crisis, the intensification of the class struggle as American imperialist economy becomes more involved in the general decay of capitalism, causing more unemploy- ment, hunger, suffering and misery of the mas- ses, the imminence of a more terrible world slaughter as a result of the growth of the im- perialist antagonisms, and also the decisive role that the American Legion will play as the staunch upholder of capitalist institutions and the fascist vanguard, Detroit resembled military camp with thousands of uniformed Legionaires walking or riding in flag-bedecked automobiles thru the streets, which were decorated with bunting and flags of all descriptions. The whole downtown area was congested with traffic watching or mak- ing way for the detachments of Legionaires marching to the beat of drums or perhaps the numerous police cars with shreiking sirens con- trolling and regulating the “orgy.” Numerous platforms, bandstands, booths, tents, etc., are erected in readiness for the parade of the “bud- dies,” the air was full of noise from automobile exhausts, crackers, playing bands, and the yells and shouts of Legionaires, who did not take pro- hibition seriously. The newspapers contained long articles on the heroic deeds of this or that gen- eral, commandér or officer, glowing accounts were painted of the courageous American,troops which fought for “democracy,” or appeals to the Legionaires to continue their role in peace time as the deefnders of our “high ideals and noble institutions.” Thus the stage is set to misrepresent the true reality of war, which means torn and mangled bodies, the sickening stench of the trenches, the constant fear of death, the misery and suffer- ing occasioned to millions of the mothers, wives, sweethearts and children of the working class behind the lines, to hide the hideous fact that war fought for “democracy” is to perpetuate the capitalist system of profits at the expense of the lives and blood of millfons of the work- ing class. While this war spirit and patriotism is being fostered, every attempt is being made to create the impression that the National Convention of the American Legion as “the voice of the Nation” will lead to the betterment of the conditions of the working class, whose pauperization is now rapidly taking place, ‘That the Convention had another purpose other than that of ending the suffering of the broad masses of the working class will be seen from the important points on the agenda with which the Convention occupied most of its time, These are the bonus demand, unemployment relief, prohibition, National Defense and—Com- munism, thus bringing into sharp relief the issues which so vitally-concern United: States” imperialism or are brought forward to hood- wink the millions of the proletariat, Already the Legion has gone on ‘record as de- manding the building of more battleships, more military training in the schools, and greater military preparedness. President Hoover, followed by former Secretary of War, Baker, voiced the tone of the Convention, the whole conduct of which will play an important part in the war prepsrations and future imperialist policies of the Wall Street government, Gone will be the fear of the pacifists, as num- erous bishops and other high religious officials who habitually make pacifist utterances, were present to pay their respects to the American Legion as the capitalist military cadre, and in- stead express their patriotism and defense of the capitalist system of exploitation and ‘slavery. That Communism will receive major cunsid- eration was glaringly stated by the “Daily Mir- ror” in front page headlines, and which in the same issue stated, “our next President will be a war President and even greater than Wil- son, Lincoln or Washington.” American finance capitalism realizes that the only, obstacle to its imperialist war preparations DONALD! By BURCK WORKERS PROTEST Old Timers of the I. W.W. Are Joining the Communist Party GAIN the victory of socialist construction in the Soviet Union has shown a capacity for winning over to Communism the really revolu- tionary elements among the anarcho-syndicalist, workers of past years, The letter of Sam Scar- lett, printed below, applying for membership in the Communist Party of Canada, speaks largely for itself in this respect. But there are matters of interest for all workers in the lessons Com- rade Scarlett draws of his conversion to the Communist International. 2 A skilled mechanic of thé highest order, Scar- lett typifies the working class militant who in the pre-war days was repulsed by the opportun- ism of the “socialist” party and attracted to the then, militant IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). As an IWW organizer he was among the best, having used a higher order of strike strategy and tactics in the Mesaba Iron Range miners’ strike of 1916, a position of leadership which was the more to his credit because the IWW strikes depended upon the instinct of the organizer at the head instead of collective con- sideration. For this he was not only for a time jailed under charges of murder, but later drew ten years’ sentence in the Haywood case for se- ditious conspiracy. Behind prison bars at Leavenworth, Comrade Scarlett remained the same rebel he was out- side, nor did prison drive him into inactivity afterward as it did ninety per cent or more of the other IWW leaders who went through it. His delay until now in applying for membership in the Comunist International and up until two!or three years ago in opposing it, was due primarily to the fact that he failed to see the necessity for close study of theory and having already ab- sorbed the anarcho-syndicalist viewpoint, more particularly the syndicalist viewpoint, he stub- bornly held to it. But the overwhelming facts of Soviet success has won him because, for all his previous~prejudices, those prejudices were that of an honest worker. Now having become convinced of the correct- ness of the Comunist line of struggle, we have no doubt Comrade Scarlett will be as tireless and as stubborn a fighter for the Communist International as he was for the IWW, when it was still a revolutionary organization. Comrade Scarlett is but one of a number of leading IWW’s of the old days, such as Gordon Cascaden and Roy Brown who are now as en- thusiastic for the Communist International” as they were previously stubborn against it. This should be an example to all of the old time mem- bers of the IWW, who, as honest workers, the Communist International welcomes into its ranks without recrimination as Comrades in the and its sending of millions of the working class to another bloody world slaughter will be the Communist Party of the United~States, sup- ported by the most militant and revolutionary proletarians. They know too that in this period of rapid disintegration of world capitalism that even American capitalism cannot hope to survive much longer, and that the Communists are not jesting when they call wpon the workers to transform the coming imperialist war into civil war and bring an end to the rotten capitalist system of exploitation and oppression. It is evident to them that the bitter struggle which the employed and unemployed’ are putting up all over the country is only ‘the beginning of the revolutionary struggles which are going to take place in the near future. This Convention of the American Legion marked an important step forward in the fascis- tization of United States capitalism, The Hoover government will grant the Legion greater au- thority and liberty to enable it occupy the fore- most place in conducting a greater reign of terror against the working class and encourage them to increase their terroristic attacks against the militant leaders and members of the Com- munist Party and the revolutionary trade :mions, ‘The Communist Party of the United States is just as determined to continue its role as the vanguard of the working class, to rally and lead the workers in greater struggles, to con- tinue to expose the fascist role of the boss-con- trolled American Legion, and to mobilize the masses to smash to pieces such labor-baiting, open-shop, capitalist organizations and their ter- Tor schemes, struggle. ee aed Saskatoon, Sask. July 31, 1931 Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada Dear Comrades :— In submitting to you my application for mem- bership in the Communist Party of Canada, I wish to make the following statement: From 1911 to 1926 I was a member of the I. W. W. and while a member of that organi- zation opposed the line of the Communist Party. No one will question the militancy of the Wobb- lies in the days of the early revolutionary de- velopment of their organization nor deny that it had a place inthe struggle of the workers against their exploiters. It is now equally un- deniable that the I. W. W. has degenerated into a counter-revolutionary organization. Lack of self-criticism and inability to alter the opinions of yesterday on thé basis of the facts of today led to fossilization and degeneracy. The organization itself. and its history of militant struggle becomes a fetish with the leaders. These political and structural weaknesses and errors have resulted in complete degeneration of the I, W. W. It suffices here to mention one example reported from Seattle, of a one-time militant leader, whose head had been more than once in contact with the policeman’s club in the old days, assuring the workers they would be quite safe from the attacks of the bulls when they met in the I. W. W. hall. The police pro- tected them while busily engaging in smashing up Communist meetings in the same city. If another example were needed, it could be found in Sudbury, where the Communist-controlled halls were closed down by the police and the workers notified that if they wished to assem- ble they were quite free to do so in the Wobbly Hall. . aK My opposition to the stand of the Communist “International arose from overestimating, in com- mon with the formal “Marxists” of the I. W. W. the importance, of industrial development in creating the basis for successful proletarian re- volution. Although Marx had pointed out that social revolution tends to develop in highly in- dustrialized countries and as a result of the con- ditions arising from industrial development, we magnified that tendency into an absolutely n- despensable condition, and scoffed at the idea that a successful revolution was possible in Russia, most backward in industrial development of all capitalist countries, Although we hailed the Russian Revolution with the greatest joy as the decisive defeat of the ruling class of that country, we underestimated the role of the pro- letarian dictatorship, and maintained our anarcho-syndicalist opposition to all forms of government, capitalist or proletarian. It was the stubborn and unescapable fact of the success of the proletarian revolution in the Soviet Union which persuaded me that my at- titude was wrong. As I saw the amazing pro- gress of industrialization, the transformation of the country from the most backward to one of the most advanced, I realized that the proletariat had within it the power to transform the revo- lution from the “haystack” to the “smokestack” stage. The rising smokestacks of the Five Year Plan convinced me of my errors, * : For thé last two years I have without reserva- tion supported the Communist Party and have done my utmost to build up the confidence of the workers in that Party. I now wish to become a member and to take part in the struggle of the workers under the banner of the Party, the _ only Party of the workers and poor farmers today. The political line of the Communist Party is correct. It is necessary to build Socialism in @ territory which is industrially and_- politically backward. The dictatorship of the proletariat is the power of the workers and poor farmers over the former and the means for successful socialist construction. ewes “Out of the present crisis of capitalism, out of the miseries inflicted on the toiling masses, the Communist International will lead us to the overthrow of, capitalist dictatorship and to the building of a new order of society. Long live the Communist International! Long live the Workers’ and Farmers’ Government! Forward to world revolution! Conradely yours, LUITEVOS WS By JORGE ee | What Bad Management, Indeed! Again the capitalists can boast that their sys- tem is much “better” than that run by the Bol- sheviks. In fact they not only can boast, but they DO boast. Thus it occurs that in the N. Y. Post of Sept. 29, the first editorial is devoted to feeling sorry for the downtrodden Russians, The vecasion was a dispatch from Moscow. saying that because an unseasonable snow had fallen and caught the ¢ity short of fuel, Mos cow citizens were shivering, but awoke to find in the papers—“a decree forbidding all citizens to heat thel: homes without special authoriza- tion ot the municipat government.” Alas, says the N. Y. Post: scheme of things to fight for! cruelty—that is Sovietism.” Hold your tears, Mister. Editor! Rejoice in the fact that under capitalism, government decrees are unnecessary. All that is done away with by simply seeing to it that th workers have no money to heat their homes, if they have any homes to heat! : “What a great Misery, poverty, The Sullivan Law ew York State was Preparing today to deal gangland a sweeping blow with the nul- lification on Thursday of all of the 185,000 pistol permits now in force. The renewals will be under stringent rules.”—N, Y. Times, Tuesday, Sept. 29, All of which is unadulterated eye-wash. An@ the same with the acres of “indignation against gangsters” in the whole capitalist press, which turns out to be propaganda for further viola- tion of the U. S. Constitutional provision that “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon.” The Sullivan law of N. Y. State, you know, forbids anyone from even keeping arms in their homes. And Gov. Roosevelt, who simultaneous- ly pushed an appropriation of $20,000,000 sup- posedly for “adequate” unemployment relief and notified the National Guard to be ready to suppress unemployed food riots, also is hell bent to get the federal government to “infringe” on the right to bear arms by the artful trick of banning their transport between states. Of course any such law or laws are blithely dis- regarded for capitalists and their pals the gang- sters. And of course, also, all these “verbotens” by kaiser-like capitalists who think that revo- lution may overtake them in their beds and that it can be prevented by such measures, won't prevent any revolution. Little “putsches” and coup-d'etats might be, but a revolution is a mass affair, and when one is due the masses will help themselves to whatever is needed. But what we want to call attention to is the way gangsters thrive on such “sweeping blows” by the state government. In the World-Tele- gram of Sept. 24, a nice little story told about one Peter Devito. “New Yerk’s most successful strike-breaker with an annual income of $500,000 and an ambition to succeed as big boss, his old schoolboy friend, Al Capone.” Devito was found to have cheated-the federal government out of income tex,” but otherwise he wasn’t bothered at all, and the federal officers found him: oe “...in his comfortable brick home where he lay abed, surrounded by loaded pistols and a sword cane.” No Sullivan law or “sweeping blows” apply to Devito, whom U. S. Attorney H. W. Ameli proudly advertizes as—“the only man in greater New York who can successfully break a strike at any time.” And, look, workers, from where he gets his $500,000 a year: “He received $250,009 from the Standard Oil Company in 1929. He served the James Butler Co. the H. C. Bohack Co., and the Great Atlantic and Pacific Co., during strikes in> 1929.” : ‘The federal officers were very polite and their courtesy was returned, everybody was clubby, d since the federal officers were only interested in income tax and not about the Sullivan law nor the Prohibition law, they spoke highly of his choice of arms, and, the story relates, “observed” in the cellar “a well-furnished rathskeller with a 15-foot bar for guests.” . We Are Dangerous We have always understood that the Daily Worker is pretty dangerous for the bosses, when workers bring it around a factory, particularly if the workers are on stike. But what puzzles us is: On Monday about 2,000 wokers went on strike at Loft’s, after some work- ers came up to the Daily and one of the staff took them. to the Food Workers’ Industrial Union. However, when the staff member sug- gested to the comrade who heads this union that the Daily, with a story of the strike in it, be brought to the iba he was told that, “You mustn’t do that. It’s too soon. We want to get leadership first.” i Apparently the Third Period has not yet been discovered by the officials of the Food Workers’ Industrial Union, although it has by the food workers. It seems that the Daily Worker is dangerous to the strike, according to this comrade, but it is all right for the strikers to get the numerous capitalist dope-sheets. , Postscript: The strikers are just eating up the — Daily Worker, although the’ union lost what little leadership it first managed to get by our assistance, — é Workers! Join the Party of. Your Class! P. O. Box 87 Station D. ae New York City. Please send me more information on the Com munist Party Crees eee rrerer errr yy Ret ee ee aeeeeeedacerenees, CMY... seseeree 2 aan RST “=~ &