The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 24, 1931, Page 4

#e Publisted by the < 3th St. New Yor FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC City, N. ¥. Telephone ALgonquin 4-7956. mprodaily Publishing Co., Inc. daily except Sunday, at 60 Hast Cable Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, 60 Hast 13th Street, New York, N. Y. “DAIWORK.” POLICY OF THE SOVIET UNION Kereton Workers Delegations Interview Comrade Grinko Continued from yesterday's issue? Second Question: How is the divtribution of | financial means among the various mdertalings and factories carried ont? Answer: This is carried out on the basis of planned economy. We have the Five-Year Plan. a plan of socialist construction extending over a period of five years. This plan is confirmed by our highest organs of legislation and has the force of a law. But the actual carrying out of the various concrete parts of this plan is not possible on the basis of this general programme alone. Within the Five-Year Plan we sef, up an economic plan for each year, the so-called con- trol figures. In setting up this annual plan we take into account the means which we have at disposal in the year in question, and upon s decide what tasks contained in the Five Year Plan are to be carried out in this year: what factories, railways, collective farms, trac- | or stations, universities, ete., are to be built or | lished, what wages are to_be paid etc. In way we set up concrete tasks for a year for cach district. And in relation to these tasks we distribute the financial means. With such a huge as our state comprises, with a population of over 160 million, is is fairly hard to determine his everything exactly even for a year. ‘Therefore we sei up so-called quarterly plans for three onihs. Tor the working out of these plans we © the State Planning Commission (Gosplan> This institution is in contact with all the People’s Commissariats. It work out the plans the government confirms them and when neces- ary revises them in the process of their ¢ ng out. Such revisions are possible be > we s keep certain reserves in hand. This whole work of running the national economy ac- ci ng to plan is a difficult science and a great revolutionary art. Sometimes, owing to insuffi cient experience, we do not work quite exactly but still we make progress. With us there are harp disputes between the representatives of the sectiors of national economy; each wants to re. ceive more and considers his sphere the most Mmpertant; a strong pressure is exerted on us rom all sides. We withstand this pressure. ask is to find the correct line. Those who do erstand this organism will also not under- d. how two-thirds of the national income can ered in one common fund and then be distributed. In doing this we make We have sometimes drawn up plans ‘¢ beyond our capacity. At one time we from the American economist Stuart On his return to America he published a book in which he wrote: “16 wise heads (with takes, Chase, Our | | this he meant the collegium of our Gospian) gather in an institution and discuss what fac- tories are to be built in five years; how national income is to be divided. This would make even Henry Ford turn giddy”. What this bourgeois American economist cannot grasp will be grasped by every simple worker when he becomes familiar with the nature of socialist planning and its methods, of which I have spoken. ‘Third Question: What is the taxation policy of the Soviet government? Answer: We have no system of indirect taxes on single articles, as for instance, matches, salt, sugar, etc. , With us there is a general turnover tax. It is collected from: the producer of the commodity; its amount is in reverse ratio to the importance of the commodity in regard to the requirements of the broad masses. Further, there is a tax on the income of the workers, employes nts, ‘Those people living in the towns me does not exceed 100 rubles a month and those people living in the provinces whose income does not exceed 70 rubles a month are exempted from this tax. Higher incomes are and whose | | taxed progressively. I myself, as People’s Commis- sar, have the highest salary a member of the Party is allowed to receive, namely, 300 rubles 1 month; and on this I pay 6 rubles 2 month icome tax, Thirdly there exists with us the business tax, payable by the private undertakings still existing in our country. ‘This tax depends upon the turnover of the undertaking. ‘The all artisans and shopkeepers pay a flat rate nd are thus protected against any over assess- ment of their income. In the villages an agri- cultural turnover tax is imposed. The poor peas~ s, who comprise about a thifd of the village population are entirely exempted from this tax, whilst for the other peasants the amount of the tax depends upon the size of their income. With regard to the kulaks, T say quite openly that our taxation policy is a means which we deliberately against them in order to liquidate them as a class. In this respect our point of view is perfectly plain and clear. I have already said that this year we are ex- pending 31,000 million roubles on further eco- nomic development. Of this sum 13,000 million will be derived from our socialist State under- takings and 12,000 million will be obtained from taxation; the rest will be obtained by inland loans and similar means. Our aim is step by step to abolish all taxes and to replace them by the yield of the economic undertakings. I should like to point out again in this connection that our State budget for the year 1931 has no deficit. ant (To be concluded) By mati everywhere: One year, ef Manhattan and Bronx, New York City. 36; six months, $3; two SE SUBSCRIPTION Ravens: “S852 : months, $1; excepting Boroughs Foreign: one year, $8; six months, $4.50, Substituting Personal Guidance for Circular Leadership : By REBECCA GRECHT. ied Thirteenth Plenum of our Party raised sharply the question of struggle against bu- reaucratic, formal and mechanical methods of work in our tasks of/building the Party and win- ning the masses for the revolutionary struggle. In the Pittsburgh district, this has meant a fundamental development in organizational prac- tices—namely, the extension of systematic per- sonal guidance and leadership to the sections and units, on the basis of the concrete problems facing the Party in the different localities. The Pittsburgh district is composed very largely of new members, workers who joined the Party within the last six months. The units are Scattered over a broad area. Not more than 20 per cent of the units have organizers trained in Party work over a period of several years, The section committees consist almost entirely of new recruits. Particularly under such condi- tions, to deal with the functionaries primarily by mail, to instruct them in methods of con- ducting Party campaigns by lengthy circulars alcne, means to condemn the Party to inactivity, and to drive out of our ranks these new prole- tarian forces from basic industry. The wo! rs who have newly come into our want to understand, want to learn how to carry on revolutionary activity, how to throw the units into mass work, how to build the rev- olutionary unions and carry on the struggle for unemployment relief and insurance. Reports from section organizers show that where inac- tivity in new units exists it is due for the most part to a lack of understanding of how to work. When given concrete, simple directives, they readily respond. Such directives, however, to be effective, must be given wherever possible through personal contact. Various ways of establishing systematic per- sonal guidance have been adopted in the Pitts- burgh district. ‘Conferences of all section or- fanizers in Western and Central Pennsylvania and East Ohio are held in Pittsburgh twice a month, more often when special problems arise, to discuss the political policies of the Party and our immediate tasks. Leading district tunction- aries are sent to section committee meetings, to help concretize these tasks on the basis of the situation in the section, Especially important is the establishment of a system of regular section conferences attended by section committee members, unit organizers and other active workers in the area. ‘These functionaries’ conferences provide a means of personal contact with the unit leadership which is essential in building up lower cadres. Espe- cially in the Pittsburgh district, where the units are scattered in 50 or 60 different mining camps and steel towns, such conferences help to break down tendencies towards isolation and act as a unifying force for the entire movement. ‘The Party members feel thereby that the dis- trict center is close to them, directly concerned with their problems. -'They have an opportunity to discuss the campaigns with leading, district functionaries whose knowledge and experience can thus be directly transmitted, Such ques- tions and misapprehensions as may exist in their minds are the more easily answered, When, for example, leading comrades in the Johnstown seetion began to develop the opportunist sec- {arian conception that we can bujld the revolu- tionary unions only through holding small group meetings in semi-legal fashion and must aban- don open mass activity because workers jar'e aub- 4 ‘ ject to terror, the way the combat this lay not through advice by mail, but through conferences with the comrades, the sending of district repre- sentatives to section committee meetings and functionaries’ gatherings, where the role of the Party and the revolutionary unions in the strug-- gle against wage-cuts and unemployment could be clarified through concrete discussion, ‘The whole problem of the relationship of the Party and the revolutionary unions in this dis- | trict, the question of the decisive role of the Party in building the National Miners’, Union and the Metal Workers’ Industrial League, must be dealt with persistent ideological and organ- izational campaign in the sections. While it is neessary to have a written plan of campaign cir- culated among the functionaries in the district, this alone, however, as experience has shown, cannot suffice but must be accomplished by the personal guidance and patient explanation of leading representatives from the distritt bureau. The section functionaries’ conferences just held following the National Hunger March to Wash- ington have been utilized to draw the political Jessons from the Hunger March and prepare the Party membership for the next steps in the fight for unemployment relief and insurance; A con- tinuation of these conferences, so that they may be held regularly once a month, will undoubtedly prove one of the most effective methods of con- solidating the Party, ‘raising the political level of the membership and involving them actively in all mass campaigns, Personal guidance is given not only the section and unit functionaries, but directly to the units themselves. The Pittsburgh district is basically a district of mine and steel units. These must re- ceive individual personal attention, so that they may be taught how to conduct the day to day work in the factory, how to raise economic de- mands and initiate struggles for them, how to get out factory papers and win the confidence of the workers. For this reason, the district bureau is insisting that mebers of the section committees shall be responsible for the func- tioning of the units in the section, attending unit meetings to bring in person the directives of the section committee. Furthermore, leading comrades of the district are sent to cover meetings of thg basic mine and steel units, In the present drive to build new nuclei, experienced district comrades have *been assigned for special concentration on selected units. Already results are being definitely ob- tained, with the prospect of setting up several new steel and mine nuclei within the next few weeks, thus demonstrating the necessity and value of such action. Wherever this personal guidance is given, the response of the members is enthusiastic, Clearly, this is what they seek, what they need. This our district’ must give them. It is not only the membership that benefits from such methods, but the district function- aries themselves. To go into the field, to mingle with the Party members, among the massés in the mines and mills, ts vitally necessary for all leading Party members. This prevents their iso- lation from the masses. It enables them to grasp at first hand the situation in the mines and the mills, and to react more quickly to the needs of the miners and steel workers. It helps them to prepare programs of activity based on the con- crete requirements of the different sections of the district, It is one of the best means of over- coming bureaucratic tendencies, mechanical and Seteeioeen ee —By GROPPER. Ry MAX WEISS. PART 3. CONCLUDED) Thus far the inflationary movement has been described from the point of view of its effect upon the financial structure of capitalism. ‘The all important question of how inflation will ef- fect the working class remains to be answered. In this connection, two things must be noted above all else. 1. Inflation means wage cuts on an unpar- alelled scale and reduced real wages. 2. Inflation means a mighty increase in the cost of living. Although inflation in its fully developed form results in an increase in commodity prices all along the line by itself it does not accomplish the increase in profits looked forward to by the capitalist class. For, side by side with the*increase in commodity prices goes the steady depreciation of currency. Thus although nominal profits increase, the ac- tual value of such profits remains the same and in the event that inflation runs ahead of the increase in commodity prices, the profits actual- ly decline. In order to offset this, the capitalist class has already set about reducing “produc- tion costs.” In less mystifying language, the capitalist class slashes wages right and left to prevent any rise in commodity prices from being nullified by a rise in wages, or even by a continuation of present wage scales. The intensified wage cutting drive came into ‘the open with the 10 per cent wage cut’ insti- tuted by the steel trust. The capitalists, of course, have been cutting wages ever since the beginning of the crisis. But the wage cuts had been accompanied by a campaign of demagogy as to the necessity of maintaining the “exist- ing level of wages.” Now this mask is. dropped. ‘The “necessity” for wage cuts is openly admitted. In addition the growth of inflation makes it necessary for the capitalist class to be in a position as soon as possible, to avail themselves of the inflated commodity prices. We, there- fore, find such expressions in favor of uncon- cealed wage cuts as that contained in the “Fi- nancial Chronicle” of Dec. 5th. Speaking of wage cuts for all railroad workers, it says: “It is time to stop dallying and to take the bull vigorously by the horns, There has been altogether too much parleying and dickering. Ignore the union leaders. Let each railroad system announce that 30 days hence lower. wage scales will be in effect, and let each rail- road act in its individual capacity... . The reduction, too, will have to be commensurate with the need. We do not think a 10 per cent decrease will suffice for the purpose.” This statement of policy on the part of Wall Street’s leading organ is clear and requires little comment on the wage cutting drive that is going on, They will cut wages with the assistance of the chief instruments for cutting wages, where possible without it where necessary—‘nor will a 10 per cent decrease suffice for the purpose.” The leaders in this tvage cutting drive are the great steel, coal, cotton, railroad trusts. It is by no means, however, confined to these trusts nor restricted to any section of the country or of industry. The wave of wage cuts that fol- lowed immediately after the outbreak of the crisis occurred simultaneously with a lowering of com- modity prices although, by no means in the same degree. There was a continually widening scis- sors between’ the wages of the working class and the costs of various necessities of life. The wage cutting drive which is now under way, however, takes place under fundamentally different conditions. It takes place under con- formal approach to problems on the part of dis- trict functionaries, Only a beginning has been made in the estab- lishment of personal guidance and leadership from the district center directly and from the sections to the units. This method, however, has become the policy of the Party; and will be one of the significant means of developing a mass Party in this district. capable of leading the workers raed lin ot ah against cnpitalisu. The United States Is Drawn Into the World Financial Chsis... the reactionary labor leaders who are among, ditions of an anticipated in crease in commodity prices. The scissors which have been steadi widening will now open their full length. The working class will be subjected to’'a mighty at tack on both wages and working conditions. T lowering of “production costs” by wage cuts will not be the only means by which the capitalist class will attempt to squeeze the full benefit from inflated commodity prices. There will be @ terrific campaign of speed-up in keeping with the lowered actual yalue of the profits follow- ing from inflation. The rise of commodity prices means for the working-class an unheard of increase in the cost of living. It.means the return in more virulent form than ever before the notorious “H. C, L.”— the high cost of living. The decline in commodity prices which followed out of the crisis took place mainly in wholesale commodity prices. The working-class did not benefit to any extent from the cataclysmic fall in commodity prices. Simi- jarly, the rise in inflated commodity prices will take place in the wholesale market. Since retail prices always increase in proportion to-wholesale prices, the inflated commodity prices will cut more deeply than ever into the living standards of the masses. This must not be interpreted as being the beginning of an inflation boom. Under present conditions a rise in prices can occur only in the sphere of consumption articles. This rise in prices will not stimulate productive investments inasmuch as the world stock of commodities is even slightly higher now than it was at the beginning of the crisis. Before any escape from crisis to depression can ensue, the world stock of commodities must. be cut down tremendously. ‘Thus inflation will cause a rise in prices without causing a revival of production, Only continued and ‘deeper unemployment is in sight to ag- gravate for the working masses the suffering and misery following from inflation, A Nor is this all. Inflation means further bur- dens upon the working-class in the form of every possible variety of taxation. Secretary of ‘Treasury Mellon’s tax measure proposals to Con- gress is a good indication of the new burdens that the working-class will be forced to shouldrer as the government tries to overcome its budget- ary deficit. Says Secretary Mellon: “In view of the marked contraction in cor- poration and individual incomes, in recent years the principal source of taxation, it seems essential that as under the Revenue Act of 1924, substantial revenues be provided by mis- cellaneous taxes. ‘These “miscellaneous taxes” are none other than the taxes which cut into the income of the working-class in the. form of stamp taxes, in- creased postal rates, amusement taxes on all admissions above ten cents, a whole series of “nuisance taxes,” taxes on tobacco and cigarettes, ete, Mellon’s statement indicates clearly the policy of the capitalist class of placing the bur- den of the crisis on the shoulders of the working- class. Those increased taxes which corporations will have to pay, will also be in turn passed on to the working-class in various indirect ways, all of which will have the ultimate result of height- ening the cost of living, All these developments place mighty tasks be- fore the revolutionary working-class. The in- creased attack upon the working and living standards of the masses opens up ever’ more than before the perspective of sharper class battles, The working-class which is now at a starvation level will not quietly accept ‘the edict of further lowering of living standards. The ob- jective conditions for the organization and lead- ing into struggle of the famished millions grow increasing favorable as the necessity ‘for of- fering that leadership also increases. The Com- munist Party, the Young Communist League and the revolutionary trade unions are confronted with the task, more than ever before, of giving organized leadership to the mighty class battles that will inevitable mark the resistance of the working-class to the imposition of ever greater burdens of the crisis upon ‘the already starving Functionaries’ Class of the Detroit League of Struggle for Negro Rights By RENELDA GUMBS Fe a long time the work of the League of Struggle for Negro Rights here in Detroit had been entirely dead. Efforts made for its revival were very difficult. Upon analyzing’ the reason, the discovery was that the workers who were members of the League of Struggle for Negro Rights had almost no idea of the full aims and policies of the L.S.N.R. They had no theoretical understanding whatever of the Negro question so as to be able to answer the arguments of the enemies of the L.S.N.R. and in general were ignorant how to carry on the L.S.N.R. work. In order to remedy this a functionaries class for the functionaries of the various L.S.N.R. groups was formed. The classes, which are be- ing held every Thursday night in the LS.NR. District. Headquarters, between the hours of 8 pm. and 10 p.m. started on November 19, .1931, and was the first effort of Detroit to develop the functionaries of the L.S.N.R. All of the L.S.N.R. groups except Pontiac are represented in these classes which consist 6f 20 students, 4 women and 16 men, 5 white and 15 Negro and only one-third of them Party mem- bers, but all are the most activé elements in the L.S.N.R. groups of the Michigan District. The following are the schedule of subjects that are being taken up within the ‘scheduled six weeks of the class: Class 1.—Policies and organizational structure of the L.S.N.R. y Class 2—How the E.S.N.R. membership meet- ings are to be conducted, the duties of the vari- ous functionaries, duties of a chairman, conduct- ing of mass meetings, making of motions, min- utes, etc. Class 3.—Fundamentals of, the Negro Ques- tion, (Beginning with the colonization of the U. S, with white slavery, the introduction of Ne- gro slavery up to the present status of the Ne- gro workers in the United States. Class 4.—The Negro Question as a National Question and Self-Determination. Class 5—The role of the L.S.N.R, in the pre- sent day struggles of the Negro and white work- ers; the history of the Liberator and its role as chief organ of the LS.N.R. Class 6—The Negro and Imperialism and the relation of the Negro Liberation movement to the revolutionary movement of the world pro- letariat. Also the struggle against the Negro bourge- oisie reformists is taken up at great length in this class, There are many shortcomings in this class, such as lack of sufficient reading material, not enough white workers attending, the classes be- ing taught so far only by Comrade Gumbs, the District L.S.N.R. Organizer, etc. (This latter shortcoming is being remedied by other leading comrades of the District taking the future clas- Ses). But on the whole they can be said to be @ grand success, as they are proving very inter- esting to the students and very beneficial. Due to the shortness of the classes and the intensity of the subjects being taken up, the method used is through short lectures and ques- tions and answer periods. Reading material which is for the most part out of the reach of the students is mimeographed and given them for further reference. Because of ,the distance of Pontiac from De- troit, the functionaries of the Pontiac group have not been able to attend the classes, but material and instructions will be sent to them to enable them to hold classes there as well. The ultimate aim of these classes is not alone to train the functionaries how to carry on and lead the activities of the L. 8, N. R. groups but also that these functionaries can organize and lead the study groups or classts for the rank and file members of their groups so that each and and every member of the L. 8, N. R. may become developed, theoretically and practically, and actively be the organizers of the masses of Negro and white workers in the struggle for the rights of the oppressed Negro toilers and the freedom of the entire working-class, i With the ever rising tide of persecutions of the Negro masses of the United States, the increase of boss Jynchings in the south, the grewing in- tensity of discrimination and jim-crowism of Negroes, it is vitally necessary that we increase our development of workers to teke their places Ds, |» THEORETICAL STUDY, « By Jones The Tail Waggers Are For War | One of the dog-gonedest things we have met” up with recently is the fancy way the imperiat- ists are mobilizing all hands and the cook for war on the Soviet Union. The latest being one contained in a British magazine, “The Tai Wagger,” a journal about dogs. The first and leading article in the issue for May, 1931, which a comrade has just sent us, is a unique variation on the “Soviet dumping” canard. The editor is writing and gets af steamed up over a supposed “order of the St pretne Economic Council in Russia” which according to the article, “demanded the gpa 4 ter of 950,000 dogs.” And for what? Why—‘tn order that the mare kets of Western Europe may be flooded with cheap gloves... . in order that Russia may Knock the bottom out of all the markets of Europe, and cause widespread unemployment in other countries,” etc. 1 About this, the “Tail Wagger” editor rises in” forensic wrath. “Let it he clearly understood,” he says, “that the Tail Wagger Magazine is in no wise concerned with politics.” And from then on he proceeds to say: “Tt can hardly be gainsaid that today the Rus- sian people have many of the qualities of a slave state, in that they have been robbed of most of their independence of thought and action and must obey the dictates of their rulers.” That, my boy, sounds kind of humorous after what has been done to the wages and the dole of the workers and jobless of Britain. But you will notice that the editor has shifted from dogs to people, so it’s his own fault if we take him up on this, In another place he spouts: “Our feelings would have been the same and we should have adopted the same attitude, if the offending pro- posal had come from one of the British domin< ions or colonies.” But such an “offending proposal” could, of course, not originate under the Union Jack. Why should the Viceroy of India, for example, order dogs to be killed when there are so many Indians to be slaughtered? Indeed it is better, for the purposes of war propaganda against the Soviet Union, that every one of the 300,000,000 natives of the Indian peninsula be murdered—and the “Teil Wagger” say nothing about it—than that, the hair of one Russian dog be touched! Meanwhile, we haven't noticed any “flood of) cheap gloves’~and we guess that you can pub the ‘Tail Wagger” down as another of those damned liars who wag their tails like Matthew Woll, every time a banker throws them a bone, eae Bull Fights and Things a In some of “our” iilustrated Sunday papers we noticed recently the picture of a bull fight in _ Mexico, where the toreador was being gored to — death, and the caption written by the Yankee _ editor said something about the “barbaric” na- _ ture of bull fighting. i No doubt the Society for the Prevention of | Cruelty to Bulls has a special seance over that picture. But right here in “civilized” America we have had 42 football players killed so far this season. Also we have had the fact revealed that “collegiate” sports are put on by hired players— and in general an expose of capitalist sports. All of which reminds us that for sports that” are on the square, and come from the whole- | some desire of the masses to play and wage con= tests in skill, you have to go to the Labor Sports Union. We think that the L.S.U. is doing a fine thing in developing the Metropolitan Soccer League games that are played every Sunday in New York at the Dyckman Oval, and soccer football is free from the useless fatalities of the Rugby game played by capitalist outfits. The L.S.U. is also following a good line by helping the class struggle, the proceeds of next Sunday's games at Dyckman Oval going to’ the “Young Worker,” just as previous games have gone to the Hunger March. The Young Communist League, we hope, i beginning to tumble to the importance of work- ers’ sports. One Y.C.L. unit out West recently wrote that it was organizing a L.S.U. branch; as the comrades “believed it necessary” to “get in touch with non-members of the Y.C.L,” This is, indeed, a happy thought. One might ask why they haven't made the discovery before, But many units haven’t got that far yet, and generally the Y.C.L. is even more sectarian the Party—and that’s saying a lot. To us, it appears that when workers who in the Party and League get so wound up themselves that they scorn to talk to so-called “backward” workers, they not only restrict the movement, but they show that they themselves jack that theoretical development which would give them assurance in their own supposed con- | victions. And they have to cohabit with other members exclusively as a sort of support for their own inner weakness which is due to lack ‘The mere holding of a Party or League card qualifies nobody as a Communist. And “praes tical -work” without theoretical development ts a dull and fruitless thing, done—if at all—oniy by heroic and usually repulsive “discipline.” If members say they cannot talk with non-Party workers, make friends with them and gain their sympathy and support for some phase of tt Communist movement, there's something w with such members—and not with the Party workers, freedom. As Lenin said, “without revolution theory there can be no revolutionary practice.’ The Detroit League of Struggle for Negro Rights is endeavoring to make the above @ reality in all ways. However there is one set- back and that is finances, The League of Struggle for Negro Rights is in a bad financial | condition and it is imperative that every worker rally to its aid by contributing all funds possible. If Workers, help carry on and intensify the work of the L. S. N. R. by sending funds no matter how small to The League of Struggle for Negro} Rights, 142 St. Aubins, Detroit, Mich. and white workers join the League of Struggle for Negro Rights! and Negro Long live the solidarity of the whi Death to lynchers! 4 Smash jim- ’