The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 25, 1932, Page 4

{ { | } if 18th St, New York City. N. ¥. Telephone ALgonquie 4-7956, Cable Address and mai! all checks to the Dally Worker, 50 Eest 18th Street, New York, N. ¥. Published by the Comprodaity Publishing Ce, fee, defty except Sunday, at 60 East “DAIWORK.” Worker’ vinta sotebival By mall everywhere: Une sear, $6; of Manhattan and Bronx, SURSCRIP'NON RATES: New York City. six months, $3; two months, $1; Foreign: one year, $8: excepting Boroughs six months, $4.50, Party Recruiting Drive January 11 - March 18, 1932 Further Results in the Recruiting Drive STATUS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY COMPETITION BETWEEN NEW YORK— PHILADELPHIA—BOSTON New York leads in total percentage and shop nclei. | BL | 13 LLETIN hop nuclei organized in District 2 out of the original quota of 15. NEW YORK is so far the BANNER DISTRICT in shop nuclei. F This is the total number of new members recruited: Boston . eece 141 Philadelp! 22. NOW YORK os ceicvegus se sucess 1104 NEW YORK LEADS IN PERCENTAGE Total For every metal worker recruited in New Philadelphia—one textile worker in Boston. As it Major point of revolutionary competition: York, one miner in stands now: Boston, u:c2 accesses Philadelphia New York New York is in the lead. Boston is far behind. Boston district must take. im- mediate steps to intensify the recruiting campaign in Lawrence, New Bedford and other centers. Organize shock brigades, call special meetings of comrades work- ing in the shops, give personal direction to the comrades in the textile industry. INLY ONE MONTH TO GO! SHOP NUCLEI ORGANIZED | New York 13 shop nuclei in factories with 22,470 workers Boston - 2 shop nuclei in factories with 5,000 workers Philadelphia — no shop nuclei. PHILADELPHIA: Promises. are not being fulfilled. As it seems, there is a lot of talk about shop nuclei, but no results. 15 textile workers 49 miners 61 metal workers ,PHILADELPHIA—the only one of the larger districts where no shop nuclei have been organized. COMPOSITION The composition of the new members in all three districts is still poor. More concentration is necessary in the heavy industries, more employed workers. This can be done only if we bring the recruiting drive into the shops. Boston New York Philadelphia WOmeT 2... secs 18 157 35 Employed .....- 6m 54 345 100 A. F. of L. .. eee Poa she 145 37 | Former S. P. members ............. 11 no record no record. . Philadelphia leads in the percentage of Negroes recruited into the Party. New York leads in A.F.L. members. Percentage of employed insufficient, this is a result of insufficient work in shops and factories. Literature Bought by the Districts New York 53,000 Noon Hour Talk | Philadelphia 10,000 Noon Hour Talk . | Boston Not a copy Boston, it seems: does not believe in mass agitation. This is one of the reasons why the recruiting drive is stlil limited to a very narrow circle. OCCUPATION OF THE NEW MEMBERS (Figures below are only approximate) Boston New York Philadelphia Metal .......0vee Arras 61 13 ini mes 4 49 erent 3) 8 3 £ 8 58 10 aerate | 128 17 eecceee < 4 181 2 swe 2 © 6 one a 6 24 : _ Building: s¢.60005+ aie Bisie edt 169 16 Transport and Railroad ; 22 5 WAR Are the districts conscious of the fact that there is war in progress in the Far East? Are the districts conscious that the attack on the Soviet Union is being rapidly prepared? We speak about an anti-war campaign— Compare It With the Composition of New Members! MORE CONCENTRATION IN THE WAR INDUSTRIES! WATCH THE RESULTS OF THE CLEVELAND AND DETROIT DISTRICTS é TOMORROW, CHICAGO PARTY TO STRENGTHEN TRADE UNION j WORK ‘The Chicago Party District Committee, real- , uation in the major industries of the district was izing that the present unsatisfactory situation | dealt with, where a new series of wage-cuts in concerning shop work and building of the Trade | building, street-car, elevated, shoe, railroad and Union Unity League and opposition groups inside | county employed had just been announced in the revolutionary unions, is an impermissible | Chicago. weakness, has undertaken to sharply correct this The discussion was participated in by many outstanding weakness. Comrades. Most interesting was the experiences On Sunday, February 15th, a special conier- of the members of the Steel Workers Union in. ence of Party members who work and are ac- | Indiana Harbor and Gary, who related the meth- tive in trade unions in five basic industrits— | ods of building the union on a department basis steel, mining, metal, packing and raliroad—was | and in the course of this, the winning of small held in Chicago. These came from Chicago and | demands in the mills, four out of town sections including Southern This Party conference in the basic industries Tilinols, Springfield, Calumet and Milwaukee, | is the begining of a most thorough Idedlegical ‘There were present a total of 75 of whom 41 were | campaign, coupled with drastic organisetionel actually working in the following industries; | measures to throw the Party forces into trade stockyards, 8; steel, 10; metal, 11; auto, 3; min- | union work and develop and lead economic strug- ing, 7; railroad, 2. gles, In every other field the Party has re- Comrade Williamson reported for the District | corder progress and the conference bore out the Turo on the atus of our trade unions, and | contention that when the Party really turns its shop work, elaborating on the basic reasons fer | aticntion seviously to this task, results will fol- the unsatisfactory situation. He polemized par- low. ticularly against various opportunist’ tendencies which have arisen and dealt in detail with ex- Already a Chicago functionaries conference Pager Rania ph rrr dig perlences in specific shops and unions where @ | These will be followed by Trade Union Unity little attention has been given, all of which ine League broad conferences erences in al) | Amportant sities dicates the tremendous possibilities. ‘The site | and localition, ot ¢ 4 Lenin’s Pamphlet “The Revolution of 1905” (Bnternational Publishers, pp. 55, price 20 cents) By EVA SHAFRAN. "SE publication of “The Revolution of 1905” is 1; and other falsifiers of the history of Bolshe- yism, exposed by Comrade Stalin, would have us beifeve that Leninism is not international; that up until 1917, when Trotsky so-called “re-armed” Bolshevism, Lenin and Leninism “did not think” in terms of Proletarian Revolution, but only of a bourgeois democratic revolution. Of course, we will not attempt here to go into an extensive discussion on all these points. For such a discussion see the January and February “Communist”. Here we will only be able to give some quotations from “1905” that will prove the falsity of -the -aceusations against Leninism, hurled by the Trotskyites and the falsifiers in order to discredit Leninism, the theory and prac- tice of proletarian revolution. “The Revolution of 1905”, a collection of arti- cles, speeches of Lenin in 1905-06, and a lecture delivered in 1917, tells the story of the oppression of the Russian masses under the bloody Czar and landed capitalists. It tells of the methods used in these struggles. On the basis of their ex- periences gained in 1905, lessons are being drawn for the struggle of the masses for a Socialist revolution not only in Russia, but the world over. Lenin and the Bolsheviks always saw the world phenomena in the 1905 revolution. (Not in 1917, Messrs. Falsifiers, but in 1905-06). The thought of turning the bourgeois-democratic revolution in 1905 into a Socialist revolution dominates the whole pamphlet, in direct and irrefutable contra- diction to the lies presented by the Trotskyites and other forgers of the history of Bolshevism. “The peculiar feature of the Russian Revolu- tion is that in its social content it was a Bour- geots Democratic Revolution, but in its methods of struggle, {t was a Proletarian Revolution”. (page 40). Lenin further develops this point thus: “...Under the conditions of a revolutionary democratic dictatorship, we shall make the Russian revolution the prologue to the Euro- pean Socialist revolution. (page 22, our em- phasis.) What else than the “growing over” of the dem- ccratic revolution into a Socialist revolution do we vee from the above quotation But this thought is developed still further in the following words: “The proletariat is now fighting to preserve its democratic conquests for the sake of a So- cialist Revolution ~ The second victory will be the Socialist Revolution in. Europe.” (pase 54, our emphasis.) And again: “The Russian was also a Proletarian Revolu- tion, not only in the sense that the proletariat was the leading force, vanguard of the move- ment, but also in the sense that the specifically proletarian means of struggle, namely, the strike, was the principal instrument employed for arousing the masses and the most charac- teristic phenomenon in the wave-like rise of the decisive events.” (page 40.) Not only’ did Lenin sce this because of the “characteristics” of the Russian revolution itself, but: “The eyes of the proletariat of the whole world are now anxiously turned towards the proletariat of Russia The European coun- ter-revolution extends its hand to the Russian counter-revolution Just try, Citizen Behen- zollern! We also have a Euronean reserve for the Russian Revolution ..... ‘The International Proletariat.” (page 29) How prophetic were these words! How new and true they still are at the present, when we have in mind the imminent attack on the Soviet Union by world tmperialism, and the “reserve” that the Soviet Union has in the world’s toiling masses. To muster this “reserve” of which Lenin spoke in 1905, for the defense of the world’s workers’ fatherland, the Soviet Union, is our im- mediate duty. In the discussion around the question of rhether or not Social-Demnoe! (the Bolshe- ) should participate in the provisional revo- lutionary government. we again have the same question (hegemony of the proletariat, the “grow- ing over” of the bourgeois democratic revolution inte a. Socialist one, ete) under discussion. Around | this revolved the entire problem of whether the proletariat should play: an inde- i pendent role in the bourgeois-democratic revo- lution, leading the revolution towards proletarian aims, or, whether the bourgeoisie should lead the reyolution towards its aims, and the proletariat drag behind the bourgeoisie. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were for the prole- tariat’s partigipation in the provisional revolu- tionary government, so that the proletariat could play its independent role in the struggle. The opportunists, the mensheviks, however, seeing only. the bourgeois revolution, and being satis- fied that this should be the end, wanted the bourgeoisie to lead the events. The proletariat, they wanted to be only the “hangers on” of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, they opposed the partici- pation in the provisional revolutionary govern- ment. But, of course, they were careful to clothe themselves in revolutionary phrases, so that the masses should not detect the real meaning of their policy. They argued that it would be “vul- gar Jauresism” to participate in a provisional revolutionary government; that “participation in the government, together with the bourgeois democracy is forbidden by the Amsterdam Reso- lution.” (page 14) After pointing out what this “argument” means, Lenin answers: “Social De- mocracy (Bolshevism) does not turn its back on the struggle for political freedom.” (page 16) Further developing his policy, Lenin gives the reasons for his insistence on the independent role of the proletariat in this struggle. For he sees the proletariat, in alliance with the peasantry, as the only force capable of leading the revolution to a successful end. “As a matter of fact, is it not clear that the fight for the republic is unthinkable for the proletariat without its being allied with the petty-bourgeois mass of*people? Is it not clear that, without the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry, there is not a shadow of hope for the success of the revolu- tion?” (page 16, our emphasis.) As to the question of “dangers”: r “Of course, we are far removed from the idea of asserting that the participation in a provi- sional revolutionary government will not bring with it any dangers for Social-Democrecy. There cannot be any form of struggle, any po- litical situation which does not bring dangers with it " (page 17) . But, should “dangers” stop us from taking the road of revolutionary working class action? There are dangers in everything. What is necessary is not to be afraid of “dangers”, but to have a clear By BURCK Burch, Bolshevik line, so as to be able to cope with these “dangers”. For, if we are to be afraid of dangers in this case: “Then it is dangerous to take part in strikes —it may lead to Economism, the exclusive em- phasis on the economic struggle—or take part in parliamentary struggle, it may ehd in par- liamentary idiocy .... The condition which we must never forget: To strike together, to go our ‘own way; not to mix up our organizations, to keep an eye on our ally as if on an enemy, et¢.” The main thing, Lenin tells us, to have in mind, is that the Socialist revolution can be ac- complished only under the leadership and hege- mony of the proletariat in alliance with the “petty-bourgeois mass of people.” But here we have also a most important lesson on Leninist strategy in united front tactics, in strikes, etc., a lesson that we should always bear in mind in connection with our present-day struggles. Regarding struggles, we should always remem- ber also: “Only the struggle educates the exploited class. Only the struggle discloses to it the magnitude of | its own power, widens its horizon, enhances its abilities, clarifies its mind, forges its will.” (page ) ° Cet eae “The Revolution of 1905” gives us the best in- sight of the stormy period of the first* Russian revolution, the most vivid, living picture of the Moscow uprising, “Bloody Sunday,” etc., etc. Pages 20 and 2t are devoted to reprinting a leaflet that Was issued on January 7, 1905, ex- plaining the meaning of “Absolute Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, and a Democratic Re- public’, what these mean, and whom the work- ers must support. Here we see Lenin’s principle: “We must speak so simply, so as to be under- stood by every workman, peasant, washerwoman, Shepherd” applied in practice. Speaking of sim- plicity and clarity in our mass agitation and propaganda methods, we have a great lesson to learn from this leaflet. The last two pages, from which we have al- ready quoted, are devoted to “stages, tendency, and prospects of the revolution.” This, in an out- line form, gives the reader an excellent picture of the historical developments leading up to the revolution, the progress of the revolution itself, and the main tendencies and prospectives. The pamphlet is written with the simplicity of real genius, and is an example of Marxist-Lenin- ist dialectical analysis both of the revolution of 1905 and its lessons, which are invaluable when applied to present day struggles. Every worker, every revolutionist, especially every Communist, should read and study this pamphlet in preparation for activity in the strug- gle for the emancipation of the worlds’ toiling masses from the yoke of Capitalism. Statement of Comrade James Russell on Trotzkyism Dear Comrade: As a former Party member who was at one time identified with the Trotsky opposition, I wish to make the following statement to be pub- lished in the Daily Worker, This statement may be belated, but neverthe- less, as I was responsible for an article which appeared in the Militant about a year and a half ago, attacking the Party leadership who were crrying out the Party policy on the water- front, it is only right that amends be made and that I recognize as publicly as I attacked the Party, that the only leadorship which measures up to the struggle of the workers on the water- front or in any other industry is the Communist Party. The Party members, who kept to the line of the Party, have gone ahead with ‘the job of building the unions and organizing the unor- ganized, particularly on the waterfront in face of the greatest difficulties and police terror, while disgruntled or confused elements: such as I was, either dropped out of sight, or became the catspaws of such elements as the Cannon clique in their counter-revohitionary attacks against the Party But only a very shor! eequaintanee with the Trotsky rene is enough to convince any healthy-minded worker that he has fallen into the wrong camp. While the Comintern under the leadership of Comrade Stalin at the Sixth World Congress pointed out the end of capitalist stabilization; the opposition said “no,” capitalism itself sup- plied the answer. When the Party defined the present epoch, as @n epoch of intense class struggle the Trotskyites attempted to sneer, but just ask the workers in uniform in the British Navy about that and I guess they could supply the answer. While the fascist role of the social-democrats was being denied by the so-called opposition, Zorgicbel was shooting down the workers in Berlin on the First of May. And so on, at every ‘step, at every turn, these people reveal their bankrvvtcy, their stupidity and their usefulness to the bourgeoisie, While Trotsky writes reams in the capitalist press condemning the Five Year Plan for the building of Socialism in Russia as a mistake as an impossibility, as a monstrosity, the workers in the Soviet Union herolcally reply by building in four years what Trotsky said they could not do in five, while jeers are thrown at the col- lectivization of the peasants and “their strings of peasant carts.” The peasants’ reply to Trotsky and the agents of reaction throughout the world, is by pouring enthusiastically into the collectives and ex- changing their peasant caris for tractors, At fle moment the Party, under the leadership of the Comintern is faciag the most gigantic tasks of leading the workers in their struggle against, a decaying capitalism. ‘The bourgeoisie prepare their airplanes and their poison gasses to sup- press the workers at home and when the oppor- . A Typical Tnadens in the Life of Harry Simms By TOM JOHNSON YPICAL of Harry Simms activity in the Ken- tucky strike was his action only a few hours before the bullet of the murderer snuffed out. his young life, in saving seven leading comrades from his own fate at the risk of his life. I had pulled into Pineville early Tuesday night for a last minute meeting with leading com- rades from tne Strike Executive before the ma: demonstration to greet the Writers’ Committee which was scheduled for the next day. When T arrived at the strikers home where the meeting was to be held I found Harry already there to- gether with three of the local leaders. Three more local comrades were to come to the meet- ing and as every minute pf delay meant addi- tional danger of the meeting being discovered and raided Harry volunteered to go down to the relief warehouse to speed up the eomrades who were late. He returned ‘with them a few minutes later and as he came into the room I saw something was wrong. “We were trailed by a carload of gun thugs coming back, but managed to lose them,” Harry told us. “As we pulled up at the house here we found another car load parked down the street with their lights off. As we came in they left—undoubtedly to go in to town for reinforcements for a raid.” In a moment we were ready to leave, The eight of us piled into the two cars outside and ready to defend ourselves from attack we swept out of town to a strikers home miles distant where our meeting was at last held. It was from this meeting that Harry left with another comrade for the 12-milé walk to Brush Creek from which he never returned. Unquestionably Harry’s timely warning— brought to us at tbe risk of his own life—alone saved those of us in the house from going on & ride that night—a ride from which none of us would have returned. The Capitalist Crisis and ‘Coal Miners in the U. S, —— By ANNA ROCHESTER. Author of Labor and Coal. A crisis of wage-cutting, mass unemployment) without social insurance, and irregular employe. ment even in active mines had hit the coad miners in the United States long before the gene eral capitalist crisis. This background is ime portant to an understanding of thelr present situation, Even when industry was booming before the crash, the bituminous mines, operated by (rough- ly) 4,000 competing coinpanies and individua? capitalists, were able to produce from 30 per. cent to 50 per cent more coal than they could sell. Very few mines operated so much as six days out of seven; about one-fifth of the bi+ tuminous mine workers were employed less thaw three divs a week. | Prom 1923 ro 1929, the rumber of bituminous mines in operation hy been reduced from 9,331 t06,057; each worker's daliy output was being | pushed up by mechanical changes and by speed- | ing up of work; wages had been pushed down, | and the workers’ resistance. to wage cuts had been weakened and betrayed by “leaders” in the reactionary United Mine Workers of America, So in the course of six years, while the capi- talist class boasted of American “prosperity,” the average daily earnings of bituminous workers had been cut about 16 per cent and the num- ber employed in the industry iad heen reduced from 705,000 to 592,000, 1a the anthracite mines Eastern Pennsylvania), work had been more reg- ular than in the bituminous ‘nines, but here also the situation of some 165,000 workers had keen sharp.y worsened before 1929. Manufacturing and transportation were in- creasing output with a decreasing number of workers. Men thrown out of the coal mines found it exceedingly difficult 10 get ‘jobs in -any other industry, Most of them were in the “reserve” of unemployed workers from all in- dustries which had grown to a total of about 4,000,000 before the great crash at the end of 1929. | The general crisis in capitalist industry brought the 1931 production of bituminous coal 29 per cent and anthracite 19 per cent below the ton- nage produced ni 1929. Further wage cuts haye swept through the bituminous fields. More mines have been closed. The great majority of active mines are now operating less than four days a week. Even the official U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics admits that 20 per cent of the nine workers employed in 1929 are now cut of the industry and that total payrolls have fallen by more than one-third in the anthracite mines and by nearly one-half in the bituminous mines. In this basic industry, “prosperous” American capitalism paid most of the workers too little to support a family according to standards of living set up for the workers by welfare agencies of the capitalist class, Crisis capitalism has rought most of those who are still employed down to # wage which cannot provide food, clothing and shelter. Thousands of jobless miners and their families are literally starving. tunity presents itself to hurl them against the Soviet. Union. While Pilsudski “pacifies” Polish Ukraine with the bayonet he utilizes Trotsky’s articles in his press to check any reprisals by the workers against him, and to prevent them from joining hands with their fellow workers over the border in Soviet Russia. Any worker who has sup- ported the opposition as I did at one time, must recognize that he has not acted as a Bolshevik but has merely strengthened his clas» enemies, By attacking the Party leadership, he attemnts to discredit the revolutionary struggle of the workers, by attacking the Soviet Union, he at- tempts to discredit Socialism. By using Bolshevik self-criticism and recogniz- ing my mistakes, I can hope to rectify them by lining up in the struggle, and I call upon the workers on the waterfront to join up, in the Marine Workers’ Industrial Union, and follow the revolutionary leadership which has proven itself capable of leading the struggle against the shipowners and their allies. Lenin once said: “Let the mistakes of the past guide us in the future.” And so comrades, I hope in the future to prove myself worthy of the trust of the Party of Bolshevik Leninism. livery class-conscious worker mul throw him- self into line for the defense of the Saviet Unio: For the success of the Five Year Plan for building Socialism! For the defeat of all enemies of the nine class! Yours for the Revolnsiiel 4