The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 3, 1932, Page 4

Page Four 13th St, New York City. N. ¥. & Wublished by the Comprodaily Publishing Co., ine, daily except Bunday, at 60 East Telephone ALgonquin 4-7956. Cable “DAIWORK.= “Adéress and mai! all checks to the Daily Worker, 66 Bast 18th Street, New York; N.Y. i! By JAMES W. FORD Article No. 11. N previous articles I have j F ~<dealt with the arguments of most of the 14 bourgeois Negro editors who took part y replies to deal | JAMES FORD Proposed Candidate of the Communist Party or President, Ww. Vice-= the Communism shown in two re Worker, haunted lik ference of the Advancement of Both the sy conference were ma ing of new dame he rising struggles c 2 inst imperialism and to com- of the Communist lers A Bourgeois Symposium. register the further fact two exceptions the petty ded fr e up the bulk @ pre-co! on whic Na Color mposiw to nposium thus became Dr. rgeois admits in hi nposium. summii If, many s, have been t and believe group -of alistic mine.— in it, ich so summir to pose -up editorial, Dr. Du Bois at- impartial. He pretends to of the opinions ex- without directly com- recommendation for He admits that w anything about yed to write vertheless he Communism. ly enlightened position he re- drivel and nonsense from the pens.of w rs whom he admits have no knowl- edge of their subject. He lines up definitely and fundamentally with the most reactionary of the 14 editors in so far as they reflect the policies of the white ruling class. In his pre- tended impartial survey of the opinions of these editors, Dr. Du Bois states: “Thi express grave doubts as to whether of the working class in America is ig to accept the equality of colored as which they peddles their From his appa: ents against “This,” declares Dr. Du Bois, “is the real crux of the situation. It canpot be dismissed by any dogmatic assertion. The history of American labor gives only too strong support to the Negro’s fears.” The- argument that Communism will not change the working class might as well have been made of the Communist Party in Russia. | It might as well have been argued that Com- munism could not have won the Great Russians away from the Tsarist-capitalist policy of butch- ering the Jews. Yet, today there are no Pogroms in Soviet Russia. The Jews and other formerly brutally oppressed minorities are today living in absolute security and on a basis of com- plete equality with the Great Russians. Dr. Du> Bois’ condescending statement that few of | By ROBERT JULIEN KENTON 'VER since 1920, when the National Defense Act. was passed, the government has steadily and.surely pushed forward its plans for war. All the factors necessary to the successful pro- secution of war have been examined. Nothing has been overlooked—the problem of labor, the Telation of government to business, the schools, raw materials—nothing. Asa result of the very inefficient (from a capitalist viewpoint) handling of the last war, the government arrived at several conclusions: ‘1. The need for a closer tie-up with bus- iness in peace time as well as in war time. 2. The setting up of an efficient war ma- chine by militarizing industry before war breaks out. s 3... A planned development of the instru- ments of war. 4,.The extension of its authority to those weak countries which contain raw material vital to American imperialism. 5..The value of a closer link with the schools and colleges. %< The need for a more stringent curb on labor, and related to it the drive for an anti- Soviet alliance under its own hegemony. Tt will be interesting to study in detail the practical working out of these conclusions. YewBleven years ago, the government fostered the organization of business men and army of- ficers. It is ‘"nown as ~~ © dnance As- Sociation. J‘ -urpo~ wa “nd is: how best business may aid the government in executing the war orders and business. About a dozen posts have already been established throughout the country. The New York Ordnance Post is composed of representatives of several well known anti- labor, Soviet-hating corporations. Its Vice Pres- ident is Samuel McRoberts, chairman of Finance Committee of Armour and Co., chairman of Board of the Chatham Phoenix Bank, a director of the Consolidated Coal Co. of the Austin Machinery Corp., of the Ameriéan Sugar Refin- ing Co. and of several insurance and railroad companies. The chairman of the Executive Committee is Charles Eliot Warren of the Irving National Bank, and president and director of several railroads. ‘The Bridgeport Post shows a similar collec- fom. We have John H. Grois, vice-president oF a ~ COMMUNISM AND THE NEGRO the 14 editors know anything about revolution- Yy Socialism and its application in the Soviet Union can as properly be applied to himself. He quite evidently has made no study of the successful solution of the national question in | the Soviet Union. “Voluntary Co-operation of Peoples.” Avrahm Yarmolinsky, professor at Columbia University, in his book “The Jews and Other Minor Nationalities Under the Soviets” (published by Vanguard Press) makes the following contrast between the poli- cies of the old Tsarist regime and the Soviet Government: While the old regime, particularly in its last years, was based upon the supremacy of the Great Russians, the new order is opposed to the domination of any one national group by an- other, Those who controlled the destinies of the empire acted upon the belief that to hold it together it was necessary to suppress the cul- tures of the non-Russian elements. The Com- munists who steer the Soviet ship of state act on the theory that the strength of the Socialist commonwealth depends upon the voluntary co- operation of peoples enjoying political and cul- tural autonomy. Indeed, the Soviet Union is es- sentially an alliance not of states but of peoples, that is, of peoples led by the workers and peas- ants, the new regime is self-determination for all sub- ject nationalit'ts. ...” ‘inciples behind this policy are old revo- doctrines. Long before the Bevolu- 1, Lenin wrote: “Just as mankind can come to the abolition of classes only through the transitional period of the dictatorship of the oppressed class, so mankind can come to the inevitable fusion of nations only through the period of complete emancipation of all the oppressed nations, i, e., self-determination.” And, under the Soviet. Government, the Great Russian massés have been won to this cardinal principle of Commiunism. But, say. the bour- geois Negro editors, the American white workers are by nature “different.” This. is precisely the gument of the white bourgeoisie against the | Negroes—that the Negroes are “different” by nature from the white workers. These bourgeois Negro editors mignt. just as well say that Ne- The absurdity of this is ro2s are inferior. clear to every one. Tt is not the character of the white workers | that acocunts for the hateful attitude of large sections toward the Negroes, but rather the white ruling class policies put into effect within the working class. by the Greens, the Wolls and other misleaders of the American workers. ‘These misleaders are the social bearers of the im- perialist poison of white chauvinism among the working class. And it is precisely against these traitors that the Communist Party carries on a relentless struggle 'to- expose their role as agents and tools of the’ white bourgeoisie for the split- ting of the working class and the weakening of ————————————————————————————— June Issue of. “The Communist” CONTENTS | 1. The Imperialist Offensive and the Fourteenth Plenum of the Central Committee. » The Struggle for the Majority of the Working Class and Our Mass Work. By O, Kuusinen pn 3. Some Elementary Phases of the Work In the Reformist Trade Unions. By Wm. Z. Foster... 4. Fascism, Social Democracy and Communism. By W. Knorin. 5. Lessons of Two Recent Strikes. In the Light of the E.C.C.I. Resolution on “Lessons of Strike Struggles In U.S.A.” By Jack Stachel. | 6& The War Offensive—Tightening the Capital- ist Dictatorship In the United States, By Bill Dunne. 7. The Second Five-Year Plan. By Moigsaye J. Olgin. 8. Marxism and the National Problem. By J. Stalin. 9. Lenin On Literature. @ Jewish writer and | The chief plank in the national policy of | | its struggles against the white bourgeoisie, Racial attitudes proceed not from nature, but from the policies of the ruling class and their agents, In the Communist Manifesto, Marx and | Engals pointed this out: that mental production changes concomitantly with material production. In every epoch, the ruling ideas have been the ideas of the ruling class.” (Emphasis mine—J. W. F.) Even the most casual study of cultural trends in the Soviet Unién, on one hand, and in the decaying capitalist world on the other, will af- ford convincing proof of this brilliant analysis by. the founders of scientific Socialism. There is as little reason to assume a fatal- istic attitude on the ultimate attitude of American white workers as there is to assume a fatalistic view that the Negroes are inher- ently incapable of the same accomplishments as whites. The one argument is as “good” as the other. RaisetheTheoreticalLevel; Double the Circulation of “The Communist’ By SAM DON. ‘HE class lines are being drawn clearly. We are in the midst of growing decisive battles between the toiling masses and the ruling class. In this situation the initiative of the masses can and must be brought to the highest expres- sion. “The native intelligence and militancy of the workers, enriched and deepened with the revolutionary content of Marxism and Leninism, will develop undreamed of eapacities for revolu- tionary leadership and heroism. The growing severity of the class struggles in the United States deepens the waning waith of the masses in American democracy, in the in- vincibility of American capitalism. The workers ate looking for a way out of the present crisis. They are looking for leadership. They are eager for new ideas. In face of this the old tradi- tional American contempt for theory beginning to be undermined. Can we say that we have sufficently realized, not in words but in DEEDS, the growing inter- est in Communism, in Marxism-Leninism, in the growing eagerness for theoretical studies? It must be admitted that we have not. We will merely mention the very slow growth of | circulation of the COMMUNIST. And here it is necessary to state quite frankly that one of the main reasons for the small circulation of the , COMMUNIST is the fact that many of the lead- ing functionaries of the Party take no PER- SONAL interest in the COMMUNIST, make no attempts to popularize it amongst the member- ship and the revolutionary workers, ‘We complain that the political level is low. “We speak continually of the need of raising the the- orétical level of the membership. We’ em- phasize. the importance of the unity of theory and practice. Yet ... the COMMUNIST does | not receive the organized and concentrated at- tention that it deserves. The great majority of the present Party mem- bership is new. We are faced with the real task of helping the new members becoming assim- ilated in the Party. The raising of the theo- retical Jevel of the Party is inseparably linked up with the training of new members. In addi- tion to simple propaganda literature, the COM- MUNIST ¢an become an invaluable weapon in the training of new members. In speaking of the importance of theory, Comrade Stalin said: “Theory, and only theory, can add to the movement certainty, the power of orientation and understanding of the inner connection of surrounding events; theory, and only theory, may enable practice to understand not only how the classes are moving at pres- ent, but also how and to where they must turn in the near future.” It is in the spirit of Comrade Stalin's remar, conscious of the great tasks facing the Party, that the raising of the theoretical level of the Party must be taken up. the Scoville Manufacturing Co.; Col. L. J, Her- mann, Works Manager of the Remington Arms; G. H. Pease of the New Britain Machine Co.; and M. Stone, President of the Colts’ Patent Fire Arms Co. War Makers’ Committee The Army Ordnance Association is also be- ing aided by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce to which is affiliated 18,000 business organiza- tions in this country. This group has organized @ National Defense Committee. This committee has as its membership F. J. Haynes of Durant Motor Works; A. Brousseau, President of Mack Truck Co.; W. L. Clause of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass © C. W. Davis of Dallas Light and Power Co.; Carl Gray of the Union Pacific System; and Kent Hubbard of the Connecticut Manufacturers Assn.—as choice a collection of anti-wor' ing clas$ individuals as could be found anywhere. The Association has also dragooned the aid of the American Society of Mechanical En- gineers. This society has created a special sec- tion devoted exclusively to war problems. It is known as the National Defense Division. Besides these there are many minor groups devoted to the same purpose. < 2. The country has been divided.into 14 pro- curement districts and 71 local sections under the control of the Ordnance Department. At- tached to each district is an ordnance officer whose function it is to effect contact with the manufacturers in his district. James L, Walsh writes, “the total army requirementc for ord- nance have been broken up into district quotas, and manufacturers in each district have been designated to practically all the more important, items.” (Army Ordnance, July, 1930.) Army Officers For Industrial Plants Attempts are being made to carry this milit- arization a step further. Walsh continues, “There is a growing demand that full time of- ficers be assigned to each individual plant to give continuous assistance in the preparation of the factory’s emergency production plan.” And, of course, if workers found it necessary to strike for decent living conditions, these full time army officers would be right there to assist in carry- ing out the factory’s production plan—by shoot- ing down the workers. ~ ‘ Factories all over the. coi their war plans to the War are gone over and returnedto:the: it. “Fhese factories. To.further their plans a bill is be- ing pushes through Congress, which will enable the government to issue “educational orders” so as to train factories for the efficient production of materials designed to murder millions of workers and peasants. The various organizations are to be under the control of a central administration. ‘“‘Represent- atives of labor (read: misleaders of labor), of manufacturers, of producers of raw materials, and so on, must combine in an organization un- der the President to guide our individual ef- forts along those lines that will insure speedy victory,” wrote F. H. Payne, Assistant Secret- ary of War, in Army Ordnance, July, 1930. 3. We have noted the work of the National Defense Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. It has been discovered that a mechanized army is cheaper than one not so equipped—that is, the cost of killing a soldier is less. Struggle For War Material 4, “Since the United States is not self-sus- taining with respect to nitrogen compounds, the Chilean nitrate, one of the essential materials in this country during the World War....is of continued interest to those concerned with mat- erials and munitions of war,” (W. Rinkenbach, Chief Chemist, Picatunny Arsenal, in Army Ord- nance for September, 1930.) The United States is déficient in a great many raw materials. This is one of the major reasons for its conflict. with British imperialism in South America, for “Our” entrance into Chile and Bolivia, “our” hold on Hawali, the search for rubber of Firestone in Liberia and Ford in ‘Brazil. 5. In its drive to war, the government has not overlooked the schools and colleges. Milit- ary training is now given in many of our insti- tutions. Summer camps have been set up to carry this training into the field. About a dozen universitiés have arranged courses for the training of ordnance students. The number of such universities is slowly but steadily increas- ing. i 6. The question of the control of labor is the weak spot of thé whole plan effecting speci- ally points #2) and (4). The question’ that haunts the war makers is: What will labor do? In_the meantime they are proceeding with their plans for the militarization of labor. Some suggest that labor can be conscripted into an Ps , | 'HE Indianapolis section in Southern and Cen- tral Indiana is a new section of the Party embracing mainly native American workers, the majority of whom come from Pioncer: stock. ‘They are -part of the decisive section of, the American proletariat. Criticism of Wrong Methods of Work These new militant workers who joined our Party invariably offered consttiictive ‘criticism on the WRONG METHODS OF WORK of the Party, especially on our wrong approach to the native worker. We weren't fusing with the Am- erican worker. We didn’t speak his lingo but some strange jargon. And our ‘foreign’ ahd high falutin language was simply evidence of our sectarian, formal and burocratiec approach to the American workers. We didn’t try to find out thru close contact with .these workers their most intimate needs and moods. We didn’t have faith in the cre+ ative power of the workers and tried to activize them from on top instead of developing the ac tivities of the masses who were NOT inert un- der the blows of the crisis. It was in this situation that the Fourteenth Plenum resolutions came to our Indiana Com- munists as a beacon light. Their immediate enthusiastic response to the app-arance of the Resolutions in the Dajly Worker indicated that the Central Committee. had found the key. to “Overcome the isolation, of the. Party from the decisive sections of the American proletariat.” The comrades said: “This resolution is what we've been hollering for. Now we will build the” UNITED STATES PLANS FOR WAR industrial army and sent back to their every- day tasks—at army pay and maintenance. Others oppose this, fearing a revolution by the workers. To the latter: school belongs C. B. Ross, in the office of the Assistant Secretary of War. Bernard Baruch, furious at the thought that workers during the last war were paid a sum that enabled them to keep the wolf from the door, suggests that prices, including wages, be kept at the level they are now—that is, the maintenance of the starvation wages paid to- day. His promise that commodity prices would also be kept down is aut worth the paper it is printed on. Shipping Arms To Japan The attitude of the United States to the Sov~ iet Union is so well known that it is unneces- sary to cite instances. Today, when Japan is driving to war with the Soviet Union, we learn of shipments of arms and cotton needed for ex- plosives being sent from United States to Japan. All this is done with the approval of the gov- ernment. Was it not President Hoover, one time mine-owner in Czarist Russia who said “4t is the ambition of my life to see the Soviet Union overthrown”? < Hoffman Nickerson in the Army Ordnance for January, 1931, has this to say:s‘there has arisen in Russia a government possessed by a new and intense religion known as communism, and should the existing communist crusade gain headway in Europe, and should non-communist elements abroad turn to us for help, we might see fit to join in an anti-communist crusade.” I can close in no better way than by quoting from three typical patriots who are helping to prepare for the next imperialist slaughter: 1. “Human race develops by war. Races per- ish in peace. Culture is increased -by the: in- vention of new weapons.” Dean Hoover — brother of President Hoover, July, 1930, in Quartermaster Review. 2. “If armies,went to war today, the con- fusion and loss of life would be catastrophic. ., The infantry ere but (ank foddai.” Meior Gen- cral Fuller of British Army, in Army Ordnance for Jatiuary, 1931. 3. “Social discontent intensified by. radical _. agitators now, has become the. problent :ofin-_ dustry for enormous investments of capital are at stake.” 'T. G. Gerlach, President, Iinois Man. 1931. ufacturers Assn., Natiénal Defense for Dec. PA Toward Revolutionary Mass Work ( Peon) By NAT ROSS Party.. Now we will have some real action.” To make sure that the resolution which has found its way ‘into the heart of the rank and file is actually translated into a correct mass policy, it is necessary to continue the broadest discussion of this resolution among the workers in e spirit of real self criticism for the develop- ment of mass struggles. It is necessary to have the . widest. exchange of all our experiences on our-tmethods of. work. one 4 Developing Leaders I- want to deal briefly with two points in the main resolution. The resolution states that “The ©.C. must devote particularly careful attention to the development and proper utili- zation of Party cadres.” This certainly holds true for the lower committees also. We find that many if not most workers who join the Party do so not because of theoretical convic- tion but more so because they feel father instinc- tively that the Party is the fighter against the bosses and capitalism. And it is precisely out of these workers (some of whom never heard of Marx and others of whom can scatcély read) that we must build the Party cadres, as we have done by way of a beginning in Indiana. In developing cadres we found that it is es- pecially necessary to pay attention to workers from the big shops. .We found that one of the biggest handicaps vas the feeling. of in” “-~ity | of. these workers, when it, came to do leading and important work. It is necessary to spend hours with these pro- mising but at times timid workers to help break ‘the capitalist poison of inferiority, giving them confidence, explaining in detail how to carry on a certain task, and working together with them to carry out other tasks, Once we do this we will develop many lead- who will give us the kéy to a proper mass policy. And. it is: precisely out of the. mass, struggles that we will get the best material for our Par- ty cadres. trying to unloose the energy, enthusiasni and organizational ability which lie dormant in many simple workers. Along with this personal guidance and con- tact in development of cadres must go the ten- fold increase of theoretical training based on the experiences of the workers themselves. One word on the utilization of cadreS. In the sections especially there is too much of a tendency to damn comrades wh ‘iow faults or make mistakes without a more Bolshevik de- termination to help these comrades to overcome their weaknesses and to place the comrades | where they are best fitted. There is too much of a fatalistic approach and a utopian desire for perfection on this question. Cne of our com-ndes was damned by mosi of the Section Committee because of some personal misconduct but the fact is that this comrade has developed into the best mass leader in the section after ove or of us patiently worked with him to help hi overcome his personal weekness, This particular comrade was a Ne- gro and here it must be stated that in the sec- tions and districts there kas been a gross un- derestimation of the possibility of developing leading fighters from.the Negro -oletariat, No Get Rich Quick Methods in Factory Work. The final point I want to touch on briefly is the statement in the resolution that “the first essential condition, for successful work in the factory is daily contact with the mass of work- ers in it and thorough knowledge of the posi- tion.of the workers in the factory and of the concrete conditions for struggle.” This cannot be stressed too much or too often. Heretofore either we werd so dead we didn’t reci‘uit a single new member in our shop nucleus for yeers or else we went to avother extreme «id were too much in © burr) te call a strike, and to get rich quick so to speak. It is neces- sary in preparation for strike struggles to stop and’ study the conditions of the workers in the “plant in their “‘minutest Pi iyi ‘We must learn to/be. more patient in our factory work, getting in-touch with’ one: ers from below who are part of the masses and_ At the same time it is. necessary. to be bold in advancing proletarian elements, in this way |” | unter was the cry. DISCUSSION OF THE. 14TH PLENUM Methods of Shop Work--Training New Cadres} workers, talking WITH them and not TO them . for hours, trying to feel our way to the little | needs and the mood of the workers in the fac- tory or @ particular department. In the Sears plant in Indianapolis, where we had a near sirike situation, where 14 workers gave us their names for the grievance committee, we finally lost. contact, with these workers. Why? We didn’t actually establish daily contact with them -get. thorough knowledge of the doings in the plant. We didn’t seriously try to develop leadership from the workers themselves by pay- ing attention to a couple of the more promising workers. We even went so far as to send a petty-bour- geois opportunist to represent us at a grievance committee meeting. This shows thet we weren't taking seriously our task of merging with the workers and leading them in struggle on the basis of their most immediate grievances. In the large Delco Remy shop (a General Mo- tors Subsidiary) in Anderson, Indiana, we had @ different experience. Here we were developing excellent leaders from the workers themselves. Our comredes in the plate despite a number of: mistakes (tolerating a spy around the grievance contmittee, etc.) had gotten the workers in mass motién as a result of a petition, campaign in- Side the plant agains; the community fund racket. x Our comrades had daily contact with the work- ers, knew the conditions of the workers and reached the most burning needs of the work- ers at the RIGHT MOMENT. That is why in the Remy: plant we have the possibiliiy of a real struggle against the General Motors offen- sive, Why Workers Find It Diffi- cult to Stay in the Party N' the resolution of the 14th Plenum, A tip on the fluctuation’ of the Communist Party membership. * ¥ > Last February I was urging a Shopmate to come with me to a nucleus meeting. He agreed and attended one meeting, but the next week he refused. Here arc the reasons why, and what he said. When we first got to the meeting I intro- duced him and he sat close to me. As usual, routine work was discussed, the Daily Worker distribution was taken up—somebody to vol- My shopmate was then asked whether he had any time for that. Then when the ques- tion of leaflet distribution came up he again was asked todo that. But that isn't all. He was also asked whether he could work with the Negro director. Then, learning that he only works ‘four days a week, he was asked to assist the ‘unemployed council. But here the comrades did not stop. He was also asked ‘to attend the food workers’ meeting, and join the union; to join the I. L. D, and to assist in the nucleus affair that was to take “place the following week. Now on some financial matters. After having pought a ticket for 35 cents for the nucleus affair, he also bought the Labor Unity for 10 cents, the Communist for 20 cenis, two Inprecorrs for 20 cents, Working Woman tor 5 cents, Daily Worker for 5 cents and the Western Worker for 5 cents. ‘To make the picture complete an appeal for funds was made and he chipped in 50 cents, after he saw me giving another 50 canis to cover the budget for printing, etc, The next day he asked me jokingly: “What kind of a racket do you fellows have?” 1 asked him what he meant. “Well, he said, “to be trank with you, brother, the Commu- nist Party ig toe much for me. HK cost me ¥ in one evering ard if } wenld coal (at tie ® wou'd not Pave for phe lo we th’s week, and for $2 1 cov'd buy shdes for my children, Its too muci for me.” Now comrades, these are the facts. Take them for what they mean. Kd ‘Los Angeles,