The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 2, 1933, Page 4

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1938 ne OUT OF THE MINES, MILLS AND FACTORIES Why Do We Carry On Our Mass Work in the Basic Industries? | . | | By EARL BROWDER IHE first point in shop concentration is picking out the shop to concentrate on. There are three guiding lines for the picking out of a shop. First, we must make our main points the biggest, most important key shops in each industry and each locality. If we do not do that, we are running away from the main problem. The main important forces, the most able forces must be directed towards these, which are usually also the most difficult points. At the same time, let us keep in mind what the Detroit | tomrades described as picking out the strongest and weak- | est links for concentration. Some of the first successes of the Auto Workers’ Union came from concentrating not only on the biggest plants, but simultaneously also on some of the weaker and smaller plants. And especially when these can be combined in one region, one town, this combination will| locality, in a shop or organization, within a mass movement, | will very often set the whole mass into motion and bring them either under our leadership, or at least in the direction, | moving towards us. ‘st, In this respect, we have to give the most serious atten- tion to the problems of consolidating the organization during | and after an action. One of the most important contribu- | tions to our movément in this‘whole last period, has been the} nut pickers’ strike in St.dUotlis, precisely because it gave us a living example of the consolidation of a mass organization | in the course of the strugg}e;maintaining it after the strug-| gle. We see that this whole problem is a problem of in-| volving the new members in tasks within the organtzahion;| inside the shop, and also giying them tasks outside the shop, | in spreading the org ranization: into other shops, and even into other industries. | often be found very valuable. Of course, where we have | forces on the inside, this is often a good reason for beginning some concentrated work on the factory. Every factory is to be studied concretely and a concrete| olan of ¢ campaign mapped out. All that we can learn from other experiences is the general principle, to learn the mis- takes to be avoided, to learn words these concrete questions. ferent’ problems—big factories how to direct our forces to- Different factories have dif-| different ones from the little, | and all the experiences we have gained help us in all factory | work. We have to work out special problems of approaching different kinds of industry. We must not at the same time forget that in all of the shop work the question of conspiracy is more and more im- portant, the question of illegal work, how to get open organ- ization and at the same time protect the organization on the inside. In all of this work one of the things that we must learn} is how to make use of small successes, to proceed further. We are often in this fix: as long as we are not successful in an immediate objective we always know just what to do. But} when we win, do not know how to move from one success to another. we don’t always know what to do next. Vel try, but a little organizatién' in light industry will not swing) heavy industry into motion. That is, we concentrate on heavy| * HE problem of penetration of the shops and the problem} of the development of the strike movement, the problem of building the trade unions, is confidence among the masses must accomplish by showing them that we know how to do| main feature is the other way around, that heavy industry} things, by winning one ‘thing there, and carrying through the problem of how to develop in our leadership. This we} here and winning one thing} certain action, and always | making one thing lead to another, to a higher stage of strug-| gle. or broadening out the struggle, or deepening the polit-| jéal:character of it. ward to another one. basie principles of concentration. Whyv do we concentrate on one’ key shop? Moving from success to success, making of ‘every success the foundation of immediately moving for- Is it because | wé think that this big shop is important, but the whole indus-| W | the Party. * * FEW words about the, concentration industries and dis- tricts. Here it is necessary to utter just a little word of warning against some tendencies of crystallizing some} brother theories to go along with the theory of concentration. | Some comrades want to emphasize that concentration on one| thing means the neglect of another. Now it is often true that we are so badly organized ourselves, and so badly pre- pared to concentrate that in our first beginnings of concen- tration we willtend to neglect other things. make a theory of it and justify that neglect. But let’s not No. And espe- cially, let’s not only avoid, but let’s set ourselves the task of stamping out of any such tendency. The building of our forces in the basic industries is our first and central basic concentration, not because we do not want workers in light industry or because it is not important, but because we can quicker win the masses and can consoli- date the revolutionary organization among the masses by| making our base the heavy industry. tance of heavy industry is that a little organization there will) Precisely the impor-| swing into action a broad number of workers in light indus- industry because it is a lever by which we can move the whole mass. movement. The whole mass of workers are every one of them is equally important for the revolutionary | Factories in light industry can also be made to} | the Marx-Lenin literature and illus- “our workers,” and help serve the task of conquering heavy industry, although the industry into action. * * HAT are our instruments of concentration? sary first of all to emphasize that the concentration | And in this respect, we have one of the| point for all our work is the unit and the section of | The Section organizations of the Party are) going to be the backbone of the Party, and if the sections are, weak the Party will be weak. strong consolidated collective leadership with political initi- | gives us a lever by which we’can bring workers in the light} * It is neces- If the sections do not have The Open Letter ic calling for int tensified activity was very good. It may be criticized in that it offered no concrete plan for expanding the work. A plan for intensified action should be formulated. My suggestion, and it can be modified, is as follows: Each Party member should be call- ed upon to produce at least ten new, thoroughly grounded worker-mem- | bers in the next three months. This would bring the Party~ organization up to 200,000, and prepare the way for better mass work. In order to bring these new mem- bers into the Party close personal | contact is necessary every day or every other day, with the members taking the novitiates carefully thru trating the points with contemporary examples. While this intensified personal work is going on mass work should, of course, continue. Mass speaking, ‘Lithuanian Buro Fully Endorses the Open Letter This is the first resolution re- Becoming a Mass Party however, necessarily makes it im- possible, to go deeply into all the problems confronting the workers and farmers. Concentrated work over a small area, done pargllel with the mass work, would yield excellent re- sults and would make possible a broader mass effort within a short time. By concentrating the work the natural questionings and doubts of newcomers to the Party would be answered directly as they came up. By conducting work of this sort the Party member and the prospective member would have ample time and opportunity to size each other up, to exchange notes and confidence. Also, the prospective member would quick- ly discover that the Party is ground- ed in practical theory and makes use of a scientific revolutionary appar- atus. Many workers now feel, after listening to Party speakers, that it is all very opportunist, that the Party may be here today and gone tomor- row. They fail to grasp the historical continuity of the working-class movement, fail to realize that every- thing the working-class has today The letter from A. G. emphasizes two points: 1, That the Open Letter does not offer a concrete plan-for expand- ing the work of the Party. We want to discuss some of the points. Does the Open Letter provide the key by which the Party can over- come the present situation and move forward on the road towards becom~- ing a mass party? The Open Letter. analyzes the’ facts that the tasks laid down in the 14th Plenum Resolution adopted by our Party last April, which included “the organization of a firm basis among the decisive strata of the American workers;” “The con- solidation and strengthening of the revolutionary trade unions, especially among the miners, steel and metal, textile and marine workers,” “the de- velopment of the movement for un- employment insurance”; “the trans- formation of the Daily Worker into a mass revolutionary paper”; “and the establishment of colective léadership and the development of wide cadres,” were not carried out. ‘The Open Letter gives the reasons Letters on Carrying Out the. Open Letter Open Letter Provides Key Key by by Which the Party _~Can Move Forward on the Road Towards ie out the most important large plants firmly entrenching the Party and the revolutionary trade unions thru persistent day to day activity. and then outlines 8 tasks for the, Party. But it not only outlines these! tasks, it states how to carry thru these tasks. -But the Open Letter points out that if the Party is to carry thru these tasks, if it is to begin to move in the direction of reaching, organiz- ing and winning the workers in the decisive industries, these tasks must be concretized by each district, by each section, by each unit. “In order to get the Party now firmly rooted among the decisive elements of the American workers, it must in all seri- ousness carry out the concentration on special factories, districts and sec- tions. The center of gravity of Party work must be shifted to the develop~ ment of the lower organizations, the factory nuclei, local Sn. and street nuclei.” Open Letter Guide to. Youth Activity SaysYoungWorker try is not important? By no means! Our concentration| ceived from any of the Language for the failure to carry thru these et giro ; \abtdacaes * * * (the eight hour day, unions, etc. etc.) 3 “Brooklyn, N.Y. dees hot mean narrowing down. Our concentration is to| ative with capacity and self-confidence, then the Party will) Bureaus in connection with the | 125 been won by working-class strug- | °77CCt Political tasks and states: : July bs, ioe, “Every Party member must now " win‘a strategic point precisely bacause a success there will | move the entire industry, or move at least the entire locality, | whereas if we concentrate on the whole locality and the whole industry, it will take us so long to move it that the workers will be somewhere else by the time we get anything done.” RHE whole principle of concentration is to thrcow all the} =4 forces into one point, and win a success there, and by that | suecess you double your forces, and can go on to move the entire mass. ae we The very example of a success in a strategic not move forward. We must make-ase of every means of) | concentration, every feature of our work must carry through the principle of concentration—Party organizations, trade unions, unemployed councils, workers’ clubs, I. W. O., I. L. D., language clubs, language press, all of these are tremendous instruments for us. We often forget that the language or- ganizations and the language press are still our greatest mass | instrument or could be if we would make intelligent use of | them. But the point we must continue to emphasize is that the central instrument for carrying through the turn to the masses, is the Party section and the Party unit. Nihisloondaets Try to Form Slavery Act ‘Auto gion tasks confronting them in the light of the Open Letter. We call upon all language bureaus, all district committees, section committees and units to send in their resolutions outlining the tasks facing them in connection with Voge Open Letter. RESOLUTION oh THE OPEN Adopted at ae Paioiah Central Buro, July 21, 1933 To the Central Committee of the Communist Party: Dear Comrades: We wholeheartedly endorse the “Open Letter” of the Extraordinary Party Conference and promise to carry out in practice its letter and its spirit. The frank and sharp criticism of the failures of our Party as a whole and of its leadership in par- gle for more than 100 years. I was very glad to see the Open Letter because I have for some time thought the Party was, in its present tactics (not policy), somewhat to the right of mass working-class senti- ment. The working class sentiment of the nation is, at this time, very, very radical. The trouble is that this spirit of rebellion is not chan- nelled properly. The workers cannot see the enemy, and think it is what the radio announcers call Old Man Depression, what the capitalist press |calls hard times and what econom- ists call a dip in the business cycle. ‘The~workers need personal heart- to-heart talks by Party members, need to be instructed in the Marxian literature, need to have pointed out to them the dangers of Socialist, A. F. of L. and Musteite leadership. understand that it depends on cor- rect policy and aboye all, the ex- ecution of correct policy, whether we will be able to mobilize the masses of workers for struggle and whether our Party, in this histori- cally favorable situation, will be- come thé decisive mass Party of the American proletariat .. .” But the 14th Plenum resolution had emphasized this. Here we find the 14th Plenum Resolution outlined: “In order that the Party be in a position to carry out these main tasks, it must give the most care- ful attention in all its work to the application of a correct mass policy. This correct mass policy consists in developing the mass struggle of the workers, the working women and the young workers, on the basis of Dear Comrade Editor: Comrades, I want you to know that this is my first letter to the “Daily.” I am writing this with Wednesday's frets lying on my lap. Comrade Browder’s article put the pen in my ‘I find myself in a club composed of about fifty young workers and students, all of whom have a healthy opinion of our Party. But they are finding it hard to reconcile this gen- eral opinion with their opinion of League and Party members within the club. non-Party members. They have read it eagerly, looking for an explanation to- our laxity. Our discussions are now taking on more political character. Though we By A. B. MAGIL. attacked Wall Street and the big decidedly a dud. Weidemann had| the local cleaners’ and dyers’ strike,| ticular fully applies to the Lithu- Careful Instruction Needed their immediate economic and poli- DETROIT. Mich—Theve was 2| Danks while whooping it up for the| stolen the whole show. Dingell’s) ‘The essence of his speech was con- anian revolutionary movement and! ‘The Daily Worker is an excellent | tical needs;-as they arise ecten takes pee out with a fraction of about Reg a trump card was the fact that he is) tained in the statement: “We don’t] particularly to the Communist frac-|means of introduction in some in-| life and work, and conflicts with eee ae ina thet Oper Lareeaa gebdly crowd on hand for the meet- ing at the Cass Technical High School Wall Street bankers’ slavery bill. Most of the time, about the Industrial Recovery however, he forgot all Act, | still a member in good standing of the International ‘Typographical | want to organize you in the A. F. of L. to strike.” tions and their leadership—the Lith- uanian Central Buro. stances, but it is most effective in mass efforts to capture the soul of the employers, reformist bureau- crats, the state, etc. This’ means, a-solid basis of work and hope to refresh our ranks through concrete last Tuesday night, advertised as be-| ongh . : = | but instead waxed eloquent on the| Union. He played it for all it was} Collins ended the meeting with It is true that we have successfully|the uninstructed worker. In too| furth that th struggles ing especially for the benefit of the| = BE spr eta ig Wi an urthermore, ese stru actions. ait workers whom the A. F. of 1,|ublect of ‘That Wonderful Human worth i 16 ae him very far) appeal for members in the new scab see acincatinth Gan Beneath many cases that T know of workers, must be carried through on the | ‘Yours comcadaiy: legders are trying to organize into| Tith appeals for votes. Beare fond of “trotting” out Tignes | tar are ag Teer tite | we iwate able ,f0\tnaintait: cu, tWal Anaratncratioe Have Yount tiostantal CoaMOD aE ee te team ae pate gee @ S¢ab union under the Industrial] “1? aPPeals for votes. R “aintonal “TBR Aeon ihe capitalist wanted to ask questions were immed- daily papers in spite of the crisis, and he ned ae gts d the facts! and that the tasks of the Commu- | ‘The comrade from the efub Sisvery Avi. Among those present) tna. “Taiways do what's just and| polticlans, Thus OE the 1030 AE | ately ghut- up and no discussion was| Sra" that we have done some reallthan they could take in steady doses, | Tists are precisely to develop and | raises several problems before mem were many members of the Auto|‘! ._ T always do what's | : od } -| organize this activity and initative | bers of the Part : e i d f L. convention in Boston, I heard| Pater revolutionary work among the Lithu-|1 know of cases where workers have ros iy working in mass Workers Union and other militant] Tight. There ain't any man in the ie % | Appropriately enough, the meeting ‘ of the masses...” organizations: Workers, come to ask embarrassing| clty Tm afraid of, For every factory a ener ere tay tect he hog| ended with music, “And what music! achisveseniatctae: mavenaatenat ret eee eat e. cacet OF tersimal | qcBay,WnY, Ware ot the tasks 1Al4) What should be done/in order to ¥ | ere are ,{ wi 4 Ss | . fier eed the; business agents and) oreers: ANG] once been a member of the United) Jon the Auto Workers Union, | we have to admit also that our mass|hard’ luck, but was the result of The Open alter fo the Party answers | establish the Party and ¥, ©. other. officials of every A. F. of L. union in town; gangs of strong-arm you're the boys I’m gonna stand by.” Lauds Open Shop City At appropriate moments the A. F. of Mine Workers—and quit the union during a strike. Dingell praised the Wilson admin- Join the Auto Workers Union, Join the Auto Workers Union, For the Union makes us strong. organizations remained stationary for the last two years and that they were not involved in the struggle of the sympathetic exploitation going on throughout the country, all over the world. Imstead of having been made me Beste er Not Carried L. “committeemen” planted in th Batt ‘Trad class ‘inding thetr professional A. F. of L. hangers-on) hall would start the amine. asian ascii as having furthered the or pam iiiteteatei eee chou een Ont antes bee gaciad pi apie erspcetvg Tigutars cd t hare, “Because in the party, and parti- we ‘the alias be cain and hooch-hounds; members of var-| times Frank X. Martel, the corrupt | Sanlzation of the workers. He "f%=| fon Jonn schmies for mayor!” Lithuanian workers ‘into the Com-| ally worker, become fearful at the| cllatly among the leading cadres, |“ (») “To qiscuss with sour SF of eon Tae president of the Detroit Federation Seard, while it “recognized” eollective| Emerging from the hall, the ears| Munist Party did not receive sufti-| magnitude of the task before the| there is 8 oe fein Jack of poll- | -agen together with the Pend =. +| of Labor, sitting on the platform, . i cient att ion from the Central ical _understan ol neces~ and perhaps 200 unaffiliated workers.| would himself give the signal. But! | oreRtatty Satiewred PEt Tl ed en “aScaulted Py tee somee| Buro and from the fractions. The working Clas: out careful instruction | sity for. strengthening our basis | Dem (im ® friendly, comradely era National Organizer William Collins, / 28 the A. F. of L. yeggs weren't lis-| fio. this might make workers smeil| of the Auto Workers Union song and| decision of the Buro to concentrate| at first-hand to guide them through| ®™mons the decisive sections of the fraction within the organization, al- that tried and tested betrayer of tening very closely, they sometimes) 2 ta1ge and agile rat in the Roosevelt| militant cheering. A crowd of union| 0° heavy industries made last year|tne examples of exploitation and| American workers. From this fol- | ways keeping in mind the necessity countless workers’ struggles, opened | Muffed their signals and started clap-| now Deal, members and other workers gathered | °,f@r remained of paper. struggle against wholesale ,misery| lows the fact that the leadership | of frank and open discussion for the the. meeting and introduced U. §.| Ping at the wrong time. As, for ex- ° outside the hall, were ending the|,,We must remedy this situation./they have felt like a young child| of the Party has not adhered to ® | purpose of improving the work of Congressman Carl Weideman of Mich-|2mple, when Weideman, mounting to| | Frank X. Martel followed Dingéll! meeting in proper style and giving] We, must tum in our work. The/ suddenly lost at night in the big| fixed oourse for overcoming the | tne Party as a whole in the organ- igan, a representative of “the peepul,”| # peak of eloquence, shouted: “Every-| 2nd large numbers of mareery start- their answer to the New Deal speech- Central Buro decided to work out|city. Workers like these, and like the} ™main weaknesses of the Party, al- ization, The Open Letter emphasizes as Qollins called him. He turned out body knows that Detroit is the great-|ed to walk out. “sit down!” went! 6." shorty afterward a gang of A.| ® Concrete program of action for the| child, can quickly throw off the| lows itself to be driven by events, | this very sharply. It states “that it to be the big number of the evening,| est open-shop city in the world.”| UP the ery from the A. F. of L. “com=| of L. pluggies swaggered out of | *PPcation of the Open Letter tol feeling of despair at finding them-| 8d does not work out carefully | must he absolutely clear that posl- Weldeman, a New Deal democrat,| THunderous applause from the A. F. aeons ‘ rane Pave ages sl the hall. “T feel like a fight tonight,” |‘ Situation existing in our move-| selves taee to face with the horror] With the comrades of the lower | tive criticism and practical proposals is one of the cheapest and most dem-|°! ©. claque. a nari? roe ee by tne Nee one of them said. But the workers | ™ent and to carry out in deeds the|of the bourgeois system. But they| organizations ways and means for | and comradely, material exchange of agogic clowns in a Congress which| Weideman made one slip of the| iv. never had any contact with left | (id not allow themselves to be pro-| Concentration in the following heavy| need personal and continuous coun-| the carrying thru of resolutions and | political opinions for improving the is graced by such notables as Huey| tongue: He revealed that he had| sino one that the A. F. of In| Voked. industries: steel, coal, metal, textile, sel over a petiod. They would get|~checking up on their execution. | work of the Party are a vital neces- Long. - Like ex-Mayor Frank Murphy, | | been sending weekly letters to Martel h r and also needle trades, The bulk of|this if all Party members would| The result is that we talk about | sity for the Party....” This is also a much.cleyerer man, he even went | 80 far at one time as to try to make | politival capitel out of the Mooney | from Washington. This shows how close are the connections of the A. F. of L. officials with the govern- | ment. “oking like a Jake Burck cartoon| A “Union” Man from Congress always has a tough time getting a large audience a him, No Discussion Allowed Martel outdid even the capitalist. politicians in his praise of the Re- Yes, the auto workers will fight, but in a different, more effective way. Under the leadership of the Autc » Workers Union they are working out their own code and* are preparinc to resist, through militant organiza- the Lithuanian workers are to be found in these industries. We call upon all our fraction and comrades everywhere to make the Open Lettef their guide and instru- ment in their every day struggle. concentrate, intensively, and would report in some officially designated period on the results of a drive for converts to the,revolutionary move- ment of, the workers and farmers against their inhuman exploiters. factory and trdde union work in countless resolutions, without carry- ine this wort out.” The Letter then proceeds to ex- nlain why it is important to con- centrate the forces of the Party upon | } of a capitalist politician, Weiteman| After Weideman, Congressman| covery Act and lied glibly about the} tion in the shops, through the strug- Comrade! Party t 4 fo half an hour puffed and sputtered | John Dingell, a thin, sour-looking| achievements of the A. F. of L. among] gle for their everyday needs, the Nev LITHUANIAN CENTRAL BURO, to this lh 1? aod aha bevy i pon the tise ner prlph aad repre iy and sweated over the platform. He! man in a natty Palm Beach suit, was| the steel workers of Detroit and in Deal slavery. John Adams, Secretary. ‘A.’ G.. tries and inthe first late by, pick- ae bein kad the ‘confidence, —_— . “For correct leadership by:the Party it is necessary, apart from everything else, that the Party Policy should be correct, that the masses should understand the correctness of the Party policy and ‘actively support:it, that the Party should not confine itself to working out a general line of policy, but should direct its application in practice. from day to day, that the Party should ‘wage a resolute struggle against deviations from the. general line and the eee uiatory attitude towards them, and that i in the struggle against deviations the Party should hammer out the