The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 28, 1933, Page 3

Dockers Pack Hall | ‘im Norfolk To Hear Hudson Score Code. \ Marine Union Growing Rapidly; Call for United ‘Front | WORFOLE, West Va—Four hun- @red longshoremen were present to hear Roy 3B. Hudson, secretary of the Marine Workers’ Union, speak here in the largest meeting held in years on Monday, Dec. 11. ‘This interest in the meeting is due to the rapid growth of the union, which gained 140 new members in “\the last five weeks, as well as the (paso against the International Long- V'shoremen’s “Association _ officials. sponsored by the rank and file. * Hudson reported on the code hear- ings held in Washington Noy. 9. He ” exposed the role of Millner and his henchmen. He called for the build- ing of a united front of action be- tween the workers in the I. L. A, its rank and file groups and the M. W. I. U- « , Hudson showed what had been | done through united action in other} (eer and explained how conditions 4 could be changed in Norfolk. He \y praised the local for their strong rank and file committee, who was! \ taking matters into their own hands | * despite the misleaders, He praised ‘Local 1221, who had the guts not to take it lying down and come out in an open fight against Millner. Jeff Nicholls of 1221, who was a delegate to the hearing, gave a splen- \, did report, opening his remarks by pluntly stating: “I represented the coal trimmers’ code of the rank and file I. L. A. committee, which was endorsed 100 per. cent by my local.! T told the shipowners what you told me to tell them, and I will do it again if you send me.” Alexander Wright of the M. W. I. U. and a Negro leader of the Com- munist Party in Tidewater, Va., ex~ posed Millner’s red scare and his re~ cent attacks on the I. L. D. | | Nv { ) yy \ i\Pexas Lynch Gangs \ Organize Man Hunt For Negro “Suspect” ALVIN, Texas., Dec, 26.—Instigat- ed by the authorities, lynch gangs are scouring the neighboring coun- try in a man-hunt for a Negro, suspected of connection with the axe-slaying of Roy S, Lapham, 50- year-old white recluse truck farmer, in the dingy, earthen-fioored hovel where he lived, Sheriff Jim Martin of Angleton charged the crime to an “unknown Houston Negro,” who he claimed had been negotiating with Lapham in an attempt to sell him a mule. | Zapham’s body was found by Cloid J. Jackson, a white neighbor, _ who, together with 0. F. Burns, another white neighbor, knew that t “had received sone money~ | from his sister, Mrs; Ber C. Ken- nerley of Braden Castle, Manatee, Fila., on Christmas Eve, Opens Fight Today for | Political Status for . Class War -Prisoners NEW YORIs, — Opening its «am- paign to establish. the political status of Class-war prisoners as distinguished from criminals, the National Com- mittee for the Defense of Political Prisoners has organized a delegation to visit Sam Weinstein, framed fur- miture strike leader now serving a two-year sentence in Sing Sing. The delegation is composed of Granville Hicks, literary critic and ? author of “The Great Tradition”; Winifred Iv Chappel, seoretary of the | Methodist Federation of Social Serv- | fee; David and Ruth Hall, school \ DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1938 “I Was Shot At and Tortured— Then the Real Murderer Confessed” How two white workers saved him from lynching by a Louisiana mob, and how another Negro was lynched, was told in the first installment of the following article, published in yesterday's “Daily.” Today he tells, in the concluding article, of what followed the first attempt to murder him. He speaks tonight at a meeting called by the International Labor Defense and the League of Struggle for Negro Rights, in Tem- ple Baptist Church, 260 Lenox Ave., at eight o'clock, ‘ BY NORMAN THIBODEAUX As Told to Louis Colman As soon as I fell, the sheriff and two other men picked me up quick and threw me .into a car and got’ in after.me, and they drove away. “We're going to kill you anyway, nigger,” Deputy Richards said. “You'll never get away alive.” One of the men in the car was Harry Codeaux. He had a big old pump-gun. The other two, the sher- iff and the other, had revolvers. “Nigger,” the sheriff said, “say you killed that white girl and we'll let you loose.” : Iknew better. I didn’t say anything except that I was innocent. “Nigger,” he said, “we're going to show you yet what happens to nig- gers who want white meat.” They took me out to a gravel road about five miles, then they turned down a dark old road called Vallance Road, and said: “Get out, nigger.” I got out and started to walk. The blood was caked all over me, I was all blood, blood. ‘The moon was shin- ing bright and I made for the sugar- cane, I walked about twenty feet and somebody yelled: “Run, nigger!” I started to run and they shot at me three times. I could hear the bullets singing beside. my head before I heard the sound of the shots, They were revolver shots. Coudeaux never fired his pump-gun. I fell flat into the sugar-cane and they thought I was shot. I heard one of them say: “We got the nigger.” ‘They backed out and went away. I lay in the cane a while, resting. They could never have found me in @ week once I got into the cane. Louisiana Negro Contiues “Story of His “Rscape After Being Hanged; To Tell Experiences at Meeting in Harlem Tonight tal, which is a Negro hospital of Dil-; tive office and asked them if they lard University. Doctor Rhodes there| wanted me. dressed my head. He is a Negro doc-| The detectives rushed to my house tor. and took me down to the police sta- My mother had told him something} tion. They phoned the high sheriff about what happened to me, and he|in Napoleonville. I don’t know what asked me some more questions. I} he told them, but he sent a telegram told him, and told him not to say a| saying: word to a soul, because the lynchers “Hold. thig, Negro Zor- murdering 4) G white woman. District Attorney com~ ing to interview him.” They kept me in the prison at Tu- lane and Saratoga Streets for five days. On Wednesday evening the High 4 | Sheriff Hemiel, and the district at- |torney came and asked me what I + knew about the crime, The district attorney was the same one who was there that night at the lynching. I told them I didn’t know anything about the crime, but they said they would hold me, because the people out in the country wanted to get me bad. They put me in the parish prison at Tulane and Broad Streets, holding me on a charge of murder and being a fugitive from justice for the murder of a white girl found dead in a cane- field. Saturday the captain of the prison told me to roll out, and they let me loose, The girl's step-father had confessed he killed her himself. I have been lynched, and it was two white workers who saved my life. I want to fight against lynching, and I know that as long as the Negro and white workers don’t join hands to fight lynching there will always be murder and terror against Negro and white workers, I know that only by getting to- gether and fighting together we can smash lynching. NORMAN THIBODEAUX were still after me. The paper in New Orleans published that when they {heard I was alive they said they would lynch me again as -soon as they got hold of me. So Dr, Rhodes called up the detec- Portland Workers Defend Negro Lad 500 Pledge Fight to Save Jordan Minneapolis Lynch Mass Pressure Saves Two Negro Youths Verdicts § Smashed Workers Force To Reduce Price of Milk’ Big Dairy SUPERIOR, Wisc., Dec, 26.—Led by the Unemployed Council here the con- sumers succeeded in forcing the milk companies to reduce the price of milk | from ** to 10 cents a quart, | The Council circulated a petition throughout the working class neigh- borhoods, getting over 500 signatures, | which read as follows: “We demand that pasteurized milk, Grade ‘A’ containing at least 3.5 per cent butter fat shall be sold at no more than 9% cents a quart, with at leas; 60 per cent of this to go to the farmers who sell the mik.” The Milk Dealers Association prom-' | to retreat on this, selling three quarts jfor 27 cents, with all smaller pur- ised the Unemployed Councils Com- mittee that it would consider the matter, Forced by the mass protests} of the workers, it finally decided to lower the price to 10 cents a quart The Council, however, is carrying on | the fight for a 9 cents quotation. The | Milk dealers are already beginning | chases at 10 cents @ quart. ‘The Unemployed Council revealed that the rising prices of milk do not) benefit the small farmers here in the| vicinity, since they do not get any| part of the i ; Graft and Politics Control CWA Jobs In Fort Scott, Kan. Different Pay Rates Apply on Same Jobs FORT SCOTT, Kansas, Dec |! In Fort Scoit and Bourbon County, Kansas, the whole of the relief proj- | ects are controlled and run by's little bunch of corrupt politicians for their own political gain and benefit. Controlled by C. of C. This ring is, of course, controlled by the Holy of the Holies, the Cham- ber of Commerce, and its secretary, Marion Webb, has put on the Fed-, eral aid roll as foreman, et¢,, broth- | ers, nephews and other relatives of | members of this famous shrine and institution, Veterans and aged workers suffe! ing from T. B. and other disabiliti are given the hardest kind of wo. and if unable to hit the ball are fired, ! which means they are cut off from| all other forms of relief, facing sheer starvation. In order to further divide the workers, different rates of pay) are made, all for the same kind of work, The latest insult to the workers is the creation of Roosevelt flophouse known as @ home for transients, which is the lest word in foreed labor, and complete demoralization of the unfortunate workers who happen to be unlucky enough to get into it. School Graft Another of the brilliant expicits of these shysters was to tear down a! | PORTLAND, Ore. Dec, 27--Five hun- dred workers packed the Library MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Dec. 27.— Murder charges against Hardiman and Johnson, Negro youths who de- After a while I made my way to a Forum last night in a protest meet- ‘They let me in, but they wouldn't do tence against Theodore Jordan, 28- anything for me. She went back to year-old Negro worker, framed up bed. They wouldn’t wash off my wounds or anything, They were | PY the Pacific Railway Company for seared. About four o'clock it was| the murder of a white steward of lady’s house I knew. I knew her son.| ing against the lynch death sen-/ time for them to get out to work in the canefields, and they said to me that I had to go. “We don’t want. the sheriff to come here and hang us all,” the lady said, I went back through the cane to my uncle’s house. On the way I passed close by to some white people’s house, and I heard somebody say: “We had cheap fun last night down at the bridge.” I got to my uncle’s house, and he gave me @ sweater and an old hat, and something to eat, and told me to hide in the corn-crib. I stayed there all day. Then I went to another lady's house, and asked her to send her daughter over to get my grandmother. When my grandmother saw me, she was surprised to see me alive. She hhad been crying all day. ‘The sheriff told her: “We'll find Norman’s body in the cane in a day or two.” She gave me & coat, and a shirt, and a pair of tennis-shoes, and two dollars, and she told me to try to get out of the place. teachers, several students of the Union Theological Seminary and other professionals. Allen Taub, one of the attorneys in the Weinsten case, and now Assistant Secretary of the National Committee, will join the de- |legation when it leaves this morning “Mor Ossining. } T © National Commiitee will or- jo Herndon, in the Fulton T laid in the cane until dusk dark that night, and then I walked 22 miles and got on a freight and came to New Orleans on Friday night. My grandmother in New Orleans took care of me. On Saturday morn- ing I went to Flint-Goodrich hospi- prison in Atlanta, Ga., the Scottsboro Boys and Tom Mooney. uw. similar delegations to visit An- i, CULTURAL \SEVSRAL GOOD APARTMENTS Take Advantage of Texington Avenue train. to White Plains Road. Stop at Allerton Avenue Station. ‘Tel. Rstabrook 8-1400—1401 ‘ Workers Cooperative Colony 2700-2800 BRONX PARK EAST has now REDUCED THE RENT (OPPOSITE BRONX PARK) OW THE APARTMENTS AND SINGLE ROOMS Classes for Adults and Children; Library; Gymnesiem; and: Other Privileges NO INVESTMENTS REQUIRED that railway. The meeting, which was addressed «by Belle Taub of the. International Labor Defense, adopted a resolution | condemning the frame-up and de- manding the unconditional release of Jordan. The resolution was adopted despite a vicious attack on| Jordan’s defense by Donald Swet- tland, local Socialist leader. Work- ers, indignant at the attack, threat- | ened to throw Swettland out of the hall and were only restrained by the Pleas of the chairman. 8 * Scottsbore Conference In January CLEVELAND, Dec. 26—A call for ® Scottsboro anti-lynching confer- ence, to be held in the latter part of January, was issued last night by the Provisional Committee of the Anti-Lynching Conference at its regular meeting. This is the first conference of its kind to be held in this city, and will express the growing indignation of the white and Negro workers against the rising lynch terror throughout the country. |fended themselves against lynch mob, were dismissed today as the re- sult of the mass defense movement organized by the International La- bor Defense, which defended the two young workers, They were arrested several months ago when the leader of a lynch mob chasing several Negro youths twas shot and killed by one of the youths. Despite the fact that the shot had | been fired in self-defense, the. state attempted to railroad the two youths to the electric chair, although it had no proof that either of the two de~ fendants had fired the shot. In the first trial, Hardiman was convicted, but the I. L. D, immediately appealed the lynch conviction and by mo- bilizing mass protests against the frame-ups has now won a tremen- dous victory. The I. L. D. succeeded in gaining the support of scores of Negro or- ganizations and churches, as well as Hardiman and Johnson will be re- leased in a few days. Rash your orders for the Jan. 6 Tenth Anniversary issue of the Daily Worker. 24 Pages. The big- gest and best Daily Worker in the history of our paper, many organizations of white workers. | bunch of homes to provide a site for @ new school in a place where it! isn’t needed, while the workers and their families are compelled to live ‘n shacks and hovels not fit for human habitation. | These homes that have been des- troyed were mostly owned by Martin Miller or morgaged through him, This man is a former Mayor of Fort Scott and through his political connections he was able to get away with this job jo his own advantage. | this time credit man of the Federal , Loan, his brother-in-law, L. Huss; one | lof the appraisers and Attorney James ,Conly is investigator. All these wor- thies are in the ring. County Commissioner Sam Ridge, Court During Frank Harlow have all by showing favors to relatives, poli- tical friends, etc., who are uot in need of help. Another star of the first magnitude, George Woods, the poor commis- |Sioner, the big noise in the court house here, has been responsible for the most humiliating treatment of the Workers and his name is hated by almost every worker in Fort Scott, He has put back the big graders on the roads displacing a lot of hand jlabor, and how this work is being charged for we can only surmize, If an investigation of conditions in this town was made, some startlinng results would be achieved and we are ; iso convinced that this bunch could Miller is at; | proved to be enemies of the workers, | Phila. Unemployed | Hold United Front Anti-Hunger Meet National Unem- ployed Convention | PHILADELPHIA. Unemployed Conv n here, 136 delegates representing 93 org izations with a membership of 14,74 has decided to send forty-four dele- gates from the organizations repre- sented to the National Unemployed Convention in Washington, D. C.,! Jan. 13. | The Philadelphia conyention in-| cluded 14 delegates from nine A. F.| of L. locals with a membership of | 2,327. This was after the “Labor Rec- | ord,” @ socialist paper, warned the} A, F. of L. locals that this is a “Com- munist Plot” and they should stay away from the convention. There were so delegates from 3 independent’ unions, nine Trade Union Unity League unions, and 25 Unemployed Councils. The reports showed that Philadel- phis has employed to date only 3,995) workers with very uncertain prospects for the 350,000 unemployed of the city. Only $15 relief a month is given to those lucky enough to get relief. —&- city Unemployed Council was de- cided on, with one delegate from each organization of one hundred members, | and two from organizations over one | hundred. Each union is to establish an unemployed committee, and on C. W. A. jobs, job committees are to be organized, and as scon as possible, a C. W. A. Protective Association, Western Regional Anti-Lynch Meet Called for Jan. 21 SAN JOSE, Calif. Dec, 27—Jan. 21 has been set as the tentative date for a Western Regional Anti-Lynch Conference, in which representatives from eleven states will participate, it was announced by the League of Struggle for Negro Rights and the International Labor Defnse. Delegates to the conference will be elected from California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Utah, Neyada, Colorado, Arizona, Montana and Idaho. Clubs, unions, churches and all organizations of workers, over all these states, are now being approached to elect delegates. The conference will be held in this city. Dec. 27. handling of these matters. Through the Unemployed Councils the workers are rapidly learning all about the corrupt administration in this town. The screw is now being put on which is the beginning of large lay-offs on these relief projects, speeding up of those retained, and conditions to be made as miserable as possible. The workers of this town have to be mobilized through the Unem- ployed Council to organize and fight not face a public audit into the for better conditions, Elect Delegates to the | Joins Campaign for Mass Sale of ‘Daily’ NEW YORK.—The Hi Clu 8 sed of professional w an initial order for kers, 200 placed copies of the 24 page, tenth an- niversary edition of the Worker, Members of this club have vol- unteered to canvass on Red Sat- y , January 6th Daily Worker on its tenth victorious year. How about the Clubs in other r orders and 500 Forced Out of U.S. by Starvation By a Worker Correspondent) EL PASO, Texas., Dec, 26.—Over 1,200 aliens, mostly Mexican, have been taken off the C.W.A. projects on orders from Austin, ‘Texas. They had be on the job about ten days. The sudden order to drop them from the C.W.A. projects is one of the acts of terror, in the campaign of the goy- ernment and the employers against foreign- born Mexicans, On Dec, 13, a trainload of 500 Mex- icans from Los Angeles passed hrough here. They said they were forced to return to Mexico because all of their relief had been cut off. ‘The Mexican Consul here has done nothing so far with regard to the discrimination against Mexicans in giving out C.W.A. jobs. The El Paso branch of the International Labor Defense is sending a delegation to demand that he take up the question of discrimination against Mexicans, National Events T. U. U. C. TO HOLD ANNUAL NEW YEAR DANCE CHICAGO—The Trade Union Unity League celebrating its strike vetories at its an- qual New Years Danco-onm the evenisug- of- ;Dec, 30, at the Peoples Auditorium, 2457 W. Chicago Aye. I, W. 0. YOUTH BRANCHES TO HOLD CONCERT PHILADELPHIA.—The International Work- jers Order Youth Branches will hol s con- cert Friday, Dec. 29, at 507 South Eighth St. An evening of entertainment has been planned. CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF I. W. 0. TO HOLD CONCERT AND DANCE PITTSBURGH, Pe.—In celebration of tts |particlpation in the $40,000 membership drive, the Central Committee of the Inter- national Workers Order will hold @ con- cert and dance at Slovak Hall, $18 Court Pl, Saturday, Dec, 30 at 8:15 p. m. SECRETARY OF ERNST TORGLER TO SPEAK OLEVELAND, Ohio.—-Anna Schultz, secre- tary to Ernst Torgler, will speak on the present situation in Germany and the Fight Against Hitler Fascism, Friday, Jan. 12, at Prospect Auditorium, 2612 Prospect, 1:30 p.m, | | | Mine Workers | $12,000; | tary-Treasurer, $9,009, and appointed Fire 1,200 Mexicans From CWA in Texas Page Three LEWIS GETS $12,000 YEARLY FOR STRIKEBREAKING AS PRESIDENT OF : : Pen and Hammer THE U.M.W.A. Resolution to Demand Cut in Graft Salaries of UMWA Heads —In the Untied Tica Convene tlon, op: in Indianapolis, Ind., on Jan. 23, the high salaries of strikebreaker John L. Lewis and other officials will be attacked by PITTSBURGH, P: wi rank and file delegations. John L. Lewis hands himself the exorbitant salary of $12,000, and salaries for his assistant re resolution should be p in ail U.M.W.A. locals and presented by as many delegates as possible at the national convention: taken “Whereas: The salaries of the United Mine Workers’ officers ate | exorbitantly too high: President, Vice-President and Secre- organizers $10.50 a day or more and ali other expenses which usually rpass the regular salary; and “Whereas: The wages of the miners were cut to the bone in addition to the mass unemployment and part- time employment; and “Whereas: The high salaries and expenses of the many officers re- quires high dues paid by the mem- bership whose earnings are not suffi- cient for the existence of their fam- ilies; therefore be it “Resolved: That no officer of the United Mine Workers of America shall receive more than $3,000 per year as salary; and be tt further “Resolved: That the expenses of the officers of the U. M. W. A. be limited to traveling expenses alone, that is, to train fares and sleeping rooms, and in no case to exceed $3 per day in addition to the train fare.” News Briefs 7 Filipinos Killed in Church Panic MANILA, Dec. 27.—Seven were trampled to death in a church when a cry of fire, shouted by someone who mistook a sparkler for a blaze, precipitated 8 panic, Floods Damage Crops in Brazil RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 27.—Heavy rains caused several landslides in this vicinity and have flooded large areas, causing damage to cultivated lands. '8 Lives Lost as 2 Ships Founder. « SOUTH HAVEN, Mich., Dec. 37— Eight lost their lives as two tugs sank in the worst storm in years ou Lake Michigan. Detroit Challenges Chicago on Sale of Anniversary ‘Daily’ DETROIT, Mich.—Workers pres- ent at # general membership here not only enthusiastically ap- proved the order of 30,000 copies of the 24 page, tenth anniversary edition of the Daily Worker, but pledged 100 per cent mobilization to sell every copy ordered of the January 6th edition. Detroit challenges Chicago Dis- LOS ANGELES 1. L. D. BAZAAR LOS ANGELES, Cal.—All branches of the I, L. D. in and around Los Angeles, together with affiliated organizations, are pushing preparations for the I. L, D.’s fourth annual bagnar, to be held Jan. 26, 27 2708 Brooklyn Ave, and 28, at trict to order 60,000 copies. This is more than a fair challenge since the population in Chicago is more than double than that of Detroit, Chicago Dis tives sent out, but no one goes thru the trouble of aski ACTIVITIES & SINGLE ROOMS AVAILABLE the Opportunity. Office open daily Friday & Saturday Sunday dam, te 3 pm. 9 a.m. to 5 pm, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | “Dramatic Sketch — Well Know Soloist — Ballet | Dancers—The Famous “Georgia Crooners” Orchestra A World-of Fun to Please Everyone | SATURDAY, DEC. 30th, from 8 o'clock on Peoples Auditorium, 2457 W. Chicago Ave. wpe A. Might Victories led by the T.ULU.L, will Celebrate the Strike Admission 25¢. or have they been f?”—STALIN, * * The District Commitiee meeting of District 8 (Chicago), on October 28th and 29th, after a thoro exam- ination of the work of the Party since the Open Letter and District Plan of Concentration, adopted by the District Party Conference July 15th and 16th, re-emphasized once more that “In the entire work of the Party we must strictly adhere to the policy of concentration. We must not be carried away by events.” In re-emphasizing the above as the basic orientation of the work of the Party in District 8, the District Committee fully realized that de- ie some progress in the work of ¢ Party since the Open Letter and District Plan of Concentration (such as, leading some strikes in light in- dustries and the first strike in Calu- met steel ion since 1919—the Standard , strengthe: the unions of the T.U.U.L. in the light industries and even increasing the number of shop nuclei to 45 and having 10 per cent of the total mem- «the Party in the shop * trict of the P ® change and improve this. It means to disregard the routine methods of | work and leadership—to break through the wall. In order to make the turn in the work and life of the Party, it is necessary to politically mboilize the Party membership for work in the points of concentration and concrete tasks and show in prac- tice why and how to carry the main tasks in the points of concentration. Opportunism in Practice The District leadership, particu- larly. since the recent meeting of the District Committee, made towards the political mobilization of the Party membership in that direc- tion. However, as yet, we have been unable to mobilize the masses of ae Party membership toward that aim. There is in existence in the Party opportunism in practice. That is, ere is nobody in the Party who openly sails under the flag of op- portunism, be it the right or “left” variety. But in practice, they do sail under the flag of opportunism. There is quite a resistance toward changing the methods of work that have been introduced many years ago and influence not only the old members of the Party, but the new, fresh workers who come to the Party. Let us take a concrete example: The meeting of the District Com- mittee, in discussing the problems nuclei), that the work of the Party was not strictly adhered to the pol- iey of concentration. It is also neces- sary to mention that in ‘the course of the work, we have been carried away by events, and that in the work of the whole Party there was no persistent, driving policy toward the points of concentration, the big shops in the basic industries of con- centration, steel, mining, packing and railroad, and toward work and building the trade unions of the T. ie Me and work within the A. F. 01 conscious of our weakness confronting the Party in the points of concentration, discussed the problem of the stock yards workers, and the resolution calls for “an im- mediate drastic improvement in con centration in the packinghouse in- dustry.” Some additional forces have been assigned to the stock yards. Some activities have been developed toward building the P. H. W. 1. U. But the strike of the livestock handlers came as a sur- prise to us, without the knowledge of anyone in the Party or union even of the preparations for the strike. The strike of the 800 livestock Being is not sufficient. It is necessary tothandiers signifies the growing re- ) reorganize the work of the Party wo] steps | of the discussion, with the exception arty Criticizes W of L. Unions volt of the packinghouse workers, with whom as yet we have only very narrow contact. At the city-wide functionaries meeting, which was attended by ap- proximately 500 comrades, during the strike, the whole question of the stock yards and work in the A. F. of L. was raised. In the course of the comrade directly connected with the yards, the rest of the Party functionaries had nothing to say. Neither was the question of work in the A. F. of L. sufficiently dealt with by the comrades discu: ‘the problems. This signifies the fact that politically, not only the lower ranks of the Party membership, but the leading cadres are not fully aware of the importance of devel- oping work inside the A. F. of L. and the importance of the beginning of strike struggles of the. yards workers, wae Work in the A.F.L. However, it must be stated that this reflects the weakness of the District Buro in giving leadership and pag ce, 4 the membership for work in the A. F. of L. It is also necessary to declare that in the Dis- trict Buro itself there was a. ten- dency to the importance of the A. F. of L. in the stock yards. The fact that the A. F. of L. main- tained a nucleus of its organization among the skilled workers for the last few years, that in the present situation jt grew to some extent, that it has more workers organized than any union in the yards, was not taken fully into consideration. We saw that their main activities were around the small packing plants, but not in the big, and there- tore we minimized the A. F.-of-L. in the big plants. While it is true that the A. F. of L. is not a factor in the big plants, it can easily be- come so and it is striving toward that direction. Nearly 800,000 Chicago workers are members of the A. F. of L., which embraces the transportation workers, such as street car men, elevated lines employes which are 100 per cent organized in the A. F. of L., the majority of the city em- ployes, building trades, needle trades and other light industries. It is true that the A. F. of L. is not entrenched in the large industrial plants in the city. But it influences the workers as a whole. In spite of this, the Party is not a factor, as it can be, among the masses of work~- ers in the A. F. of L. There are all kinds of excuses advanced by some Party members why we should not work in the A. F. of L., such as) (a) Workers in the A. F. of L. are reactionary; (b) With the growth of unemployment we will reach the workers through the Unemployed Council activities, therefore no need to work inside the A. F. of L.; (¢) Because there is no democracy in the A. F. of L. and it is under gang- ster control, nothing can be done. The work of those comrades who are in the A. F, of L. is not well organized. Only recently steps have been made to change the methods of work-—to organizationally discon- nect the opposition work inside the A. F. of L. from the T.U.U.L. City Executive and to establish a sep- arate organizational center of the rank and file opposition movement inside the A. F. of L. Building Opposition Groups All this work can be done success- fully then only when we will bo able to ideologically convince the Party membership that work in the A. F. of L. is of decisive political importance and must be carried, or as in the words of Lenin, “Not to work within the renctinoary trade masses under the influence of leaders, agents of je | ing 8 | What actualy can be done inside | the A, F. of L. unions is signified by the fact that we have Party members in 85 locals and over 350 members of the Party are also mem- bers of the AF.L. Around this force we can organize a powerful opposi- tion moyement In some of the unions where we are actually de- veloping work, some results have been obtained. These results bust be popularized among the rs of the Party and convince them of the importance of working inside A. F. of L. Particularly is it im- portant to concentrate work among the members of the A. F. of L. in the decisive unions, such as ma~ chinists, transportation, especially ‘railroad brotherhoods, packing- house, building trades, ete. That is, to concentrate on the unions of the A. F. of L. in the industries of concentration and that is where we are particularly weak, or in many cases; have no contact whatever with eee organized in the A. F. of L. The response of the strikers, the livestock handlers, during the strike to the slogans issued by the P. H. W. I. U., giving them gu'dance in struggle, helping them, therefore, to win the 10 per cent increase in wages after the decision made by N.R.A. and union bureaucrats to refer all the demands to the ar- bitration board, shows that the work- ers organized in the A.F.L. will re- spond if we approach the problems properly. Concentration Around Big Shops The entire work of the Party in Chicago must be concentrated around penetration into the shops and in the locals of the A. F. of L. Without clearly understanding this, without taking organizational steps in every unit, section and ict, buro itself, work cannot proceed. In making the turn, as demanded by the Open Letter and as planned ly developed or backward work- | tration, eaknesses in Concentration Tasks Resolution Calls for Drastic Improvements {nil cebogs. wosauh #4 lenve' tha.sevul i Concentration in Packing and Opposition Work in A. F. by the district program of concen- , it is necessary to under- stand that this work can be carried if enthusiasm for it will be aroused in the broadest possible number of Party members and not only the leadership. Every Party member must have initiative to do the work. There must, of course, be individual responsibility for the work, com- bined with the collective work of the Party units, sections, fractions and the district committee. In the course of this activity, re- cruiting into the Party must be con- sidered as one of the most important problems confronting us. We can- not be “too busy” in the the| A, F. of L. and in the shops, with-~ out building the Party and Young Communist League, and among these workers our paper, the Daily Worker. me Building of T-U.U.L. While we are laying the emphasis on work inside the A. F. of L., which is of such tremendous importance for the Chicago Party organization, we cannot underestimate or neglect in any form, the building of the revolutionary unions in the basic ine dustries of Chicago, namely, the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union, the Packing House Workers Industrial Union, and other unions ffiliated with the T.U.U.L. The basic program for the steel, metal and packing house industries is after all to organize the decisive section of the workers in these indust: into the unions of the T.U.U.L.. those workers who are at the pre: end time unorganized, this work to be combined with work in the re formist unions. Already|a month{has passed since the District Committee meeting and only negligib’e steps have been made to improve the basic work of the’ Party. This calls for an immediate change in the work, for immediate drastic steps in every unit, + and check up on the decisions. That. is, in the words of Stalin, to ask” ourselyes a question: ey Hi been carried © the decisions reality, or have they keen — the shelf”’2