The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 23, 1934, Page 5

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 23, 1934 Page Five THE DRAFT RESOLUTION PROPOSED FOR THE EIGHTH CONVENTION OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE U.S. A. 4 2 — - —- — — Deepening of General Crisis of Capitalism | Hitler anti-semitic attacks. Through The document published herewith bias draft document | timore, Md.) which would divert the/most imp justries and fac- ‘bors, must by all means carry T2372 demagogic appeals against “capital” || for discussion in the Party units, sections and districts. It || movement of Negroes from struggle tories, th the application of the | through mass actions for the stop- 1~The “New Deal” policy of, was s0 loudly hailed by the social-|@nd the “banks,” etc., these open fas-|| ig not in any sense a final document. The Political Bureau || for relief and insurance and avainst age of concentration page of the shipment of arms to roosevelt was hailed by the bour- seoisie and its reformist agents as fascists, which was to be guaranteed by section 7a of the N.R.A., has been used aS a new instrument in the cists are trying to organize the dis- veterans, poor farmers and the more illusioned employed and unemployed, | in publishing this resolution invites all Party members and | discrimination on jobs, from an ant = Par 2 fi upon ions of Japan and China, must give the ut- most support for the de‘ense of the Chinese revolution and uncover be- organizations to express their criticisms freely and to make such proposals for additions and changes as they consider advisable. All units are urged to devote their next meet- ings, prior to the election of convention delegates to a dis- cussion of this document together with the resolution of |overnment Struggle to a struggle it | against white workers; a movement |t | of the “dark” races under the leader-} |ship of Japanese imperialism, which | aims to turn the indignation of the | Negro people against American im- | perialism, into counter-revolutionary beginning of decisive recovery ‘om the economic crisis, the begin- ing id backward section of the unemployed and employed workers, to prevent them from fighting against capital-| ism, thereby to provide a mass basis for monopoly capital among the petty bourgeoisie and turn them into coun- and | fore the masses the counter-revolue al | mary role of American imperial- - n and its oppression against the pare | Chinese Soviets (Sixth Offensive), uggle of |and popularize the heroic struggles expiration | and tremendous successes of the Chinese Soviet Power, must increase hands of the employers for the de- velopment of company unions, to block the desire of the workers to organize into real trade unions, in- dependent of the bosses and govern- ment. It is an instrument to prop of the return of “prosperity,” the ending of the misery o* the hasses. It was accompanied by @ ampaign of social demagogy through which the bourgeoisie tried to con- ment y the r 4 N “i NN cs : ince the masses that through the new deal capitalism is overcoming he fundamental capitalist contra- dictions, is developing towards vlan- ied economy, etc. There is no foun- jation for all these predictions. Even n the face of the upturn in pro- ‘ich occurred in the sum- [ the misery of the masses vas increased. On the contrary, all the measures of the “new deal” far from solving the economic crisis, have only intensified the general crisis of capitalism. The recent increase in produc- ion is in the main explained ‘by: war preparations, the enormous reased production of war materi- supplies and munitions; b) the uring of billions of the State Trea- sury into industry and agriculture; ) the gigantic speculative market reated by inflation (devaluation of the dollar, etc.); d) the slashing of the wages of the workers, increased speed-up system; in the recent in- rease of production the operation f the internal economic forces ex- pressed itself to an infinitesimal de- gree in the field of production of capital goods, the only basis for a normal” cyclical recovery of capi- m, The intensification of the gen- val crisis of American capitalism is ndicated in the continuation of the dustrial and agrarian crisis and the srowine disnrovor'ion between the productive capacity and the con- sumption of the masses, the new f and sharpened character of a) e*ition and anarchy in produc- the enormous comp ion, tise of the gov- e growth of infla- harpening struggle for as well as the rise of the uggles within the country ni-imperialist struggles of in the colonial and semi- colonial countries dominated by Yankee imperialism. Mass Starvation and Misery Sixteen million workers stand i outside closed factories, mines, uffering from the lack of the very things they could produce in these industries. The total income of the vorking class is less than 40 per ent of what ii was four years ago. The opr ‘sed Negro masses are suf- ering new eco omic. attacks, and a rising wave of lynch terror. Large ections of poor and middle farm- ers are being driven off their land or reduced to the position of tenants . and peons for the bankers and monnnolists. veat numbers of the dle class intellectuals, profession- teachers, white collar workers, ave likewise been cast into poverty. specially hard hit as a@ result of the crisis is the youth of the work- ing class, fermer and middle class. Millions of working class children are suffering undernourishment and ac- tual starvation, unable to go to school because of lack of food, clothing and even school facilities, which are everywhere reduced. New Deal—Program of Fascism and War a the aggressive effort of the bankers and trusts to find a way out of the crisis at the expense of the millions of toilers. Under cover of the most shameless demagogy, Roosevelt and the capitalists carry through drastic attacks upon the living standards of the masses, increased terrorism against the Negro masses, increased political oppression and systematic denial of existing civil rights, and are strengthening the control of the big monopolists over the economic and political life of the country, The “New Deal” is a program of fasciza- tion and the most intense prepara~ tions for imperialist war. Its class character is seen in the policy of the subsidies to the railroads, banks, and insurance companies, accom- panied by increased parasitism, cor- ruption, and bureaucratism. The de- valuation of the dollar has resulted in a rapid rise of prices of commodi- ties, and the lowering of the real wages. The N.R.A. machinery, with its labor boards on the one hand, and the most brutal police and mili- tary force on the other, has been used for the purpose of breaking up the workers’ struggles and their or- ganizations. Strike struggles, not only of these of the independent class unions, against whom the attack has been most vicious, but also the strug- gles of use workers in the A. F. of L., have been violently suppressed. Its farm policy has enriched the big farmers and capitalists at the ex- pense of the agricultural workers, the poor and middle farmers. 5—The right ot organization which 4—The “New Deal” of Roosevelt is | up the boss-controlled A. F. of L. bureaucracy, and a means to divert the fight and organization of the working class awey from militant trade unions. The system of codes has been a step in the direction of government control and fascization | of the trade unions. The codes fixed minimum wages in the face of infia- tion and the rising prices. The so- called Public Works Program has been used for the building up of the army and navy,—an additional im- portant weapon for the whole pro- gram of Roosevelt, which is one of preparation for war. All of this proves that ihe Roosevelt regime is not as the liberals and Socialist Party leaders claim, a progressive re- game, but is a government serving the interests of finance capital and moving toward the fascist suppres- sion of the workers’ movement. Threatening War Danger 6—The capitalist class is feverishly preparing for war as a way out of the crisis. It has embarked on a naval race with its main imperialist rivals, Great Britain and Japan. The army has been further mechanized, and the world’s largest air fleet has been provided for, coast defense has | been strengthened, army canton- ments throughout the country have been provided; and the C.C.C. has served as a irial mobilization and training ground for a great army, both for imperialist war and for civil war against the workers at home, as openly admitted by Roosevelt’s as- sistant secretary of war, Woodring. In all the markets of the world, the struggle between Great Britain and the United States grows more acute. The Roosevelt regime through lits inflation, is engaged in a war |on British goods and on British cur- |rency, in an effort to win world hegemony. ‘The struggle for hege- | mony between the United States and | Japan, daily becomes more marked, | with both nations building up their | naval armaments in anticipation of a ‘war for domination in the Pacific. All the chief imperialist powers are clashing for the lion’s share in the dismemberment of China. The imperialist aggressiveness of Roose- velt's policies are shown most clearly in Cuba, in Latin America (Bolivia- Paraguay war), and in the Philip- pines. Roosevelt’s policies are interlocked with the policies of world capitalism, ; characterized everywhere by the desperate attempt to get out of the crisis at the expense of the masses by means of fascism, war and inter- vention. 7—The preparations for war are being carried through under the cover of pacifism and democracy. In this trickery of the masses, Roosevelt has the utmost support of the A. F. of L, bureaucrats, Socialists and liber- als. The A. F. of L, bureaucrats carry on the most violent attacks against the Socialist fatherland. They support the preparations for an army and navy on the plea that it gives employment. The Socialists | have invested the “New Deal” war and fascist program with the halo of Socialism. Now openly and now covertly, they continue their attacks against the Soviet Union, 8—The recognition of the Soviet Union by the American government, a victory for the Soviet peace policy, and the growing support of this policy by the masses of the entire world. and resultiny from the in- creasng strength of the Soviet Union, does in no way indicate a peace policy on the part of the American capital- ists. While extending recognition to the US.SR., United States imperial- ism continues to furnish munitions, war supplies to Japan, an’ tries to provoke a war between Japanese im- perialism and the U.S.S.R. for the purpose of both weakening its chief imperialist rival in the Pacific, as well as the country of socialism,—the workers’ fatherland. The conditions in the United States confirm the statement of the Thesis of the XIII Plenum of the EC.C.1., that “the international sit- uation bears all the features of the condition of a new world war.” “The greatest historical task of interna- tional communism {s to mobilize the broad masses against war, and, even before war has begun, thereby hasten the doom of capitalism. Only a Bolshevik struggle before the out- break of war for the triumph of revo- lution can assure the victory of revo- lution that breaks out in connection with war.” ‘This declaration of the E.C.C.I. ap- plies with full force to the task of the American Communists. | ' | 9—American capitalism is more and more fascizing its rule. This is par- ticularly being performed by the Roosevelt administration under the cover of the “New Deal.” Under the mask of saving the “democratic” in- stitutions of the United States, the Roosevelt; government and the bour- geoisie are: a) increasing the violence against the workers, particularly rev- olutionary workers, and Negro masses, against whom they have un- at aa cf lynch. terror; b) increa: ndencies suppress and | deny the right to strike; c) estab- '\ lishing labor Arbitration Boards with direct participation of the employers and the bureaucrats, with the ob- ict of vreventing, suppressing, and disorganizing the struggles of the workers; d) directly concentrating into the hands of the President al- most dictatorial powers, and vesting power, formerly executed by Con- gress, in direct appointees of the President over matters of most vital Il, The Fascization of the American Government concern to millions of toilers; e) de- upon nationalism. 10—Side by side with these mea- sures, is making systematic efforts to organize open fascist organizat the sup- ter-revolutionary shock troops in the defense of capitalism. At the same time, in all of their propaganda and activities, they try to arouse mass attacks on the Communist Party and the militant workers organizations. The Growing Revolutionary Upsurge of the Masses 11—The resistance of the masses of toilers to capitalist attacks as ex- pressed in the Roosevelt program is growing in volume and intensity. The outstanding feature of all these struggles is the growing strike move- ment, embracing in the last year over a million workers in almost all in- dustries, and for the first time in more than a decade mass strikes of the workers in the large-scale and trustified auto and. steel industries. The growing struggles of the indus- trial and agricultural workers have greatly stimulated and helped to give leadership to the struggles of the other section of the toiling popula- tion (farmers, professionals, veterans, etc.) The rising wave and sharpen- ing character of the social struggles, arising on economic issues from the heroic effort of the masses to defend their standard of living, are develop- ing more and more to a conscious more and more seen in the struggles of the unemployed for immediate re- lief, and above all in the struggies against forced labor (C. C. C. Camps, municipalities, etc.) and for unem- ployment and social insurance; the impoverished farmers against evic- tions, foreclosures, crop reductions; the struggles of the war veterans and the mass struggle for payment of the adjusted compensation certificates, (bonus), disability allowances, hospi- talization, ete.; in the struggle against the general curtailment and even abolition of all social services, of the free school system, etc. The Negro masses surged forward in tremendous numbers in defense of the Scottsboro boys and for their right to organize for their economic needs and against the violent denial struggle against capitalism. This is! growing struggles of the poor and | New York City. Following munist Party, to be held in Editor. of their rights and for their national liberation. ‘The struggle of the Negro masses against national oppression has be- come a major question in the poli- tical life of the country as a whole, the sharpening of the crisis in Amer- ican capitalism, has been tremen- dously increased. The resistance of the Negro masses has led to the most acute sharpening of all contradic- tions. The present situation in the South is most favorable for the de- velopment of a broad mass struggle against the national oppression of which are being dissipated by the | course of the struggle, the struggles are developing into conscious fight against the capitalist way out of the show that the masses are accumulat- and that big class battles are matur- ing. The developments in the U. 8. ers against Fascism, strike of the French workers) and above all by the tremendous achieve- ments of the Land of the Soviets. ary crisis. III. Social Fascism Hel ps the ‘Capitalistic Offensive | the 13th Plenum of the Communist International. Party workers wishing to express opinions on this draft resolution are invited to write directly to ihe Daily Werker; members of the Party should address their proposals and criticisms to the Central Committee, Box 87, Station D., and the significance of the Negro} liberation movement as a factor in| ing enormous revolutionary energy All these are signs of the growing! elements of the transformation of | the economic crisis into a revolution- Non- this discussion the resolution wil? be re-drafted, taking into consideration all proposals, for presentation to the National Convention of the Com- Cleveland, Ohio, April 3rd.— S. U. and the Soviet Union. Whiie| {on the one hand talking about the | | Soviet Union as a workers’ republic, | | Muste through his. attacks of C. P.| |S. U. control of Comintern, etc., clearly shows the anti-international and growing chauvinist position of this group. The Role of the Negro Reformists 17—Among the Negro masses, the Negro reformists are being revealed more and more as the chief social support of imperialist reaction (N. A./ AC.P., White, Pickens, DuBois, etc.). | They have supported the Roosevelt | New Deal as a “New Deal” for the} the Negroes. Negroes. They carried through Still imbued with consider-| treacherous actions in connection able illusions as to Roosevelt | With the Scottsboro campaign, and | sabotaged the mass movement of the Negroes against the Scottsboro ver- dicts. Because of the radicalization of the | | crisis. The magnitude of the struggles | Negro masses, the ever-growing readi- ness’ of the Negroes to struggle, the revolutionary energy developed among the Negro masses, and the growing | unity of the white and Negro workers, are being stimulated by the revolu-| there are cropping up all kinds of tionary events in Europe (the heroic | petty-bourgeois armed struggle of the Austrian work- the general | move- nationalist ments (neo Garveyist schemes) to buy out the Harvey-Firestone Company in Liberia; petty bourgeois move- ments to separate the Negro and white workers by a campaign of jobs for Negroes (Negro Alliance in Wash- ington, D.C.; Costiano movement, Bal- channels of support of Japanese im- perialism against the Union and Chinese Soviets for support of the imperialist de of Japan in the possible w America. These new movements are most dangerous because they are car- ried out under the slogan of race y and operate with anti-imperi- phrases. A. F. of L. and Socialists Help To Bring Fascism The A. F. of L. bureaucrats cialist Party, and the other soc! fascist groups are helping the velopment of fascism in the Uni States, in the following ways: their whole polcy of splitting up working class and rendering help! before the capita tacks; combatting the united front of workers; b) by supporting the pro- gram of the N.R.A., participating in the machinery which breaks strikes, and cuts down the rights of the workers; c) spreads the ideology of class collaboration which is a cor- nerstone of Fascism; supports the es- tablishment and participates in the labor Conciliation Boards; d) where it is in power (Milwaukee), it car- ries through directly the attacks o workers organizations and workers meetings; e) in the trade unions, it th exvels the unemployed and militant workers; f) it carries on chauvil practi against the foreign-b denying them in many cases, the right to hold office in the unions, and against Negro workers, whom in yy cases, it refuses to admit into i carries on policies of against them. It helps in the development of fascism in the United States, im the same)s way as its treacherous brothers in Germany, which supported Bruen- ihg, Hindenburg; Dollfuss in Austria, ag the “lesser evil,” by giving supnort his program is an alternative to Fas- cism. IV. The Position of | the Communist Party | 12—Social Fascism in the U. S., as throughout the world, assists finance jcapital in carrying through attacks against the masses and in aiding them in the attempt to find a capi- talist way out of the crisis, and serve as the main social support for the bourgeoisie in the maintenance of capitalist rule. The A. F. L. leaders came out openly for the “New Deal” and helped to put over the plunderous “New Deal” codes upon’ the masses; and where they could not prevent strikes, sabotaged them, permitted company unions, strengthened the open shop policies of the employers (Green’s approval of the steel codes, the auto code with its inerit clause, etc.), participated in the labor arbi- tration maneuvers (Weirton, captive mines), were the most zealous in bringing strikes to an end, under the most unfavorable terms to the work- against the workers organized in the militant class trade unions (T. U. U. L., Helper, Utah, fur workers), in an effort to destroy them. They con- tinue to struggle against genuine, Federal Unemployment insurance, practice discrimination against the youth, Negro and foreign - born workers, call for the forceful suppression of the Communist Party and all revolutionary workers’ organi- zations, and revealed their arch-re- actionary position in their bitter at- tacks against the Soviet Union. ‘The Socialist Party, in the name of Socialism, has echoed all of Roosevelt's demagogy. They went even further, declaring that the N. R. A. is state capitalism, which provides the economic. basis for the transition to Socialism. Norman Thomas de- clared at the height of the strike wave, “Now is not the time to strike.” The Socialists accepted Positions in the strike-breaking N.R.A. machinery (Hillman, Dubinsky, Bor- ders), helped to force compulsory ar- bitration on the workers (garment strike), practiced some of the worst forms of racketeering, assisting the A. F. of L. bureaucrats in their ef- forts to crush the T. U. U. L. and other indepedent unions (fur workers, [Illinois miners), @ genuine federal unemployment in- surance bill, played into the hands of the lynchers of the Negro masses, claiming that it is the resistance of the Negro masses which is respon- sible for increased terror against, the Negroes. Radicalization of the A. F. L. and Soclalist Workers 18—With the aid of the Roosevelt government and a section of the em- Ployers, the A. F, L. unions have ex- Perienced a substantial growth of membership. (half million.) growth was of course also due to the great desire among the masses to or- ganize and to the fact that the treacherous class collaboration role of the A. F. L. burocrats is not yet fully exposed by the Party and ithe other revolutionary organizations. The policy of the government in general is to promote the organization of the More and more as during the ito the A. F. L. and to make the A. F. L. trade unions direct auxi- of the government. This is especially being pushed in the at- tempt to disrupt and liquidate the fighting class unions of the T. U. U. L. and other fighting independent unions. At the same time the big trusts (steel, auto, etc.) continue with workers against the foreign-born, aping the their open shop policy, with the fore- ing of workers into company unions which have greatly multiplied since ers, and were especially vicious! the enactment of the N. R. A. with its sanction, and which they are able to carry through only because of the treachery of the A. F. L. bureaucrats. 14—¥specially rank and file of the A. F. L. as ex- pressed in the growing sentiment for the Workers’ Unemployment Insur- ance Bill, in the growing struggle of the rank and file against racketeering which is part and parcel of the cor- rupt A. F. L. bureaucracy, the anti- administration sentiment expressed in the resolutions of the miners locals to the U. M. W. A, convention, the successes of the left wing in the elec- tions in many locals (miners, Ken- osha, needle, building, textile, etc.) The A. F. L. burocrats knowing that the capitalists who oppose the forma- tion of the A. F. L, unions in their industry (Weirton, captive mines) be- cause they fear that the masses within the A, F. of L. are taking up the struggle over the heads of .|the corrupt leaders, are increasing their terror against the rank and file (expulsion in needle trades, painters, etc.) and are more and more cement- ing their ties with the N. R. A. 15—The Socialist Party as the third party of capitalism is receiving in- creasing support from the capitalist class. At the same time because of the exposure of the role of the social democrats in Germany, the pressure of our Party in the struggle for the united front against the N. R. A. fascism and the danger of war, there have been increasing signs of the movement of some of the best prole- tarian elements of the Socialist Party to the left. Sections of these left- ward moving Socialists are already entering into united front actions with the Communists (F. 8. U. con- vention, etc.) while others are com- ing over to the side of the Party (California, sections of the Young Peoples Socialist League.) The fact that workers of the S.P.are becoming radicalized, intensifies the squabbles of the social-fascists (Soci- alist Party), causing some of them to jump over into the camp of the capitalist parties (Blanshard. Upton Sinclair); and on the other hand, forces other leaders of the S. P. to adopt “left” phrases. 16—There is development side by side with the Socialist Party groups working towards the formation of a Farmer-Labor Party, and a new left social fascist party to block especi- ally the more radicalized workers from going over to the side of Com- munism. In the attempt to organize a “left” social fascist Party Muste is trying to play the leading role by uniting the small groups of counter-revolu- tionary intellectuals, reformist C. P. L. A, groups, together with the vari- ous groups and shadings amongst the Yrenegades, the advance guard of counter-revolution, (Trotskyites, Git- low, Lovestonites, ete.) Already Musie has formed the _ self- styled “American Workers Party.” The so-called A. W. P. tries to mis- lead the workers with left phrases, centering at the same time its at- tack on the Communist Party, sland- ering the Communist International, the C. P. S. U. and the heroic Ger: man Communist Party; Muste pro- fesses to be for the “defense of ihe Soviet Union” but betrays his counter revolutionary policies by repeating the most vicious slanders of Fish, Woll & Co, against the Soviet gov- ernment and its foreign policy, peating the counter-reyolulionary Trotskyist slanders against the C. P. important is the growing leftward movement of the ening crisis and growing revo"1ition- ary upsurge, the Communist Party has grown and extended its influ- jence. The Communist Party alone foresaw the crisis and from the first brought to the workers a clear line | of struggle. The Communist Party organized and led the .struggie of many hundreds of thousands of workers and farmers. The Commu- | nist Party alone in the miid&t.of the | beurgeois and social fascist decep- | tion of the toiling masses, unccasing~ ly poin’ed out that only the revolu- | tionary overthrow of the capitalist system and the establishment of the Proletarian Dictatorship“is the way out of misery for the overwhelming majority of the population. The Party from the very begin- | ning of the crisis exposed the Green- | Hoover no-strike agreement and or- ganized the resistance of the work- | ers. It was instrumental in stimu- | lating and organizing the outstand- | ing strike struggles in the firs: crisis yeas (40,000 miners in Pennsylvania and Ohio; textile strikes of Lawrence, Paterson, etc.), stimulated the first | important strikes of the workers in the A. F, of L., set in mo‘ion the big strike movement of last year (big auto strikes in Detroit, Jatuary; the miners strike April 1, ete). During | the course of the last year the Com- | | | important strike, led 200,000 WORKETS | through the revolutionary unions in | militant battles and vlayed an in-| creasing role in the strikes of the A. F. of L. workers and iadependent unions. AS a result of these. siru: gles and the beginnings of the spp! cation of the Open Letter, the Parts has taken an important. step forward | in strengthening the fight for the formation of a class trade union movement, and strengthened its po- | sition in some of the most decisive | industries. (steel, marine, agriculture). | 20—The struggle for unemployment | insurance and immediate relief, has an organized mass movement of several | hundred thousand employed and un- employed workers under the leader- ship of the National Unemployment | Council; a glorious record of historic | struggles, from March 6, 1930, Un- | employment Day; through the great National Hunger Marches to Wash- | ington in 1931 and 1932; the battles in Chicago, Detrojt and Cleveland, | and their martyrs of white, Negro, and young workers—all have welded a firm foundation for this movement, | which has to its credit the forcing | of hundreds of millions of dollars re- | Nef from local, state and national | governments. | 22—It was the Communist Party | | i} Negro rights, for the first time in Sco:tsboro boys, the Communist | and treachery of white and Negro | tional liberation of the oppresssd munists participated in almost every | 19—Under the conditions of deep-. Negro people, which has stirred the|their organization. country to its depths. 22—The Communist Party has |teken up the struggle for the im-|defense bodies of wor mediate needs of impoverished roused a nation-wide re- sistance to mortage foreclosures, gave it a clear political lead, beginning to link up the movement closely with the working class movement,|workers of those countries where winning thousands of partial victo- ries throuch strikes and other mass struggles; trying to develop a broad movement for the cancellation deb‘s. 23--The Party itself has been | cleansed of opportunists and liquida~ tors (Lovestoneites, Trotzkyites) r°-1 unified and consolidated on the line ot the Communist International. As @ result of this it grew from 7,000 members in 1930. to 23,000 weekly dues-paying members in 1934; its a tivity, its discipline, its political un- derstanding, its roots among the American masses, its fighting fitness to lead mass strvegles is much higher than at the time of the 7th Convention (1930). %4—All these achievements, how- in the face of the extr-mely favorable conditions for our work in the past four years, only em- ~ the fact the* the Party has not with sufficient force taken ad- vantere of the favorehle situa- tion. has not yet been able to place et the head of the major s. etc.). and is not cient speed preparing for the tremendous tasks that i> faced with in the face of the growing and sharpening class struggles, the development of Fas- cism, and the drive for imperialist war. It was for this reason that the Extraordinary Party Confer- ence last July, in reviewing the work of the Party and estimating our pesition, stated that: “A Communist Party with very weak and inadequately function- ing organizations in the big fac- tories and among the decisive see- | tions of the American industrial ‘kere. 2 Communist Party whose entire daily work is not concen- trated on winning over and mobil- izing these workers and winning of the factories, a Communist Party which through its revolutionary trade union work does not build highways to the broadest masses of the workers, cannot lay claim to a policy capable of making it the leader of the working “ass within the shortest possible {ime.” Since this was written, the Party coming its weaknesses, and by carr manded by the Open Letter. How- tion of the Open Letter is still in sible time. V. The Tasks of the Communist Party | 25—The central task of the Party, s to organize and lead the fight | against the offensive of..the .capi- talist class, against the developing ; war and to develop these struggles | on the basis of the fight for the im-; mediate partial demands of | workers into gercval class batiles for | (be overthrow of capitalist aictator- 1 ship and the setting up of a Soviet government. This requires a quick- ening of the tempo and improve meni in che quality of the work o: fascism, and the threat of imperialist | the Party to fight for winning the) majority of the working class by more quickly carrying through the the | decisions of the Open letter with re- | gard to rooting the Par basic strata of the proletariat, in th: with a) by} geos s the ranks of the workers, and lroad wor Ss, the st their lines FS and for unem| urance, a) The Struggle Against the Fasci- zation of the Government and Against Imperialist War and Intervention The Party must arouse the against develop United Stat in to the under bour- ad by an alterna: wai gram is m, as in t ruggle st fascism in the United States. It must com- t the demagogy of Roosevelt and his supporters that the New Deal \program i, i at tablishing a ociety free from capitalist exploita- tion, showing that the New Deal pro- gram has not a grain of socialism in it, and that it is fastening upon the masses the yoke of nomic and political eco- ivinist pro} ideas of ite, { pro- letarian internation: hting for equal rights for Negro and for- eign born, for the right of self-de- termination for the Negro peoples in the Black Belt, and for the complete independence of Cuba, for inde- > Philippines, Hawaii n colonies and rizing the solu- tion of the national question in the US.S.R. It must develop a mass |struggle for: a) All civil rights, for jthe right to strike, to organize and to Roosevelt on the grounds that|meet, combatting arbitration and in- |junctions, and defending the trade unions and other workers’ organiza- tions. b) Develop mass movements Jagainst the terror in strikes, espe- |cially against the lynch terror di- |rected against Negro and foreign- {born work militantly defending (Sharecroppers, foreign-born fraternal organizations, jete.) c) Organize br mass self- s and farm- ers to resist the attacks of fascist |gangs and against lynchers. The Party must organize protest meetings, demonstrations, and de- | serious exposure of the reformist be-|velop strikes against Fascist attacks | trayers (Reno & Co.) and has begun|in the U. S., and develop the most {active solidarity movement with the Fascism is in power, especially of Germany, Aus The whole Party must be aroused » etc f /for a fight against the imminence | |of imperialist war and intervention. The main task consists in unmask- jing the pacifist cover under which war is being prepared by the Roose- | velt government, to expose the role |of pacifism of all brands without |alienating honest pacifis who are |ready to enter into a militant fight jagainst imperialist war, must | strengthen the Party and the revolu- |tionary mass organizations in the de- cisive war industries and in the har- for | they | the political educational work in the army and navy and in the C.C.C. camps, widely explain the peace pol- of the Soviet Union and expose counter-revolutionary propagan- da of the Trotskyite renegades and social fascists. By our struggle against the dangers of imperialist var, we must prepare to convert the mperialist war into civil war should | war break out. The Eighth Congr | of the C. P., U.S.A., echoes the c: }of the 13th Plenum of the ECCI, | which “calls upon all the workers and | toilers self-sacrificingly to defend the | U.S.S.R. against counter-revolution- y conspiracy of the imperialists jand to defend the Chinese revolu- ind its Soviet power from im- alist intervention.” B. The Fight Against Social Fascism and the Struggle for the United Front In the fight against social fas- |cism, the Party must explain in a | convincing way the role of the A. F lof L. bureaucracy and the Socialist |Party in helping the capitalists in their offensive upon the living stan- | dards, in assisting the development of a fascist dictatorship, and in help- ing the preparation for imperialist war. It must more carefully expose he “left” maneuvers of the social | fascists, and expose as particularly dangerous the group of “left” reform- ists—the “American Workers Party.” The Party must show to the masses that the bankruptcy of the Germar Social Democracy now followed by the Austrian Social Democracy was the logical outcome of the whole policy which they pursued in the en- tire post-war period. Exposing the systematic opposition to united front y the A. F. of L. leaders while it unites with the capitalists, the rejec- tion and sabotage of the united front by the Socialist Party which unites with the agents of finance capital (Roosevelt, LaGuardia) and cements its bonds with the reactionary A. F. of L. bureaucrats, the Communist Party must widen its struggle for the united front with the social demo- cratic workers, over the heads of their treacherous leaders. In the ap- plication of the united front, the Party must fight against the right deviations expressed in the united front from on top as a bloc with the reformist leaders (some tendencies in the united front with the Musteites) capitulation to reformist conceptions and policies and hiding and distort- ing the* policy of the Party in the | united front (Dearborn and Cleve- | land elections), and in obscuring and concealing the indevendent role of the Party in the united front strig- gle. It must combat the sectarian resistance to the use of the united front tactic, particularly in the work in the trade unions and among the unemployed. C. Work in the Trade Unions Every Communist to carry bolshevik work must establish maintain contact with non-pariy | workers. The Eighth Congress | obliges every party member to be- , come organized in a Trade Union and imposes upon the C. C. the task of checking up on the fulfillment of this decision within three months, | on | and | | |a) For a Decisive Turn in the Work in the A. F. L. The work of building a revolu- tionary trade union opposition in the A. F. of L. and Railroad Brother- hoods has assumed greater import- ance at the present time and in a number of industries is the main task in our trade union work (min- ers, railroad, building) In most industries it has become increas- ingly important (metal, textile, gar- ment, etc.). This work has not yet been taken up by the en- tire party, and is not yet di- rected primarily towards the most important sections of the A. F. of L. workers and the Railroad Brotherhoods, A sharp struggle must be carried on against all neglect and open and hidden opportunist resist- ance to a decisive course towards winning the masses and developing systematic work within these organi- zations. Any opposition or under- | estimation of work in the A. F. L. is incompatible with the line of the |Party (certain tendencies in the Cleveland District.) The zhole Party must be mobilized for work in the A. F. L., and a decisive turn made ~to- | ers organized in the A. F, L. unions and the Railroad Brotherhoods and isolating the bureaucrats. It is neces- | sary to orientate the oppositions to- wards overcoming legalistic illusions and undertake the independent lead- ership of the economic struggles of which raised high the banner of | has made some headway in over-|the workers, to organize the opposi- tion in the shops and local unions, }dues, high salaries, trade union Party aroused, despite the resistance | ever, in the main, the characteriza- democracy, racketeering. Agitation must be systematically reformists, a Vigorous mass move- | fall force and must be the guide to carried on against company unions. | tiye of ment, of white and Negro asses, the entire perty in the fulfillment! al) grievances in: for their defense and for the Na- of its main tasks in the shortest pos-| 911 manifestations of discontent in side the factories and | the | | factories in which Communists and revolutionary work~- independent class trade unions, at the same time work must be carried | carry on a fight for inside the wards winning the millions of work- | lers in order to form and strengthen { fractions in the T. U. U. L: unions, and especially give attention to strengthening the independent revo- lutionary unions of steel, auto, marine, textile workers among the millions of unorganized and con- solidate the recent gains of these trade unions. The Communist fractions must make as one of their main tasks the drawing in of the broad masses, the Negro workers into these unions. c) Struggle for An Independent Federation of Labor The rising movement of in- | dependent trade union organization | outside of and against the American | Federation of Labor must be pene- trated and won to class struggle ‘poli- cies, isolating reformist leaders in these organizations. The Party must strive to unify the independent unions with revolutionary trade unions in each industry. It must work towards bri together the independent and revolutionary trade unions into an Independent Federa- | tion of Labor. The building of such | a broad class trade union center of jall class unions which stand outside }of the A. F. L. as part of a broad revolutionary trade union moyement | (broad A. F. L. opposition side by side | with independent class trade union center) is an important task of our Party. The building of the in- | dependent trade union federation | must take place on the basis of a struggle for unity from below by our _ work in the independent unions. In | view of this task the struggle against | the Musteites and Lovestone and the United States since the almost-| ing through some of the concen-| to participate in all elections and to| Trotskyite renegades in the indepen- forgotten days of the Abolitionists.| tration control tasks, has streng’h-| fight for offices in the unions, and By boldly taking up the case-of the . ened its position along the lines de-| to fight on all inner union questions, dent unions must be sharpened. d) For the Organization of Shop Committees tise of shop committees by all the workers irrespec- trade union affiliation has taken place on an increasing scale, especially as a result of the raising | The | elected company | of the slogan by the Communists. In unions exist must be utilized by the| g nuinber of dines the workers have been successful in gaining recogni- tion for shop committees (metal, textile, needle, ete.) The Party must the organization on company unions. | of shop committees and for their striving to occupy every eligible post | recognition by the employers. Such by Communists and militant work-| committees are a true expression of ers, for the purpose of winning the| the united front of the -workers’ in workers away from company ‘dent unions y among the | >) Building the Revolutionary Unions its e The Party must strengthen unions |and for the organization of indepen- | the struggle against the splitting and | the factories. They can be a force for dividing policy of the trade union » (Continued on Page 6)