The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 23, 1934, Page 4

At This Time Must Be Article X. E wete six “Great Powers” in | ‘world: the United States, | Britain, France, Germany, | aly, and Ja ; while the U. S./ S. R., where ‘idual peasants still | cultivated with wooden plows, was | incomparably below all of these in| productive forces. | But today, after five years of the “Program of Great Works,” after the first Five-Year Plan, what is| the picture as to relation of forces | among the States of the world? Is it not inescapable now that} among the three most powerful) States of the world, in the beginning of the “new r d of wars and revolutions’ be included the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? | it must be, in conjunc- e growth of the revolu- tionary forces of all countries of the world, the maturing and Strengthening of the Communist Parties and the development of the struggles for national liberation against imperialism, we can hardly fail to regard this “armoring” of the citadel of world revolution as decisive. What if the policy of the Right | opportunists had been adopted? | What if the policy of the Trotzky renegades (“You cannot build so- Cialism in one country”) had been adopted? The Communist Party of the So- viet Union under the leadership of Stalin proceeded boldly with the collectivization of agriculture. Suc- cess beyond even the brightest ex- pectations has resulted. This means decisive action in bringing about the most profound change that modern society can possibly con- Parmeless Boss Leaflet Exposes Company Union NEW YORK.—When the strike| started in the Parmelee garages on March 9, the Drivers’ Brotherhood of the Parmelee System or the Parmelee System’s agents distrib- uted a leaflet to the drivers and/ urged them to join the company union. | In these leaflets the company made eleven promises through the Brotherhood of Parmelee system, anc one of the best was No. 6, where the company promised to give the right to drivers to call on higher officials in cases where no Settlement can be reached between workers and the company. These leaflets clearly show that the Brotherhood of Parmelee System is only the company’s tool against the workers’ own union. There probably are some who/ would join the company union, which would be against their own) welfare, but what is funny in these| leaflets is when they say, “This is) not a company union.” | All these actions by the company give warning to all workers that their place is not with their en- emies. All that we have to do now, is to build one big union and we will win the fight. 'VHAT IS NRA TO THE MASSES? By a Worker Correspondent LEWISBURG, Ala. — What does “he New Deal mean for the good of the-masses of the people, when the ‘he masses are driven to the working olaces like oxen through the fear of the boss class. Now if we don’t call this boss class “master,” they will call up an officer and say to him, “This Negro so-and- ~80 is a Negro. I want you to remember him. He doesn’t know how) to put a handle to a white man’s name.” Through this, some of us get shot down. The coroner comes. “A justifiable verdict.” By the laws, men are made so rich shat they hire the law-makers to orotect their interests against the workers’ rights. And they are lead- ng to the graveyard with starvation, with war, with weapons carried wound in scabbards to make men stand in fear of the gunman who is raging outside. | Letters from Our Readers A BIG TURNOUT FOR MAY DAY Brooklyn, N. Y. City. May Day is approaching. As a result of the deepening crises, many thousands of workers have become disillusioned with capitalism. As a result of the campaign led by the Communist Party, many of these workers will march under our ban- ners on May Day. Since last year there have occurred many things indicating the decay of capitalism and the role of the Communist Party as leader of the proletariat for the overthrow of capitalism, This May First must be a tremen- -dous turnout. The C. W. A. will be ended, and many will be out look- ing for work. I wish to make some suggestions for making this May Day a better one than usual. Firstly: slogans. There must be an organized corps of slogan leaders. These comrades must have a large number of slo- gans ready. These leaders must use megaphones (which can be made up). I know that we usually leave the matter of slogans to comrades who resort to inventing them as they go along. Hence, such foolish slo- gans as: We demand a Revolution! Even good slogans do not receive solid mass yells. Often, the result is disappointing. Our bands, espe- cially the leading band, must be good, and have a good repertoire of revolutionary songs. Here the Pierre Degeyter Club can be of great help. I hope that these suggestions meet with a response from others with suggestions to make this a suc- vessful May Day, ‘Second 5-Yr. Plan Will Place | U.S.S.R. First Among States’|Drivers of Strengthening of Citadel of World Revolution By ROBERT MINOR. Regarded as Decisive || | | ceive—the change from a society | divided into classes into a classless society. Viewed from the outlook of the Communist International this is a programmatic realization which will draw into its train the| whole course of history, particularly in agricultural countries. The Second Five-Year Plan, now | under way, will place the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics first among all State powers of the world. aol ee ed. ae \ ecared the leaders of the Second International, echoed by the renegades expelled from the Com- munist Party, were in the middle of their hymn of “organized capital- |ism” and the “new Victorian Era” of prosperity—the Wall Street crash of November, 1929, cast a pall of gloom over a capitalist world that was soon to be shaken to its foun- dations It was the 12th Plenum of the | Executive Committee of the Com- munist International, in the sum- mer of 1932 which proclaimed the “end of relative stabilization of capitalism” and noted that the transition to “a new round of wars | | and revolutions” was under way. (Concluded Tomorrow) Call Rail Unon Merger Meeting In Glenwood, Pa. By a Railroad Worker Correspondent GLENWOOD, Pa.—The Big Four Brotherhoods are showing some signs of life here. They have called a United Front meeting, to be held in the’I. O. O. F. Hall, at Second and Flowers Ave., to discuss some form of merger plan. Such a merger is very improbable. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers and the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen are in a comparatively strong finan- cial position, while the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, after their crash of 1927, are almost out of the Picture as an organization. The Grand Chiefs as well as the other Grand Lodge Officials, do not care for mergers, as they are now living “high and mighty,” and a merger would put them back to work. This, of course, applies to all the salaried officers, even to the local committee grievance men. The Glenwood grievers are going in for politics in a big way.. The trainmen had one in the State Legis- lature who voted against all pro- gressive labor bills. He ended by committing suicide. We hope to put forward some con- structive suggestions at the merger meeting, and will report them later to the Daily Worker. The superin- | tendent of motive power, Mr. A. K. | Galloway of the B. & O., proposed a four-day week and the return of 1,150 furloughed men over the entire B. & O. system. He did not propose any increase in pay. This is a plain move to put more men to work at the expense of those already work- | ing. The men will vote on the pro- | posal later. Loss of faith in the N. R. A. is continually showing up, and by some of its former supporters, though we now have a little spurt here due to a few billion dollars war budget and | Of course a corresponding demand | for steel. Some of the railroads are getting rails, to be paid for by the taxpayers through the R. F. C. Business has increased about 12 per cent, and | employment about 2 per cent. Larger engines and longer trains do not put men to work, and the state law makers voted down the Full Crew Bill as well as the Car Limit Bill. The time is not far away when the railroad men will have a fight- ing organization against capitalistic alliances, corruption, strike betray- als, and misleaders in the shop unions and brotherhoods, A.F.L. Robs Relief Fund O’Brien Grabs Dues in Phila. While Taxi Strikers Starve By a Taxi Worker Correspondent PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—In refer- ence to relief voted by the member- ship of Taxi Drivers Local No. 156 to 13 drivers who were blacklisted in| the recent strike at the P. R. T. re-| sulting from agreement, to which| Socialist Party leaders such as Felix, Daniels, VanGelter and Jeffery were partners, directly and indirectly, and also the local leaders Galbrath and Packer, “that if a striker is found to be an aggressor the company will not rehire.” ‘These men were voted the mini- mum of $10 per week till they find| work. On the basis of the above, these men went to see Mr. O’Brien, an organizer for the International | Brotherhood of Teamsters, who is in Philadelphia examining the local’s books, due to charges resulting from the incompetence of Packer, the treasurer, and the inefficiency of Galbrath, the local’s president. These men asked Mr. O’Brien if they could receive their relief. He s “No moneys could be expended by the secretary-treasurer in regards to relief while books are being au- dited, and also, after audit, the In- ternational had first lien on the treasury of a local for per capita tax owed for previous months.” Also that the matter of relief did not concern Mr. O’Brien. He said, “You got yourself into this through no fault of mine, and I will not expend my own money to help you.” And if the local owes a per capita tax to exceed the treas- ury balance, the outlook for relief for these men for the next six or seven weeks will put them in the starvation class. O’Brien also stated, “Maybe you have time to argue, but I haven’t.” These workers found O’Brien very antagonistic to their pleas for help, and his only concern was for the per capita tax. His parting remarks were, “I am looking out for Tom O’Brien.” This proves to these workers that O’Brien is more interested in his $12,000 per year job than the welfare of the workers. Protecting the welfare of such labor fakers as Green, Woll, Lewis and Tobin, who break strikes, is Tommy O’Brien’s only concern. O'Brien should be evicted from the local immediately, if you workers want to build a strong union to fight the bosses for better working condi- tions. This can be done only by putting into the leadership those men who have shown their mili- tancy on the picket line and out on the street, and on the union floor. Force Investigation of Bemidji Poor Farm By a Worker Correspondent BEMIDJI, Mich.—At the Poor Farm here, the old people get hardly any care. A committee of the Un- employed Council of Bemidji went up there and found out that the old men haven’t had any tobacco in the last four years. Their un- derclothes are not even fit for mop rags. The outside clothes are also ragged and dirty. One comrade of the Working Women’s Club reported at their last meeting that a minister’s wife made the remark some time ago that this place would be investigated and looked after. The Salvation Army should also make some remarks about conditions there, but none of the churches, not even the Sal- vation Army (which is always beg- ging for the poor) bothered them- selves to see to it that a protest is sent to the authorities. ‘The committee of the Unemployed Council did not lay down on the job until steps were taken by the City Council, on Feb. 19, they de- cided that the Poor Committee will go the next day and investigate. In reality they did not go until several days after, so as to give the care- taker, Mr. Sweeten, plenty of time to adjust things, so they would find things in pretty good shaps. At the same time, it only happened be- DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1934 CHICAGO CAR COMPANY ADVISES OVER-WORKED EMPLOYES TO “SMILE” But Correspondent Says That Workers Should Demand Pensions at Bosses’ Expense and 25% Pay Increase By a Worker Correspondent CHICAGO, Iil. This year usual we were “invited” to the accident prevention meetings. We were “invited,” but our numbers were checked up to see that nobody stayed away. “Uniform grafter” Evenson, the general superintend- ent, opened one of the meetings to which I was “invited.” Cigars were passed around. Strangely enough, the A. F. of L. union officials did not resent the fact that the ropes were non-union made, and helped themselves to them. The surface lines are now carry- ing more passengers than last year, due to the fact that the C.W.A. and other workers are given jobs far from their homes, Only Evenson was shedding crocodile tears about the fact that the C. S. Lines are carry- ing 250,000,000 passengers less yearly than in 1929. This number, ac- cording to Evenson, is more than the total carried yearly by cities such as Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Twin Cities, ete. The old fox deliberately omitted from this comparison the fact that the cities are men- tioned are about one tenth or one eighth the size of Chicago, and that the Chicago street cars are operated at a much faster rate than in other cities, the difference being as high as 40 per cent in some instances; that the loads are bigger, only New York subways being able to show something Ifke the loads on Chicago Lines, such as Madison, Milwaukee, State, Western, Roosevelt, 63rd St., and others, He also did not men- tion the fact that 95 per cent of the cars were bought before the war and have since paid for them- selves many times over. His main plea was for the over- worked and speeded-up men to smile and smile again, although if as Cc. S. L. executives would try to smile their faces would surely crack. Under the cloud of this kind of | hooey one fact could be seen. The company wants the men to support, before the City Council, a plea for another extension of time before the consolidation ordinance is put in effect. They are sitting pretty now and are under the protection of Federal receivership and it is the third year already since they first got extension from the City Hall. Under the consolidation ordi- mance, the men are supposed to get a pension. Carefully, as‘if he were handling a hot potato, Evenson mentioned this fact. The fact that the pension paragraph is so worded that the men themselves will prob- ably be made to shoulder the en- tire burden of it, should be known to every street car man. What we ought to demand is the immediate pensioning off of the old-timers over 60 years of age, and 20 years in service, with the company shoul- dering the entire cost, No bettering of conditions was promised by Evenson, except that here and there, throughout the city, more runs will be put on. But of course, every time the schedule de- partment gives birth to a new time- table it is always worse. We must demand, besides the pension, more running time, more lay-over time, elimination of bum swing-runs, and uniforms to be furnished free of charge, by the company, The main demands must be: 1) 25 per cent increase in pay to equalize the increased cost of living. 2) Recognition of depot commit- tee freely elected by the men, these committees to represent them in all dealings with the company. By a Marine Worker Correspondent PIER 9, NORTH RIVER, N. Y.— Attention! Seamen of the United Fruit Company! Oust that Mr. Hume, the port steward, “King of the Blackballs,” as seamen call him. He has blacklisted hundreds of sea- men of the Steward’s Deptartment on very slight pretexts. The des- potism and other abuses of the United Fruit Co. are managed through their port steward, Mr. Hume. Seven seamen of the Steward’s Department work 16 hours a day at very low pay and no pay for overtime. They never have a day off at all till they quit or get black- listed. They have to serve late dinners and late suppers when in foreign ports, thus depriving the waiters, cooks and kitchen help of their shore leave on the only night in port. After they finish with the last meal, it’s too late to go any- where, as these workers have to wash up, then wash themselves and change to street clothes, so the tired slaves prefer to rest on board on the only night in port, since these mail and passenger ships sel- dom remain one whole night in port. The company’s money-grabbing ideas makes it bad for the tourists, who are rushed about town in flash-light sight-seeing tours and brought back on board for meals. ‘Thus, the slaves are kept on watch all the time to serve these passen- gers any time they return. The slaves must stand for every- thing or they are fired and black- listed for many years; in most cases, laid off forever. To make things worse for the crew, they are com- pelled to attend to boat-drills when they have a little off-duty time in port. When pulling out from the docks in New York, the boss stewards run nervously to the crew’s deck to shove inside all members of the cause of the Unemployed Council. Steward’s Dept. They say it’s the United Fruit Line Works Stewards 16 Hrs. a Day port steward’s orders; the slaves have no right to wave good-bye to their relatives or friends who may be on the dock. Many times the fight has started right there, as a protest against this humiliation by the seaman. The same “orders” are carried out on arriving back in New York. Captains and some officers are so arrogant that they refuse to allow members of the crew to “throw a line” to heave up one of the crew arriving late when the ship is about to pull out. Many have been left behind in foreign ports on account of this despotism. The Steward’s Dept. is lodged in @ small space in the bow, near the anchor, where a watch-bell strikes the time every half hour or less, as signals, thus interrupting the much- needed sleep of the waiters, mess- men and kitchen help. When the set gets just a little rough, these low ship’s bows dive and jump, causing the sea to run into these “quarters,” and spoiling the crew's clothes, suitcases etc. On most ships these ceilings are leaky and the rain filters through to the beds. There is one bath-room and no hot water. You pump up the cold water. One indecent rail toilet for the whole bunch. As they work the same hours, they crowd themselves getting ready to work, Food is corned beef and cabbage all the time, with very bad coffee and some dissolved powder they call “milk.” Pie or dessert on certain holidays only, for the Steward’s Department unless you are able to steal on any other day, Enslave workers of the sea, stand up for your rights as human beings! Oust that Hume, the Port Steward! Prepare for the big strike this summer! Ask your friend, your fellow worker to subscribe to the Daily Worker, (Postal Subs Forced To Get Charity Los Angeles Clerk Tells of $7 to $8 Payments for Two Weeks Work (By a Post Office Correspondent) LOS ANGELES, Cal. — I know several cases of hard-working men employed as substitutes in the post- office who are actually in want and have to accept charity from the county. Their average pay runs from 65 cents to a possible $7 or $8 for two weeks work. These men are required to report every day for work, but are not paid one cent for the time that they have to hang around the office. Playing checkers is their favorite diversion. These men have my _ heartfelt sympathy, but I am helpless to do anything for them except to ad- vertise their deplorable condition and pray that something may be done to remedy them. Two hundred sub-clerks were laid off indefinitely at the Arcade station two days ago. We have been notified of a four day furlough without pay between now and the first of July. Also no more vacation until further notice. My pay has been so reduced that I am no longer able to meet my payments on the furniture, the bank, and so on, and yet these people have the nerve to ask us to lay off for a day to help the poor substitutes! The government is well able to guarantee the subs a minimum wage of $15 a week. Why don’t they do it? Good luck and more power to you! May these few lines cause the people to wake up and do some- thing! LOS ANGELES POSTAL CLERK. Peas hea Editorial note: We suggest that this worker organize the clerks and substitutes into the existing unions and force action there for an end of these conditions, and if they cannot do so, that they organize militant unions for ac- tion. We warn them against the legalistic trap that government employees cannot strike. Any worker can and must strike against such conditions of work and underpayment as_ these. Through such militant action you can also mobilize public sym- pathy and support. THE SEAMEN’S CODE By B. N. BENDER (To be sung to the tune of The Worker’s Flag.) ‘The Seamen’s Code is going through, In spite of all the I Sold U; From just one port, 200 strong The seamen rushed on Washington! With Union flag and banners high They all set out to do or die! No fink sell-out can bear the brunt Of the Workers united front! Keep up the fight for this, Our Code, We cannot fail to win our goal! The I. S. U. and Bosses fight; They can’t withstand the Worker’s might! Tho they may say, “You shan’t be free, We'll keep you in Wage Slavery!” We'll show the Boss that he is wrong, United, Workers are too strong! So fling the banners to the breeze! We've started on big victories; SMASH I. S. U. and N. R. A, The Workers’ Union leads the way! (Finis) NOTE We publish letters every Fri- day from workers in the trans- )portation and communications express companies, truck drivers, taxi drivers, etc.—and from the communications industries—post office, telephone, telegraph, etc. We urge workers from these industries to write us of their struggles to organize, Please get these letters to us by Tuesday of each week, PARTY LIFE The following is an account of{ recent experiences in distributing leaflets in front of the Alumimum Company of America factory here in Cleveland. This factory is the concentration plant of Section 1, District 6. | We distributed a leaflet of the} Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union before this plant, which car- ried the heading, “5,000 Aluminum Workers on Strike!” telling the story of the strike on the aluminum workers in the Pittsburgh District. The leaflet called upon the workers | to cooperate with their fellow workers in Pittsburgh, and to or-} ganize. The workers at the plant recevied these leaflets well and some of them are getting bold enough to come for- ward and give us important infor- | mation. Several workers called | upon me to take steps to expose a/ fake company union that is being | organized by the bosses. A meeting is being called of these workers, at which the first organi- zational steps will be taken. This will be held very soon. The workers are very much in sympathy with the striking Alumi- num workers of Kensington and there is much talk among them of unionism. The bosses, seeing that we are about to consolidate our agitational gains have, “granted” a 3c hourly increase in wages. This has been done as a desperate attempt to keep the strike in the aluminum in- dustry from spreading. This attempt on the part of the bosses here to bribe the workers into scabbing on the workers in Ken- sington must be exposed! We will do this through leaflets, in our gen- eral agitation, as well as in the meeting which we have called. L. A. B., Organizer Unit 17, Section 1, Dist. 6. ee ee Plan of Work of Chicago Unit—A Challenge to Socialist Competition Unit No. 1203, Chicago, presented the following plan of work at the meeting of section functionaries: Unit No. 1203 goes on record with the following pledges: 1. To recruit six new members into the Party by April 1. 2. To recruit ten new members into the S. M. W. I. U. in 60 days. 3. To recruit ten new members into the I. L. D. in 60 days. 4. To recruit five new members into the I. W. O. in 60 days. 5. To recruit 26 new members into the Unemployed Council in 60 days. In addition to recruiting we pledge ourselves: (a) To increase the Daily Worker bundle order from 15 to 30 copies daily. (b) To secure three daily new subs and four Saturday subs in 60 days. (c) To sell 30 copies of the Metal Worker each month. (da) To sell $20 worth of litera- ture in 60 days. (e) To assign two comrades to build Mexican Workers’ Club, if Repair Worker “Baked” NEW YORK.—An ash pit 18 inches high and eight feet long un- der a bakers’ oven was the 45-min- ute prison of a repair worker who became wedged in the narrow space yesterday. The bricks were heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Beekman St. Hospital, where he is being treated, reports that he is in fair condition and may recover, Join the industries—railroad, marine, sur- | face lines, subway, elevated lines, | Communist Party 35 E. 12th STREET, N. Y. C. Please send me more informa- tion on the Communist Party. Street Various Shadings Found Within the Camp of Social Fascism By M. CHILDS In line with the basic task, raised in the Open Letter to our Party membership, the chief and most important problems at the present moment are the activities of the Party in strikes and the struggle against Social Fascism for the lead- ership of the masses. Various Shades of Social Fascism The struggle that is taking place today in the American labor move- ment for the leadership of the working class is not just a struggle of two groups. Within the camp of Social Fascism itself we find various shadings. There are many workers today who in the short space of time have become con- vinced of the treachery of the A. F. of L., who realize the inadequacy of the craft form of organization or even the so-called federal form. These workers are a prey to the demagogy of so-called “left” Social Fascists—on a national scale of the Muste variety—and on a local scale bearing a different label but of the same brand. We saw this very viv- idly in the city of Racine, where the workers became disgusted with the American Federation of Labor; and our Party failed to act as the leaders in the struggle for the everyday neds of the masses. There the Socialists succeeded in organ- izing what is called a “Workers’ for its original purpose only the or- ganization of the unemployed. Seeing, however, that thousands of workers are dissatisfied with the A. F, of L, this Workers’ Committee came forward with a plan of or- ganizing the workers in the fac- tories into what they called “paral- lel unions,” a form of industrial union. Within a short period of time, this Workers’ Committee em- braced thousands of workers in some very important factories. The workers, taking the dema- Sogy of the leadership of the Work- ers’ Committee seriously, organized strikes. In the struggle they began to see that the only difference be- tween this Workers’ Committee and the A. F. of L. is in its phraseology. The Workers’ Committee, just as the A. F. of L., co-operates with the capitalist class, discourages strikes, is not in favor of mass picketing, Places the workers at the mercy of the N. R, A. labor board, and car- ries on a struggle against the Com- munists. But why should the workers have gone to the Workers’ Committee? Because our Party in the city of Racine fatled to under- stand that the chief link in our work today is work within the shops and trade unions—the neces- sity to lead the economic struggles of the workers. Must Build National Unions While discussing the problem of strike struggles and the building of the revolutionary unions, it would not be out of place to mention the fact that there is no national guid- Committee.” This organization had \ ‘i. Pre-Convention Discussion lations of the Center to the various locals seem to be only that of a dues agency. Occasionally when something startling happens here or there do the national headquar- ters of our unions concern them- selves. And in this only in a gen- eral way. At the Extraordinary ' Conference last summer, this prob- lem was raised and it was pointed out that the national unions work in an amateurish way. When we organize workers into revolutionary unions, they are interested to know whether they are a part of a na- tional movement; what support will they receive in the event of a strike; what strength have we got in other parts of the country, etc. Our organizational tactic must be very flexible. Maybe it is possible to learn something even from our enemies, Let us use as an example the automobile and steel and metal industries. Would it not be pos- sible to launch a big national or- ganizational campaign to mobilize the chief forces of the union and divide them in such a way as to be- gin with the concentration districts and at the same time strengthen the local forces in other places with the help of the national forces. Of course, the cheif task remains with the local organizations, but there are periods (strikes, etc.) when help from the Center would help to cement and strengthen the unions ance by our union bodies. The re- on a national scale, This could be used as a lever in spreading the strike struggles in some industries (auto, steel, packing). The building of an independent American Federation of Labor would be a great step in this direc- tion. It will do away with the pres- ent situation, where every time a new group or union is organized in any industry, we have to grope in the dark about affiliation as well as about technical matters such as charters, membership books, dues, etc. The Party In Strike Struggles In all of the strike struggles now taking place, the Party made an attempt to give leadership. The strikes, however, disclosed certain weaknesses in our concentration work, It proved that our concen- tration work is not being carried on by the section of the Party, whose task it is. Only a certain group of comrades working independently repeatedly do most of the work. To carry on concentration work, it is necessary to involve the Party organization as such, near this par- ticular factory. Work has to be carried on from the inside as well as from the outside. The work is much more effective when it is linked up with a group inside the factory. The places where we sold the Daily Worker regularly, the Steel and Metal, and other papers, from time to time, are the places that were quickest to respond to Lhe Activities of the Party in Strikes and Struggles Against Social the demands of the Party. Some Sections fail to act as inde- pendent bodies when the occasion arises. Even when the seamen’s strike was already on, Section 1 of Milwaukee failed to respond and did not even put it on the agenda until prompted by the District. The Racine Section, instead of concen- trating on the Nash and Case Strikes, factories which were sup- posed to be the original points of concentration, dissipated their en- ergy on some small demonstrations in places of far lesser importance. The question of visiting contacts, organizing opposition groups inside the A. F. of L. and the Workers’ Committee, putting forward de- mands for rank and file strike com- mittees, etc., was neglected for a time. In some strikes, the Section Committees in our District did not even respond enough in mobilizing the membership, assigning each one to a certain task during the strike. The strikes have brought out an- other thing, that is, the lack of preparedness on our part to com- bat the attacks of the Social Fas- cists, including physical attacks. In most strikes, the leadership co- operated with the police in terror- izing the militant workers and the Communists. The Party has a cer- tain habit in distributing leaflets, but in a period of strikes—certain precautionary measures must be taken. Our leaflets must reach the rank and file regardless of the po- lice and bureaucrats. We must guard against casualties, the fewer arrests the better—this can be done if organized, Fascism aor me Must Build National Unions to Guide All Striking Workers The strikes and our participation in these should have been the greatest field of recruitment for our Party. But the District Bureau is far from satisfied on the question of recruitment. There is still a tendency in our District to separate mass work from Party work. Al- though we reached many new con- tacts, among these some of the most militant and best workers in the strikes, the comrades involved, de- layed approaching these workers and asking them to come into the Party. In the city of Kenosha, for example, where we participated in all of the strikes that have taken place, the recruitment has been lower than the period prior to the strike. In fact, the comrades be- came so “involved” in the work of the shops and trade union that they did not even deem it necessary to put in their regular dues orders. This is a disease which we must root out. The Party must be built in the process of struggles. We > ~~; understand that, without the guid- ing hand of the Party, it will be im- Possible to lead struggles and build unions. The District Convention will have to discuss these problems in much greater detail and to adopt such || Utilize Pennsylvania Strike to Organize Cleveland Workers’ Distribute Leaflets, Hold Meetings, Expose the Company Unions which they own collectively as resolutions, and take such steps, as will guarantee the carrying out of the most important tasks of the Party other South Chicago units wil do the same. (f) To build an L.S.N.R. braneh in our territory in 60 days. Comrade B. pledged himself to re- cruit four or five new members from the shop of concentration into the Party by April 1. In going on record with fnis pledge, which we promise to carry out 100 per cent, our unit chal- lenges other units to follow the same tasks and plan of work. Let’s have socialist competition. If other units will carry on, our unit will. too. 8. J. C., Financial Secretary, Unit 1203, South Chicago. This column would like to pub- lish acceptances to this Bolshevik challenge. We also ask this unit to keep us informed as to the progress of their work. At the end of the 60-day period, we would like to announce through this column the 100 per cent car- tying out of this excellent plan of work, Is LABOR POWER A DITY UNDER A PROLAY DICTATORSHIP Brooklyn, M. ¥. Dear Comrade Hathaway: I am leading a class of hance and students who around the corner store. At the last class, the pa hs arose— is labor power a comodity under a proletarian dictatorship? I am quite sure it isn’t, but after asking a few leading Y. C. Lers, I found that no one could prove conclusively that labor power is not a commodity under a proletarian dictatorship. If possible, I wish you could an- swer in the Daily Worker as I have made all the members of my class to read it every day. Comradely yours, A YOUNG WORKER. Sas ae To your question, “Is labor power & commodity under proletarian dictatorship?” the answer is cate- gorically, “No.” Labor power be- came @ commodity only with the rise of the capitalist system of produc- tion. Two sets of conditions were necessary for labor power to be- come a commodity, one, that the laborer should be separated from the ownership of the means of pro- duction; two, that the means of production be owned and controlled by individuals or groups of indi- viduals, to whom the worker must come to hire himself as a laborer. Under these conditions the owner of the means of production and the laborer appear as two commo- dity owners. The laborer owns his labor power. The boss or capitalist owns the money with which he pays for the labor power. Under the capitalist system of production, labor power is universally a com- modity. It must be made clear that under the capitalist system of production, the worker and the capitalist (the seller and the buyer of labor power) are not on equal ground. The worker, driven by the necessity of making a living, is compelled to sell his la- bor power to the owner of the means of production. The owner of the means of production buys the labor power for the sole purpose of in- creasing his capital through surplus value derived from the labor of the worker. He, the capitalist, will, therefore, always try to buy the la- bor power as cheaply as possible (low wages). Having bought the la- bor power, the capitalist will use it to the utmost, either through long hours, rationalization methods (speed-up, efficiency system, piece- work, overtime, promises of bonuses, etc.). The working class must there- fore organize and fight against the excessive exploitation. “Labor power is, in our present- day capitalist society, a commodity like every other commodity, but yet a very peculiar commodity. It has, namely, the peculiarity of be- ing a value-creating force, the source of value, and, moreover, when properly treated, the source of more value than it possesses itself. In the present state of pro- duction, human labor power not only produces in a day greater value than it itself possesses and costs; but with each new scientific discovery, with each new technical invention, there also rises the sur- eh of shes ort ashisatns over its Wi! as consequence there diminishes that part of the working day in which the laborer produces the equivalent of his day’s wages, and, on the other hand, lengthens that part of the working day in which he must present labor gratis to the cap- italist.”"—Frederick Engels, Intro- duction to “Wage, Labor and Cap- ital” by Karl Marx. viduals, but are controlled by entire working class, and therefore the workers going into a factory, mill, mine, or any other place proauction oo not igs their labor Power, but they work with the tools and machinery belonging to class. Under such conditions labor power as a commodity does not ex- ist, since the relations in society are changed from those of capital- ist relations to socialist relations. The bsteilt onagey of goods is carried on, not for the purpose of piling profits for one section of profes but for the benefit of the entire Society. Therefore capitalist rela- tions, surplus value, and labor power as a commodity disappear, i