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| | | DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 1934 Page Three ~ 2,000 Farmers Hear Bentzley, Militant Farm Leader, Flay Wallace Milk-Destr “Class Program of the Banks, Rich Farmers,” Farmers State | eraser PHILADELPHIA, Pa., April 3.— | In a 25-minute speech that was | greeted by storms of applause from the 2,000 assembled dairy farmers | who came from all parts of the milk shed here, Lewis Bentzley, President of the United Farmers’ | Protective Association, tore the new | #ilk-destroying program of Secre- | tary of Agriculture Wallace to pieces at the first open hearing on the! proposed plan. Wallace is now travelling the country, speaking at open hearings on his new plan to raise the prices of milk and butter by destroying 10 per cent of the country’s dairy sup- ply through a program of curtailed production. This would raise butter five cents a pound and milk one cent a quart. Speaking at the Broadwood Ho- tel, where the 2,000 farmers had gathered to hear him defend his plan, Wallace outlined his pro- posals. When he had finished speaking, Bentzley, who is well! known to the farmers as a militant fighter against foreclosures and evictions, and for the rights of the small farmer, rose to speak. Farmers Score Starvation Plan His speech created a sensation and aroused the farmers, who had listened skeptically to Wallace’s re- actionary proposals, to high en- thusiasm and great applause. “We are opposed,” Bentzley said, “to any production control plan, be- cause we realize that under such a scheme the small. farmer, city work- | ers and the undernourished chil- dren are the victims of it. We are against any reduction of the pro- duction of food while millions are going hungry. “How can the Department of Agriculture attempt to force such an inhuman program when its own experts admit that in order to give our people an adequate diet at a moderate cost we need 15,000,000 more caws than we now have. These figures were given by Mr. Tolley of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration in his speech of Jan. 31. “This is a starvation program that is designed to drive 2.000,000 per- sons off their farms, who will have to be ‘absorbed by other occupa- | tions.’ This is from a statement by Mr. Tugwell on Aug. 4. “Those who fayor the new milk policy contend that the checks for benefit payments will more than make up for the loss sustained through curtailment of crops. This might be so, if the small farmer got the check in the end. But he does not. Our experience in the West end South shows that checks are immediately levied upon by the bankers, cow jockeys, landlords and other creditors. This is banker re- lief disguised as farm relief.” Form Strike Only Workers Gov't Can Break Yoke That Binds Small Farmers The draft Manifesto of the Communist Party, at its Eighth National Convention, denounces the destruction of American agriculture solely in order to maintain Wall Street monopoly and rich farmer profits. The Communist Party Manifesto de- clares that a Workers and Farm- ers Government, established through the abolition of the cap- italist government, would act so that: “All claims to the ownership of the means of production, includ- ing stocks, bonds, mortgages, etc., would be relegated to museums, with special provisions to pro- tect small savings. “Such a government would immediately begin to reorganize the present anarchic system of production along Socialist lines. It would eliminate the untold waste of capitalism; it would bring to full use the tremendous achievements of science, which have-been pushed aside by the capitalist rules from considera- tion. of private profit. “Such a Socialist reorganiza- tion of industry would almost immediately double the existing productive forces of the country, “Such a revolutionary govern- ment would secure the farmers the possession of their land and provide them with the necessary means for a comfortable living; it would make it possible for the farming population to unite their forces in a co-operative socialist agriculture, and thus bring to the farming population all of the advantages of modern civiliza- tion, and would multiply many fold the productive capacities of American agriculture.” taxes are taxes on the consumer. They tend to raise retail prices, re- ducing the real wages of the in- dustrial workers, thereby further narrowing our markets.” Brings Misery A reduction program similar to the one proposed for the dairy farm- ers has been in operation in the South for nearly a year with terrible effects on the poor cotton famers. I will quote from an article by Webster. Powell and Addison T. Cutler printed in the February issue of Harper's magazine that has never been refuted by the officials of the AAA. The article says: “‘The government plans for 1934 calls for a 40 per cent reduction in cotton acreage from the pre- ceding five-year average, that is, a reduction from about 41 to 25 million acres. Applying the 40 per cent figure to the two million southern cotton growers of all classifications, we find 800,000 families involving about 5,000,000 men, women, and children, who Continuing amid applause, Bentz- ley said: “We resent: the attempt of the administration to intimidate us by threatening to deprive us of one of our strongest weapons against the milk trust, our right to strike. | Uy cows for these southern share- gael croppers who cannot even afford “We further object to the admin-| $15 for a cow, after a season’s work. istration’s policy of making the poor Helps Rich Farmers take care of the poor, by means of| “This new milk program is funda- the processing taxes. Processing! mentally the same as the other are in danger of losing their means of existence. It is probable that not all of these will be actu- ally released. It is certain that a large number of them will be.’ “The government now proposes to For accurate information about the latest develop- ments in every field of socialist construction, read SOVIET RUSSIA TODAY Contents of April issue: Medicine in Soviet Russia Lewellys Barker of John Hopkins University Music, by Ashley Pettis of the Soviet Arctic, by Listen M. Oak legro in the U. S. S. R., by Dr. Reuben S, Young Points of Japan’s Program, by John Loeb Scene—News Briefs from the Soviet Union Palace of Soviets, by Isadore Rosenfield Articles, stories and book reviews by Myra Page, M. Stolar, Alice Withrow Field, Charles Recht, Bonchi Friedman, Leon Rutman. FIFTY PHOTOS OF SOVIET LIFE SOVIET RUSSIA TODAY—Dept. N. 80 East 11th St., New York, N. Y. Here is one dollar for which please send your magazine for one year to: i Name Address SCIENCE and HISTORY FOR GIRLS and BOYS I claim that this is the first book of its kind for the youth of the world and that it is the only book which meets their greatest cultural needs in this Fevolutionaty century.—W.M.B. A $1.50 book for 25 cents, five copies for $1.00, stamps or coin; paper bound, 320 pp., 27 chap. Money refunded if after examination the book is not wanted and is returned in good condition. : The Bradford-Brown Educational Co., Galion, O. By William Montgomery Brown & 1 oying Plan Would Raise Milk and Butter Prices To Aid | Monopolies farm relief programs that were worked on us in the past,” Bentz- ley said as the farmers applauded stormily. gram is a class program, repre- senting the interests of the rich farmers, the cow jockeys, land- lords, mortgage holders, bankers | and the Dairy Trust. “Against this hunger program, we propose a program in the interest of our own class; in the interest of the small farmer and the city worker. Our program is designed to increase the buying power of the small farmer and city worker, who constitute the overwhelming ma- jority of the population. “1, We demand the cancellation of secured debts, mortgages, back rents, delinquent taxes and feed | and seed loans of the impoverished small and middle farmers. 2 We demand adequate imme- diate cash relief for all needy farmers in order to live and con- tinue production until our whole population can enjoy a liberal diet. “3. We demand that the price of all Grade B milk, 3.5 per cent butterfat content, shall be 5 cents @ quart to the farmer on the farm and that the price charged to the consumer shall be lowered to 9 cents a quart. “4. We demand the abolition of the basic surplus and classifica~ tion systems of buying milk. “5. We demand that the Federal government buy all so-called sur- plus milk at 5 cents a quart on the farm for free distribution among the unemployed workers and undernourished children. “6. We demand the passage of the Workers Unemployment In- surance Bill, H.R, 7598. | “This new milk program is attack- ing the wrong surpius. It is at- tacking the so-called surplus of milk, cows, and farmers, but it is not attacking the only real surplus we know about—the surplus of profits, “We consider this program as further guaranteeing the profits of the trust. We intend to fight. this program by organization and mass action,” Bentzley concluded. Mass Meet Called To Back Philly Workers NEW YORK.—A mass meeting, in support of the striking knitgoods workers in Philadelphia, will be held Wednesday, at 5:30 p.m., at Irving Plaza Hall, Irving Place and 15th Street. Over 4,000 knitgoods workers of Philadelphia are on strike against the hunger code. They are declaring a 35-hour week, a living wage, and ; recognition of their union. The re- sponse to the call of their union for a general strike was a splendid demonstration of unity. Demand School Investigation NEW YORK. — The Teachers’ Union has demanded that Paul Bianshard, Commissioner of Ac- counts, institute an investigation into the school system to discover the source of “abuses and unfair- nesses.” The letter sent to Blanshard listed promotion by political perferment, lack of educational leadership on the part of the Board of Superin- tendents, and arbitrary disciplinary measures. “We find that this pro- | NEW YORK WORKERS DEMAND C. W. A. CONTINUE Inset shows Herbert Benjamin, National Organizer of the Unemployment Councils, speaking as thou- sands of C. W. A. workers demonstrated at the New York City Hall on March 29th, demanding C. W. A. jobs for all unemployed workers, and the immediate enactment of the Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Bill. | Defying Green’s Order, | Los Angeles Locals | Endorse Bill | NEW YORK.—Numbers of A. F. of L. locals are joining the tre- mendous sweep of mass endorse- ment of the Workers’ Unemploy- ment and Social Insurance Bill (H. R. 7596). In Los Angeles, in spite | of the letter sent by William Green, president of the A. F. of L., and published in the Los Angeles Citi- zen, official A. F. of L. paper here, forbidding the unions to endorse the | workers’ bill, endorsements con- tinue to pour into the rank and file offices here. The latest Los Angeles locals to| endorse the workers’ bill are Paint- | ers’ Locals 1065, 1348, 51, 202 and the Painters’ District Council, the | Electrical Workers’ Local 83, the} Motion Picture Projectionists, No. | 150, the International Ladies’ Gar- ment Workers’ Locals 65 and 84, the | International Brotherhood of Team- ! sters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and | Helpers’ Local 326 and the Interna- | tional Federation of Technical En- | gineers, Architects and Draftsmen. Call A, F. of L. Conference A conference of A. F. of L. locals lis being planned in Los Angeles for May 9 to rally support for the workers’ bill. Committees are being sent to the local unions to inform them of the conference and to ask | their support to the Workers’ Un- employment and Social Insurance | Bill, In San Diego, Typographical Union, Local 221, endorsed the Workers’ Bill at its regular meet- ing on March 25, Copies of the en- dorsement were sent to Congress and to San Diego Federated Trades and Labor Council urging that body to endorse the bill. Workers of Thayer, Til., a mining {town in the heart of the Illinois | coal fields, following the action of the Belleville workers, went before the City Council and forced that body to add its endorsement to the | growing list of governmental bodies which have endorsed the bill. The Thayer members of the Progressive Miners of America and the Women’s Auxiliary endorsed the bill. The Brooklyn Village Workers’ League, a militant workers’ organ- | committee action, forced the City Council -of the Workers’ Bill. Half of the workers in the village belong to the League, Torrington, Conn., Workers Endorse The Fraternal Federation for So- cial Insurance held the first mass meeting in four years in this com- pany union industrial city. Four hundred workers, representing 16 fraternal organizations, filled the City Hall meeting room, which the city administration was forced to grant to the workers. The Work- ers’ Bill was unanimously endorsed at the meeting. Because of the widespread sup- port among the rank and file, the Farmer-Labor Women’s Convention, which met in St. Paul, endorsed the bill. NewarkWorkersTo Demonstrate for HR. 798, April 14 NEWARK, N. J., April 3—On Monday, Aprjl 2, a rank and file representing working- class organizations here went before the City Commissioners to demand that they endorse the Workers Un- employment and Social Insurance Bill (H.R, 7598). Alex White, organizer of the Un- | employed Council of Newark, pointed | out the miserable conditions of the unemployed in the city, particularly in the third ward (Negro section of the city). The next speaker was Jack. Rose, organizer of the Communist Party of Newark, who spoke in the name AF: L. Locals and City Shoe Workers on Councils in Growing’ Numbers Back HR 7598 | Walk Out in Protest on | Company Union | PHILADELPHIA | Mail)—One hundred wo! | Brooklyn Village, Ohio, to endorse | Keystone Slipper Company went on | Strike today, under the leadership jof the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union, in srotest against | the coercive measures of the bosses |to force workers 'into the Central {Conyention, a company union, and against discrimination of union | membe: for complete union rec- per cent for piec workers, and 10 per cent for week workers. Through various tricks the bosses | Manew d the .workers into an jelection for union fepresentativ On the day of the election, 95 mili- tant workers were laid off, and the |company union won the election by ithree votes. Since then, skilled cutters have been getting $8 and | $12 a week, and other workers the \same, in direct violation of the code jfor the industry. Union members jand other workers who objected to the company union and to the star- vation wages, were summarily fired or threatened. elected at the strike meeting Mon- | day afternoon, was told by the | bosses that they would not yield to ithe demands but would import scabs and strikebreakers. The strike in this shop is of | special importance to the shoe and \leather industry in Philadelphia The 80 or so bosses are trying by tricks and coercion to force the |5,000 members of the industry into {company unions. The United Shoe jand Leather Workers’ Union (inde- pendent), however, is gaining new | Workers. And if they can force rec- ognition of their union in the Key- {stone shop, this strike may very | probably be followed by strikes in other shops, to smash the company |union in the shoe industry in this |city for good. Strike in Phila.': | Per cent for piece workers, and 10} - | enlistment in the C. C. C. The negotiations committee,} influence and following among the; Militarists | Threats, Intimidation Used to Force Work- ers Into C. C. C. NEW YORK j tion, reats the beginning of the gover: |attempt to force y Coercion. intimid: war veterans jden, arn ‘or C.C.C. camps in a new r |becun on April 1 In recent months the number of } young workers who left the C.C.C |camps has been very large to endure the winter |ill-clad with insufficient a: ing, disgusted w: army rule, 8,328 Jing the month of January j according to the figw department. On Feb t Ss available. iy 282.688 ned in the camps. out of a total enlistment of 314.000, trusting the of the relief | bureaus to the savagery of army of- ficers, | Open Intimidation of Reeruits. With the prospect of cutting the local relief costs, municipal relief agencies force the young workers into the jobs in C. C. C. camps with {the threat of cutting off all relief to the young workers’ family. The C. C. C. wages are then assigned to all relief is stopped An even greater threat was used to force veterans into C. C. C. In Middletown, N. Y., as Roosevelt's orders to fire all C. W. A. workers were being carried out, veterans of C. W. A. jobs were handed mimeo- graphed slips of paper po: to them that they were eli camps. A Veiled threat was the offer which stated that ‘ e to avail themselves to this op- of effort on the part of the indi- vidual.” The paper read in part: “The attention of all veterans is called to the fact that enroll- ments in C. C. C. camps are open to veterans ... Single veterans and veterans with small families are urged to make application and avail themselves of this op- portunity to become self-support- ing during the ensuing summer. Faiiure of the eligible men to avail themselves of this oppor- tunity may be considered as lack of effort on the part of the in- dividual.” Seek Permanent C. C. C. In seeking 130,000 new recruits for the C. C. C, camps, Robert Fechner, Cc. C. C. director, seeks to set up |C. C. C. as a permanent institution |for the training of youth for war. The 1,500 camps, he indicates, are to be continued for at least another year at the express wish of Roose- velt. | To those young workers who are being enlisted for the C. C. C., the following letter from a former C. C. C. worker, now a member of the C. C.C. Boy's Protective League, should the family of the young worker, and | portunity may be considered as lack | ef the Communist Party, asking the| City Commissioners what was their | solution to feeding and clothing the} wo 80,000 unemployed in this city. He} ret pointed out that when Roosevelt was ; tio elected to office he promised un-| be. employment insurance, and that in-/} be especially interesting. This letter, ckers Know immediately upon the | in 0.0.0. Co. 272 at Boston Corners. urn of the Mayor what the ac-|N. y. reports some of the struggles m of the City Commissioners will! py which the conditions Were im- | proved: We had two major strikes, and a after describing the bad conditions | ization with a fighting program of stead the workers have been given the C.W.A. projects, and now even this was cut off. Mr. The Unemployed Councii in o>""- ing upon the entire working class {Of Newark io come to a moc. c onstration at Military Park on April Parnell, finance director of|14 at 2 p.m. This demonstration is! the wi gainst the bad conditions in our |camp. My greatest surprise was ingness to struggle among the city of Newark, who is acting| being called to hear what action! the majority of the men, who were Mayor while Filenstein is vacation-| the C ty Commissioners have taken | all “stick-together” conscious. ing in Florida at the expense of the city, stated that he would let the to demand the enactment, | Workers Insurance Bill, H.R. 7598. f the| of the} against involved Our first ‘working in the rain. struggle was It numper of smaller partial struggles | Aim to Set. Up Permanent C.C.C; to Train Boys forWa + some 40 of us. We Ww a niles back from work in the rad The lieutenant met us at campey white as a ghost. He readily gavi m™ 1 underwear (our first bite clothing). Next day wey ggles centered: strul the “suicide squad”) of our major kes OC- c in Decem It ng overtime. C when we york, we went fternoon we were being docked $1 .. The indignation is caused a letter to be writ« work in the snow” ten to Robert Fechner, including all} ur grievances 2 The letter required 15 large sheets of paper. One hune dred and three men who were in |the camp that evening signed it. {A committee of three presented it to a plainclothes inspector who took it back to Washington, and promised , US an investigation | Washington “Investigates” | The investigation did come, but who do you suppose was investi- gated? It was we protestors, A | grafting major had a fellow en- roliee and myself summoned jnto headquarters, where we were grilled 35 minutes apiece, about our private life and if there were any leaders | or “agitators” around, | This whole incident proved to the | fellows that this government is not | interested in their well-being. | Our next struggle, in February | was against working in the cold and |snow. The men stood together, de- spite the threat to call the state ‘troopers. We won coffee in the | woods, no work until it’s 10 degrees ;above, no discharges for those {threatened with them, and 8 to 14 | days off in March, The men of the Civilian Conser- vation Camps need organjzation in the worst way. This is the only | Way they can better their conditions. | Four months has taught me this. | The government is forming a fas- | cist “Forest League,” which pub- lished the magazine, “Happy Days,” |to fight against organization. But the C.C.C. youth are forming their {own national organization, the © C. C. Boys’ Protective League, which publishes “Camp Spark,” and fights for better conajtions. | Our role in the next war, one of- ficer explained to us, is to build | bridges, dig ditches, ete. all under fire. War Decorations To Be Awarded to C.C.C. WASHINGTON, D. C.—Nine || companies of the C.C.C. through- |] out the United States will re- || ceive the awards of the Army @nd Navy Journal, it was an- nounced Monday by Robert Fechner, C.C.C. director. | The competition for the awards || was conducted by the War De- | partment, with the approval of || C.C.C. Director Fechner. Gold medals will be given to the C. C. C. officers for their work in militarizing the youth of C.C.C., subordinate officers will be given silver buttons, and to bolster up the war spirit, which the officers || have drilled into them, the C. C. |] 2. workers will be given bronze |] butions. One company in each corps area of the War Department has been so “awarded.” LL EL.P: Leader Do Not Really Want Soviet Power | The following letter of the Sec- | retariat of the E.C.C.I. is exceed- | ingly valuable for its crystal clear political analysis of the Brock- over the world, tendencies which ; Yepresent the efforts of the “left” agents of the bourgeoisie to stem the tide of world Communism. It should be studied carefully by all workers, * 8 Part I. The seCond question concerns the attitude of the N.A.C. to the chief slogan of tne Communist Interna- tional—the slogan of Soviet Power. Mr. Brockway and others from the majozity of the N.A.C. formerly fought for “a pacifist technique of revolution” and for the setting up of workers’ councils without revo- lution, ie. for the legal reform of the capitalist state. Without having dissociated themselves from the re- formist principle, they now suddenly announce, in the letter of the N. A. C,, the new high-sounding slogan: “Dictatorship of the proletariat ex- pressed through working class democracy.” What kind of a State form is this? The class-conscious workers of all countries know that no other form of the dictatorship of the pro- letariat is possible than that of So- viet Power. They know, too, that @ genuine workers’ democracy is only possible under the Soviet power. But obviously the authors of the Jetter of the N.A.C. did not mean that or they would have written: “Dictatorship of the proletariat ex- pressed through the Soviet power,” ‘The members of the N.A.C. by no. means wanted to write that.-Why not? Because they are not for but against the Soviet power, which can- not be achieved through playing with revolutionary words, but only way-Muste, etc, tendencies all | ‘Letter of Caciniunied International me the British LL. P. Membership Exposes Fenner Brockway’s High-Sounding “Revolutionary” Phrases | A section of the British workers already realize that only revolution, only Soviet power, will bring about | the emancipation of the toilers. The majority of the British workers, however, do not yet realize this and support bourgeois parliamentary | democracy. The reformist leaders conceal the truth from them that | parliamentary democracy is only a |form of the dictatorship of the |bourgeoisie. They are using all means to spread the illusion amongst the workers that the third Labour government will begin the democratic development towards so- cialism through parliamentary re- forms. That is, of course, only a deception—that is the same thing which the German social democ- racy promised the workers while the bourgeoisie, with the support of the social democraty transformed its parliamentary dictatorship into a fascist. dictatorship. But what does Mr. Brockway say to the British workers? Does he say to thern clearly and unambigu- ously: “Instead of the parlia- méntary ‘system — the Soviet Power”? No, as a “left” reformist in the letter of the N.A.C. he in- tentionally does not say anything against the deceptive illusion that ‘the dictatorship of the proletariat can be established without revolu- tion, through the reformist “pacifist technique of revolution” or legal workers’ councils, but slanders the Land of the Soviets where the dic- tatorship of the proletariat has tri- umphed and where workers’ dem- ocracy rules. If the LLP, really wants to be a party that sympathizes with Com- munism, it cannot possibly at the same time associate itself with this Position of the “left” reformist op- ponents of the chief slogan of the Communist International — Soviet Power. Proletarian Discipline The third question refers to the struggle which the majority of the national council in its letter actu- through real proletarian revolution. ally carries on against af#iation of the LL.P. to the C.I, as a sympa- thizing party. This object is, of course, not openly stated, but the caricature of the organizational centralization of the C.I. made in! the letter is intended to frighten away the members of the I.L.P. They say: the E.C.CI. is only “a body controlled by the C.P.S.U.,” “the desires of the national sec- tions have been overridden” by the E.C.CI. which has “narrowly cir- cumscribed the latter's powers of initiative,” removed their leaders “from office against the wishes of their members,’ etc. This gross per- version of the truth with regard to every point and at every step reveals the real aim of the authors of the letter. We actally do stand for centrali- zation in our organization, but this centralization does not contradict, but presupposes inner-Party democ- racy on the basis of the constant drawing in of the entire membership into the whole life and activity of the Party. That is what demo- cratic-centralism means. The Brock- way letter, however, pointing to the twelfth condition of the 21 condi- tions written by Lenin, the place referred to speaks about discipline (not centralization) in the Commu- nist Party; if must be an “iron dis- cipline, bordering on military dis- cipline.” In place of this Leninist thought Mr. Brockway substitutes the assertion that in the relations between the E. C. C. I. and the Na- tional Sections no inner democracy will be tolerated by the C. I., but a centralism “as complete as that of; a military organization” is insisted upon. This, of course, is not and could not be the case. The iron discipline in the Com- munist Party is based upon the united revolutionary line of the Party. Without this discipline the Party would not be able to fulfil its leading role in the revolution- ary struggles of the work@:. But the first condition both for Party discipline as well as Party democ- { racy is that all members of the Communist Party and all Party organizations should firmly carry out the decisions of the C. I. con- gresses, conferences and higher organs of the Party. Discussion prior to the decision, but after the decision the united carrying out of the decision adopted—that is the principle of Communist organi- zation. In a Communist Party there could not take place such a thing as has occurred in the LLP., ie., that after the party Conference in Derby had adopted a decision in one direction (in the direction of approaching the | C.I.) members of the N.A.C. worked for months on end in an opposite direction. In any case that is not democratic centralism. Mr. Sand- j ham, a member of the N.A.C., had unlimited freedom openly to sabo- tage the decision for a united front with the Communists adopted by the |Derby conference, but members of the I.L.P. who issued a statement in favour of affiliation to the C.I. are being threatened in the London district with expulsion from the |LL.P. The January meeting of the N.AC. instead of condemning such an open reformist as Mr. Sandham, on the contrary, showed him the jSreatest confidence by approving his proved the slanderous letter to the cr. Therefore it is clear why Mr. Brockway and others, in the letter of the N.A.C,, are complaining in the name of freedom of criticism against the firm discipline in the CL; this is the usual method of opportunists (exposed by Lenin and Stalin long ago), i.e., to fight for the freedom of their reformist policy against the revolutionary policy of the Communist International. It would be a welcome step if the forthcoming party conference of the LLP, would throw clarity on the question as to whether the mem- ibers of the N.AC. of your party { \ parliamentary candidature. And the | same meeting of the N.A.C. ap-/ will have the liberty to sabotage the decisions of your pa: ence, to break the proletarian united front of struggle against the bour- geoisie, as Mr. Sandham has done, or to make pacts with enemies of the Comintern. Repeat Slanders The slanders against the Commu- nist International contained in ths letter of the N.A.C. are for the most part old scrap from the arsenal of the Second International and of such agents of the bourgeoisie who have been expelled from the CI. as Trotsky, Thalheimer, Tranmael and Lovestone. From this source comes the state- ment in the Brockway letter that the Sections of the C.I. now have less influence than they had 10 years ago. This is also not true. Alongside of the gigantic growth of the C.P.S.U., the C.P. of China has a membership of 410,000 and the C.P. of Germany which mus- tered almost six million votes in the Reichstag elections in 1932, has even under the present conditions of terror more than 100,000 mem- tens of thousands of members of the Party thrown into prisons and concentration camps; the mass influence of the C.P. of France was indisputably fore in the mighty anti-fascist dem- onstrations on Feb, 6-12, A number of other sections of the C. I. have also been able con- siderably to extend their political influence, although there are among them sections which up to now | have not been able to increase their membership or have even lost mem- bers. The Communist Interna- tional is a world organization with sections in 65 different countries, jand these sections, which _ base themselves on the theory and prac- tice of Marxism-Leninism, are characterized by a political and or- ganizational homogeneity. At the head of the Comintern stands a collective international leadershin. But we do not even think of den/: 1 y confer- | bers in its ranks apart from those} broad ; brought to the} LLP. Heads Sabotage Decision of Own Conference jing that the tried Bolshevik Party of the land of the victorious pro- Hetariats dictatorship plays, through its revolutionary experience and autho! the leading role in the ;Sommunist International. All sec- tions of the C.I. consider this lead- ling role of the C.P.S.U. as one of ‘the most important guarantees of their coming victories. The members of the I.L.P. have recently taken some practical steps along the path of co-operation with the Communists in Great Britain. Your party has now the task of deciding for or against affiliation to the Communist International as a sympathising party, ie., of choos- ing between the camp of the pro= leterian revolution and that of de- caying reformism to which also the phrasemongering heroes of “left’? reformism belong. Those who really sympathize with the Communist International can- not but unequivocally reject the Brockway letter, The most important thing for the British workers at the present time, not only for many members of the IL-P., but also the members of the , Labour party and the trade unions, is to liberate themselves from the | influence of reformism of the right }as well as the “left.” Only this can ; Suarantee the victory of the British proletariat over capitalism. The re- cent Austrian example has once more shown that where the libera= tion of the workers from the in- fluence of the reformist traitors has not been accomplished in time, the working class, despite its great heroism. is deprived of the possi- bility of victory in the struggle against the exploiting classes, . Praternally yours, (Signed) O. W. KUUSINEN, For the Political Secretariat of the BO, 3.1