The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 14, 1934, Page 4

“Concentrate Our Forces Among the Workers in the Basic Continned From Page Three) | some features of the N. R. A. program. Gen- eral Johnson, speaking of the d pf capital at the time of the birth of the “new deal” and what was its aim, declared “I want to tell you, if you have not your- selves observed, that throughout that whole difficult and trying period, when in panic and under the urge of extremists, the wreck of our system was d. t mg sane moderate mind upheld you was that I ask you toe remember that at that time both industrial and banking leadership had fallen, in the public mind, te complete and utter disrepute, Hu- manity always seeks a scapegoat. A British Government unable to sustain itself on any other issue, was elected on the slogan ‘Hang | the Kaiser.’ Don’t forget that, at that time, these gentlemen and the bankers were almost (to an inflamed public mind) the Kaiser.” That is No Communist could have put it more clearly! Without the collaboration of the leadership, it m could never hav that of the President. clear enough A. F. of L. be emphasized, this program been carried out over the re- As ce of the workers. This truth, which we pointed out in advance, is now the boast of Green, Lewis & Co., in their conferences with Roosevelt, Johnson and the employers. When- ever a strike has been broken, the main “credit” belongs to Green and his associates. Every vici- ous code provision against the workers, for com- pany unions, has borne the signature of Green & Co, Section 7a, the new “charter for labor” turned out in reality to be the legalization of company unionism and compulsory arbitration. Even the A. F. of L. leaders are allowed to or- ganize only where and when this is required to) block the formation of revolutionary or in- dependent trade unions. The Wagner Bill to interpret gection 7a, now before Congress, which récéived such Vigorous support and high praise from Socialist and A. F. of L. leaders, is already, even before passage, openly admitted to be legal confirmation of the company unions, the en- forcement of compulsory arbitration. Again we turn to the outspoken General Johnson, for a colorful description of the role of the A. F. of L. leaders. In his March 7th speech to the capitalists, Johnson poured out his soul in eloquent tribute to Green & Co. He said “We know something about what is toward in this country—the worst epidemic of strikes in our history, Why suffer it? Here is a way out, Play the game. Submit to the law and get it over quickly. I want to tell yon this for your comfort. I know your problems. 1 would rather deal with Bill Green, John | Lewis, Fd McGrady, Mike MacKonongh, George Berry and a host of others I could name, than with any Frankenstein that you may build up under the guide of a company union. In fact—take it from me and a wealth | of experience—their interests are your inter- ests.” Again the worthy General leaves nothing to) add! Now, for a brief glance at the results of the | “new deal” as registered in governmental sta-| tistics. | First, the Reconstruction Finance Corpora- | tion! Payments authorized by the R. F. ©, up to the end of 1933, amounted to $5,233,800,000. More than 80 per cent of this enormous sum went directly to banks, insurance companies, railroads, mortgage loan companies, credit! unions, etc., in loans or purchase of preferred stock; and for what is called “agricultural credit” which means advances to financial in- stitutions holding uncollectible farm mortgages. About 12 per cent went for “relief,” payment for | forced labor on municipal and state work. These enormous subsidies, the size of which staggers the imagination, are the source of a large part of the renewed profits of the big corporations. | Second, inflation and price-fixing: These measures have resulted in such rise tn living | costs that even the A. F. of L. leaders, close partners of Roosevelt and Johnson, have to admit a decided drop in the purchasing power | of employed workers. An indication is the drop, of nine per cent, from September to December, | in the volume of consumers’ goods actually pur- | chased. | Third, the Government budget: Here we find, the realization of Roosevelt’s promise to Te- | member the “forgotten man.” The shift of the | burden of taxes, the basis of the budget, com- | paring the current year with 1928-1929, is as/ follows: | Government income from taxation on cor- porations, rich individuals, and wealthy middle- class, declined from $2,231,000,000 to $864,000,000 —a saving to the rich of $1,467,000,000. At the same time, taxation of workers and consuming | masses increased from $1,571,000,000 to $2,395,- 000,000—an increase of the tax burden amount- ing to more than the total taxes paid now by the rich. | Our Central Committee, at the moment of the , ebb of the 1933 strike wave (our 17th Plenum), was able already to foresee the rise of a new strike wave in the early Spring of 1934. It now being reslized ail around us on a large In this movement an even larger role is Seale. THE NEW DEAL TO DATE “What has happened with the ‘New Deal’? Has it failed? Many workers, in the first stages of disil- lusionment, come to that conclusion. They are dissillusioned with the re- sult, but still believe in the inten- tion. The 8. P. and A. F. of L. lead- ers try to keep them in this stage. But this conclusion is entirely too simple. The ‘New Deal’ has not im- proved conditions for the workers and exploited masses. But that was never its real aim; that was one bally- hoo; that was only bait with which to catch suckers, In its first and chief aim, the ‘New Deai’ succeeded ; that aim was, to bridge over the most difficult situation for the cap- ttalisis, and to launch a new allack upon the workers with the help of their leaders, to keep the workers from general resistance, to begin to | | ital” The New Strike Wave and New Steps in Fascization On of the expenditure side the budget, corporations, wealthy individuals and property owners, increased payments of 413 per cent. Expenditures for war purposes, increased by 82 per cent. Against these increases, economy was practiced by reducing wages of government em- ployees, and veteran allowances, by 38 per cent and 27 per cent Fourth, distribution of National Income: Roosevelt promised that he would begin to remedy the maldistribution of the natural in- come, whereby the rich get too much and the poor get too little. How this has been carried out is disclosed in a report submitted to the U. e by the Bureau of Foreign and Do- me: Commerce on Jan. 1, 1934, Summariz- izing its findings, the report says “Wages have suffered the most severely in the general decline since 1929, with a fall- ing off of sixty (60) per cent in those indus- tries in which it was possible to segregate this item, Salaries dropped forty (40) per cent, much less rapidly than wages, with the most severe curtailment occurring in 1932. A significant divergence in declining trends is apparent as hetween labor income and prop- erty income; by 1932 the former had fallen off by forty (40) per cent, while property in- come distributed receded but thirty (30) per cent. This situation was brought about by the maintenance of interest payments rather uniformly up te 1932, with only a small de- cline then.” This pictures the development under the Hoover regime. Roosevelt's “new deal” prom- ised to reverse this trend. Actually, what hap- pened in 1933 was, the purchasing power of the workers went backward (a fact testified by the A. F. of L. and the Bureau of Labor Statistics) while property income took a sharp rise. A re- cent report of a group of large selected cor- porations which in 1932 showed a loss of about $45 millions, showed that in 1933 they had been restored to the profit side of the ledger by about a half-billion dollars. Fifth, the workers’ housing: In estimating the | social effects of the shift of national income away from the workers and to property owners, it must be remembered that even in 1932 the majority of workers lived just at or below the subsistence level, Every loss of income has been & direct deduction from daily necessities of life. This is sharply expressed in the catastrophic worsening of housing conditions. The epidemic | of tenement house fires, burning to death hun- dreds of men, women and children, is but a dramatic revelation of one corner of the in- | human conditions under which growing millions are reduced, Sixth, breaking up the home: A barometer | of the degeneration of living standards is the growing army of wandering, homeless people, especially children. The “new deal” proposed to | turn the army of unattached boys into a mili- tary reserve through the Civil Conservation Camps. Some 380,000 boys were so recruited in 1933; but in spite of this mass militarization, all reports agree that a larger number than be- fore of homeless youth wandered the country. Seventh, collapse of the school system: Con- ditions in the school system in rich America reflect the catastrophic situation of the masses. No improvement is to be seen under the “new deal,” but on the contrary, a sharp worsening takes place. Just a few details, presented not by Communist agitators but by the U. 8. Com- missioner of Education, George F. Zook, and the National Education Association, describing the current. school ‘year, after Mr. Roosevelt's “new deal” was at work. Over 2,290,000 children of school age cannot find a place, Over 2,000 | schools in rural communities failed to open this ear in 24 states (the other 24 states, probably, being ashamed to report because their condi- tions are worse!) Some 1,500 commercial schools | hoods)500,000 new members with a total mem-| and 16 institutions of higher learning have been completely liquidated, School terms in nearly | every large city are from one to two months shorter than they were 70 to 100 years ago. The average term in the U. S., 170 school days per year, is less than that for France, Germany, England, Sweden, Denmark. School teachers’ wages are generally from four to twenty-four months in arrears, although interest on bonds is paid promptly. In Chicago, where teachers are behind in their wages by $25,000,000, the | committee enforcing the economy program con- tains, among its 29 members, all affliated with big business, five directors of the largest banks, and 14 residents of exclusive Lake Shore Drive (“the Gold Coast”). Unemployed teachers are estimated at a quarter million. Teachers’ wage rates have been cut by 27 per cent, In 14 States even this reduced salary is far behind in pay- ment, Wok Sie It is impossible to go into all the ramifications | of the result of a “successful” New Deal pro- gram. We have shown enough to fully expose, that the “success” was in giving more to the rich, and taking away from the poor even that which they had. being played by the revolutionary forces than in 1933. This also results in a larger proportion of victorious strikes, This new wave of struggles has already brought the Roosevelt administration to a new stage in the development of its labor policy. | This was announced by Mr. Roosevelt himself, when he declared that “we have charted a new course,” in his announcement of the “settle- ment” in the automobile industry. What is this “new course?” The auto manufacturers themselves gave a correct estimate of it, when they declared to the correspondent of the N. Y. Herald-Tribune their “delight” with the outcome. “The manu- facturers were particularly pleased that the clarification of section 7a seems to uphold their contention in behalf of the company union.” This “new course,” like the previous, “new courses,” is launched with the signature of William Green and the officialdom of the A. F. of L., with the blessings of Norman Thomas and the Socialist Party. What is new in this course, is the public adoption of the company union as an integral part of the “corporate state” scheme, where previously, in the official pians, the A. F. of L. had been granted (on paper) a monopoly. This | means more open coming forward of ie gov- ernment to prevent or smash the strike move- ments. For months a debate raged behind the scenes among the capitalis‘s, on which horse | to place their money, the A. F. of L. or the | company union. Two camps had existed, which | sharpiy divided the highest councils. Upon the restore the profits of finance cap-| basis of experience in the first strike wave and | the beginnings of the second, both camps had | modified their views and came together in one | of effectiveness DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 1934 changes took the following direction: To banks’, Main aim of New Deal was to bridge over most diffi- cult situation for capitalists united judgment, embodied in Roosevelt's “new course.” On the one hand, the company union advocates had been convinced of the complete docility and reliability for their Purposes of | Green, Lewis, and the whole official A. F. of L. family; they have been converted to the view of Johnson in this respect. On the other hand, the proponents of the A. F, of L. have been con- vinced that, in spite of Green & Co. is absolute “reliability” in purpose, their ability to control their membership is-growing less and less each day. Already last fall, Roosevelt had a sharp intimation of this, when John L, Lewis had to admit his failure to drive the strikers of the captive mines back to work, and Roosevelt had to do the job personally. Another major ex- ample of the same sort was the auto situation, where the A. F, of L. leaders frankly told the | President that they were helpless to stop the rike movement unless Roosevelt himself in- tervened. The whole s‘rike wave, rising against the Canute-like commandments of Green & Co. drove the lesson home. Conelusion: Neither one nor the other, neither A. F. of L. nor com- | pany union, alone, but both together, in a con- stantly closer association, and in preparation for merging the two under Government aus-| pices. That is the essence of the “new course.” Of course, differences continue—we must not| di by them. | “new course” is now in process of being | incorporated into the Wagner Bill, which in its | original form provided for a sort. of Watson-| Parker Law (compulsory arbitration on the rail- roads) for all industries. The original purpose to bind the unions with the strong chains of ar- | bitration machinery, to choke down the strike | wave, is now to be supplemented by guarantees | through binding the trade, unions with the company unions. | LaGuardia, in the midst of “handling” the| taxi drivers strike in New York City, knew how) to “teke a hint.” He promptly abandoned the! settlement which he had prepared, to which the | workers had agreed but which the companies | had rejected, and called a representative of the A. F. of L. from Washington to negotiate the | incorperation of the taxi company union into | the A. F. of L. He was “correct in principle” | | in this question, but too hasty and crude in action, so the execution of his proposal has been | postponed for a more favorable stage setting. | An organic part of the whole “new course” toward labor, is the sharp turn in the question | of unemployed relief. Roosevelt has in his hands unexpended bilions, which he demanded from! Congress for relief purposes. But suddenly, so} suddenly as to shock a host of loyal “new deal- ers” and bring bitter protests from them (in- | eluding such a close friend of Roosevelt as Gov- | | ernor Lehman of New York), the ©. W. A. is) closed down, and millions of unemployed are | thrown back upon the bankrupt local govern- | ments. Why this “new course” toward the un- | employed? The answer is given in the cynical} words published on the front page of the} Results of the First Wave al ‘Sragele and Organization Under the New Deal CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALBR (Sunday, April 1st): “Those not so pleased with the new relief standards think the administration, finding perhaps that its grants of power to the labor unions were greater than the administration would now like to have them, may have thought of an abrupt ending of C. W. A. and a lowering of direct relief expenditures as an effective way of glutting the labor market and taking some of the spirit out of the unions.” What are the main strategic tasks of the Communist Party, that flow from this analysis of the situation? First, to heip the masses of workers, who are coming to realization that they must halt their mutually-destructive competition, must begin to act unitedly against a hostile ruling system, to find the road to independent class organiza- tion and class struggle in the ficht for their daily bread. Second, to organize every possible form of resistance and counter-struggle against the at- living standards, for wage increases, for more, relief, for jobs, for unemployment insurance, ; against cultural reaction, against Negro oppres- sion, for civil rights, for the right to organize and strike. Third, to find the broadest possible forms of organization of the struggle, to apply with Bol- shevist flexibility, the tactic of the united front from below. Fourth, to expose the true role of every hidden agent of capitalist reaction in the ranks of the working class—the leaders of the A. F. of L, of the Socialist Party, the Muste group, the re- negades, by concrete analysis of their actions and policies, Fifth, to raise the political consciousness of the struggling workers, to bring to them an un- derstanding of the class structure of society, of the fact that two main classes are fighting for control, that Roosevelt, leading the present ruling class, finance capital, stands for degra- dation, hunger, misery, oppression, fascism, war —that only the working class exercising State Power, can open up a new era of peace, prog- ress, and prosperity for the entire human race. Sixth, to imbue the broadest masses with the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism, to arm them with the lessons of successful revolution, against the treacherous slogans and ideas of social-fascism, Seventh, to create strongholds of revolu‘ion- ary mass organizations in the most important industries, localities, and factories. Eighth, to consolidate to everything that is most active, intelligent, fearless and loyal in the working class, into a compact, monolithic lead- ership of the mass struggle, into the Commu- nist Party, organically united with the revolu- tionary workers and oppressed peoples of the world in our Communist International, The year 1933 and beginning of 1934, with its wave of strikes and organizations, left its mark upon the working class. All forms of labor organizations increased. We can divide these into four main groups: 1) company unions, | embracing workers estimated variously from) one to three million; 2) A. F. of L. (and allied organizations such as Railroad Brother- bership of two and a half to three million 3) independent unions—150,000 new members,| with a total membership around 250,000; 4)) Trade Union Unity Lengue, and allied organi- | zations,—100,000 new members; total member- ship 125,000. The first conclusion that must be drawn from these figures is the tremendously in- creased importance of the struggle against com- pany unionism. The company union is the first line of defense in the factories for the capitalists against the rising strike wave. The line of struggle against company unionism re- quires simultaneous development of revolution- ary work inside the company union, utilizing every opportunity for raising the demands of the workers, fighting for these demands, and putting forward militant candidates for all “tactive posts, thus disrupting the employer- controlled organizations from within. It has been proved possible, at times, to transform them into real trade unions, but only by open struggle. At the same time we must mobilize all independent trade union forces for the open smashing of the company unions. The second conclusion is the greatly in- creased importance of revolutionary work in- side the American Federation of Labor. The largest section of newly organized workers in trade unions is in the A. F. of L. The bulk of these, in turn, are in some of the most im- portant industries—such as mining, textile, with important groups also in auto, steel and general leading committees for work in the A. F, of L, The revolutionary elements, directly | under our guidance, are established leaders of | around 150 local unions, with 50,000 to 60,000 | members. Minority opposition groups function in about 600 more local unions. This con- siderable beginning is of significance because it emphasizes the enormous possibilities that exist when we get a full mobilization of all available forces in this field. These results, which change the course of development for hundreds of thousands more, come from only the first steps with very fragmentary mobili- zation, and in the face of still existing under- estimation of and even opposition against sys- tematic development of this work, The independent unions have emerged as a major factor in more than a few light in- dustries only during the past year. In the main, they are the result of the mass revolt against the A. F. of L. betrayals, which could not yet be brought into the revolutionary unions for various reasons, chief among them being the weaknesses in the work of the T. U. U. L, Systematio building of revolutionary groups inside them, with careful formulation of Policies and leadership of their struggles, is an essential feature of our trade union strategy. In the independent unions we must have the most careful distinction between the honest but con- fused leadership which has been thrown up from the rank and file, on the one hand; and the conscious opportunist, reformist, social- fascist elements in the leadership on the other hand, who head the independent movements only in order to bring them back under the domination of the A. F, of L. leadership. In this latter group, an important role is played by the Musteites, Lovestonites, and Trotskyites. The sharpest political struggle must be made against the “left” reformists and the renegades, while every effort must be made to win over to metal, Precisely these new strata in the A, F,| Ur Class struggle policies the honest elements of L. are the least consolidated under the re-| in the independent trade union leadership. actionary leadership, the most active in pressing forward their demands, and therefore the most. ripe for revolutionary leadership. In connec- tion with the struggle against company union- ism, a struggle for the rights of the A. P. of L. workers to fight for their immedaite demands, large numbers of them can be immediately brought under revolutionary leadership by cor- rect work, These new recruits to the A. F. of L. are not contentedly witnessing the A. F. of L. leaders signing away their rights as was done in the steel and auto codes; they are not content when they see their unions smashe® through the mediation of the National Labor Board (Weirton, Budd, Edgewater, etc.). They are in open revolt when, as in the auto settle- ment last week, their leaders commit them to the legalization of the company union and the outlawing of their strike movement. Now, more than ever before, correct and energetic work among the members of the A. F. of L., giving them independent leadership through the cry- stallization of revolutionary opposition groups, bringing them into action against their leaders and in open strikes and other forms of struggle for their immediate demands, is a first line task of the Communist Party. How suvremely important is this work, is shown by the serious results flewing from every smaliest effort that is made. The broadest circle of this work is the movement for the Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Bill (H. R. 7598). This bill has secured the direct support of over 2,000 A. F. of L. local unions, many city central bodies and even a few State Federations of Labor, In 23 cities, we have functioning Growing Role of Revoiutionary Forces in Strike Struggles The revolutionary unions of the T. U, U. L. with their 125,000 members, while numerically smallest of these main groups of the trade union movement, are by no means least im- portant, The T. U. U. L. unions in developing the whole mass movement of resistance to the N. R. A. and the whole capitalist offensive, in the development of the strike movements, have played a decisive role. This is brought out by an examination of the statistics of the strike movement in 1933, as shown in the following table: Led in New Membership Strikes Members A.F. of L. 2,500,000 450,000 590,000 Indep. Unions 250,000 250,000 —:150,000 T.ULULL, ... 125,000 200,000 100,000 Unorganized .. 100,000 2,875,000 1,000,000 = 750,000 From these figures we see that the T. U. U. L., although not quite 5 per cent of the total trade union membership, directly led 20 per cent of all strikes and gained 20 per cent of all new members. The independent unions, a little | under 10 per cent of the tctal membership, led 25 per cent of the strikes. The A. F, of L. unions, comprising over 85 per cent of the membership, led 45 per cent of the strikes. This illustrates the role of the leadership of these three groups in relation to the strike move- ment. The A. F. of L. leadership is the center of resistance to strikes, and center of strike- breaking activities within the ranks of the = Industries” | workers. The T. U. U. L. unions were the} Pacific Coast area, among agricultural driving force in the leadership and develop-| cannery workers, fishermen and lumber wor} ment of the strikes against all the strike-| ers. These organizations and the histor reakers, The independent unions represented struggles conducted by them have definits those masses breakng away from the A. F. of} established the fact that our movement hp; | L. leadership, but still carrying with them part) fully taken over and absorbed the specifica! | of the old burden of unclear and even openly} American revolutionary traditions and forces in reformist leadership which continued trying to| that territory, which before the rise of th. carry through the A. F. of L. policies within) Communist Party was organized in and aroun; the unions, | the I. W. W. The growing importance of the independent| The rise of the revolutionary Agriculture and T. U. U. L. unions is emphasized by the! workers’ Unions, especially in the California fact that they comprised fully one-third of all | the increased trade union membership that acl area, has a further special significance for ou; ,Sulted from the strike movement, and that together they led 45 per cent of the strikes,| an equal number with the A. F. of L. In addi- tion to this, it is clear that the 450,000 strikers| under A. F. of L. leadership were not led into struggle by that leadership but in spite of and against it. Our opposition work in the A. F.! of L. played in this a significant part in some) industries. It would have been impossible for ® strike movement of such volume to rise from the A. F. of L, ranks without the influence of the strike movement of equal volume outside} the A. F. of L. developed and led by the T. U,! U. L. and independent unions. | Our Draft Resolution places before the Con-| | Vention, as a central point in our present trade tacks of reaction, against every reduction of | bet 5 union strategy, the task of unifying the inde-| pendent unions with the revolutionary unions,| beginning separately in each industry, and,| upon the basis of sucessful work there, moving towards the consolidation of all class trade union forces into a single Independent Federa- tion of. Labor. We must avoid, if possible, the crystallization of @ third trade union center, intermediate between the A. F, of L, and the T. U. U. L. We must be prepared to go a long way to secure Organizational unity of all genuine class trade| union forces. The possibility of success in this) direction is already indicated in the partially] successful merger of the T. U. U. L. and the| independent Shoe Workers’ Unions. experience gives a clear indication of our gen-| eral line in practice. | Of great importance to us in this period was| the rise of mass revolutionary unions on the Struggles of the Farmers The movement for organization of rising | strike struggles among the employed workers.) together with the growing organization and| struggles of the unemployed, have served as a powerful stimulus to the activities of other sec- | tions of the exploited population, and attract | these other groups around the working class as, the leader and organizing center. We have} seen the serious beginnings of this process in! relation to the farmers’ movement, This move-| ment is beginning to take on a different char-| acter from that s¢en in previous farmers’ move-| ments. The new characteristics have been} brought forward most clearly in those struggles! and organizations of the farmers which have | found their organizing center in the Farmers’ Committee of Action, and the tvo national) Farm Conferences held by it in 1932 in Wash-| ington, and in 1933 in Chicago, and especially its left wing, the United Farmers League. What is new in this farmers’ movement is first, the| political clarity with which it has attacked the) traditional nostrums with which the farmers| have been fooled so many times in the past (Currency Reform, etc.), and its resolute com-! batting of the anti-farmer policies of the! Roosevelt New Deal (crop reduction, etc. It) is distinguished by its ability to rise above sec-) tional and race divisions, by its proclamation) of the unity of Negro and white farmer, by its! formulation, of a national outlook and pro-) gram, as against the narrow, regional, provin-| cial approach. It has struck at the heart of) the farmers’ problems in its demand for the cancellation of mortgages, debts and back taxes, raising sharply the most. vital issues: which determine class alignments. Above all, it has been able not only to proclaim the| abstract principle of the worker-farmer alliance, but actually to begin to realize it in daily life! and struggles. A mass movement of a mixed class nature that has begun to take on a revolutionary trend in the U. S. in the past period, is that of the! war veterans. The veterans’ movement com- prises workers, farmers and a larger proportion of middle class elements. It is unified not by its class composition but by its common de- mands for payment of the adjusted compen- sation certificates (bonus), for disabiilty allow- ances and hospitalization, all of which have been under heavy attack by the Roosevelt administration. The tremendous revolutionary potentialities in this movement were startl- ingly revealed by the great Bonus March in 1982, which was a tremendous outburst of mass! indignation against the Hoover regime. ‘That! these forces are again gathering, that they are} exerting tremendous pressure, that they are threatening to burst forth again into mass action, was dramatically shown by the panicky action of Congress in over-riding Roosevelt's veto of the Congressional replacement of a small portion of what the Roosevelt regime had) stolen from the veterans. An indispensible | role has been played in this veterans’ move-| ment by the still small, but very active Workers’ Ex-Servicemen’s League. If this organization would receive More cooperation and assistance, more systematic help in recruiting all the potential forces of veterans, who are as yet inactive in this work, the results in bringing into active expression the mass forces of the) veterans’ revolt would mature much faster. The! veterans’ movement is a most valuable ally to the revolutionary working class movement. It stands as one of the important tasks of the entire Party in mobilizing the auxiliary forces: for the working class movement in the United States. M Another auxiliary movement of growing im- portance that has appeared-as a serious factor only in the last two years, is the revolutionary movement among the students. In the student movement we are also dealing with a mixed class composition. The movement began prin- cipally in the higher institutions of learning with predominantly middle class composition. It has rapidly spread to the secondary schools and involved a large number of proletarian students in its activities. Led and organized by the National Student League, this move- ment has established a base in hundreds of high schools, colleges and universities; it has become national in scope; it has exerted a great and growing influence upon ail intel- lectual circles, From the beginning it has been clearly revolutionary in its program and acti- vities. One of its strongest points has been its! clear recognition that the leading role belongs! to the workers and not to the students in the | common Party. This is the first beginning of mas; organization among a category of workers which, in spite of the scattered and decen tralized character of its labor in more area constitutes numerically the largest single cate gory of the working class. Agricultural worke; in the United States comprise two and a hair to three million workers. Large numbers of them are favorably situated for organization, especially in the sections of the industry or. ganized on the lines for mass production for the city markets, fruit, vegetable and dair: farming. Large numbers of these worker massed around the industrial center: East and Mid¢lle West also, within easy the organized labor movement in the cities Berious trade union organization of these work. ers’ provides a most important extension of the working class base of the reyolutionar, movement. At the same time, they furnish th- necessary class base for revolutionary orzani- zation among the poor and middle farmers who are more and more revolting against capitalist attacks. It is the organized agricul- tural workers which in the first place will pro- vide a firm basis for working class hegemony in the alliance between the working class as a whole with the movement of the revoltin farmers, The necessity of the general lead ship of the working class over the movements of all other sections of the exploited population if all of their forces are to be unified for the struggle against capitalism, should make it clear to every district of the Party that their work in reaching and organizine the agricultural workers acquires an extraordinar: importence at the present time. and Movements of Mixed Class Character general revolutionary movement. Especially the students’ movement has made a valuable con- tribution in extending the organized mas movement against war and fascism among the masses of youth. The student movement, in fact, is a pioneer in the development of the general anti-war movement through its Stu- dents’ Anti-War Congress in Chicago in De- cember, 1932, which first united, on a national Scale, anti-war forces of various political and class origins. Its participation in the youth section of the American League Against War and Fascism has constituted one of the most active and valuable phases of that organiza- tion's work. By organized participation ‘in helping strike actions, defense movements, the Scottsboro case, ete., the students have been brought close to and participation in the gen- eral class struggles and taught them the prac- tical meaning of working class leadership. The weakness of this moyement still remains that its leading cadres are still largely drawn from the middle class elements of the colleges and universities, that it does not yet sufficiently base itself upon the larger bodies of prolet: n students in the secondary schools, nor suffi- ” ciently draw them into active leadership of the movement. The broadest movement of mixed-class coin- position has been the American League Against War and Fascism, formed at the great U. Congress Against War, held in New York October. The Congress itself, while predom- inantly working class in composition, embraced the widest variety of organizations that have ever been united upon a single platform in this country. It gathered the most significant, strata of the intellectuals. The breadth of the moyement was not secured by sacrificing clarity of program. On the contrary, while its pro- gram is distinctly not that of the Communist Party, it is so clear and definite in facing the basic issues, that to carry it out in practice entails clearly revolutionary consequences. It is @ real united front program of immediate struggle against war and fascism. That is the reason for the frantic efforts to break up and scatter the American League Against War and Fascism that have been and are being made by the Socialist Party leaders, Musteites, and the renegades from Communism. The unbridled ferocity of the attacks made against the League by these elements, and by their comrades-in- arms of the National Civic Federation, Ralph Easley, Matthew Woll & Co., should be an in- dication to us of the revolutionary value of this broad united front organization. In serious self-criticism, we must say that although our movement responded excellently (in most places) to the call to the National Congress, it did not follow up this congress everywhere with serious local organizational work to consolidate the potential movement that had been brought together, Only in a few places has this work been seriously begun. In every locality the non-Party and mixed-class character of the (Continued on Page Seven) FOR WORKINGCLASS STATE POWER “Raise the political consciousness of the struggling workers, to bring them to an understanding of the class structure of society, of the fact that the two main classes are fight- ing for control, that Roosevelt, lead- ing the present ruling class, finance capital, stands for degradation, hunger, misery, oppression, fascism, war — that only the working class, exercising state power, can open a new era of peace, progress, and prosperity.” * * * “Consolidate everything that is most active, intelligent, fearless and loyal in the working class, into a compact, monolithic leadership of mass struggle, into the Communist Party, organically united with the revolutionary workers and oppressed peoples of the world in our Com- munist International,”