The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 5, 1934, Page 5

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY. Fascism Rears Its Ugly Head More Boldly Every Day in the United States FASCIST GANGS ARE NOW By CARL REEVE “pascism is rearing its ugly head more bodly every day in the Unit- ed States,” Earl Browder said in his report to the Eighth National Con- vention of the Communist Party. In all parts of the country, evidence accumulates daily, supporting the Communist analysis of the grow- ing fascist danger. Comrade Browder points out in his speech that “capi- talist democracy is not the enemy, but the mother of fascism; is not the destroyer but the creator of m.” Fascism is the “open, ter- dictatorship of the most re- actionary, most chauvinist and most imperialist elements in finance zapital.” Its aim is to bolster finance capital by sinking the work- ers to the lowest possible living standards and physically extermin-| ating its leading cadres, the Com-} munists. Those workers who still believe| that the Communist Party “exag-| gerates” the danger of fascism, that} the Roosevelt “New Deal,” that} bourgeois democracy, is “opposed” | to fascism, should carefully study this evidence of the growth of fas-| cism. Foremost proof of the fact | that the Roosevelt government. dis- plays increased fascist trends, is | seen in the “new course” of the} government, centering around the modified Wagner bill, so ably an-| alyzed by Comrade Browder, which is supported by Green, Thomas and the other social-fascists of the So- cialist Pa and A. F. of L. leader- ship. This “new course,” embodied in the Wagner bill, binds the com-| pany unions and the trade unions| “both together, in a constantly closer association, and in preparation for| merging the two under government | auspices.” The war preparations of | the government proceed hand in| hand with these increased fascist preparations. Gov't Encourages Fascist Groups | Increased police violence and or- zanization of fascist gangs is be- ing encouraged and protected by the Roosevelt government. The basis 's being laid by the Roosevelt gov- ernment for the establishment of an open fascist dictatorship, the serapping of bourgeois forms of | democracy, when the capitalists feel) this is necessary for them. They} are now laying the groundwork for | the physical extermination of the| Communists and other militant leaders of the workers, when they feel it necessary for them. Take for example, the recent; statement of the chief of police of} Atlanta, Georgia, chief Sturdivant, a democratic politician and sup-| porter of Roosevelt. He said, “If} Communist activities continue, the, police will find themselves in a situation soon which will call for | she use of tear gns, sawed-off shot} guns and revolvers. .Communists | are concentrating their activities, among C.W.A. workers. The situa- tion is such that we must be ready | at all times for a serious emer- gency.” But this Roosevelt politician’s provocation to fascist violence is aot strange when we consider the record of the entire ruling demo- cratic (Roosevelt) party of the en- tire south. The increase in lynch- ng, increased terrorization of Ne-/ zroes (Tampa, Florida Times, April 9, inciting violence against Negro imemployed demonstrators) the de- sarment of justice activities in rounding militant C.W.A. workers n many states, are well known. The Roosevelt C.W.A. apparatus, she ruling democratic regime of che South, is the fertile breeding} ground giving birth to fascism. | The thesis of the 13th Plenum) of the Communist International, which deals thoroughly with the nerease in fascism, states that the} yd bourgeois democratic forms are destroyed by means of setting up| open fascist dictatorship “and by » wide application of both police) violence and the terrorism of fas-| cist gangs.” These fascist gangs are} now being prepared in the United} States. In New York City, the left wing took a prominent part in the lead- ership of the militant taxi drivers strike. The militant workers in the leadership of this strike (Gilbert, Orner, etc.) followed a fighting policy. Police terror failed to break the ranks. The New York Daily Mirror on April 14 characterizes these militant leaders as “gangsters,” as “racketeers” and continues: “.,, Let us have an emergency law that will reach out to these snakes. Let us have a law under which aliens can be deported, and under which those who are citi- zens under our law but traitors in fact can be stood against a wall, We have temporized long enough. The youth of our land is threatened now.” Encouraged by and in league with the government, such news- papers, with millions of circulation, attack all strikers, and call for the blood of the fighting leaders of the working class, (Ambridge, Pitts- burgh, Minneapolis, etc.) These mouthpieces of finance capital are preparing the fascist gangs, are preparing the basis for the physical extermination of the Communists and the rest of the militant work- ing class leaders. Fascists Anti-Negro, Anti-Jew The anti-Negro, anti-foreign-born and anti-Jewish gangs of fascism are now forming throughout the country, They are indirectly and often directly linked up to the gov- ernment apparatus. The Silver Shirt Legion movement, whose sub- sidiary is called the Foundation for Christian Economics, has recently shown a rapid increase in member- ship in the midwest, west and south. This openly fascist organi- zation has until recently published | exam} a magazine, “Liberation,” which takes Hitler as its model. The Silver Shirts organization, with demagogy regarding “return to prosperity,” is violently anti-Semitic and anti-Com- munistic, and mouths degenerate at- tacks on the foreign-born, the Jews, and all militant workers. It proposes for the United States the same course as Hitler's brown shirts in Germany. We recall the “Blue Shirts” of Father Cox in Pittsburgh, which at |more than the gogically tried to destroy the strug- gles of the unemployed for relief. More recently the Khaki Shirts have | spread out from Philadelphia into the coal fields and textile centers} of Eastern Pennsylvania, and other sections. All of these and other similar openly fascist organizations, have not been bothered by the govern-| ment in their slimy and degenerate anti-working class activities. Fur- | thermore, if the leaders of these fascist organizations are followed | up, the trail most often leads to! high places in the government. Witness the friendship between the fascist Father Coughlin with Presi-| dent Roosevelt (Coughlin receives | support from Morgan connections, | notably General Motors). Or the; “Committee for the Nation” which launched Dr. Wirt on his campaign | to prepare for fascism. On this/ fascist committee sits David Stern, publisher of the N. Y. Post and Philadelphia Record, a close per- sonal friend and supporter of Roosevelt. “Liberation” in its last issue before going bankrupt (this does not end the publication of | Silver Shirt papers) extravagantly | praised the crusade of Dr. Wirt. | The protection afforded by the) government to these fascist gang-| sters was revealed in the trial of| | Terzani, framed up and charged | with killing a member of the audi-| ence in a Long Island Khaki Shirt meeting on July 14, 1933, Terzani was freed by a jury after a hard struggle, and after a mass campaign for his release. After the real mur- | derer, Frank Moffer, member of the Khaki Shirts, confessed, the Khaki Shirt leader Smith, was tried for perjury. The same prosecuting at- torney, Chas. Colden, who turned every stone to send the innocent Terzani to prison, had to try Smith | Khaki shirt leader, for perjury. Dis- | trict. attorney Colden treated Smith with the utmost kindness, sabotaged the prosecution, ruled out evidence concerning the fascist character of the Khaki Shirts, and was mild and lenient with the fascist leader. The Hearst newspapers are ® potent force for fascism, with an openly fascist policy. Such Hearst writers as Easley, of the Civic Fed- eration (which has as its co-leader Mathew Woll), Hayes, head of the Ameriean Legion, and Richard Washburn Child, are given unlimit- ed space by Hearst to spill their lieing venom. Attacks on Foreign-Born The Hearst papers call for more ‘tringent laws against the foreign- born workers. When magistrate Casey, of New York City, makes a vicious attack on the foreign-born, Hearst’s “American” of April 17th features Casey’s statements as fol- lows: “Unworthy aliens who have been receiving home relief should | be deported ‘even if they have been here fifty years,’ Magistrate Casey | declared yesterday in Gates Ave. | Court, Brooklyn.” This government activity against the foreign-born in- creases throughout the country. In Ohio, the government is deporting ten thousand foreign-born rather than give them relief. Thousands of Mexicans, Negroes and others have already been deported from the southwest. The military arm of the govern- BEING PREPARED | comba AGAINST WORKERS | (OR by oy Sues ment is also being mobilized more | str against the students. The} U. government, recently, in call- ing an R.O.T.C. conference in} Washington, frenkly stated that the} purpose of the conference was to} students who oppose imper- | falist war and to combat the Com-| munists in colleges. | These few examples suffice to| show the rapid increase of fascist | activities in the United States. These fascist. activities are not op- posed by but flow out of the bour-| geois democratic dictatorship, that | is, out of the Roosevelt government. “The fascist dictatorship is not an inevitable stage of the dictator- ship of the bourgeoisie in all coun-| tries. The possibility of averting it depends upon the forces of the fighting proletariat, which are paralyzed by the corrupting influ- ence of social-democracy more than anything else,” says the thesis of the 13th Plenum of the C.I. This means not to ignore the fastist danger and the growing fascist ten- dencies, but to study them, and in line with the decisions of the Eighth National Convention of the Com- munist Party, to fight against the fascist danger. | 8. Capitalist Democracy Leads to | Fascism | The Eighth Convention resolu- | tion showed that the U.S. govern- ment is more and more iascizing its rule, suppressing the right to strike, increasing government vio- lence against the workers, inten- sifying the lynch terror against Negroes, vesting more and more dictatorial power in Roosevelt’s hands, and developing a campaign} of chauvinism and nationalism. The bourgeoisie is at the same time increasing the number and activ- ities of the fascist organizations. | This fascization is being carried on | under the mask of “democracy.” Its| chief support among the workers are the social-fascists, who attempt to disarm the workers by advocat-| ing and opposing to fascism the bourgeois “democracy” which is actually ushering in fascism. These Social-fascists (A. F. of L., Social- ists, Musteites, etc.) try to hide from the workera the only road against fascism—the revolutionary way out of the crisis under the lead- ership of the Communist Party. Comrade Browder, in his brilliant analysis of fascism at the Party Convention, showed how these so- cial-fascists seek to disarm the working class before the growing! menace of fascism by spreading il- lusions regarding bourgeois demo- | eracy, by accepting all the moves of the New Deal which is driving toward fascism, by spreading de- featist illusions about the inevitabi- ity of fascism in European coun- tries. The fascist gangs which are now} forming, the fascist war moves of! the Roosevelt government, the. prep- arations for fascism by the social- fascists—these things are happen- ing now. They must be combatted by our Party not in the future, but at present, in the daily mass work of the Party. The question of the revolutionary way out of the crisis, the fight for Soviet power, as the only means of defeating fascism must be raised now. Fascism grows and becomes active before our eyes. Mr. Cahan Comes to the Defense of Capitalist Democracy By SI GERSON UTCHER DOLLFUSS’ howitzers not only tore gaping holes in the walls of the Karl Marx Hof in Vienna, but, what is far more signi- ficant, made huge breaches in that whole system that passed as the theory of “democratic socialism,” that whole theory that has as its foundation the idea that workers can take power from the capitalist class in an easy, painless, 1.0.11 - += + violent, “demo- cratic” manner. It is this fact, agonies of the Austrian prole- tariat, bitterly struggling under fascism, that agitates the leaders of the Socialist Inter- nationaland “our own” So- cialist leaders in Si Gerson the United States. It is this fact that has in- spired what, for the present, takes the all-time record for counter- revolutionary venom, the pamphlet “Hear the Other Side, a Symposium of Democratic Socialist Opinion,” edited by that sterling democrat, Abraham Cahan, Cahan lays down his basic thesis in the editorial foreword. We quote: “The slums of the Russian cities and their voiceless ter- rorized inhabitants, on the one hand, and the glorious municipal Socialism of Vienna with the free speech and free voting it guar- anteed, on the other, is the dif- ference between despotic Bolshe- vism and democratic Socialism.” One might imagine that after Vienna, which had been held up to workers everywhere as the model of “municipal socialism,” as the iple par excellence of the pos- sibility of building socialism within the framework of capitalist democ- racy, was captured by Dollfuss and the Heimwehr, Mr. Cahan would maintain a discreet silence. One would think that the editor of that paragon of Socialist publications would find it less embarrassing to make comparisons other than be- tween the Soviet Union and the “municipal Socialism” of Vienna at this time. But no! Mr, Cahan must rush to one time had a following of quite a few thousands, and which dema- the defense of capitalist democracy. Why? Primarily because the Austrian events blasted the keystone of the theoretical arch of social-democ- racy, the conception of “gradual- ism,” the belief that it is possible for the workers to take the power of the state and the means and ma- chinery of production through peaceful “democratic” means, thet is,.through the legal forms existent in the modern capitalist democ- racies (France, England, United States, etc.). Discontent Among S. P. Members Within the rank-and-file of the Socialist Party’ there is a deep- seated discontent with the funda- mental theory and the practical policies c reformism, the rotteness of which was glaringly exposed by the Austrian events. Thousands of workers who support the Socialist Party in the United States—as well as thousands of Socialist workers throughout the world—are ques- tioning the whole conception of the “democratic” capture of power and the tactic that flows from it, the “lesser evil” tactin that of sup- porting the so-called liberal wing of the capitalist class against the fas- cist wing (in Austria the support of Dollfuss against the Heimwehr and the Nazis; in Germany the support of Hindenburg against Hitler; in the U. S. the united front with Woll, LaGuardia and Roosevelt “against” fascism). Many have begun to realize that only the Bolshevik way, the road taken by the Russian workers and peasants in November, 1917, the way of Lenin and Stalin, the way pointed by the Communist Inter- national, is the way out of the misery of the capitalist abyss. Par- ticularly are the Austrian workers to ponder this question and say: “Had we established the dictator- ship of the proletariat in 1918, had we crushed the capitalist class re- lentlessly then, had we relied on the armed might of the working- class, We would haye been living under a Socialist Sovic&a govern- ment today and not under a fascist! dictatorship. The Russian workers crushed the Denikins, Kolchaks, Wrangels and Yudeniches. They did not give these White Guard bandits a chance to develop, to grow pow- erful, to cement their international connections—all in the name of “democracy,” of “equality” between exploiter and exploited. They crushed their White Guard enemies and kept on in a vigilant fashion, relentlessly suppressing counter- | serous | the sharpest control in the carry- | ing out of the tasks laid down in Socialist Leadership Seeks To Snare the Workers | Oa ee in the Trap of Capitalist Democracy and ‘Democratic Road to Socialism” Repsonsibility for Work Among the Youth Rests Not Only With the Youth; It Lies in the First Place on the Party, the Leading Fractions in the Trade Unions, Unemployed and Mass Organizations By C. A. HATHAWAY (Excerpts from Report on “Win- ning the Working Youth” at | the Eighth Convention of | the C. P., U.S.A.) | want to take up some questions of our struggle for the youth. In| the draft resolution that has been | submitted to the Convention, the C. C. elaborates and stresses most sharply the part that the Party) must play in the efforts to win the | young workers. Here we have to} state that in the first place this is| the task of the Party, of the lead- ing fractions in the trade unions, in the unemployed organizations, in all of the mass organizations of the} Party. In the past the problem of | winning the youth was considered the problem merely of the young workers. We criticized them if the| movement did not go forward. We| never examined our own role, the ‘ole of the Party in the struggle to| win the working class youth. We did not consider sufficiently the| role of the youth in the general| working class movement and the part we must play in drawing the young workers in all of the struggles | of the workers and to draw up spe- cial demands of the youth. | The Party in its resolution opens | up with the following, and indeed the whole resolution should be studied -most carefully [by every comrade in the Party and especially the comrades who are responsible | for the leadership of the Party in the districts. The resolution states: “Without a decisive turn of the Party to work among the masses | of workers, a successful struggle | against the attacks of the capi- talists, against fascism, the inten- sive preparations for war and for | the establishment of a revolution- | ary workers government — Soviet Power, is impossible. Any talk of winning the majority of the work- ing class for the revolution with- out the most serious work among the broad masses of young work- ers, is an empty phrase. The present underestimation and ne- glect of daily systematic work among the young workers is a reformist remnant especially dan- to the Party, against which the Eighth Convention de- clares the sharpest struggle. The Eighth Convention instructs all leading bodies and especially the Central Committee, to exercise this resolution. The Eighth Con- vention declares that underesti- mation‘or neglect of this work is incompatible with the capacity to fill leading positions in the Com- munist Party.” That, comrades, is a very sharp statement in the draft resolution, but this is a statement absolutely necessary as can be sé¢en by an ex- amination of the position of the Y.C. L. If one takes the position of Y.C.L. today as compared with our But permitted, in the name of “democracy,” these fascist bandits to flourish. Nay, more, our leaders even made alliances with one group of these bandits—leading us to be- lieve that they were the ‘lesser evil—against the other gang of bandits, the Nazis. And we followed our treacherous leaders. But no longer. The next time we fight— it will be for power and to main- tain power. And we won't be so ‘democratic’ this time. We won't follow the advice of Messers. Otto Bauer, Karl Renner, Karl Seitz, Julius Deutsch and the rest. We will follow the Bolshevik example.” Under the pressure of the Aus- trian events and the crumbling of the “democratic” conceptions among the socialist workers “left” phrases are being mouthed by some of the Socialist leaders. Cahan’s pamphlet is a warning to them not to mouth thesé phrases too loosely. But basi- cally the pamphlet, purporting to be a call to the Socialist Party mem- bers to “hear the other side,” the side of “democratic socialism,” is an attempt to bolster tne shattered faith of the advanced American workers in capitalist democracy. An Old But Basic Question It is an old question but must be answered again and again. Can the American workers —or workers in any other capitalist country—gain power through the way of capital- ist democracy, by the peaceful method of the ballot supplied for them by the capitalist class? Or is the revolutionary way, the Bol- shevik way, the road followed by the Russian workers and peasants, the only way out? Here we must spend a moment in an examination of some of the more obvious limitations of Ameri- can capitalist democracy. Let us take the franchise, the right to vote, about which Mr. Cahan goes into ecstasies, Have the Negro masses the right to vote? Let the figures speak for themselves. Let us see how Ameri- can capitalist democracy “permits” the masses to exercise this right su guaranteed by the con- Stitution. Since practically every state has literacy qualifications, at least 20 per cent of the potential Negro vot- ing population is disfranchised (partly due to the fact that funds for education of Negroes is always much lower than that for whites and partly due to the fact that these literacy tests are judged by white politicians or their hench- men); 1,306,650 Negroes are consid- ered illiterate, We Cannot Win the Majorit last. Convention one finds the fol- 1 | lowing That in 1930 the Y.C.L. had 1.200 members. At the present time the Y¥.C.L. has 6,000 members. In 1930 there were 50 Negro young workers ame : : A group of young workers about to embark for one of Mr. Roosevelt's C.C.C. camps. There, under Capitalism Strains Ever ie es ‘7 y of Working € las Without Serious Activity Amone Young Worke a 2 rea is the guise of giving them some employment (actuaily a form of forced labor) these young workers will be groomed as cannon fodder for a are used against the workers in strikes and other organizations must make the utmost efforts to win the toiling youth for the working class, Property qualifications—which hit) Only the Communists Fight To Maintain and Extend Democratic Rights Won the toiling masses primarily—exist | in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mis- | sissippi, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, | Georgia, Delaware, S. Carolina, | Louisiana, W. Virginia and Okla-| homa, the form of a direct property quali- | fication, poll taxes, disfranchisement | of paupers or persons obtaining re- lef from state, county, etc. How this worked out can be seen by the 1932 elections—the total vote cast in the South Atlantic States (from Delaware to Florida) was 2,985,000—out of 8,200,000 who were | eligible. (Of the eligible voters, that is, those over 21, 6,000,000 are whites, 2,200,000 Negroes). In the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala- bama and Mississippi out of an eli- gible electorate of 3,300.000 whites and 1,401,000 Negroes, only 1,750,490 votes were cast. In West, South, Central states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas) there are 4,955,000 whites over 21, and 1,234,000 Negroes over 21. The total vote cast in the 1932 election was 2,049,170. Soldiers and sailors (135,052 ac- tive) may vote in their home states if they happen to be there at the time of registering and voting! But this rarely happens. , Seamen, who number about 89,195, generally do not meet the residen- tial qualifications and are thus ex- eluded from the blessings of Mr. Cahan’s democracy. Besides the above-mentioned lim- | itations there are dozens of others. In Alabama, Oregon and South Carolina there is a property quali- fication. Each voter must have at least $300 worth of property. Poll taxes exist in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. In the state of Alabama, home of the Scottsboro case, you must be employed to cast your ballot. Alabama workers who want to change the social structure along the lines of Mr. Cahan should first get themselves a job and acquire $300 worth of property! In Georgia and Mississippi delin- quent taxpayers cannot vote. Pau- pers and inmates of charitable in- stitutions cannot cast a ballot in 13 states. Migratory workers, who number over 3,000,000, generally cannot vote because of failure to meet residual requirements. In California, Nevada and Ore- gon American-born Chinese cannot Oklahoma, | new Wall Street War. By the These qualifications are in| 000 foreign born workers who can- | B) not vote, | There are 195,858 Mexicans of voting age. Of these approximately 25 per cent are illiterate and are| thus disfranchised. | These few facts make it Stal- clear that even the right to vote— the alpha and omega of the bour- geois democratic philosophy—is de- | nied huge sections of the toiling | masses. However, let us grant for a mo- ment that many workers have the right to vote. Who reaches them with election propaganda? Who owns the vast network of news- | papers, radio stations, news-reel agencies, and the thousand and | one other means of propaganda? Do the workers own these? Do they have access to these, the free, complete, democratic use of them? To ask these questions is to an-| swer them, Thousands of American workers are beginning to see this, | are beginning to understand that} capitalist democracy is, in the words | of Lenin, “a snare and a delusion,” that the full power of the govern- ment is in the hands of the capi- talist class, that the agencies for | disseminating information are in the hands of the capitalist class, that the very institutions of demo- cracy are in the hands of the capi- talist class, that present-day demo- | cracy is capitalist democracy, a | disguised form of capitalist dicta-| torship. | Communists Fight for Democratic Rights | This does not mean that we Com- | munists pooh-pooh the struggle for democratic rights. On the contrary, the Communists have placed and will continue to place in the fore-| front of our program the struggle| to maintain and extend the ele- mentary democratic rights of the toiling populations—the right to or- ganize, the right to strike, the right to the streets, etc. It is the Com- munists—and only the Communists —whose fighting leadership actually organizes the masses to resist fas- cist attacks on democratic rights. It is only the Communist Party, which, through a program of mili- tant struggle against, rather than reliance upon, bourgeois democracy, actually wins concessions from the capitalist class. struggles. The Communist Party and all workers’ | dozens of cases have surrendered the | streets, in tender compliance to the| workers | oi a | Masses | 3 eating illusions about the N.R.A. and the very state apparatus | from which fascism blossoms, the | S.P. leaders not only pave the way) for fascism with its annihilation of any semblance of rights for the toil- but today, in daily life, these rights. In Austria, Otto Bauer was willing to accept a| dictatorship of three rather than or- | revolutionary | ganize a genuine struggle against fascism. In the} United States, the SP. leaders in wishes of police chiefs, rather than put up a real struggle for the work- ing class right to march the streets built by the hands of labor. The taxi strikers of New York, the auto workers of Detroit, the steel workers of Ambridge, the coal miners of Pennsylvania and Illinois, have seen Mr, Cahan’s yaunted democracy in action. They have felt the democratic militia bullets plowing through their flesh and the democratic policeman’s club crack their skull. They have whiffed the democratic | Thi | that succeeded in winning the tial masses of the young work, he task before this conv tion at the present time The 7th Convention of had t the League the old den . the t nization of the 4 wor larger than the m of the Party. Now, co: one states that we m Y.C.L. into an organ than the Party. we @ to be very careful that this does not become a mere phrase. We have to under- stand what objective we are setting ourselves and how serious it be to achieve this objective, and in order to make it clear to the com- rades what we are up against, I want to cite some more figures on the present status of the League in relation to the Party and mass or- ganizations. I wish to take the Party first The Party has 24,500 members; the Y.C.L. has 6,000 members. To bring the League up to the point where it surpasses the Party in membership cannot be left to the comrades of the Y.C.L. If that is done we are not going to make the League an organization that sur- passes the Party in size and influ- ence. This job has to be a serious job of the Party. Further, the language organizations now have 133,000 members; the language youth organizations have 6,000 mem- bers. There, again, the ‘job of making the languag' zations bigger is a j youth otgani- —the Let us take the factori Party has 358 shop nuclei. The ¥.C.L. has 50. That means, com- rades, that immediately the task is before district and specifically before these shop nuclei to build parallel shop nuclei of the League where these shop nuclei of the Party exist. Unless it is taken up seriously in that way, we are not going to bring the League up in respect, to the point reached by_the Party. The trade unions time, our revolution: unions, have 125,000 members. A few thousand of these are young workers. But if we consider organizationally the question, then we can state that there are not more than 1,000 young workers in any way brought to- gether as a group functioning in the unions in the interests of the oung workers and as a means of drawing the young workers into the general trade union movement. Why is it, comrades, that our ad- vances among the youth have been so little? In the ‘first place we have to state that this is due to the very strong sectarian tendencies of both right and left character within the league itself, and within the Party and mass organizations with regard to youth work. And secondly, to the very weak cadres and insufficient cadres that have been assigned to youth work. So here, comrades, to state that there must be not only increased activi on the part of the Party itself, . among the young workers and on the part of the Party members, but there must be a struggle by the Party against any opportunist ten- dency to underestimate youth work as a serious opportunist error. There must be an effort on the part of the Party nationally and in the districts to build up a core of leading forces among the young | workers who can strengthen the ™ leadership of youth work in the organizations of the Party. The fact that these things have not been carried through places the main responsibility upon the Party. |I must here put the question as to the future. We musi state that the District Committee of the | Party, the Section Committee and units, the leading fractions in the | trade unions, in the unemployed or- | ganizations, in each of the other mass organizations of workers and farmers, in every campaign that is 2, undertaken, in all of the activity —- tt the presemi at) tear gas of state deputies. They have seen the shricking headlines | of the capitalist press with their jackal cries for the blood of strik- ers. They have “Heard the Other Side,” and they are beginning to take the road toward a true democracy, a democracy of toilers, such a democracy as was set up by the workers and peasants of the Soviet Union in 1917 under the leadership of Lenin’s and Stalin’s Communist Party. Such a democracy, Mr. Cahan, which workers know throughout the world as the dictatorship of the proletariat, “is a million times more demo- cratic than any bourgeois demo- | cracy, and the Soviet regime is a million times more democratic than the most democratic regime in a bourgeois republic.” (Lenin). Under the dictatorship of the proletariat, Mr. Cahan, all who toil may vote. Those who do not work do not vote. But more important —the meeting halls, the printing presses, the movies, the radio and all other agencies of information, are in the hands, not of a few bil- lionaires, but in those of the work- The Socialist leadership, policy with its vote. These number 40,000. There are approximately 4,000,- authorities, has actually yielded up| the democratic rights of workers. ers and peasants, And this makes Cahan, Ask the Weirton and Budd workers. They know! that is carried on, there must be |@ discussion of how to bring the | problems of the youth into that ; campaign, how to formulate the | special demands of the young work- jers in consultation with the com- jrades of the Y. C. L. and youth themselves so that everywhere the same spirit. the same emphasis is developed in the past on Negro, work. There is nobody today who | would think of writing a leaflet,» 1; land in any action of our Party —se without bringing out most clearlyo £ {tae appeal to white and Negroironx workers. Comrades, there must be developed in the Party end massL L organizations, the same consciouse jness with regard to. young work- Be. enable .us to win the masses of young workers for revolutionary struggles. 3 French Cabinet Plans Huge Increases in Army PARIS, May 4.—The French army" | which has already grown to over Ply 500,000, will soon be greatly in=P.M. creased, according to Cabinet plans made public here yesterday. Mar- | shal Henri Petain, Minister of War of collaboration with state|all the difference in the world, Mr.|is proposing to inorease the termission conscription from; ts — j of { compulsory one year to fifteen months, ers, the same consideration of their____ problems and demands that will———