The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 20, 1934, Page 5

33,000 Voters For Lightfoot, Negro Teader, Chicago Communist “olls Large Vote for Assembly (Daily Worker Midwest Bureau) CHICAGO, June 17.—Three years of battling in the ranks of the working class, three years of heroic leadership of struggles of the un- emploved and the Negro people heve won Claude Lightfoot the re- spect and love of thousands of Chi- €cg0 workers. Thirty-three thousand votes were east for this militant young Negro E CLAUDE LIGHTFOOT worker when he ran for State As- mbly on the Communist ticket in 932. The victorious candidate re- Beived only 60,000. Lightfoot, who is running for the game position in the election this fall told the Daily Worker repre- sentative of his experiences, his ac- tivity as a revolutionary worker and leader. It is a short story, but it is 8 history of the most concentrated and devoted activity in the inter- ests of our class. “T was first involved in the revo- lutionary movement in 1931. The big unemployed struggles for relief and against evictions were going on. Yes,” he answered to the re- porter’s question, “I suppose that it was the fact that a lot of workers got to know me through the unem- ployed activity that accounts for By ARTHUR NEWTON Wisconsin offers an excellent op- portunity to examine the tactics of the “liberal” Roosevelt administra- tion’s drought condition. The conditions in other areas, notably the Dakotas | and sections of Minnesota, have been worse. Therefore, in examining | the “planning” to meet the drought which the wise men in the Depart- ment of Agriculture and Relief Di- rector Hopkins have framed, we cannot be accused of picking out the “abnormally” bad area. How severe conditions are can be learned only from the farmers themselves. But in line with our de- Sire to avoid exaggeration, state- ments from official sources will be given. Under date of June 1, Charles L. Hill, chairman of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Markets, is quoted: “The situation is beyond comprehension—never before have we had anything like it at this time of the year. Small grains burned out in almost every section of the state—pasture lands baked—hay fields barren, early peas turning yellow, tobacco plants dry- ing out as soon as they are set, corn burning out in the knolls,” This is a picture of the crop situation. In view of the condition of affairs, it is instructive to dis- cover what the men with the big brains think about all this, The A.A. A. administrator, Chester C. Davis, to the extent of nearly three col- umns in the Sunday New York Times of June 10th, talks soothingly of the far-sighted “planning” which the government has been prepar- ing to deal with exactly this drought condition. The former “let alone” policy is castigated, and we are informed: “Not knowing what relief might come from rains, the government has been forced to prepare for the worst ... in the certainty that the situation has gone so far that, come what may, all the measures planned will be needed in varying degrees.” Precisely what these plans were is left a mystery, but we are re- assured that “the government began three weeks ago to enlarge its plans. A new chapter is being bravely written in the long story of man's, struggle with nature. It is also a new chapter in the history of social action.” Thus Mr. Davis ballyhoos. And the big boss in matters agricul- tural, Secretary Wallace, writes in dealing with the “emergency” | | The drought, long apparent in the and if there was the farmers have no money to buy it. They must either sell their cows, shoot them or drive them some place where there is food.” The stockyards have been oyer- run with gaunt cattle from the drought areas. Capitalist “plan- ning’ in this connection operates thus: “Although Milwaukee live- stock exchange quotations are broadcast twice daily and farmers} are cognizant of the fact that prices are weak, they continue to ship, not because they want to, but because they can’t feed the animals. While the drop in prices is severe, the farmer is even hit harder than it appears because grading is much | stricter . . . chiefly because peckers have sufficient supplies and can af- West, has reached New York State, are making desperate attempts to save their crops, DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JU 20, 1934 West and Mid- where farmers ened further: “$50,000,000 for work; its Farmers Emegency Relief Bill on camps to afford employment in the drought areas for young men, prin- cipally from cities and towns.” Here there begins to be disclosed the nature of capitalist “planning” for agriculture. Delay the sending of seed and feed where it is needed; | make it as difficult as possible to obtain loans; force the sale of cat- tle and hogs at prices well below the already low “market” prices; provide jobs for workers, particu- larly the youth of rural towns—all apparently in line with the effort to destroy farm products on the crazy theory that there has been “overproduction” of agricultural commodities. Note that nothing is stated about the rates of pay farmers are to re- Drought Tightens A A A Yoke on Farms ROOSEVELT USES DROUGHT TO DRIVE SMALL FARMERS OFF LAND using every known means of irrigation—even to the primitive means shown here of carrying water from | the River Genesee to parched land near Rochester, | | behalf of the farmers. The first list | includes the general Party demands | and is concerned with the drought | situation in all states affected. The | second list has been drawn up by District 18 of the Party and is an | expression of our program for meét- ing farmers’ grievances in Wis- consin. Demands on Behalf of All Drought Areas 1, Relief for drought stricken families. | 2. Immediate food and forage | supplies for livestock. | 3. Distribution of grain and food | supplies now in the hands of the| government. | 4. Production loans where and} when farmers are able to plant/| - attached veterans. Vets’ Convention Strengthens Forces for New Bonus Fight Achieves Unity Point Program; Fights Jim Crow By I, AMTER HE convention called by the Vet- erans National Rank and File Committee at Fort Hunt, Va., near |Washington, May 14-27, was a de- cided contrast to the convention held last year and the bonus march of 1932. The bonus march of 1932 was a mass movement with a lead- ership securing control in the in- terest of the government. The con- vention of last year was still un- organized, with unclear elements in the leadership. Those having a clear program, the delegation of the Workers Ex-Servicemen’s League, fought hard to put through their program and partly succeeded, but did not succeed in giving organiza- tional form to the movement. Since 1933, the masses of veterans have suffered from the crisis like the rest of the working population, and the radicalization of the vet- erans has grown apace. This was Teflected in the convention. This convention marked a con- Solidation of the leading, clearer elements in the vterans’ movement The convention consisted of 1429 delegates from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Workers Ex- |Servicemen’s League, Ame rican| World War Veterans (Negroes of Georgia), and a large group of un- Of the 1429 del- egates, 1406 wexp veterans of the world war. There were 270 Negro veterans from all parts of the coun- try. One thousand one hundred and fifty-nine have been unem- ployed for an average of three years, and represented 121 occupations. Three hundred and nine! x were from C.C.C. camps. In short the convention represented a cross sec- tion of the veterans. The convention served to consoli- date the veterans’ movement, to give it a definite program and to lay the basis for building a broad rank and file movement in this country. The building of the movement was left in the hands of a national com- mittee of 42, which in turn elected an executive committee of 11, in- cluding the Washington resident committee of three, composed of Harold Hickerson of the W. E. S. L., Walley of the unattached veterans | on 3. [to the one point of pa of the |bonus. In this they ceed, Other elements were unclear, vac- jillatng, hesitant. But by the end of the convention the ranks were ely consolidated hat were the positive gains ot this convention? 1. A splendid composition and representative of all veterans’ or- ganizations, and the hig body of unattached veterans. 2. Excellent unity of Negro and white veterans, 3. High political level discussion and decisions. 4, irit of sdlidarity of the with the. workers gen- of the | veterans on strike—Minneapolis, Alabama, Toledo, etc—and with the farm- ers, 5. Pressure to force certain Senators to agree to bring out the bonus bill from the Finance Com- mittee to the floor of the senate. 6. Open condemnation of the Cc. C. C. camps, even though through want a few hundred vets were recruited for the camps. There was splendid unity of the veterans’ organizations. Although the cementing group was the Work- ers Ex-Servicemen’s League, which |was the largest organized group present (W.ES.L. 127 delegates, | | American Legion 94, Veterans of Foreign Wars 96, Disabled American Veterans 29, etc.), the W. EF. 8. L. delegates acted in such a manner as to ensure the unanimous endorse- | ment of the program, the continuity Jof the work and the reaching of the goal of the convention. The united front expressed in the arrangement committee was carried | out in the convention itself. In pro- jhad representation on all commit- |tees. Speaking at the convention was in rotation, according to organ- ization or group. This made it pos- sible for all organizations, all view- points, all sections of the country to be heard. This enabled the con- vention to whip out a unanimous program, political and organiza- | tional. The unity of Negro and white | vets was another outstanding feature |of the convention. There were vets who were filled with white chau- vinism, which frequently came to the fore. But the working together, | living and sleeping together of the |Whites and Negroes helped to re- | move much of this race hatred. One hundred and twenty-one oc- erally and particularly with those | | portion to their strength, each group | High Political Level im Discussions; Poor Preparation new organization. It provides for the affiliation on a united front basis of all organizations, groups, etc.. of veterans who accept the three-point program. It does not attempt to break up existing organs izations, but on the contrary te | bring together in struggle against | the government and the reactionarye fascist leaders of these organime tiens, the rank and file for the ine | terest of the rank and file. The constitution also provides for the building of groups of vets in unions, shops, fraternal and unem- ployed organizations on the basis of | the three point program and for | united action. It provides further |for cooperation with organizations |of workers and farmers fighting in | the interest of the working class. I One of the high lights of the veterans convention, and one which caused a flurry were the speeches of the representative of the Com- munist Party, Comgade J. W. Ford, and of the writer. The convention invited representatives of all the parties, as well as Congressman Lundeen, the proponent of the Workers Bill, Senator Wagner and the writer pf this articla, The Farmer-Labor Party sent Congres- man Magnus Johnson and a Mr, | Arons. These gentlemen emphasized. the “radicalism” of their party— this in face of the armed attacks on the workers in Minneapolis (twice in 142 months) and of fore- jclosures of farmers’ property in | Spite of the moratorium declared by | Governor Olsen! | The speech of Comrade Ford, | which clearly gave the Communist jline for the struggle for the im- | mediate needs of the vets and the | workers, farmers and Negro people, ;and for Soviet power in America, |caused considerable discussion for ;some time. There were the hack- | ward, confused workers who could ;not understand, and who thought | in the terms of the Red Scare, tes eh |is emphasized from the governme.é down. The representatives of the Dem- |Ocratic and Republican parties did | not show up. Neither did Congress- ; ‘ e . apr }and Eaton of the Disabled Vet- A 1 sps were represented |™8" Lundeen nor Senator Wagner, the } rote iv st elec-| % Similar vein from Pierre, S. D.,! ford to be choicy, As a result, the| ceive on these “relief? jobs, and | again. | ‘ | cupational groups were rep! | 5 EDA Alec Sica IRs ae Pee) Maram farmer gets about $9.00 less for a| that the ‘work camps” for the| 6. All benefits for drought /°Tans. This is a promise that the |a¢ the convention, including workers | , Clarence Senior, ational secre F Workers Know Him A.A.A. Helps Rich Farmers 900-lb. animal in most instances.” youth are in line with the C.C.C.| stricken families to go to the farm- |of heavy industry, white collar ’ y, The workers of the South Side| But, let us take a closer look at The high political level of the | workers, professionals and farmers. |that the “Socialist Party supports Incidentally, the pri military plans, Observe also, that | ers—and not to the banks. a a ia Ny certainly did “get to know” Claude in those days. They got to know him as the kind of leader that is in the forefront of every struggle, that cannot be bought off or intimi- dated. They got to know him in the days when the most vicious terror- ism was directed against the Un- employed Councils, when clubbings, | failings and even shootings were common. They got to know him, too, as one who could put their thoughts into words, who could win masses of unconvinced workers to the side of their class, who could, with his speeches, rouse groups into action. net as a spell-binding punk. bvi with an eloquent, logictl appeal. “Then I went into the League of Struggle for Negro Rights. We or- ganized the parade that backed up} the Address of the Negro Peonle to the City Council in 1933. I've been seerctary of the L.S.N.R. in Chicago ever since.” During his time in the LS.N.R. Lightfoot has participated in many struggles. One of the last was the fight for jobs for Negro workers on the Wendell Phillins High School | dob. Battling side by side with werkers of the American Consoli- dated Trades Council. the LS.N.R. picketed the construction job for two weeks. Finally, a mass demon- stration was held in front of the school. Police attacked, scattering the workers. Claude climbed to the roof of a small building near the school. and made a speech expos- ing the federal and loce] govern- ments’ co-operation to prevent Ne- groes from getting skilled jobs. Awaiting Trial For this “crime” he was arrested, in spite of a fine defense made by his fellow workers who fought the police, trying to get him free. He 4s to come to trial on July 9. Meantime, he is out on bail raised by the International Lebor De- fense. The reporter asked Lightfoot) what he intended to do when he was elected to the legislature. (Lightfoot has a fine chance to be elected.) “I'm going to use the state as- sembly as a forum, from which to expose the rotten capitalist gov- ernmént. I’m going to fight right there for every demand of the workers. I'm going to put these pol- iticians on the spot, and force them to support the workers’ demands or stand openly as the flunkeys of the henkers and bosses of the state. I don’t want to fool the workers into thinking that by electing me they can do away with Jim Crow- jem, terror, and get a ‘square deal.’ We aren't goinz to take over the State government ky electing woak- ers to offices. But we will take over that stefe sovernment some day by revolutionary means, end a spoks-- men in thé leeislatyre can do much * to rally the masses into struggle for thet end. { Will Force Concessions “Also, wé can and will force cer- tein concessions in the workers’ in- terest from the bosses by backing up cur Communist legislators by mass action. Constant hammering from within and without the Capi- tol can win cur partial demands, -for higher wages, unemployment in- surance, and the like. “Tf I go to the legislature, I Pledge to the workers of the Fifth Senatorial District that there will be at least one voice that will be raised in their interests, not in the interests of the capitalists. And, be- lieve me, I'll see to it that I get time between sessicns to continue the fight on the strects of Chicago acainst the whole rotten system that is driving us deeper into pov- erty.” “planning” for which so much credit most of this “distress the whole effect of the combined is claimed. The knowledge of the farmers concerning their plight and the occasional honesty of reporters attached to the capitalist press, sometimes combine to reveal what is taking place. In a Milwaukee newspaper of June 6 we read that “The movement of starving dairy cows out of the Wisconsin areas to pasture lands further north thus far has been an individualistic, haphazard proposition. . . .” Further evidence on the manner capitalist “planning” works: “Farm- jers reason that it is cheaper and better to migrate their herds. They are obligated to pay back or work out the feed loans and are resent- ful of the ‘poverty’ restrictions. At the relief station this report watched while a farmer came in and was told he had to declare that his farm was mortgaged for more | than it is worth, and that he had exhausted ‘all means of credit’ be- fore he would be issued an applica- tion blank. The farmer left in dis- gust. Further: “There is no feed from 75 cents to $1.50 a hundred pounds. Workers in the cities know how many pounds of meat they can get for a quarter, and farmers know about what it costs to bring these animals to maturity not to speak of the losses due to low prices paid by | the milk trust. Drive Farmers Off Land A great noise has been made about the “generous” appropriation | of a half billion dollars for drought | relief. We haye seen that the gov- ernment has been very tardy in translating its “plan” into action, and that the bulk of the fund made available are in the form of |doans. Real cash relief which the farmers want and the Communist Party demands is almost completely absent? An A.P, despatch from Washington, dated June 6th. gives a! | clue to the administration’s “plan:" “It was indicated that paying jobs for farmers, instead of feed and seed doles, will form the keyst of the federal relief policy.” Under! date of June 10th, we are enlight- features of this “plan” is to increase the gap between well-to-do and poor farmers, In fact, to a marked degree it can be clearly seen that the drought is being utilized in the same man- ner as the cotton “control” plan of the South. Just as share-croppers are being divorced from the land by the hundred thousand, so the poor farmers of the drought area are finding it difficult to obtain seed and feed—essential if they are to remain farmers. Instead, they are eing hed into “relief” jobs and into militarized camps where the pay is based on an F.E.R.A. estimate of “needs” which are far below sub- sistence when judged by any correct. standard. The announced “plan” is a 24 hour week at 30 cents or $7.20 per week. Readers of this analysis which shows how the Roosevelt drought plan works aganst the interests of the mass of farmers, are asked to study carefully the demands ad- vanced by the Communist Party in THE GREAT TOLEDO STRIKE (This is part of a series of articles for the Daily Worker. The series will be followed by an article in the July COMMUNIST.) * * ARTICLE Il. (Continued) ESPITE all decisions of the officials, the revolutionary workers, together with the Communists, prepared for active participation in the parade and mass meet- ing. While the local officials tried to keep them out, the workers had a different at- titude. Scattered through the parade were Communist workers among the strikers and union men. An occasional banner or placard was to be seen. Near the end of the parade wes one enitre division with many manners, shouting slo- gans, singing songs, etc. Here were to be found members of the Unemployment Councils, Young Communist League, Communist Party, as well as other workers. The local A. F. of L. officials were outmaneuvered. They first said absolutely no par- ticipation. When this didn’t get such a welcome, they proposed this division line-up on a specific street and then join, although they tried to then surround the division in order to isolate and sep- arate it. To their dismay these Central Labor Union Officials discovered too late that the street where the division in which the Communists were greatest, had to wait, was precisely one that every parti- cipant in the parade had to pass and thus they read the banners and joined in shouting slogans. Immediately prior to the parade the Electrical Workers Union met and this time Bennett and Myers told the men they had a 20 per cent increase in wages and other concessions regarding working conditions and union preference in hiring, Not a word was said about no participation in general strike. After a stiff battle, with the supposed-to-be general strike secretary, Myers, leading the fight for acceptance, this bribe was put over by @ ma- jority vote. Tho newspapers immediately got out Special editions for the parade, announcing vic- tory for electricians and no genera! strike. Huge Parade Nearly 12,009 participated in the parade, with up to 18,000 at the mass demonstration at the con— clusion of the parade. The front of the Memorial Hall, where the strikers’ headquarters was lecated, was used as a speakers’ stand. L. Aubrey wes chair- men, Speakers included Taylor, specin] representa— tive ef Wm. Crten; Thos. Ramsey, cf Auto-Lite; Kohl, international organizer of buiciers Unions W. Gunthrop, editor of Union Leader and member of L the N. R. A. Advisory Board, etc. For days in ad- vance the Communists, in leaflets, at meetings, in signs in the parade, in groups inside the Auto-Lite strikers’ mectings, had popularized one central three-word slogan, “Immediate General Strike.” The Toledo News-Bee of June 2nd, reports the fol- Jowing: “Workers mean business,” Taylor told the crowd. “The parade has demonstrated that fact.” From the audience came a voice—forerunner of whatwas later to become a small chorus of vociferous heckling: “We want a general strik: “The men who have represented the workers in the peace negotiations,” Tayler answered, “have done so better than some individuals who are shouting for immediate actions. At least we have foreed the employers to a recognition of our right to negotiate—something we did not have before.” After Gunthrop spoke, a worker from Detroit, by the name of Parker, a members of the Hudson local of the A. F. of L., and sent by a conference of workers in Detroit, finally forced the Central Labor Union officials to let him speak. He brought greetings, pledged support, gave experiences of De- troit auto workers being betrayed by arbitration schemes and began telling the essembled crowd to take things in their own hands and beware of sell- outs. Allow the Toledo News-Bee to give a sum- mary of the next few moments: “Half a dozen hands pulled him from the chair on which he stood. Men on tho steps sheuted: ‘Let him talk’ Young Parker shouted and struggicd. Men milled about monacingly. The crowd down in the street grew resticss, A strect car nosed into the throng. There were angry shouts at the street car's appreach, ‘Tip it over!’ ‘Break the windows!’ ‘Jor the trotiey!’ a few of the crewd shouted, but nothing hap- Pencd. Otto Brach, secrétary of the Central La- ber Unien, climbed on the chair to speak. He could not make his voice heard above a chorus of heckling. He wes crowned out with shouts of, ‘We want a general strike!’ ‘They want to sell you out,’ young Parker shouted, still struggling. Belew the crowd grew more resticcs, Then ten- sion grow—and then relaxed. Brach said a few words and withdrew.” . i ea crowd at that moment was in the balance. Some had taken up the slogans of the C. P. leaflet distributed among the parade and stimu- lated by the militant workers in the crowd. Others still! had confidence in the leaders, The pulling cown of the young auto worker from Dztroit swayed the crowd a; the officials and the f shouting, “We want en immediate general strike” and “let him talk” till Demands on Behalf of Wisconsin Farmers | 1, Appropriation of — $50,000,000 | for cash relief for the poor and the | needy farmers so that they may | buy their necessities of life, food and clothing, seed and repair their implements. Emergency cash relief to the drought areas. These are not to be given as loans, and are to be in addition to any federal grants. 2. For higher prices to the farm- ers at the expense of the trusts. | Abolition of the artificial distinction | between “base” and “surplus” milk | —all milk to be paid for-at “base” prices. 3. No forclosuies on property of the poor and needy farmers. No} evictions. For cancellation of in- debtednéss of the poor and ne¢dy farmers’ mortgages, interests, loans, ete. Tax exemption of poor farm- ers with complete cancellation of back taxes and interest. 4. For the Farmers Emergency Relief Bill. 5. For a Workers and Farmers Government, |discussion and decisions was mani- convention went on record con- demning the use of police and the national guard in the Toledo strike and called upon the national guardsmen to realize that they are workers and refuse to be used against their brothers. Resolutions j against fascism and war, for unity of the Negroes and whites, against the C.C.C. camps, etc., were adopted. The convention unanimously en- dorsed the Workers Unemployment and Social Insurance Bill, H. R: 7598, as against the Wagner-Lewis bill. It also endorsed a resolution calling for cancellation of farmers mortgages, for farmers’ relief, etc. Thus the solidarity of the veterans with the workers and farmers was further emphasized. Despite the fact that the conven- |tion was called on a three-point | program—for immediate payment of |the bonus, repeal of the national |economy act, and for relief for the | unemployed and the farmers—there | were elements, who, similarly to last ‘year, tried to swing the convention | There were 65 members of the | other unions. It was a broad united |front such as has seldon been seen |at similar conventions. The line of the convention was to include all | groups in the deliberations, taking {note of the character of the vet- |crans’ movement, In the adoption of the constitu- tion, a broad united front move- ment was established under the leadership of a National Committee | representative of all groups at the | convention, and providing for rep- | resentation of new groups that may | affiliate with the National Rank and | File Committee. Considering that in addition to the organizations mentioned, there are more than 1,000 groups, clubs and individual posts of veterans unattached to any | the bonus for the veterans and all |fest in the resolutions adopted. The | american Federation of Labor and| Other sections of the population.” Also for J. P. Morgan, presumably! Last year the S. P, through Norman | Thor expressed itself as against the bonus. The convention issued a daily bulletin—the “Rank and File Vet” —on which worked vets of varied political opinion, and was excellently illustrated. The bulletin had weak- nesses—political errors, neglect of the Negro question, failure to ex- plain the program. But all in all {it was an achievement | There were sharp weaknesses in the convention. 1—Insufficient preparatory work by the militant organizations — the W. E. S. L., National Veterans | Rank and File Committee, the Communist Party. organization, the building of the) united front of all these organiza- | tions, and the forming of groups of | |the unattached, who represent the | majority of vets in the country, is of | vital importance. | The convention did not set up a ganizational 3—Weakness vention, 2—Insufficient political and or-« preparation of the convention itself. in carrying through the program at the con- they finally forced Brach, secretary of the Central Labor Union, off the platform. Young Parger of Detroit then finished his speech. Unfortunately, he turned the platform over to a local Musteite and for the next hour the crowd cheered and shouted for the speeches and slogans of the C. P. and Un- employed Council. Included in the speakers were Eggert and Williamson of the C. P.; Onda and Ostheimer of the Unemployed Council; Stein of the International Labor Defense. The Musteites also spoke, including A. J. Must¢, Pollack and Mintrose. Seeing the moods of the crowd,, they picked up the C. P. slogans, trying in this way to cover up their previous alliance with Ramsey and further their efforts to get a mass base among the Toledo work- ers. Having lost control of this platform, the A. F. of L. officials tried to open another meeting at the McKinley Monument. When the shouts of the crowd became louder, they then called their first reserves, Leo Krzycki, National Chairman of the Socialist Party, ahd Ex-Sheriff Benson of Mil- waukee. Even they could not keep the crowd quiet, and finally ihe Y. C. L. comrades, with the support of the crowd, took over the stand and again a list of our speakersi, including Blakeley of the Young Cc:nmunist League and I. O. Ford, Communist can- didate for Governor of Ohio, spoke. The fine decisions of the previous night concern- ing the isolation of the Communists and only A. F. of L. speakers had fallen through because they had reckoned without the masses, who s.w in the Communists their co-workers on the picket line and théy also began to understand the correct- ness of the Communist slogans and ideas. A New Sell-Out Plan Prior to the parade, Ramsey had announced the previous evening he had a new plan to settle the strike. He did not tell the strikers his plan be- cause he said he was afraid of “rats” but he went to Mr. Taft and Mininger with his plans. Some logic! On the night of the parade, Ramsey tried to hold a mecting but did not succsed. The following day an agreement for Auto-Lite was announced which called for: 1) five per cent increase in wages; 2) immediate opening of plant; 3) re-hiring on a proportionate basis of non-strik- ers and strikers; 4) dealing with the union on basis of number of employed members it had in the shop. After a sharp fight, during which for the first time the three shops belonging to the one local union were divided, it was put ovér in the Auto- Lite meeting by a majority vote. In the Logan Gear, a stiff fight devéloped but there also the rank and file wére finaily worn down. This egr: Mt was hailed as a victory by the A. F. of L, officials, inciuding Ramsey, who put it By JOHN WILLIAMSON over. In the Socialist Party New Leader of June 9th it is also hailed as a “victory” in the following | werds: “The electric workers had won a complete victory. The parade became a victory march. The mere threat of general strike had won a partial victory, By Sunday, the Auto-Lite workers had cracked through with victory on their own ac- count.” . 'HE strikers found something different. Only 96 were hired and these were not givén their old jobs back. Another special union meéting was held where the workers voted for strike again and mass picketing on Wednesday morning. Ramsey be- coming excited, rushed over to seé Taft, but over 200 strikers, led by the rank and file militants, marched through the streets to the Commodore Perry Hotel where Taft and Ramsey were closeted. The Communist Party and Unemployment Council again issued leaflets showing the role of Ramsey, etc., in putting over this sell-out and giving a line of action to the workers. Wednesday morning over 600 workers were in front of Auto-Lite refusing to go in unless they all got their jobs back. After more conferences between Ramsey and Mininger, it was announced that all those working before February 23 would be hired at once and a corre- sponding number of scabs fired. The rank and file insisted upon all or none. A vote resulted in 100 taking this position but the others decided to accept the compromise. The scabs supposed to be laid off merely went out one door and re-entered another. This increased the workers and all who had gone in (since the majority of strike-s had been employed before February) walked out and joined those still on the outside. This created consterna- tion. Ramsey was sent for. Police and deputies came rushing to the plant. Finally the company was forced to announce that all strikers in front of the plant would go to work and to report im- mediately to their foremen instead of going through the employment office. This partial victory against discrimination is only the result of the militant policy of the rank and file group which had to fight the Ramseys, ctc., at every turn. To what ex- tent other maneuvers will be made by the com- pany we don’t know as this is béing written, but only a vigilant policy plus complete solidarity in a class struggle program will hold even these partial gains. * * (The next and last article will deal with “Signi sand Lescons of the Toledo including also the role of the | 4—Inadequate militant | action in Washington. 5—Lack of response from the organizations in the districts. * There was an almost complete lack of support from the organiza- tions in the various parts of the country, Meetings, demonstrations, telegrams and resolutions were and | still are imperative. This was not forthcoming. This is a serious short- coming that must immediatély be overcome. If the rank and file movement is to be built up, then real systematic attention has to be paid to the building of the united front in all veterans’ organizations, to reach the isolated groups and build groups of veterans wherever they may be found, particularly in the unions and shops, around the three-point | program. Struggles for relief of the needy veterans must be conducted. Reach~ ing the veterans in strikes, and unity-of the veterans with the strik- ers must be brought about. The veterans’ movement must be taken more seriously by the Party and all militant workers. The vets represent a group of people who have a profound grievance against the government, in addition to the grievances they have as workers and farmers. In the main they are workers (it is reported that about 50 per cent of the Detroit shop workers are veterans). They are against war and fascism. Those who have been in the C. C. C. camps have stories to tell about military training and discipline in the camps, which they abhor. The vets are being radicalized by the crisis and can no longer be fooled or played with. The tasks of the Districts are to 1—Build the W. E. S. L. (which does not exist in most districts), by giving political guidance, releasing a few veteran comrades for work, forming fractions, etc. 2—Build the united front through the local committees of the Na- tional Veterans Rank and File Committee around the three-point program, drawing in isolated vet- erans’ organizations, forming groups in tne old line organizations, ete. 3—Active recruiting into the Party. (About 15 were recruited at the convention.) = This is not another “burden” for the Party districts, but an appre- ciation of the tasks that confron us facing the war danger, the grovth of fascism in this country, and the tremendous peesibilities that are furnished by the bi of a veterans’ movement .