The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 25, 1934, Page 3

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1934 Page BARRING OF ILLINOIS C. P. FROM BALLOT IS PART OF NEW DEAL HORNER MACHINE | DENIES WORKERS RIGHT ON BALLOT Workers Urged to Defeat the Conspiracy Against Civil Rights by Writing Names of the Communist Candidates on Ballots By Bill Gebert Under the Roosevelt “New Deal” administration, repre- | sented in the State of Illinois by the Horner-Kelly-Nash Democratic machine, the economic position of the workers, impoverished farmers, Negro masses and lower middle class has grown worse. The official figures of the Illinois Department of factory? “83 weekly wage is $20.59. The July( show that the average payroll was 16.3 per cent below the payroll for July 3 years ago, when the depression was almost two years old. The number of unemployed has been increased. There are no less than a million and a half unem- Ployed in the State of Illinois. In Cook County (Chicago) in October, 1933, there were 117,588 families on the relief rolls. It is officially esti- mated that in October, 1934, there will be 136,000. Downstate in Octo- ber, 1933, there were 98,707 families on relief. It is estimated that in October, 1934, there will be 164,000. With the increase of unemploy- ment, the appropriations for relief have been increased. The total al- lowance for relief in the State of Tilinois for October is $12,178,927 in comparison with the expenditures of October, 1933, of $6,583,897. It is estimated by the relief administra- tion in the State of Illinois that in the month of November the num- ber of families on relief will set a new high mark. While the economic position of the working class, and toiling farm- ers has been lowered, the incomes of the packinghouse magnates, coal barons: banks railroads etc. show huge increases. Murderous Terror The Horner-Kelly-Nash admini- stration in Mlinois like the Roose- velt national New Deal accompanies the attacks upon the economic posi- tion of the workers with brutal murderous terror and attack upon the civil rights of the workers. Under this administration of “hu- manitarian” Governor Horner the National Guard has been used to break the strikes of the miners in Southern Illinois. The police are being used to suppress meetings of the workers and picket lines, Work- ers have been shot on the picket lines. Organizers of the Packing- house Workers Industrial Union have been arrested, street’ meetings attacked and anti-fascists have been arrested and now two German workers are facing deportation to Hitler Germany which means death. In all these attacks the Negro workers are especially singled out. Right now a campaign has been started in Chicago, supported by some posts of the American Legion, to oust Negro students from schools where white students attend, under the xt that schools are “over- crowded” and therefore there is no room for Negroes. Attempt To Outlaw Party In the Illinois coal fields attempts have been made to drive the Com- munist Party underground by means. of framing up charges against members of the Communist Party and leaders of the unem- ployed movement of “Criminal Syn- dicalism.” Fourteen of the out- standing leaders of the unemployed in Montgomery County, including two Communist Village Board members in Taylor Springs have been indicted on charges of Crimi- nal Syndicalism and face 20 years sentences. The Prosecuting Attorney of Franklin County is reviving 4 3-year old case which out of the Orient mine strikes. Among those indicted for criminal syndical- ism because of their activities, ac- cording to the Prosecuting Attor- ney, injuring the interest of the coal barons, are B. K. Gebert, Dis- trict Organizer, Ralph Shaw, Sub- District Organizer, Clara Saffern and two others. The Republican Party in Cook County, at its convention, passed a resolution demanding the with- drawal of recognition of the Soviet Union and competes with the Dem- ocratic Party in stirring up chauvin- ism, Jingoism, nationalism. It is in this light that we must understand why the Communist Party in the State of Tilinois has been barred from the ballot. In spite of the fact that originally the petitions for the State Ticket were accepted by the State Election Commission, later the Democratic Party filed objections to the peti- tions. The signer of the objections, Harold F. Long, 1415 E. Reynolds Street, Springfield, Illinois, at the hearing before the State Election Commission declared that he signed the objections in the office of At- torney Roberts on suggestion of John Rettberg, secretary of the Sangamon County Democratic Committee “although I have never thought much about whether the Lappe or n ue Long further testified that al- though he signed the objections to the petitions, he never saw the pe- titions, never examined the con- tents of them. Despite all this, and in spite of the fact that the peti- tions contained sufficient names, the State Election Board in its de- cision declared: “The Statutes pro- vide for 25,000 names and eliminat- ing 2,182 names therefrom wold Ticket should be on the Stal Labor leave the petitions containing 23,- 926 names, which is not sufficient under the Statute.” This is very simple mathematics. They strike out so many names to make the fig- ures below the requirements and eliminate the Communist Ticket on “technical grounds.” But the state- ment of the one who signed the ob- Jections clearly shows that it is the Democratic Party machine that ar- bitrarily removed the Communist Party from the ballot. There is much publicity in the capitalist press of all kinds of forg- ery of the signatures on the Com- munist petitions, but the State Election Commission itself in its of- ficial decision declares: “No ques- tion of forgery or authenticity arises in these cases.” In a number of cases objections were made to signatures because the signers participated in the pri- maries. It was proved, and sworn affidavits -showed, that the signers did not vote in the primaries but their names appeared as having voted. Here we have forgery in reality—using the names of voters, by the Democratic or Republican Party henchmen and by this act at- tempt to prevent voters from sign- ing the petitions of the Communist Party. It is openly admitted that the Communist Party was ruled off the ballot to prevent tens of thousands of workers, impoverished farmers, impoverished lower middle class to express their opposition and pro- test against the “New Deal” and in a number of cases, election of Com- munists into office. Governor Horner was very “gen- erous” in waiving technicalities and Placing the Socialist Party and the Socialist Labor Party on the bal- lot. As he put it: “We don’t feel it would be just to deny them an oppartunity to express their con- victions at the polls.” The Commu- nist Party was the very first to pro- test against the attempt on the part of the State Government to exclude the Socialist Party and the Socialist Labor Party from the ballot. But we must also see clearly the fact that Governor Horner and the Dem- ocratic Party machine placed the Socialist Party and the Socialist Labor Party on the ballot to divert mass resentment against the New Deal at the polls into harmless channels. The Communist Party calls upon the toiling masses in the State of Illinois, precisely because of the ar- bitrary ruling of the Communist Party off the ballot, to rally around the Communist Party. Hitler-Like Methods We call upon members of the A. F. of L., of the Socialist Party, members of the Illinois Workers’ Alliance, upon the Negro masses, impoverished farmers, upon women and young workers to register their mighty protest against dictatorial Hitler-like methods of “humani- tarian” Governor Horner and go to the polls on November 6th, writing the name of the Communist Party on the ballot, listing all of the can- didates. This can be a proper an- swer given to the ruling class of Tlinois, In Montgomery County, where the United Workers’ Ticket has been formed, which includes the Com- munist Party, Socialist Party, local unions of the P. M. A., Women’s Auxiliaries of the P. M. A.. Unem- ployment Councils and other or- ganizations, we call upon the work- ers there not only to vote for the Workers’ Ticket (which is placed on the ballot), but to elect the can- didates who are on the Workers’ Ticket in Montgomery County. To elect Communists in the City of Chicago who will get on the ballot, such as Laura Osby of Congres- sional District 5. This must be combined with increasing our mass agitation in the factories and trade unions, arranging mass meetings and demonstrations against the Hitler-like methods of Governor Horner and the New Deal adminis- tration against the rights of the workers. and for the whole election Program of the Communist Party. The toiling people in Tlinois must, clearly see that this is an attempt to drive the Communist Party un- derground, that this is part of the national policy of the New Deal. That the attacks upon the Commu- nist Party, the fighting vanguard of the working class, will be broad- ened with attacks upon other groups of workers, and uvon the trade unions, organizations of the unemployed, farmers and the Negro le. The toiling masses of the of Illinois must not be silent. The voice of protest, welded into a mighty fighting united front can break through the dictatorial poli- cies of the Roosevelt-Horner New Deal in Illinois. Deliver a smashing blow against the Roosevelt-Horner New Deal policy by organizing work- ers in the shops, build trade unions, organize strike struggles for im- provement of conditions and vote as you fight. Vote Communist Novem- ber 6th! Will Be Held In Youngstown Important Gains Won Following the Mass Demonstration YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Oct. 24.— Following a successful demonstra- tion of unemployed which smashed through relief red tape and won F. E, R. A. jobs and immediate pay- ment of relief to workers who had heretofore been denied, the Unem- ployment Councils here will hold a | Mass open hearing on relief Thurs- | day night at the Veterans Hall, 118 | East Boardman St. As a direct result of the demon- stration on Oct. 15, hundreds of F. BE. R. A. workers were returned to their jobs two days later, despite a previous F. E. R. A. notice that no new jobs would be available after the last lay-off. Other important concessions were won by the jobless, Laid off F. E. R. A. workers now get relief; cash payment of rent has been granted for emergency cases and those with eviction notices are granted one month’s advance rent. Clothing is being issued, and water and gas bills are being paid. Sup- plementary food relief, which in the Past was distributed from only one central office is now being distrib- uted in the neighborhoods. Relief is still miserably inade- quate. Single men get only a $1.75 grocery order, and the most any family is granted is $7.10. A city- wide fight is being waged for im- mediate increased. relief 1,100 Protest Barring Of Star Negro Athlete From Michigan Game ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Eleven hun- dred people jammed the Natural Science Auditorium at the Univer- sity of Michigan Friday night to protest against the barring of Willis Ward, star Negro end of the U. of M. football team, from the game with Georgia Tech that was played Saturday. Ward was Jim-Crowed by the university athletic authorities, who claimed they extended this lily- white “courtesy” to the southern team on their own initiative with- out even being requested to do s0. The sentiment of the meeting, which was sponsored by the Na- tional Student League, the Vanguard Club, and the Young Communist League, was unanimous in its con- demnation of the university au- thorities and in its demand that Ward be allowed to play. Capitalist Politicians Pass Laws to Destroy Food. Communist Public Officeholders Will Fight to Destroy the A, A. A. Vote for Candidates Who Fight for the Workers 365 Days a Year—Vote Communist! ‘Relief Hear ing Government Anti-Labo Spy Bureaus Flourish | Under N. R. |Agents Cook Up ‘Red| Plots’ To Damage Labor Movement By EDWARD NEWHOUSE VII There js scarcely a department of | the Federal Government which does not operate its own “Investiga- tion Bureau.” Inevitably their du- ties resolve themselves into spying on labor. Spies definitely directed against labor activities are used by the Departments of Justice, of La- bor through its Bureau of Immigra- tion, of the Treasury through its | Secret Service Division, of Agri- culture, War, Interior and Navy. On the rest there are no records avail- able. Generally conceded to be the most active of these is the D. of J.’s Bureau of Investigation, headed by the painstakingly spectacular if kind of dumb J. Edgar Hoover. The Bureau was formed during Theo- | dore Roosevelt's administration when some Treasury Department investigators queered their own outfit by blabbing about a few members of Congress, then involved in Western land frauds. Also, Theo- dore had made the mistake of using these boys to find the hidden tryst- ing place of a naval officer who had gone on leave in the company of a prominent Washington woman. She chanced to be married at the time. In a tornado of impassioned orations about the decline of presi- dential chivalry, the pained legis- lators created the Bureau. Assisted Palmer Having been the assistant of A. Mitchell Palmer in his heyday, J. Edgar Hoover is steeped in the spirit and traditions of that gentle- man. Besides sporting in his files reports on such “reds” as Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, Senators Thomas J. Walsh, Burton K. Wheeler, William E. Borah, Dean Roscoe Pound, Professors Felix Frankfurter and Zechariah Chafee, Jr., Frank P. Walsh and John L. Lewis, Sleuth Hoover also. boasts of @ much more elaborate and, for workers, dangerous system of over four million finger prints. Hoover himself is far from dan- gerous. He is a pale, dark and strongly-built man of 39 and he re- laxes by collecting antique furni- ture and fishing in Chesapeake Bay. He is the prototype of the amateur Hawkshaw who finds himself thrust into important cases. He rushes to the scene of every kidnaping which is likely to figure in the papers. Smirking subordinates relate his heralded entry into Hopewell, N. J., at the time of the baby’s kidnaping. As he stood in the Lindbergh yard a stray pigeon alighted on the eaves of the house. Quivering with ex- citement, Hoover pointed at the A. Banners FIGHTS LABOR FRANCES J. PERKINS bird. Here was the clue—a message from the kidnapers. Up to the very time of the Hauptmann arrest, ac- cording to a Washington news- Paperman, Ray Tucker, Hoover maintained that a vital clue was allowed to escape when somebody scared the bird away. Just how a homing pigeon could hav been} trained to fly to the Lindbergh home had apparently been beyond the mastermind’s calculations. When Hauptmann was arrested Hoover blared an ever-so-sinister and ominous threat to all kidnapers into the sound news mikes. Ludicrous Red Hunts Less publicity is given to his equally ludicrous but much more significant Red hunts. Earlier ‘this year, his Department of Justice agents together with the Army In- telligence Bureau, some California “peace officers” and a “group of prominent San Franciscans” com- piled a report that for sheer lying stupidity ranks with some of the New York Times stories about Rus- sia at the time of the Revolution. On the surface they appear much too ridiculous to merit refutation or eyen passing mention. But when you consider the authority con- ferred upon them by their official | source it becomes apparent what untold damage they can do. These are the five revelations of the report, veroatim: 1, That Moscow has formed in this country a national red squad to organize 4,000,000 C. W. A. workers in the hope of bringing them into the Communist Party. 2. That government agents have been able to penetrate the first and second circles of the “red squad” but not the third, since it is composed solely of Russians. brought college and university students into their plans for agi- tation. 4. That last year’s strikes in | California farm areas were di- | rectly financed by Moscow | through the Civil Liberties Union. And the last and fifth finding, | which must have taken months of | snooping, the astounding and irre- | futable evidence produced to the| effect that in the plans of the Com- | munist Party, “The U. S. is divided | into districts, the districts into sec- | tions and the sections into smaller | | areas, in some cases city blocks.” | Section G Men | Doubtless when the Department of Justice agents carry out an in- vestigation on a more limited scale DETROIT JOBLESS | TO MASS AT RELIEF OFFICE ON FRIDAY Welfare Workers, Unemployed and Single Men’s Committee Will Demand End of Relief Cuts and Increased Winter Budgets DETROIT, Mich., Oct. 24.- gle against the cuts in relief —Pushing forward their strug that went into effect on Oct. their reports are more accurate and|19, the Unemployment Councils and the Relief Workers to the point. There are too many deadly blacklists operating currently | for us to laugh off their efficiency. | The Military Intelligence Division of the War Department has its of- | ficers, the so-called Section G men, scattered throughout the country | and they turn in vast, detailed re- | ports on workers who are not sub- missive. From Detroit, their agent, Jacob Spolansky, has reported| minutely on the organization ef-| forts of workers. Spolansky has | been employed by the National Metal Trades Association in its war on unions, as well as in an official capacity as deputy sheriff of Wayne County. These Section G men are always installed in plants making moto! shells, airplanes and other war ma terials. Agents of the Intelligence Division of the Department of the Navy are stationed in factories | manufacturing ships and supplies. | The Fish Committee spoke highly of this Division’s achievements and stated that they had submitted to the Committee “a most helpful and detailed report of the Communist organizations throughout the United States, with accurate information as to leadership and activities.” Small wonder then that the] Roosevelt, administration will not outlaw any of the various forms of labor spying. It is one of its own sweet methods of strangling or- ganization. When an effort was} made for anti-espionage regulations | during the drafting of the steel | code, it was squelched before it ever got through Johnson’s office. But, cooed, Miss Perkins, “the code does | forbid spying by one steel company upon another.” America’s Sweet- heart. No, the New Dealers don’t mind using spies of their own. Last year, after a series of conferences in which the President’s personal sec- retary, Colonel Louis McHenry Howe, was the chief figure, the De- Seamen Win Relief Aid In Detroit M. W. I. U. Committee Forces Welfare To Grant Demands DETROIT, Mich., Oct. 24.—A vic- tory was gained by about 125 sea- men when, under the leadership of the Marine Workers Industrial Union, they compelled the County Welfare Department to live up to the federal statute providing that unemployed seamen are to be given Cash relief to live and eat where they please, in addition to clothing, razor blades and toilet necessities. | ‘The victory was won after a num-| ber of conferences with County Wel- | fare Superintencent John F. Ballen- | ger, during which the seamen} threatened to start a picket line at! the Welfare Department unless their demands were granted. Finally, at @ three-hour conference Saturday | with Ballenger and Richard Hen-| drick, director of state transient re- | lef, a committee of 40 seamen made | them come across with $140 aj} week for rent, $2.80 for food, besides razor blades, tooth paste and cloth-| ing for all unemployed seamen in| this port. Parson C. Tedder, organ- | ized for the Marine Workers In- dustrial Union, acted as chief {spokesman for the seamen. partment of Justice dispa*ched some sixty operatives on a Red | the Pennsylvania fields, with more to follow. The men left with instructions to “sub- Stantiate the fear of left-wing strikes,” which was to be used as one of the maneuvers in the sign- ing of the steel code. Vote Communist against N.R.A. Should Join the Communist Party. Vote Communist for a Soviet 3. That Soviet agents have America! The majority of the seamen have | heretofore been living at two louse- |ridden flophouses, Mariners Inn and |McGregor’s Mission, where they |have been fed the vilest slop. The jbureaucrats of the International | Seamen's Union had arranged to |quarter them in these two dives. These bureaucrats, through their flunkey, Edwards, who managed to} worm his way on the committee of | |40, did all they could to prevent jthe seamen from getting their de- mands, but the men stuck to- | Protective Association are calling a demonstration at the Welfare Department, 176 East Jefferson Avenue, on Fri- ernoon. ty-five representatives from the workers at each welfare sta*ion and from Fisher Lodge, where the single men are housed, will partici- pate in the demonstration. They will elect a committee of from twenty to thirty {o present their-de- mands to County Welfare Superins tendent John F. Ballenger, who has agreed to meet with the committee, The representatives from ‘the various welfare stations will meet at 12:30 p.m. at the Greek Workers’ Club, 1413 Randolph Street The following proposed demands will be presented 1. Withdrawal of the cuts; 20 per cent cash increase; no payment of sales tax by unemployed workers. 2. Payment of rent in cash; no evictions. 3. Payment water. 4. Abolish waiting line at welfare stations 5. Investigation of cases one day after application. 6. Recognition of unemployed committees at s‘ations and on ree lief jobs. 7. No discrimination against Ne groes and foreign born. 8. Cash relief for youth, single men and women. of gas, electricity, Demonstrate In North District Eighty delegates from various workers’ organizations in North De- troit participated in a united front unemployed conference Saturday afternoon at Polish Chamber of Labor Hall, 13530 Charest Avenue. The conference decided to hold a demonstration at the welfare sta tion at Joseph Campau and Davi- son Avenues Friday at 10:30 a.m. to demand withdrawal of the cuts, = | 20 per cent increase in relief, Buick Workers Press Relief FLINT, Mich., Oct. 24.—The Buick |Local of the United Automobile Workers (A. F. of 1.) has elected @ relief committee of ten to fight jfor decent relief for its members. The relief situation in this Gen- eral Motors-controlled city has been growing steadily worse. Recently a 50 per cent cut in the already mis- erable relief was put through. It is to combat conditions such as these that the Buick local has gether and won out. elected a relief committee. By WILLIAM WEINSTONE (Detroit District Organizer, C. P.) The situation of the unemployed masses in the city of Detroit is be- coming extremely critical. Produc- tion is shutting down in the auto- mobile plants, and relief rolls are Swelling from day to day. An all- time high figure of relief cases has already been reached, not only in the city but also in the state, where 180,000 families, embracing 700,000 persons, are now on welfare, ac- cording to Dr. William Haber, di- rector of the State Committee for Welfare Relief. “An all-time high figure of 200,000 will be registered November,” he said Saturday, add- ing, “I see no prospect for work re- lief plans this Fall as approximat- ing C. W. A. program of last Fall.” The tactics of the employers of bringing in workers from the South and other parts of the country dur- ing the spring of the year when a strike was threatening the automo- bile industry, has added to the acuteness of the situation. Long Lines of Jobless In the city of Detroit, the relief stations are packed with people waiting for relief. Long waiting lines of emergency cases, men and women needing medical aid, cloth- ing and coal, are now a common occurrence. The welfare authorities are mak- ing no efforts to meet the increased needs by raising new funds but in- stead are throwing the burden upon the backs of the unemployed. The way to get the funds is to tax the rich, the big automobile manufac- turers who have greatly profited from the temporary upturn in pro- duction. General Motors alone earned million dollars. Chrysler earned eight million in the first six months of this year. Briggs, over three and a half million. Kelvina- tor Company, a million in the first nine months. Michigan ranks fore- most in the number of individuals with a taxable income of from three to four million. The 1930 income tax revealed four such individuals; one with an income of two to three million dollars; two with an income of from one million to one and a half million dollars. New Attacks on Unemployed Yet the average relief allowed to the unemployed has been about $3.20 per week for two persons. Evictions (carefully hidden by mov- And St ® District Organizer Describes the Fight for Unemployed ruggle Against Opportunism in the Detroit District | ing unemployed to poorer quarters) increased by 1,500 from April to August over last year. New cuts are now taking place for workers on relief jobs, and thousands are being laid off and thrown upon gro- cery orders. Already a new five per cent cut has been ordered by the Wayne County Relief Administra- tion to workers directly on relief; in addition, the medical allowances have been cut by two-thirds. Third degree methods are being introduced on a greater scale in or- der to cut off workers from relief, and the number of cases where no relief is allowed is daily increasing. The methods of dragging out in- vestigations for weeks before relief is granted is now being more se- verely applied and workers are compelled to go hungry upon a $2 emergency order until the authori- ties have exhausted every means in order to prevent new workers from getting on the rolls. Struggles Grow As a result of these conditions, the struggles of the unemployed are once again on the increase. During the past few weeks, workers have been electing committees, fighting cases of discrimination, and com- pelling the local supervisors to grant relief. The Twelfth Street and Myrtle Unemployment Council carried through a demonstration Wednesday morning against dis- crimination in relief cases, for an increase in emergency order from two to five dollars, for the recogni- tion of the unemployment commit- tees, which was attended by three to four hundred workers, and the demands were won. _In_ North Detroit, a conference was held on Saturday, Oct. 13, of sixty delegates from mass organiza- tions, which elected committees and are arranging for a demonsiration on Oct. 26. On the East Side in the Lycaste Unemployment Center, committees have been going to the welfare and likewise winning their demands. The Fisher Lodge work- ers, a city municipal lodging house, in which there are 1,800 inmates, have in the last few weeks held sev- eral meetings; the last, Sunday morning, Oct. 14, attended by 600 workers, that they be given the right to work at least two days a week and adequate pay to maintain themselves and obtain their lodg- ing. The unemployment movement is reviving in the city and state. In this situation, the Communist Parity must be alert to the necessity of taking up the fight for relief for the unemployed masses. What are the demands to put forward? The Party must fight for all the griev- ances of the workers, especially against the new cuts, for winter aid and increased relief. The main slogans to be put forward are: 1. For increased relief. 2. For winter aid; food, clothing, coal, medical aid. 3. Against all cuts in relief, cuts in hours, on relief jobs, for a minimum of $16 per week upon relief jobs. 4. Against all third degree methods; delay in granting relief, discrimination, particularly against Negro work- ers. 5. For an increase in emer- gency orders to be granted imme- diately upon application. 6. Against evictions. 7. For relief to single workers. 8. For the Work- ers Unemployment Insurance Bill, H. R. 7598. 9. For recognition of unemployed committees. The Party units and sections should take the lead in activizing the Unemployment Councils where they exist, or forming Unemploy- ment Councils in order to bring cases of discrimination and needy cases to the welfare stations, involv- ing the broadest masses of people in the fight for their demands, On the relief jobs, the C. P. members must be active in forming groups; enrolling the workers into the Re- lief Workers Protective Association, fighting against the cuts and for increased number of hours. In carrying on this work, Party units should assign all unemployed comrades for activity in the Unem- ployment Councils, where they ex- ist; or to organize them, as a nucleus to form a block committee or neighborhood Unemployment Council. These Party commit‘ees should canvass the workers in the blocks and neighborhoods for cases in discrimination, cases of workers in need, and must involve the im- mediate neighborhood in securing relief for these workers. They should go down to welfare stations in order to assist the workers in their fight; to make the workers coming down to the Welfare ac- quainted with our program; to in- form them of the existence of the Unemployment Council; to attract them into the Unemployment Council, etc. The Unemployment. Council should aim to draw in workers of the neighborhood or- ganizations, particularly the A. F. of L. unions, Forgotten Men’s Clubs, workers’ clubs and fraternal or- ganizations, in a common fight for the demands of the unemployed. The immediate necessity is to ar- range emergency conferences in all sections, involving the widest rep- resentation of workers’ organiza- | tions, blocks, neighborhoods, apart- ment houses, and to arrange for neighborhood demonstrations, lead- ing up to a city-wide conference and demonstration. Against Sectarian Isolation In order to increase the work in the field of unemployment, it is necessary to conduct a struggle against the sectarian methods of work of the Communist Party units and section committees. Their iso- lation from the masses, their con- cern cheifly with internal affairs of the unit, and the failure to connect the work of building the Party, securing readers and funds for the Daily Worker, with the chief task of conducting mass struggles—that is the main weakness of the Party erganization. Above all, the leadership of the sections should set an example by means of concentrated work, how to carry through struggles for the unemployed and build the unem- ployment organization. Only by the leadership of the sections them- selves, planning out their work at a particular point, winning relief and popularizing their victories, building a local organization, draw- ing in new forces and expanding the work of this organization, can they provide an example to stimu- late the rest of the section. Against Opportunistic Defeatism But it is also necessary to sharpen the s‘ruggle against the strong cur- rent of defeatism and pessimism; the attitude that “nothing can be done,” the opportunistic conception that “the masses will no: move”; all of which is an opportunistic cover for the do-nothing policy in mass struggles. The pessimism. due to an opportunistic underestimation of the readiness of the masses to | down to the welfare station. In the Dearborn Section, little was done for some time on the question of unemployment work. The attitude existed that every. body was working and there was contentment. Now that the section has begun to work, at least fifteen cases have been collecied where no | relief or inadequate relief is given. | A meeting of 75 workers was held which elected a committee to go This committee was denied an adequa‘e hearing. The committee did not put up a vigorous fight for its. de- mands. Why was this so? Because one of the leading comrades in this committee had an attitude tha‘ it was not worth fighting for these | cases. In the Dearborn Section Committee, this comrade stated that most of these cases were of | for them and after the fight would retire and do nothing.” “That most of them were worthless cases.” This is an outright opportunistic approach. When workers are ready to go together with the Commu- nists in such a city as Dearborn to fight for relief it is because their situation has become desperate and because they recognize that only the Communists will put up a vig- orous fight in their behalf. This attitude that the workers are worth- less is a reflection of the propa- ganda of the bourgeoisie, A. F. of L. bureaucrats and reformist-Socialist leaders, who look upon the masses with contempt; jus‘ifying their Policies of deserting and betraying the workers on the grounds that they are “rubbish.” The Section Committee fought against this harmful conception. Another illustration: On the West Side, a struggle has been going on against increased rents. The sec- tion committee, the Jewish Bureau and the district committee have been a‘tempting to develop a mass struggle. A Tenants’ Protective League has been formed already, embracing 175 tenants, many of them new to the workers’ struggle. A mass meeting, attended by large numbers from the neighborhoods, was held. Apartment commit‘ees were formed. Tenants have refused to pay increased rent in many apartments. Nevertheless within struggle, hampers the fight of the Party. Some illustrations: some of the units in Section 5 such opportunistic voices were heard as | Decaust People “who wanted you to fight: “the workers will not fight,” “We Communists cannot do anything otherwise we would expose ourselves.” “We cannot get’ our apartment houses organized, be- cause it is impossible.” Where Party comrades, together with non-Party workers, went out to organize the tenants, they succeeded even within the apartments where some of our comrades lived and who said that nothing could be done. A third example of the same con- tempt for the masses. underéstimas ‘ion of their readiness to strugzle, is shown by the attitude of a lead« | ing comrade working in the A. F, of L. in a big hotel in Detroit. This comrade opposed putting forward | demands for the great bulk of the unskilled workers in the hotel, on |the grounds that these workers would not fight. This is said not- withstanding the fact that in the early part of the year, two weeks ; after the workers in that hotel were | organized, they were engaged in a strike against the management, | These illustrations suffice to show jthat in order to develop a mass struggle among the unemployed, to | increase mass work generally in the | De‘roit distriet, it is necessary to | Sharpen the attack against oppor- | tunism, pessimism and defeatist at- | titudes toward the workers, and to | establish, on the basis of correct policies and explanatory me hods, strong c{scipline within the units, particularly for mass work. | The District Committee urges all units to make a careful check on the question of unemploymen‘, the situation in the neighborhood in which they are working; urges all sections to give careful attention to the question of the unemployed at the present time and to carry out the tasks of figh‘ing for relief, upon all the grievances of the work- ers; and to intensify the fight for Unemployment Insurance, and to build a mass unemployed organiza- tion in this city. The Communist Party sections and candidates must be in the fore- front of these fights and in that way bring in the election campaign by showing the masses that the Par.y not only puts forward correct demands but also makes deter- mined efforts to lead the struggle for the demands and win improved conditions for the workers. Farmers, Vote Communist to End Crop Destruction, Mortgage Foreclosures and Heavy Taxes lt anneal