WORKERS
A Paper Defending the Interests of the Workers and Farmers
VOL. 3. No. t>.
NEW YORK, N. Y„ JUNE I, 1931,
PRICE "5 CENTS
Mooney Asks for
Financial Aid
California State Prison
San Qucntin, Cal.
5-12-34.
My dear readers of
\Aurkers Age,
Mv attorney, Frank P. Walsh of
New* iork City, John F. Finerty
of Washington, D. C. and George
X Davis oi San Francisco, filed my
application for a writ of habeas
corpus in the United States Dis-
trict Court for Northern Califor-
nia at San Francisco on the 7th
day of May 1934. . . .
If the United States District
Court denies this writ it will be
appealed to the United States Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals, and then
the United States Supreme Court,
if that be necessary.
The initial expenses for this
legal work places a tremendous
burden of raising $5,000 upon- my
defense committee for briefing the
great wealth of material in this
eighteen year old case, steno-
graphic, typing and other clerical
help, office rent, supplies, printing
and binding of briefs, postage,
telegrams, telephone and transpor-
tation and traveling expenses for
at least one of the attorneys, all
of whom have volunteered their
services without fee.
It will be absolutely necessary
for me to take a Paupers Oath if
permitted by the Court to have the
Federal Courts pay the actual
Courts Costs of my petition for a
writ of Habeas Corpus.
This whole program will be in
jeopardy if we are unable to raise
this indispensable sum. This emer-
gency compels me to plead with
you for a donation to be used ex
clusively for expenses directly con-
nected with this Federal Court
Action. Your past generous support
of this cause gives me hope that
you will come to our immediate
financial assistance. No contribu-
tion can be too large or too small,
considering the task at hand of
mass unemployment. Won't you
please help us overcome this most
unhappy situation? May I hope
for an early and favorable reply to
this very urgent appeal?
Please accept in advance my
warmest personal regards, best
raternal greetings and heartfelt
thankful appreciation for anv con-
sideration shown this communica-
D ARROW BLASTS NEW DEAL
tion.
Sincerely,
(signed) TOM MOONEY
mat/ >i SS , al ! com munication and
make all funds payable to the Tom
tfTp ey n M £ lders ' Defense Commit-
tee F. q Box 1475, San Francisco,
California.
The appeal referred to by Tom
dSS fe s urt bMn *«« k *•
National Guard
In Toledo Strike
-> flflA . ., Toledo, Ohio.
pa hi, 8tn u kers arid Btrike *>' m -
K ?rH . have s «Toundi.d the
Aft*r t n abs *' ere requited.
which .h VM y ° f fi * hti "£- 'n
club, r e u 8lrjkers faced Police
MriR H* h ° Se and tear &*> ^e
fccib? hi u are sti11 firm - Tht -
SlaS^ una ble to leave
Adjutant
(An Editorial)
The sensational report of the National Recovery
Review Board, the so-called Darrow c:mmittee, is
certainly one of the most deeply significant social
documents of the times. In the carefully arranged
chorus of official ballyhoo rises a discordant voice, at
least semi-offic*al in authority, a voice often con-
fused and self-contradictory, indeed, but yet loudly
proclaiming certain insistent and fundamental truths
that it would be well for the American workers to
head.
The Darrow board was set up, under pressure of
the "progressive block" in Congress, with the official
purpose of investigating whether the NRA was
fostering monopoly and oppress : ng small business
and of making recommendations as to how the
"little fellow" might be protected. There is no doubt
that Genera] Johnson confidently expected that this
board would follow the notorious example of the
National Labor Board, would lose itself in inter-
minable investigations and countless delays, would
mike meaningless and unheeded decisions* and yet
allay the resentment of the Email business man by
leading him to believe he had a champion in the very
citadel of the NRA. But, under Clarence Darrow,
it took another course entirely and turned out to
be a carefully prepared bombshell that has moved the
self-satisfied "Brain Trusters" in Washington to
some very undignified exhibitions.
The actual findings of the Darrow committee are
not particularly startling. . It should be no news to
anyone that the NRA has greatly stimulated the
tendency to industrial and business monopoly in the
United States. Under the NRA, the organization of
the capitalists into trade associations has become
practically compulsory and virtually universal. Thru
the_ system of codes regulating the conduct of
various industries and setting up code authorities to
direct them, these trade associations have bean
vested with governmental power. Thus the tendency
to concentrate control of American economic life in
a few r hands and to merge big business and govern-
ment, has been greatly advanced by the NRA.
Nor is it exactly a secret that under the NRA, b'g
business is dominant, completely controlling the
code authorities which are usually no more than
joint committees of the big trusts, and runnirg
things to its own advantage thru a system of price
and production control and thru artifices very like
outright extortion or swindling. The "little fellow"
is certainly in a hopeless fix, facing imminent extinc-
tion.
But this tendency was not created by the NRA; it
has only been accelerated by it. It is of the very
nature of our present economic system, based on
private property in the means of production and
on production for profit, that it drives towards con-
centration and centralization of capital, towards big
business combinations, towards the trust, the car el,
the monopoly— towards the elimination of the "iiltle
fellow." Modern technological development, fur-
thermore, clearly demands large-scale mass produc-
tion far out of reach of the small capitalist who
frequently has to depend on the most ruthless ex-
ploitation of labor to keep his head above water.
The Darrow committee report only chases after
reactionary rainbows when it strives to turn back
the wheel of time and to contriva ways and means
of assuring the small business man a secure place
in the modern scheme of things. It is not difficult
for the bright young men in General Johnson's
retinue to expose this phase of the report to ridicule.
For even the most unrestrained competition would
bring no salvation to the "little fellow"; it would
only drive him to extinction along another road!
The truth seems to be that the Darrow board felt
duty bound to offer some protection to the small
business man, to hold out some solace to him, at th?
same time that it half realized the utter futility of
its own gesture. For in the supplementary state-
ment submitted by Darrow and Thompson, quite
another tack is followed. Here it is pla'nly declared
that "it is doubtful whether .... any power of
government can protect the small man," that is, the
small capitalist as a small capitalist. It is both
reactionary and Utopian to believe that the condi-
tions of early capitalism, under which the "little
(Continued on Page 2)
Crisis in German Socialism
The following article is reprinted
from Gcgcn Den Strom, central organ
of the Communist Party of Germany
( Opposition). — Editor.
H^7 r ULdn \ Gener al Frank D.
iotS f : liar dsm,n to proceed
&gjW<» for strike breaking ac-
When the Socialist Party of
Germany started to rebuild its org-
zation illegally, discussions of
program began in Germany, as
well as among the emigres. These
discussions indicated that, even
among the inost faithful adherents
of the Socialist Party of Germany,
profound disillusionment had set in
with the results of the policy of
upholding bourgeois democracv,
that is, the Weimar Republic. The
pules on the program indicated
that German reformism can only
keep its followers if it covers up
s bourgeois-democratic principles
ith phrases about the "revolu-
tionary dictatorship" etc.
The Miles Pamphlet
A pamphlet by Miles, "New
Beginning," has been published a-
broad as an expression of the lefts
in the Socialist Party of Germany,
that is, those German Socialist
Party members who criticize the
Prague leadership of Wels and
Stampfcr.
The "new ' which Miles offers is
a worsening of previous
centrist theories. Under the guise
of revolutionary sounding phrases,
Miles stands not only for reform-
by G. S.
ist bourgeois-democratic slogans
but to a certain extent makes con-
cessions to fascist trends of
thought.
Miles "Corrects" Marx
Miles undertakes to correct
Marx, En gels and Lenin because,
according to him, they believed in
"revolutionary spontaneity", be-
cause they harbored the illusion,
"that the proletariat as such re-
presents a revolutionary force cap-
able of creating a new socity, that
the proletariat because of its own
lass position would be driven to
ever clearer and clearer revolu-
tionary understanding and actions".
Miles, who claims to be a Marx-
, merely betrays the fact that he
does not know what Marx, Engels
and Lenin said and wrote and that
the fundamental concepts of Marx-
ism are entirely strange to him.
Insofar as he claims that Marx,
Engels and Lenin believed in "rev-
olutionary spontaneity", in the
sense that the proletarian revolu-
tion would come automatically
without an organizing force, Miles
onimits forgery. Marx. Engels
and Lenin devoted their life , work
the creation of a revolutionary
party, whose task they conceived
be that of organizing ami lead-
ing the clas.i struggle of the pro-
letariat, arousing the class co-i-
-ciousness of the working ii-asses,
without which victory over capital-
ism is impossible. Lenin especially
worked out the role of the pro-
letarian vanguard, the ConuvnmKt
Party. To be sure, Marx, Engels
and Lenin looked upon the con-
scious and organized action of the
wo, king class as the practical con-
clusion of their understanding of
the historical process and its ne-
cessities. This task the proletarian
vanguard has to fulfill.
* # *
Revolutionary Spontaneity
The confused and ignorant Miles
twists and falsifies the conception
of the founders of socialism, be-
cause he imagines it to be blind
faith in "revolutionary spontan-
eity" when one maintains that the
'proletariat, because of its clas.;
position, will be driven to ever
clearer and clearer revolutionary
understanding and action." How-
ever, the "'revolutionary under-
Marling and action" of the work- I
mg class is nothing else but the
understanding oi its class position
and the practical conclusion there-
from. And the revolutionary van-
guard of the proletariat, the party,
is nothing else and can be nothing
else hut that part of the proletariat
which realizes its class position,
-' Continued on Page 4)
No Credits for
Nazi Germany
New York City
The following resolution against
credits to Nazi Germany was un-
animously adopted by the Execut-
ive Board oi the Dressmakers
Union Local 22, I.L.G.W.U., on
Tuesday May 22, 1934.
+ * *
WHEREAS, there is a concerted
move under way today, promoted
by German financial interests, to
obtain American credits and loans
for Germany; and
WHEREAS, such credits and
loans would have the effect of bol-
stering up the tottering economic
structure of Nazi Germany and
thus of perpetuating the monstrous
regime wnich has enslaved the
German people, outlawed the labor
movement, let loose the evil forces
of race prejudice and nationalistic
jingoism, and condemned tens of
thousands of militant working men
and women and progressive minded
people generally to prison, concen-
tration camp and death; and
W HERE AS, the tabor movement
of Germany, the authentic voice of
the German people, has publicly
disclaimed all responsibility for
any loans to th<» Hitlerite dictator-
ship and has declared that such
loans cannot be regarded as bind-
ing upon the German people; and
WHEREAS, German labor is ur-
gently appealing to the world labor
movement and to the anti-Fascist
forces everywhere to do what they
can to prevent the extension of
loans, credits or any sort of econo-
mic aid to the Nazi regime in Ger-
many; now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Ex-
ecutive Board of Dressmakers
Union Local 22, I.L.G.W.U., that
we vigorously protest against any
attempt to extend American credits
or loans to the Nazi government;
and further
BE IT RESOLVED, that we
respectfully request the State De-
partment of the United Stales
Government to use its authority
and influence to prevent the exten-
sion of anv American loans or
credits to the Nazi government;
and further
BE IT RESOLVED that we ur-
gently call upon all trade unions
and other labor organizations as
well as upon all bodies of the
American people friendly to labor
and opposed to Hitlerism to raise
their voices in protest against any
loans or credits to Hitler Germany
so that an aroused public sentiment
may stay the hand of those who,
thru their financial assistance,
would strengthen the Fascist re-
gime and postpone the dav when
the monster of Hitlerism will be
overthrown and the German people
emancipated.
Buy your copy thru
NEW WORKERS SCHOOL
51 W. 14 St., N. Y. C.
Portrait of America
By Diego Rivera
Text by Bert Wolfe
Proceeds go to
WORKERS AGE
Minn. Truckmen
Stand Firm
Minneapolis, Minn.
It appears as if the efforts of
the Regional Labor Board to rob
the striking teamsters of a pas-
sible victory will not succeed.
Just when the strike appeared
to be won the Board cal.'ed for
a truce and proposes the return
to work and then the usual tri-
party negotiations on the griev-
ances.
Thousands of truckmen, gath-
ered in mass meeting under the
very guns of National Guards-
men, rejected the proposals of
the Regional Labor Board and
insisted on direct negotiations
with the employers.
WORKERS AGE
DARROW BLASTS NEW DEAL
{Continued from Pave 1)
fellow" h;ui a chaaes, can or should be restored to
daw Only j) planned economy, based on 'the fullest
use of productive capacity F<t the raising of stan-
dard* W living Of tad viduala and the community,'
offers a way out.
Does the NRA lav the basis for such a planned
economic system, as its champions, Including many
labor leaders and Socialists, have maintained? "To
rive the sanction of government *o sustain profits,
as does the NRA, "is not a planned economy but a
regimented organization for exploitation," which
operates thru "lowering the wages and reducing the
living standards of the workers, A planned economy
of abundance is possible, the supplementary report
emphasises as its most Important contention, "only
when industry produces for use and not for profit,"
only when the capitalistic system is scrapped and all
the* means of production, all land, all factories, all
machinery, all raw materials, fall under the owner-
ship and "control of the producers as ft whole.
"The choice is between monopoly sustain-
ed by government, w hich is clearly the trend
in the National Recovery Administration,
and a planned economy, which demands
s tcialissd ownership and control, since only
by collective ownership can the inevitable
conflict of separately owned units for the
market be eliminated in favor of planned
production. , . . The hope for the American
people, including the small business man,
. . . lies in the planned u*c of America's re-
sources following socialization."
Thus and this is the great significance of the
Harrow report — is heard for the first time from an
official Federnl government, hoard a ringing call for
n new socialistic economic mdor! For once General
Johnson is right tin- conclusion of the Darrow
report really Is that "the only hope «f the country
is the socialism of Karl Marx and Soviet Russia!"
Never was this clearer than under the NRA!
And what is General Johnson's answer to this
stirring challenge from the midst of his own camp?
With all the high-powered battery of brains at his
service, he is unable to contest it. Like the veriest
"Tory" and "economic Neanderthnlcr," to use the
General's own elegant verbiage, our hero seekfl
safety behind the ramparts of the sacred Constitu-
tion! "No public official," he thunders, "who has
taken an oath to defend the Constitution of the
United States can adopt or officially advocate such
a program."
Let the American worker ponder carefully what
General Johnson declares. Between them and a
world of security and abundance, a world in which
starvation and unemployment will be wiped out,
a world in which they will have their destiny in their
own hands, stands (he Constitution, the system of
government of, by and for big business. When
American labor comes to realize this fundamental
fact so recklessly proclaimed by General Johnson,
the next step will be obvious — and it will be just
too bad for the Constitution!
ii luch as Dimnifl Batt and win.
Lamnek, my own sincere revolu
uinry reputation Is at itake, and
uld justifiably be questioned, arid
because oi the absolute and posi-
tive proof that can he furnished
In support of these facts, i here-
with tender my resignation to the
Proletarian Party.
Roy Is in Danger!
Recent information received from
India brings the disturbing news
that Manabendra N. Roy is in
serious danger. After serving 3
years of a 6 year sentence in In-
dia, for eonspirancy against his
"Majesty" the King of England,
he has contracted tuberculosis. Roy
had been subjected to most rigor-
ous isolation and was even refused
the rating of a political prisoner.
No one was permitted to see him,
books and periodicals are limited,
and every effort to make his incar-
ceration easier, thru financial as-
sistance, has not been allowed.
The following is the letter receiv-
ed:
Bombay, India.
"The latest information from him is very disquieting. He
is unwell and was in the jail hospital for about a month. It
is reported that he has developed signs of consumption.
Barrielly climate does not at all suit his health. For the
summer the government is now going to remove him to some
hill station. An agitation must be set tfp in order that he
may be kept there. None of us is allowed to communicate
with him. No interviews have been allowed to him since
the decision on his appeal. We requested that he may be ex-
amined by a private medical doctor and the well known Dr.
B. C Roy of Calcutta, had agreed to go to Barrielly to ex-
amine him but permission was refused. He is allowed to
keep with him only a small number of books and is not given
any facilities for carrying on literary and scientific work.
The pressure of Indian public opinion is very low at the
present moment. I therefore have to request you to agitate
on his behalf over there. That alone will have some effect."
Yours Fraternally,
The Independent Labor Party of
Great Britain, whose members of
parliament have once before raised
the demand for the release of Roy,
have been written to with the re-
quest that demands be made upon
the government for Roy's im-
mediate release.
The American Civil Liberties
Union has interested itself in Roy's
behalf and according to Roger
Baldwin, its director, a movement
for Roy will be started here.
The following letter has been
sent to the International Labor De-
fense, in an effort to secure its aid
in developing the movement for the
freedom of Bo
trades:
We have just heard from our
.j a the following re-
garding Comrade Roy.
'.--• . U><; WX'-r print-
ed abov^;.
IX -,e, that when
Meerut prisoners were released
did not apply
bo do six years of
\e tot the charge at
; his Majesty.
-. you begin a
rress as well as
_-..' ■ ■■■ tituent bodie i
owing
( | COO r: J
Roy
>. Y'-i,-.
■•■■■ to a place
■
: U* . from
i
We m* ran
masses against British imperial-
ism.
Please let me know as soon as
possible what you are planning to
do. We are certain that united
action by working class organiza-
tions in this country and else-
where will be of great help in
bringing to bear necessary pres-
sure on the British government in
this particular case. We need not
add that this will lend great in-
spiration and strength to the entire
revolutionary struggle in India
which is of such vital world-revolu.
tionary significance.
Fraternally Yours,
JAY LOVESTONE
A Resignation From The
Proletarian Party
April 20, 1934
To the Proletarian Party
Local Detroit:
The reactionary position on many
questions taken by the Proletarian
Party, its complete isolation from
the labor movement, and recently
its class collaboration by some of
its so called leaders with stool
pigeons and agent provocateurs
of the Coal Bureau, aiding them
... their desire to wreck the coal
drivers union, members of which
were on strike to better their eco-
nomic conditions, has developed in
me such a condition of nausia, that
to associate myself further with
these individuals, who in the depth
of their depravity have sacrificed
every vestige' of revolutionary
principle, honesty, and integrity, so
that they could vent their venomous
spleen on worthy comrades out-
side the Proletarian Party and
especially on one sincere Comrade
the Proletarian Party saw fit to
expell because of his fight against
the active support given by the
Proletarian Party to labor fakirs
and totally descrcditcd reaction-
MAY DAY GREETINGS
Th€ following names were omit-
ted from the list printed in the
May Day Issue of Workers Age.
Al Epstein
Jennie Price
Alice Brent
Mary Wright
Liilie Tanzor
E b si Smith
Lily
f>an
Hurry J ' i
Mary L.
Milt M.
Benry L.
The Theatre Union presents
THE SEASONS OUTSTAND-
ING DRAMATIC HIT
STEVEDORE
Thrilling play of Negro and
white workers on the docks of
New Orleans.
"An evening of
able excitement,
and tumultuou.
tion," — Garlar
Telegram,
unquench-
a sincere
, produc-
d, World-
Civic Repertory Theatre
14 St. & G Ave. Watkins 9-7460
Evenings 8:45; Mat*. Tucs, & Sat.
2:45. Prices 30c to $1.50. No tax
Leo Alelof
your wis/ - clung in ar;d &,,>:,,
3 h ■ bn ■■■ n
■
DELICIOUS FOOD?
GOOD SERVICE?
go to
R E S T A U R A N T
>2J Sixth Avenue
N, y. C.
I remain,
JOHN SUGIA
TIIK (ANA hi \N
T I I, E R
Published Monthly by tho
Workers' League of Canada
Subscription w ;•.•'>'■ a y§ai
Sillgln f(.j.!«' Of :mli:: ran },<■
socured thru
WORKERS A^L
r>i went 14th St.
New York. N. Y.
FIRST NUMBER
The Road to Communism
central organ of the
International Communist Opposition
50 Pages 35c a copy
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Communist Party U.S.A. [Opposition]
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1. PORTRAIT OF AMERICA— by Diego Rivera
Text by Bertram I). Wolfe
2. WORKERS AGE, 1 year subscription
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I
WORKERS AGF
ESTIMATING AUSTRIA'S REVOLUTION
Like, the Pari:. Commune^ the Austrian In arrection
of February I'J'M is one of thOM epochal events that
Msarchingly reveal the nliclc character of the period
that bequeathe to the worker revolutionist* of other
inn rod other places both a glorious tradition and
J lesson. Pot four days the Socialist
,ng men and trade unoinists of Austria, arms in
band) waged a heroic battle against the bloody dwarf,
a» . and oil BTelmwebr Pa cist bands. Their
courageous struggle, which has arou ed the admiration
of the workers "f all countries, was at once the first
ncountered by Fascism in Its onward
;i nf recenl years and the first large-scale prole-
tarian outbreak since the post-war wave of revolution.
Il will sorely leave a drip imprint upon the develop-
ment of the world labor movement and upon the var-
tandencies within it and it will unquestionably
Influence the whole course of politics not only in central
but on the continent as a whole, with repcr-
thruoul the world. With their life-blood have
the Austrian workers written an imperishable page In
the history of mankind 1
m PPRESSING A REVOLUTION— 1918
When the rotten Hapsburg monarchy crumbled to the
a( the end of lt'is, the aroused masses of the
m people, the workers and soldiers, turned their
With new hope towards the socialist revolution.
Rut the Soc al-democratic party, enjoying complete au-
thority among the working masses, exerted all its in-
fluence and prestige to quench this revolutionary senti-
ment, la stabilize the capitalist economy and thus to
■ the bourgeois social order from collapse. As
In Germany, the Social-democracy became the engine
of a victorious bourgeois-democratic counter-revolution.
The v, bole tragic history of the Austrian proletariat
rince the war has its roots in the Social-democratic
nder In 1918. "The streets were all full of 'All
power to the Soviets I', 'The dictatorship of the prole-
/ barrUadi bthlnd "■.huh tin worker* of Brueck fought
■■■ the soUiers and llr'tmivrhr of Dollfatt
Bauei iii his history of the 1918
; i governm< nt," he continues,
"'■'old p., ibly have handled neb a situation It would
limed by the distrust ami contempt of
Onl) the S«M-ia]-demo<TiilM could have
safelj handled a situation o! such unparalleled dlffl-
they alone poi :.«•. sed the confidi i • ■ oi
"iiK the SrM-ial democrats
* ,r ' •')>!< i,, curb ih. revolutionary adventures of the
• mai as... " The •'revolutionary" theory of the
al democracy became the formula under
olutlon "f the Au ti ian work i g
THE ROAD <>i i'i RE DBMO< RACY
.■ < - di raocral i< count* i re ■'•
i ndei the tutelage ol
Utopia oi
At the
i
: lunched Into a
racj
• I !
n which
won prod ■ ly
tnd |u t foi thj '< •• on dm thi
land on ., much firmej foundation
i. . i,,,,
I IM I.K I f D IMI-OI J
by the
■ i in th«
by fill. I. HERBERG
provocative acquittal by the Supreme Court of some
Fascist murderers, aroused scores of thousands of
workers in spontaneous mass protest and the .streets
of Vienna once again echoed the authentic voice of
tin- proletariat. Under proper leadership, the move-
ment might have effected a profound turn in the po-
litical development of post-war Austria. But again
Social-democracy regarded it as its special mission
and its highest honor to restrain the indignant work-
ers and to curb their revolutionary fervor. The police
shot down ninety Socialists on the streets of Red Vien-
An Austrian worker is arrested while attempting to cross
the border
na but the Viennese proletariat, Social-democratic al-
most to the last man, stood paralyzed in its self-in-
flicted impotence!
* * *
AUSTRIA AND THE CRISIS
Then came the world economic crisis, the background
on which the whole chain of events in Austria in re-
cent years has unfolded. The economic crisis hit the
Austrian people with a terrific impact. The masses
of the peasants and the lower middle classes of the
cities were speedily impoverished and, to a large ex-
tent, practically wiped out economically. By 1931 a
full one-third of the industrial working class was unem-
ployed and the standards of the employed sections were
materially reduced. As a consequence, a ferment of
acute unrest began to agitate the masses. The peasants
and urban petty bourgeoisie, in torment and despair,
provided a fertile soil for the mushroom growth of
Fascism. Even the disciplined ranks of the Social-
democratic working class began to grow restive, the
blind faith in democracy as the panacea of all ills to
dissipate, and dissatisfaction with the very conservative
course of the Austrian Social-democratic leadership to
mount. The whole tendency of events in Austria from
1920 to 1984 was to undermine the traditional social
base of capitalist rule in that country — bourgeois de-
mocracy with the Social-democrats as a loyal parlia-
mentary opposition — and to prepare the ground for the
emergence of a revolutionary crisis.
+ * +
DOLLPUSS SHIFTS TO THE RIGHT
Reflecting this realignment of social forces, came a
corresponding regrouping of political tendencies. The
Christian Socials, the Catholic government party of
Dollfuss, dominated by big capital and with chief sup-
port among the bourgeois elements and among certain
sections of the peasants and urban petty bourgeoisie,
began to lose ground rapidly, primarily to Fascism,
which, in Austria, appeared in two forms. For the
bourgeoisie it became clearer and clearer that, in or-
der to preserve the social and economic system of capi-
talism, it was necessary to scrap the traditional demo-
cratic regime, harness the blind energies of the petty
bourgeoisie to the chariot of finance capital and to sup-
pr« ih'' labor movement and all its institutions with
an iron hand. The course of events in Germany, which
fur a century has had such profound significance for
Austria, only emphasized the reality of the Fascist per-
the bourgeoisie. By 1980 the new political
turn of Austrian capital towards Fascism and towards
ruthle ant i Marxism was evident to every one who
had eye i to ei
• * •
w STRIA < <>( urn ok EUROPE
Since the war, Austria has been the cockpit of Europe.
. ,i forces wit inn the country has been
intimately a lociated with the clash of Imperialist
forces outside, with the triangular antagonism: France
Germany Italy dominant From IPSO. •>< least,
Ju«t
(Ml '!'!.-• !'i.
WHA'
r NEXT FOR AMERICAN
LABOR7
In JAj
LOVESTONE
PRICE Be
Order '■
Jin Literature Dep'1
Communist
Party (Opposition)
Germany has been openly driving for some form of
Ansch use n the interests of tho'new German imper-
ialism; Italy, aiming at an "independent" Austria tin
der Roman patronage; France, manipulating to" save"
Austna from both Hitler and Mussolini fn order to
bring it under the control of the Paris banks Ger
many and Italy have each been closely linked up wrth
one or the other of the two Fascist movement n
5 re old a H th \ laUer Wlth tHe HeimWchr ' SSSS by
the old Hapsburg generals and aristocracy, but relying
chiefly on the better-off peasants, and the former with
urLn ■', M h ° ?° aSt ° f a growin * su PP° rt among the
urban m.ddle classes, the peasants and even among
some elements of the working class. For a time the
Dollfuss government worked closely under French in
But ,1 tt° **™?**** ^e Nazis against each other.
But as the soc.al crisis grew threatening and the hour
of decision came, Austrian finance capital could «* but
one road before ,t to embrace Heimwehr Fascism «
™i a ?f M i-" d t0 S6Gk * 9fety am ' salvation * ^
arms of Mussolini.
By the beginning of 1933, the Dollfuss government
was already taking its first decisive steps along the
new road With the greatest energy, it proceeded to
disarm the working class, materially and politically.
The Socialist Schutzbund was dissolved; parliament
was practically abolished and civil liberties abrogated-
the powers of the Socialist municipality of Vienna were
systematically shorn, every form of persecution and
discrimination was deliberately invoked against labor,
Finally, Dollfuss came out clearly for the Fascist
"Christian corporative state", for the destruction of
the class trade unions and their replacement by "semi-
governmental organizations." He practically broke
with his own party, the Christian Socials and began
openly to strengthen the Heimwehr forces and equip-
ment with state means.
Riddled by machine gun bullets a member of the Schutzbund
dies a hero's death, in front of the Karl Maix Hoff
SOCIAL-DEMOCRACY CONTINUES TO
COMPROMISE
And what did the Social-democracy do all this time
— Social-democracy with 909p of the industrial work-
ers and GOV! of the people of Vienna and over 40%
of the entire population of Austria behind it? Let
Otto Bauer describe the incredible facts in his own
words:
"The Austrian Social-democracy made the greatest
efforts to bring the political crisis to a peaceful con-
stitutional settlement. For eleven months the Social-
democracy exercised the greatest self-control. It did
not put up any violent resistance to the abolition of par-
liament and to the establishment of the Dollfuss dic-
tatorship. It tolerated the dissolution of the repub-
lican Schutzbund and a whole series of other repres-
sive measures aimed at the constitution and robbing
the workers of freedom of speech, freedom of the press
and other civil liberties. . . Neither did the Social-de-
mocracy oppose the act of the government in robbing
the Vienna municipality of Its income and m this way
driving it into forced bankruptcy. It bit its lips in
silence when the workers were deprived of a number
Of other social-political g.uns. On the contrary, until
the last moment, it always did everything in its power
to continue negotiations With the Dollfuss govern-
ment. . . "
"We offered to make the greatesi concessions that a
democratic and socialistic party had ever made. . . We
let Dollfuss know thai If he would only pass a bill thru
parliament we would accept a measure authorising
the government tO govern by decree without parliament
for two yean . -
"We declared ourselves ready even to make conees*
lions to tli.- idea of the Y.>; pot .ih\ e oi g.im/at son ftf so-
ciety and the state 1 in order to make seme soit of agree-
ment po i Ible "
j / .' !u continued)
WORKERS AGE
The Crisis in German Social-Democracy
{Continued from Patfe 1) TL. Tl /*■»#• f
Ihe Programs of Miles and Prague
{Continued from Page 1)
acts accordingly and tries to im-
bue the entire class with this real-
isation and these conclusions. The
"theoretical thesis oi communism",
states the Communist Manifesto,
"is merely the general expression
of the actual relations ol an ex-
class struggle oi a h storical
movement eroing on right before
our eves."
» * ♦
The Role Of The Party
Without organization, without
the leadership oi its vanguard, the
mass of proletarians ear-not come
to a revolutionary understanding
of its class position. Even when
they do not yet grasp then class
position, the workers, as sellers of
labor power, clash again and again
with ihe_ employers who exploit.
working class; secondly, by
stating that fascism is brought a-
I bout by the spontaneous move-
ments of the workers, of which it
is the driving force. Miles says
literally that "the revolutionary
driving forces born of capitalist
contradictions change into blind,
destructive elemental power;
which, instead of acting progres
srvely, that is, leading to social-
ism, become reactionary, fascist
driving forces."
The Basis of National Socialism
Another question: "It isn't true
that the people in Germany be>
came national-socialist thru the
them. But these spontaneous (propaganda of the national-social
re not yet struggles against ists; the agitation of this party
not yet could be successful only to the ex
the employers as a class,
class struggles. The class struggl
the conscious struggle of the
workers must be organized by the
revolutionary vanguard, the re-
presentative of revolutionary class
consciousness (as Lenin empha-
sized again and again). For, so
long as the workers act spontan-
eously, they remain under the in-
fluence of the organizations of the
bourgeoisie, the state and its
parties.
# * *
The "New Beginning"
Miles' New Beginning "cor-
rects" Marx, Engcls and Lenin in j
two ways. First of all, by its fai-
lure to grasp that the "revolu- J
tionary understanding" as the un-
derstanding of the class position
of the proletariat but instead as
the speculative inventions of cer-
tain great personalities who con-
sidered themselves destined to take
over the role of the leaders of the
tent to which the masses were
national-socialist and sympathetic
to a dictatorship." Marxism states
that the proletariat is subject to
the influence of bourgeois organ
izations as long as its action" re
mains spontaneous. According to
-Miles, the workers did not suc-
cumb to the terror and the ideol-
ogy of the fascist counter-revolu-
tion but themselves brought about
this counter-revolution. Thus Miles
completely enmeshed in fascist
phrases. Hitler, according to him,
fulfilling the will of the German
workers as the tool of the masses.
According Lo Miles, socialism, the
overthrow of capitalism, can only
come when the masses, heading
with elementary force towards
fascism, are overpowered.
by G. S.
to bring about socialism, as the
image of the fascist state, with the
one exception that instead of Nazi
leaders there are Social-Demo-
cratic leaders. He says: "The com-
ing into existence of centralized
party states cannot be avoided in
the long run. It is only a ques-
tion whether this state form has
fascist or socialistic substance,
whether the leading organizations
uphold the capitalist regime or
whether they want to create social-
ism with the scientific apparatus
of Marxism."
The Party State
Indeed, Miles looks upon the
(proletarian dictatorship, which is
Miles, of course, throws into one
pot the soviet state, existing in
the Soviet Union, and built on the
basis of the smashing of the bour-
geois state apparatus, as well a?
the fascist dictatorship of Gei
many and Italy, which have devel-
oped the apparatus serving the in-
terests of capitalist exploitation to
its final form, that is, the "cent-
ralized party dictatorship.'
That is one side of the "New
Beginning" of the bold Miles. His
ultimate objective is the "central
ized party dictatorship", which, tin
der the call "Heil Miles", coord
nates "Marxistically" the workers
despite the fascist tendencies pe-
culiar to them. The other side is
the demand for the re-establish-
ment of bourgeois democracy as
the next objective. Everything is
natural, as befits a "left," cent-
rist, Social-Democrat besmeared
with revolutionary paint!
Milliner/ Strike in California
by L SHslPIRO
The general strike of the mil-
linery workers of Los Angeles has
been won. It was our group thai
determined to build an effective
weapon to win better conditions
for the millinery workers. By
patient work we were able to as-
semble a group of active millinery
workers to accept the task before
them.
There had existed of course, the
usual paper organization of the
Communist Party, the NTWIU,
Millinery Section, which had been
unable, clue to its sectarian policy
to attract the millinery workers of
Los Angeles to its ranks.
The situation within the indus-
try in Los Angeles was ripe for or-
ganization work and with a cor-
rect policy, as outlined Dy ^uj
group, within the Millinery Work-
ers International Union, Local 48.
the work began.
Tedious work" of calling meet-
ings, planning at each meeting to
bring more and more "I Peared at the me.ting with their
under the banner of the union had £f aI ^ f ° r , a united front -
been done with a measure of sue- T .he chairman of the meeting ad-
cess. The work had begun to reach I , the ™ to a PP ear before the
out beyond the meeting sta*e The Executive Committee with their
Executive Board was now phTnnmg deman<L ThlS they failed to do
j argued with them that "now is not
the time for the strike" and that,
_.. _ n '"the strike is lost before it start-
a most notorious Chamoer of Com- i ed .» One can imagine the de-
merce. The Chamber oi Commerce moralizing effect it had upon the
had fostered a system of blacklist workers who didn - t known any
which the millinery bosses adopted thing at all about the Union. This
post haste. Ihis system prevented l shop was no exception. The mem-
any worker from going to work | bers f the "Industrial Union" tried
in another shop without the sane- t0 demoralize and defeat the strike.
tion of the boss from which shop vVith all the obstacles that we
he had just come. This of course were confronted, both left and
means that any worker who raised right, we succeeded in stopping off,
his head m the shop was to be read the first day, between forty and
out of the millinery trade. Many (fifty per cent of the workers in the
workers, militant and class-con"
scious were thus thrown out of the
industry. Therefore, before any
union could be built in Los An-
geles it was necessary to tear this
blacklist out of the Millinery in-
dustry.
At the first mass meeting held
with Zaritsky, the members of the
so-called "Industrial Union" ap-
to take the next step.
What were these steps? It be-
came necessary to get assistance
to strike out more boldly and union
tte the shops of Los Angeles. A
?f!k W ? . p3aC€ ? for the Resident
oi the International to come to Los
Angeles and after much delay,
Max Zaritsky finally arrived.
He found that the Union had al-
ready enrolled about 150 members,
young, mihtant and demanding
action. ThiB was a real live group
and was ready to go to bat f"?
the workers of the entire industry
which numbers here between 1200
workers. As soon as Zarit-
sky "stepped off the train the de-
mand for a strife was placed be-
fore him The members already had
did not rely on a Moses to lead
**« out of the wilderness The
WWto. wanted a closed shop, 25%
B2SK5 m w * «*°Htion of the
Wit, no discharge, a full day's nav
for any part of a day's work ?V
Los Angeles is well known as the
white spot" in the labor market
of our country It * the mnst open
•hop, union hating town and led by
At the next mass meeting the
members of the "Industrial" Union
made a disturbance, which they
industry. If we could have had
chance to develop the strike we
are certain we would have been
able to stop many more.
The manufacturers didn't believe
that the workers would go on
strike, but when they saw almost
fifty percent of the workers come
out, they had to sit up and take
notice. They immediately asked the
N.R.A. to step in and call a con-
ference for the purpose of settling
the strike. The strike committee
immediately called a meeting of
the workers, and put it up to them
whether cr not they should arrange
to send a committee to discuss and
act upon the demands with the
bosses. The workers voted in favor
had previously organized, in order of this and the strike was settled
to disrupt the meeting. But the ch> l the SRme dav . after the workers
termination of the workers was so i nad an opportunity to discuss and
strong that our "good" comrades
didn't succeed.
At the next executive meeting
everybody was so enraged at them
that they were opposed to having
them admitted. However our group
insisted that they should be ad-
mitted and let the workers judge
them by their action.
The next meeting was called to
take a strike vote. All the "good
Communists" came as an organized
group to oppose the strike. When
the vote was taken, they stood up
as a body shouting "The strike is
a take and so on. Nevertheless the
workers voted for a strike, and the
strike was declared, despite the
party members voting against it.
On lur*day morning March the
Twentieth the .strike was declared.
When committees of the U/r'on ap-
proached the workers with th«
fome of^the members
(near
strike ca] ..
°L th * e " Ind a8tri a r UnTon'
vote on the agreement.
The following are the terms of
the agreement.
1. The abolition of the blacklist
system, which was the curse of
every worker in the millinery line.
2. The recognition of a shop
chairman and committee, to repre-
sent the workers in their disputes
with their bosses. If however, they
cannot come to an agreement, re-
presentatives of the Union step in.
If the representative of the Union
does not succeed to settle, the ques-
tion, then it is taken to the impar-
tial chairman for final decision,
'A. No discharge.
4. Equal distribution of work.
5. Stop check in and check out
system. When a worker comes in
to work in the morning he is to bo
paid for a full day's work.
6. A raise in the minimum, above
the Code wages, from $10.78 to
$18.00 for trimmers Operators and
Centrism And Confusionism
The confusion, the hodge podge*
which Miles offers in Ins pamph-
let, is the product of the present
situation of the Socialist Party oi
Germany, The reformist le.uh.s
do not believe in revolutionary
action on the part ol the masses;
they base their hopes, instead, on
bourgeois, anti-fascist forces this
explains the demand ior the re-
establishment of bourgeois demo-
cracy. On the one hand, they arc
subject to the pressure ot the
workers who are approaching com-
munism. This explains their rev-
olutionary phrases. On the oilier
hand, they are subject to pressure
from elements which have been
more or less coordinated. This ex-
plains their statement that the
'centralized party state" really re-
presents "an achievement," etc.
Altho Miles repeatedly opposes
a "new edition of the Weimar Re-
pubuc", essentially, lie wants
nothing else but the "overthrow
of the tascist state and its substitu-
tion by the broadest freedom of
the masses in a democratic re-
gime" as "a direct political ob-
jective," He anticipates the pro-
letarian dictatorship, in the distant
future, which he transforms into
a "centralized party dictatorship"
modelled on fascism.
* » *
What's To Be Done In Germany?
Miles's views on what ought to
be done in Germany correspond
to the above. He fails to consider
the organization of the partial
struggles of the workers against
fascism, out of which alone can
arise revolutionary mass activities
for the overthrow of fascism. He
thinks rather that "a struggle for
the improvement of working con-
ditions" can only be carried out
under conditions of an adequate
proletarian right of organization",
that is, not illegally, not under the
rule of fascism. Miles urges the
German workers to take up again
the fight for the right of organiza-
tion. This slogan, however, has
meaning only if it is related to the
slogan for the overthrow of the
Hitler regime. To create the il-
lusion that fascism will grant the
right of collective bargaining a-
mounts to misleading the German
workers.
This position of Miles is under-
standable when one considers that
he proposes today an alliance with
bourgeois anti-fascist groups, that
really for the resumption of the
coalition government policy under
the banner of the anti-fascist
struggle. To be sure, if one wants
to win the sympathy of liberal cap-
italists and Catholic bishops, etc.,
one must do everything to throttle
the mass struggle of the workers,
because these gentlemen deem
their money bags to be oi greater
value than their anti-fascist feel-
nigs. # ^ +
Karl Kautsky's Position
In the discussion of I he pro-
gram of the Socialist Party ol
Germany, Karl Ka ut sky also takes
the floor. Kautsky openly says
what ih.- other Soeial-Demoi i h
leaders think but ho longer dare
say. The Socialist "Party of Ger!
many, he says, could not have act
ed otherwise than ii did and that ii
would have to repeat it . policy ,,(
I'MN alter the overthrow of fasc-
ism.
Kautsky
■.It.
ids;
tin
Ollhl
Miles that he
Ol his im-
ie prohl. in f
me proletariat,
<•!>■ an academic
Miles himself de-
ng oi democracy
Kautsky ;„■
articles in which
iand that Social-
he future
He
ahs
pro-
mauds
as tin.
WITS tilt
the writ
Democn
propriati
the larg,
"Is
gram? In 1891 the E
gram demanded the tr
tion of the capitalist private
property of the means of pro-
duction and land into social
Property ... It will probably
be said that the defender of the
new program in the "Neuer
Vorwaerts" did not deny this
Vv hat is new in tin.
to be found rather
that our Party, when it did 1
power, has until now failec
carry thn
oposa] is
n^its own program."
Nothing New, Says Kautsky
Here, too, Kautsky denies that
this is something new.
without batting
"Where Social '
the Regal Shop) sneered «t Mil* 5?**?" to , gct f I om ?22D0 lo * 2400 -
* ouop; sneered at them. Blockers from $26.26 to $30.00,
7. Pay for two legal holidays. To
the New York workers this may
seem very little, but to the Los
Angeles millinery workers it is a
big gain.
When this agreement was
brought to the strikers for ratifi-
cation, every Industrial Union
member took the floor, criticizing
and belittling every accomplish-
ment. But the workers gave them
the right answer. The bitterness
against the so-called lefts today is
very strong.
The foundation is laid, a good
strong militant organized group is
in existence. However, there are
many shortcomings. Most of these
workers have very little experience
in Union work. It wilt require hard
work and many sacrifices, because
there are many hardships to over-
come. Then we have to contend
with the manufacturers as well as
the Industrial Union members who
are ■ iking to disrupt anything we
do. The future will show if the
workers can surmount these dif-
ficulties, and build a powerful
union to defend their interest.
He says,
eyelash,
Democracy saw
the possibility of socializing, of
transforming the great monopolies
oi land and of cartels into social
property, it did just that." To
leave no doubt that he is advising
the Socialist Party of Germany a-
gain to betray the working class,
as they did in 1918, he develops an
economic program according to
which, after the overthrow of fasc-
ism, the most important measure
will be to reduce working hours
without a corresponding reduction
of wuges. Kautsky further re-
marks:
"We will, of course, along
with this, also work for the
overcoming of the economic
crisis and for breaking the rule
of the big monopolies, especi-
ally in land, the basic industries,
and the banks. But all this can-
not be realized so rapidly and
cannot bring such immediate
advantages as the shortening of
the working day will bring."
Kautsky, as was stated above,
frankly says what the other reform"
ist leaders try to cover up with
radical phrases. He actually prom-
ises the German capitalists that
the Socialist Party of Germany
will protect their political rule,
their propcrtv and their profits.
'* * *
The New Program Of The Social-
ist Party of Germany
The result of the Party discus-
sion in the Socialist Party of Ger-
many is a program which the
Prague leadership published on
January 28th in the "Neuer Vor-
waerts". This program is 1 a mix-
ture of the proposals of Kautsky,
Miles and Aufhaetiser. The latter
demands the establishment of
Social-Democratic "Enlightenment
Dictatorship", after the overthrow
of fascism, to serve as the transi-
tion to the ordinary parliamentary
bourgeois democracy.
Old Ghosts Haunt S. P. G.
This "Enlightenment Dictator-
ship" is an old centrist slogan.
What is the "revolutionary gov-
ernment" going to tie like, accord-
ing to the Prague Program? It is
not a soviet government; it is to
be based on the old state apparatus
(in this case fascist) which is not
smashed but merely "purged".
This government is to "socialize"
heavy industry, the large estates
and the banks (how this is to be
done, we shall soon discover) and
then, after having "assured the
security of the revolutionary
power", to convene parliament,
elected on the basis Ot universal
suffrage. In history there was
once Such 3 "revolutionary gov-
ernment." It ruled thru the old
state apparatus, purged only at the
top, and tarried a while before it
issued the call for the convocation
of parliament. This was the Ker
eusky government of Russia, I'.
too, wanted to SCCUM the "revohi-
(Continued on Pago 7)
WORKERS AGS
FItc
The Social Spectrum of Communism
The Relation of the C.P. to the C.P.O.
Jht '. :'Uat if r'.i
m/mhtr I ist Part} [Of-
tcsttit* i;!/c t-f- d$ not tf< eye to
■ M thu am- g** ™ *•« topertance sod space ( D
%T^ku>^*\*ir,*«<sp0tim hteJ b * # *r tte ? °w»«?d to t*i*J*j WILLIAM B. TOLLEft
tu, relst***hi} between tU •/^dW| do ? ri, » < - Party'
C, B «^. -™i;rjf lKj a fourth IraT" by W, Her-.
2STS - J***' ™« & Wn»thillg the r «et forth, one from Trotsky and the
jficiai party, of course, cannot ^ J otiwr £«mi an owloiuay anti-Soviet
supposedly trm bodying
Stalin-Trotsky depute;, 'viz., atl Lnt • amr ' ifJ ' :a - amj from wnl ' c h it
.he possibility
that tl ideology
Wiil s ..'
tween U wWdi it op-
poses is that : c;ous of
rent weaknesses. This
-
i Harriets ' which appears
give an opposition elan
RlffleieBt Chance, through publicity,
tself or tqnaan
U should be unnecessary to
quote from Herberts article; the
title is sufficiently indicative of |ta
• ' The tact of the matter
is that he scathingly denounces the
Musses. \'\ r , f
W KU£ ernationa. The Issue* of
:t ' that 'j nu^rtl^ 2« anU&ry ?», an<i
_ January lo each carries article- on
■ - B • party, .side
one for and one against
r u not of his pa
• ■ I I fa
(or perhaps black, or brown;,
of the
;. is not
Dally Worker eontfa n
boo about th*
the "arou ed American
proletariat" having forced re-
cognition] U ..... ^^^
no atteu •/ to m wet tl
' :' Of the snti
til Trot-
sky himself in the lead I
incapable oi making any
reply because it ii SO fter !e and
ideologically servile, that it can-
not even defend it:-: own posi-
tion .
the proposal
The avowed and obvious purpose
j action untiJ it ft able to convince
t the Party of the necessity for
he U'.0 ii to .restore the C.P.
he U. S. A. to (what it believes
Social: ra»-|^JKLf 'true, Lenmjst line."
er-Labor Party, fSSSJ^PS^A *T Db !V l
l* Party, tb* 1 * declared for
... : r ,-., : -, r ,.,.' f -'., '.f °«f communist party, it dec-
. . • ita intention to continue —
Or.-: need D0< be a member of or f
even a
of these gm
the article is <
oonamiat Party fOppoeftion) ffi^SiSESn „<%? umon
Patted State* According to */" * R ? ^Jj*%> U tho *****
■ ' all &£f£5 V : *■ ™«S» between
:n common ^"Tr and _ nonXommunJsta
_ i iroUky, Stalin, Bukharm, Zfnoviev,
Tomsky, and Kamenev have
been Communists only
,.■:? waa may roe l.j»^:„ \ l - , J ,
^optMg the practical tactic, ad-
■ largely a matter of trade
. union policy opposed to dual union-
is Inferred (whether with reason or
not, we shall not here concern our-"
selves; that both Trotsky and Dan
are counter-revolutionary, reaction-
ary and anti-Comrnunist. The f
of Dbcembrtr ir, ("Soviet Recogni-
tion and the Comintern"; declared:
The anti-Soviet demagogue:-:,
with the Trotekyite* in the van,
grow hysterical over "Stalin's
bargain,"
;■.- d og^it to demonstrate that the
foreign policy of the Soviet Union
does not involve the abandonment
of the revolutionary policy of the
Comintern. The Work'
a much more comrfncL-
the charge that the Soviet Union i f Hook's book Toward tb«- Under-
old out" the Comintern than^ did standing of Karl Marx with the
following words;
. . . Hook's book, in spite of it:
many great merits, cannot
According to our author, the dc.
trine^ of Sidney Hook an
of the Opposition group are alxo in
the same category. And yet "Love-.-
tone's" paper, Workers' Age, ha-.
carried article* opposing Hook':-;
( interpretation of Marx, J. Cork, in
Age gave j"unrna;-.king an American revieion-
g answer to list of Marx," conclades bis reVie 1
-' and frag.
■ of general
■ mt armies and renegade*
from U a ove~
they tboot toe
tongue
'Down with the Connnonistf
-. the Tr.ird Irterr.a-
Tbe aothor farther declare? that
these
P*euc &Se* ^ln the
Mtpport — either open or covert
—of ' - .• - - ■.
hrtionary movement
.' V, halt the
laogc
organ of
.
r.a -o g&ir.t'j .- . : . ,-\ f the
bust It 'Joeh not appear
has yet very strange]/ carried on
-■: t^alnj-t those who pronld
Third Interna*
aat ahnoat exceed . tl at of
'- -'"-■- ".'■■ Oppo--.It.on group
-.- author r.a-; one
■ •': r gh roao' to re-
rfem" and be
•
against the Com-
maiaists." The following (which
■ - - i taker from
0- held
Bondemx
new Ce - m mist
■
To re-
- o revolt/
-- • ■. o '-.■ - ,de tr.erefo:e 1 thai
',',:' ■
*
tentioni — i.
>&, and many a Party member of
today will be the "renegade" of
tomorrow.
the publications of the official
Party, The present writer by no
means necessarily rabscribes to
the views herfc mentioned, nor to
the propriety in the choice of ad-
jectives to describe men and move-
ments, The fact of the matter, how-
ever, is again that the Communist
Opposition group is definitely not
anti-Soviet, that it defends the
Soviet Union against all attacks.
The reader is referred to the
entitled "The Bankruptcy of
Trotskyism" in the Workers' Age
for December 15. The following,
from the issue of January 1 may
possibly be construed as an "anti-
Communist" remark:
be
regarded as a valid and genuine
"understanding" either of the
Uarxi DJ of Marx or of the liv-
ing Marxism of today.
Dove stone, in the issue of De-
cember I, declared that the
German debacle, with the tri-
umph of the Nazis, is the cost-
liest loss which the world work-
ing class has suffered since the
world war.
A comment of our author applic-
able to this is as follows:
rfsna in Germany fe d*»-
as the greatest setback in
UM history of the working-class:
Ignored, of course; that only a
m o r . o a nd capi tal i ?m, gathering
its final strength, would dare to
edievaUsms of Fese-
ipoa the working-class
awakening to consciousness of
power.
ader may v/ell wonder bow
m fits Italy where
fascism has been thriving for
abont 15 years, almost a* long as
Far from
ignoring this "reverse Hide of the
medal the Opposition is sincerely
endeavoring to apply W those
cacne . that can combat it
* * «
•Tost as C ommunism £eek« to
overcome the conditions which
make possible the existence, in all
ery, of the proletarian class
unoer capitalism, so the Commun-
Jst Party should seek to overcome
■ tmns which make th" ex-
istence of "renegades" possible. It
M a tremendously open question
how much the Communist Party
would thereby lose. To deny that
much more would be gained is to
close one's eye, to the painful real-
ity that touches in so many spots.
This article is not a defense of
tne Communist Opposition. It is a
plea that the Party intellectuals
distinguish white from pink from
red; that they refrain from ob-
vious intellectual tactics, from the
use of honorific and derogatory
terms in the presentation of their
arguments; and that they recog-
nize, if they may, that in America
there are as yet many hues of dark
red.
that the
■ ■ ■ ■ v
■
' " - ' ; ■■■'■ Ur< ",j ' ,■<
■
■ ;> ■
/
-
•ros
Onr author tells us
--r.arr.ed groups are
all under the guidance of con-
fj*ed, Inexpert, opportunistic,
tfcright dishonest individuals
who croak variations to the
false-hood, "The bank-
/ of the American Corn-
mj.o.st Party and the Third In-
ternational"
All these groups either are rene-
gade or composed of rnisleaoer . o.-
r. forces with the renegadei
and mi .leaders/' and, according to
our author, they all have the same
direction, ;\-/.., i-ascism. Trotskyjsn:
and the Opposition group are ton-
ted with violence Into precisely the
same category. The attention of
the reader i& called to the follow-
■ r.g quotation:
(Trotskyism) has become th«
new ideological gathering point
of contemporary centrisrn. . , .
Today a new ideology is neeea-
: ^7 ';'or centrisrn, Au^tro-
liarxism) ana Trotsky has
^h-ghfiy come forward wiH it
He parages his ware . so the not
altogether convinced centrist
an anti-Soviet and
co mter-revolnttonary attitude
- the C.S.S.R. covered
• -'.: ->r / memories 'A
The readiness to form a
06 v/ revolutionary" Intc rn a-
tional >. which the ■<;Ty term
Coramnnism shall be banned
- . most characteristic
of all, an opportunity to shift
. .t worship of demo-
cracy to a new baste more in
' ; - the times!
CVjmnmnism'' to "real
- r a/:/'!
'■'■'■•
"" •• article by th<-
o • ' •-- Work-
tpported
V ln " "« "■' ■■■ ' ). . te oi
■ t I 1934,
rritei b not em
' ■ "■"■■ > ; can be made
OT i "reform-'
i part from the
■ •■ ' • ioi bei
ap.o
•: ■■; noi sr«
and the Op
■
Nailing Some Slanders
by GEORGE WEISS
We are certain that nj.hen the history
of trade unionism in the fur industry
in New York is <written the name of
George Weiss 'v.iil not be omitted. He
is a fine example of a self-sacrificing
and devoted working class fighter and
has fought in the front lines of the
battles of the New York furriers. Yet,
so bitter is the v,ar today with those
who would spit the existing trade
union movement, that a most despicable
and slimy campaign of slander and
provocation has been let loose upon
him from the direction of the official
C.P. Comrade IVeiss is not only a
good trade union fighter but also a
very active and devoted member of
the Communist Party ' Opposition /. —
Editor.
u * u >" ' - ' Nro qaoUttlom \tt
I owe no answers to the leaders
oi the dual union, the Fur Depart-
nt of the N. T. W, I. L'., but I
do direct myself to those workers
who may be poisoned by the daily
fabrications of the Mornin;; K-c.--
he;*. These workers ought to
the facts of the case.
In the Morning Frcihdi p
24 Sol if'.-rf> made an optn state-
ment to the effect that I was in-
'< ■■'- in tin gat ; let :xv^ck made
tii ■- '■ o -,
I wish to
state now that it was primarily
due to my ' -i/of . againsl the gang
did not
- - . of thai attack A
very long time weni by and it oc-
curred to no one to identify roc
with thif ou- -. ., n f ,i ;j
gang -" : ■•.::. oppo .
: Nhy has it sudd' niy
..;/ to make a de-
itasnt-vp on trie?
In my i ■ wo rea-
\On* for thr,. !',/ r.
lie - '•- ■ * of the 1 ndu i
trial Un oi
the lti~
any iur
lot this
o di ' ■• dil me
i
■
■
-.
tbii dirtj
when
form oi a leal
.
-! not find il
were too cowardly to attach the!
names. Now this despicable '*rev
olutjonary" job was given to Soi
Herts.
Who is this Sol Her v Wha
services for the labo
tno Yemeni r n ere is just
ample of wJiat a flaming revolu-
tionist he is In 1927, 65 com-
rades were arrested for union act-
vity and were sentenced to 15 to
50 days. Herts was one of these.
pped bail and went to Camp
or a good time while
of us served the sentence.
What has Herts done now? Thru
his work of an agent provocateur
he actually places himself in a
position of asking the police for
my arrest on the trumped up
of murder.
The furriers know very well
-:-;<:ry struggle of the work-
ers for better conditions, I was al-
ways in the front ranks. .sever
of personal gain but in
the general interests of the .vork-
"rs. I am a worker in a shop and
manner
*■ i orkers. Forti
son 1 h; .-■ o -■;, acttv< for orga
ization among the furriers and for
i_his very reason the prepo u ro -
frame-Up against me h not going
to stick
1 he furrier surely r< I
that when one of the well known
-, appeared on 28tl
and threatened the Industrial Uni-
on, / was one of th<
ini off. Mr Potash and M
elhing to
f-mf mher, thai 1 In Iped sav< thi ir
. -our, 4 B
I -ij/i now and hav<
a voluntary soldier in the labor
army, noi h; re I ever
from a I
■ ■• ■:, Cold,
1' it th' furrn ri , then tnvolvi d in
.-. bitt< r frati ■
to B< rm • oy rid It 1
;■• id for
yo»ir trip to tl ..-on by
.■ ^ political
'on put a /.-.
I against
oi "a i friend
you -a- ii know thai rou 'ill have
Only two weeks ago when we
met in a downtown restaurant you
proposed to me to become part of
your organization committee. Be-
cause 1 refused to become part of
7i committee to terrorize the fur-
riers into paying dues and taxes
to your union, you are now aim-
ing all your poisuK d arrows at
me. If only I had accepted your
offer what a good boy I would be
in your estimation.
Don't you know, Gold, that you
and your supporters are respon-
sible for the miserable conditions
in the trader Don't you send your
people to work in shops under any
sod any hours just in order
to defeat the Joint Council, Your
Strong committees terrorize honest
fur workers who are building a
union. When I helped to stop one
of the shops, under the control of
the "revolutionary" union, where
your members were working piece
work, long hours and below the
scale, then you opened up with
your billingsgate. You throw mud
and your shadow, Sol Herts makes
frame-ups and provocations.
But why, Comrade Gold, are
you afraid to tell the furriers that
1 bend my back over a machine
. - to make a living for my-
ind ; y old mother. Instead
you create the impression that I
am a paid agent and a "scab
Why?
You are playing a sorry comedy
with the shop I work in, You are
conducting a vo called strike and
are making a f'vv simple workers
ployed Don't you know that
most of your strikes now are just
simple adventurism.
I have noi hing against you. You
r your trip
to I lie Soviet Union, But why
tin furriers pay for it ?
As for me, i came to my present
convictions thru no pleasure trips
to Bi rmuda >>i to the Soviet
Union. It was from my own ex-
' I was convinced that
dual unionism is a curse for the
J '!,' n joined the A, F.
of L Union and am a< uvc in build-
:or a
►hip in the union.
l will continue, to-
.'. .th all other progressive
■ fur trade.
slanders and frau
Our aim 10/ one
umon ns the fur trade mu*t, and I
will be achieved.
WORKERS AGE
Greetings From First Undemrnnn^f^p,H ;i nan U , liN rron^ nfl ,^,.,,.,_ . ****** f
Greetings From First UndererounH/ of p roleta "^ united fronts and for «„.■. ■♦ ,
ri>nn n £ UC1 ^OUna t h e defense ^^^^^J^\^jB n l^ "".that our fight
\->.krAjtAJ. Conference (attacks. na ^ y 8 ^*^^ .mnni
Comrades! We ask you to trans aidfl "^'"L^ia.™ "' 1 W>
mit our thanks to the American
.«ifciv^l and th eir ardent revolm-inn.™
he first conference of the Com- JiT "J 1 - and tor ture. Thc mi" fiu f nce , *»' the
lilt Party of Germany (OppoS- ISfVt?*** ??«»«* does ts best ^ ,- their ™, ard
) has taken place, being held ft h ? 1P w hut jt is <"% a d™ in* e °V n *^ We e
.the most severe underground & *« ** " «« number o^ic" fa^JV/J
revolutionary
greet especially the
Local 22 of the In
under the most severe undergrou cl luL^' 1 f ° r the numb ^ «7 vie S r T r ^ Pr^-"'
conditions. In spite of the insuf- HXflE to ° ***t. Of greater fc n T 10 - naI Lad es Garment Work-
1, the *?n f,c . a " c °. therefore, is the heln f. • Um * on m Ncw York > ^ho by
gate i RA he inte "atfonaI sections of the K™* 88 '" the «™on leadership
^rnu! i J > A < e&pecaallv th„ a^".- " e made a shinmc- recoc-niHnn r,.,. i
Dear Comrades
The
m unlet
tion)
undei ...
conditions. In spite of the°inVuf'
ficient means at our disposal, thei f H
coming and going of the delegates TT? a J " u;rn .ational sections of thel m ,„i
occurred without any losses. The pi*' f,f Cla »y . the American. £££*" «."«■* reco * nition for a
most responsible functionaries of lirnnriJl In the most *P- noM™ revo ' u t"onary trade union
our organization in all districts of iff ? n ,, Way to the American I f° ,& * ' •, 0ur bes , fc regards also
Germany came together at the con-ti^ks in 10 f^ Wh0 SUpport lt ^1 L^'S? and c °n, rades ir
ference In a fruitful session last J S 3 'u th g S^ngs of the "4Thi e V(1 m t £ hlCag0 + and Montreal,
ing five days, for the first time in m ' s ° f the Brown terror. ™»inc? ?i, tied , up thelr campaign
fifteen months, thoroughlv discus We have noted xvUh «,„ Jmt i-r. , wn P ress of the
sedand critically examined th *ex- fraternal tafiSrt £>£ 2^^^ ^t^*™* *"* the fight
penences of illegal work. the political and ffiBTSfilESSt SStaSSSTwa ° f ^
To do this was a pressing neceJ llZll^t "W Slrcngih ™ ™ e8 " eciaI 'y "e uSSSi^^^^
£^£"h to ^ flw <^^itiMM£SSS P S ° SC f-r that the' S t group, the news of ie"
to-date been impossible to get the success th- - ' ed Wth | fraternaI affiliation with the ICO
responsible comrades, numbering of G™*„ PX P« ri «"ce and lessons was transmitted to us at tho „„
twenty-two, together for five day, iff ^ erma » /vents for the winning ference. &t the Con "
---. ."atL-uai ana moral
many. The carrying out of the con ' "™— ^
ference is an example of inner
party democracy and of the strict-
test communist discipline. Every
one of us returned to our fighting
posts strengthened by the critical
discussion.
and the proletarian dictatorship!
F.JZ" r V i th . ih ? han ^^en of the
fascist dictatorship!
Uncompromising struggle against
reformism and centrismf 8
Fight for the organization of the
proletarian united front and the
thTrn 8 ^" 1358 ° r * a nization fl for
the revolutionary struggle azaiW
the establishment of The S
dictatorship in the non-fasc st
countries! fascist
andHht ag | ainS f , the false ^tlcs
TIONAL CONFBEEKCE
THE COMMUNIST PARTY
?I0N) ERMANY ^OSI-
The evidenc7T/ y0 u;! Denmarkt ^ of ^ ^
n FRANCE
Donot Clashes With C. P p
i-entral Comm.net, sharp!, cm r'
;';'ns the tacl.es of the a ?,,l~
sapsaag
J "> 'he northern part o, 1'ar "
•Vioi^S? Jni cd Sn^ rt « de
"hichhad been cr itetT?;
--"«nd„l U, irt em ,7 l
GERMAN UNDERGROUND PUBI^TONS7
Among other things, we took a
position on international questions
and on the problem of developing
Si. Iaternatl0Iial Relief Associa-
tion. We approved unanimously the
position of our National Bureau
on the problems discussed. The
developments in Sweden, Czecho-
slovaks and Austria prove that
we are on the right road. Among
sider the splendid acts of solidarity
of the American Communist Party
(Opposition). y '
Comrades of the American Com
rnunist Party (Opposition). y?„
have greatly helped our work with
your material aid. Our conference
sends you the heartiest greetings
of struggle and thanks you for
your fraternal solidarity which we
S as the expression of thl
closest Communist unity,
thTcPCO >. dec u7 J with pride that
the CPGO has held its own against
the crusade of destruction by the
«ation has remained intact in spite
of heavy sacrifices. In town and
country we have won, in Sterf
iignters from the ranks of the
OuV nnhV f^.Social-Democracv.
Our political influence has grown
We believe that this will not be
bawSre of T^T^- Under the
^"llTu^r-" 111 ^"te
in^Jn succeed in creating unitv
bas?s e ( S°T mmUnis . t movement on the
oasis of Le mms t tactics and Com-
munist principles.
In the fourteen month-? n-f n
SfevTth\T^r ed ™- h » d "
proaeh'my Itn^'cTn 'pa",^^
fivf^o^lt^t^ °" «™«l» of
revolutionary fflrtteJ t^" ° VC / y
beginning of the ?nti T- Ce Ule
«hip five hunrfr^ lUeT d »ctator-
CPO have bel r ° R d en C t°T ra ^f ° f the
concentration camt A^l to
7. Jahrgang
No. I/1934
&KFI DEN
ORGAN PER KP™
Der Aflfstond der
Ssterrelcbisciiefl
J POM
1 '(OPPOSITION)
iDer Metdbrbeite
.
•, r „. ,„ ', r* ■'-"iiLroiieci aux-
■■■«•.. ■ miaily. they even gave thai
caSfo.fi'n ,L h ^? t e y
- i artj
.-.heCettUjfe.
: -'""- There fn^ ^ tr "ancipa-
rvi i rc followed a VCrlahU
■-^ in the distn« between
ind the Central ComnSSe?
coarse 01 the fight Dorioi
cs.gned lr0 m the mavorahv and
to 'har 1 "^ 1 C T nCi!i ° r « o "«
fons. Donot
an on • " :;litt ee for
£&i»G«aas
wop Jw/riff (,/ /^ r/ - 7j-;
"riej is a nationally circulated CPCQ LZL %• 1 ■ • aJdtUon io ihf mrt ">'
circulat,') rVl' v '"apo {German secret police), in* ,
ciuutated communist paper in Germany/ All 0}^ m
Donot s Open Letter
ine Central Committee charged
tr ,?n l0t WantCd a 0l ^ Withfhc
?octedT OCra - S J ln . d that he sd
too to th C Umte , d fr0nt from on
he initio - C ° mplete ^elusion of
ri, »?? Iront lrom below.
followi„^ PCa LeUer " COntains the
}-. A correct criticism of the
halting uncertain tactic of the
central Committee, vacillating be-
vveen the "united front iron? be-
•Z top-' thC United 1>0 - *™
2 The demand to combine in a
proper form the united front from
Mow and on top, that is, to ap-
peal not only to the local 'and T
SiSioS. 1 aiS ° t0 the CCntraI
3. Donot imagines however that
he seizure ot power by the work-
v- w S Ca " be reai 'zed thru the
united front.
The following is a literal quota-
tton from the "Open Letter."
. I he Party must do every-
thing to develop united action,
agreements between the lower
Party and trade union organiza-
tions, and proposals to the top
leadership. The Party must
orop its sectarianism on this
Question. Then it will succeed
tn developing the revolutionary
torces and m bringing the pre-
sent upsurge to the final stage
of proletarian power."
4 The program of action for the
united trout as set up in the Open
Letter also contains the following
Points:
11. "Organization of projects
ot social value which will give
employment to unemployed
workers and technicians.
1-. Nationalization of banks,
ot the insurance system, of rail-
roads, o. the coal, iron ore
mines, the large industrial and
trade enterprises, which repre-
sent actual monopolies.
U "Policy of alliance with
the bo viet L'n ion."
On the other hand, the program
'j Hon 01 state power at all.
thus we must unfortunately
{Continued on Page 7)
WORKERS AGE
Seven
C.P. Convention Discussion
Leads to More Expulsions
This entitle VfOS written during the
prt-ionitnUon discussion of thl CP
and «*W sent to the Daily Worker
where it naturally never taw the light
,,! Jay. It tow suppressed in the true
spirit of present-day self criticism and
the writer emu rewarded {or /us efforts
by an expulsion from the party.
Thinking communist} ate rare in the
(/' • | if days, ff'e therefore welcome
the article from which it is clear that
Comrade Cook is fully in agreement
tailh the line of the CPO.—Iulitor.
by BUDD COOK
Seattle, Washington.
The pre-convention discussion
period offers an unparalleled op-
portunity for an examination of
the present policies of the Party
Xhe burning issues facing the
Tarty todaj winch involve the
very life of the Parry and the rev-
olutionar) movement art: l. De-
mocratic centralism; 2 Trade Uni-
S ; 3. United front policy;
4 Labor party.
Democratic Centralism
A*- a result of the absence of
democratic centralism tn our Party,
vvc find:
1. A low political development
of the Party as a whole.
2. The failure of new members
to develop.
3. That continued membership in
thv Party requires a religious
faith in the Icadershop rather than
a confidence born of understand-
ing.
4. The turn-over of 36,000 mem-
bers between Jan. 1930 and the lat-
ter part of 1932, (Partv Organizer,
Vol. 5 No. 11-12).
5. An expulsion and demotion
epidemic in the 12th District in-
stigated at the behest of a CC re-
prescntative,
6 The growing resemblam e bi
twecn the derision of any Parly
committee and a Papal Bull. Dis
cuss ion ol Pai I y questions by the
membership do< s noi precede, but
follows the decisions of Party
committees Such discussion as is
allowed deals not with whether the
decision is right or wrong, but
rather with, "how is the decision
to be put into effect." The ob-
jective logic of this tendency leads
me to the dire prediction that it is
but a matter of tune until all Party
decisions are rendered in Russian
to be explained to the laity by the
hierarchy.
7. The appointment of members,
of Party committees by the com-
mittees themselves rather than
l heir election by membership
meetings^ conferences, etc. In the
year-and-a-half since I joined the
Parly, there has never yet been an
election of the District Committee
altho the composition of the com-
mittee has changed almost in its
entirety. Only one comrade in
either the Spokane or Coeur d'A-
lcnc sections has ever participated
in the election of a District Com-
mittee either directly or indirectly.
The functioning of the Party
under these conditions is well ex-
emplified by the conduct of the
mass organization and a hostile
organization at that; d) by allow-
ing each delegate to the conference
only one speech, by limiting thai
spcech_ to only 7 or 15 minutes, by
collecting the names of those who
wished to speak at the beginning
of the conference and refusing to
allow a vote on a motion that the
Crisis in Social Democracy
(Continued from Page 4)
tionary achievement" thru a dict-
atorship; in reality, it only served
the advance of the counter-revolu-
tion, the Kornilovs, etc. The
Prague leaders arc working for a
German Kcrensky period.
# * *
What Is This "Socialization"
Its "socialization program" is
formulated accordingly. In real-
ity, it is a program to save cap-
italist economy. Large estates and
basic industries are to be expro-
priated without compensation; as
for the big banks, they will be
"socialized," but nothing is said a-
bout compensation in reference to
them. They are to be put under
the leadership of the federal gov-
ernment. The gentlemen bankers,
then, arc to keep their fortunes
and are merely to be put under
federal commissars. This pheno-
menon was already manifested in
the days of Brucning's action for
the revitalization of the large
banks. The interests of the banks
in the basic industries and large
tstatcs are, therefore, not to be
expropriated But the basic in-
and large estates are
heavily indebted to the banks. The
- ation of these industries
without compensation is, under
these conditions, nothing but
farce. The other capitalistS ( are
not mentioned at all. There is
up a sort of supreme
"social : ' This
; - to be a new edition of the
<-,... ni sion charged
';.-■ par ;,'" thi further
Obviously, the
procedure is not to be "too rapid"
n ky »ayj Thus th< cap-
: lily, according
pnt thru a new
'I ragic memories
I
ording to
■-,, i| therefore
bk mea-
• tahstn
ization of partial struggles by the
workers. The "revolutionary elite",
as the program calls the Socialist
Party of Germany, should only be-
come active when "spontaneous
mass movements begin" in order
to "influence its orientation". The
masses are to be given leadership
when they have already begun to
fight without the help of the
Socialist Party of Germany. Like
Miles, they demand the re-estab-
lishment of the right of collective
bargaining within the framework
of the fascist dictatorship. The
Prague program further says:
"The re-conquest of demo-
cratic rights becomes a neces-
sity in order to recreate the
labor movement as a mass
movement. . . Every democratic
right, however, is a menace to
the continuance of the dictator-
ship. The struggle for demo-
cracy is broadened into the
struggle for the complete over-
throw of the Nazi state power.
This struggle is only a revolu-
tionary stage of transition to-
wards the conquest of the en
lire state power."
In other words, the workers
must first regain their democratic
rights before they can overthrow
fascism., But how does that cam-
pare with the immediate needs of
the day? The workers must learn
how to organize illegal mass
movements, create illegal organs
for this purpose, among others, il ■
legal trade unions, as did the Rus-
sian workers under the Czar. It
is necessary to organize mass ac-
tions based on illegal cadre organ-
izations and not to wait until the
possibility for the founding of
legal mass organizations is at hand.
!i' th< workers were to hope for
the democratization of the Hitler
regime to make possible the crea-
tion of legal mass organizations,
then we would have to wait for-
The Roar' Ahead
•' con
-
■. i. t the
D
■
'
Forward — Along Communist
Lines
The Prague Program '.hows that
t] . pari ial activhh i . ainst the
Hitler regime, which arc necessary
for ihr preparation of the revo-
s struggles, for its
overthrow, cannot be organized on
tin basia o* SociaUDemocratic
principle t Only communists, pur-
suing the correct tactical line tan
lh< organizers of the anti-
l i truggtc of the mas u •
last two District Conferences in
District 12. Thus: a) no motion
was allowed to come to a vole
that did not meet with the ap-
proval of the chairman (at the
Spring Conference) or the reporter
(at the summer conference); b) no
election of any committee; c) the
District Hiiro conducted itself as
I ho it were a fraction within a
reports of the delegates be group-
ed according to section or activity,
by, instead, arranging the reports
so that any delegate, who critic-
ized the leadership or the current
policy of the Party, was immediat-
ely followed by a District Buro
member who loudly abused the
delegate and his report, the Buro
succeeded in absolutely thwarting
any free discussion or expression
of opinions inimical to the buro or
ils policies.
This may be Centralism hut it is
not Democratic.
It becomes imperative that the
8th Convention demand a return
to the conception of democratic
centralism as it is laid down in the
5th point of the first section of the
Constitution and rules of the Com-
intern.
* * *
Trade Union Policy
The Party's policy of dual-union-
ism in the trade union field rests
upon the ultra-leftist conception
that the A. F. of L. unions are
organs of the State and must be
treated as such. This postulate
must be discarded. The 8th Con-
vention should recognize that the
conservative unions are "genuine,
mass, working class organs, closely
bound up with the everyday strug-
gles of the workers". (Program of
the Comintern, Page 76). The 8th
Convention should recognize that
Lenin wasn't kidding when he said
in "Left Communism, An Infan-
tile Disorder", that "... any art-
ificial attempt to organize special
unions . . . threatens to isolate the
most advanced conscious workers
from the masses who arc on the
road to communism. It threatens
to hand over these masses to the
opportunist leaders thus playing
into the hands of the bour-
geoisie. . . ."
"Communists must on no ac-
count leave the tanks of the reac-
tionary Federation of Labor. On
the contrary, they should go into
the old unions in order to revolu-
tionize them".
The 8th convention should mark
the return of the Party to this
Leninist trade union line as it was
exemplified in the old TUEL.
* * *
United Front Policy
Our experience during the past
few years has shown us the fallacy
of the slogan, "a united front from
below". A united front can mean
only an alliance with other organ-
izations on the basis of minimum
demands. And altho the reformist
leadership will accept a united
front with our Party because of
pressure from below, the form of
a successful united fiont must
nevertheless be a united front at
the top. To assume anything else
is the grossest self deception. The
8th Convention should categoric-
ally reject the slogan of, "a united
front from below", "a united front
around the Party", as being mean-
ingless phraseology. Let us, in-
stead, raise some slogan as,
"March separately but fight to-
gether for a program of minimum
demands". We should repudiate
the anti-Leninist policy of propos-
ing united fronts and offering the
reformists the concession of our
refraining from criticism during
the course of the united front.
With this new orientation, the
numerous, ludicrous and pathetic
attempts of the comrades to re-
concile actual practice with er-
roneous theory will be averted.
* * +
Labor Party
The working class of the U.S.
h noi yet conscious of its entity
as a class. ForcIs, in writing of
America said, "The great thing is
to get the working class to move
as a class". While written in the
latter part of the last century, this
still holds true. Foster, in "Mis-
leadcrs of Labor" (1927) says, (in
criticism of the S. P. of the
nineties) "they failed to under-
stand that under the given circum-
stances, the besl way to build the
S. I', and to aid the broad masses
in break with the capitalist parties
and to lake the first steps m in-
dependent working class political
;.dion w.i hv also building the
labor party". Further on, in the
same book, he .says, "The shatter-
News from the World
Communist Front
(Continued from Page 6)
note that with the correct critic-
ism by Doriot of the tactic of the
CP of France there are to be noted
signs of a reformist deviation. If
the group in St. Denis docs not
succeed in freeing itself from these
deviations to the right then it is to
be feared that the correctness of
the criticism of the Parly's tactics
will be ineffective.
* *
Doriot Sweeps Elections
The municipal elections of St.
Denis took place May 6th, Doriot
and four of his supporters were
candidates. The elections were
necessitated by the resignation of
Doriot due to his conflict with the
Party. The Socialist Party of-
ficially instructed its members to
support Doriot. The CPF likewise
officially appealed for support for
Doriot. It did not put any candi-
date in opposition to Doriot. Un-
officially, however, a represent-
ative of the Red Aid told Party
members to vote against Doriot.
The bourgeois parties put up no
candidate against Doriot. They in-
structed their followers to turn in
blank ballots.
The election results are encour-
aging. Pie received 12,000 of the
15,000 votes cast, or over 75%.
At the previous election he re-
ceived about 6,000 votes. The four
other candidates then received ap-
proximately 11,000 votes. The
"Populaire" reports in detail and
welcomes the results as a victory
for the united front. The "Hu^
manite" has no report on this elec-
tion. Doriot made a speech to the
crowd from the City Hall and led
a big parade through the city.
NORWAY
Fascist Tendencies Growing
The Labor Party has been com-
pletely unable to utilize the vic-
tory of the last elections. Realiz-
ing this, we see plenty of the lea-
ders coming out for fascist planks
and programs, "Strong men. re-
presenting the people", etc. In a
unit meeting, Falk pointed out
that these people have really learn-
ed from events in Germany and
Austria in the following way: It's
too late to run over into the camp
of fascism, when fascism has al-
ready conquered. The German
leaders did that, but they got into
concentration camps nevertheless.
What the leaders must do, is to
run over in time to take part in
the final onslaught of fascism, thus
enabling themselves to share in the
spoils. Consciously or uncon-
sciously they are now preparing
this thru ideological capitulation to
fascism. One of the fascist lea-
ders has said in an official talk,
that he expects Colbjornsen and
ing of this encumbrance (the non-
partisan political system of the A.
F. of L.— B. C.) and the building
of a labor party is one of the fun-
damental tasks facing the work-
ing class".
It should be the function of the
8th Convention to bring a return
to the sanity of the period in
which Foster's book was written.
* * #
Reinstate The Expelled
During the past four or five
vears, a number of Party members
have been expelled for the views
they have held upon these vital
subjects. Among these have been
some of the oldest and the best
of the class warriors. In the main,
one or the other of two groups,
the Trotskyites or the Lovestone-
ites. I suggest, in order that these
all-important questions receive the
fullest measure of discussion, and
as the initial step in a return to a
Leninist conception of democratic
centralism, that the workers who
have been expelled over these
questions be allowed to return to
the Party and take part in the
pre-convention discussion. Then,
after free and untramtneled dis-
ston, let the minority, whoever
that minority might be, abide by.
tho not necessarily endorse, the
decision of the majority, until such
lime as the question is again open
for discussion, Of course, the
workers rxnelled because of Trot-
akyist leanings could not be ac-
pted back until they had re-
nounced the Thcrmidor theory.
For a Leninist Party!
Sommc to bz in their camp before
long. These two, have been the
theoretical defenders of the "De-
pression Plan ' of the Labor
Party. This plan has been worked
out largely from the pattern of the
V R. A. and is very similar to a
plan that some fascist organiza-
tions have presented.
The more prominent one of the
two, Colbjornsen, used to be a
CP man. He got an assignment in
the trading corporation of the US
SR some twelve years ago, then he
was sent to England, and finally
to Russia, where he worked in the
economic apparatus. However, he
was fired in 1920, due to connec-
tions with the right wing. Then
he was abroad for a while, finally
came back here in 1931, joined the
Labor Party, and won a reputation
for himself as an expert on eco-
nomic planning. With the slight
difference only, that now he is
for economic planning in a coun-
try where the working class has
not conquered.
* * +
A Slave Law
_ The leader of the Labor Federa-
tion, Halvard Olsen, has just come
out for an arbitration bill accord-
ing to which more power is to be
concentrated in the hands of the
government arbiter. He is to be
the only one who works out terms
for settlements, and the unions are
to vote "yes' 1 or "no" to his pro-
posals. Furthermore, there are to
be rules for voting, according to
which more than 50% of the votes
are required to reject a set of
terms, if less than 75% of the uni-
on membership is voting. A slid-
ing scale has been worked out, and
if less than 25% vote, the terms
can't be rejected at all. Olsen ob-
tained a majority in the secretariat
for this.
However, Tranmael, who has
sponsored the plans of Colbjorn-
sen and Somme, stood in danger
of being attacked from the left by
some of his enemies, notable am-
ong them Olsen and the union
leaders. Now he grabbed the
chance of attacking Olsen from the
left, on the basis of Olsen's en-
dorsing this ne%v labor bill. Re-
cently the national council of the
labor federation assembled, and
there was a sharp fight between
Olsen and Tranmael. It was ex-
pected, that Tranmael would con-
quer, and that Olsen would have
to withdraw as chairman of the
federation. But the outcome was
that the council unanimously de-
cided to postpone the matter until
the congress this fall, instructing
the labor representatives in parlia-
ment to vote against the bill, if the
government tried to have it passed
in the meantime.
* * *
Opposition Growing
This means that the more rad-
ical members of the labor party
saw no reason for supporting
Tranmael in the fight against Ol-
sen. They don't trust his radical
manoeuvers any longer.
The labor youth are to have a
national conference shortly, and a
strong opposition is expected. i It
is to be hoped that the opposition
will base itself on a clear political
platform. Such a platform might
serve as a rallying point for the
left tendencies in the labor party,
that have difficulties in working
together and finding a common
basis.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Opposition Tn Party Growing
A group of active party func-
Jonaries of the CP of Czecho-
slovakia has sent an appeal to all
local groups dealing exclusively
with the policies, the tactics and
the inner party life of the CP of
Cz. To quote from the Appeal.
•'The party as well as the
Comintern is facing a great
danger. The defeat of the Ger-
man proletariat shows the im-
minence of that danger. Wc all
feel that it is necessary to dis-
cuss the causes of the defeat
and io learn from the mistakes
made. We had confidently, a-
u ailed that the CI, with the col-
lective forces of all honest com-
munism, would carry thru this
Bolshevik sclf-critin'sm, being
conscious of its responsibility
(Continued on Page 8)
Eight
WORKERS AGE
Workers Age
Published Tu
Workers Age Pub. Assn
» N. Y.
Mont hi if by the
51 West 1*1 Street, New York,
Ramercy 5-S903
Oraan of the National Council of the
COMMUNIST TARTY OF the U. S. A. (Opposition)
Subscription rate*: Foreign $1.50 a year. $1.00 six month?. 5 cents
a copy. Domestic $1.25 a year. S0.75 six months.
Vol. 3. No, 9.
June 1,
"THE LAW OF LIFE"
Chicago, 111. icouth enough to demand the endor-
i "The law of life is demonstrative sement of the Lundeen bill rather
■of unceasing compromise; labor than the emasculated Wagner un-
never hns and probably never will employment insurance bill. Alder-
realize all it is entitled to expect man Nelson refused to read the
as its legitimate right ..." (Wagner bill to the conference. In-
I This quotation from the "Federa- stead he told them what was in it
tion News" summarizes the spirit and why they should like it. Then,
— and achievements of the Economic ' still sensing some dissatisfaction
NO CREDITS TO HITLER!
THE United Stares, Great Britain and other imperialist powers are
involved in a grave dispute with German imperialism over the
insistence <. A *~ the latter to subject the services of the Dawes and
Young loans to the transfer moratorium. The Nazi government is
daily more and more up against it financially and it is seeking relief
at the expense of foreign capitalist groups as well as its opponents at
home. Hence the demagogic cry of Dr. Hjalmar Schacht for repudia-
tion of these loans because of "their tainted origin." Hence his
hokum, for home consumption, about a "war against international
finance capital and loans" as ''the most important point in the pro-
gramme of the German nation."
Time has certainly changed the tide of morals and values for the
German ruling class. It was just these foreign loans, especially the
hundreds of millions of dollars from the U. S., which saved German
capitalism and checked the proletarian revolution in the first post-
war years. Now these sycophants and hooligans of germ an imperial-
ism, the Nazis, discover the loans to be tainted! Why the change in
attitude? One must understand^ the contradictions of capitalism to
be able to plumb the depths of imperialist morality and values. In
1924 American capital investments in Germany were highly moral
because they saved the neck of German capitalism. In 1934 the repay-
ment of these loans, or even the payment of interest on these loans ;
is immoral because it would involve a further weakening of German
capitalism.
American labor has a vital interest in the negotiations between the
Reichsbank authorities and Germany's foreign long — and medium —
term creditors. Once is more than enough for the American proletariat
to allow its capitalist class to help the German exploiters crush our
brothers in Germany. Any concession or exemption allowed the Hitler
Reich in the matter of debt payments today is an out-right gift to the
Fascist butchers, to the most savage pack of hangmen that ever
plagued a nation. We workers owe it to ourselves, to our own interests,
we owe it especially because of our giving Wall Street a free hand ten
years ago in helping to smash the German revolution, to prevent any
credit concessions being granted to the Nazis today.
Only the greatest pressure of the masses can prevent the Amer-
ican financial moguls from again coming to the rescue of German
capitalism in despair. The German proletariat will begin to see thru
the Hitler hypocrisy sooner if the economic conditions in Germany
take their own ruinous course and are not- patched up with foreign
aid in one form or another.
Loans or credit to Fascist Germany can only, sooner rather than
later, hurt American labor as well as German labor. As against loans
or credits to Hitler or easing of payments by Germany, all labor or-
ganizations, all trade unions, all workers must demand credits to
Socialist Russia. Such credits will help our Russian brothers who have
already won their freedom and are building a socialist society. Such
loans to the USSR will also help the American workers not only
ultimately but also immediately thru putting more men on jobs.
No more German credits! No credit concessions to the Nazi im-
perialists and war-makers. Ample credits to the U.S.S.R., the land
of peace and progress — the land of socialist victory.
1934. Conference called on April 29 by
— the Chicago Federation of Labor.
"" In rapid and ecstatic succession the
; conference, packed with the busi-
ness agents and officers of all the
local unions, endorsed the NRA,
the Illinois NRA bill, the Wagner
anti-company union bill, the Wag-
ner unemployment insurance bill,
the Railroad Disputes act, the
Housing bill, the PWA and the
CWA.
1 Originally the conference had
been called at the urging of Paint-
ers Local, Number 637 and the
Chicago Workers' Committee to
i discuss and protest the slash of
I CWA, But in the capable hands of
Compromisers-in-Chief Alderman
Oscar Nelson and State Represen-
tative Soderstrom it became little
imore than a well-fed cheering
section for the New Deal.
} The "rank and file" opposition
•made its chief fight on the unem-
ployment insurance issue. In at-
tempting to checkmate the friends
of the Lundeen bill, Secretary Wal-
lace of the Painters' District
Council, speaking for the bureau-
cracy, denounced the "dissatisfied,
noisy, communistic elements" with-
in his union and said "The painters
are so grateful to President Roo-
sevelt that they have hung his por-
trait in every hall in the city."
But in spite of the chastening
effect of gazing upon our Presi-
dent's features, at every meeting,
some of the painters were still un-
from "noisy communistic elements,"
he read a long letter from William
Green telling why he liked the
Wagner bill.
A few opposition delegates got
the floor. They spoke, rather bad-
ly, in support of the Lundeen bill.
But the hit of the performance was
kindly, white-haired, George Koop,
from Typographical, No. 16, forty
years in the Federation. This
popular and perennial Socialist
candidate talked about the Lundeen
bill, read it through, talked about
it some more and then talked a
little longer. Packed as the con-
ference was, the delegates were
wavering. Alderman Nelson had to
do something. So he attacked the
communists. When the opposition
and the bureaucrats had been
aroused to the proper state of noise
LENIN, by Ralph Fox. Harcourt-
Brace, N. Y.
The definitive biography f
Lenin in the English language
still remains a tasks for the future
From advance hosaunahs in official
quarters one should have expected
Foi:'e work to meet all reqaire-
mencs. But it falls for below p& r
It could not be otherwise where
historical objectivity is distorted
by present factional attitudes.
The biography is competent
enough in dealing with Lenin's ear-
ly life. It adds nothing however to
a period, the facts of which are
quite generally known. It is when
the book approaches nearer to the
events of the Russian Revolution
and after, that it gets progressive-
ly thinner in so far as its political
content is concerned. It is too agita-
tional in character and insufficient-
ly sober a political exposition. We
do not need to be agitated about
proper sLate oi noise Lenin > s worth Wfa t - d —
the vote was taken. Nobody heard' „ m o]ctonf „,„„„:*■ # x • .
it but Alderman Nelson announced l™™t* t ?£? ? ? L ^? '
the endorsing of the Wagner bill. ££f£ e ff ft * * h «?"*K»n. of his
Except for George Koop and ^S? " H 5™? U « /'-^ muc 5
Walter Hart of the Workers* Com- " f 1 ™* T JSEfT t V ^ 6
mittee, no one of the thirty or so S?™ .ffi "J™?! altogether.
Socialist delegates raised a" voice. SThJ^mt^^of^SBS
LISA 3 ' ^VTttr^Z of the 2nd International, of Lent:
endorsed by ten or a dozen unions ^ctmtributi n durmg°t^^
but they felt apparently, that life of the C omintern-4n the S
into the open would tional question the colonial ™
antagonize Alderman Nelson. Prob- [ Hmi t £ T40aea , Tlf nnaa ^ L q £.!
bringing it into the
ably it would have. So the Social- | sithe T ' ade v - Q nes ti"ol,"etc
■St., were very quiet j and tte , ? ?is direction the\ook is &
"underweight". Granted this is
Chicago Federation of Labor had
a happy conference which, if no-
thing else, demonstrated that "un-
ceasing compromise is a law of
life."
The International Front
Another United Front Broken
(Continued from Page 7)
towards the proletariat. This
did not occur; on the contrary,
the communist movement was
forced to close its eyes to the
lessons of the German defeat.
Whoever refuses to be blind
and criticizes must cease or be
regarded as an "enemy of the
party". ... It is necessary that
a thorough discussion be in-
troduced in the entire party.
Therefore, demand in your local
groups, wherever you work,
that plenary sessions be called
tall order. But it is only the filling
of such an order which can claim
to be a a "biography" of Lenin.
It would certainly be naive not
to suppose that the distortions or
the complete omissions have as one
of their basic points of departure
the present tactical differences that
are being fought out in the com-
munist movement. Were Lenin's
ideas fully clarified they would
blast to smithereens the idiotic at-
All-India Textile Workers' Con-
ference held in Bombay in Jan-
uary. Most of the textile workers' titude and practices in official quar-
unions in India, excepting those : ters. It is certainly significant, for
connected with the reformists and ; instance, that not one word of men-
the Ahmadabad Labor Association, tion is made of "Left Commun-
YPSL stipulated that the YCL be
asked to repudiate a slanderous
statement made by William Pat-
terson of the ILD against the com-
mittee which had been set up to
defend the four German young
workers. However, the YPSL final-
ly withdrew the condition and a
committee was chosen to appear
before the National Youth Day
Conference. This conference domi-
nated by the YCL showed its true ultra left "policies of 'the CP of C:
character by refusing to seat the . Comrade Guttmann the former ed-
delegates of the Communist Youth itor of the central organ of the CP
Opposition despite a unanimous ' was expelled from the party,
favorable recommendation by the Comrade Guttman then formulated
credential committee. There were his tactical differences, in a long
ablegates who voted for our memorandum which has been
Expulsions Begin
Because of his opposition to the j
seating, while 82 voted against.
When the two committees came
together, it took some time to
make it clear to the YCL that it
was not a meeting of the Nation-
al Youth Day Committee which
the other conference joined in, but
that it was a joint committee meet-
ing. There was some difficulty over
a chairman for this reason. A
stalemate was soon reached over
the name of the demonstration.
They, the YCL insisted that the
name be National Youth Dav This
was not acceptable to the other
conference which asked for a com-
mon name, since it was a joint ef-
fort of both conferences and not
merely the enlargement of the
League Demonstration. To retain
he name National Youth Day was
widely circulated within the party
In it he explains his position on
the causes of the German defeat.
On essentia] issues his criticism is
based on the correct tactical prin-
ciples of communism.
INDIA
Our latest important activity in
Bombay was Unemployed Day,
which was celebrated on March 4,
in accordance with a resolution of
the Trade Union Congress. On
the 4th, small meetings were held
at 13 places in the city and a numb-
er of parades were started. These
culminated in a monster demons-
tration at Chaupati, held under the
joint auspices of 15 organizations,
preceded by two weeks
of intensive agitation. In all this
agitation, meetings and demonstra-
tions, our people took a leading and
nt part. It can be said
without exaggeration that the
Transport Workers' Union, Hawk-
ers' Union, Municipal Workers'
Union and the Godown Coolies'
Union. After the new election of
the Bombay Kirni Kamgar Union,
which took place on March 3, we
influence this union as well. We
have contacts with the Tramway-
men's Union and the G. I. P. Rail-
way
New York City
The latest effort for a united
youth demonstration against war
and fascism, planned for May 30th,
has been destroyed by the refusal
of the Young Communist League
to accept a sound basis for such a
demonstration. The bid for the
united front came not from the
Young Communist League but
from a conference called by the
Young Peoples Socialist League, in
which the Communist Youth Op-
.. participated. This confer-
as origjiaiiy called to plan
Mitchel Square to
.:tack made by mem-
bers nf the American Legion and
Veterans of F^r^.^r. War- against
several 5 >z.(i picketed a
"dal Day.
■.time, the Trotskyite
youth organization approached the
YPSL with the proposal tl
be a protest
" the deportation of four
sreie expelled
. to Hitler Germany
while attending an international
youth conference.
At the first representative con-
ference held May 5th,
to broaden the purpose erf
the '•'■ chief
war and
.■ the
' craal Youth Daywas J h,s was . P re «ded by two weeks us whenever difficulties arise
abandon the united front and °^." lt . ens ' vc agitation. In all this tlic political movement as well, if
it decided that a coir ■ make more difficult future efforts a .K' ta, ' on ' meetings and demonstra- we except the National Congress
to the Y(i. on May j at genuine united fronts. our people took a leading and which is today effectively stiopres-
•- a joint demonstra- There will he two <*«««««+*«««» prominent part. It can be said Bed by the government, we always
tion on May 30th with all tm 30th Th* ^tS^iS I wltnout exaggeration that the occupy the front position. Be-
above a ., . 7, T . r '-. : t - „;„ ^ J »«nuniBt the day wag due to us sides Bombay our comrades arc
The YP pwpoS I in U ■ -v " ^bapate „, | arge measure. Our people also I also very active in Baroda, Dhulia,
.. ovfeo juenaonstration participated in the demonstrations Karachi, Calcutta, Cawnporc, Ma-
have r> caraJp fC i\T' J ? ^l '" Poon ** Sbolapur and Calcutta. dras, etc. At Poona our comrades
<n wa ave, ana ivm St, Previous to tin* there was an Nation,
ism" that classic mine of realistic
Bolshevik tactics. Yet the author
is not above trying to father upon
Lenin (in indirect and foxy fashion,
to be sure), the notorious "united
front from below"!!
That Trotsky comes in for rough
treatment is to be expected consid-
ering the official character of the
book. But the grounds on which it
participated in the conference. The
conference unanimously decided to :
have a general strike of all the
textile workers before May First.
Our group took a leading part in
holding the conference, shaping its
policy and making it successful. A
united front has been established
, , with the official group on the spe-
demand the presence of com- cific issue of the general strike.
rades who defend the Leninist j It is working well at Sholapur .
line as opposed to the present 1 where a general strike of textile J , s ^ one > are nothing short of scan-
leadership." j workers is going on for more than J alo " s - The Historical role played
The CPO in Asch called a di- | three weeks. The official group is JW Trotsky in the upsurge of the
strict conference in connection ; in a dominating position there. ^ ussian Revolution is well known
with this appeal at which a speaker One of our comrades is also active !» v a11 - His niche there is secure.
of the CPO reported on the Irn- ! there and has excellent standing .Whatever differences one may have
mediate Tasks of the Party. .among the workers. Wlth j 11 " 1 to-day (or with him in
* * „ * * * his formative period), however
j sharply one can condemn his pres-
lent political activities (4th Inter-
Now about our day to day work, national) one can't sleight-of-hand
We exert decisive influence in the away his positive achievement dur
Dock Workers Union, Lorry mg: the Russian Revolution. Noi
rsnQnrirt Wnrk-frc Lninn H^u-l-. _,a=_" 1 j?_ _i__- i fi_i_if
can official factional scribbling
change the facts one iota. It is
certainly a strain on one's credulity
to be told on the one hand that
Trotsky's military activity was an
objective obstacle to the develop-
ment of the fight, as to be told on
the other, that "Lenin began to
rely chiefly on Stalin in military
Workers Union Under our j questions" "(p .285). Such obvious
influence there arc also the pro- | distortions effectively destroy any
vincial committees of the All-India ; claim to historical objectivity,
trade Union Congress and the
Bombay Provincial Working Class 1 Other weak spots there are.
L " There is no point in cataloguing
Party, which counts within
ranks most of the militant trade
unionists in Bombay.
* * *
Activity In Many Centers
We arc always among the first
to take up any agitation or move-
ment on any concrete specific is-
sues however small or big. Work-
rs therefore instinctively turn to
In
them all. One particularly crass
one however, ought to be mention-
ed. It must require a tremendous
lack of revolutionary instinct as
well as a lack of knowledge to
be able to compare Lenin with
Lincoln: "Lenin was made in the
mold of Lincoln." No two men
could be more different, both in
their individual make up as well as
their political attitudes and activ-
ities.
In short, as I said before, the
biography of Lenin still remains a
task for the future. The work of
Fox has value, only as a warning
to future navigators over the same
course as to roads they should
avoid.
JIM CORK