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Trotsky: Soviet Economy FAGE THE Weekly Organ of the Communist League of America (Opposition Vol. III, No. 11 Telephone: DRYdock 1656 NEW YORK, Saturday, March 15, 1930 PRICE CENTS MARCH AND AFTER London Naval Naval Debacle Gold and God United calling for varity wien France. This preAgainst Soviets The unemployment demonstrations on March 6th which, particularly in New York, Detroit and other industrial centers, assumed huge proportions, have proved in irrefutable language that unemployment is a living 188ue in the United States. They The collapse of the London Naval Con of the conference would be to lay the smashed the conspiracy of the rulins class terence, coming on the heels of the fall of plans for an alliance of the powers against to deny or minimize the unemployment the French cabinet, bears out all conten the Soviet Union. In the veginning, it crisis and sent them scurrying for meations of the impossibility of the imperial was clear that nothing could be achieved sures of amelioration and fear of the comIsts even to pretend at limitation of arma in the way of diminishing construction and ing storm They proved that issues which ments. The attempt to mask itself as an reduction of armaments, and that the con directly affect the iffe interests of the apostle of peace for the world was a farce; ference would reach a blind alley in a masses are the ones which rouse them. The the conference was made up purely of the short while.
demonstrations compelled reformists of leading imperialist powers. to the exclu These views have been substantiated. the socialist party and a section of the sion of all others. The issue of parity For over two weeks, the conference has trade union movement who up till now strength proved to be not one of reduction, lapsed. The pacifists and the Conference have done little but echo the Hoover probut, on the contrary, one of increased con attempt to lay the blame for this on the nouncements, to come forward with indestruction of naval armaments.
collapse of the French cabinet. While this pendent proposals in an attempt to take We have all along pointed out the im 1s a factor, It does not eliminate the fact over the leadership of the unemployed possibility of the capitalist powers to that the whole conference was leading to a masses.
attempt to solve and patch up their differ point where its further deliberations would On the other side, the March 6th unences through conferences and negotiations. be checked.
employment demonstrations were the sigWe said further that the London conferIssues at the Conference nal for unloosing an unprecedented police ence was actually a session of the leading At the beginning of the conference, brutality against the workers; a new capitalist powers, Jockeying for advantages the following conditions were the basis for wave of incitement by the capitalist press in the world political arena, and preparing the negotiations. The parity ratio be against the Communist organizers of the their allies in preparation of an impending tween the United States and England. The movement; an attempt to bury the issue conflict. Furthermore, it was obvious from demand for increased parity on the part ot of unemployment under a Red Scare. the outset that one of the main objectives Japan from the original proposal of 5 and an attempt to frame up the arrested to 10 10 The demand of France for a leaders in short a general offensive of tonnage of 724, 000 tons, and Italy position the ruling class and the government designed to lay the basis for again outlawing sented the curious picture of a disarma the Communist movement. The New York ment conference with a prograin of in capitalist papers, including the pseudo libcreased naval construction, eral Telegram, are crying with one voice The various issues during the first for the rigorous prosecution of the arres Church of Wall St. Shows 1, 462, 340 month of the conference whether or not ted Communists, who insisted that the Income Last Year. Trinity reports 15, 000, battleships should be expunged from ná right to parade the streets, always enjoyed 000 Realty Assets 16, 923, 956.
val service, whether submarines were hu without question by reactionary elements, With these headlines the Wall St. Jour. mane instruments during war, etc. were should be taken for one day by the workers.
mal introduces a story on the increasing only confusing and played their part in The unemployment movement, which on capital owned by Trinity Church Corp. of delaying the discussion of disarmnment. March 6th marked a rise in the militancy New York Episcopal Church of They allowed for timo so that the various of the masses, remains a defensive movewhich Wm. Manning, now bishop of powers could obtain information on their ment in the face of a continuing and inNew York was formerly rector, is the opponents strength, tensified capitalist offensive.
wealthiest single parish in America. But The real obstacie remains unsolved other organizations in this denomination and in other churches boast of investments, ticipants? On this there is unanimous dissteadily increasing in amount rolling up agreement. While United States and Enginto millions of dollars. The 17, 000, 000 of land apparently agree to parlty the reTrinity parish is only a small fraction of maining countries continue to disagree the total.
unless their commands are granted. France, WASHINGTON In a public statement So when Bishop Manning called upon which today has taken the place of pre war on tho history of the so called American all religious bodies to join in a day of Germany as the outstanding militarized na. treaty with Haiti, which never was ratified prayer as a protest against Soviet policy, tion, insists that her freedom and interwhen secretly negotiated in 1917, the Patrithe Friends of the Soviet Union arranged ests demand a naval tonnage of 725, 000 otic Union of Halti demands that American for the same date a demonstration against tons, to be built for the most part by 1936.
imperialism shall get out of Haiti and the capitalist preparations for war on the This means that France, in a short period, rid the country of military occupation.
Soviet Union under the guise of a religious would have one of the largest and most We denounce the Act of 1917, says campaign. The crusade of the churches modern navles in the world. Netither the the Union. We protest its invocation beagainst Soviet Russia, according to the United States, England, nor Japan agree fore the civilized world, before the Confriends of the workers government, is a to this. Japan on the other hand refuges, gress of the United States, before capitalist crusade against a socialist re on the basis that she is an Island nation. Investigating Committee, before President public. The pope and Bishop Manning, lead to reduce her tonnage, and Italy continues Hoover.
ing the crusade, not only represent two of to insist on parity with France, to allow To critics who might add revolution. the richest religious bodies in the world, protection of her interests in the Mediterwe say: Let it not be a repetition of the but also represent propertied interests, ranean Sea. Both France and Japan refuse Aux Cayes affair, where innocent men, woJ. Morgan, Wall St, and organized cap to liquidate their submarine fleets, which men and children were slaughtered by ital, the critics say.
are the backbone of their smaller naval United States marines.
That American property holdings of strength against both the United States Hoover has been in omce now one the churches have vastly increased in reand England. The above was the condition prior to the opening of the conference, and year, but military rule in Haiti remains cent years is revealed by the latest as betore on which the conference today has lapsed The masses of Haiti are just as cengus figures on religious bodies. Church because of its fallure to even make initial determined in their demand for freedom bulldings are now valued at 3, 842, 500, 000 progress.
from the economic, political and military as compared with 1, 676, 600, 000 in 1916.
bondage of imperialism. The HooThese billions pay no taxes.
Each of the naval powers, demand sever Committeo investigates and of course Moro than 50 denominations reported curlty and are willing. for reduction does nothing. The Haitian masses continue property valued at over 1, 000, 000, 000. SII It the other begins it. That no progress to protest the American occupation through (Continued on Page Continued on Page demonstration and other MLAUTAN The March 6th demonstrations whic!
brought a period of preliminary agitatior to a point, represent a beginning in the work of organizing the defensive struggle of the masses on 18gues which go to the very heart of their daily lives. It is nec essary now to arrive at a realistic estima.
tion of the actual strength of the unem.
ployment movement, and the influence of the Communists upon it, in preparation for the next stages of the struggle. The spectacular demonstrations, magnificent as they were in many respects, are not, standing by themselves, alone a sufficient guide for this estimation. Scarehead newspaper publicity concentrated public attention on these events in such a way as to insure a big attendance in any case.
The question of how many were dem.
onstrators, how many passive sympathzers, and how many merely curious spec.
tators, cannot be easily answered. It is self evident that enormous numbers belon: to latter two categories. Το classify all who appeared at the demon.
strations as real participants in the movement for rellet of the unemployed wowd be an obylous mistake on which profound illusions would be based. Subsequent stages of development and the various forms it will necessarily take, will provide the criteria for measuring the extent of the actual movement.
This development must now take tho form of organizing the forces set into motion, of consolidating and extending their strength. The success of this work depende on the further course of the economio bit uation in the first place, and on the tactics of the Communists in the second. These questions stand in the center of the revolutionary task.
Unemployment ermanent Phenomenor Unemployment has become a permanen phenomenon of American capitalism. Ever such a cautious economic writer as Stuan Chase estimated 3, 000, 000 unemployed an the height of the Hoover prosperity in 1929 While exact figures on the present situ.
ation are not obtainable, there is plents of ground for the assumption that the flg.
ure today stands at twice that number This is a powerful force undermining the structure of American capitalism. Moreover the effect of unemployment on the workers is cumulative. As the savings and credits of the unemployed workers are ex.
hausted and other resources and devices are used up, they become faced more and more with the stark problem of subsistence. Neither police clubs nor prosperity propaganda con do away with it. It is true that American capitalism bas enormous resources at its disposal a fact which must not be forgotten. These resources give possibility It they are fully extended of ameliorating some of the most acute phases of unemployment, but they cannot reach the essential problem. Unemployment is a permanent cancer gnawing at the vitals of American capitalism.
The ensuing period will give the possibility of guaging the strength and tempo of the movement and of organizing it accordingly. The series of protect meetings against the arrests and police brutal(Continued on Page 2)
what shall be the naval rattos of the par Haitians Demand End of Wall St. Rule