17. AAA Duruay, may T, Jon Our National Tour The Convention Nears New York Begins with a Successful Meeting Despite the threatening weather and in dispute in the Communist movement.
brief rain, close to three hundred New Considerable literature was sold and a York workers filled the labor Temple on collection of over 500. 00 taken.
May 15 to hear comrade Max Shachtman Mass meetings on the same subject are report on the revolutionary movement in being arranged in other cities, and the Europe, the International Conference of schedule of the tour is printed below. Halls the Left Opposition in Paris, and his visit and adresses will be filled in as soon as to comrade Trotsky in Turkey. The local arrangements are made: meeting was the first since Shachtman New Haven, Friday, May 30.
return from Europe, and it led off the na Philadelphia, Saturday, May 31, Hantional tour which has been arranged by the cock Hall, 814 Girard Ave.
the Communist League branches through Boston, Sunday, June 1, branch out the country.
meeting. Monday, June 2, mass meeting at Speaks op Five Year Plan 62 Chambers Street.
The speaker gave a detailed picture of Montreal, Tuesday, June the present critical situation in the Soviet Toronto, Wednesday Thursday, June Union and the viewpoint of comrade Trot 5.
sky, as well as an account of the big step Hamilton, Friday, June frward taken by the Left Opposition at its Detroit, Saturday Sunday, June 8.
International Conference in Paris. His Chicago, Monday Tuesday Wednesdayanalysis of the status and prospects of the Thursday, June 10 11 12.
Five Year Plan was attentively followed Minneapolis, St. Paul, Superior, Fridayby the whole audience, which included nu Saturday Sunday Monday Tue May, Juge merous Party members and Lovestoneltes. 13 14 15 16, 17.
Questions were asked and answered Kansas City, Thursday Friday Saturday and an interesting discussion took place. June 19 20 21.
One Party member who made the usual St. Louis, Sunday Monday, June 22 23. exposure of Trotskyism was effectively Springfield, Tuesday, June 24.
answered from the platform.
Cleveland, Wednesday Thursday, June During his remarks, the chairman, 25 26.
comrade Cannon, isuued a challenge to the Pittsburgh, Friday Saturday, June 37.
Lovestone faction, which has suddenly be 28.
come the champion of open discussion to All information on the tour can be seA public debate of the principle questions cured from 25 Third Avenue, New York.
After the May Day Meeting in Boston In the Party by. he threat of expulsion. And the members do not want to be expelled. They are staying inside the Party and waiting for better days to come. All the letters sent out to Party members calling for Our Communist Party convention is scheduled to open June 20 in New York.
the most insignificant meeting, carry with By now, the pre convention discussion them the warning that if the comrade does should have been in full swing in the press not attend he will be called before the conas well as in the Party units. The wbole trol commission. And, by the way, this Party, every member should have been astir is now the busiest institution in the Party.
with the issues and problems confronting The control commission, created originally us. And the problems are many indeed.
for the curbing of bureaucratic abuses by That they deserve discussion, or require cratus, has long forgotten its orelucidation, nobody will deny. in a very iginal aim, and become a whip against short period we succeeded to expel from heresy and for spurring up activity by the Party two oppositions, we left behind threats.
the second period. and triumphantly entered the third and final period. the To cite some examples of this pas period of wars and revolution. Now is sivity: At the last general fraction meeting the Cime to make some summaries, to draw of the needle trades at which the future of the union was discussed there was no more some conclusions. After all it was a big jump to take and a very abrupt one. It was than one eighth of the members present.
virtually overnight that the historic periods This is the statement made by the chairOut of 550 Party memwere declared changed. Now is the time man, Benjamin to count our losses and gains. How many bers listed in the building trades, there broke their necks in the process? How were no more than 55 members present at many were left behind and are still ling the last general fraction meetings. cite ering around in the daze of the second these examples because that is where the period. Or can we put the questions difbulk of the New York membership is. This ferently: How did our policies for this is the eloquent manner in which the mem period of wars and revolution fare? bers participate in the Party discussion This is the time to take stock. But there and Party life in general.
is nothing of the kind.
In one short year we created a wideTHE WEEK spread net of industrial revolutionary unions, that should make anybody green (Continued from page 1)
with envy. As a district representative anti Soviet bloc and nothing else. These expressed it at my fraction meeting: Anypolitical bankrupts are reducing the Comone not joining the will be exmunist movement, as comrade Trotsky puts pelled from the Party. Our unions now it, to the role of a frontier guard.
exist in every field of industry and there can be no excuse on that score. vlasn A Tearful Appeal any numbed an. vbgkgj cmfwypcmfwyp story to tell in connection with this great The Berlin session of the executive committee of the Second International has kask that was accomplished? Isn this com thing to boast about? Or is modesty just issued an appeal to the Russian workrequirement of the third period?
ers. Its warmth should melt a stone.
Passivity and Indifference Messrs. Bauer, Hillquit, Mueller, VanderSo far nobody has contributed anything velde, Longuet and MacDonald are perturbed by the Russian situation and appeal to the pre convention discussion. This in to the Soviet proletariat to preserve their Itselt is a very alarming sign. The whole revolutionary honor and achievements.
Party membership is permeated with a by giving democracy a chance. The appeal leeling of apathy and passivity. And no should have been concrete and proposed wonder. To write the convention theses, Herr Comrade Zoergiebel for Moscow Chief 3edacht was sent to Moscow. There was of Police, the Honorable Comrade Thomas lobody literate enough left in the Party for Minister of Labor, and the Most Hono draw up the theses. The consequence is able Ramsay MacDonald as Premier, Then hat no one can open his mouth in criticism the Russian workers would know what of them. To criticise the theses is to democracy looks like. It should be emfriticize the Coinintern but that is the phasized that the Second International is reatest of heresies for which the axe of concerned with the welfare of the poor expulsion descends. The same applies to Russian slave of the Bolshevik autocracyhe policy of abandoning the old unions ind the creation of a number of Indus appeal to the British and Indian workers so concerned, in fact that it forgot to rial unions on paper unions with long to overthrow the government of comrade iamas, wide jurisdiction, very revolutionMacDonald which is shooting them full of try programs, but with only one thing missocial democratic lead. Just an oversight, sing members. If anyone objects to this policy there is no way to express it unless we presume.
he is ready to be kicked out of the Party.
For isn it a decision of the Fourth Worla In the Factories Congress and Sixth Plenum of the ro talk against that is heresy once more. Letter From Moscow Tacts no longer matter, the crying reallles of a situation are meaningless, that We are informed from Moscow: nagic word third period is the all pow At the factory committee elections of srful, most convincing explanation. When the metal workers, the following demands somebody dares to suggest timidly that it were put forth: genuine and not bureauwas exactly this kind of tactice that Lenin cratic elections, genuine self criticism.
ridiculed so convincingly in his pamphlet Various crafts brought up demands for on the trade unions or his book on in wage increases, improvement of the food, lantile sickness, the answer is that Lenin and an increase in the allotment. These did not write it in the third period. demands arise spontaneously and nobody What is left for the members to dis leads the movement. Alongside of this, cuss? How much remains within the limits there is evident an increase in counterof legal expression. Evidently not a revolutionary moods. In connection with single issue, where the matter of prin the one man command there is sharp disciples or tactics is involved. The result is satisfaction, It often rises to the survery lamentable. Policies are handed down face. At the Red Rubber Plant the worker from the top. nobody dares to express his came out at the conference in the name disagreement openly, but the indifference of a whole group, with a demand to limit nevertheless accumulate and express them the rights of the mans and foremen.
selves in the passivity and apathy on the As is customary, this group was raked part of Party members, over the coals and deninced as lazy, Meetings Unattended trouble makers, etc. and they were exThis is evidenced in every sphere of pelled, some from the Party, some from party life. The most important meetings the unions and some from both. In the tre not attended, work assigned is not car Erutyrki prison, there are about 200 of our Hed out, and whatever is done is achieved comrades (Oppositionists. BOSTON of Boston and nearby branches of the The First of May demonstration of the Independent Workmen Circle was called Communist party in Boston was quite weil last Tuesday to evaluate the results of attended but proved that the big crowd of the fight with the Stalinists who had left 25, 000 on March was a curiosity, excite the organization start their own Sick ment seeking crowd gathered as a result Benefit organization. Their boast was that of tho shoutir of the talist pres that they would take hall of the members with a big fight was expected on the Common them. Up to the present time about 1200 between the police and the Communists. or 1400 have let the that is, While the police still kept up their idiotic about one seventh of the membership and preparation for an uprising (claiming that some of these have returned already.
they were guarding all important places As one of the speakers pointed out like the telephone exchange, railroad sta that we should not have been fooled by the tions, etc. the papers did not feature the slogan taken by the Stalinists, that this First of May on the front page Thus only is a fight of the Lefts against the Right the regular crowd of 3, 000 to 5, 000 people, Many comrades were misled by it. It wag which the Communists usually can gather, really a fight of the Communist party came this time in somewhat larger num officials against a Left wing organization, bers because of the present unemployment. a foolish, childish fight for they only allenHarry Cantor, just released from ated people who had always supported Deer Island was the main speaker.
His them. In trying to get mechanical control eight months martyrdom was not played up over a Left wing organization, they made at all. While one speaker dramatically instead an enemy of it. We are the same pointed out the sufferings of a person au Left wingers; we believe in revolutionary Deer Island even during the fifteen minute class struggle; we are for the dictatorship period, he did not think it necessary to of the proletariat; we all are supporting say that the chairman suffered there for Soviet Russia; we are against the Party the last eight months. Obviously, since the only on the ground of its tactics. OtherStephens affair, the Party does not want wise we will keep up our Left wing work.
to push Harry Cantor too much. They Hearty applauso from the majority of the probably do not know whether they really executives present proved that expressed can trust Cantor. It seems no one trusts their views.
another any more in the Party, There was a time when Branch 18, The smaller number of people at this was entirely under mechanical demonstration perhaps helped to cure the Party rule. Trotskyists like myself could Party members of their grandiose illusions not speak there. Now, after losing nine or which the March demonstration developed ten members, Branch 18 invited me as to such a dangerous degree. Then they speaker for the May Day celebration. This saw 50, 000 people where average people is significant in proving how the Communist could see only 15 and 20, 000. They claimed Party has lost valuable ground, 25, 000 marching on the streets of Boston Comrade Schlossburg was invited to where my eyes could see only 200. They re speak on May for Eranch 27, ported to the Daily Worker the next day see March Issues) that a Alght was going on on the Common but the workers are still holding the Common which is a huge joke to every Bostonian.
This time, they claimed 15, 000 around All readers of the Militant and their the bandstand. This is not so grossly friends, who desire to get their copy of exaggerated; a comrade well used to large of Leon Trotsky, My Life. should make it crowds estimated it as 5, 000 and those a point to order the bokk directly through marching from the bandstand to the Charles the Militant. Shipment will be made the Street Mall as 2, 000 to 3, 000 while the Daily day the order is received, and the cost of Worker claimed 5, 000. The differences be the book, five dollars. 00. covers the tween imaginary numbers and real ones are postage charge. Send your order, together not as striking as on March So the with money order or cash to comrades of the Party are learning.
THE MILITANT meeting of the executive committee 25 Third Avenue, New XY. MY LIFE York THE MILITANT, Vol. III, No. 21, May 24, 1930 Published weekly by the Com mudist League of America (Opposition) at 25 Third Avenue, New York, Subeription rate: 00 per year; foreign 50. Five cents per copy. Bundle rates, cents per copy. Editorial Board: Martin Abera, James Cannon, Max Shachtman, MouIce Spector, Arne Swabeck. Entered as second class mall matter November 28, 1928, at the Post Office at New York, Y, under the act of March 1979. IN