THE MILITANT LaborFaces Yearof Fightto Live Published Twice a Month by the Communist League of America Opposition)
VOL. IV, No. (Whole No. 61. NEW YORK, JANUARY 15, 1931 PRICE CENTS 1 our 169. A New «Relapse into Trotskyism» in Russia dispatch to the New York Times of January The American working class faces the (see the statistical table printed below) ember 1, 1930 as compared with 87, 073. from the bourgeoisie. As to the workers year 1931 with heavy losses behind it and Highly significant are not only the com 680, 423 or 63. 06 per share, for 1, 048, 359, 362 who are hit by these events, their struggle with long, hard and militant struggles in posite figures, which are comprehensive shares on October 1, 1929. While the num bears a very distinct class character but front of it, if it is to resist successfully the enough, but also those for machine tool or ber of shares has risen by about 250, 000, 000, the tasks before them are concentrated on savage onslaught against in the future.
ders, which Dr. Haney terms barometric. their value as a whole has fallen by close an entirely different front.
In one of the country foremost bourgeois The difference there is one of more than to 33, 000, 000, 000 within the last year or To think that the capitalist system has economic reviews, we read: 95 points between November 1929 and Nov to nearly one half their value per share. We estimate that the current rate of already reached the precipice, however, is ember 1980, with 1926 as normal or 100. In banking, outstanding credit has been annual income of all workers, exclusive of utter self deception. The flight of American To predict a quick recovery on the basis reduced by 5, 000, 000, 000. Fully those in agriculture and Federal employ, is of these figures capital to foreign enterprises, the opening beyond all reason. Even 16, 000, 000, 000 to 18, 000, 000, 000 of approximately 35 billion dollars, as comup of the Chinese market by a stabilization the rise in automobile production is char. member bank funds continue tied up in of the silver standard in the Orient (in pared with a peak rate in 1929 of about acterized as of doubtful significance. loans on securities and investments.
which American capitalists are taking the 44. billion. This represents a decline of In our opinion, consumer purchasing power With the results that: Fallures of banks initiative. further rationalization home billion, or 21. per cent. The most sev payrolls, Ed. has been so reduced that in the in 1930 were more than double and above all the extension of layoffs and ere reductions have occurred in the building automobile producers must remain close in number and more than four times geater wage cuts, these are the ways by which and metal trades. In manufacturing indusstricken capitalist economy is attempting a tries, unusually severe declines have been Nov. Oct. Nov. Oct.
registered in most branches of textiles and High Low solution. The degree of their success or 1930 1930 1929 Iron and steel, and in lumber, leather, brick 1929 1929 1927 fallure depends in very great part, upon and tile, glass, brass and bronze, automo Manuf. Products the militancy of the American workers.
83. 86. 105. 117. 128. 99. biles, agricultural implemente, electrical Employment 76. 79. 95. 98. 101. 93. The official organ of the labor skates, equipmert, pianos and organs, rubber pro Automobile Prod.
61. 51. 98. 130. 175. 61. who only last year sang eulogles of the ducts and automobile tires.
Machine Tool Orders 49. 71. 145. 254. 305. 103. bosses and their rugged American IndividThe Deeline in Workers Income Sales, Finished Steel 60. 78. 82. 127. 92. ualism (for workers only) concluding This decline in the workers income is Unfilled Orders 70. 88. 86. 97. 75. class truces with them and lulling labor into hardly transitional. As was pointeil out in Stocks Manuf. Goods 123. 118. 119. 113. 116. inaction, reports with alarm. the last issue of the Militant, it is the exWholesale Sales 77. 85. 98, 102. 103. 92. Figures for dividend payments of all pression of a definite trend in boss class Dept. Store Sales 98. 102. 108. 112. 114. 104. corporations for 11 months of 1930 were strategy and has only reached the first Payrolls 73. 77. 102. 109. 112. 99. above 1929 by 346, 600, 000 11 percent.
stages development. With the fall in Composite 72. 78. 104. 131. 151. 93. Adding interests payment to dividends, the the purchasing power of the masses, the figures are 7, 287, 600 for 11 months in 1930 economic crisis continues to deepen. According to the bourgeois statisticians, business reefed during the first half of 1931. This against 6, 882, 300, 000 for the same period in liabilities than in 1929. With the numabysmally low ebb of production in the basic in 1929, an increase of 405, 300, 300.
has dropped about 30 percent below norber of failures as 934 and the liabilities as Standard Statistics estimates the decreased in mal. Despite all of Hoover optimism, industries, combined with the perpetual, can 908, 157, 788 ompared wit olving wage payments in all industries this year despite the promises of the politicians and cerous agrarian crisis has had similarly dis 218, 796, 562 in 1929 (Report by Dun has been 8, 800 million. American Fedthe mockery of the buy now campaigns, astrous reverberations on the stock market. and Co. sales have descended to new lows, regardThe World Almanac for 1921 tells us that: erationist, January, 1931.
The failure of the Bank of the at less of the continuous downward curve of The Bank Failures But are the bureaucrats of the of the end of the year was by no means a commodity prices. Total listings (on the Stock Exchange) thinking of struggle even now? Hardly.
culminating point in the process. On the An extremely interesting computation increased nearly one third at 1, 296, 845, 244 They merely ask, in the voice of the timid, contrary, it was simply proof that the big. boot licking lackeys that they are, whether has been made by Dr. Lewis Haney of shares, had a market value of 55, 025, 710, 617 ger banks would not escape the ravages of the profits of the recent prosperity have the Bureau of Business Research or an average of 42. 43 per share, on Novthe crisis and that the future will further been wisely spent. They whiningly plead undermine their solvency. Washington that pittances granted to the workers from these profits would be a sustaining force 8, states: not only to business but to the social stanIn the course of the last four weeks, a confused conception. The daily average volume of Federal dards (sic. of our whole nation.
Pravda has once more been devoting great In the nucleus of the Centrosoyuz also, Reserve credit outstanding during the week While the labor fakers strive to keep attention to Trotskyism. which has al all is not in good order. Pravda of Decem ending Jan. 7, as reported by the Federal down the proletariat by their zealous serlegedly been dead and buried for some time.
ber 12 speaks of the necessity of uprooting Reserve banks, was 11, 355, 000, 000, a decrease vices to the bosses, the task of the ComPravda in recent days regretfully establishes all the symptoms of the disease. This time of 44, 000, 000 compared with the preceding munists is to expose them and to rally the the fact that the new Oppositionists come it is comrade Ignatiev, the nucleus secretary week and of 220, 000, 000 compared with the workers for struggle by broad united front forward the most part under the banner of Trotsky. that the struggle must be way. Pravda prints the title: The Leadwho is raked over the coals in the usual corresponding week in 1930.
on a basis of immediate demands such as The shrinkage of credits extended by the thirty hour week without wage cuts, conducted unremittingly against the relapses ership of the Centrosoyuz Nucleus under the the Federal Reserve Board, coupled with recognition and credits to the Soviet Union, into Trotskyism. etc.
Fire of Self Criticism.
the tie up in funds in loans on securities social insurance paid by the bosses and We will only set down a few quotations.
The inspector of a whole district in the and in investments involves a whole sertheir government. The organization of real Pravda of December 12 says: It has been Donetz Basin openly defends, at a party ies of new bank crashes very shortly, and mass unemployment councils on an indusdiscovered. that in the nucleus of the meeting, the opinions of Trotsky and de all the attempts of the government to extrial basis, uniting the workers and the Jobshoe factory The Paris Commune in Mosclares that the general line of the party is ecute mergers, to intensity control, to force less must be carried out without the methcow, the bureau, including the chairman of wrong. Pravda speaks of counter revolu through a system of separate thrift acods of mechanical control which only serve the trade union section and all the other re to tion in the party and other things counts and restrict loans, as well as all bort hem.
The main danger to the sponsible party functionaries, was composed of the same stripe. Many comrades. exper other preventive measures of a similar narevolutionary movement lies in a relapse of former Trotskyists. number of names ienced as old militants of the party, who ture, are bound to hit against the wall of into opportunism, so illuminatingly revealed are cited. So, despite the capitulations and still occupy responsible posts declare openly inner contradictions of the profit system, by the recent election and petition camrecognitions of the general line. the workin conversations that comrade Trotsky was especially aggravated by the crisis.
paigns of the Stalinists, who today pretend ers in The Paris Commune have once more right in his criticism of the internal régime to advance the Communist party. broad succumbed to the counter revolutionary It is the duty of the Communists to in the party, in the question of the rhythms united front led by the Communists must Trotskyists! Or is it perhaps a question of of industrialization and collectivization, point out these developments and their con unfold the defensive of the workers and petty bourgeois who retreat before difficulthat one can hardly breathe in the party.
sequences, as well as to propagate them. To train them in collective struggle for class ties. that the old cadres of the party are being compete with bourgeois demagogues in or. solidarity and the successful offensive. Terrible Traitor ganizing the petty bourgeois bank depositors Pravda of December 18: long, twodestroyed while the youth is not being edufor the struggle around their bank books cated in the Marxist spirit, that the whole column article declares that the nucleus of the Communist Academy at Leningrad construggle has long ago ceased to have a political character and revolves solely around tre petty and futile property instincts as is beceals many opportunists. There are today, recognition of the infallible leader Stalin.
ing done so disgracefully by the official ComEver since the beginning of the present for instance, still eight members who pre munist party leadership is to make a caricrisis, the capitalist politicians, the capitalsented a resolution in which they declare Rykov is liquidated. None of his capi cature of revolutionary tasks, and to com ist press and the government have been conthat the Central Committee and Pravda are tulations did him any good. Bucharin has promise Communism in the eyes of the classducting a fierce attack on working class or responsible for the mistakes of recent left his partisans in the lurch. Hundreds conscious workers. The task of Communists ganizations and particularly against their times. At the voting, five others, besides of them have been driven out of the party. in respect to the small bourgeoisie, is to press. The Fish Committee was the official the eight who voted in favor. abstained.
Radek is loyal, but Stalin is very conserva explain and convince them of the absolute signal for the campaign. Thus far we have Pravda treats them as conciliators. It aptive in his conceptions and does not want inevitability of the collapse of capitalism.
witnessed serious attacks on the flanks of pears that rector of same Academy.
continued on page the Communist movement. The Right wing Politically, to neutralize and detach them Uvarov, wrote a book The Economic Policy Revolutionary Are Vida Obrera, Spanish of the Soviet State. which, in its 179 pages, organ of the Communist Party, The Young does not as much as make the slightest atWorker, official paper of the Communist tack against the Right. certain comrade Youth League, and the Liberator of the AmKurotskin catches the fact and mark youerican Negro Labor Congress, have all been Kurotskin is expelled from the university banned from the mails within recent months.
for that and is jeered at as the most vulgar EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT JANUARY 17: Fish and the government patrioteers are of traitors.
at the Labor Temple The Present Crisis. What Next?
organizing anti Communist meetings, preparNow, after the central bodies have ining the mob spirit against the Reds, calling 14th Street and Second Avenue Speaker: ARNE SWABECK tervened, the nucleus has once more been for the ruthless suppression of Communistic Admission 250 obliged to correct its errors.
Come Early propaganda, etc. The entire revolutionary Another comrade. Belov (of the same JANUARY 24: labor press is under fire. All class conscious Unemployed admitted tree upon presenta The Theory of the Permanent workers must come to the defense of their Academy) declares in an article that the tion of Unemployed Council card.
party undertook the attack against the capipapers and join actively in the fight againn talist elements only in the recent period. Auspices: New York branch of the ComRevolution the threats and reprisals of the This justified reproach is called by Pravda inunist League of America (Opposition. Speaker: MAX SHACHTMAN ernment.
and grocery stores, by inflaming all their Hoover Attacks Labor Press OPEN FORUM