Seasonal Improvement. Where? Weekly by July1 Montreal 46 TROTSKY The Revolution in Spain a The Question of Trade Union Unity we NO The hope of American capitalism in wage cuts. But this plan to institue wage (Continued from page 1)
pect every comrade to do more than the the Spring period to indicate definite signs cuts is actually in effect today, and the the Militant by increasing by dozens and of a return from the crisis appears shat tendency has been increasing since the secshare assigned to him. We print below the hundreds the number of our subscribers.
tered, now that this period has come and ond half of the year 1930. The following latest additions to the Expansion Program Every one of our comrades must concengone with but a scant rise and an immedi figures of the Standard Statistics Corpora trate upon obtaining the argest possible Fund. It must be increased rapidly. The ate recession. The decline of industry tion indicate the process in this direction. number of subscriptions so that our Sub.
pledge fund must be maintained. The reached the lowest point in the crisis, at 1930 Drive may be brought to a successful con Weekly WILL be established: it MUST be the end of January, when the index stood No. of Wage Cats clusion.
maintained; it CAN be done.
at 74. While this is not the lowest posi 1st Quarter 25 20. 00 tion of industry in the economic history of 2nd 60 These pre requisites are far from dif Minneapolis 38. 00 the country. according to the Annalist. the 3rd 110 ficult to achieve.
2, 000 They are the minimum year 1892, with an index of 72. 0, is the New York 4th 335 and they can and will be done. The New 25. Saul)
lowest point. it marks the worst crisis York branch has already gone on record Kansas City 33. 00 experienced by United States capitalism Total 530 to increase its efforts towards the end of 1, 750 Rust 00 since its appearance as an imperialist pow The available figures for 1931 shows establishing and maintaining the Weekly.
Philadelphia 00 er.
that the first quarter of this year will The other branches, we are confident, and New York Seasonal Rise Slight prove higher than the entire year of 1930. all of our sympathizers, will follow this ex(Berman) 10. 00 ample.
In January of this year the Standard StatThe Spring seasonal 1, 500 upturn was New York istics Corporation estimates 335 wage cuts, slight one. Increased activity wag wit(Friedman) 00 special effort must be made. We exwhile the Dept.
nessed in most industries, but almost all Labor states that New York 260 without exception have again declined, with there were 340 decreases. In addition to (J. Rose) 00 the prospect of a continuation of this de wage cuts, the rise in productivity as New York cline with the coming slack of summer against the rise in wages over the past ten (M. Rose) 00 months. Thus the end of the first quarter years shows the declining position of the New York finds the basic industries in depressed conworking class. The Times, of April 1, 000(A friend) 25. 00 ditions, with a great instability in the 26, 1931, points out that over a period of New York other trades. The steel industry has deten years the increase of productivity was Miller) 00 750 clined steadily and at the time of this writ48. percent. as against an increase of 24. New York ing is working 48 and a half percent. of percent. in real wages, and that for the (Capelis) 00 capacity. This present low steel inyears 1927 20, the rise in the value of manuNew York dicates a similar condition among its chief facturing stood at percent. as against (Lankin) 00 a percent. in wages.
500 customers, namely, automobile and railNew York road. Automobile production dropped to 68. Thus the 1st quarter of 1981 passed. Burns) 00 at the close of April, which marked a deThe crisis continues much to the amaze(Shoemaker) 00 250 cline of 17. points from the December inment of the capitalist economic experts and Chicago 00 dex. Freight car loadings which stood at 80. leaders in Industry who cannot see anything at the end of December, rose slightly dur fundamentally wrong with capitalism.
Total 155. 25 ing the Spring period, and has now also The coming year will see the offensive of 10e ench e in bundles begun a downward curve at the end of capitalism increased on Previously an international March the index was at 77. Bituminous and national scale. For the organization of reported 641. 75 Order from coal production suffered a drop of since counter offensive the Communists must THE MILITANT Total to the beginning of the year, while drops are now prepare themselves. ALBERT GLOTZER, also recorded for electric power production 84 East 10th St. New York, date 707. 00 and the entire metal industry over the same period.
The most illuminating picture of the depth of the crisis exists in the foreign trade balance, which serves as a barometer in estimating the present situation. key(Continued from page 4)
The whole question consists of know country must have access. Simultaneously, note of the crisis is sounded here. In the the courtiers of unity who offer them this ing if the Communist leadership is now the local Unitary organizations address year 1930 a decline two and three quarter shelter. To unmask the splitting work of capable. of effecting such a bold maneuver. themselves to the local reformist organizabillions of dollars was experienced in forThe future will show. But if the party the reformists and the parasitism of the tions with the same proposal, formulated eign trade. This decline continues at an Monattists is one of the most imporand the leadership of the of with precision and concreteness.
identical pace. The figures given below tant and indispensable tasks. The slogan today refuse to follow the advice of the The Communist party develops a broad represent the foreign trade for the first of the unity congress can attribute greatly Ligue which is most probable it may well agitation in the country, supporting and quarters of the years, 1929, 1930 and 1931. to the solution of this task. When the be that they will be obliged to fol explaining the initiative of the Times of April 26, 1931)
low it Monattists speak of unity, they aim this tomorrow.
It is superfluous of The attention of the broadest cirJan. Feb. March Jan. Feb. March that to add slogan against the Communists; when the make fetish of cles of workers, and primarily that of the Exports Imports of will itself propose a road trade union unity. We postpone no ques Confederation workers must for a certain 1929 1, 396, 589, 000 1929 1, 122, 156, 000 It is not to unity, it will deliver a mortal blow to tion of struggle until the unity.
time be concentrated on the simple idea 1930 1, 110, 300, 000 1930 893, 136, 000 the Monattists and will weaken the re a question for us of a panacea, but of a that the Communists propose to realize im1991 697, 543, 000 1931 567, 847, 000 formists. Isn this quite clear?
lesson in specific and important things mediately the organizational unity of the recapitulation of these figures will It is true that we know in advance that which must be taught to the workers who trade union oragnizations. Whatever the show a decline in 1931 of 1, 813, 399, 000 and thanks to the resistance of the reformists, have forgotten or who do not know the attitude of the reformists may be, whatever 738, 040, 000, from the years 1929, and 1930, the slogan of unity will not yield the past.
may be the ruses to which they resort, respectively. Without its penetration and great results at present that would be ob For participation in the unity con the Communists will come out of this camdomination in sphere world econ. tained in the case of a real unity of the gress, we do not of course put any condi paign with profit, even if it is only reomy, the phenomenal growth of capiunion organizations. But a more tions of principle.
duced. for the first time, to a demonstratalism would be unthinkable. It came only limited result, on the condition of a correct When the courtiers of unity, who are tion as a result of its hegemony over interna polley by the Communists, will undoubted not ashamed of cheap phrases. say that The struggle in the name of the united toinal capitalism. Its very progress today ly be achieved. The broad masses of the the united confederation must base itself front does not cease, during this period, depends upon its continued domination of workers will see who is really for unity upon the principle of the class struggle, for a single minute. The Communists conworld economy. The international crisis of and who is against it, and will convince etc. they are doing verbal acrobatics in the time to attack the reformists in the procapitalism however found its reaction in themselves that the services of courtiers interests of the opportunists. As if a ser vinces and in the center, supporting therthe United States; so connected is national are not required. There is no doubt that ious man could ask Jouhaux and Co. to selves upon the growing activity of the economy with international economy. in the long run the Monattists will be re tread, in the name of unity with the Com workers, renewing all their offers of AghtIt is precisely here that American capi duced to nothing, the of will munists, the road of the class struggle ing actions on the basis of the policy of talism inake its most determined efforts to feel itself stronger, and the of which these gentlemen have deliberately the united front, unmasking the reformists, rise out of the crisis. It is of utmost im weaker and more unstable.
abandoned in the name of unity with the strengthening their own ranks, ete. And it portance to remember that the previous up But if that is how matters stand, then bourgeoisie. And just what do these cour may well happen that in six months, in ward march of capitalism and its pre does it not amount not to the realization tiers themselves, all these Monattes, Zyro a year or two, the Communists will be obsent strength lies primarily in its dominant of an effective unity but only to a man mskis and Dumoulins, understand by the liged to repeat again their proposal of fusposition in the world market, and as this enver? This objection cannot frighten us. class struggle. No, we are ready at any ion of the trade union confederations and, condition can only be maintained upon the This is the manner in which the reformists moment stand on the grounds of trade by that. put the reformists in a poslcontinuation that role, we will witness especially evaluate our whole policy of the union unity, not order to correct (with tion that is more difficult than the first the chief attempts of capitalism to united front: they declare that our proposthe aid of charlatan formulae) the mer time.
extricate itself from the crisis by ever als are a maneuver only because they cenaries of capital, but in order to tear The real Bolshevik policy must have more intensified aggression in the field of themselves do not want to lead the strug the workers away from their traitorous inprecisely this character which is at once foreign trade. Comrade Trotsky, in his crit gle.
fluence. The only conditions that we put offensive, hold and maneuverist. It is only icism of the program cf the Communist In It would be entirely false to make any have the character of organizational guarby this rond that the movement can be pre ternational for failure to consider the Uni difference in principle between the policy antees of trade union democracy, first of all served from stagnation, purged of parasitic ted States and its rôle in world capitalism, of the united front and that of the fusion the freedom of criticism for the minority, formations, and the evolution of the workwrote in 1928, that: of the trade union organizations. Provided naturally on the condition that it submits ing class towards the revolution acceler In a critical epoch the hegemony of the that the Communists preserve the complete to trade union discipline. We ask for ated.
United States will prove even more Independence of their party, of their fracnothing else and our part we promise The lesson proposed above has no complete, more open, more ruthless, than tion in the trade unions, of their whole nothing more.
meaning and cannot succeed unless the in a period of boom.
policy, the fusion of the confederations is Let us imagine that the party, even if initiative comes from the of The preparation for this policy is tak nothing but a form of the policy of the not immediately, follows our advice. How and the Communist party. The task of ing place now.
united front, a more extended and broader should the Central Committee act? It the Ligue does not consist, naturally, of With ITS OWN two levers (the inter form. In rejecting our proposal, the re would first of be obliged carefully to advancing independently the slogan of the national lever and the national lever by formists transform it into maneuver. prepare within the party the plan of the unity congress, pitting itself against the which it maintains itself) capitalism is But on our part, it is a legitimate and in campaign, examine it in all the trade Unitary Confederation as well as against the planning to issue from the crisis. At pre dispensable maneuver. it is such man union fractions in accordance with local reformist Confederation. The task of the sent the national lever, that of increasing euvers that train the working masses. trade union conditions, so that the slogan Ligue is to push the official party and the the exploitation of its own working class, of unity might be effectively directed sim of on the road of a bold united is being put to work, and is subjecting the The Executive Committee of the Ligue, ultaneously from above and from below. front policy and to stimulate them on the American working class to increased mis we say again, is entirely correct when it Only after a careful preparation and ela basis of this policy to carry out at a proery and poverty. The slight rise during the urgently repeats that unity of action can boration, after having eliminated all doubts pitious moment and in the future there Spring period liquidated no appreciable not be postponed until the unification of and misunderstandings in its own ranks, will be many such moments a decisive of amount of the unemployed army, now num the trade union organizations. This idea does the leadership of the Unitary Confed fensive for the fusion of the trade union bering about 10 million. On the contrary must be developed as it has been hereto eration address itself to the leadership of organizations.
the offensive against the working class is fore, explained and applied in practise, the reformist Confederation with concrete In order to fulfill its tasks towards the proceeding at an intensified scale.
But this does not exclude the duty of pos ly elaborated proposals: to create a parity party, the Ligue and this its first Wage Cuts Increased ing boldly, at a definite and well chosen commission for the preparation, within a duty must align its own ranks in the field At present, under the leadership of the moment, the question of the fusion of the period of two inonths for example, of the of the trade union movement. It is a task banks, the American capitalists are plan confederations (or even of single federa trade union unification congress to which that cannot be postponed. It must and ning to institute a nation wide campaign of tions. all the trade union organizations of the will be solved.
trade