The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-09-27
BY EARL R. BRowpER.


of America it is that Of remaking
itself into a bolshevist party. When,
during the commemoration of the
death of our great leader, Lenin, we
launched the recruiting slogan: Join
the Party of Lenin," we all we're more
or less conscious that for the Work
ers Party this was an aspiration
rather than an established fact. Now
more than ever we are realizing
(since the Discussions in the Fifth
World Congress particularly what a
big job we have to make good our
boast of being the Party Of Lenin.
Leninism Is Not Phrasemongery.
In this task we must develop the
discussion necessary to make the is
sues clear to our membership. At the
same time the danger of degenerating
into phrasemongery, the very opposite
Of Leninism, is ever present in party
so young and untried as our own. 1t
is this tendency to let the word
stand in place of the deed that Com
rade Zinoyiev struck at, when he said
at the Fifth Congress-;
"a good deal has been heard at
this congress of the necessity of boil
shevising the parties, of remaining
true to Leninism. We would prefer to
hear less about bolshevising the party,
but to have the essence of Leninism
itself studied more deeply, especially
in regard to the trade union ques-
ton"
In line with this gentle hint from
Comrade Zinoviev, let us try to keep
our discussion ON bolshevizing the
Workers Party upon as concrete and
definite plane as possible.
Five Points of Leninism.
According to the theses of the Fifth
Congress. there are five fundamental
features of "a really bolshevik party, !"
which are:
"(a) The party must be really a
mass party; i.e., while being legal
party or if obliged to become illegal,
it must maintain the closest and un-
severable ties with the mass of the
workers and serve as the expression
of their needs and aspirations.
"(b) It must have the ability to
maneuver; l. e., its tactics must not
be dogmatic or sectarian: it must be
able to resort to every strategical
maneuver against the enemy, which
will enable it to remain true to itself
1t is one of the chief errors of our
parties that they frequently fail to
understand this
"(c) 1t must be essentially revo-
lutionary and Marxist Party, undevi-
atingly and in spite of all circum-
stances proceeding towards the goal
and making every effort to bring
nearer the hour of victory of the pro-
Ietariat over the bourgeoisie.
ed 1t must be a centralized party,
prohibiting factions, tendencies, and
groups. 1t must be a monolithic
party hewn of one piece.
"(e) It must carry out regular
definite propaganda in the bourgeois
army.
'Bolshevising the party means the
application to our sections what in
Russian Bolshevism was and is inter
national and of general application.
"Only to the extent that the sec
tions of the Comintern become really
converted into bolshevik parties, will
the Comintern indeed become a
World Bolshevik Party imbued with
the ideas of Leninism."
Where Do We rail- Short?
Does the Workers Party measure up
to these standards? No one will pre-
tend that we do. But it will be of
great value to us TO know where and
in what manner we fall short, and
also to what extent we have really
progressed in the desired direction.
Let it be admitted at once that on
all five points our Workers Party does
not come up to standard. With this
o,o1t6oatfor xuo CON fhou COW that nv,