The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-05-06

Executive committee directing tne re-
instatement Of an expelled comrade.
Dear Comrade
The Central Executive Committee
Of the Party has carefully considered
all the documents sent to it in regard
to the expulsion of Otto Newman as
member of the Party. 1t has also
had before it statement by Com
rade Newman in regard to his expul.
sion.
1t appears from these documents
that he was expelled from the Party
for presenting at a public meeting, on
the subject Can the Workers Gain
their Freedom by Political Action
Alone" the part which force played
in the class struggle thru reading
the Thesis of the Third Congress of
the Communist International and the
Strategy Of the Communists" and
the Communist Manifesto of 1S47,"
excerpts dealing with this question.
1t appears further that the City Cen
trail Committee of Portland had for
hidden any Party member to raise the
question before an open meeting.
Political Action
1. The first point which the Gen.
trail Executive Committee desires to
bring to your attention is the COM
plete misapprehension of the term
political action" as indicated in both
your letter and also the part of Com
rade Newman. Both you and he use
the term political action" as if it
were synonymous with parliament
airy action" AS Communists, we do
not believe that to be true. For us,
political action means any form of
for political power is manifested, that
is for control of the state power.
Political action for us does not mean
merely voting and electing represent
atives to legislative bodies and other
public Offices. Mass meetings intend
ed to exert, pressure upon the cap
italist government may be a form
of political action. Similarly a strike
with political aims is form of poll
teal action. A civil war such as
recently took place in Mexico between
the Obregons and De La Huerta fore
es is as much form of political
action as going to the ballot box to
vote for certain candidates for pub,
lie Office.
Understanding political action,
in this, the Communist sense, the
answer to the question propounded at
the Forum meeting should have been
unhesitatingly on the part of all Com
munists that the workers will
achieve their freedom by political
action. 1t is exactly this which is
the essential thing about our Com
munist principles. We say that the
workers must enter into political
actions against the capitalist state
and achieve control Of the state power
and use this as class in their in
terests, and that this is the only road
to the social revolution and the abol-
ishing of the capitalist system.
A centralized Party
2. In letter from Comrade King,
the secretary of the English branch
bearing on the expulsion of Comrade
Newman, the question of the jurisdic-
ton of the Central Executive Com
mittee and its right to intervene are
raised. This letter we believe re-
quires statement from the Central
Executive Committee. Our Party is
a centralized Communist Party. The
constitution of the Party therefore,
gives the Central Executive Commit
tee full power to carry on the work
of the Party between its convention.
In a centralized Communist Party, the
Central Executive Committee must
have full authority to review any act
of any unit of the Party and to mo-
dify or change this act. 1t must have
full power to mobilize every unit OF
the Party policies or Party work
There are no autonomous groups in a
Communist Party. The Party Is and
must be one unit IL must act and
fight as unit and it must have a
leading body, the Central Executive
Committee with full power to direct
the activities Of the organization as
a whole, which means to direct the
activity CT any unit Of the Party. II
is only by establishing a leading
organ and maintaining a firm dis.
cipline in the Party that a Com.
mnist Party can fit itself for struggles
and conflicts which it must pass thru
in order to lead the workers victori.
ously to the proletarian revolution,
Force and The Glass StruquIe
3. The Central Executive Com.
mittee is Of the opinion that the at.
titude of the City Central Committee
on the question Of the part which
force plays in the class struggle in in.
correct. We cannot as a Communist
Party hide our views on this question
from the working masses. We must,
where the issue is raised, frankly
Ks