The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-13
THE MAGIC SLOGAN


ment with the reformist middle class
labor bureaucratic combination will
come, but it will be a much slower
process than the minority is willing
to believe and dictates to us an en-
tirely different angle of attack than
the class .farmer-labor" phrase.
Z, The minority thesis finds evidence
of fundamental conflict between the
''farmer-labor" movement and the
third party" movement in the fact
that a number Of, farmer-labor parties
Lin the western states, including the
Minnesota farmerlabor party which
they themselves have repeatedly char
acterized as a third party, ran sep
arate tickets in the last election and
in the organizational friction between
the LaFollette machine and the state
"farmer-labor" machines. All of
which shows only that in some of the
western states the third party move
ment has been more definitely crystal
lized than elsewhere, and that the
middle class liberal politicians on one
hand, and the labor bureaucrats and
socialist politicians on the other hand,
are fighting for influence and con-
troll over the third party movement.
Comrade Lovestone tries to prove this
fundamental conflict" by quoting ex-
tensively from Mr.. Mahoney's
editorials. But unfortunately for Com
rade Lovestone's argument, the very
issue in which his article appeared
carried the news that the farmer-la-
Dor federation, the labor wing which
we helped to organize in the Mime
sofa farmer-labor party, unseated the
representative of our party by two
to-one vote, and Comrade Hathaway
correctly characterized this act as a
complete surrender to the c. p P. A.
AS to the farmer-labor parties which
maintained their independence of
the LaFollette movement" the North
Dakota farmer-labor party was al
ready disposed of by its father, Com
rade Manley. The mass class farmer
labor party of Denver, Colorado,
will leave to somebody who may
know what it really represents from
personal contact. But of the federat-
ed farmer-labor party of Washington
county, Pa l am in position to in
form the comrades of the minority
that, whatever it may have been in
1923, or the early part of 1924, at
least since May, 1924, it was no more.
than name and committee Of five
members OF our party. p 9ss
/ No, there is no indication of a mass
sentiment for party that would fill
the imaginary void between the c.
p. P. A. and the Communist Party.
A "class farmerlabor party" would at
best mean no more than united front
with new Mahoneys and Cramers, and
we are under no obligation to create
a haven for "left" socialists. Our
field for the application Of the united
front tactics lies elsewhere, in the
| fight of the working class masses for
! lefinite daily aims and daily demands.
We all agree that the near future
viii bring intense class conflicts. 1t
on these coming struggles that we
must base our united front tactics, it
IS there, by exposing the unftness
and inability of the labor bure ucrats
o lead the working class, that we
will find IAN entering wedge between
he working masses and their treach-
erous leaders," including the c. p. p.
A. leaders. The Comintern has re-
peatedly warned us that in determin-
ing the concrete tasks Of the un;fad
front tactics we must take into consi-
deration the condition of the section.
how strong and homogeneous the
Communist Party is. The tasks ahead
Of us, to bolshevize the party, to re-
organize 1t on shop nuclei basis, to
put the party in condition for active
participation and leadership in the
movements OF the unemployed and in
the OUTLAW" and spontaneous strikes
that are sure to come, are big enough
for any Communist Party. With our