The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-08
CONTINUED from Page 81

/ that there be mo remaining of bank
rupt disintegrating parties, nor a
quiet refuge for effete politicians, but
a great mass organization formed by
organized labor" AS against enemies
of the working class. as against exist
ing or future aggregations of socialist
party leaders, progressive" gentle
men-politicians and small groups of
yellow trade union bureaucrats form
ing labor parties over night by pri-
vate conference or conferences ex-
Guiding all but hand-picked bureau
Gratis, we very correctly raised the
cry, "A labor party only if it is
formed by the trade unions!" For
the purpose Of broadening the move
ment to the furthest possible limit in
the workers organizations, for the
purpose Of stirring up and bringing
with us into this political activity the
last possible rank and file member
of trade union, we described the all
inclusive labor party and had no hest
tation even inn declaring that "any
other form would be a mere carica-
ture, political swindle, and a mis-
carriage; and we have no apology
now for having done so under the
circumstances Of that time. To hear
Comrade Bittelman argue now, after
time and the fight have developed a
new relationship of forces, that we
cannot lead any sort of left wing
capitalization of workers willing to
turn against their bureaucrats under
the slogan of "a mass farmer-labor
party" reminds me Of old Doctor
Isaac Hourwich arguing against the
Russian Bolshevik's dispersal of the
constituent assembly on the ground
that the Bolsheviks had made the
calling of it slogan of struggle.
8. Majority thinks the present
trade union burocracy must be the
leaders of any farmer-labor party
that Is formed.
The idea of the Foster-Canno
group was that we must refrain from
making ourselves and our Communist
platform conspicuous in concrete la
bor-party situations, but must on the
contrary let the movement have such
non-Communist leaders and platforms
as will as Comrade Foster said, rally
the great mass of farmers and work
ers." 1--WE expect that type Of organ
ization and that type Of candidates."
Comrade Foster told the st. Paul Con-
vention; and he told us that even to
consider the possibility Of farmer
labor organization made up of left
wing sympathising organizations cen
tired and led by Communists would be
dividing the labor movement"
The majority thesis carries out this
idea very clearly when it explains, in
effect, that the Foster Cannon group
thinks the role Of Communists in the
labor-party action was to compel the
trade union burocracy to form labor
party or failing to get Mr. Gompers
to do this (tho mot necessarily by the
Gompers crowd" writes Comrade Bit
telman), to withdraw from the labor
party action, denouncing the labor
burocracy as exposed" But under
no conditions to consider the forma-
ton of any farmer-labor crystalliza-
ton of any other kind.
1t might be difficult to belive that
the Foster-Cannon group really con-
ceived of a labor party led by the
Gompers burocracy as a probability
and the only possibility in America, if
it were not for the use they have
made, in their thesis, of the follow
ing words:
1--WE also realized that, unlike the
Communist parties of Europe, our
task was not to win away the masses
from reformist mass political parties
speaking in the name of labor, be-
cause there were none at that time in
the United States, but to compel the
reactionary trade union leaders to
break with their old non-partisan
policies and to lead the unions into
the political struggle as labor organic
atIons; that is, to promote among the
masses the growing movement in ia
vor of Independent political action
anu JnuS compel tHe tFdoc union puro-
cracy to either form a labor party or
expose themselves before the masses
as enemies of the working class"
(My emphasis)
l have a haunting impression that
the foregoing words were copied or
paraphrased from much worthiep
document. To state the case as hav-
ing two alternatives (either the buro.
cracy must form and lead, etc. or
else the burocracy stands exposed
etc. might be very acceptable way
of stating it If the majority realized
at the time that it is not truly an
alternative, that in fact the burocracy
is not going to form labor party, and
that really it is only a case OF one pos
sibilty: the exposure of the burocracy
and consequent entrenchment of
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS