The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-13
By JOHN PEPPER

~-A~~ AL a W. Goo-fC 0AACACdA <ASkAOAA
will meet on February 18th.
st. Paul will on May Both, be the
scene of the national convention of
the Farmer-Labor Party forces of
the United States.
These two gatherings will decide
the political fate in 1924 of the work
ing class Of America.
These two conventions will decide
whether the working class in the
presidential and congressional cleo
tions of 1924 will once more be only
the tail of the capitalist parties, or
whether it will take its stand as an
independent political factor.
The working class of America is
in state Of transition. A minority
of the working class is class-con-
scious and is intent on fighting
against the capitalist class and its
government. Another minority, at
the opposite pole, is in the service. of
the capitalists (partly even in the
direct service of the government) and
it does its utmost to obstruct every
Independent political action of the
working class. Between these two
groups-between the organized class
conscious minority and the organized
lackeys Of the capitalists, the labor
officials-we see those millions of
American workers not as yet class
conscious, but struggling towards
class-consciousness.
The Convention of the Conference
for Progressive Political Action in St.
Louis, will be nothing else than an
organized effort of labor officialdom
to maintain the old state of things,
and to preserve the workers as the
political serfs of the capitalists. The
st. Paul convention of the Farmer
Labor Party forces will be in sub
stance an organized effort on the
part of the class-conscious minority
to lead the great masses upon the
road of class-consciousness
St.Louis-The Retrogressive
Progressives
The Conference for Progressive
Political Action has undergone re-
markable development. Its name
still remains Progressive, but its
policy has gone step backward with
every one of its actions. The first
national convention of the Confer
ence for Progressive Political Action
took place on February 20 and 81,
1922, in Chicago. The Conference
was convened by the high officials Of
sixteen railway craft unions. Not
less than eighteen international
unions belonging to the American
Federation of Labor sent delegates.
Seven big national unions outside of
the American Federation Of Labor
were represented. The Conference
was called by the mighty international
officers of the official labor movement
who, in contrast with Gompers and
his gang, were of the opinion that 1T
was impossible to continue the tradi-
tional policy of the American Fedora
ton of Labor of "rewarding the
friends and Furnishing the enemies
in the old capitalist parties. + These
officials, Johnston or Heating or Lewis
are themselves nothing else than
capitalist agents in the ranks of la
Dor. But they were forced to act
because the discomfort Of the masses
exercised tremendous pressure up
on them. The deep-gN ing industrial
crisis Of 1920 which began in 1920
and reached it's depth in 1921, the
misery and discomfort Of over five
million workers forced the reac-
tionary officials into political activity.
Millions of workers demanded an in
dependent party of workers, and the
labor officials had to place Themselves
at the head Of this movement il they
would hinder the masses from or
ganizing the Labor Party under a
new, militant leadership. The
workers barbored great expectations,
but the labor officials did not or
ganize the Labor Party. This Feb
ruary conference in Chicago stated
in its manifesto: ''The conference
agrees that the time is ripe for pro
gressive political action, but that the