The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-11-15

SANAS' NOnA aus rOSler VIII point out
some of the organizatiunal lessons to
be learned from the campaign)
In the presidential campaign Just
closed it was my fortune to travel ap-
proximately $4,000 miles, visiting fifty
big industrial centers in thirty-two
states, and speaking to over 10000
workers in mass meetings. talked
to miners in Ohio, steel workers in
pennsylvania, clothing workers in
New York, textile and shoe workers
in New England, lumber and migra-
tory workers in Washington, in fact,
talked to every important section of
the working class in the great centers
in which they toll and are robbed by
the employers. During such an ex-
tended trip one gathers many impress
sions. Only a few of these can be
registered in the brief space at my
disposal.
The most interesting and instruc-
tive phase of the trip was to watch
our party go into action in this, it's
first national election campaign. For
it to get under way in full vigor seri-
GUS obstacles had to be overcome. It
was not such simple task as might
be imagined. Ever since the organ
ization of the Workers Party, the
truth has been pounded into the men,
bership that it is the duty of Com
munists to participate in mass move
ments of the workers. This propa-
ganda, which had been accompanied
by our active campaign for the form
alton of farmer-labor party, for ANAL
gamation, ETC., had struck home. Con-
sequently, when our party, Just on
the eve of the election, cut loose from
the skeleton national farmer-labor
party and set up a presidential ticket
of its own, it was difficult for the mem
bership to readjust itself to the new
situation. Something of a crisis de-
veloped. 1t was evident everywhere.
There were the masses undoubted-
ly going with the LaFollette move
ment at least great sections of them
that were advanced enough to break
away from the two old parties. Our
membership displayed a strong in
stinct, if l may so describe it, to go
with them. This was due not only
to our propagation of the necessity
for participation in mass movements
of the workers, but also to the enor-
nous pressure that was brought to
bear upon our comrades in the I'M
ions and elsewhere. 1t was a great
test of the intelligence and discipline
of our party membership that they
were able to understand so quickly
that the LaFollette mass movement
was not one that they could partici-
pate in. AS the campaign progressed
one could sense everywhere the grow
ing confidence of our membership.
The feeling of isolation, of nakedness
in the political struggle, gradually dis
appeared and gave way to a militant
defense of our own party, as against
the treacherous arguments of the La
Toilette movement. When the cam
paign ended, our party had fully estab-
Hshed itself and was making a strug-
gle that did credit to it.
The great strength of the LaFol-
lette sweep was also marked charac-
teristic of the first stages of the cam
paign. Counting the million or so
votes that were certainly stolen from
him, LaFollette probably ran up a
total of at least 100000. Undoubt-
eddy most of this came from trade
unionists and others of the more ad-
vanced sections of the workers and
poor farmers. In my travels l came
into contact with great numbers of
these. They had LaFolletteitis bad
ly. To a remarkable degree they
looked upon LaFollette as the great
champion who was going to solve all
their problems for them. 1t was not
that they were familiar especially with
I Mil