The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-10-09


COMRADE Chairman and Com
~ rades: / feel it is my duty to say
at least few things here tonight. If
it were any other meeting of the Par
ty except the Young Workers League,
possibly / would not feel the urge so
strongly. But particularly the Young
Workers League l believe / should
speak to. should like to refer to
some Of the things that have been
said by Comrades Bedacht and Can
non. 1t is true, as Comrade. Cannon
has said, that sharp division has TAX
en- place in the ranks of the former
majority. The division--I want to try
to show you some of the implications
of it if cam The division took place
shortly after the receipt of the cable
gram from Moscow, upon proposal
of Comrade Bittelman and that on
the basis of the cablegram we should
take a minority of the Gee. 1t seems
to me necessary, comrades, in view of
the fact that / have been so closely
identified with such a very large sec
ton of the Party, that something
should be said in addition to what
Comrade Cannon has said as to the
motive behind that motion.
Comrade Cannon has left the i'm
preston as tho this motion was de-
signed to shirk responsibility of the
Party. want to correct that. l want
to say that to shirk responsibility was
the farthest thing from our minds.
When Comrade Cannon put forth the
idea of a fifty-fifty Gee, to me that
looked like highly impractical propo-
sition. Comrades, as / read the de-
cision from the Comintern under
stood it to mean this-that the Com
intern decision meant just what it
said, that the Ruthenberg group was
closer to the view of the Comintern,
more loyal to its decisions" In this
situation, to my understanding. there
was nothing left to do except to turn
the control of the Gee over to the
former minority. / think that was a
100 per cent correct Communist deci-
sion on our part. It was and still is
my opinion that, in the face of the
decision, to try to hold on to the ma
jority of the Gee or even to set up d
fifty-fifty Gee was a wrong policy.
don't think it can be held against
us that we were sabotaging the Party
because of our Interpretation of the
Comintern decision, namely, that II
calls upon the minority to take charge
Of the Gee. Our position was this,
that to take a fifty-fifty Gee was not
going to facilitate matters. II would
put us in a false position and expose
us to the charges that we were block
ing the Party work. The decision said
the minority should control the Party,
and we should accept it as such. We
had to get ourselves in the proper po-
sition in the Party, in the GEO OF the
Party, which in the face OF the de.
cision, could only be done by our TAX.
Ing minority of the Gee. Il is sig.
nificant that at the very first meet.
ing OF the Gee, Comrade Green abol-
ished the fifty-fifty arrangement and
gave the former minority a majority.
] repeat, the farthest thing from our
minds was to shirk responsibility. Our
comrades generally have not shirked
responsibility. They have worked dill.
igently since this decision. AS for
myself, | feel there is at least one
thing am grateful to the minority
for, that is, the present majority OF
the Gee. that they entrusted me with
particularly important work--that ia
.ahe -hAud,sns * the dssdk ttsd& &k