The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-10-10
REPORTS OF NAT KAPLAN AND 80
MAX SHACHTMAN TO THE THIRD
SESSION OF Y. w. L. CONVENTION
KapIan Reports for Former Minority
Of N. E. c.


Comrade Nat Kaplan, reporting on
behalf of the former minority of the
N, E. c. of the Y. W. L., said that the
convention must face review of the
period from the second national con
vention up to the present time, and
must face the real, vital tasks which
are absolutely essential to a feminist
youth organization. He then proceed
ed to point out the basic role that the
league plays in relation to the party
and the general class struggle. He
said'that he felt that Comrade Shaeht-
man had tried to drown under a flood
of words the real problems which the
convention must face.
The mere fact that Comrade
Shachtman had made a distinction
between organizational differences
and political differences in the league,
showed that Comrade Shachtman was
not facing the differences which real
ly did exist, said Comrade Kaplan.
From such a false beginning, he said,
Comrade Shachtman had been en-
abled to draw an entirely false char
acterization Of the group which had
been struggling thruout this period to
bring the league to correct political
line, which today we all know to be
the correct political line. Comrade
Shachtman had stated that it was
merely an organizational minority that
grew up in the league, said Comrade
Kaplan, while Comrade Williamson,
on the other hand, had told the
Fourth Congress of the Young Com
munist International that it was pol
itical minority which was the reflex
Of the political struggle in the party
between the Pepper-Ruthenberg group
and the Foster group. AS matter
of fact, said Kaplan, the former ma
jority of the n e. C. had been per-
meated with the political misconcep-
tons of the Foster group of the party.
This had had something to do, he
said, with certain hesitancy in car
rying out the decisions of the Y. c. l.,
to which the Y. C. l. had called atten-
ton.
On the matter Of trade union work
for the league the former majority of
the N. E. c. had taken an impossible
position before the second conven-
tfon, declared the speaker. In the be-
ginning the former majority had been
an opposition in principle against the
struggle for economic partial demands
among the young workers which had
been set up by the Young Communist
International Comrades Abern and
Edwards had argued against the pro-
gram of the Y c. l., said Comrade
Kaplan, at the Third Congress, and to
substantiate their arguments, they
had compared 1.-THE conditions of the
American young workers with that of
the young workers Of European coun-
tries, claiming that the relatively high
level of the young workers in this
country made it Unnecessary to carry
on such struggle. These comrades
said Comrade Kaplan, had claimed
that there was no difference between
the conditions of the young workers
and the adult Workers. Both the adult
workers and the young workers have
the same conditions as equal wages
and hours, they had argued, so why
struggle for special interests of the
young workers? When Comrade BAN.
matter came over here for the Young
Communist international, said Kan
Ian, these comrades / had expressed
strong opposition in principle to the
setting up Of special youth demands.
and had contended that the role of the
youth league was only to participate
generally in strike movements. Com
rade Kaplan cited as concrete ex-
amples cases relating to the struggles
OF the Chicago garment workers and
OF the cigar workers and miners and
the case of the Unemployment crisis
OF 1924, when, he said, the former ma
jority of the N. E. G. were victims Of
what Comrade Varga had described
as the optimistic illusions of the Am
erican bourgeoisie."
OF statement TO Comrade Shacht
man that the political level of the
Young Workers League had been
raised and that the N. E. c. had en-.
tered into political activities, Comrade
kaplan asked what kind of political
activities? The IN. E. C. had been
drawn into political activity against
the labor party policy in the party
while the majority of the league mem
bership supported the line of the Co
mintern behind the Ruthenberg group
During the party convention the N. q
c. had published a hurried edition O,
the Young Worker carrying on the
first page a big headline: "Foster
Group TO Lead the Party" and this
was another N. E. C. political slogan
that was not realized in practice.
Conlrade Kaplan reviewed at some
length various campaigns which hal
been undertaken. He declared that
these usually began and ended with
publishing something in the paper
II