The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-09-22
nx Y. J. ANpRuLls.

! express the sentiment OIL many active
comrades of the language sections of
our party. But we have language sec
tions and it is necessary for some
comrades to take care Of them-to
work in them. Working in them, of
course, we have to talk and write
about them, whether we want to or
not. That is why we have to write
about them now But l am glad we
do it now only to see our way clear
how successfully to get along without
language sections-to centralize the
party.
A Short History.
The Lithuanian section is one of the
oldest sections in our party. We
were thrown out of the socialist party
with five or six other declarations and
the whole socialist left wing. During
the organization of the Communist
Party, the Lithuanian Federation was
active. 1t participated in the organ
ization Of the Communist Party, not
only thru the activities of the over
5000 members, but also by means of
financial aid amounting to $1,000.
Then came the infamous Palmer's
raids. AS all of us know, the Com
munist Party at that time was less
centralized than it is now. The blow,
therefore, was hard. The Lithuanian
Federation, with the rest Of the
party, had to work hard to develop
the movement under the new condi-
lions.
During the underground period"
the membership decreased | think, to
less than half OF course, those that
left did not go over to the enemy's
camps. But they limited their activi-
ties to educational, fraternal organiza-
tions and in the trade unions. There
they worked with us as they are do
ing now
Back to Masses Again.
The coming of the Workers Party
was heartily welcomed by most of the
members of the Lithuanian Fedora
ton. But at that time we had quite
numerous sectarian element and
they split away from the federation.
Most of them came back and those
that remained outside degenerated
into small reactionary group. Thus,
the federation got rid Of both right
wing opportunism and sectarian left
tendency. Today, no Loreism, no op-
portunism is visible in the Lithuanian
section.
Its Strength and Influence.
In proportion to the Lithuanian
population in the United States, our
Communist movement is strong.
There are approximately about $780,
900 Lithuanians in this country. Altho
our section has only about 1,4O0 mem
bers, its influence is much greater.
The section is in control of one edu-
cational organization with 5000 men,
bers; a working women's organiza-
ton with 1000 MEMBERS a proletar-
ian amateur-artists' organization with
$500 members. 1t has daily paper,
semi-weekly, and a monthly journal.
Its influence also is great in almost
every Lithuanian progressive organ
ization. When there were language
locals in the U. M. w. Of A., in
most of these local our comrades
were leaders and officers. Now it is
the same in the case of the A. c. W.
of A., Lithuanian locals. 1t is true,
in two out Of six our comrades were
beaten, but most of us know what
means the reactionaries used to beat
us. Yet, in spite of that, our COM
rades again are regaining the posi-
tons they held in their locals.
Having that much experience in Sc
curing contact with the masses, we
naturally resented every tendency to
sectarianism. That is why the drop
ping of the slogan of a labor party
was so much opposed by the Lithuan-
ian section-so much so, that the
whole section, with very small ex-
ception, stood with the former minor
ity.
The New Step.
l think l can safely say that as far
as the Lithuanian section is concern
ed, the party's reorganization will
meet with success. Firstly there is
no opposition, neither to shop nuclei
nor to international branches. Sec
ondly, for Communist work among
masses of Lithuanian workers, we
already have effective means thru our
other organizations, and we will ef-
fectively use these where the party's
apparatus cannot be used success
fully at the beginning. AS far as the
Communist movement is concerned
among the Lithuanian workers, abol-
ishing the language sections in our
party will do no harm. On the other
hand, the reorganization on the basis
Of shop nuclei and the international
branches will eentralize our party mad
] provide better means to reach work.