The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-01-17
e Results and Lessons Of the Party Discussion
NUR party has Just passed thru It's
- first great discussion, and from

conclusions have been established.
The period of the discussion marks
a turning point in the history Of our
party, Despite the intensity of the
discussion, and tho sharp tones with
which 1t was carried on at times, the
effects on the party have been benefi-
cial. 1t was a symptom, not of de-
cay, but Of growth. These comrades
who feared it's effects and who be-
came alarmed at its intensity, have
missed the point, The discussion was
a furnace from which the party is
emerging strengthened and tempered,
and better equipped for its historic
task. A party which could stand such
a severe discussion and grow strong
er by it proves that it is maturing
and developing into genuine Com
munist Party.
Never in the history of our party
was minority given such full and
free opportunity to put its case be-
fore the membership. There was alb
5olutely no limit or restriction upon
their rights. 1t was the aim Of the
G. E. c. from the beginning to widen
and deepen the discussion and to
draw the entire party membership
into it. In this we were successful.
Never before was the party so deeply
stirred in the discussion of its tasks.
"Bolsheviks do not night over
trifes." So said Kamenev at a meet
ing of the Moscow party organization
during the controversy with the op-
position in the Russian Communist
Party last year. These words of
Kamenev apply very well to the dis
cussion in our party. It should be-
clear now to all that the controversy
which has shaken the party to its
foundations. has not been over trifles.
In the discussion, the party had to
consider two questions of fundamen-
tai Importance. First, the question
Of the main line Of party policy. and,
second, the question of leadership.
The prevailing policy of the party is
indissolubly bound up with the pro-
letarian leading group of the G. E. C.
consequently L1iO dblG1Apl Vi Tie Iii
nority to reverse our fundamental
policy went hand in hand with the
attempt to undermine and discredit
the c. e. C. To both questions, the
party has given a decisive answer.
That answer is, against the policy
and leadership of the minority and
for the policy and leadership of the
C. E. c.
The final results of the discussion
could already be foreseen in the first
series of membership meetings held
on Sunday, December %. The failure
of the minority to carry such import
ant party centers as New York, Chi
cago, and Minneapolis, showed that
their case was hopeless. Comrade
Foster was quite correct when he said
that the results of the first series of
meetings spelled the defeat of the
minority, and the reputation Of their
policy. This analysis, however, was
disputed by the minority. They placed
all their hopes in the second series of
meetings and made glowing predic-
tlOuS III TcSdru 70 tucu. Dut llcSe
predictions did not materialize.
Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo and
Pittsburgh all gave majorities for the
c. e. G. This was followed by deci-
siye and overwhelming victories in
such important party organizations as
Los Angeles. San Francisco. Balti-
more, Milwaukee, the mining sections
Of southern Illinois, the industrial
towns adjacent to New York, and
number of other centers, until the
question of the minority gaining ma
jority in the party passed out Of the
range of possibilities.
But the membership meetings, de-
cisive as they we're, do not fully in
dictate the strength Of the G. E. c. To
understand the full significance OF its
victory. one must go deeper than the
surface indications. When we take in
to consideration the fact that the con-