The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-12-06
The Meaning of the Birthday of
Our Daily

y
is a short time, But the existence at this
time of a Communist daily in the United
States, the most powerful and ruthless i'm
perialist nation the world has ever seen, is a
tribute to the vitality of our revolutionary
movement.
A mere review of the many struggles of
ctr paper, of the many attacks that have
been made upon. us, of the many times that
we were in imminent danger of facing ex-
tinction, seems more like narrative of
quarter of century of struggle, than the
record of five years. The fact that we have
been able to weather every storm proves that
our paper has tremendous appeal to large
sections of the working class. The fact that
our Communist paper still has to face periods
when we do not know from one day to the
next whether we will be able to exist is not
due to failure to increase our influence
among the masses. 1t is because the class
struggle itself intensifies and from time to
time throws our best supporters into open
conflict with the enemy class so that their
ability to contribute financially is weakened
or temporarily destroyed.
Those tens of thousands of workers who
have come to look to the Daily Worker for
guidance in the struggle against the pre-
datory role of American imperialism, in the
great mass movements in defense OF victims
of capitalist class vengeance as in the cases
of Sacco and Vanzetti and in the struggle to
liberate Mooney and Billings and other polit-
ical prisoners, in the struggle for racial
equality and against lynching, in the bitter
industrial struggles of the miners, the tex
tile workers, the needle trades, have made
possible the coming celebration of the Fifth
anniversary of the birth of our paper.
But even as we approach the anniversary
that marks a half decade of struggle there
loom before us dangers equal to any that we
have ever encountered. Much of the energy
that we would devote to making better
fighting paper has to be diverted to the mere
struggle to keep alive. Many campaigns that
we could launch have to be abjured because
we are not able financially to undertake them.
But, in spite of this, never has there been
time when masses of workers were engaged
in a struggle with the capitalist class that we
did not take the lead in their behalf and print
and distribute free thousands of copies to
guide them in their fight. We are sure that
the thousands of miners who went through
the long struggle in Western Pennsylvania
and Ohio and the monstrous betrayal of the
Lewis machine will never forget that the
only daily in the English language that
fought for them and gave them direction was
min
able to contribute to us in such an amount
that when our Fifth birthday comes we could
be assured of the next year we are sure they
would do so. All other workers who have
faced the savage anti-union drive of the en-
ployers would do the same We are sure that
thousands of these workers will rally to the
task of making the Fifth anniversary the
greatest in our history.
1t is not, however, on the basis of past
struggles that we appeal to the working
class, but because of the mighty tasks that
are ahead. The most menacing fact before
the working class today is the danger of an
other imperialist war In preparation for
this struggle the ruling class is doing all in
its power to crush the working class at home
and subdue the colonial and semi-colonial vic
tins of American imperialism. The Daily
Worker, published in the very shadow of the
financial colossus of the world, unmasks the
war-mongers hurls defiance at them and
gives revolutionary direction to the masses
of two continents-North and South America
in the fight against yankee imperialism.
So wide is our influence that many of the
labor publications of Latin-America follow
our lead in their campaigns against i'm
perialisnl.
Especially to the members and SYM
pathizers Of the Workers (Communist)
Party must the necessity be evident of sup
porting the paper so that in the coming
months we will be able to fight more
effectively than ever before A greater cir
culaton for the Daily must be obtained.
Every reader should secure a number of new
subscribers. Every unit of the Party and
every labor or fraternal organization that
realizes the necessity for the Daily should i'm
mediately send in greetings for the Fifth