The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-02-07
FOR THE 1928 CAMPAIGN
Plan Farmer Labor Nominating Convention Minnesota

who were working actively against
the nomination of a labor candidate
for mayor in Minneapolis one year
ago have openly admitted their mis-
take and stated that this tactic is
ruinous and futile, playing as it does
into the hands of the misleaders of
labor and the old-line politicians by
drawing the workers into the ranks of
the old political parties. Neverthe-
less, despite the lessons of the cleo
tons year ago in Minneapolis we
have an identical situation in Ramsey
County, st. Paul, today.
In the labor conference recently the
reactionary and backward elements in
the labor movement lined up to OPP
pose the full ticket in st. Paul. In
stead of running a full ticket of a
mayor and six commissioners, up to
date it is only proposed to run four
commissioners. 1t was openly stated
on the floor of the conference that if
couple of places were left open, this
would give the so-called tabor"
representatives on the City Council
opportunity to dicker with the repre-
sentatives of the old parties. This of
course is opportunism pure and SIM
pie, opportunism of the rankest kind,
even worse in it's ultimate results for
the workers than the old A. F. of l..
policy of rewarding your friends and
Furnishing your enemies.
Dangerous Tactics.
This is the tactic that has time and
time again destroyed the morale and
disrupted the organizational efforts OF
all honest elements to build an indie
pendent party of the farmers and
workers. So long as these tactics are
employed, we will find the situation
obtaining as in Minneapolis and st.
Paul at the present time-that the
rank and file workers are apathetic,
respondent and disheartened, due to
the results of following these blind
leaders of the blind, without vision,
who cannot see the ruinous conse-
quences of this policy of begging for
favors from the enemies of the work
ers in the political field, instead of
fighting the battle of the workers on
clean-cut basis of independent poll
teal action through an independent
party of labor.
It is certainty that the campaign
in st. Paul will result in the same
awakening of the honest elements in
the labor party in that city as was
effected by the disastrous campaign
in Minneapolis one year ago. What
is necessary in Minnesota is build
ing up of party sentiment, creation
of the necessary party loyalty to
build a powerful instrument of the
workers which will be strong enough
to compel even the most influential
candidates to obey its decisions and
carry out its programs.
/ Certain enemies Of the labor move
ment in this section are already
chortling with glee over the fact that
the leaders of the farmer-labor move
ment in Minnesota are lukewarm to a
national ticket in 1928. This is evil
denced by the opinions of Mr.. Charles
| 3. Cheney in his Minnesota Politics"
column in the reactionary Minneapolis
Journal. One of the old notices of
! the labor movement used to be: Read
the columns of the Journal; see what
they advocate and fight for the OPP
posite." This is good slogan to fol-
low. Whenever Mr.. Cheney expresses
| an opinion that certain achievement
is not desired by the laborites, an ex-
animation into the roots of the matter
will probably discover that this is the