The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-01-08
By JAY LOyESTONE.

cent membership meetings held
thruout the country.
First of all, some general fea-
lures: The total number of MEM
bers attending these meetings was
far larger than in any previous
Party gatherings of this character.
This is true not only absolutely but
also relatively. A larger proportion
of the membership was present at
the meetings. This is true despite
the fact that in number of cities
like Boston, Philadelphia and Chi
cago, the attendance was lowered
thru the absence of active Party
comrades being away to the Needle
Trades Amalgamation Convention.
This broader participation is even
more gratifying in the light of the
interference with maximum attend
ance at these meetings by the last
moment postponement and shifting
of dates because of the protracted
Plenum deliberations.
Compare the total attendance fig
ures of 1928 with those of 1927. A
year ago there participated in the
membership discussion meetings
1868 comrades. This year the total
present reached 1877.
Also, in this years discussion
more comrades participated. The
debate was on a higher level. The
proportion abstaining from voting
was lower.
The Opposition was given equal
time and equal opportunities in
every respect in the presentation
and refutation by principal speak
ers as well as in the discussion from
the floor.
Membership Supports Central Com
mittee.
The membership meetings showed
that no previous Central Committee
of our Party had as much support
as the present one. In 1927, the
Central Committee received 1861
votes. This year the number in
dorsing the Central Committees
policies rose to 2614. This is an in
crease of almost a thousand. Last
year the Opposition vote was 1880.
In the recent membership meetings
it was 1854, or an increase of only
"a votes for the Opposition. While
the Central Committee increased its
absolute vote 81 per cent the OPP
position vote remained stagnant.
Relatively the Central Committees
proportionate vote increased from
So per cent of the total in 1927 to
about 70 per cent today. At the
same time the Opposition's proper
ton declined from about 40 per cent
of the total in 1927 to only 20 per
cent this year.
One must not overlook the fact
that the Opposition modified its
maximum strength in the member
ship meetings. In the units as a
whole, thruout the country, the OPP
position is even weaker. Besides, a
number of the most industrial sec
lions of the country, like the hard
and soft coal fields of Pennsyl-
vania where the support for the
Central Committee is nearly one
hundred per cent, have not had
membership meetings. Particularly
instructive and welcome is the fact
that in the great industrial triangle
of Pittsburgh, Cleveland and De-
troit-the most proletarian districts
Of our Party-the proletarian back
bone of our Party-the Central
Committee had higher proportion
and the Opposition a lower proper
ton of strength than in the Party
as whole; namely, Is per cent for
the Central Committee and only 81
per cent for the Opposition. Note
the trend. A year ago the Central
Committee received only 65 per cent
of the total membership meeting
vote and the Opposition IS per cent
in this proletarian section of the
Party. Within the year the Central
Committees relative proportion rose
ten per cent while the Opposition's
declined IA per cent.
Let us delve a little further into
the social composition of the voting
at the membership meetings. 1t is
precisely in those Party districts
where the social composition of our
Party organization is poorest and
theological level is lowest, that the
Opposition is strongest. Take for
instance the fact that the Opposition
carried the New Haven meeting by
10 to IL and San Francisco by AZ
to al. An analysis of the social
composition of the Opposition's vote
in all the membership meetings only
emphasizes still more firmly the
fact that the overwhelming majority
of the proletarian forces of the
Party are fully supporting the Cen.
trail Committee.
The primary conclusion to be
drawn from these voting results is
that the Party is today more con.
solidated and unified than ever be-
fore, that the Central Committee
has a broader base of support and
firmer roots in the membership than
any of the preceding Central Com.
mittees in our Party.
Issues Debated.
Now, to sketch briefly the issues
before the membership meetings. In
general, the decisions and policies Of
the Sixth World Cnnpress of the