The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-12-28
By JACK STACHEL.

THERE is no question about our getting thou
sands of new members in the present Re-
cruiting Campaign. The Party is on the job
and the masses are moving in our direction.
While we must still write a great deal to
how to attract the workers to our Party, l
consider that the time is opportune to already
begin to think and devise plans for keeping the
new members that we recruit in the Party.
In the first ten days of the drive, from
December 10 to December 90 we have already
secured over so applications for membership
in the City of Detroit alone. We have re-
ports yet from the rest of the District. The
National Office has set our quota 400 new
members. At our last membership meeting we
have raised this quota to 500 of whom 400
are TO be recruited in the City of Detroit and
100 in other cities
That means that we must get in the Dis
trict an average of SO new members q week
if we are to make quota.
Turnover of 100 Per cent in Past Here.
In the eight months from April, 1929 to
November, 1929 this District has taken in 326
new members to the Party. This is an average
of over 40 per month. This means nearly 500
new members per year. The membership is
approximately this number now and was ap-
proximately this number a year ago today.
So we have taken in 500 new members within
a year and we have 500 members in the District,
the same number we had year ago. This is
therefore the most serious problem in connection
with our increasing the membership of our
Party. 1t is true that the turnover in Detroit
has been entirely out of proportion with the
turnover of the Party as a whole. In New
York District in the last year, the average
number recruited every month was from so to
80 or about 1000 members. The District mem
bership was and is approximately 5000. In
New York, therefore, the turnover has been
about 1915 %. Nationally we took in, in the
past pear an average of $50 members month
or about 5000 new members.
The membership nationally is about 10000.
This makes about the same as New York a
turnover of about q. The national turnover
is the turnover for most Districts. Here IN
Detroit the turnover has been therefore times
as great as in the rest of the Party. This
abnormal turnover indicates two main things.
l. The great recruiting power of the Party,
the movement of the auto workers in our direc-
ton, the rehabilitation of the auto workers
g. The inability and the incapacity of the
Party in this District to keep the new members.
very poor organizational work, lack of func-
tioning of the nuclei, etc.
And the figures don't lie. This is exactly
the situation. The auto workers driven by ra-
tionalization are becoming more and more
radicaized and are coming to us. The reason
the Auto Workers Union has not been built
into an organization embracing large sections
of the auto workers, is it's failure to convince
the workers that it can lead them into struggle,
the failure to actively participate and develop
the struggles of the workers, and very poor
'organizational work.
Some Reason For Turnover.
Also it is exactly true the turnover would
indicate that the Party organization is IN
very poor state indeed. Nuclei meetings. fac
tory and street, according to their activity may
as well have been street nuclei in any part OF
the country for the character of their activity.
In addition there was a system of allowing COM