The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-12-19
THE COMMUNIST ELECTION
CAMPAIGN

to lead the workers who were becoming in
creasingly militant into other channels than
those of class struggle. This campaign oc-
Cured during a period of increasing unem-
ployment and sharpening struggles in New
York, among the examples of which are the
needle trades strike, the food workers strike,
the struggle of the shoe workers. the various
transportation strikes, ETC. In other words,
the campaign occurred in New York in a per-
iod which showed all the earmarks of the ma
tional and international situation as pointed
out in the analysis of the Comintern.
What Was Our Basic Shortcoming?
What should have been our line? We should
have applied without hesitation the line of the
Comintern in all its phases and implications.
And this is exactly what we failed to do Not
that we did not adopt the line of the COMM
tern-but we did not carry through this line
with sufficient energy and with sufficient
consciousness in every phase of the campaign.
Thus, for example, we failed to direct our
chief struggle against the most dangerous
enemy of the workers, namely, Norman
Thomas and the socialist party. For more
than a week after the New York Telegram,
the New York World, the Rockefeller church
and Lamont's son endorsed Thomas our press
was silent on the question. And in fact even
to this day most of our press in New York
has either never editorialized on the signifi-
canoe of these facts or has never even re-
ported it. During the course of the election
campaign there were no special leaflets issued
against the socialist ticket and in fact even in
our regular leaflets the question of the strug-
gle against the socialist party were only rare
ly put in the foreground. These are only some
examples which show that we failed to carry
through the proper struggle against the So
cialist party.
Underestimation of the Question.
The leadership of the District Committee in
this campaign was weak in its political nature
Instead of devoting the largest part of its
time towards considering each of the events
as they occurred during the campaign; exam
lining from tine to tine the activities of the
Party in the campaign and making the neces-
sary corrections, our District Committee con-
cerned itself with the technical arrangements
for meetings in the various sections, the get
ting of speakers for these meetings, the is
suance of leaflets, publicity, ETC. At no time
did the activity of the district show an under
standing how the campaign was of major i'm
portance. 1t was the lack of attention to the
political side of the campaign which is respon-
sible for many of the shortcomings which
existed The over-occupation of the District
Committee with the organzatonal sides of
the campaign resulted in taking the initiative
in the campaign away from the lower organs
of the Party, where these lower organs should
have had the initiative. This put the whole
burden of work, including technical work,
upon the District Committee when the Section
Committees should and could have done large
share of it.
Our underestimation of the political aspects
of the campaign resulted in neglect of the
arrival of Macdonald for agitation against the
socialist betrayers, in failure to utilize the
stock crash sufficiently, etc
Ito be continued)