The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-06-21
By PETER CHAUNT.
District Organizer, District Is


ONCE the perspective of the further deepen
ing economic crisis is clearly established,
the keynote of the Party program must be an
Z offensive strategy. The growing resistance of
the American workingclass to the drastically
increasing burdens is beyond dispute. The big
task of the Parry today is to engineer the strug-
giles of resistance in the direction of advance.
This is the strategy of the Comintern since
the 9th Plenum, but with particular clarity
since the 10th Plenum of the Executive Com
mttee of the Communist International. 1t is
imperative that the offensive character of our
strategy be stated categorically at once giving
a decisive line to our entire program All
comrades must bear in mind this decisive gen.
eral strategic line in all revolutionary activi-
ties today in order to understand the need of
"a decisive turn in our methods and tactics"
Tactics Range from Strikes to Retreats.
The tempo and size of the crisis develop
ments, the depth of depression, the process of
, naturalization, the acuteness of the class
tstrugge, the shifting of political forces, are
not of the same degree everywhere in the coun-
try. The Party adopts such tactics as necessary
in the particular circumstances. Thesrange of
the tactics extend from aggressive strikes and
demonstrations for immediate economic or
political demands to compromises and retreats
FInnumerable mistakes and opportunist ten
dencies success dizziness" and defeatism, left
and right deviations of many kind develop in
the course of the ebb and flow of the struggles
All tactics of the Party however, whether of
advance or retreat, must enable the working
class to continue the attack and advance with
the least possible delay. That serious under
estimation of the strategic line is prevalent
turnout the Party, has been shown in recent
months particularly in the unemployment
II
gle, composed mainly of formation of unem-
ployment councils and street demonstrations,
leading up to March 9th, the organization of
the unemployed and the development and adj
vance of the struggles for work or wages,
almost completely neglected notwithstanding
the further increase of unemployment The
failure to enforce the line of the Central Com
mittee for speedy organization of shop COM
mittees and for the initiation of struggles in
the industries for immediate demands to build
the revolutionary unions, is another proof of
our lack of consciousness of the strategic line.
To Advance Systematically.
l.. The essential tasks of offensive strategy
Iof the Party in the United States today are:
FH l. The organization of mass struggle for
Immediate, partial demands. increase of
wages, governmental unemployment relief,
shorter hours, no speed-up, right to organize,
absolute race equality, moratorium for the poor
farmers, etc). The organization of shop COM
mttees and unemployed councils to act as the
shock troops of the revolutionary unions in the
economic and political struggles.
3 The consolidation and continuity of the
struggles. All mass organizations must be led
along the lines of the particular attack in a
united front. Uncompromising attack must be
launched against the Right and against the
social fascists in this process of winning the
mo io1ity tho decisive sections of the working
class for the strategic line CT the Party.
Struggles must be renewed and broadened
(tcxtile, needle, etc.; branches of single in
kdustry concentrated upon (minng, railroad,
|, chemical, metal, etc.,.
n g. The orientation of the line of attack in
? the economic struggles towards political de-
mands. The mobilization against imperalist
wars and for solidarity with the colonial revo-
lutions. The development of the struggle for
political power.
Gross Opportunistic Mistakes.
The most serious test of our Party in the
organization and development Of the struggles
was always the continuity of action. In Dis
trict Is, for instance, gross opportunistic mis-
takes were committed time and again by COM
rades failing to understand the need of system
attic preparation and organization of the work.
ers step by step in the struggles. We failed to
build shop committees in Easthampton (tex-
tile), Waterbury (brass), New Britain (hard-
ware) Above all, we failed to organize shop
nuclei for months while the Party and Trade
Union Unity League gained the confidence and
support of thousands of workers as result of
the persistent struggle for the unemployed and
against the ntolerable conditions in the fac
tories, even succeeding to break partially the
reign of terror Waterbury. This resulted in
A isolation from the masses after the imprison-
II ko1nnt of the leading comrades The fai11reS
{of entrenchng the Party nucleus in the Win
chester, Remington, Colt muniton and arms
factories at the time when shop bulletins have
been issued and successful factory gate meet
ings were being held, the failure to spread out
our forces of the Party members in the fac
tories, again resulted in isolation from the fac
tory workers after the victimization of our
comrades. Opportunism, whether in the form
of failure to prepare and organize the workers
for major action stamford, May ~, or in