The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-06-21

ing of the class struggle calls for greater
exertion on the part of the Communist Party
and all class conscious workers in the effort
to mobilize, organize and give leadership to
the workers for the fight against unemploy
ment, naturalization, wage cuts, terror and
imperialist war. The period Of peaceful de-
velopment" is long past. Our revolutionary
movement grows and consolidates itself
through actual struggle on the class-war
front 1t is to this front that the major at
tention of the Communist Party must be di-
rected
The recent letter of the Polit-Secretariat of
the Executive Committee of the Communist
International on the struggle for a working
class policy in the cooperatives, refers to the
Communist position as established in the Pro-
gram of the Communist International with re-
CARDS to the cooperative which under the die
tatorshp of the proletariat.. will be of eX-
IRENE Importance but under capitalism
are forced to play very modest role especially
now when the monopoly organizations of capt.
tai are of enormous might (and) the workers
cooperatives have very. limited possibilities for
developing. -"
Communist Party Watches Workers
Organizations
This by no means relieves the Communist
Party of responsibility for leadership of the
workers cooperative organizations. On the
contrary, at the present time it is the more
important that the Communist Party shall
watch carefully every development in the CO.
operative as in all workingcass organizations
so that all the forces of the workingclass may
be united for common struggle on common
class line. Such watchfulness is the more
necessary because in this period those who
shrink from the dangers and sacrifices in
volved in the struggle seek not only to abandon
b,,+ ole ~ frooo bo oil
war front
The Party must exercise the greatest vigil
ance in order to prevent the cooperatives,
which must serve as auXiliaries in the struggle
against unemployment, to organize the unOr-
gained, to mobilize against imperalst
and in defense of the Soviet Union from be-
ing turned into "mere appendages of the CAPT
talist regime" We must not permit single
worker member of a cooperative organization
to be misled by opportunists and renegades.
Furthermore, we are responsible to the work
ers who have confidence in the party and must
therefore not permit of 'the slightest negE-
gence in the matter of careful and efficient
conduct of the business and the commercial
and financial operations, or the efficient hand
ling of the technical work" Of the cooperatives.
The struggle against opportunism must be
| waged whenever opportunism manifests itself.
The danger of opportunism in the cooperatives
is clearly greater than in those organizations
whose existence is dependent upon readiness
to engage in open conflict with the coercive
forces CT the capitalist ruling class. This is
even more true of those cooperatives whose
very existence is evidence of illusions at the
stability Of capitalism and whose main organi-
ZatioEal support comes form the more skilled
ard better paid sections Of the workingclass.
1t is for this reason that our most difficult
or,J Of
tunian have arisen in connection with the CO.
operative housing projects.
The situation is not much different in any of
tie ether New York cooperatives since all of
these ere organized on an incorrect basis which
makes them not much cooperatives as cor
poratioas in which workers have made invest
mcnts. The present institutions are not really
cooperatives in the proper sense of the word.
This is an important factor that must be con-
sidered by our comrades who are active in the
cooperativcs.
The Present Situation of Our COoperatives.
AS a result of the defeat of the opportunist
Lovestona leadership in the cooperatives and
the firm actions of the left wing workers I'M
der the influence of the Party, it was possible
to overcome the very dangerous crisis that
confronted all cooperatives about a year
ago. A breathing spell was secured which
permitted measures to be introduced to safe
guard the workers creditors of these coopera-
tives. At present although still in a precari-
GUS position these cooperatves are in better
position from the point of view of ability to
guarantee a greater return of the workers in
vcstmentS
But, tlo results of the basis error of launch
inG housing cooperatives cannot be entirely
r2ctifod. The losses suffered in consequence
cannot be entirely made up and the problem
created by an institution that cannot be ex-
panded but can at best be conserved is seri-
Gus political problem which reflects itself in
the life of the organization which must main
tain such an institution. An institution which
carnot grow not only stands still but tends to
degenerate and stagnate. The elements of de-
| generation and stagnancy reflect themselves
in the organization which is based on this in
sttution. Against these elements our Party
through its fraction must conduct an unremt-
ting struggle, otherwise these elements will
| poison all about them.
The consumers cooperatives Camps, stores
| restaurants) although much more stable finan.
! cially, also are in danger of losing their work
| ing class identity unless unremitting struggle
is conducted by the Party against all right
wing tendencies within the organization and
! particularly within the Party fractions in these
organizations.
Such tendencies find expression in (a)
| bureaucratism underestimation of political
and organizational work and exaggeration OF
petty financial and administration detail or
the part of comrades in the administrative or
gans of the cooperatives. (b) Petty factional
/