The daily worker., 1930-05-19

a further consolidation Of the growing HldS9
influence of the Communist Party, while at
the same time again emphasizing the great
disparity between the growing political influ-
ence Of the Party and its organizational
strength.
Despite the much more thorough counter
preparltions Of the bourgeoisie and the higher
political character Of the demonstrations, the
Party was able to bring between 100000 and
$4,000 workers into the streets on May Day.
while the counter celebrations organized by the
socialist party in all cities were failures.
On past May Days, street demonstrations
and strikes ere rarely attempted, the Party
being content with the holding of mass meet
ings or celebrations on the Sunday before or
afer May First. This year, following up the
huge mass demonstrations on August l and
March 6. the Party seriously attempted to carry
through mass political strikes and street DEM
onstrations
While on August / and March the demon
STATIONS were organized primarily around
single slogans against imperialist war and
unemployment respectively the May Day
demonstrations this year were carried through
on the basis Of the continuation Of the struggle
against unemployment, naturalization and I'M
perialist war and also much sharper struggle
against fascism and social-fascism and the
gram of the Party was brought to the fore
front The response of well over 100000 work
ers. the carrying through of successful demon
STATIONS in cities where the Party never at
tempted them before Chattanooga, Rome In
dianapolis, Syracuse, etc) and the recruiting
of hundreds of new members for the Party
therefore, with the sharpening world crisis and
the rising tide of the revolutionary workers
movement is of tremendous significance.
p All phases of the counter-preparatio
of the bourgeoisie were more complete than
ever before. The steady deepening Of the econ
omic crisis, the colossal growth of unemploy-
ment, the many manifestations of discomfort
on the part of the workers, and especially the
tremendous demonstrations on March have
made the bourgeoise extremely wary as to the
growing influence of the Communist Party
Following March there has been continu-
Gus stress of fake proposals for relief of IN
employment by city, state and national officials
by the leaders of the S. P and A. F. of L.
as we'll as by leading industrasts and bank
ers. Daily promises of rapidly returning pros
perity were made to create illusions among the
workers.
The A. F. of L. and s. P bureaucracy open
" endorsed the police attacks the arrests and
Imprisonment of leaders of the unemployed
Foster, Minor, Amter, Raymond and l-esten
in New York, Fisher in Milwaukee and dozens
of others in other cities. Matthew Wol openly
urged deportation and exile of Communists
and declared that the A. F of L. "is holding
the first line Of combat in defense of capi-
talism.
The renegades from Communism the Love
stoneites and the Trotskyites, Joined IL TINS
bourgeois offensive by sharp attacks against
the Party leadership, by talk of "putsch.'
by ridiculing the mass political strike, by ad-
vising the workers in New FORK not to fight
for Union Square, etc.
In Chicago, police raids were made on the
Party headquarters and l6 leadjoo roH'"a '.@
were arrested Immediately before May 1. Every
where police declarations were made OF no
permits on May l Gigantic preparations"
etc. to terrorze the workers Hundreds of
arrests took place during the preparatory work
of the Party. On May Day the police, both
at the demonstration points and at the factories
were modified as never before They followed
a conscious policy in New York and many other
places, of separating the Communists from
the masses who responded to the Party call,
but who did not come to the demonstrations
in an organized body.
In New York, Stamford, Conn, and other
cities fascist war veterans organizations at
tempted to organize counter demonstrations at
the same places advertised by the Party.
The socialist party, which has ignored May
Day for years, this year attempted IN New
York, Chicago, Milwaukee and other places to
hold May Day meetings to take the workers
away from the revolutionary demonstrations
organized by our Party.
In the shops, the preparations of the bosses
were extensive, threats were made that al!
workers remaining away from work would be
discharged. Police were concentrated at the
factories in large numbers to terrorize the
workers Workers were denied the right to
leave the shop at noon on May First for lunch.
Radios bands and entertainments were in some
cases provided (Detroit). Working hours were
changed to foil the plans Of the Party and the
TU.U.L. for mass picketing and factory meet
ings In the South, the bosses organized fas-
cst gangs to break up shop meetings. All this
shows the concerted and well planned efforts
of the bourgeoise to prevent strikes and dem
onstratons on May First.
The mobilization of the workers, therefore,
on May Day. required much greater organized
effort than any previous demonstration organ
ized by the Party. The bringing Of over 300,
900 workers into the streets was therefore
real achievement for our Party, while at che
same time.emphasizing the need for more con-
centrated factory activity building nuclei and
shop committees) to offset the more conscious
counter-measures Of the bourgeosie
g. The preparatory work of the Party show
ed great imrloem ement as compared with its
york in the past The orientation of the Party
-as much more decsively on the large fac
tories in most districts Still insufficient