The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-04-01
A Year of Communist Work
in the South

government against our Party and the work
ing class in the South has been of the sharpest
and most brutal character The American
class struggle furnishes parallel for the
manner in which Communists and militant non
Party workers have been prosecuted in the
South in the last year. The attacks have not
been confined to one locality one industry or
to one state. They are widespread and are
launched wherever organization work and
struggles are carried on.
They indicate clearly the rapidly growing
fascist character of the program and methods
of the American ruling class and the almost
complete organic unity of business and gov
ernment"
Workers Not Fascist.
But these attacks disclose something of still
greater Importance. In not single one of
these attacks has the capitalist class been able
to mobilize any lUorkers.
Not even in the attacks directed toward the
suppression of Communist activity among the
Negro masses have the bosses and their agents
been able to enlist workers. The classic anti
Negro slogans of the Southern ruling class
have heen shown to be barren of results so
far as workers are concerned.
Here again is the most striking proof of the
rehabilitation of American workers under the
intOlerable pressure of naturalization. The
significance of the failure of the Southern
ruling class in this field cannot be overestim-
ated.
There is not single organizer of our Party
in the South not single organizer of the vari-
GUS class struggle unions, of the international
Labor Defense or of the Workers International
Relief that has not been jailed, convicted and
sentenced. I-any of them have a half-dozen
charges hanging them.
Comrades Beal, Miller, Henlryx, McGinnis,
Mclaughlin, Harrison, Carter, of the N.TW.U.
face up to 20 years in prison. Chain gang SEN
fences under the murderous Southern penal
system have been handed out to many more.
The work goes on. Kidnappings and flog-
gings continuous threats by the fascist bands,
murders, Ss. of Ella May, hinder but do not stop
our agitational, propaganda and organizational
activity.
Extending Our Work.
We have made good beginning in the last
year, but only beginning. We must estab-
fish Communist paper in the South we must
increase our Party membership, must pre-
pare for the election campaign, we must broad
en- immensely our work for the organization
of the jobess and the struggle against unen-
ployment.
We must extend our work among the agri-
cultural masses-especaly among the Negro
workers. We must consciously give all of our
campaigns more of a political character.
We must do all in our power to see that
the revolutionary unions obtain better organ.
national results from their activity. We must
lead more struggles. We must more system
atically expose the. Mustete social fascists. We
must concentrate more in the big industrial
plants and engage in more planned work.
For the Next Year.
From the ranks of the Southern masses we
must recruit many more workers for leader
ship than we have to date and this can be
done only by extending cultural and edu-
cational work to which far too little attention
has been paid.
The defense of the Gastonia defendants must
more be placed in the center of our ac-
tivity and the demand for unconditional release
of these class war prisoners made a popular
issue.
One year of work in the South established
our Party there firmly in the mass movement.
In the next we should set as our objective the
complete defeat of the A. F. of L. and its So
cal fascist Music gang, the organization of
the decisive sections of the working class in the
South in the revolutionary unions of the Trade
Union Unity League and the popularization
of our Party program in every important in
dustrial center.