The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-06-12
By FRANK O'BRIEN


THE majority of articles which have found
their way into print since the pre-conyen-
ton discussion opened have proven both in
teresting and worthy study, but one glazing
omission is noticeable: that is the almost total
absence of contributions written by comrades
actually working in shops and factories, TIE
Party has spoken so frequently of the neccs-
sity of Sinking our roots in the shops and
drawing into leadership proletarian elements,
that it is surprising that the Central Commit-
tee has no. insisted on articles from comrades
on the job. There is still too much of tend
ency to publish articles written by those whose
only claim to leadership is their ability to
deliver long dissertations on Marx, and Engels,
who have never spent an hour in the shop, or
factory. The Party continues to err when it
keeps such elements in leading positions on
central, district and section committees, instead
of drawing in the real proletarian from the
shops. Ask the intellectuals the question, Glow
many new members have you brought into the
Party" ara you are az swered by vacant
stare which says None But these same COM
rades possess unlimited ability in telling others
how it is DONE
In the Chicago district few comrades ware
assigned to, the shop nuclei to assist in carry
ing on the work The writer knows of no in
signed comrades were in a position to contrib.
ute to building the nucleus, or aid in the &C
complishment of its tasks. They have not pos.
sessed organiZational ability and seldom show
ed any marked degree of political leadership.
Such mechanical assignments constitute seri-
Gus mistake which can only serve to retreat tie
growth of the movement, rather than build it.
When assignments are to be made an examlna-
ton should be conducted to determine just hlw
much ability the comrades wishing to be as
signed possess, whether they are good organ
izers, practical theoreticians, and know the par
tcular industry which the nucleus covers.
Otherwise, there is no sense in assigning
comrade to:a task when he doesn't know what
it is all about.
The meetings of shop nuclei must be made
much more interesting than they have been in
the past. Often they are long drawn-out af-
fairs, devoted chiefly to speeches by "long-
winded" comrades who just have to get it off
their chests. The result is that if the nucleus
happens to have new comrade, he becomes
bored at hearing such silly twaddle and is lost
to the Party. | do not mean by this that
are to lower the theological level of our mem.
bership to fit in with that of the American
worker who dashes off to the ball park on Sat
urday afternoon and Sunday; / only desire to
point out the necessity of stopping this flow
of flowery oratorB which consumes so much
valuable time and which reeks with high
sounding revolutionary phrases, seldom sppli-
cable to the everyday class struggle, coli
tributing nothing to the building of the nucleus
and the Party. Let's leave such speech max
ing to the SIP. and the Proletarian Party,
the Communist Party is the active organizer of
the working class and has no room for Gin
tellectuaP' speech makers.
Close observation indicates that our shop
nuclei work is being carried on in haphazalc
manner and many right wing tendencies mani
fest themselves. Some comrades, as this ap-
plies frequently to foreign-born comrades, arc
inclined to display hesitancy in carrying out
decisions of the Party as regards participation
in shop activity, generally resolving into a
situation where one or two comrades are com
PEELED to do the bulk Of the work. The excuse
most often heard is that by doing Communist
work in the factory one endangers his chances
of keeping his job-therefore Hang your revo-
lutionary principles on nail when you enter
the shop" That, in effect, is the attitude Of
many comrades. Often where old, fascist