Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-10
Communists in u. S.
Many More Than 5000
To the Editor Of The star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
The Star editorially stated recently
that persons in position to know placed
the number Of Communists in the
United States at 5000.
The World Almanac for 1890 gives
the number Of Communist votes cast In
"a States in the general election Of 1928.
The total was 48,770. This was not, Of
course, the total number of Communist
legal voters. More than 100000 persons
claiming to be legal citizens signed the
several petitions to place the Communist
ticket on the ballot during a brief can
vass in 1928. It Is well known that a
large majority of Communists are either
migratory workers" or unnaturalized
aliens. The large number Of young
workers" are not voters. Since the last
general election the Communist vote
has shown large increase In a number
OF city elections. In last years Detroit
| city election the Communists cast IL 900
votes, as compared with only 1881 votes
in the 1928 general election in the entire
State Of Michigan.
The Communist International Year
Book (officiaD, published in London In
July, 1929, gives the number Of sub
scriberS OF Communist official papers in
| the United States a year ago as 10000
| in addition to shop papers with a total
circulation Of $4,000.
The Workers (CommuniSt) Party is
| now conducting a Seven-week cam
paign for new dues-paying members
The results by districts are printed In
! the Daily Worker, national official Com
munist organ. The number of dues-pay-
Ing members enrolled in January was
q De I'D
short campaign the Communist party
Will enroll more new members than The
Star has been informed there are Com
munlStS In the United States.
The number Of dues-paying members
| OF the Workers Communist Party of
America Is given in the international
Year Book as $4,000 on January /. 1928
This does not mean the total number
OF Communists. There are fewer regu-
lar dues-paying members Of either OF
the old political parties. These dues
range from So year up. These men,
nerS constitute merely the professional
workers OF the party, corresponding to
the central committees Of the other
| parties.
On Lenin day in November 10000
Communists paid admission fees of SO
! ana 70 cents to attend the memorial
meeting held in Madison Square Gar
oen, New York. The gate receipts were
$4,000, and a collection Of $500 addi-
tlonal was taken up In the audience
what other political party could show
Sucn evidence Of strength? How many
Republicans or Democrats in New York
would pay such admission to q party
celebration addressed by local speakers
Ihere are two national Communist
organizations in the United States in
addition to the official Workers Party
The Workers Party has Is or more
subsidiaries under Communist control
one OF these, the International Labor
Defense, which at its recent Convention
| in Pittsburgh cabled Loyalty to the MOS
| COW leadership, has 10000 dues-payinQ
members, and claims $4,000 active
members. This organization In turn
mas official control of Is or more listed
subsidiaries. One Of them, the Com
mun1St Miners Union, q split-off from
the United Miners Federation, has 10
600 members. The Communist Textile
workers Union, which figured in the
recent North Carolina labor troubles,
has several thousand members,
/ IL may be added that the time the
Kerensky government, which refused to
take Bolshevism seriously, was over
| thrown by TrotSky and Lenin, the Com
munist party in Russia had only $4,000
members. Even today 1t has only 1,3O4,-
600 members, or about per cent of the
total population Of Russia.
These figures are from of1cial and
authentic sources. Nothing Is to be
gained by Understanding the strength
OF those who are committed to the cause
OF overthrowing the American Govern
ment by violence. Much may be lost by
treating such a fanatical force too
lightly, as Kerensky did.
WALTER g STEETE