The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-10-17
The National Hunger March and
the Building of the Party

the U. S. which is not affected by unemploy-
ment. There is no worker in the u S. who does
not feel the starvation conspiracy Of the bosses
either through direct unemployment or through
wage cuts speed up etc 1t is the National Hun
ger March and primarily the local struggles
around the hunger march, which will enable us
to organize and lead new strata of workers, who
until now perhaps did not even hear of our
Party, of our demands, of our program. And in
the course of this struggle our Party must espe-
cially be brought to the forefront, and our Party
must be built.
The present struggles of the unemployed work
ers in various parts of the country can not be
divorced from the mass campaigns of the Party.
This is true everywhere. Especially is this true
in the Pittsburgh district. The Pennsylvania
Hunger March was actually one of the steps in
the direction of the heroic miners strike, in
volving 10000 workers. It was the hunger march,
where we made the first contacts with the I'M
employed and part time miners which helped to
expose the demagogy of the Pinchot government
and laid the basis of the struggle against wage
cuts in the mining industry.
The hunger march in Ohio had a tremendous
effect on the steel workers in Mansfield. 1t is
the work among the unemployed, the developing
of the struggles for immediate relief and social
dock and other company steel towns which will
be first step to the organization of the workers
into the revolutionary unions and developing
strikes against wage cuts.
1t is just at the time of the hunger march and
its preparations when misery and hunger in the
United States will be exposed when wage cuts
and the Hoover stagger system will be shown in
its nakedness without the smoke screens of fake
promises, that we have the best opportunity to
compare the conditions of the workers in this
country with the rising standard of living in the
Soviet Union, and mobilize the workers for the
Defense Of the Soviet Union. I'll
The National Hunger March Is a mass strug-
GLE and in such mass campaign, we must build
our Party.
Quite often our Party members who are ac-
tive in the movement, absorbed with immediate
organizational needs of the struggle, do not see
the necessity of building the Party right from
the beginning. The growth of the Party does not
correspond with the developing mass struggles.
This is evident In many cases. Especially is this
evident among the furriers in New York. Lately
the union, through the application of correct
line, succeeded in taking in over 5000 members.
In the Party, however, we did not get single
furrier. Does this mean that the furriers are
not ready for the Party? OF course nobody will
QdIe Say IO. IL Is our ~ 10 Vic
vision Of work. The Party comrades active in
the Furriers Union concerned themselves only
with the building of the union, leaving to the
Party units to build the Party. This is Journalism.
In personal conversation with comrade in
connection with a strike, the comrade was proud
of the development of the strike, speaking of
the miltancy of the workers, and correctly so,
but when asked what about the Party or the
Lacquer" the comrade answered this is the job
Of the Party Unit, or League Unit which con-
cenrates on this factory This is Journalism, for
malism Of which the Plenum warned so sharply
In building Of our Party in the course Of the
Hunger March we must get rid Of this formal
division" or work.
The experiences in the strike Of the miners
has clearly shown that there where we sue
ceeded in building the Party our union work
was stronger, the strike was organzationally In
better condition. Especially in connection with
the developing Of the activities Of the Hunger
March, all these mistakes must be understood
by our Party membership.
Right from the beginning Of the campaign
hand in hand with preparations along with the
developing Of local struggles our Party comrades
while leading the unemployed workers in the
struggle for relief have as their task to bring
forward the Party as the political leader Of the
working class, to bring in new elements Into
the Party, to strengthen our fractions in the
Unemployed Councils and thus strengthening
thu unemployed work In general Out Of ever,