The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-09-17
THF BOTTOM OF THE PARTY
MUST BE REACHED

but in educating them politically,
Take the mining fields in the Pittsburgh Dis
trict There we have a complete new mem
bership. The Party is participating there in
the local elections following bitter strike strug
gle Local elections which must be utilized to
still further expose the social demagogy of Pin
chot But this new Party membership was mob
ilized for the election campaign without poll
teal discussion among the fuzlctionaries, let
alone at the unit meetings. Any wonder then
that in a number of units proposals we're made
not to nominate Party candidates for certain
offices, because the local bourgeois politician
running for that particular office is a lesser
evil"? At a section committee meeting in the
mining region, one of the members of the sec
ton committee in discussion in connection
with the election campaign made the point that
Pinchots hands were tied because of the ST.
preme Court, therefore it is necessary to change
and improve the Supreme Court
The problem of political enlightenment is par
ticularly acute in the Pittsburgh mining fields
because of the new membership but it is by
no means problem only in connection with
the new members. For instance, in Detroit
the following occurred:
Some Party members on a committee sent
to see Mayor Murphy to protest against police
brutality were moved by the mayors sincerity
on the question of police brutality and objec-
lively became victims of his social demagogy.
While at the Plenums of our Party and in
resolutions and articles of many leading COM
rades the question of social demagogy was raised
in the sharpest manner yet we see such Grass
examples not only Of a failure to understand
the problem, but also in some instances our COM
rades fall victims to it. This only shows that
in the concrete daily life of the Party the -prac-
teal work many a time was merely carried
through mechanically without linking it up in
a broader political manner
While some progress has been made in dis
cussing political problems with the function
aries, yet the very points taken up at func-
tionaries conferences are not followed up at unit
meetings. We will merely confine ourselves to
two examples, because they are so outstanding
the miners strike and the Chicago massacre
protest demonstrations are the two recent out
standing examples of the Party participation in
important mass struggles. The lessons of these
struggles must be studied by the entire Party
membership. But they we're not even brought
home to the membership at their unit meetings
in the districts where the struggles occurred.
In Pittsburgh there was a discussion on the
lessons of the miners strike only at func-
tionaries conference but not in the units. In
Chicago practically the same happened.
Inc laSG PleIu1n OF our Party, raised Sharply
the question of the struggle against burocracy
and Journalism. The raising of the political
level of the units will help great deal in the
struggle against Journalism and burocracy
The 18th Plenum raised sharply the feminist
slogan of "less highfalutin phrases, more simple
every day deeds" The 18th Plenum linked up
the above mentioned slogan with the struggle
against burocracy. The resolution states ". the
growth of burocratic methods of work (Which
expresses itself SD in the sitting of demo-
cracy within the Party, in sitting the initia-
tive from below, preventing the absorption of
new members, stunning the growth of organi-
cation, in the insufficient politicalzation and
activization of the Party membership by means
of enlightment upon the tasks, day to day guild
ance and practical assistance to the Party mem
bership in carrying out these tasks"
The Plenum directive Of politcalizng and en-
lightning the Party membership on the tasks
is one Of the important levers in developing
faith in the masses and eliminating burocratic
tendencies and methods of work.