The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-10-09
The Key Importance Of Organization
and SeIf-CritiCism

THE power of the working class lies in its
organization. Without organization the prole-
tariat is like nothing. Organized it is every
thing. denim
Every organization of the Party must strict
ly see to it that the absolutely necessary criti-
cisrn of the Party defects the analysis of the
general line of the Party, the summing
up of it's practical experience, the YER
ification of errors, etc, should be directed not
at discussion in the groups developing on the
basis of some platform, etc, but at discus
sion by the entire Party membership" denim
Finally the District and Section Org Depart
ments must fundamentally change the present
methods of leading the existing shop units OF
the Party. We should make it a rule that the
usual district and section Org letters which are
designed primarily for street units, shall not be
sent to the shop units. We should make it rule
that either the section or the district must lead
the shop units through sending personal rep
resentative to the shop unit meetings or where
this is impractical, sending each week an indi-
Wdual letter of instructions to each shop unit
Each shop unit has different problems, and par
ticularly today when our members are not
trained in this work. the closest personal leader
ship by the higher committees is absolutely
necessary.
The Agitprop Departments must change their
methods of work in the same direction. In order
to train our comrades how to work the Agitprop
Departments should organize at once weekend
classes in the most important sections for the
comrades active in shop work. These classes
must be very concrete and practical They must
explain in the most simple terms Just how the
work is to be done.
The District Agitprop Departments must in
sure constant stream of short articles to the
Daily Worker on practical questions of the work,
experiences, etc, written by comrades actually
at the work in the shops. On the basis of these
articles, special reports ETC., the &C. Agtprop
Department should issue monthly bulletin on
the order of the monthly Shop Paper Bulletin,
making these experiences available to the whole
Party.
The character of our agitation must be
changed We must see to it that all of our gen.
eral agitation around various issues such as the
war danger, Mooney campaign, elections, ETC., is
in all cases linked up with conditions in the
shop and is written SO as to appeal to shop
workers In big campaigns we should get out
fewer general leaflets in the tens of thousands
and get out many many more leaflets addressed
to the workers of one specific shop and tying up
the general campaign with the conditions ana
the problems of the workers in the specific
shop Scores of such leaflets, which bear the
imprint of the shop itself should be gotten out in
the course of our general campaigns. Such leaf
lets issued by the Party should not always be
signed by the District or Section Committee.
Where we have a shop unit in the shop they
should be signed by the shop unit itself Thus
we will make the workers of the shop conscious
of the role of the shop unit as the political lead
er of the workers of the factory. Wherever pos
aible such leaflets should be written by the mem
bers of the shop unit or by individual comrades
working in shops where we have as yet no unit
The work of all other departments of the Dis
trict and Section Committees, Negro Depart
ment, Womens Department, etc, must be
changed in this same direction.
Use the Mass Campaigns to Build Shop
Organization.
Too often our comrades complain that the
Party is engaged in SO many big campaigns
elections, Mooney campaign, Scottsboro, work
among the unemployed the campaign against
imperialst war etc-that they have no time left
for shop work. This indicates a completely
wrong approach to the problem. Instead of act
ing as a brake on our shop work these mass
campaigns must be a principal instrument for
the penetration of the big shops. will use a
couple of examples to show how this can be done