The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-03-06
ONE YEAR OF STRUGGLE OF
THE UNEMPLOYED


life.
In the last few months there has been de-
cided advance in organization. This has been
especially the case since the beginning OF the
Hunger Marches throughout the country during
the winter. This form Of organization Of the
struggle put new life into the Councils To-
gether with the struggle against evictions, it
proved the most effective means Of starting
that process of mass organization whereby the
diffuse and scattered masses begin to crystal
iZe into powerful bodies.
One of the most effective weapons has been
the signature campaign, but its use is still only
in primitive stage. Although we gathered
more than half million individual signatures,
and more than that Of collective endorsements
for our Insurance Bill, this was not sufficiently
used to build UP neighborhood Councils, building
committees, signature collection committees,
etc.
Gradually, out Of the many forms Of activity
and struggle, the Unemployment Councils are
emerging as real, solid, organized bodies Still
entirely inadequate, still in their first stages,
still comparatively weak yet compared with
those of a year ago, they show decisive adj
vance. The movement is on higher level OF
organization Our Job Is now to carry 1t much
higher still.
Into the Legislative Halls
From its first actions which were forinless
almost spontaneous gatherings at street corners
and in squares, at the mercy of the vicious at
tacks Of the police, the Unemployment Councils
more and more have learned how to register
their demands with the ruling class and before
the masses. Into the legislative halls have
gone, in the last months the elected committees
of the masses who marched in the streets
Marching masses possess greater striking power
than those who aimlessly gather around few
Speakersl
In the first entrances gained to city halls
by local demonstrations Of the unemployed, the
committees we're often confused by the brazen
demagogy Of the capitalist politicians, who find
a harmonious blending OF clubs and tear gas
with honeyed words their most effective weap-
on against the unemployed.
Here in these visits to city hall and state
legislature the workers have been getting les
sons in revolutionary parliamentary action which
are of the most profound Importance In scores
of city halls in a half-dozen state legislatures
and IN the National Capitol itself, the unem-
ployrnent council delegations have had their
skulls assaulted with police clubs and their
minds assaulted with the denaagogy of the
progressive politicians And they have learned
to resist both of these capitalist weapons Ell
fectively. A historic lessonl
Now to the Next Phase Of Struggle
Starvation is growing Unemployment insur-
ance is denied by the capitalists Even the
miserable charity is steadily dwindling. More
and more desperate grow the conditions of mil
lions Of workers and their families. What next?
The next stage of the fight is arrived at when
the masses, through their own organized ac-
tivity. begin to feed themselves.
There is no sharp dividing line between this
and our former slogans and methods of strug-
gle, which retain their validity. But~the old
measures must be supplemented by the direct
organization, through the Unemployment Coun-
ellis, of the collection and distribution OF food
for the most desperate cases of starvation, par
ticularly where it involved families with chill
dren Such activities, already spontaneously
begun in dozens of cities. must be brought I'M
der the control of conscious planning and di-
rection.
Two most serious dangers must now be guard
ed against in these new phases OF work. First
of ALL the danger Of the Unemployment Coun-
ellis being allowed to degenerate from organs
Of struggle into opportunist appendages to capt.
talist charity, cringing before the Ladies Boun-
tiful" and hurnbly thanking them for their
mercy The slightest step in such direction
means death to the Unemployment Movement
Second is the danger of adventurist tactics
of hot-blooded groups Of youngsters running 100
far ahead of the mass movement, and engaging
in isolated actions of food seizures which are
not approved by the masses. Both these dan
gers must be consciously guarded against. We
will discuss in more detail the ways and means
whereby this is to be done in another article.