The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-04
PARTY LIFE
Suggestions for the Conduct
of the Recruiting Drive

THE Chicago District in its suggestions the
Lenin Recruiting Drive writes, among others:
1--WE must understand that when new workers
come into the Party they come because they
consider our Party the fighting Party against
capitalism, but they are little acquainted with
the theory and practice of the revolutionary
movement. Our duty is to take this revolution
airy material and develop them while you are
developing yourselves into real Bolshevik fight
erS.
1.-THE following should be studied and carried
out by every comrade:
81. Overcome the bad attitude of the older
Party members to the new recruits. A real eff
fort must be made to draw the new elements
into active life of the Party. The old members
must guard against Communist snobbery' which
expresses itself in ignoring new members and
usually giving them dirty work. the technical
work, such as distributing and selling leaflets
while thinking that they are the political god
fathers to the new members
20. We must change the inner life of the
lower units. The mechanical nature of the meet
ings must be stopped. The unit buro must meet
regularly before the unit meetings take up COM
muncations and make arrangements for assign
ments of comrades to work. These assignments
should be conducted on the roll call basis so
that all comrades are involved in all the work
with discussions of current events, Party prob
lens and Part ycampaigns, experience in work
in the shop, ETC. Section committees must pay
close attention to the inner life of the units must
check up that discussions held regularly at
least twice month, and that each member is
given task.
''3. Every older member of the Party must
be -csponsible personally to give attention to
new member with the view of making of him or
her permanent member of the Party
q. Units concentrating on shops and mines
must learn how to approach the individual
worker in his place of work, carry on personal
propaganda, discuss with him the important
problems on the basis of the conditions existing
in the particular shop or mine and draw him
thereby closer to the Party and eventually into
the Party
IS. Every Fraction Buro should put on the
agenda at each meeting the special point of re-
cruiting the best elements from the mass organ
izations Each applicant should be well con-
Sdered and drawn into the Party.
IS. Every unit and fraction must have a def
mite quota This quota should be set as part
of he plans of work to March LIST and extended
to May 1st.'
We publish this correct observation in order
that it may be of value to all districts in the
drive
to strengthen and weld this force into leader
ship. y
3. Organization of visiting committees.
a. Failure to develop the strike committee
into a real functionng committee and bring
ing about its removal in case it did not assume
real leadership
s. Organization of publicity and entertain
ment committees.
6, Need Of organizing the strikers into a
union of pencil workers, beginning with the first
day of the strike.
T. Calling of meeting of the parents cspc-
cally of the younger workers and organization
Of the parents for support of the strike and for
strike activity.
g. Failure to draw the other unions into CIV
ing active assistance in the strike
These constitute the main important errors
that caused the loss of the strike.
Another blunder of the TUUC, however was
in placing Comrade Rubin in the leadership of
the strike All his actions in the strike stifled
the militancy-he accentuated the pessimsm
and defeatism in some of the other strike lead
ers. Lacking experience, he considered it only a
minor error shaking the hands of the police cap
tain, which led to friendly exchange of some of
the less experienced strikers with the police,
whom they should have learned to know as
enemies. He drew line against the Reds and
against so-called outside forces but on the other
hand, made the Smpermissible statement that
Rybick of the City Employment Bureau would
help the strikers to win their strike He dis
obeyed the instructions of the TUUC to force
the leaders of the strike committee to come out
into the open and to strengthen the strike COM
mittee Instead of doing So he favored the posi-
ton OF the chairman OF the strike committee to
60 back to work