The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-04-21
PARTY LIFE
Conducted by the Organization Department of
the Central Committee, Communist Party, U.S.A.
The Training of Functionaries
By S. ID.

BY S. ID.
THE Party is growing. Its influence is spread
i ing. We are to mobilize and lead workers,
many of whom never had the experience OF
conscious and direct struggles against capital
ISM TO lead such workers we must have trained
functionaries, trained leaders
Many militant workers are at present joining
the Party, many of whom have splendid con-
facts with the masses, many who are the proper
type for mass leadership. The growing strug-
giles and tasks of the Party will call upon us to
place them in positions of leadership amongst
the masses, to place them in active and leading
positions in the Party. Yet many of these new
members, never had any experience in the or
ganized labor movement, never had any ex-
perience in leading mass struggles. Their lack.
of experience must be made up through in
tensive panstaking training.
The training of functionaries, OF mass leaders,
is an acute problem in every section of the Com
munist International. However it is particularly
acute in our Party Why? If we will even super
ficially compare the labor movement of this
country with that of the leading European cap
italist countries, we note the following: We know
that most of the workers joining our brother
Parties in Europe gained some organizational
and political experience before they joined our
Parties. Many of them took an active part III
the various united front campaigns of the Party,
while yet being members of the Socialist Party
or voting for the Socialist Party being members
of their respective unions, fighting under our
leadership against the social fascist leadership.
AS we already indicated above, if we compare
it with the European Parties, in many instances
the workers who join our Party at the present
time, lack that elementary political organiza-
tional training that we spoke Of in connection
Parties Of course one must not make the mis-
take of jumping to the conclusion, that we have
no workers in the q. S. who have acquired that
elementary political organizational training Our
united front tactics will bring into our Party
many of that type. In fact, in number of
cases are known to us, this type of worker,
who joined the Party had less difficulties in
assuming leadership and becoming functonary.
While our Party is one of the older ones of
the Comintern, and while many of the old
Party members have gone through the exper-
fence of the struggle against the last imperial
ist war, the struggle of the left wing in the
socialist party, the needle, textile, and mining
strike experiences, yet the bulk of the Party
membership did not go through these expert
ences and grew up in the prosperity" period.
The growing homogeneity of the American work.
ing class is not so well reflected in the Party.
Inc OLD 1Orelgn-DOrn membership mas the ele-
mentary political organizational experience but
not in all situations that arise, can we place
them in position of active leadership. while
we must point this out, at the same time we
must guard ourselves against the tendency of ig-
noring those foreign born comrades who have
splendid experiences and are trustworthy and
we must call upon younger American elements
and place them in a position Of leadership in
preference to the more experienced foreign-born
comrades. And their lack of experience, lack
Of tested stability must be made up through
steady and intensive training and, wherever pos
sible, personal guidance.
The present world crisis of capitalism, the
present and developing situation in the U. S.,
places ever greater duties on Party in mob
ilizing the masses. Yet in face Of these de-
mands and tasks we lack the revolutionary ex-
perience Cho one should not for one single
moment forget the militant and heroic expert
ences Of the American working class that our
brother Parties have gone through
Conrade Stain in his speeches to the Amer
lean Commission delivered in 1929 in referring
to the historic role of our Party said it is
zone OF the few Communist Parties in the world
upon which history has laid tasks of a decisive
character from the point Of view Of the world
revolutionary movement" In another speech to