The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-10
PARTY LIFE
On Applying New Party
Methods
BY OLGA GOLD

Today, two months after the 18th Plenum of
our Party, it is the task of every dictionary as
well as the entire Party to examine how much
we have actually succeeded to transform and ap-
Div the decisions of the last Plenum in our day
to day tasks and problems in organizing and
leading the every day struggles OF the American
working class
When we review our work in its relation to
the last Plenum we can frankly state that espe-
cially outside of our unemployment campaign in
many instances we have not yet fully grasped
the practical application of the decisions of the
last Plenum, or rather to say, not properly UNI
derstood what the Central Committee means by
new methods and forms of work.
Today in every document issued by the Party
and mass organizations and conferences not only
called by the Party but as well as by the mass
organizations unions. fraternal organizations,
etc, ETC., string Of new phraseology appear,
such as, new methods, sirnplifeation, concrete
cation, systematic, calender. specific, ETC." Here
bodied in the documents of the last Plenum
lies the danger that this phrasemongering shall
not be allowed to substitute for actually making
efforts to carry into practice the decisions en-
We will take the following examples for illus
tration of what we mean by failure to grasp the
practical application of the decisions Of the Par
ty and where instead, application was made in
mechanical way. Sometime in November our
Comrades working for the Miners Union in the
Anthracite had drawn up program OF work for
the MOS.WLU. The program was worked out
concretely on paper, the definite quotas assigned
to each group to obtain in given time, mines
we're chosen for concentration, etc., yet this pro-
gram of work was complete failure. The ques-
ton arises what was the fault in this program?
Precisely the very fact that it was mechanical
way Of trying to put the decisions of the
Party into action. 1t failed to take the groups
of miners, chosen for concentration feel that it
was their program but instead was submitted to
the groups as something from above which they
must accept. The goal set was superficial and
did not rise out of realities. We failed to take
into consideration and study the conditions I'M
der which these particular miners were working
SO as to find out the best methods Of approach
which would rally them for struggle but instead
mechanically tried to apply our Program of
Work. Had the same program involved the
given miners in the formulation of the program
then certainly the miners would have recog-
nized that this was their problem, they would
realize that the demands set were their own de-
mands and would be ready to fight for it. Con-
sequently, in the efforts Of our comrades to
execute this program, glarngly demonstrated
that in their methods applied they did not I'M
derstand what the Party meant by "fundamen-
tally revising its method OF work in It's contact
with the masses" The fact that after an Or
ganizer worked with a group for couple Of
weeks and succeeded in organizing the group,
and when he left this group, the group col
lapsed, which proves very definitely that while
being with the group our comrade failed to train
the workers, to inspire confidence in their own
ability, and to make this group the medium for
organizing the miners in that colliery but the
whole work was of a commandtory nature, and
not of training the workers for organization. But
when the comrade would bear in mind the fact,
which is the key to our successful conducting of
mass work. that this group Of miners are the
decisive elements in executing our program, then
unquestionably our methods ofswork would fun
damentally be Of a different character.
Take the question of concentration. true de-
cision to concentrate on definite places with the
object in view of developing a struggle and con-
vncing the miners that we we're capable OF
leading them. Was this done? No, instead we
still continued to stretch over the Anthracite,
accomplishing nothing, but disappointing min
ers, because of the physical inability of cover
ing the entire Anthracite district Neglectng the
definite places Of concentration. Certainly all
this did not arouse confidence in our ability to
lead them
After twa months of work with no accom-
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