The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-09-15
Letters from
Our Readers


newspapers which emphasize the
acts Of police terror against reds.
Any militant struggle by workers
is classed as the reds. WhyP Be-
cause there is more to the story.
They lack in explaining why the
struggle becomes necessary but
sure print the results such as-reds
are shot and killed, meetings raid
ed, many arrested, reds to be de-
ported, reds sentenced from 80 days
to 10 years in prison. Pictures of
reds being gassed an dubbed.
WHY STORIES
ARE PRINTED
Such articles are not printed
simply because they are news be-
cause there is more Important news
they neglect in printing. Nor is it
printed because workers enjoy
reading of police terror and bru-
tally upon reds. But because the
bosses want the workers to read it.
Therefore the articles bear the pur-
pose of capita1izing on acts Of ter
ror against reds by further ter
rorizing the minds of non-militant
workers by instilling fear in their
hearts in the form of such news
items. Neither are they short of
exaggeration. Is it any wonder
Hoover said the veterans were reds?
He was preparing the way for evic-
ton at any cost. Then they pic
ture the consequence of what be-
falls worker should be come into
the Party or be under Communist
leadership.
I want to ask, am I wrong in my
analysis? Are the boss papers do
ing the Party an unconscious IA
vor? If not, why does the Party
carry paper to the workers chuck
full of this terrorizing from ma
tional source and put it together
in such a manner that 80 to so per
cent is composed of reports of ter
ror? What little terror there is
over such a wide radius when put
together in the Daily makes it out
standing in the minds of readers,
that to join the Party or to be-
come involved in its work neceSsar-
lily exposes the worker to terror.
This feeling exists in workers and
can only be detriment in our en-
deavor to strengthen the Party
forces.
Terror is over estimated and eX-
aggerated in boss newspapers and
accomplished in the Daily
Worker For the Daily Worker to
be a mass paper and the Party
to be mass Party, I think con-
sideration of this letter would help.
Comradely yours,
Comrade Rl1an deals here with
very important question Undoubt-
edly the capitalist press carries wide
accounts of clashes with the po-
lice in order to give the impression
that Communists are provoking
riots and to link up in the minds
of the workers that Communists
and violence go hand in hand. They
want to terrorize the masses The
reasons for the actions which Com
munists lead are carefully sup
pressed. The reactionary press
white washes capitalist terror and
in this they are helped by the So
cialiSt Party which throws the re-
sponsibility for police violence, not
upon the capitalist state which has
become reactionary, but upon the
Communists.
CAPITALIST DICTATORSHIP
The Daily Worker and the Party
agitators must everywhere empha-
size that the police suppression is
evidence of the capitalist dictator
ship which is ever more markedly
exposing itself, and that it must be
overthrown if the masses are to og-
tain liberation. The Daily Worker
cannot conceal these acts of terror
of the master class for they are
well known to the workers. But
the Daily and Party agitators,
speakers can more effectively ex-
pose the terror and mobilize against
it if it will show convincingly from
the facts Of the daily struggles, that
the Communists are fighting for
the economic interests of the mass
es and that this fight meets with
the utmost brutality at the hands
of the master class.
Our agitators too often deal at
great length with capitalist violence
but fail to place the economic is
sues in the center, often forget
them entirely and thus are unable
to show to the workers the con-
nection of economics and politics
and the necessity of fighting against
the capitalist government in order
to achieve the economic demands.
Many create free speech fights
without the economic demands and
thus lose the widest basis ofsappeal
to the workers.
WHAT MUST BE DONE
To defeat the attempts to terror
ize the workers and isolate the
Communists, it is necessary in pre-
pairing mass actions, demonstra-
tons, ETC., to engage the widest
masses from below to make the de-
mands for which these actions take
place, the demands of the workers
arrived at after discussion. 1t is
essential to set UP committees of
the workers and cause such wide
interest and organization that the
capitalists will hesitate to use vio-
lence or else meet a storm of pro-
test and indignation when they do.
At the same time the organization
of mass defense corps, able to eff
fectively enforce the rights Of the
workers to protest, demonsti ate
and meet, encourages the masses
and defeats the police terror. These
measures going hand in hand with
a concentrated campaign for the
defense of the rights to speak, as
sn..,l.l-- 81 +I,o "a .,a.,a irl., 4. c.ai..rt :