The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-11-17
Letters from
OM Readers
From a Worker Who
preached Solidarity"
For 10 Years

Dear Comrade:
For 10 years I have been a left
wing revolutionary worker During
these years I have preached soli-
darity. / have tried to organize
all workers under one banner, So
cialiStS, I.W.W.'s, Socialist Labor,
Anarchists, etc. into one big organ
izstion. We can't do this by fight
ing one another. We can do this
by showing each other that we
stand for the same principles. We
all believe in public ownership of
public industries, equal rights for
all races, the uselessness, cruelty,
and senselessness of war, ETC., SO
why should we be divided? We
can't hope to win the Socialists by
attacking them, but we can win
them to our cause if we show them
in friendly spirit that our organ
ization is the best of the two.
I was an organizer of the Party
and lay in jail with IS others at
the same time Gene Debs was jail
ed. I was in favor of the Third
International which was the begin
ming Of the division of the Socialist
Party. I was with the left wing
and I am ready to take cut
membership card with the Commu-
mist Party today if they will stop
their attacks on other radical
groups, but I will not become
member of either party that con-
tues to fight any workingmans
organization.
Yours for Solidarity,
L. G. S.
=. EDITORS REPLY
Dear Comrade L.G.S.:
Your desire for solidarity of all
workers is sound. Only through
solidarity will the workingclass
smash capitalist oppression.
But this solidarity, this unity,
must be a unity for workingclass
demands, it must be a unity against
capitalism, against capitalist war,
against capitalist wage cuts, you
will agree to that.
For example, unity of workers
under the leadership Of Hoover,
or Roosevelt, would in no sense of
the word be a workingclass unity.
And yet the majority Of workers
vote at the present in the U. S. for
Hoover and Roosevelt and other
capitalist politicians. But you
would not urge, would you, that we
stop attacking Hoover and Roose-
welt and their policies.
You say that Norman Thomas
and the other socialist leaders are
workers leaders. What proof have
you Of that, outside of their own
statements? But these statements
are the statements they make to
the workers. To the bosses they
make other statements. To the
bosses they promise to lead the
workers away from the revolution
airy struggle against capitalism.
What else does Thomas mean
when he warns of catastrophe"
unless certain liberal measures are
not passed? What else does he
mean when he warns that the
people will lose their faith in dem
ocracy (bourgeoiSe democracy, If
the bosses push their terror too
! far? Is such a warning addressed
to the workers or to the bosses?
How shall we unite with the lead
ers of the Socialist Party? Shall
we unite with them to SANDER the
Soviet Union? Shall we unite with
them to keep silent about the OPP
preston Of the Negro masses?
Shall we unite with them to keep
down the rising struggle of the
unemployed, and stifle it in the
harmless channels of forced labor
and primitive barter, of quiet and
slow starvation? Shall we unite
with those who unite with the
American Federation of Labor to
break strikes? Matthew VOL hail
| ed the recent railroad wage cut as
the greatest constructive step ever
taken by American labor. Matthew
| Vol was honored at the Rand
School, conducted by the Social
list Party, at its opening exercises.
The Socialist Party is against
mass demonstrations (they say it
means 'riots"). Shall we tell the
workers no longer to come out on
the streets and make their de-
mands known, because working
class unity" demands that we
please the Socialist Party leaders?
The Socialist Party opposes the
payment of back wages to the vet
Grams now, because the capitalist
system may be threatened by the
burden. Shall we join the Socialist
Party in working class unity" to
defend the capitalist system and
desert the starving veterans, who
are also a large part of the work.
ing class? Shall we keep silent
about the Socialist Party leaders
who attack the bonus? Shall we
keep silent when the Socialist Par
ty leaders hail the ''tactful'' handl-
ing of the bonus army by Glass
ford. What was this tactful handl-
ing? Glassford himself now boasts
about it. 1t was filling the bonus
army with crew of stool pigeons
of which Glassford himself was the
chief.
Who divides trade unions on the
basis of color? The so-called labor
-
ton Of Labor. Are we to unite
with them to split further the
ranks of the working class Shall