The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-03-07
BY SAM REED.

A THOROUGH, and critical analysis of the
II lessons and experiences of the recruiting
drive in District One up till now, is absolutely
essential if We are to fulfill our quotas and
build our Party.
The Central Committee pointed out in its
statement on the drive, that the recruiting drive
must be based on and linked up with mass work
on the part of our Party membership. The &C
statement correctly stressed the Importance of
our Party intensifying its work among the I'M
employed organizing and leading the unen-
ployed masses in the struggle for unemployment
insurance and immediate relief. Likewise, the
&C stressed the great need of our Party roofing
itself in the basic industries, by forming of shop
nuclei and developing shop organization. The
&C was absolutely correct in Stressing mass ac-
tivty and struggles for immediate demands as
the guarantee for a successful recruiting drive
In District One we have so far underestimate
this and, hence we have SO far Jagged behind in
our work. Our recruiting drive is moving slowly
The drive exposed many weaknesses of the
Party. These weaknesses must be brought to
the attention of the entire membership. so that
We may learn from our mistakes and avoid COM
hitting similar mistakes in the future.
Few Facts and Figures in Our Recruiting
Campaign.
Up to date District One took in IT'S new mem
bers. OF these about 80 are Negro workers. Only
about Is per cent are women. Approximately So
per cent Of the new recruits are native born
out Of our quota of 10 shop nuclei we only Sue
ceeded in organizing shop nuclei. Of our
quota of IS textile workers we only recruited
about 20 textile workers. OF our quota of 25
marine workers only were recruited up to
date SO far our unemployment movement has
b.
have not organized one shop group not one shop
committee. Only a few members we're recruited
for the Y. c. L.
What are the reasons for our poor results so
far. To answer this question we must first Of
all state before the entire membership that in
District One there are still dsep-rooted oppor-
tunistic tendencies and resistance to mass work
We still find leading comrades working in shops
for years, or holding membership in the A. Z. Of
I unions for years. and yet, these comrades
carry on no work in these major fields, they do
not resist wage cuts, they do not take the I'M
tiative to mobilize the workers against the exist
Ing conditions Our comrades and many of our
Party committees cover up their failure TO Or
ganize and develop struggle under the same old
cover of either open opportuniSrn C''the workers
are too dumb, too religious or too we'll OFF,, or
under the cleft cloak, which is also opportun-
ism, Cthat the workers are ready for revolution,
but will not join our organization because Of
Fear of deportation, blacklisting and persecu-
tiopD. In a nunber Of instances we find COM
rades working in large factories, in war indus
tries for as long as years. without having re-
cruted one single member into the Party We
likewise can point to examples where our Party
members had a very wrong approach to the
Negro workers taking the attitude that they
must first join the LSNR or at least the LID
before graduating" into the Party, which led
to our isolation and even discrediting ourselves
in the eyes of the Negro workers.
The leadership in the District is primarily
responsible for most of these weaknesses We
failed to carry on struggle against opportun-
ism. We failed to openly expose and uproot the
outstanding opporttlnist elements in the District.
We fsiled to mobilize the membership politi-
cally for the recruiting drive. Our general ap-
prosch to any of the Party campaigns is not
sufficiently linked up with the very important
task before US, that of raising the political level
of or membership in the course OF the cam
paign Above all, our leadership did not SUI
ticiently orientate its major forces and It's ma
sor attention to the basic fields OF concentra-
lions. unemployment work work in the textile
Geld particularly Lawrence), and among the