The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-12-02
II.
BY BILL dunno

MYTH the A. F. of L. bureaucrats,
W Thomas and the Socialist Party
press furnish the argument Of con-
stitutionality for the ruling class
and its governmt, against federal
unemployment insurance. Mass
struggle to force the Supreme Court
to pass favorably upon such a law
would enganger capitalist democ-
racy SO dear to the heart of Thorn
as. He has drawn some discomfort
ing conclusions from the Scots
boro campaign.
without struggle the Socialist
Party capitulates to the provisions
embodied in the constitutional
framework of American capitalism
and advises the working class to DO
likewise
Depth of Servility Of S. p.
Servility to the interests of capt.
talism in the present period could
hardly go farther than Thomas
does. 1t is urgently necessary to
draw the conclusions from this for
the working class in this fourth
winter Of the criSis-to expose the
Socialist Party's pretenses OF being
a working class party for what they
are: O. tactic which exceeds in in
fanny, because of these very pre-
lenses, the cynical hypocrisy of A.
F. Of L. off1cialdom The A. T. of
L. officials quite openly support
capitalism, but Thomas and the
Socialist Party pirate about the
Socialist program and the Socialist
philosophy" in order to appeal to
the revolutionary workers the re-
dictionary bureaucrats cannot reach
This explains the speed with
which the Socialist Party has
rushed into print with its praise
of the a. F. of L. program of sabo-
tage of compulsory unemployment
insurance.
On another basic point OF the in
terests of the unemployed masses
Thomas goes even further than the
A. F. of L. bureaucratS. Their
state insurance program deals very
cautiouSly-or rather evades-the
question of unemployment insur-
ance for all workers; its wording
does not specifically exclude the
millions Of workers now unem-
ployed.
DUT Thomas, anxiously eager to
u show the capitalists that he is
statesman of that constructive
type" of socialist so much admired
by them Cike Macdonald, Clynes,
Henderson, Brockway, in England,
Bauer in Austria, Blum IN France,
Braun, Scheideman and Noske in
Germany, etc., rules out the vast
army Of unemployed without hest
tation He says:
Gas matters now stand, we are
dealing with millions of men and
women WHO HAVE ALREADY
LOST THEIR JOBS AND
THEREFORE, CANNOT INGURE
THEM"
1t would be a terrible thing and
would further jeopardize the Wail
Street democracy that sis in grave
danger" already, according TO
Thomas, If it we're forced to fur
nish unemployment insurance for
these jobless and hungry millions
before they we're put back to work.
They must have a master before
they can be fed. 1t is an attorney
for capitalism speaking.
One is forced to ask: What is
the purpose of any compulsory I'M
employment insurance program If
not TO place the expense of feed
ing, clothing and Sheltering the
unemployed and their dependents
upon the capitalists and their gov
eminent?
THOMAS PURPOSE
Thomas here exposes himself and
the Socialist Party. His whole
treatment of the question of I'M
employment insurance shows first,
that he wants workers to regard
the world capitalist crisis as a mere
temporary phase Of capitalist de-
yelopment, instead Of seeing 1t as
evidence of the stoppsgc OF ex-
pansion and upward development,
as eVidence--now piled I'D for three
years-of the decline OF capitalism;
a phase which requires new and
more militant methods OF mass
struggle even Tor securing the
etiahtest ecncessiNlS from canttal-