The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-11-16

oint (e) the Open Letter stated one Of
I Commission? Gin this article we
shall deal with the question Of the
training of new leadership In the
trade unions" only. Other articles
will deal with this question in rela-
ton to the factory group, their shop
papers, etc. i-
On Sept. IA the Agitprop Commits
sion sent out a letter to all union
and opposition fraction secretaries.
On Nov. 4 a follow up letter was
sent. ~ ST. ,.
Up to date only seven fraction Sec
retaries have answered these ques-
tions-seven replies over a period Of
two monthsl5wa,r J., e.,
Where Are Fraction Secretaries?
The conclusion is forced that the
overwhelming ma jority OF our union
fraction secretaries are mythical per-
sonages; or that they are not pay
! ing any attention to one OF the vital
issues raised in the Open Letter; or
that they simply do not care to re-
port to the Central Committee on
such questions.
Whatever the reasons are one thing
is certain: That the Party fractions in
the unions and opposition movement
are doing little if ANYTHING to carry
out the instructions of the Open Let
ter in the Urgent task OF training new
corps Of leaders from the ranks.
AS Lenin- said one time: Every.
where is heard the cry for new
forces" The American working class
is showing in the wave Of strike
struggles carried on In the face Of
demagogy tfeaehery on the part Of
Official leaders and a use of force
almost uneXanpled in the United
States that it is rich in the material
Of which leadership is made.
But the truly alarming results Of
the inquiry conducted by the Agit-
prop Commission shows that only
sporadic feeble and halfhearted at
tempts are bling made by our frac-
tons to enlarge and strengthen the
leadership in the decisive combat or
CARNATIONS of the working class-the
unions -'oue1er rs n
Disbelief In Our Ability to Lead :
There is no systematic work being
carried on In this field. The usual
excuses will not avail here. The
shocking condition revealed by the
inquiry is the result of opp6rtunistio
tendencies expressing themselves par
TALLY in the manner described by
Comrade Edwards in his speech to
the Seventeenth Session Of the Gen.
trail Comnittee:
what are these opportunistio
deviations2 rs 1t a disbelief in the
masses--that the masses viii not
fight? OF course the masses win
fight. This is seen so clearly today
that no one can deny It. The con-
crete form Of the opportunistic
deyiations is % disbelief that we ax
Communists can organize and mob
ilize the masses, that the masses
will fight under our leadership.
This is the concrete form Of the
deviations, today
If there is a disbelief in the ability
Of the Party to organize and lead
American workers then what is the
good of developing more Communist
leaders? We do not mean TO say
that comrades put the question as
badly as this but certainly q nix-
ture OF a mistaken belief In the
spontaneous springing UP Of leader
ship and failure to understand the
Importance Of Communist leadership
Party leadership the mass or
ganizations plays q large part In
bringing about such situation a.
we have described. There Is here
large admixture Of opportunism.
There is no. serious lack Of ma
tecial-people. books, pamphlets, res
olutions, programs, outlines-for
making rapid progress in the estab-
lishment in the unions Of lecture
courses, study classes and circles, dis
cuss-on cubs, night schools, etc. The
Will to do the necessary things must
also be there OF the response from
workers there can be no doubt. It
will be thousand times greater than
the response to the inquiries Of the
Agltprop Commission on the part OF
cur own comrades.
Other phases, of this question will
be dealt with in future articles.