The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-10-03
The US. Anti>Wdr Congress

war that rooted deep IN the very heart OF the Amer
lean masses
y Despite the jngoisrn and military array of the
NA. parades all the country despite the steady
drumming of Naval propaganda for preparedness,
despite the deliberate raising of hysteria by the
propaganda machines of the Washington government,
almost 5000 delegates from every section of the
try representing thousands upon thousands of people
gathered to clasp hands in pledge of unyieldng
struggle against the hdeous capitalist curse of mper-
ialist war
Perhaps the most overwhelming impression of the
Congress was its extraordinary unity on the funda-
mental issue of the Congress-the struggle against i'm
peralist war; the struggle against Fascsn, against
intervention in Cuba for the defense of the Soviet
Union In the profoundest sense it was true United
Front
There were pacifsts sitting beside members of the
American Legion there members Of the National
Guard, well a delegate from a National Guard
unit There were scores of rank and file Socialists,
Communists, trade union delegates, wo1nens societies.
peace and religious societies. and farmers Negro work
ers, ministers, intelectuals, writers etc.
Welded together by the passionate e1oquence of the
guest of honor Henri Barbusse these thousands of
delegates felt emotion of true solidarity in the
struggle against in1perialist
.
successful continuance of the work of the Congress
"a The Congress was composed of the most diverse
social strata of the American oiling population There
steel workers from Pennsylvania and farmers from
the Far West there textile workers. and Negro
share troopers from the South there liberals like
Roger Baldwin and pacifists like Mrs Anna Gray there
writer's like Malcolm Cow1ey and marine workers
from the docks There were ministers and doctors
social workers and teachers from the universities
VET amidst all these diverse sections of the Amer
lean population, it the working class the pro-
letariat, and women from the shops mines mills
and factories who gave spirit to the Congress The
working class is the lever which alone destroy the
irnperialist and the system that breeds it, And
the fact the working class was the backbone of the
Congress ultimate victory in the struggle
against
But the fact that the mighty gathering against
dominated by workers is also inseparably con-
nected with the strikes in the industries of the
country coal Steel and textile and auto strike wave
that rises higher every day gathering tremendous force
as it goes
The devotion, the herosm, and the fighting reso-
luteness that the basic sections of the American work.
ing class are showing in the fight against NR.A
capitalist exploitation against wage cuts starvation
and wage slavery found their reflection in the Anti
War Congress. The American working class is learn
ing that it is those who exploit them in the factories
and mines who also the war makers who prepare
them for slaughter in imperiast And the work
ers who gathered in the Congress have learned that
the fight against capitalist exploitation the factories
is part Of the struggle against war, just as much as
the struggle against part of the struggle against
the employers in the factories they showed that
they are ready to fight in both places.
THERE were hundreds of delegates from the Trade
! Unions, American Federation of Labor and Trade
Union Unity League. This another significant
phase of the Congress. For the A. F. of L. bureaucracy
led by the Greens LeWises etc. have always been and
are now part and parcel of the official government
war-making machinery At the very moment that the
locals of the A. F. of L. delegates in the Congress-
Green and his henchrnen were calling for the building
of more batteships. The A. F. of L. bureaucracy is
part and parcel of the NRA. war administration 1t
led the workers into the last 1917 imperaist slaughter
and it is ready to repeat the performance in the coming
ar.
That is why the struggle against war must
be carried with the greatest holiness and energy
into every A. F. of L. local in the country This
Is vital. The Congress made powerful begin.
~ ming In this direction.
The official leadership of the Socialist Party was
hot at the Congress. 1t felt that it did not belong
with the thousands of delegates who came to fight i'm
per1allst war. But 1t is testimony to the growing
cleavage between the rank and file of the Socialist
Party and the leadership that there were many
OF rank and file Socialists there Significant also were
u.
Matthews and Paul Porter, who pledged their whole
hearted cooperation with the Congress and its pro-
gram.
The thrilling unity Of the Congress will dispe once
and for all the ISLANDERS that have been so diligently
spread by the official Socialist leadership about the
nsincer1ty OF the Communist Party in It's call for a
United Front struggle against war
One OF the memorable achievements of the Con-
gress was the repeated expressions of solidarity
ing from dozens Of the farmer delegates from the coun
tryside. The Congress witnessed the unity of wheat
farmers and marine and steel workers
The Congress witnessed the unity of Negro and
white toiers united against their common ,nperialst
oppressors.
HE Congress was proof that the Communist Party is
not only profoundly serious and earnest in its call
lor united Front but that Is 1t ready to participate
IN true unity with Congress constituted of the most
diverse political elements, honest in their opposition
TO war Nothing could bes>er to demonstrate to
me Socialist workers the sincerity of the Communist
hon tE1