The daily worker., 1933-08-12
Recruiting of New Members
A Major Field of Work

our Party is the building am&
strengthening OF our Party. C0Gne
rade Ruthenberg, the outstanding
founder and leader Of the Anaeffs
can Communist Party, died March
2, 1877. Comrade Ruthenberg WIS
the first secretary Of the Ameri.
can Communist Party. Except fue
the period which he spent In priss
on, he headed the Party. HIS lsst
words to the Party just before hs
died were: "TelI the comrades 70
close their ranks, to build the Par
ty. The American workers under
the leadership Of our Party and
the Comintern will win. Let's fight
on!" Comrade Ruthenberg's last
article, printed below, should be o
rallying point for our cofnfaAes,
new and old today, to march fors
ward to BUILD THE PARTY.
THE recruiting of new members te
1 broaden and strengthen the party
organization, becomes one Of It's ma
jor fields Of work. The Party must
crystalline into organization strength
the influence which 1t has won
among the workers.
Our Party has never taken full
advantage Of its work among the
masses to win new members. There
still exists among the members Of
the Party some remnants Of the
psychology Of the days when the
Party was obliged in order to live to
exist as an underground organiza-
ton. The members Of our Party are
hesitant about approaching the
workers with whom they come in
contact and who are sympathetic
to the work OF the Party in order
to bring them into the Party. There
are no persistent and systematic ef-
forts to recruit new members.
If the whole membership Of our
Party we're to throw itself into the
work of winning new members, with
the same enthusiasm and energetic
work which has been developed in
some of the Party campaigns, we
could quickly double the member
ship of the reorganized Party.
With double the membership the
Party could go forward to greater
achievements in the extension Of its
influence and in mobilizing the
working masses for struggle.
The same attitude which is mani
tested in regard to the recruiting
of new members showed itself in
| the reorganization of the Party.
/ Many members who were In the
Party before the Reorganization
were lost to the Party because Of
the mechanical attitude manifested
toward these members In the re-
organization.
In place of considering each work
er who had advanced far enough to
become a member Of the Party -
precious material for the building Of
powerful Communist Party, which
must be kept by the Party at all
cost, thousands Of members were
lightly dropped from the member
ship rolls because they did not i'm
mediately take the necessary steps
to affiliate with the shop and street
nuclei. In many instances even the
lists containing the names Of these
members have OF been kept.
Both the attitude within the Party
toward the recruiting of new mem
bers and that manifested in the re.
organization of the Party consti-
tute grave danger in relation tt
the building of a more powerful
Party. ~
We may have the most correct
program. and the best policies and
tactics in carrying on our work. but
IL we do no. couple with these th'
recruiting Of the best elements
among the workers who supper
our Party, our work will not b.
permanent and we are not takini
the fullest advantage Of our op
portunities.