The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-12-13
By Q. A. HATHAWAY
Article III

Having shown in my first article.
which appeared in Saturdays Daily
Worker, that the Communist Party
alone foresaw the impending crisis,
correctly estimated its trend, and in
timely, unhesitating manner ex-
posed the anti-working class program
Of Hoover, Roosevelt and the reform
lists, the second question that nat
urally arises in the mind of the mill
tant worker before deciding to Join
the Communist Party is the following:
What steps has the Communist
Party taken during the present
prolonged crisis to rally the workers
In defense Of their own interests,
and were those such as would serve
to unite the workers in the most
effective struggle for their imme-
diate needs and for their reyolu-
tionary class aims?
We believe that also in the field Of
our practical work, as well as in the
field of political-economic theory, the
Communist Party is tuG+1'ed j. ~
pealing to workers to join its ranks.
Organize Workers Struggles
At the outbreak Of the crisis and
throughout the four crisis years we
have repeatedly declared that the
road out of the crisis pursued by the
bourgeoisie is one which leads to a
new inperialist world slaughter and
to new onslaughts on the living stand
ards and on the civil rights of the
toilers. This obvious class aim of the
bourgeoisie has conditioned our ap
proach to every issue.
Our efforts, therefore, have been
and are now concentrated on rallying
the masses of the workers to fight
to maintain their wage levels, to
resist lay-offs and the stagger plan,
to secure adequate unemployment re-
lief and insurance, to retain their
civil rights fright to strike, to picket,
to demonstrate, free speech, free
press, etc., and to resist the prep
arations for and the steps toward
irnperialist war.
At the very outbreak of the crisis
we bent our every effort toward the
organization OF the workers to fight
unemployment, striving to achieve
the unity Of employed and unem-
ployed workers in the struggle, 1t
was through the efforts Of the Com
munists that the first unemployed
movement-the Unemployed Coun-
cils-was established Beginning with
March 9Th, 1880, millions of unem-
ployed workers have been drawn into
atciye struggle for unemployment re-
/ lief and insurance, forcing the gov
ernmental authorities to pay out mil
lions of dollars in relief to the
workers.
Prepared Strikes
The same can be said for our &C.
tivities among the employed workers,
There we have busted ourselves with
the organization of the workers, with
the preparation Of strikes, and with
the leadership Of strike struggles to
prevent lay-offS, to resist the intro
duction of the stagger system, to pre-
vent wage cuts and to force wage in
creases. These struggles have pre-
vented the employers from going as
far as they would have gone in their
attacks if the Communists had not
been on the job.
In the struggle against war, against
the development of fascism, against
the persecution OF the Negro people,
the Communists have carried through
thousands Of protest meetings, dem
onstrations, and other actions to pro-
tect the interests of the workers,
Negro and white.
The Communist Party has tried
with all its might to win every pos
sible immediate victory for the work.
ers. We have tried to prevent the
lowering of the workers living stand
ards. We have tried to raise these
standards. We have tried to prevent
any strengthening of the position OF
the workers class enemieS-the bour-
geoisie. 1t is not too much to say
that the workers would be still worse
off today had it not been for thu
activity Of the Communists.
Revolution Aim of Workers
At the same time, while exertine
every effort to rally the workers fol-
these day-to-day struggles-and it il
on this point that our basic differ
ences with the refornist and rene
gade groups begin-we strive to con-
vince the workers, through their ex.
periences and through our activities
that capitalism offers only greater
! misery and exploitation, that social