The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-06-30
PARTY LIFE
HOw O. Communist Nucleus
Functions On O. Steamship
Central Party Apparatus Needed to Tie York
Together, Says Seaman

Some valuable information on
how the Party is to function on
board ship was gained by the ex-
periences of a ship nucleus on board
the Steamer x.
Three of the workers who signed
on were Party comrades. It hap
pened that On board the shin from
the previous trip there were ITO
Party comrades who also signed on
again. They were Unknown to the
three new comrades and we were
unknown to them. The other COM
rades belonged to a different dis
trict.
The present machinery of the
Party is far too cumbersome to per-
NIT us having the means of finding
out who is who. 1t was by accident
that we got acquainted. The new
comrades were well known in the
union IS Communists and this gave
the old comrades the means OF in
Producing themselves. But fne Party
can net depend upon such slipshod
methods Of setting up ship nuclei.
1t is my opinion that the com
r2des who are se2man should be re-
sponsible to central Party ap-
paratus, as well as to the union
fraction in their respective ports.
They shrould be obliged when they
join ship to report to this center.
Through this medium the center
can know at given time who is on
given ship. If it would entail too
much work on a national scale it
could at least be on a coastal scale.
Responsibility to Center
These ship nuclei should be re-
Sponsi'/e to the center. The center
should be responsible for keeping
the ship nuclei informed as often
as possible as to what the situation
demands Of them.
The Party amongst seamen func-
lions chiefly through the fractions,
the fractions are ashore and not in
direct contact with the job. While
it is true that the principal task of
the Party in marine is to build the
M. w. I. u, it is not the sole task.
The role Of the Party in its entirety,
as the political leader and organizer
OF the working class must be
brought out, and it can only be
brought out on board ship through
the ship nuclei. Ship nuclei are
not now, and will never be. com
posed Of comrades all from che port.
These are the chief reasons for my
contention.
Called Meeting
On board the x. after we had
found who we were we called a
meeting of the Party comrades.
Where to hold meeting was a real
problem to solve. On board a ship
there is no place that is really pci-
vate that can be u5ed without cau5-
ing suspicion. We finally decided to
hold it in the mess room in the
evening. We could not lock the
door because it is always being used.
We held our meeting, during which
time at least half dozen workers
came and went i'll the mess room,
When some one would enter we
changed the subject and it appeared
to be just gathering, talking Of
things in general.
In that meeting we discussed the
situation on board in general, the
composition of the ships comniG-
tee. We decided to attempt to line
up in the Party certain worker
and how to combat the reactionary
ideas Of one member of the ships
committee of whom we were sus-
picious.
We began our work then in earn
est, A campaign was begun against
this one committeeman's ideas. Our
campaign pushed him more into
open. Finally he bsgan to talk op-
emily against the union stating that
the victories of the union on these
ships was just bunk, that the COM
pany had raised the wages and less
ened the hours voluntarily.
Isolate Reactionary
This was easy to combat. Most Of
the crew had been there during the
strike and knew otherwise. Hi.