The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-05-05

can also record, ss Comrada Muir
ply reported here that onethird Of
the members Of the Share Choppers
Union in the South are young Ne
gro workers.
We can also record that in the
period since the seventh national
convention there has been a growth
in the student movement in the
schools and colleges. But while we
record these advances that have
been made by the Y.CL. in in
creasing its membership and its &C
tivities, at the same time we have
to state that the vel. has not
made a decisive turn in its work
and the Party as q whole, has not
succeeded in winning the substan-
tial masses Of the young workers.
This is the task before this conven-
ton at the present time.
The 7th Convention Of the Party
had the task Of eliminating from
the League the old factional ten
denotes. the tendencies toward van
gusrdism. IN this Convention we
have the task Of making the vel.
a mass organization Of the Young
workers larger than the membership
Of the Party. Now, comrades. when
one states that We must build the
YCL. into an organization larger
than the Party. we have to he very
careful that this does not become
a mere phrase. We have to under
stand what objective we are setting
ourselves and how serious it will
be to achieve this objective. and in
order to make it clear to the com
rades what we are up against. l
want to cite some more figures on
the present status Of the League in
relation to the Party and mass Or
CARNATIONS. wish to take the
Party first.
The Party has 24,500 members:
the Vel. has 5000 members. To
bring the League up to the point
where it surpasses the Party in
membership cannot be left to the
comrades of the vel If that is
done we are not going to make the
League an organization that sur
passes the Party in size and indu-
ence. This job has to be a serious
job of the Party. Further, the
language organizations now have
$4,000 members; the language
youth organizations have 5000 mem
bers. There, again, the Job Of
making the language youth organi-
cations bigger is a job.
Let us take the factories-ths
Party has 358 shop nuclei. The
Vel. has 50. That means. com
rades, that Immediately the task is
before every district and specifically
before these shop nuclei to build
parallel shop nuclei of the League
where these shop nuclei Of the
Party exist. Unless 1t is taken UP
seriously in that way, we are not
going to bring the League up in
that respect to the point reached
by the Party.
The trade unions at the presem
time, our revolutionary unions. have
125 900 members. A few thousand
Of these are young workers. But il
we consider organizationally the
question, then we can state that
there are not more than 900 younr
workers in any way brought to-
gether as 8 group functioning in
the unions in the interests of the
young workers and as a means OF
drawing the young workers into the
general trade union movement.
Why is it, comrades, that our ad,
vances among the youth have been
so little? In the first place We
have to state that this is due to
the very strong Sectarian tendencies
Of both right and left character
within the league itself. and within
the Party and mass organizations
with regard to youth work. And
secondly, to the very weak cadres
and insufficient cadreS that have
been assigned to youth work. So
here, comrades. to state that there
must be not only increased activity
on the part of the Party itself,
among the young workers and on
the part of the Party members, but
/ there must be q struggle by the
Party against any opportunist ten
dency to underestimate youth work
as a serious opportunist error
There must be an effort on the
part Of the Party nationally and
in the districts to build up a core
Of leading forces among the young
workers who can strengthen the
leadership of youth work in the
organizations Of the Party.
The fact that these things have
not been carried through places the
main responsibility upon the Party
must here put the question as tc
the future. We must state that
the District Committee of the
Party, the Section Committee anc
units, the leading fractions in the
trade unions, in the unemployed or
carnations, in each of the other
mass organizations Of workers snc
farmers, in every campaign that i;
undertaken, in all of the activity
that is carried on, there must bt
a discussion of how to bring the
problems of the youth into that
campaign, how to formulate thf
special demands of the young work.
ers in consultation with the CON-
rades of the Y. c. L. and youth
themselves so that everywhere ths
same spirit. the same emphasis l.
developed in the past on Negrt
work. There is nobody today WIT
would think of writing leafet
and in any action Of our Part!
without bringing out most clearl,
the appeal to white and Negrt
J workers. Comrades, there must b,
, developed in the Party and mas
organizations, the same conscious
ness with regard to. young work
ers, the same consideration Of thei
problems and demands that vii
enable us to win the masses Q
young workers for revolutionar,