The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-04-24
A Lesson for the Party

EVER so often, we repeat Lenin's famous
IA statement, that Communist news
paper must be the collective agitator and
organizer" And ever so often when ex-
cellent opportunities are at hand to realize
Lenins statement, such opportunities are
neglected. Take the auto industry. Con-
slider the city of Detroit. Despite the be-
trayals of the American Federation Of Labor lead
ers, the situation in the auto plants in Detroit
continues to be tense The workers are by no means
satisfied with their conditions. Strike and organ
ization sentiments continue to grow.
In Detroit the Party really concentrates on
one industry, the auto industry. The center of the
concentration activities is the auto plant and vari
Gus departments in the plant Is it not clear that
under such conditions, that the Daily Worker dis
tribution must, first of all, be organized around
the various auto plants? But what the facts?
In the whole city of Detroit, with hundreds of
plants the Daily is sold regularly only at auto
plant Can we, then, speak of the Daily as being
the collective organizer" when it is sold only at
one plant? But what is even more revealing, is
the fact that in the city there 10 func-
tioning shop nuclei. How can our shop nuclei then
carry on collective agitation, propaganda and or
ganization if they do not organize the sale of the
Daily at the very plants where they function?
At the time of the threatened general strike the
Detroit capitalist press, the radio, the pulpit all
performed their duty as the collective organizer
of the auto manufacturers At every turn of the
workers life during the day. he could hear these
forces shout into his ears Don't strike!" Can
say that the bosses agitation carried on by their
collective organizers" has had no effect on the
workers? 1t would be foolhardy to maintain so.
he fact F Of I,
in their treachees by the poison propaganda of the
capitalist press
The Daily Worker, in the stirring days of the
last week In March, when the auto workers were
itching to strike devoted its columns its editorials
to the auto situation. 1t tried earnestly to fulfill
its role the collective agitator propaganda and
organizer" The Daily has been continuing ever
since to pay its major attention to the struggles in
the auto industry. But frankly, of what value are
the stories in the Daily the editorials the struggle
against the A. F. of L. Strikebreakng policies if
it does not reach the workers for whom it is writ
ten in the first place. for the workers the shops?
About every item which appears in the Daily, it
must be first of all considered what effect it will
have the workers Will the story help the work
in their organization and strike struggles? If
the Daily is not brought to the workers in the
plants, to the workers in the industries on which
we concentrate. it will he so much cold type and
the spark that Lenn spoke of will fail to ignite the
flame Of revolt.
We discussed the example of the sale of the
Daily only at auto pant as being, in the main,
typical for many of our concentration industries.
And it Is high time that we do not merely repeat
the phrase of the Daily being the collective organ
izer," but what is urgent what must be done at
once is that the Daily be built the collective
ganizer And the first step in this direction must
be the regular sale of the Daily at the shops in the
first place at the points of concentration and where
there are functoning shop nuclei
This is the lesson from Detroit lesson which
can be learned profitably by every concentration
district