The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-06-20
High Political Level in
Discussions; Poor
Preparation

the aff1lisCiOn on a united front
basis Of all organizations. groups,
etc Of veterans who accept tho
three-point program. II does not
attempt to break Up existing organ.
igations. but on the contrary to
bring together in struggle against
the government and the reactionarys
fascist leaders Of these organiEas
items, the rank and file for the inc
terest of the rank and file.
The constitution also provides for
the building Of groups of vets in
unions, shops, fraternaI and unerl-
plOyed organizations on the basis Of
the three point program and for
united action. It provides further
for cooperation with organizations
Of workers and farmers fighting in
the interest Of the working class.
II
One of the high lights OF the
veterans convention, and one which
caused a furry were the speeches
of the representative Of the Com
munist Party, ComFsde J. W. Ford,
and of the writer. The convention
invited representatives Of all the
parties, as well as Congressman
! Lundeen. the prepayment of the
Workers Bill. Senator Wagner snd
the writer Of this article. The
! Farmer-Labor Party sent Congress
man Magnus Johnson and q Mr..
Arons. These gentlemen emphasized
the "radicalism" Of their party
this in face Of the armed attacks
on the workers in Minneapolis
(twice in " months) and OF fore
closures Of farmers property in
spite Of the moratorium declared by
Governor Olsen!
The speech of Comrade Ford,
which clearly gave the Communist
line for the struggle for the inn
mediate needs Of the vets and the
workers, farmers and Negro people,
and for Soviet power in America,
caused considerable discussion for
some time. There were the back
ward, confused workers who could
not understand, and who thought
in the terms of the Red scare. - 81,
is emphasized from the goverrh4.SS..2
down.
The representatives Of the DEM
ocratic and Republican parties did
not show up. Neither did Congress-
man Lundeen nor Senator Wagner.
Clarence Senior. national secre-
tary of the Socialist Party, wired
that the Socialist Party supports
the bonus for the veterans and all
other sections of the population"
Also for j. P. Morgan, presumablvl
Last year the S. P, through Norman
Thomas, expressed itself as against
the bonus.
!, The convention issued a daily
bulletin-the Rank and File Vet''
on which worked vets of varied
political opinion, and was exceIently
Illustrated. The bulletin had weak
nesses-political errors, neglect Of
the Negro question, failure to ex-
plain the program. But all in all
it was an achievement.
There were sharp weaknesses in
the convention.
Insufficient preparatory work
, by the militant organizations -
the w. E. S. L., National Veterans
Rank and File Committee. the
: Communist Party.
2-Insufficient political and orr
ganizational preparation of the
convention itself.
3-Weakness in carryinr
through the program at the con-
vention.
4-lnadequate militant mass
action in Washington.
Slack of response from the
organizations in the districts. :
There was an almost complete
lack of support from the organiza-
tons in the various parts of the
country. Meetings, demonstrations
kilograms and resolutions were and
still are imperative. This was not
forthcoming. This is a serious short
coming that must Immediately be
overcome.
If the rank and file movement is
TO be built up, then real systematic
attention has to be paid to the
building OF the united front in all
veterans organizations. to reach the
isolated groups and build groups of
veterans wherever they may be
found, particularly in the unions
and shops, around the three point
program.
Struggles for relief of the needy
veterans must be conducted. Reach
ing the veterans in strikes, and
unity of the veterans with the strik-
ers must be brought about.
The veterans movement must be
taken more seriously by the Party
and all militant workers. The vets
represent a group of people who
have profound grievance against
the government, in addition to the
grievances they have as workers
and farmers. In the main they are
workers Git is reported that about
so per cent of the Detroit shop
workers are veterans). They are
against war and fascism. Those who
have been in the c. C. c. camps
have stories to tell about military
training and discipline in the
camps, which they sbhor. The vets
are being radicalized by the crisis
and can no longer be fooled or
played with.
The tasks of the Districts are to
Build the ". z. S. l.. (which
does not exist in most districts. by
giving political guidance, releasing
few veteran comrades for work,
forming fractions, etc.
Build the united front through
the local committees of the Ma