Voice of action. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1933-1936, 1934-08-24
Earl BrOUder Relates Historical
Import OF S. F. General Strike

] hHti lNilttNdl illhtiSN Ato
been enormously strengthened,
Difference In Forces, Methods
4. Why did the general strik
movement come To realization Il
San Francisco while II was chok
ed off in Toledo, Minneapolis an,
Milwaukee? What were the diI
ferenees I'm the forces and meth
DDS to account for the differen
results? The main difference /
to be found, not in any difieren
level of rehabilitation of tn,
workers. but in the realization o
forces between the organized
base of the revolutionary left
wing inside the striking organic
ations and the organized base o
the officialdom who eVerywher,
fought against the general strike
In Toledo, the revolutionar,
|leit.wing had an organized has,
only among the unemployed, no
inside the unions, where the only
organized leadership was that o
the sworn enemies of the genera
strike; therefore in Toledo the
tremendous general strike Senti
Iment found leadership only from
outside the union halls. not in.
side. which made it possible for
the AT of l. officials, with the aid
of Music and BudenZ, to choke
| II off and betray it before ii
swept the masses into action, in
stead of afterward, as in San
Francisco.
In Minneapolis, the only organ
lied leadership inside the driv
erS' union which was decisive
was that OF the Trotskyites who
operated as an arm of the official
Az of l. family; the serious weak
ness of the revolutionary influ'
.ence could be eXerted only from
outside.
No Base in Unions
In Milwaukee, the inside Or
ganiZed forces in the trade un.
ions were considerably stronger,
although. here too. the decisive
force that made the great mass
movement was directly among
the masses in the neighborhoods
rather than inside the unions;
but in Milwaukee the mass move
ment oragnized by the revolu-
tionary left-Wing forces within
and without the unions gained a
partial victory that ended the
strike before the general strike
movement could mature.
In San Francisco, the strength
of the strike movement from the
beginning including the general
strike, was based upon definite.
organized left-wing groups, which
even though young and weak,
played "A most decisive role, and
brought san Francisco into the
vanguard of the whole national
strike movement.
The lesson is the supreme. vital
Importance of work inside the
AT of J., the same lesson that the
Sth Convention of the Party ham
mercd so heavily and stubbornly.
Even the beginnings of serious
systematic work, with all its
Weaknesses, brings the most tre-
mendOus results for the workers
and for the entrenchment of the
Communist Party among the
masses.
The Effect on the c. p.
). The California Communist
Party organization stood up eX-
'eptionally well during the strike
md the terror, strengthening
very greatly its political influ-
ence. Here We must emphasize
that even the tremendous red
scare campaign Of the capitalist
press has by no means been en-
.irely negative in its results. 1t is
rue that certain politically i'm
elements may be scared
away from the Farty. sympatE IL
ers may for a time be inundated
II afraid to speak up or do any
hing. But especially among the
workers and the trade uniOnistS |
he party has Il respect as force
lighting on the side OF the work !
rs that it never had before. A
arge section of the working class |
S class-conscious enough to re-
ognize that the capitalist press
ervcs the employers and not the
workers; its vicious campaign
Igainst the Party serves to con-
Oiidate the influence Of the Par
y among these workers.
Under the pressure of the |
most intense terror and persecu-
ion, raids on Party offices and |
.uXiliaries of every kind, the |
of office equipment, ar
ests, raids on homes of individ-
lal comrades, etc, we can say
hat the Party ned
throughout this period without |
single break. Most Party units
net every day or two through
'ut the entire period. Forty-siy
'ut of fOrty-seven units with one
onnections were broken report
d minimum of one meeting
uring the week of tue most in
ense terror and some of them
lad tour meetings. Twenty-Five
Inits independently issued leaf
cts. The District Committee IS
ued two leaflets and mimeo-