The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-04-09
Mother BIOOr Gets
Ovation at c. P.
Natl. Convention
Continued from Page y

oCAhCNCAAIC4lJ' we IluSJ lOllOW u up
by forcing its adoption"
Centrslia Strike Cheered
One of the points mentioned in
both PROVIDERS and Stachel's re-
ports, that drew cheers from the
delegates, was the Centralia Qll)
general strike. When a participant
Of that strike got up and spoke he
was greeted enthusiastically.
The strike started in a shoe plant.
employing mainly young workers.
They forced the discharge of a bru-
tai department boss and forelady,
only to find next week that they
had returned. They re-struck.
Fred Biedenkapp, a leader of the
organized shoe workers, spoke next.
He reported the great gains made
among shoe workers through appli-
cation of the correct Party policy.
May, 1888, the Shoe and Leather
Workers membership numbered
approximately 400. We decided if
we were to make living thing of
the Open Letter something had to
be done. In August a general shoe
strike broke out in New York, in
volving $4,000 workers. AS a result
Of our activity in that strike we
won an increase of IS per cent in
wages. We won shop and job con-
troll in 81 shops. We won union
recognition and the recognition Of
May 1st as workers holiday. We
increased the membership from 500
to 5000"
He told how, due to the short
comings of the Party leaders, both
in New York and New England, the
Loyestone renegades were able to
head a rank and file shoe union
movement. There followed the
now famous amalgamation conven-
ton. Here our policy was put to an
acid test. This convention proved
the correctness of the Party line. 1t
became the Waterloo of the rene
gades when we got on the Job in
the spirit of the Open Letter"
The delegation cheered and ap-
plauded when he told how in a
recent union election in which
1886 votes we're cast, he received
the highest vote, 4,302, while the
Lovestoneite renegade, Zimmerman,
received only some 2,00o. Tn the
election the question of Commu-
nisn was raised. We met it squarely
and the workers gave us 4,302 votes.
The results speak for themselves.
Bloor In Fiery Speech
Mother Bloor, who followed
Biedenkapp, made a fiery speech.
Il wonder if you younger members
realize" she said, what this con-
vention means to us older ones? I
want to speak particularly to the
women. We haven't enough of
them here yet. We have seen that
from the mine districts, from tex
tile, and our Comrade Rose Wortis,
show they come from the struggles.
They are Just as fit as the men to
take their place in the front line
of leadership.
las I listened to the reports and
discussion realized at last that We
had stopped talking only and were
really doing something 10 win the
masses.
Did you notice when the strike
call came from Detroit how the men
from Detroit started to put on their
overcoats ready to go?
Thousands Of farmers are wait
ing for the message and organiza
ton Of Communism. We know the
industrial workers will lead the
revolution, but you cannot have a
revolution that will lead to a Soviet
America unless we have the peasant
allies with us. If we do not get the
toiling farmers, the other fellow is
going to try to get them.
The youth are the bloodstream
of the revolutionary movement, and
we must pay greater attention to
them in organizing the working
and farm youth"
A rising ovation was given
Mother Bloor when she concluded
her speech with an appeal for
solid, revolutionary phalanx, the
advance guard of the coming. revo-
luton.
williamson Reports On
Organization
We cannot here begin to devote
the space necessary to give a suffi-
Gent report of the exhaustive
speech on organization made by
Comrade John Williamson for the
central committee. This will be
made available fully later. We here
give only the briefest extracts:
I'VE see the fulfillment of many
Of our control tasks said Comrade
Williamson. This is not because
the resolutions evaluated the situa-
ton incorrectly. The weakness lies
in execution of decisions, failure to
see the relationship between our
politics and organization. Execu-
ton of tasks is one of the central
points Of our Open Letter"
In order to get the great mass
of work confronting the convention
completed by Saturday evening,
evening sessions are to be held,
with the speakers kept to the time
allotted. Comrade Stachel reported
for the praesidium that the major
lty of the speakers would be those
actually working in shops, and in
The basic industries. with special