The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-02-12
Party Life
Harlem Leader Tells
OF Sections Work
In Recruiting Drive

D
OF Sections Work
In Recruiting Drive
BY L. S., Org. Sec, Harlem Section
THE Harlem Section has
L again succeeded in retain
ing the recruiting banner
given by the District to the
Section which is. most con-
sistent in the important work
of building the Party, During
the recruiting drive our Section has
accumulated many valuable expert
ences which should be made the
property of every Section in our
District.
For about eight weeks out of the
10 allowed for the drive, the Sec
ton did not display any signs of
intensity in recruiting. Recruiting
was not pushed. A general spirit
o. taking our permanent victory for
granted was developed
When it became apparent that
Section Three was doing an excel
lent job in beating us, the comrades
we're somewhat bewildered and it
took some time to convince even
the leading cadres that such thing
as taking away the recruiting ban
ner was possible. It was evident
that if Harlem was to retain its
banner, which is more than lust
a piece Of red cloth-it is a sym
Dol of fulfilling one of the most
important requirements Of our
Eighth National Convention, build
ing the Party-we would have to
shake up the entire Party mem
bership
This we succeeded In doing, first,
by convincing the unit organizers
of our Section that only hard de-
termination, political work and con-
centration would bring results; that
only by politically presenting the
Importance of Party building in the
unit membership would they be able
to swing the membership into &C
ton. The second important task
was to cooperate with the active
units and unit members in getting
the books speedily and assigning
/ the members without much delay
Here the Membership Committee
of our Section has done excellent
work, There was no trace of the
previous stagnation in this Com
mittee. The comrades worked from
early morning to late at night,
working with the unit organi5a =
tional secretaries, with the active
unit members who we're shock troop
ers in looking up all contacts and
recruiting new members.
In our methods, as I have pre-
viously stated, our main approach
was an intense revolutionary COM
petitive approach which resulted in
the units Transforming themselves
into shock troops which covered
every meeting, looked up all con-
facts and spoke to all their friends
and acquaintance in their desire
to lead in the building of the Party
in the section. Secondly, on a sec
ton scale, the Membership Com
mittee with the assistance of the
! Organization Department, called in
a few of the outstanding comrades
with good mass contacts and gave
them specific responsibilities in the
various parts of our section,
The most important reason for
our ability to retain the leadership
on the field of recruiting was the
collective work of all section de-
partments. The agit-prop depart
ment stimulated discussion on Party
recruiting. The fraction depart
ment not only met with the sec
retaries of the various fractions but
made 1t their business to cover
every important meeting of every
mass organization during the last
four weeks of the drive.
A very interesting lesson that we
must learn from this drive is that
mass recruiting means tremendously
increased responsibility to the ap-
paratus of the section. To get sos
members within three months
means practically the re-arrange-
ment of the entire Party section.
1t means the creation, as in our
case, of an additional is units.
which brings up the question of the
quick development of leadership for
these units. This means that if
the Party really wants to go ahead
with mass recruiting it must in
tensify its educational work by
training new functionaries on a
mass scale, by having special classes
for organizers, for agit-prop direc-
tors, for org. secretaries, etc. It
further means that the group sys-
tenn must be functioning well tc
absorb and acclimate the members
who try to join the Party.
At the present time, in order that
Harlem may be able to continue Its
performance of 200 members a
week, it is imperative that we de-
velop that leading cadre and that
apparatus which is able to Absorb
the incoming Party members anc
which will insure their activization
THE PARTY BUILDER.