Hold the Home Front!

In view of the extraordinary importance of the Plenary Meeting of the National Committee of the Communist Party, held in New York on June 11-1.3, this issue of THE COMMUNIST is presented as a special Plenum number.

We are publishing the full report of Earl Browder; the sub-reports (abridged) of Eugene Dennis, Roy Hudson. and John Williamson; the Plenum Resolutions and Statements; and the speeche3 (abridged) of James W. Ford, Gilbert Green, William Schneiderman, and Arnold Johnson.

HOLD THE HOME FRONT!

BY EARL BROWDER

I. Our Task Today The road will be difficult, and every advance must be paid for. HE decisive phase of the war has Our task today is, in unity with T arrived. The preconditions for all other forces in the country who the defeat of the Axis have been place victory above all other con­ created by the unprecedented vic­ siderations, to weld unbreakably the tories of the Red Army in the win­ home front, in order to guarantee ter campaign and the merging of that the blows delivered against the the Soviet offensive with the ac­ enemy by our armed forces shall tions of the British and American have the full force of the nation forces in Africa and the air attacks behind them. upon Germany from the West. To- Hitler and his associates are fully day, British and American forces aware that the hour of decision is are preparing to open up major ac- approaching. And they are acting tions on the continent of Europe. upon that knowledge, feverishly For the first time the Anglo-Soviet- mobilizing all their reserves to American coalition will be exerting throw into the balance. It would its combined forces in full coordin- be an unforgivable mistake to un­ ation against Hitler on the main derestimate Hitler's remaining pow­ field of battle. The road to victory er. Above all, we must not under­ lies straight and clear ahead, but estimate Hitler's fifth column in the victory must still be won in battle. United States. Axis hopes are now 579 580 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! centered upon creating diversions friend and ally. We saw this legend behind the main battlefronts, in or­ repeated just a week ago in the der to create divisions among ·the New York Times editorial in reply Allies, disrupt our internal unity, to my letter regarding the anti­ sap our strength and prevent it Communist bogey, and it is con­ from reaching the battlefields. To stantly repeated in discussions of hold the home front line is now of the war in many circles. It is time equal importance to holding the that we make an issue of this ques­ battle line. tion and bring some new clarity in The home front must be protected the public mind on the nature of from Hitler's diversions. Events our alliance with the Soviet Union have already demonstrated that this and its foundations. So long as is our most vulnerable point, that false conceptions of this issue are here we are least prepared for the prevalent and unchallenged, so long enemy'!' advance. That is why we is our home front most seriously - must concentrate our attention in in danger. This, therefore, is a :fj_rst, this period on the home front, safe­ key problem in consolidating the guarding national unity, upholding home front. our Commander-in-Chief in the di­ June 22 will mark two years since rection cf the war, securing maxi­ the Nazis began their invasion of mum and uninterrupted production, the Soviet Union, almost six months mobilizing the masses for most effi­ before the United States entered the cient application of all war meas­ war as a belligerent. In these two ures-rationing, war savings, civil­ fateful years the destiny of human­ ian defense, etc.-perfecting the ity lay in the hands of the Red structure of our war economy, and, Army, the Soviet peoples, their so­ above all, unmasking the hidden cialist system and their leadership enemy \Vithin, the Copperheads, the -first of all, Joseph Stalin. On the defeatists, the advocates of a nego­ Eastern front the tide of world af­ tiated peace, the profiteers, the fairs was at last, after years of black-marketeers, and all their threatened complete collapse of civ­ agents and accomplices. ilization, turned toward victory of the peoples, victory of human cul­ II. The Nature of Our Alliance ture, progress and democracy. With the Soviet Union In spite of this evident and un­ deniable fact, powerful forces in One of the most effective weapons this country still consider it a re­ for disrupting the unity of the na­ buke to a person to say that he tion for the war and for undermin­ changed his attitude toward the ing our unity with our Allies still war after June 22, 1941. In the light remains the legend that the Soviet of history it has become clear that Union was not our ally but our t!wse Americans to whom June 22, enemy until June 22, 1941, and that 1941, was not a decisive turning only then did the Soviet Union, by point are themselves guilty of the accident, as it were, become our most light-minded carelessness re- HOLD THE HOME FRONT! 581 garding the fate of their own coun­ petuated. · It lingers in the legend try. For at that time the United repeated in some of our most re­ States was drifting relentlessly into spectable· newspapers, that before the world storm without regard to June 22, 1941, the Soviet Union the main condition for riding that was an ally of Nazism.. That mali­ storm to victory-the condition of cious slander is used to conceal the having by our side as an ally the great historic fact that it was the Soviet Union. very existence of the Soviet Union If we now have a clear perspec­ as a neutral which saved the Brit­ tive for victory in the war this is ish Isles from Nazi invasion in 1940, due, not so much to any American a hundred times more so than the wisdom, but to Hitler's stupidity moral and material support then be­ and to the underlying relation of ing given by the United States to forces which arose above all such Britain. That lie is used to obscure transient factors to impress its char­ and hide the truth, so vital to the acter upon the war. The prospect United States, that it was the So­ of victory is based, first of all, upon viet Union which, by its very ex­ the mighty achievements of our So­ istence, held b·ack the Japanese viet ally, whose friendship we so militarists from striking at the cavalierly repulsed for years, United States until December 7, whose might we so blindly underes­ 1941, after Hitler had invaded the timated, whose profoundly demo­ Soviet Union. It hides the fact that cratic and progressive contributions the Hitler invasion of the Soviet to world history we so childishly Union was a factor which made in­ denied. Our country has indeed evitable the Japanese attack upon much to learn still from the lessons the United States. It hides the fact of June 22, 1941. that we must understand, for our Those who try to :Perpetuate the own future sake, that the Soviet p:rejudices which before June · 22 Union was always a power on our took the place of thought are doing &ide, even when we rejected its an ill service to our country. There friendship; that invasion of the So­ was not a moment since 1935, to go viet Union on June 22, 1941, was back no further, when the United the signal of inevitable invasion of States could not have had complete the United States as well, unless the friendship and alliance with the So­ Axis was first destroyed. viet Union for the preservation of So long as the United States does world peace. All it required was a not understand to the full this basic sincere demonstration of a friendly political truth, we are not fully pre­ approach based upon acceptance of pared for all of the tasks required the Soviet Union as an equal. We for victory. For it still remains reached that relationship, however, true that correct policy, based on only after the eleventh hour, and knowing our friends and not con­ the delay cost humanity dearly-a fusing them with our enemies, is cost we will long have to pay. more important than armaments. That mistake is still being per- Our country is still in the first 582 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! stages only of its alliance with the That is the central thought which Soviet Union. It will be exceed­ we must press home to our country ingly difficult to deepen that alli­ on the occasion of the anniversary ance, as it must be deepened, so of June 22, which will mark two long as our country is influenced years of the Eastern Front as Amer­ by the Hitlerite lie that the Soviet ican boys prepare to open the Sec­ Union was our enemy before June ond Front in Europe. Let us use 22, 1941, and was only pushed on to this truth to weld our national our side by a sort of accident, and is unity, defeat the fifth columnists therefore, since June 22, only an and deepen our alliance with the adventitious friend. It is much Soviet Union and our other Allies closer to the truth to say that the for the more severe battles to come, United States only awakened to the historic necessity of that alliance, III. The Lewis Insurrection of which the Soviet Union was long conscious, by June 22, 1941, fol­ The most acute and difficult of lowed so quickly by December 7, our problems are epitomized in the and Pearl Harbor. Lewis insurrection against the war. Almost all Americans are ready It has become clear that we must today to join :n the universal glori­ characterize the campaign of John fication of the Red Army. That is L. Lewis and his long list of helpers good as far as it goes, but more in these past weeks as nothing less fundamental and more important than an insurrection against the for the victory which must be won war. John L. Lewis has become the is to gain an understanding of, our key figure and the spearhead of the great Soviet ally. We must under­ anti-war diversion, and for this he stand how and why it was that the is manipulating the miners' union, Soviet Union was the United States' o.f which he has, over the years, be­ friend and protector in the Pacific come the unchallenged autocrat. even when we were behaving in a There is not the slightest doubt that most hostile manner and repeating Lewis is working and has worked the worst lies about friends. We during the past two years at least must understand how the Soviet as an integral part of the pro-Nazi Union was our greatest friend in fifth column, aiming at a negotiated Europe and fighting our battles for peace with Hitler at the expense of us even when we were helping Britain and the Soviet Union, and, Baron Mannerheim and slandering 'in a deeper sense, at the Nazi sub­ cur friend with the epithet "Com­ jugation of the United States itself. munazi." We must understand There is no doubt that the miners' June 22, 1941, as marking the de­ strike was developed consciously as struction of those old myths and a part of that conspiracy. There is legends and opening our eyes to the no doubt that this is treason against truth and n0t as the occasion for the miners, against the labor move­ perpetuating Hitler's lies today in a ment, against our own country and new form. against the United Nations. HOLD THE HOME FRONT! 583 The day on which Lewis called not press the war to a conclusion. out the miners the last time, the This movement aims at nothing less ·Chicago Tribune put out the slo- than the seizure of power in Wash­ gan "Remove Roosevelt." That was ington either by forcing the surren­ approximately the same day on der ·Of Roosevelt or, if that proves which the Volkischer Beobachter in impossible, by defeating him in Berlin published a eulogy of Lewis' 1944, by throwing the country into activities, showing that this strike chaos and blaming the chaos upon was no mere carry-over of prewar the President. concepts of trade unionism. This is Lewis personally has hopes of be­ no mere trade unionism as usual, no ing the next President of the mere matter of a certain lag in de- United States. And he is encouraged velopment, a failure to catch up in these hopes by powerful capital­ with the problems of the day. No, ist circles in the United States. it is a distinct intervention in the That is the outline of the conspir­ war, on the side of Hitler, against acy which comes to a head in the the United States and the United Lewis strike movement. Nations, and has behind it a whole This conspiracy has widespread strategy whose aims we can de- tentacles. 'we have already noted scribe in detail. ' various manifestations of it over the This movement aims, first of all, past several months. To these can to break down the war economy of now be added the anti-Mexican our country, to smash the Presi- riots in Los Angeles, which are one dent's economic policies and ad- of the sharpest expressions of this ministration by canceling labor's planned, organized and financed di­ no-strike policy. It aims to draw the version movement aimed to break whole labor movement into an un- up the unity of the country and de­ restrained wave of strikes and stroy the war morale. We have struggles of all sorts, throwing the to mention also the deliberately or­ country' into chaos and giving the ganized and incited anti-Negro reactionary majority in Congress riots and provocations in Detroit, in the pretext ·to enact anti-trade · Mobile, in Newark and many other union legislation. It aims at seiz- places. Finally, there is the wave ing the leadership of the C.I.O. -of anti-Semitic agitation which, in through Lewis' stooges by discredit- the most sinister fashion, is sweep­ ing Murray and the responsible ing this country, with very little leadership and then triumphantly organized resistance. moving into the A. F. of L. to take These are all the supporting over the whole labor movement in movements of the conspiracy line with Hutcheson and Woll. This against the war, the conspiracy to movement aims, by achieving these establish John L. Lewis as Hitler's ends, to halt the American-Brit- Gauleiter in charge of our country. i~h plans for the invasion of Europe Lewis is by no means alone.. He has in 1943. Or, if that is impossible, a most impressive list of helpers. to weaken its force so that it can- There is an unprecedented concen- 584 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! tration of forces giving open aid to their best to put Lewis at the head Lewis and all sorts of concealed of all labor as the American ver­ aid, uniting those groups and indi­ sion of Hitler's Robert Ley. viduals who for any reason are op­ Fourth, the newspapers.. The only posing Roosevelt's war policies and papers that are excited about the who place their special interests situation and are making a cam­ above victory in the war. Chief paign are fighting tooth and nail among these Lewis forces we can for John L. Lewis. The others are note the following: supporting Lewis with a few words First, without exception and of criticism or gently reprimanding everywhere, that political grouping him. In the United States newspa­ which identified itself before the per field, however, you cannot find war under the title "America First," a single paper conducting a mili­ headed by the Hoover, Wheeler, tant campaign against John L. Vandenberg, Nye, Taft coalition of Lewis except the Daily Worker and political figures. The Worker. Day after day, politi­ Second, the Southern poll-tax cal commentators deal with this politicians who are in coalition with whole question in such a way as to the reactionary Republicans in Con­ build up Lewis as a hero-labor':> gress and who are preparing behind hero-while at the same time using the scenes a coalition for the 1944 his diversions to justify anti-labor elections of the same nature against legislation and prepare the ground Roosevelt and his policies. for crippling the labor movement. Third, the coal operators Who Fifth, the Hutcheson, Woll, Du­ have long ha1 a close and confiden­ binsky clique, long actively con­ tial relationship with Lewis. Typi­ spiring with Lewis, and in effective cal of their spokesmen, and of their control of the A. F. of L. Executive whole course, is an expression Council. William Green is nothing printed in the Wheeling Intelligen­ but their megaphone now. At the cer. This newspaper, published in very moment when William Green Wheeling, W.Va., and directly con­ was formally reiterating the A. F. nected with the coal industry, said of L. no-strike polity, he expressed editorially in its issue of June 1 pleasure at Lewis' bid for reaffilia­ in summing up the situation at the tion, although the miners were on moment when the miners were on strike at that moment; and no top strike: leader of the A. F. of L. has de­ nounced that strike. "For our part we would rather It is a matter of common gossip see John Lewis at the head of labor that the arrangements have already in the United States than any other been completed by the top leader- . man. His very strength is what ship of the A. F. of L. to bring we need. We consider him not only the. strongest but the safest labor Lewis into the A. F. of L. at the leader iii the nation." Octobe:- convention, and Lewis has promised the A. F. of L. leaders that And these gentlemen are doing, he is going to bring in with him the HOLD THE HOME FRONT! 585 United Auto Workers and the Rub­ meaning For Fre.edom. It is the or­ ber Workers. gan of the Socialist Revolutionary Sixth, the Reuther-Carey group­ Party, old-time emigres from Rus­ ing in the c.r.o., super-ambitious sia, professional anti-Sovieteers. young men who have been led up to The leader of this party is called the mountain-top and shown the Victor Chernoff. Victor Chernoff land over which they will be given was an honored guest on the plat­ command, and who are speculating form of the meeting in which Du­ on a Lewis victory. These men have binsky launched the Ehrlich-Alter affirmed their connections with the provocation and he was introduced conspiracy through the medium of to the audience. Victor Chernoff's David Dubinsky and the Social­ magazine for the month of May has :Qemocratic Federation. in it a very interesting news item. And finally, we must mention in The editor of this magazine, Mr. this combination all that maze of Zinzinoff, is reported as delivering anti-Soviet groupings in the United two public lectures to the New York States, ·the professional anti-Soviet­ group of the Socialist Revolutionary eers, the. professional anti-Commu­ Party. One was on "American nists, all of whom have been very Magazines on Russia," a survey for actively enlisted in this conspiracy the last three months; and the and all of whom are making their other "A. Voice from the Under­ contribution very energetically. ground," a review of an article by This · includes the emigres of the Ivanov Razumik in the Berlin Rus­ Second International, the Social­ sian paper Novoye Slovo of Septem­ Democratic Federation with its New ber, · 1942, on the spiritual life in Leader and the Forward, the Love­ the Soviet Union. stoneites, Norman Thomas- to Note that Mr. Zinzinoff, the editor whom the latest edition of the of Victor Chernoff's paper, has in United Mine Workers Journal de­ his hand the magazine published votes al:rr.ost a half page of eulogy by his Berlin associates and is able and who in turn eulogizes John L. to deliver a public lecture on that Lewis-the Trotskyites, the Cough­ magazine here in New York, the Unites, the Ku Klux Klan and subject being the "Underground," many others. not against Hitler, but against the These are the forces that seized Soviet Union. How do you think on the Ehrlich-Alter case as a· po­ Mr. Zinzinoff is able to get the mag­ litical preparation for the Lewis azine from Berlin? How are they strike movement. The connection so closely informed about the ac­ betweew. these two .and the meaning tivities of their party associates in of this grouping of all these anti­ Berlin? How is it that the S.R.'s war forces are shown by a bit of in Berlin are able to function so evidence that came to my hand in freely? the shape of a magazine in the For that we get the answer in the Russian language published in New May 2 news dispatches from Stock­ York. It is called Za Svobodu, holm, which report that ,Hitler is 586 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! organizing a Russian army against munists to be against strikes. Yes, the Soviet Union with the assistance they go so far as to quote Lenin of the old emigres who have long vgainst us and for John L. Lewis. operated in Berlin against the So­ Such references to Lenin are be­ viets. These gentlemen are in ac­ neath contempt and are an obvious tive Illilitary collaboration with cover for treason to trade unionism Hitler in Berlin and their activities as well as to the nation. Even in are reported _immediately and in de­ the days when strikes were in the tail to their agents in New York main progressive acts and to be who are so bold as to speak about supported, Lenin never failed to it publicly on their platform, and warn, and on this he had the agree­ publish it in their paper. ment of all sound trade union lead­ From this we can understand ers, that not all strikes can be sup­ much better the significance of the ported, that the consequences of a Ehrlich-Alter case. And these are strike must always be taken into the gentlemen most actively fight­ consideration before a strike is ad­ ing for John L. Lewis today. And vocated, planned, carried out or David Dubinsky boasts to the news­ supported. The consequences of an paper reporters how six months act are the determining factor of the ago he made plans for Lewis to go class attitude toward it. That is back into the A. F. of L. Is it not a basic rule of all sound trade plain from these related facts that unionism. Way back in 1902 Lenin we are dealing, with a widely rami­ had occasion to criticize a program fied conspiracy, of which the strike that had been advocated by one of movement is a part? These facts the organizations in Russia and expose the clumsy legend that, in which extolled strikes as the best this strike movement, we are· deal­ means of struggle. The strike, ing with militant trade unionists Lenin rE'plied, whose only fault, if there is one, i!'; an excess of zeal. ". . . is only one of the means, not always even one of the best. Do l\T e Support AU Strikes? It is enough to indicate the neces­ sity to give leadership to economic Lewis' stooges, especially the struggles in general; sometimes this leadership must be expressed by re­ Trotskyites and Norman Thomas straining strikes." (Collected Works, Socialists, the Social-Democratic Vol. V, p. 130, Russian edition.) .Federation and the George Sokol­ skys, have raised the cry that strikes Today in the United States it has must always be supported, and es­ become an imperative duty of all pecially by the Communists. They sound labor leadership to restrain are trying to convince us that we strikes and to do everything to dis­ are renegades from the principles solve the strike movement. You of Lenin and Stalin in condemning cannot have strikes and win the the strike movement; that it is war. against the laws of nature for Com- Today it is the anti-war capital- HOLD THE HOME FRONT! 587

ists, th~ admirers and friends of months before the contract ex­ Hitler, those who want to bring pired. , Nazism to the United States, that In general, Lewis has stubbornly want strikes; the strike policy is refused to permit the union to take their policy, and they do not hesi­ up the problem of production, or to tate to use strikes freely to prepare relate the miners' income to produc­ their way to power. tion. Lewis has connived with the Do you think employers are uni­ employers to place all possible so­ versally against strikes? That is just lutions of the economic issues of as foolish as to think Communists the mining industry in such a form are always for them. There are that to settle them would require employers who like to use strikes granting higher profits to the op­ and like to have the labor move­ erators, thereby smashing the eco­ ment in a condition where they can nomic policies of the Roosevelt Ad­ provok~ strikes when and where ministration. they please. David Dubinsky helped to pave, the way for Lewis when he The Incentive Wage staged the stoppage of the dress­ makers in New York, despite the This line, and especially the line fact that he and the employers had of preventlng the linking of the already agreed on a settlement. workers' income to production, has There was a deliberate purpose be­ been followed by all anti-war ele­ hind that move; it was to spread the ments. It is the platform of the idea that strikes during wartime defeatists' conspiracy inside the la­ are legitimate. bor movement as well as outside. John L. Lewis betrayed the min­ This has come , to the fore in the ers months ago when he blocked issue of the incentive wage. The every effort to lay the foundations question of incentive wage is the for settlement of the needs and question of unifying the economic grievances of the miners before the interests of the workers and the expiration of the contract. Way economic' needs of the war, so that last summer, Ickes proposed to they act not to defeat one another Lewis and the coal operators to put but to help and supglement one the miners on a six-day basis, give another. the miners time and a half for the By li!lking the workers' wage in­ extra day, increase production for come to production and productivity the war, and alleviate the manpow­ it is possible to stimulate produc­ er shortc>ge. We must not allow the tion for the war enormously and miners to forget that Lewis joined at the same time give the workers with the mine operators to reject the i!lcreased wage income which this, although in May, in the first they desire and need without in' any strike, when this was imposed upon way undermining the existing eco­ the industry, the LE:wis forces hailed nom~c relationships or causing a it as the first victory for the strike, general shake-up or initiating an when it could , have been had six inflation spiral. Much headway

looking looking toward toward the the real real unity unity of of the the his his strike strike policy, policy, laying laying bare bare his his

them, them, on on a a state state and and national national scale, scale, movement movement on on the the basis basis of of rejecting rejecting

sciousness sciousness of of the the task task that that faces faces spiracy spiracy and and isolate isolate it it in in the the labor labor

working working collaboration collaboration with with the the con­ We We must must expose expose the the Lewis Lewis con­

eration eration of of Labor Labor and and the the C.I.O. C.I.O. into into strugg'le. strugg'le.

ing ing elements elements of of the the American American Fed­ next next crucial crucial period period in in the the military military

We We must must bring bring the the healthy healthy lead­ fication fication of of the the home home front front for for the the

ences. ences. These These provide provide the the key key to to the the solidi­

past past or or present present ideological ideological differ­ in in the the lsbor lsbor movement movement and and outside. outside.

port port without without any any regard regard to to possible possible set set for for all all conscious conscious and and honest honest men men

giving giving them them our our confider:tce confider:tce and and sup­ simply simply stated stated aims aims which which we we must must

Murray Murray in in the the fullest fullest collaboration, collaboration, surrection surrection against against the the war war in in a a few few

ing ing element element who who goes goes along along with with tasks tasks in in relation relation to to the the Lewis Lewis in­

must must work work with with every every honest honest lead­ In In general, general, we we can can sum sum up up our our

for for the the labor labor movement, movement, and and we we conspiracy. conspiracy.

and and his his clear clear and and corrEi!ct corrEi!ct program program their their connection connection with with the the defeatist defeatist

hind hind the the leadership leadership of of Phil Phil Murray Murray resistance resistance is is political, political, caused caused by by

We We must must unite unite the the C.I.O. C.I.O. be­ that that section section of of the the employers employers whose whose

be be called called into into action. action. edness, edness, greed greed and and inertia, inertia, as as well well as as

awaiting awaiting the the moment moment when when he he will will resistance resistance is is based based upon upon shortsight­

member member of of the the conspiracy, conspiracy, only only that that section section of of the the employers employers whose whose

can can be be looked looked upon upon as as a a probable probable up up with with Lewis, Lewis, and and to to overcome overcome

out out against against this this Lewis Lewis insurrection insurrection cial cial interests, interests, most most of of them them linked linked

And And anyone anyone who who refuses refuses to to speak speak which which come come from from people people with with spe­

Reuther Reuther is is is is one. one. Carey Carey another. another. sue sue within within the the labor labor movement movement

know know who who some some of of these these people people are. are. sistance sistance and and sabotage sabotage of of this this is­

only only in in words, words, but but in in deeds. deeds. We We is is necessary necessary to to break break down down the the re­

with with Lewis Lewis and and his his policies policies not not ers ers who who are are ready ready to to welcome welcome it. it. It It

into into the the open open or or force force them them to to break break tions tions of of the the enlightened enlightened employ­

others, others, we we must must force force those those agents agents the the government government and and with with those those sec­

him, him, like like the the Auto Auto Workers Workers and and trade trade unions unions in in collaboration collaboration with with

are are going going to to bring bring them them along along with with by by having having it it applied applied in in life life by by the the

Lewis Lewis has has promised promised that that his his stooges stooges of of discussion discussion to to the the stage stage of of action, action,

Second, Second, in in those those unions unions where where centive centive wage wage over over from from the the stage stage

templated templated coalition coalition with with Lewis. Lewis. us us is is to to carry carry the the issue issue of of the the in­

of of Labor Labor to to carry carry through through its its con­ for for the the war. war. The The problem problem before before

sible sible for for the the American American Federation Federation especially especially upon upon the the scale scale required required

We We must must make make it it politically politically impos­ ing ing the the program program of of incentive incentive wages, wages,

fascist fascist partisanship partisanship for for Hitlerism. Hitlerism. way way has has yet yet been made made been in in apply­

narrow narrow personal personal partisanship partisanship but but as as tion tion problem. problem. But But not not much much head­

Roosevelt Roosevelt Administration Administration not not as as the the basic basic importance importance of of the the produc­

showing showing his his attempts attempts to to wreck wreck the the November, November, 1942, 1942, when when we we stressed stressed

in in the the population population against against him, him, question question which which we we first first raised raised in in

and and rallying rallying every every patriotic patriotic element element of of this this question question on on ·a ·a mass mass scale, scale, a a

anti-war anti-war alignments alignments and and purposes purposes has has been been made made in in the the understanding understanding

HOLD HOLD THE THE HOME HOME FRONT! FRONT! 588 588 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! 589 labor movement, not a unity which that the only clear hope of a straight consists of consolidating the anti­ Republican Party victory in 1944 war elements in control at the top, lies in the nomination of Willkie. but a unity of labor to win the war That, however, would represent a and win it against the Lewises or defeat for the reactionary coalition any other pro-Nazi provocateur. second only to Roosevelt's re-elec­ We must build the unity of all tion or the election of a person anti-Axis elements for the war now, standing for everything that Roose­ and for the 1944 elections, which velt does. And the anti-war coali­ are already a practical issue today tion will fight against Willkie with in the course of the conduct of the almost the same fanaticism they war. display against the President. Thus it is that the main current IV. The 1944 Presidential Elections of thinking in the defeatist camp The preparations for the 1944 turns in the direction nf securing a election campaign are not formal three-way division of the electoral and traditional preparations. They vote thac will deny a majority to bear all signs of the development any candidate, thus throwing the of a major battle for power be­ election into the House of Repre­ tween two fundamentally irrecon­ sentatives, which is controlled by the cilable trends of policy. The ques­ reactionary coalition. To bring about tion of the President's succession such a result, the reactionary coali­ involves the determination of tion must first split the labor sup­ whether the United States goes port ·of Roosevelt in the North, forward in the Anglo-Soviet-Ameri­ create economic chaos and social can coalition to the unconditional struggle on a broad scale, thus surrender of the Axis and all carrying the North at least in the its works, with the reconstitution majority; second, splitting the of the world order on that basis, or Southern poll-tax states away from whether the U. S. shall dissolve. the Roosevelt or Roosevelt's candidate, coalition and embark upon a course behind a rival Democratic candi­ of salvaging the Axis powers and date named by a rump convention combining with them against our which will keep Roosevelt off the present Allies, Britain and the So­ ballot in the poll-tax states. For v~et Union. That is the issue of this they aim at all costs to prevent the 1944 elections. the repeal of the poll tax. This issue is being fought out in For the labor and progressive both major parties. In the Demo­ movements, as for all who put vic­ cratic Party it is the dividing line tory above all other considerations, between the pro-Roosevelt and preparations for 1944 are therefore anti-Roosevelt groupings. In the an integral part of the home front Republican Party it is represented of ·the war effort which must be in the Willkie camp versus the made now, not next year. Special regular Republican machine. The political groupings and organiza­ struggle is complicated by the fact tional efforts have a positive value 590 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! today only as they are formed un­ gram. Most of the C.I.O. minimum der the sign of unity for victory, program, still to be fought for and under the slogan of holding the achieved, is merely the concrete en­ home front. The dominant issue is forcement of that seven-point pro­ not Right wing versus Left wing; gram the President enunciated. The it is not the New Deal against the deeper problem of organizing the Old Deal; it is not the keeping of national economy for war is only the status quo; it is not anything now being seriously approached. but for victory against the defeat­ A few days ago the President by ists. executive order set up an Office of And in this whole struggle, War Mobilization. Thus there came whether it be electoral alignments into being essentially that structure for 1944 or the daily questions of of authority which had been put life today in the development of forward in the Tolan-Kilgore-Pep­ the war, our friends and our allies per Bills with the support of labor are not determined by any ideologi­ and a large part of the other cal considerations, or any formal classes. political alignments. We are part­ This is progress, but everything ners and allies with every Ameri­ now depends upon how quickly this can who is ready to fight the de­ centralized authority which has featists at home and prosecute the been created takes up its tasks, war to victory at all costs. That is whether it really begins at once to our political platform today and produce centralized all-out plans for next year; along that line we must the national economy. You can­ carry on without deviation. That not have such plans without having is the linE of struggle for the next the centralized authority to produce period of the war, and the line for them. But the existence of the the 1944 elections. authority does not automatically produce the plans and now it is V. Problems of the War Economy necessary that the country shall make it known to the Office of War A few words about our war econ­ Mobilization that it expects order to omy. The tempo of construction of be brought out by the economic an all-ouf war economy in the chaos-not by the adjustment of U. S. has been distressingly slow. differences and quarrels by an The chief obstacle has been the pol­ umpire, but by the prevention of icy of appeasing the defeatists' op­ differences, quarrels, bottlenecks, position. Even the elementary and breakdowns by means of planning m1mmum seven-point program and direction of economic life ac­ enunciated by President Roosevelt cording to plan. in April, 1942, has not been carried out. Most of the disturbances of ilgriculture for War national unity could have been avoided or controlled by full ap­ We must begin to give this more plication of the seven-point pro- ,emphasis now also in relation to HOLD THE HOME FRONT! 591

~griculture, to which the country technical aids to production. Such is b,eginning to turn its attention. aids on a proper scale must include Price fixing can be maintained only an organized system of machinery by the firm establishment of rental and repair stations adjusted planned production. That applies to the type of agriculture in each to all phases of the war economy, section, auxiliary transportation industry and agriculture. We must services which are required to re­ insist that the economic plans shall place the breakdown . of private cover not only production of war transportation, and a labor army for material, but also industrial produc­ seasonal demands in agriculture tion for the civil population, and ag­ which cannot by any means be ricultural production for industry taken care of on the basis of indi­ and for food. vidual employment, even if organ­ In agriculture, there are two fea­ ized and protected by governmental ture's of the war economy which agencies. The labor question in ag­ require over-all planning and ad­ riculture clearly will require a na­ ministration. These are, first, the tional organization of labor to sup.,. system of production subsidies. It plement the labor of the individual is clear to all who accept the neces­ farmer and the individual hired sity for the maintainence of the worker. present price structure that the only way in which the pressing VI. The Dissolution of the Commu­ problems in the field of food pro­ nist International duction can be met is by production ,> subsidies. Herbert Hoover's elabo­ It is necessary for me now to pass rate platform for the removal of on to a few words on the signifi­ all ceilings on prices of agriculture cance of the dissolution of the Com­ i:;: merely another attempt to wreck munist International. We have pub­ the economic program of the Ad­ lished the decision of the Presiding ministration with a political objec­ Committee of the Comintern, as tive. All of the enemies of produc­ well as many documents from vari­ tion subsidies in the food produc­ ous countries and from our own tion program are enemies of the all­ party, in relation to this action. It out prosecution of the war. It _is is not necessary for me to review necessary that we make this clear ,these documents with you here. We to the country, to labor, as well can assume that you are familiar as to the farmers, and win · gen­ )Vith them, that you have studied eral support to the concept of pro­ them, and that you already have a duction subsidies for food. common body of opinion as to their Second in the development of significance. agricultural production are the The action taken on May 15 and technical aids to production. Some completed on June 10 cancels the beginnings have been . made in the · organizational association of the way of providing through a national various national Communist Parties. economic apparatus the necessary Thus is closed an era of the devel- 592 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! opment o:f the world's working class nism, t::> prevent the effective coali­ movement. It is quite clear that tion of the democratic states jointly we have a most profound, positive to resist aggression. With the dis­ estimate of the role of the Commu­ appearance of the Comintern, this nist International during this past Axis weapon has been to a very period. Especially we must em­ great degree rendered harmless to phasize that in this period, and due the cause of democratic unity. It above all to the role of the Com­ has destroyed the legend that Com­ munist International, there has fi­ munist Parties in the various coun­ nally been realized that coalition of tries act upon any other basis than all the progressive forces in the the interests of their own nation; world that gives us the guarantee it thereby facilitates the unity with­ of the final elimination of fascism in our nation of all patriotic forces, and Nazism from .the world. That as well as the unity of the various is a tremendous achievement. We nations, for the joint struggle must further emphasize that in this against the Axis. period now closed, under the guid­ The dissolution of the Comin­ ing hand of the Communist Interna­ tern has further cleared the boards tional, there has developed in most for the emergence of higher forms of the major countries-and many o.f international solidarity, which of the smaller ones-mature Marx­ must find expression also in inter­ ist working class parties, in most national trade union unification, cases under the name Communist, first of ·an in the Anglo-Soviet­ which are playing, and will con­ American trade union council, to tinue to play, a most vital role in parallel the coalition of govern­ achieving the tasks of this war, ments and peoples. which are the supreme tasks of this There are special questions relat­ historic epoch, and of guaranteeing ing 6 our own party and the rela­ an ordered world development after tions of our party to national unity. this war is over. The dissolution of the Communist Our party, the Communist Party International creates new and more of the United States, being without .favorable conditions for the integra­ international affiliation since No­ tion of the Communist Party of the \•ember, 1940, is not called upon to United States into our own Ameri­ participate in the decision which can democratic life and national has already been finalized. This is unity. It is true that our party, al­ an event, however, which demands ready in 1940, had dissolved its our political evaluation and con­ affiliation and had taken all pro­ clusions to be drawn, since it pro­ grammatic steps requisite to the foundly influences the national and proper adjustment of our relations internaticnal life within which we to the democratic national front. work. But all circles in America who were The Axis was brought into ex­ infected with Hitler's anti-Comin­ istence as an anti-Comintern, man­ tern bogey in any degree denounced ipulating the spectre of Commu- our disaffiliation and other move- HOLD THE HOME FRONT! 593 ments as a fraud, insisting that so sition to Japan short of war, was long as the Communist Interna­ exactly the formula of Chamberlain tional existed there could be no dis­ and Daladier at Munich and con­ affiliation except by renegacy and trasted sharply with the Commu­ fighting against the Communist In­ nist Party declaration of 1937 to ternational. support war if necessary to halt Now that the Communist Inter­ Japanese aggression. national is no more, this argument Also the editor evidently began to has lost even a semblance of plausi­ realize that his pet formula, the dis­ bility, and the Communist Party has solution of the Communist Party of a more advantageous position and a the United States, raised more prob­ better atmosphere in its struggle to lems from his approach to the ques­ secure full citizenship on our own tion than it settled, although he merits, and without the fear of could not yet find any new ground ghosts. for continuing the discussion. Al­ To begin the process of the im­ though the New York Times is by mediate utilization of these more no means a decisive organ of' public favorable conditions, I wrote a se­ opinion, on the whole, we must take ries of letters, with the agreement these reactions as symptomatic and, . of our Political Committee, to the considering the source, not unfavor­ New York Times and the New York able to the prospects of a further Herald Tribune. These have been broad discussion which we will take republished in The Worker of to the entire country and which will June 6. finally place the problem of the As was to be expected, consider­ Communists in America in a new ing its confused and vacillating po­ light entirely. sition on the war, the first reaction It is not without significance that of the New York Times was swift the Herald . Tribune, a more ob­ and angry refusal to consider as jective and realistic organ, even if open to discussion the position of equally prejudiced, did not rush in­ the Communist Party in the United to print with a ready-made. answer, States. This was evidently not based but withheld its comment. These upon any new thought in the light letters addressed to the Times and of the new stage in world history, Herald Tribune are, of course, in Lut was a mechanical hangover or reality directed to all Americans, carry-over from the past. The including the responsible govern­ Times' editorial reaction to my sec­ mental leaders of our country and ond letter was still stubborn, but of the war. We sincerely hope and already in a defensive tone, and expect that our approach will re­ conceded the legality of the Com­ ceive the response in the same munist Party. spirit of national unity for the war The editor of the Times was evi­ in which those letters were written. dently uncomfortably aware that This discussion is by no means his defense of· the appeasement of closed. It is only opened. Japan, which he described as oppo- It is necessary for the war, for J94 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! victory, for national unity, that our munist participation in this task. country shall understand anti­ Communism as a defeatist political VII. Communists and the Trade instrument of the same order as Unions anti-Semitism, just as harmful, and no more a private problem of the One angle of our work becomes of Communists than anti-Semitism is a greater importance every day­ problem only for the Jews. Both namely, our relations to the world are equally weapons for Hitler. You of trade unionism. We must em­ don't have to be a Jew to know the phasize especially what is true gen­ damage of anti-Semitism. All you erally of the relationships of our have to be is a decent democrat. party to mass organizations, that it The same thing is true, for the same is the duty of the Communists, and reasons, of anti-Communism. Both we must school the Communists in are obscurantist political witchcraft. this duty, to so conduct themselves And only at the price of complete as to convince all their honest fellow exposure and rejection of these citizens, even the prejudiced ones, ideologies is it possible to have any that there is no truth whatsoever in kind of sane, healthy, democratic­ the fairy tales that the Communists life in our country. The presence want to dominate or to capture the and continued operation of anti­ trade unions, or any other mass or­ Communism and anti-Semitism and ganizatiC'n. We have no such pro­ the other features of Nazi ideology gram. We have no such desires and are destructive of all clear thinking, we want to prove it by our small­ of all sound political relationships; est act and word. To this end it they are destructive of national has become more necessary than unity. and are productive of defeat­ ever now that we clean up in the ists in the war. To clear the air odd corners of our party whatever of these bogeys is a common duty remnants may be hanging around of of all democrats. Of. course, this is old methods of work, carry-overs not to <;leny that we Communists from the days when we were a per­ have our own special duties in secuted minority in which the main breaking down the walls of suspi­ stream of public life was not devel­ eion and distrust that have been oping along the lines that we sup­ built up against us and against na­ ported and in which fractions and tional unity by years of repetition fractional methods of work were of lies and slander. We must be used to some extent in trade u'nions patient and persevering and never and mass organizations. Some years ailow ourselves to be provoked by ago we put an end to this as a sys­ these lies into hot words or hasty tem of work in our party. A recent actions. Only complete calmness inspection of our work in the field and collectedness and persistence in disclosed that some remnants of bringing forward the truth against this old approach still continued, in these lies will meet this problem spite of the declared policy of our from the point of view of Com- -party. Let us here make it clear HOLD THE HOME FRONT! 595 that we want to sweep out all those And even this is not merely for our­ remnants completely. In the trade selves. It is a firmly established unions Communists need no special historical fact that when equal Drganizational forms of any kind. democratic rights are denied to the Everything that we have to do, our Communists that is the beginning of tasks ana aims, we share with the the loss of democratic rights for the great mc.jority of the trade union entire population. And in fighting members and leaders; and we must for our democratic rights, we are make that clear beyond any ques­ fighting not for a special interest, tion and we must establish that in we are fighting for the democratic the practical life of our party so rights of every man and woman in that no one can doubt it. America. Communists can and must work We must warn all of our party in a most free and democratic man­ leaders that they will often be faced ner in trade unions and other mass with temptations when non-party organizations with all other honest people approach the party in a patriotic forces under the one main friendly way and say, we want to banner which unites us all, of unity discuss with you about the condi­ to win the war, to hold the home tions in the trade unions, this or front firm. There is not and there that union, this or that problem. Of must not be any special discipline course, we have the right and duty among Communists in the trade to discuss with every on~ all public unions. The party, of course, will questions, including trade union continue to demand of its members questions, which are not matters of their complete adherence to trade indifference in the general political union dE:cisions and policies demo­ life of the country, but we must cratically arrived at, as well as the never fall for the temptation of full support of our national war ef­ party leaders discussing with other fort, to which everything else must party or non-party trade union be subordinated. leaders detailed questions of trade The Communist Party has its own union life in any way which pre­ sp~cial discipline in the sense of de­ tends or assumes to commit Com­ manding these things of the mem­ munists in the trade unions to fol­ ber. But this is no discipline which low a particular line. These deci­ in any way runs contrary to or sions are not made by our party crosses the discipline of the trade in consultation with anybody in the unions, which are autonomous or­ trade union movement. Those deci­ ganizations to which the Commu­ sions are made only inside every nists subordinate themselves in the trade union by the members of the same way that all other members trade union, including the Commu­ of the trade unions do. There are nists, of course, and are never made no special demands in the interests by party representatives on the out­ of the Communists, no special in­ side. And let us make sure that terests of the Communists; we de­ that understanding is carried to the mand only equal democratic rights. whole labor movement, and espe- 596 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! dally that it is enforced in the prac­ tionale," making our American tice of our party. version of it different from that used in any other part of the world. VIII. "The Internationale'' You know that in America we have for many years been singing a re­ At the time the dissolution de­ frain of "The Internationale" as the cision was published, the Associated "International Soviet." That's not Press called me up and asked me done anywhere. else in the world for a statement as to what Ameri­ That's a special Americanism. Some can Communists were going to do very zealous, very sectarian worker about the song "The Internation­ in the cultural world gave it to us ale." Without having had any and we thoughtlessly accepted it preparation for such a momentous and it became an established cus­ question, my reaction was to laugh tom. We never even reviewed it. at it and reply I really couldn't say. We never even discussed it. Sud­ We never had any party decisions denly, without discussion, on the in­ about songs, and I didn't suppose itiative of one person, the American there were going to be any, that Communists began to sing about the without party decisions we sang the "International Soviet," where ali "Star Spangled Banner" and I sup­ the rest of the international labor posed we'd still continue, and I movement sang about the "Interna­ don't see any reason for changing tionale." It's a small difference, our singing programs, which include but it's a difference which has been "The Internationale." exaggerated into a programmatic I am afraid, however, that I took question in America by our ene­ this question too lightly when I an­ mies. Perhaps we'll have to break swered the Associated Press over a long-standing tradition of having the telephone. Thinking the matter no decision about songs and offi­ over afterwards, I realized that cially chango the American version while this question of songs has ot the "Internationale" back to the · never been a matter of party de-. international version. I cite this cisions but merely of customs, to the as just one example whereby, by outside world these things assume becoming more international, we a great importance, especially as the will adjust ourselves closer to spotlight is turned by enemies of American realities. This was an ours and of the war effort upon pre­ Americanism that separated us cisely such small questions as that. from the American people. Thinking further over the situation I had to admit that perhaps we IX. Conclusion made a mistake in not having party decisions about questions of songs I must bring my remarks to a because, if we had had party deci­ conclusion. I have concentrated sions, I'm sure that the American this report upon a few outstanding party would never have decided to questions which seem to me to be change the words of "The Interna- key to the central questions of the HOLD THE HOME FRONT! 597 day upon which there must be main "The strength of the proletariat concentration. This very narrow consists in this, that its number and selectivity is not in any way to be­ compactness grow as a result of the little the importance of other ques­ process of economic development it­ self, at the same time as among the tions. It is to serve mainly as a big and petty bourgeoisie there is matter of establishing the proper growing disunity and disintegration emphasis and the proper relation in of interests. In order to register this terms of programmatic development natural advantage of the proletariat, of our daily work. the political party of the working We can sum up what we have class must attentively observe all to establish in the Plenum, that our conflicts of interest among the rul­ main task today is the struggle for ing classes, using these conflicts not the solidity of the home front and only to get fractional benefits for the politlcal education of the Amer­ one or another stratum of the work­ ican workers and the masses of the ing class, but in order to educate American people in the course of the working class as a whole and also with the struggle. the purpose of extracting a useful lesson from each new so­ The task that we have before us cial political upset." is the most revolutionary task of history, the task of extirpating the With the proper adjustments to the Axis from the face of the earth. period of history in which we are Nothing could be more revolution­ living, that thought expresses our ary than that. In this revolution­ most profound central special task ary task we have the collaboration which only we can carry forward in of the broadest circles that are sub­ the midst of this general struggle jectively not revolutionary at all for virztory. and who object to the use of the Another quotation from Lenin: word "revolution" because they see something sinister and subversive about it, although they agree whole­ "In the history of revolutions the heartedly and completely with our contradictions ripening during dec­ revolutionary aims of the extirpa­ ades and centuries come to the sur­ tion of the Axis. face. Life becomes tremendously rich. On the political scene appear Our special task as Communists as active fighters the masses, who is the political education of the hitherto remained always in the millions, to bring deepened political shadow and therefore were ignored understanding in the course of the and even despised by superficial ob­ struggle. The masses are learning servers. These masses learn through from life. their experience, trying their first Lenin wrote, way back in 1902, steps, g~·oping for the road, formu­ some words that I think are advan­ lating their tasks, checking them­ selves tageous for us to remember at this and the theories of their ideologists. Those masses are ex­ moment, over forty years later, in a erting heroic efforts to reach the quite new historical situation. He heights of gigantic world tasks im­ said: posed upon them by history and no 598 HOLD THE HOME FRONT! matter how big may be some broadest masses of our country and defeats or how enormous the flow others, the extirpation of the Axis. of blood and number of victims, While giving complete and full nothing can equal the importance of leadership and energy to the main this direct education of the masses task which we share with the and classes in the process of revolu­ broadest democratic camp, our spe­ tionary struggle." cial task is, at the same time, to What Lenin said forty years ago guarantee the political education of of that stage of the revolutionary the working class and the toiling struggle is fully true today in that masses of our country, preparing supremely revolutionary task in them for their future historical which we are engaged with the role.