Internal report on the work in Michigan’s rural Upper Peninsula, home of Finnish-American radicalism, of the Communist Party and their conflict with the Halonenites, followers of George Halonen, a Finnish Communist expelled in 1929 over his co-operative movement.

‘Experiences of a Communist Farm Unit’ by A.B. from Party Organizer (Communist Party Internal Bulletin). Vol. 6 No. 5-6. May-June, 1933.

FOR more than six months the Party unit here was looking around for something to do. A farm unit in a small locality in Upper Michigan, composed of farmers in summer and lumberworkers (chopping pulp-wood) in winter, has quite a problem to function as a real Bolshevik Party unit. Until recently most of the activity was around the Cooperative and the struggle against the Halonenites.

How to draw all the poor workers and farmers away from the renegade-controlled store was the problem of the Party. And we found the “key” to be in the fact that the right-wing co-ops do not fight for the interests of the farmers, especially against foreclosures.

Winning Rank and File in Struggle Against Foreclosures

Over 60 farmers in Maple Ridge Township were facing foreclosures on their farms. We issued leaflets calling upon the farmers to come to a mass meeting to stop the foreclosure of N——-s farm. 300 farmers, including the sheriff, came. The sheriff was exposed. The farmers booed him when he tried to explain that he is the farmers’ friend. We took up the question of getting the farmers to the County seat at the time of the sale. The school board members were present and evaded the issue of allowing the use of the school buses to transport the farmers, under the excuse that the state helps to finance it. This fell flat. A committee of 22 was selected to organize the march. The majority on the committee were poor farmers with many of Halonen’s supporters since at least 150 of the 300 at the meeting were followers of the renegade. But all on the committee were ready to fight against the foreclosure.

School Strike Decided Upon

At the Party fraction meeting before the Farmers Committee of Action meeting, we took up the question of extending and broadening out the struggle. It was then decided to call a School strike. With the help of the Y. C. L. Bureau a Student Committee was set up, and with the approval of the Farmers’ Committee a school strike was called in protest against the action of the School Board in not helping the farmers. We called it a “Foreclosure Holiday.”

The strike was a success. Half of the students stayed out, including the overwhelming majority of the children from the right-wing farmers. Three car-loads of state troopers came on the day of the strike, the same day on which we were preparing to leave for the county seat. The cops followed each bus around on its route, since a rumor spread that the farmers would take the buses by force. Of course the cops came in with the aim of intimidating the farmers. The rank and file Halonen supporters “persuaded’’ their leadership to give the co-op truck for transportation of the farmers.

Foreclosure Postponed for Five Years

We compelled the Delta County authorities to give five years time for N——- to pay for his farm. The county prosecuting attorney answered our committee that there will be no more forced foreclosures in the county. We made him understand that we do not trust the lawyers but are calling a meeting of all mortgaged farmers and a representative of the Federal Land Bank where they will definitely agree to stop foreclosures. And if not, we will organize a march to the county supervisors’ meeting. They did not like it since they don’t want to see 700 farmers camped on the court house steps.

This action raised the prestige of the Party and the “reds” generally and will help in winning over the rank and file farmers from the right-wing leadership. But the greatest difficulty is that only a few of the comrades are participating in these actions and giving leadership in these struggles.

A. B.

The Party Organizer was the internal bulletin of the Communist Party published by its Central Committee beginning in 1927. First published irregularly, than bi-monthly, and then monthly, the Organizer was primarily meant for the Party’s unit, district, and shop organizers. The Organizer offers a much different view of the CP than the Daily Worker, including a much higher proportion of women writers than almost any other CP publication. Its pages are often full of the mundane problems of Party organizing, complaints about resources, debates over policy and personalities, as well as official numbers and information on Party campaigns, locals, organizations, and periodicals making the Party Organizer an important resource for the study and understanding of the Party in its most important years.

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