The first three years of membership data, including by language group, geographic district, and occupation, for the Workers (Communist) Party taken from the report to the Party’s Fourth National Convention in 1925. By dues stamps sold, the Party fluctuated between 14-17,000 members in those years, the majority organized through its Language Federations.

Communist Party Membership Tables, 1922-June, 1925.

The above figures on new members taken into our Party deserve earnest consideration of our whole Party organization. They show first, that in the 3-year period since the organization of the Workers (Communist) Party we have admitted into our Party more members than we have in the Party at the present time. At the time of organization of the Party, some 10,000 members affiliated with it. Since that time according to the table of new members initiated above, we have taken into the Party over 20,000 new members. If we had held all of these members our Party would now have more than 30,00 members. The dues payment figures for the past six months show an average of approximately 16,000 and we have therefore lost 14,00 members who entered our Party in the last three and one-half year period. These figures show the necessity of more educational work within our Party and also the need of assigning some activities to every Party member in order to hold him in the Party after has joined. The C.E.C. in the coming year must give particular attention to this phase of the development of our Party organization so that on Party may retain in its ranks those workers whom it wins through agitation and propaganda.

1922

1923

1924

1925

Beginning September, 1924, our Party took an industrial registration of the members. Not all of the Party branches responded to the instructions to send in their industrial registration, and therefore, no complete tab] of the occupation of the members, and their union affiliation is available. The registration taken covers 13,556 members. The occupations of these members, and their union affiliations, are as follows:

The above figures show that in spite of all the efforts and agitation conducted by the Party in reference to every member eligible, becoming a member of the union, only one-third of our members are now affiliated with trade unions, The recent instructions to our Party the Communist International emphasizes again the necessity of our educating the members of the Party to an understanding of the necessity of their joining the trade unions. Our Party must, during the coming year, change the conditions shown by the above table. in place of one-third of the membership being members of trade Unions, we can easily raise this to a minimum of 90 per cent of the members in trade unions. This is one of the important tasks before the Party organization.

The Fourth National Convention of the Workers (Communist) Party of America. Daily Worker Publishing Company, Chicago. 1925.

Contents: Majority Report on Credentials, Minority Report on Credentials, Rules or Order of the Convention, Report of the Central Executive Committee, (a) The Farmer-Labor Party Campaign, (b) The Election Campaign, (c) The Labor Party Campaign, (d) United Front and Other Special Campaigns, (e) Trade Union, I.W.W. Ind. Unions etc., (f) Agrarian Educational Women’s Negroes’ and AntiImperialist Work, (g) Our Party Press, (h) Membership of Our Party, (i) The Party Publications, Different Languages, (j) Language Sections, (k) Financial Statement of the National Office, Majority Resolution on the Report of C.E.C., Minority Resolution on the Report of the C.E.C., Majority Resolution on C.I. Decision on American Question, Minority Resolution on C.I. Decision on American’ Question, The Present Situation and the Immediate Tasks of the Party, Instructions for Labor Party Campaign, Resolution on Bolshevization of the Party, Resolution on the Liquidation of Loreism, Motion on the Expulsion of Lore from the Party, The Industrial Work of the Workers (Communist) Party, (a) Main Tasks of the Party in the Trade Unions, (b) Necessary Organizational Measures, (c) Shop Committees, (d) Amalgamation and International, (e) Party Policies for Trade Union Work, The International Labor Defense Endorsed, Communist Agrarian Program and Policies, The American Negro and the Proletarian Revolution, (a) The Negro in American History, (b) Negro Race Movements, Communist Work Among Women in the United States!, The American Communist Struggle Against Imperialism, Our Pledge to the Soviet Union, Resolution on the Young Workers League, Resolutions of the Appeals Committee, Building of the Communist Press, Report of the Daily Worker Financial etc., Election of the Incoming Central Executive Committee. 86 pages.

PDF of full issue: https://archive.org/download/TheFourthNationalConventionOfTheWorkerscommunistPartyOfAmerica/Fourthcongress_text.pdf