Recruiting Communists in Chicago during the first year of the Great Depression.

‘Party Recruitment Work: A Brief Glimpse at the Recruiting Drive in Chicago District’ by J. Williamson from The Party Organizer. Vol. 5 No. 1. January, 1932.

AT THE District Plenum held in July, 1931, we decided to double the Party membership in Chicago by November 7 and in out of town sections by Lenin Memorial. Supplementing this, at a later Plenum in September, we placed greater emphasis on recruiting from shops, indicating specific shops for concentration and decided that at least 20 per cent of new recruits must be from shop nuclei or shops of concentration.

To What Extent Carried Out?

Between July 18 and November 28 (approximately 4 1-2 months) there were a total of 1,374 new members accepted into the Party and issued membership books on the basis of having attended two unit meetings and paid initiation. This means more than doubling the total membership, as the actual membership on July 1 was 1,268. Five sections (2, 4 and 6 in Chicago and Indianapolis and Calumet out of town, doubled their membership).

An interesting fact to be elaborated upon later, is the steady growth of recruiting monthly until November, when there was a drop. It runs like this: July (last two weeks) 45; August 255; September 285; October 506, and November 283.

Have We Penetrated the Shop?

An examination of these 1,374 new recruits shows 80 per cent were unemployed and only 20 per cent employed, according to initiation. The majority of the sections adopted plans of work. In ten of these there are a total of 40 shops being concentrated upon to recruit and build new shop nuclei during the 4 months plan of work (October 15 to February 15).

An examination of the recruiting from shops since the Plenum (September 15 to November 28) shows that 40 new members were recruited from shops of concentration; 23 new members were recruited by old shop nuclei, and 3 new shop nuclei were organized with a total of 21 members. This makes a total of 84 new members from these three shop sources. Contrasted with the total recruited during this same exact period we find it to be a little more than 9 per cent. Therefore, while we fulfilled our objective, we have fallen down on the more important objective of rooting the Party in the shops.

Fluctuation of Membership

Another serious problem is our capacity to keep the new members, which, incidentally, is closely connected to an extent with the type of workers recruited arid the methods used. Examining section by section, their membership on July 1st, also their new recruits and contrasting this with what their membership should be if all new and old members were kept in the Party, with the actual membership, we see the high rate of fluctuation. While District 8 membership has increased absolutely from 1268 on July 1st to 1,963 on November 28th, if the fluctuation was not so high we should have a much larger membership. On a district scale we have a fluctuation of 47% during this period. What is important is the fact that those sections which are conducting their mass work and all Party work best, have the lowest fluctuations. This fluctuation raises four basic problems of: (1) improving the political life of the Party units, (2) improving the inner organizational functioning of lower Party organs, (3) more concentrated recruiting from shops and through our fractions and (4) more intensive Party education.

Yardstick of Membership

The only reliable yardstick of membership is dues sales. While a small margin can always be allowed even in the best functioning Party, the excuses of some districts about rawness of new members or unemployment should not be tolerated. Generally these same comrades whose rawness is used as an excuse by the district committee, understand the importance of paying dues in a working-class organization, due to years of training in trade-unions. Certainly, unemployment is no excuse since there is such a thing as exempt stamps. In District 8, while on July 1st when we had 1,268 actual members we had an average dues sales for the three preceding months of 1,093, today when we have an actual membership of 1,963 we have an average dues sales for the months of October, and November of 1,735. There is still too great a discrepancy but the substantial increase of dues sales shows the solid character of the present actual membership.

Start “Drive for New Members from Shops’’

As a part of the recruiting drive of the whole Party, Chicago district will concentrate during January and February to increase the present membership by 50%, but the emphasis will be in the mining, steel, railroad and packing industries.

Challenge Pittsburgh District

As a part of this drive, the Chicago District challenges Pittsburgh district to the following during the two-month period of January and February:

(1) To increase our ‘present actual ‘membership by 50% quicker than Pittsburgh.

(2) What at the end of tins drive, the average dues sales for the months of December January and February must be equivalent to 90% of the actual membership.

(3) That Chicago district will double the present number of coal miners in the Party and challenges Pittsburgh to do likewise.

(4) That we will organize 10 new shop nuclei in steel and metal industry and recruit at least 175 new Party members from steel and metal industry

(5) To issue 7 new shop papers each month during this period.

Importance of Records and Statistics

Every district org. department should have a sub-committee on Party statistics. Some comrades scorn this, but if the Party is to draw some important political and organizational conclusions, the vital statistics of our Party is absolutely necessary. This, of course, should not become an end in itself or hamper the study or understanding of the political events taking place. Only through organized collective work can the Party under16 party organizer stand the events taking place and its role in the class struggle as the political and organizational leader of the masses.

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.

PDF of issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/party-organizer/v05n01-jan-1932-Party%20Organizer.pdf