Leadership resolution presented to the Third National Convention of the Young Workers League on its proposed organizational restructuring.

‘Bolshevization of the Young Workers League’ from Young Worker. Vol. 4 No. 34. October 3, 1925.

Resolution Presented By the N.E.C. to the Third National Convention of the Young Workers League

1. THE GENERAL SITUATION.

WHILE there must be taken into account in the present world situation a certain stabilization which capitalism has managed to achieve in sections of Europe–a stabilization of a temporary and partial nature–thus enabling the bourgeoisie to deal with the after-war crisis up to a point, the world situation continues to remain objectively revolutionary. The growing division between American and British imperialism, the reactions of the Dawes Plan, the sharpening crises in France, Italy, the Balkan and Baltic states, are all one side of a coin; on the other is presented the trembling social order due to the shocks received by the uprisings of the colonial reserves of imperialism in Morocco and China, and the rumblings of rebellion in India, the Philippines, and elsewhere. Of great revolutionary significance is also the increasing left wing movement in Great Britain, the drive for International Trade Union Unity, and the existence of the Soviet Union whose economic improvement and consolidation stands in marked contrast to the decay of capitalist economy, and is a symbol of the successful revolutionary struggle against imperialism which is serving as a guide for constantly growing masses of workers in capitalist nations.

Even the relative stabilization that capitalism has been able to attain, however, has been achieved at the expense of a decrease in the standard of living of the working class. The inherent contradictions of capitalism are tearing it apart and resulting in more bitter and sharper clashes between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The inability of capitalism to solve its innumerable problems becomes clearer every day. Regardless of the democratic illusions which capitalism presents the conditions of the broad masses of the workers become worse.

2. THE POSITION IN AMERICA.

AMERICAN capitalism, inescapably bound up with the development of imperialism throughout the world, is now in a period of economic uncertainty. The export of capital from this country shows a mounting figure, home production, in many of the most important industries, is still maintaining its high level of production. However, some basic industries like that of coal mining is in an almost constant state of crisis, with resultant misery to thousands of coal miners. Wage cuts become the order of the day especially in the unorganized industries. Strikes for the simple maintenance of the union and an average standard of living are occurring with greater frequency. A recurrence of the agrarian crisis is on the horizon.

At the same time American imperialist policy is becoming more sharply defined than ever before. The increase of army, naval, and air forces, the distribution of American military forces throughout the world, the swiftness with which the government reacts militantly towards every political event in Europe, Asia, or on the American continents, are reflections of the wide extension of American imperialist interests that has taken place in the last score of years. American imperialism is developing its diplomacy, showing itself a brutal interventionist in Central and South America, a cunningly “disinterested” power in China, and an apostle of stabilization in Europe. A powerful military machine stands ready to execute America’s war orders as soon as imperialism’s financial interests are endangered, thus holding over the heads of the young workers of this country the prospect of a more horrible world war than that of 1914.

The sharpening of class conflicts in the United States because of the radical changes which have taken place in this country’s economic and political life since the world war and the forceful entry into world imperialist politics, together with the failure, of the promises of prosperity to materialize, offer a fertile field for the growth of the Communist movement. The process of the revolutionization of the masses goes forward slowly but inevitably. The movement for the formation of a broad labor party, temporarily diverted from its course by the LaFollette led revolt of the small bourgeoisie against big capital, must in the future show signs of again assuming mass proportions, especially in view of the indications that the resistance of the workers is being stiffened in many fields against the encroachments of the capitalists, which will again drive them towards a movement for independent political action.

In the trade unions, instead of clearly formulating policies of struggle against the attempts of the capitalists to make worse the conditions of the workers, the bureaucracy is heading further and further in the direction of class collaboration. For a policy of militancy is being substituted a policy of servility and betrayal. The left wing, and its most advanced section, the Communists, are growing in influence and are becoming so strong that in some instances the officialdom is desperately seeking to oust them from the unions even, in man instances, in the face of the opposition of the overwhelming majority of the membership. The process of revolutionizing the trades unions becomes easier from the point of view of the complete betrayal of the workers by the reactionary officialdom, the consistent policy of progressive measures and uncompromising defense of the elementary interests of the workers by the Communists, the inevitable reactions in this country of the movement which is sweeping the trade unionists of even the most conservative sections of the world: International Trade Union Unity.

Especially now, moreover, the young workers occupy the political and economic field. The death struggles of imperialism in this country against the imperialists of other powers hang over the heads of the working youth as a threat of the new wars which are swiftly drawing near. The intensification of the campaign to build the Boy and Girls Scouts’ movement, the unusually large arrangements for the Citizens’ Military Training Camps, the military training which is being made compulsory for tens of thousands of students in the high schools and colleges, the strengthening of the naval and military machinery of America, unprecedented naval maneuvers in the Pacific and nation-wide military mobilization days are significant of the imperialist war which casts its shadow before us. This generation of the young workers will all the ranks of the imperialist armies of the coming slaughter.

With the intensification of the open shop drive against the workers, the wage cut campaign and the general worsening of the conditions of the workers, the youth assumes increasing importance. The simplification of the labor process has enabled the capitalist to use the young workers to take the place of adults at lower wages and longer hours. This has been a factor of great importance in the reduction of the standard of living of the workers and has been made worse by the fact that the trade unions still discriminate against the young workers, some of them having prohibitive initiation fees, high dues payments, discriminatory clauses in their constitutions and the like. This has contributed to the fact that young workers have often been–sometimes involuntarily the means of breaking down union control of industry, and are used as active strike-breakers in many economic struggles. An indication of the tendency of a change in this situation has been observed lately by the growing number of young workers who participate militantly in strikes and other struggles of the working class. However, the exploitation of young workers continues in the most shameless manner in this country, the capitalists stopping at nothing to wring profits out of the labor of the young, going so far as to employ hundreds of thousands of children in almost all the industries in the country.

3. THE TASK OF THE YOUNG WORKERS LEAGUE.

THE task of the Young Workers League is to bolshevize itself, a task which is an integral part of the bolshevization of the Party but which naturally assumes a somewhat different form. By the Bolshevization of the Young Workers League we mean the winning over of the youth of this generation, the building of a strong mass organization of young workers, recruited from the basic and heavy industries, organized upon а shop nuclei basis, and forming a centralized and firmly-knit body of revolutionary youth which, through a clear understanding of the principles of Leninism, is rooted in the shops, factories and mines, capable of carrying on a struggle for the everyday interests of the young workers on the economic, and political fields, of initiating and leading these struggles, and gaining the confidence and adherence of the masses of the working youth of this country, and their allies, the rural and the colonial youth, working at all times under the political direction of our Party, whose leadership we shall ensure by the building of a strong party core within the youth.

The Young Workers League, which has just shown its heightened political level by seriously participating, from its highest to its lowest units, in a political discussion and struggle of our leader, the Workers (Communist) Party, must guard against the danger of political estrangement from the Party which may manifest itself in a tendency to take a political position different or opposed to that of the Party, and also from the danger of completely losing sight of the fact that the Young Workers League is not merely a youth section of the Party but has specific functions to perform in order to win over the masses of the working class youth. This latter danger can be overcome by clearer central directives for our work and more energetic carrying out of the decisions of the Young Communist International. The first danger, to which is contributed the fact that in this particular historical period of building mass Communist Parties in a condition of temporary stabilization of capitalism, the youth may move away from the Parties thru failure to understand the necessity or significance of changes in tactics brought about by changed conditions to which the Parties adapt themselves by Bolshevik maneuvering–this first anger must be guarded against by the building of a strong kernel, a firm backbone of Party membership within he Young Workers League, especially in the higher and lower circles of functionaries.

Much closer relationships with the Party, more numerous and better functioning exchanges of representatives from both organizations, a more careful political guidance by the party, is another assurance of the political leadership of the Communist over the Young Communist movement.

In the question of the greatest danger which confronts the Workers Party the menace of Loreism, it must be clearly understood that the League as a whole must align itself completely and accurately with the position of the Party and join wholeheartedly in this important struggle. The necessary prerequisite for this task as well as for the main task of the Bolshevization of the League is the unity of effort and forces upon the correct line of policy, thus forming a united League which pursues its task as energetically as it relentlessly fights against the unfounded formation of factional groupings.

To achieve this aim, a number of points must be closely adhered to and carried out. These problems are not artificially or arbitrarily connected, but must be taken as parts of the whole task of Bolshevization, all of which together mean the building of a young Leninist League.

4. COMPLETE REORGANIZATION OF THE LEAGUE.

THE more experience we gain in the work of organizing the League on the basis of shop nuclei, the more convinced we must all become of the absolute necessity of completely reorganizing and further organizing the League on this basis. Mass activity is at best a futile gesture with the old social-democratic form of territorial branches. The complete re-organization of the League on the basis of shop nuclei can not be accomplished by a mere reallocation of our present membership, but must be achieved by uninterrupted membership drives which must be taken in connection with economic and political work and not as an abstract campaign detached from the struggles of the young workers. The nucleus must be made the basic unit of the League in reality and must demonstrate to the working youth that the Young Workers League is the only organization which carries on the struggle for their interests and needs, and is their representative on the economic and political fields, Thru the reorganization of the League the problem of foreign language branches becomes liquidated, since the existence of foreign language speaking units as basic political bodies of our organization is not in harmony with a Bolshevik organization. The greater participation of the members of the League in the struggles of the working youth will enable us to completely reorganize the league by the time of the next. Y.C.I. Congress. Under the slogans of “In every large shop a nucleus” and “Every member a shop nucleus organizer” will we achieve this task.

5. ECONOMIC TRADE UNION WORK OF THE LEAGUE.

A YOUTH movement organized upon the basis of shop nuclei does not thereby become automatically transformed into a Bolshevik organization. We have merely built the correct form of organization which enables us to carry through work correctly and develop a mass movement. One of the main tasks of the League is the necessity for greatly increasing its economic-trade union work. The league has made a big step forward the economic field and has already shown its ability to participate in the daily struggles of the young workers by departing from the “journalistic” stage of economic trade union work and organizing campaigns with concrete demands for the youth. This must be intensified so that not only the larger sections, but also the entire league has entered in the work. The league has gained much experience in its campaigns. The issuance of pamphlets for particular industries has proved to be very successful. While these campaigns for specific youth demands mark a step forward in the work of the Y.W.L., it must, however, be stated that these campaigns have a practical value if the league succeeds in winning an organized influence upon the masses of young workers, i.e. if it succeeds in organizing shop nuclei, which, together with the fractions in the unions must carry on the actual struggle for the demands set up. Moreover these campaigns have been carried on so far, with the exception of the coal mining campaign, in less important industries. These campaigns must now be extended on a national scale and should concentrate on key industries. Special efforts should be made to reorganize and continue special national campaigns among the masses of the young workers in large industries such as: coal, steel, textile, automobile, etc. on the basis of special youth demands. The beginning which has already been made in various strikes by setting up concrete demands for the youth must find a similar response from the league in every strike that takes place in the future, The campaigns of the league must be crowned by the calling of conferences of the working youth of particular industries and these must be come a means of rallying the broad masses of the working youth in the big industries to the demands of the Y.W.L. These conferences must become regular features in the activities of the Y.W.L. The aim of the league must also be to organize conferences of the rural youth to which representatives from the workshops should participate thus bringing the industrial youth near to the rural youth and establishing a bond between the industrial youth and their allies in the rural districts. All efforts should be made to have Negro delegates at all of these conferences, both industrial and rural.

One of the weakest points in the work of the league has been its failure to concentrate upon the organization of trade union youth fractions without which the practical carrying out of the trade union work will have but a propagandistic and in a certain sense a “journalistic” value, if the league members are not organized in the unions and as long as there are no fractions of the Y.W.L. in the unions.

The slogan “Every member of the Y.W.L. an active trade union member” signifies that the members of the Y.W.L. in a particular union must unite into a fraction of the Y.W.L. Hand in hand with the campaign of “Into the unions!” must be carried thru the building up of the fractions of the Y.W.L. These fractions must work in closest contact with the T.U.E.L. for specific youth demands. It is their task to conduct within the general activities of the T.U.E.L. the work for the interests of the young workers, to propagate and popularize the demands of the Y.W.L. and to enlist the support of the T.U.E.L., and through the T.U.E.L. the support of the unions, to fight for the demands of the Y.W.L. It is particularly important that the Y.W.L. wins the support of the T.U.E.L. in their fight for the removal of all barriers against the youth: high entrance fees, high dues, age and color barriers, etc., and for the admission of the young workers with full rights but lower entrance fees and dues in accordance to the wages received. For this purpose the league should have a representative on all committees of the T.U.E.L. The league must also make the greatest use of facilities of the T.U.E.L. in order to reach the masses of the young workers through the publications of the T.U.E.L. The movement for Intl. T.U. Unity must be taken advantage of to further our campaign against discrimination of old workers against the youth. Only by enlisting the support of the trade unions can our campaign be crowned with success.

6. WORK AMONG THE RURAL YOUTH.

THE crisis in agricultural economy, which recurs with more frequency and sharpness, the historical fact of the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat to win the broad sections of the farmers as allies in the struggle, the existence of exploitation of the rural youth which is in some respects more bitter than that of the industrial youth, the tremendous factor which the agrarian youth plays in building up the backbone of reactionary, anti-working class organizations, and the situation in our league where the vast majority of the membership does not yet realize the decisive importance of winning the rural youth to our banner, makes it more than ever imperative that work in this field be carried on in a systematic and serious manner. The coordination of agrarian work through a well functioning national agrarian department, together with adequate directions and a campaign of aggressive enlightenment of the revolutionary importance of this work is an immediate task of the League. The convention must adopt an exhaustive thesis on this point, dealing with the class division on the land, the conditions of the rural youth and practical measures for winning the masses of these young rural workers to the Young Communist movement.

7. WORK AMONG THE NEGRO YOUTH.

THE work which has been already begun on this field must be intensified to a great degree. This is one of our chief tasks and must not be considered as a temporary campaign. The Negro masses form huge reserve of capitalism at present, and the spirit of revolt and unrest among them shows more clearly than ever before the potential revolutionary force that they embody. Exactly because of the cunningly built-up race prejudices between black and white workers it is imperative that we carry on the work of drawing the Negro working youth into our ranks. Our organization will only be a mass young bolshevik league if we have in its ranks not only the white young workers but also a large body of the young Negroes. The campaign for the total abolition of all discrimination against the Negro races, and for the complete economic, political and social equality of the Negro race, together with special campaigns among the Negro youth especially in the huge industries where they work in large numbers (steel mining, stockyards, railroads, etc.) on the basis of concrete demands must be energetically conducted. And while we lay our emphasis upon the young industrial Negro workers, we must not overlook the hundreds of thousands in the South, contact with whom we must strive for. The building of a youth bloc in the American Negro Labor Congress is another aim towards which we must work. The winning of the Negro youth is an essential and basic point in the bolshevization of our league.

8. LENINIST TRAINING.

Young Communist League can pretend to be a Bolshevik organization unless its ranks are thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Leninism, i.e., the theory and practice of the proletarian revolution in the period of imperialism. Bolshevization means the building of our League according to the teachings of Lenin. The danger of confusion in separating Marxism from Leninism, considering Marxism as “theory” and Leninism as “practice,” or assuming Leninism to be a revision or mere “improvement” of an outdated Marxism must be combatted. Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary practice and it is equally true, from another angle, that without Marxism there can be no Leninism, and vice versa. Especially in a country where there is a long period of struggle before we reach a directly revolutionary situation, and the resultant danger of opportunist or leftist deviations, it is imperative that an intensive Leninist training be the order of the day in the League. The scorn for revolutionary theory must be vigorously overcome, and a broad stratum of well-trained comrades built up who will not only be able to carry on the work of the League in a Bolshevik manner, but form an organized reserve for future work in the Party. Leninist training must not only be conducted among the League’s leadership, which must thoroughly absorb the teachings of Lenin, but should be carried on among the broadest sections of the membership and even spread to the masses of working youth. A thorough program must be adopted for every nucleus and branch which will be in harmony with specific conditions. The League must try in the shortest possible time to establish a full-time Central Leninist Training School in Chicago, and where possible, in other sections of the country.

9. ANTI-MILITARIST AND ANTI-IMPERIALIST WORK.

THIS is the epoch of preparation for new imperialist wars and at concerted attempt for once more at tacking the Soviet Union, whose economic improvement and consolidation arouses the fear and hatred of the bourgeoisie. Upon the shoulders of the youth, and its revolutionary section, the Communist Youth, who are the first victims of imperialist war, I falls the greatest share of the task of anti-militarist and anti-imperialist struggle. Just as vigorously as we combat the preparatory organizations of bourgeois militarism (Boy Scouts.) C.M.T.C., R.O.T.C., etc.) so must we also fight against the social-democratic pretense at struggle as well as against the rising wave of delusive pacifist lack of struggle. Against the dangerous pacifist slogan of “No More War” we raise the cry of “War Against War.” The workers cannot prevent imperialist wars, but they can and must prepare to turn imperialist wars into civil wars to lead towards the proletarian revolution. This can be done only by building a systematic network of nuclei in the army and navy and by leading in the struggle for immediate concrete demands for soldiers and sailors. Such a program must be immediately issued and propagated. The idea of the proletarian army must be spread through the popularization of the Red Army.

Our anti-imperialist work goes hand in hand with the anti-militarist activity. The national-revolutionary movement which is growing in the Philippines, for example, makes it incumbent upon us not only to give moral aid, but also organizational aid in the work of building a Young Communist League there. Closer collaboration between the American and Mexican leagues is also necessary. Widespread publicity to the sinister activities of American imperialism in the Caribbean, South and Central America, the Pacific, Europe and Asia is one of our tasks. We must do all in our power to align the revolutionary student and working youth of the American continents in the ranks of the All-American Anti-Imperialist League, as well as to explain to the young workers the significance and menace of the Dawes Plan and all other machinations of American imperialism. The historical importance of the colonial peoples’ revolutionary uprisings must be explained to every Young Communist.

10. OUR PRESS.

THE Bolshevization of our means bringing it still closer to the press lives and struggles of the young workers, reflecting their interests and needs, and becoming a mass organizer and propagandist. This can be accomplished by the creating of a wide network of workers’ correspondents who will form a national staff of the Young Worker. A paper which the young workers do not feel to be their defender and in which they do not find reflected their struggles and working conditions is not a mass organ. The elementary tasks of individual distribution must be emphasized time and again. The Young Comrade also must be made a mass organ which will reflect the struggles of the children in the schools and factories, written by these children in a language that they understand. The Young Comrade must become not only an organ for education but an organ and instrument of working class children’s struggle.

11. COMMUNIST CHILDREN’S MOVEMENT.

THE building of a mass organization of proletarian children and their education and preparation in working class struggles is of great moment to the revolutionary movement. Even the youngest generation must not be left unchallenged, in the hands of the bourgeoisie. The Junior Section must be transformed into an actual well-functioning body of proletarian children, based upon school nuclei and the school struggle, the struggle against religious poison and nationalism and bourgeois patriotism, and become an adjunct of the Communist movement whose special job is the political education of the working class child, preparation for entry into larger struggles by bringing them into the general struggles of the workers and the specific struggles of the children in the schools as well as in the industries. The children must be brought more actively into the struggle against child labor, and the adult working class movement must be gained for the support of the organization of the working class child into the revolutionary movement. The union of the youngest generation and the oldest generation of workers means the formation of a solid band of proletarian fighters.

12. STRUGGLE AGAINST OPPONENT YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS.

IN this field the American league has been too lax entirely. The tremendous influence exercised over the working youth in particular by such organizations as the Boy Scouts, Y.M.C.A., Y.M.H.A., and a dozen other big bourgeois groups ranging from the most reactionary to socialist youth makes necessary the immediate beginning of a campaign to expose the bourgeoisie reactionary nature of these bodies. Not only through the press, but also through nucleus bulletins, special pamphlets and leaflets, and through mass educational instruments must these organizations be exposed. In a number of these organizations the building of fractions–and the application of the united front tactic is the best means of nullifying their influence upon the working class youth. In open political organizations, such as the fascisti and socialist groups, fractions may be especially formed, and united front proposals should be used only under specific conditions. The hold of opponent youth organizations upon young workers and farmers must be broken by the Young Communist movement.

13. THE WORKING CLASS SPORTS MOVEMENT.

THE great popularity of sports among the American youth shows the importance of aiding in the growth of a working class sports movement. The work already begun by the Workers Sports Alliance must be considerably increased with our aid so as to build up a mass organization of working class sports, side by side with a campaign to expose the reactionary nature of the bourgeoisie sports bodies. The building of communist fractions within working class sports groups must be systematically carried out.

14. WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEAKING YOUTH.

THE virtual stoppage of immigration by act of congress has to a certain extent minimized the problem of the foreign language speaking youth. The numbers that are still here, however, are of sufficient importance to be given serious thought. Agitation and propaganda work among these young workers must be continued thru national propaganda committees. All tendencies towards decentralization of the League, such as autonomy, federations, etc., must be vigorously fought and efforts made, on the contrary, to draw these young workers more into the stream of the general working class youth of the country. Through a constant ideological campaign and by the building of a homogeneous league based on shop nuclei this problem will be largely eliminated. Foreign language work will be largely confined to the combatting of the influence of bourgeois and nationalist as well as bourgeois-cultural organizations which exist for the respective nationalities, through special organizational arrangements and through the publication of literature wherever necessary. Adaption to specific conditions struggle in this country is the duty of all foreign language speaking comrades, and the carrying on of their special work should not hinder but contribute to the building of a firmly united and monolithic organization.

15. NECESSITY OF WINNING AMERICAN WORKING YOUTH.

FOLLOWING the line of least resistance a number of sections of our league have been able to organize the foreign-language speaking youth almost to the exclusion of the native youth, or the youth of foreign descent which has been Americanized (not in the nationalist-patriotic sense that the bourgeoisie uses this term, but from our point of view as forming the bulk of the native American working class youth). This is a condition which must be remedied. Our league must not only be the organization of the foreign language speaking youth, whose valuable support we must always retain, but special efforts must be made to reach the native youth, who in most instances form the bulk of the working class youth in such basic and key industries as mining, transportation, metal and machinery industry, foodstuffs, and the like. Without the accomplishment of this task the Young Workers League cannot be said to be the representative of the American working class youth, and therefore not a real American section of the Young Communist International. It must turn its attention and direct its activities towards the winning of the broad masses of the American working youth.

Insert: In this connection it is well to point out that while our League has been unusually successful in winning a good percentage of the young working class girls into its ranks, this task must remain constantly in our minds and a special portion of our activities devoted to gaining the

DEMOCRACY AND DISCIPLINE.

A BOLSHEVIK League is a united, disciplined league. Together with a relentless and free criticism of our work must go an iron discipline which must be realized by the entire membership and exercised not solely thru formal organizational measures of censure but through a widespread ideological campaign to explain the elemental necessity of a communist organization which has one united leadership, one platform and program in the face of constant struggle with the enemy, which prohibits the formation of fractions and maintains at the same time a democratic centralism of organization.

POPULARIZATION OF OUR INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP.

The Young Communist International is the leader of the struggles of the working class youth in all lands. It is our duty as the American section of the international of youth to popularize the Y.C.I. among the masses of American young workers and bring to their attention the significance of our international leadership and the historical tradition of revolutionary struggle which it has inherited and which it brings to the masses of working youth all over the world. The achievement of these tasks means a united League with a central direction and political subordination to the Communist Party. With a clear understanding of the historical role of the revolutionary youth movement, and a thoroughly trained Bolshevik membership, we shall succeed in winning to our banner the masses of the working youth of this generation, working hand in hand with the Communist Party for the overthrow of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and the establishment of workers’ rule.

The Young Worker was produced by the Young Workers League of America beginning in 1922. The name of the Workers Party youth league followed the name of the adult party, changing to the Young Workers (Communist) League when the Workers Party became the Workers (Communist) Party in 1926. The journal was published monthly in Chicago and continued until 1927. Editors included Oliver Carlson, Martin Abern, Max Schachtman, Nat Kaplan, and Harry Gannes.

For PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/youngworker/v04n34-oct-03-1925-yw.pdf