For a Branch in Every District

...Comradeship and loyalty are always developed much faster among members of small groups than is possible among large groups...

...How to Succeed Our party leaders—and also the rsnk snd file—must therefore bear in mind that we will be successful only when we have efficiently functioning and properly distributed branches, a well-disciplined membership, and a genuine spirit of comradeship...

...If we study the tabulation of our vote in every Assembly District in New York City for the last three years (and what is true in New York is true all over the country), we will find a healthy increase right along...

...Simeon Stylltes snd his kind...

...One must do something with one's time, must one not...

...Their interest in activities lies in the fact that every' one has s duty to perform and is responsible for certain work...

...The deafening blast of the whistle consumed all the steam generated in the boiler...

...and aa soon aa their friends are transferred to other branches we will lose them I do not believe thst the number of such members is very great, and that it will materially injure branch activities, because if this is all that they can contribute to the movement it will be much better for the party to consider them sympathizers rather than party members...

...they have to travel after a hard day's work...

...WHOM the gods would destroy Is the world going quite crazy...

...Members are neither officers or members of committees, snd sie simply onlookers...

...At the side of one wss a pile of matches, but her cigarettes were all gone...

...There are also less possibilities for quarrels and pertonal friction in a email group than in a large one...

...It is therefore obvious that the present growth of our movement is due to changes in the economic conditions of the laboring masses and we must therefore grasp this opportunity to fortify our strategic points and build our Party...

...The general plans and activities of this great number of branches can* be supervised by five county committees, which in turn can be sub-divided by sgitation districts to take care of a certain number of branches, etc...

...The manager of the exhibit said that hundreds of men snd girls— mostly young girls—are begging for a chance to "contest...

...John H. Stoke of Virginis also .captures three more...

...There are tiny panes of glass, and narrow slits for air covered with gauze...

...The city stated that it did not have the funds to pay jurors...

...So we certainly are in step with the march of event...

...Capitalism must go...

...Boys and girls began to sit in a tree for days at a time...

...Here you hsve three plucky people attempting one of the world's greatest feasts of endurance...

...I will illustrate with the story of the Mississippi steamer, equipped with luxurious - passenger accommodations, fine decks, and excellent crew, and a tremendously powerful whistle...

...Why do you tkinkt" she answered...

...He received eight in one hour while the observer was watching...

...Party Worker Otters Plan for the Near Future—Baaed on Many Year* of Intensive Work, Gilbaon Urges Many Small Branches Rather Than Fewer Large Ones...

...City Changes Laws to Meet Socialist "Threat" Because six students of Oberlin College demanded a jury trial when arrested for holding sn open-air meeting in Loraine, Ohio, they were released...

...For the money, of course...

...All party lectures and forums must be conducted by centralized party educational committees in every county...

...Up until now our Party's national, state and local organisations have been very loosely organized...

...At Piccadilly Circus in London there are two girls and one Irishman trying to ward off death by starvation for ten days, in order" to win a prise, while Yaps look on and wonder...

...Bust suppose this does happen, what of it...

...The Branches S. Some comrades aay that branches with a membership of 160 can under beat conditions count on 26 or 86 to show up at branch meetings...

...You recall the insane epidemic of tree-sitting that came at approximately the beginning of the current depression...

...This in turn haa reflected unfavorably on the discipline of our members...

...Now about branch headquarters...

...By Leon Gilbson For a Branch in Every District J AM not surprised, neither am 1 disappointed with the results of this election, and every Socialist who does not believe in miracles but thinks in terms of organization has no reatao to complain...

...A system in which such thini.R occur is foolish, inssne — and damned...

...From now on the immediate demand on our party leaders will be the gigantic task of solidifying all our resources for this purpose...

...We possess a great deal of enthusing 1, our meetings are very well attended, our speakers are always of the best, our literature convincing, and yet we can never capture a single aldermanic district...

...Let us analyze this...

...The two girls looked tired, drawn and haggard...

...4. It la said that It will be too costly for the city office to carry on IU work among the increased number of organizers, financial secretaries, and special committeea attached to branch activities...

...the majority of the members of the Executive Committee...

...On the barrel ia chalked the name of the inmate, and the day of the fast In each one ia an electric light Each faster was permitted to take a quart of water, and all the books, cigarettes and matches he cared to take...

...At about the same time those.g who were older—but not wiser!— began rocking chair contests, and there were also sleeping contests, dance "marathons", the "bunion derby", or "race" across the United States, talking contests, pie eating contests and what would you...

...Not every branch is capable of tackling it without getting into a mesa...

...2. There is a prevailing opinion that a number of members come to branch meetings for only one purpose, to meet their friends...

...But of all the sheer insanities the world has ever heard of it is possible that none has exceeded a "contest" now going on in England...

...You don't think I'm doing it because I tike it, do youf » 1 j Michael Fay, the Irishman who hope* to win ?50, said, "Sure'n, I might as well starve inside a'barrel as outside it...

...The Socialist Party can never hope to get in touch with the great working masses and capture political power unless we organize on the basis above mentioned, • There are a number of argument* in opposition to my plan...

...There was no steam left to run the steamer...

...By sotting the penalty at a fine only, defendants can no longer force the city to the expense of a jury trial...

...We must once and for all educate our party members to consider the Socialist Psrty and its branches the political instrument of the class strutrcle rather than aa social clubs...

...All the energy snd hard work of active and devoted comradea is concentrated on bow to meet the rent and the other expenses that go with the upkeep of headquarters...

...it has outlived its usefulness...

...Even the best known contemporary bourgeois economists are powerless to disprove it...

...Forum Work Lectures and forums can only be successfully conducted when they are properly planned and organized by groups or individuals with the proper training and experience, as it is a profession in itself...

...Who are the members who usually attend branch meetings T What holds their interest...

...I'm out of work...

...Following this incident, the city council chsnged the ordinance covering street meetings to eliminate the jail sentence formerly provided...

...through the stons wall of apathy and cynicism and ia marching to a promising future, a future that every Socialist hoped for and never lost faith in even during the darkest days of reaction, Wall Street gambling and three years of desperate misery of the masses unparalleled in our history...

...After ten days the girls will get ?100...

...No one, of course, will reject the necessity of headquarters and Socialist clubs all over the city...

...All of them are out of work...

...The more clubs and branch headquarters the better, but the trouble is not with the headquarters or clubs but rather their maintenance...

...Eight or ten well meaning comrades who get together st a meeting of a small assembly district every week, or every two weeks, and earnestly devote their time to the problems of their territory will accomplish just as much as if they were members of a big branch...

...At the end of four dsys the girls qualify for a prize of ?4...

...What are you doing it for...

...one of the girls was asked...

...the man for a prize of ?2...

...It is a "contest" consisting of fasting nailed up in barrels...

...A good many members do not come to meetings on account of the distance BUT WHY STARVE INSIDE A BARREL—OR OUT OF IT...

...She was powdering her nose...

...but they will be good material as workers for a new branch...

...If we really mean to capture the political power of city, state and nation, we must stage our party work on a grand scale...

...There was only one trouble, discovered after the captain pulled the string attached to the powerful whistle...

...Therefore the Socialist Party is finally breakins...

...The "show" is at* a place called Fun Fair, and those who pay the two-pence required see three barrels with the tops nailed down...

...All party work can be carried out more efficiently through a great number of branches with a small membership in each unit than through a small number with a large membership in each unit...

...I do not, however, advise to discontinue all social functions...

...WE MUST HAVE A SOCIALIST PARTY BRANCH IN EVERY ASSEMBLY DISTRICT and in assembly districts with large territories we must have two or more branches...

...it haa accomplished its historical mission and now it haa given birth to an army of unemployed which will swallow it in the making of the new social order...

...Members who attend are first of all the officers...

...Small meeting place* are available in every assembly district and the necessity of spending hours in travel to snd from the meetings will be done away with...

...the man ?50—if they live...

...Sooner or later they drop out, as they feel that they have little to add to the activities...

...Just visualize the map of Greater New York dotted with two hundred or more red spots, each representing a party branch, each having an active group working in its territory...

...it also resolved itself in the lack of the genuine spirit of comradeship which is so important to our movement, snd In cases where it did mnnlfest itself it has been apt to be unnatural and superficial...

...The general problems of organization must be diligently planned and details carefully carried out...

...Other work is paralysed...

...A Network of Branches An organization based upon a network of branches throughout the country, as I have roughly sketched, would not only bring to the front our best snd most sble comrades, but it will also help us to discover hundreds of new organizers, financial and recording secretaries, and a great number of speakers...

...But nothing could go in after the "contest" started...

...This is exactly what maintenance of branch headquarters do to our general activities...

...The branch is the training t-.hool for party workers and the more branches we have the more trained and better disciplined workers will be in command of the party...

...5. One of the most popular arguments in favor of large branches ia that a small branch will not be in a position to carry on educational work, such as lectures and forums, and will also not be.sble to keep op branch headquarters and clubs...

...They are five In number and are the moat popular among party worker...

...they have served only as noise makers during political campaigns...

...organizers, financial and recording secretaries, literature agents, and delegates to the Cents*] Committee...

...The prime reason for this is based largely on the undeniable fact that Capitalism ia crumbling...

...It Is my candid opinion that reorganisation work must begin immediately after the decks srs cleared of the recent campaign...

...It is not mesnt to be funny," said the manager of the show (who collects admission fees...

...at least nothing quite so insane has come to the attention of supposedly rational people since the days of St...

...All this is very true, but I claim that a branch in a small territory is more capable of enrolling new members, due to it* intimacy, than in a large territory, and hence the revenue from duea will more than offset the increased cost of the city of floe...

...Can they endure a complete fast for ten days...

...On the surface everything looked splendid...

...therefore, we must assume thst branches with s membership of 50 will have only 8 or 10 st a meeting...

...Our present branches are geographically inaccurate, n jmerically inefficient and traditionary...

...Anthony P. Zager of North Chicago sands' In three...

...Five Objections 1. As we have difficulty in finding able, willing and reliable workers for the few branches with large memberships, how and where do you expect to get ten times ss many workers should this plan be adopted...