N.E. Party Grows in Number and Spirit, Claessens Finds
N.E. Party Grows in Number and Spirit, Claessens Finds (The following is not an "artiW but notes sent in by energetic August Claeeseue to this office tell kg ef his eleven day trip for...
...Walter Singler, president of the Pool, and Charles Goldamer, vice-president of the State Holiday Association, attacked both the NBA and the A.A.A., describing the latter as "an all day sucker" which isn't fooling the farmer...
...Why, How, When...
...Every party member who can serve In any way is expected .to get on the job...
...in Fitchburg...
...The Finnish and Jewish branches, while still strong, no longer dominate...
...Madison, 11-12...
...Levis, 31, February 1-2-8-4-6...
...I Evidence of widespread support I for the party among the farmers ] continues to grow, both in the number of Socialist speakers invited to speak at farm organisation meetings and a flood of letters reaching the office of State Secretary Al Benson every day...
...Detroit, 27-28-29-30-31, Jannary 1. Lansing, January 2-3...
...Nature and Nurture—Heredity and Environment...
...He and Charles Solo, mon, recent Socialist candidate for mayor, who was also elected ti the assembly, Mere permitted to hold their scats in the Legislature of 1021...
...However, a number of these comrades have rotten their bearings recently through bitter experience...
...I was pleasantly greeted in Boston, where the party ia also much improved...
...All of the 102, except five, have' lost their small capital...
...Each party has 25 senators...
...The 21st Senatorial District includes the 1st and 2nd* Assembly Districts, where there are active party branches, and with the present temper of the voters and a vigorous campaign, the comrades are hopeful of the result...
...Alone the decline in the general sales volume during the spring and summer months of 1933 amounted to 30%, as compared with last year's figures...
...Akron, 22-23...
...They all feel the great need of more intensive educational work among our new recruits...
...16-17...
...Claessens' Dates for Second Tour pOMRADE CLAESSENS will start on the second section of his New Leader tour on Saturday with two days in Albany and then proceed west across New York State...
...correspondent has made the following survey which speaks eloquently of the sufferings to which the new German rulers are submitting the people...
...Fine Spirit Everywhere I spoke in Ludlow, a one-industry mill town near Springfield...
...Al Benson has just started a two weeks' organising trip that will take him into a half dosen counties in the northern part of the state...
...Orr has also rendered valuable service to Socialists snd unionists arrested for speaking or picketing...
...Cincinnati, 18-19-20...
...I brought back a goodly bunch of subs for The New Leader, managed to cover expenses for most of the locals and myself, sold about 600 pamphlets at these meetings and helped a bit in organization work and reaching new members...
...A resolution supporting these demands was sent to Governor Schmedeman by the Plum City Farmers' Union 'Vierce County) this week The writer spoke at a county convention of the Milk Pool in Dodge County last week and found the members not at all dlaheartened by the calling off of the farm strike...
...Other organizers will be sent out during the next ten days...
...Others, particularly some members who are professionals, are running true to type, thinking of themselves as "super-revolutionists," some are inclined to every extreme in thought and contact But I must state that I have had long and interesting conversations with several of the new active and influential comrades and I was immensely impressed with their fine sincerity, devotion and service to our movement...
...Many farm organisations and leaders are voicing Socialist sentiments and support of the Socialist program...
...Dayton, 21-2223...
...My meeting in Worcester was fairly good...
...Steinhardt and Meyer Levenstein...
...If they win, and they inform me their chances are good, I believe the victory will do for the party in this part of the country what Bridgeport, Conn., has done for the whole Northeast and elsewhere...
...They are concentrating their forces in one district, near the ship building yards, and they hope to elect Comrade Poble as councilman...
...Several Milwaukee branches have made substantial contributions to a special fund, and others are expected to follow suit...
...Well, 16 of the 102 interviewed business men made it clear that they had not paid their taxes and rent for a long time...
...Buffalo...
...The lectures are as follows: Lectures Topics 1. "The Socialist Analysis of the NRA...
...Here we have the center of our -powerful and efficient American Finnish Socialist movement...
...Jack Altman, county organiser, is campaign manager...
...Comrade Orr will give all time possible to the campaign and will also be heard over Hut ion WF.VI) at least once each week...
...Lincoln...
...4. "What Is Socialism...
...And if nothing remains, it will fall to the share of the government to take care of us and provide us with needed support'" The systematic decay of these last pillars of the German middle class has doubtlessly been greatly accelerated by the boycott, although not many rc Hse the real consequences of the anti-Hitler actions taken abroad...
...In most every city visited, I found splendidly functioning locals and branches and many new comrades rendering invaluable service It the party and the trade unions...
...They predicted an early merger of the two farm organizations...
...The local is making an unmistakable Socialist campaign...
...I met with them before my meeting and they were eager to know how they could be more effective...
...The nexl day, in Northampton, I spoke at a very fine meeting and to an excellent group of comrades...
...A sub-committee will employ a full-time publicity man, arrange for the publication of at least three leaflets and have them placed in every h»me, hold openair meetings with the aid of a loud speaker, and arrange for three large indoor mass meeting...
...The meeting was small...
...Springfield, February 6-7...
...But a' greater tragedy than the mere loss of money is the mental depression' of these unfortunate petty hour-' geois, bordering on a helpless stoicism, already difficult to fathom but simply impossible to describe...
...8. "Social Psychology and Social Problems...
...The New Leader will also provide a press story for insertion in local papers of the time and place of the meetings...
...And so I spoke at 14 meetings in my 11-day trip through New England...
...What gives this campaign special interest and importance is the balance of power in the Senate between the two capitalist parties...
...Orr stood for eletcion in 1920 and was elected against a fusion candidate...
...Fourteen business establishments, all of them groceries, butchers, and bakers, gave this figure, while a second group composed of 47 drug stores, restaurants, fashionable entertainment places, barbers, department ¦tores and office supply stores, estimates their losses variously between 35 and 40...
...Poster propaganda will be used and watchers to man 180 election districts will be recruited...
...The estimate of a third group of 27 hat, radio, hosiery, and photo stores runs between 40 and 50%, and a fourth one, amongst them lower, art, candy store/ and first class tailor establishments, reports sales losses of 60...
...They have a remarkably fine crowd of worker*, very much like our Bridgeport comrades, so watch the news...
...Indianapolis, 15-16-17...
...In the recent primary he came in second, and although party labels are not permitted in the city election, there is no secret as to Comrade Doble's political affiliations...
...Omaha, 21-22-28...
...The Bronx nty Committee of the Socialist Party last Monday evening nominated Samuel Orr, a veteran of many campaigns in the Bronx, and plans for the campaign are already under way...
...Kansas City, 26-27-28...
...Those who wish to vote in the special election have only until December 16 to register...
...Here are their headquarters, buildings, cooperatives and publishing plants, the pride and the envy of every dir vision of our party...
...Here there is as yet no great progress...
...Samuel Orr, Socialist candidate in this important election, joined the Socialist Party while attending school in 1902, and has been an active member ever since...
...2. "Our Economic Chaos, an Analysis of the Depression...
...Worse than the plight of the other strata of German bourgeois society," the correspondent says, "is the fate of Germany's small business world...
...An observant stroll throughout Berlin, .the former colorful and teeming metropolis of Central Europe, speaks louder than books and beautiful Hitler speeches, and explains what has become of the once fervently courted and now 'bitterly disappointed petty bourgeois adherents cf the Swastika cause...
...8. "Unemployment, Its Causes and Remedies...
...Wisconsin So*" cialists have launched a vigorous organising drive throughout the entire state, particularly in the farming areas...
...Three owners declared that their sales volume had been reduced to approximately oneqoarter of their 1932 sales...
...The New Leader will also provide a press story for insertion in local papers of the time and place of the meetings...
...In the afternoon I spoke to a fine crowd of members and others in Cambridge and here also found an excellent and enthusiastic group cf new comrades...
...How can we...
...They also asked for closer cooperation between organised labor and organised farmers...
...Rochester, 10-11...
...In New Bedford, there was also a good meeting...
...One farmer, for example, recently butchered all his poultry and Is using the proceeds to further organising work...
...Startling Survey Discloses Ruin oj German Middle Class Trans Atlantic Information Service LIERK is the true picture of the ** circumstances in which Hitler's enthusiastic follower, the small business man and independent merchant of Germany, finds himself in the Nasi totalitarian state of 1933...
...7. "Selfishness, a Study of Human Nature...
...The party is working out a plan whereby farm products will be taken for dues, as the New Deal has just about denuded the farmers of all cash...
...Nevertheless, there is a fine group of new comrades in the local...
...The overwhelming majority were considerably behind in their payments, 31 businesses owing rentals of one i to two months, 54 more than three months, and the remaining seventeen, more than six months...
...The recent demand of the Socialist Party that the Governor call a special session of the legislature to set up machinery for taking over factories to provide jobs for the unemployed, to establish a state marketing agency for agricultural products, and to impose a 100% income tax on all Incomes over $10,000 a year, is receiving widespread support...
...But the real depths of the economic depression are reached in Npair and paint s' ps, small establishments of plumbers and electricians, and electric supply stores...
...The lectures sre as follows: Albany, December 2-3...
...if need be, by dumping of our merchandise on the market...
...Over 800 farmers . attended...
...Columbus, 24-25...
...24-26...
...Here in a large job to be done immediately by the national office and other party agencies...
...Flint, 4-6...
...It has a new loca.' not yet as effective as it will be...
...Orr was defeated for the Assembly the following year by a fusion of the old parties, but he was returned with four other Socialists in November 1919...
...Utlea, 8-9...
...Mollln, Diana Hoffman Ernest Doerfler, N. Minkoff, Dan Levine, George Schmidt, Gerald Coleman and Phil Pasik of the 2nd A. D. Temporary headquarters are located at 809 Westchester Ave., telephone LUdlow 4-8571...
...At the sams time the Socialist Party elected seven members of the Board of Aldermen one, State Senator from the Bronx and Jacob Panken to the Municipal Court in Manhattan...
...Party Grows in Number and Spirit, Claessens Finds (The following is not an "artiW but notes sent in by energetic August Claeeseue to this office tell kg ef his eleven day trip for THE HEW LEADER through New England...
...To this committee has been added Julius Gerber of the city executive committee, Murray Gross and Comrade Stone of the 1st A. D., Dr...
...For years, despite the heroic attempts of our Fitchburg Finnish comrades to make an impression on the nonFinnish people in their city, the results were disheartening...
...Ohio, Pennsylvania) Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Indiana are included in his tour...
...His first meeting was held at Crivltz, a Thanksgiving banquet arranged by farm organisations, where he expounded the .Socialist message...
...Paul, 16-17...
...Minneapolis, 18-14-16...
...I was well occupied day and night...
...Toledo, 2425-26...
...Great enthusiasm prevailed at the meeting and a grim determination further to perfect their organisation and carry on their fight...
...My meeting was also attended by a good crowd of "natives...
...Cleveland, 18-19-20...
...The Berlin T.LS...
...The campaign co/nmittee consists of five Bronx members: Harry J. Gerber, Al Belskin, Irving Knobloch, Geo...
...The complete schedule follows: There are eleven lectures from which locals may select...
...Pittsburgh, 26-27-28...
...South Bend, 13-14...
...In that period the State Federation of Labor generally praised the Socialist members of the assembly for the labor bills they introduced and supported...
...Social Attitudes Towards War and Peace...
...Let the state and the landlord do what they want The few marks which we need for our domestic needs, will and must be raised...
...Only three establishments complied punctually, one a jewelry store, and the other two a tailor shop doing a rush business in uniforms, and a lottery sales stand...
...Orr Nominated in Special State Senatorial Campaign '|\UE to a vacancy in the State Senate from a Bronx district, there will be a special election on December 28, to fill it and the campaign by the Socialists will be of interest to Socialists throughout the nation...
...There are eleven lectures from which locals may select...
...Sioux City, 18-19...
...Grand Rapids, 6-7...
...Seven shops, carefully investigated, show sales decreases of •ore than 66...
...Last April, with a surprisingly fine meeting with Comrade Norman Thomas, they finally broke the ice...
...In the best days of the party we have not had such continuous and fruitful Socialist work as is now in progress, particularly in Western Massachusetts...
...1218-14-15...
...I got a grand thrill in making the acquaintance of Comrades Dickson and Bush, and no praise can be too lavish to describe their intense activities and fine spirit...
...Jefferson Cfty, 29-80...
...At night there was a fairly good meeting in Lynn...
...Everyone repeats resignedly, when contemplating the dark future: 'Well, we are not going to pay our debts...
...My next surprise was in Quency, where a hot municipal campaign is on, with election day on December 4th...
...I have been in this city a great many times during the last 15 years and I am happy to report that we never had so effective a local as is now at work there...
...Chicago, 8-9-10-11-12...
...Orr was nominated by a unanimous vote of the delegates, who made it clear that they will throw all their energy into the campaign struggle...
...Organization Being Pushed in Wisconsin Farm Area I By Andrew J. Biemiller MILWAUKEE...
...Not only are these last remnants of small and independent business rapidly wiped out, but the increasing economic pressure has also forced their owners to eat into their little financial reserves...
...6. "The Love of Money and the Struggle for Existence...
...To «akc clear what this sharp fall in *oJes really amounts to, it must "'Ace to say that some of Berlin's best known book and flower stores often report an income of only "Pee and four marks daily...
...J. F. Laufenberg, president of the Wood County Holiday Association, closed his speech by raising the slogan, "To hell with the capitalist system...
...Fitchburg's Splendid Work My last stop w...
...Spoke at the excellent Dorchester Sunday morning forum, managed by our very efficient comrade, Leon Arkin...
...The result is terrifying...
...Many of these letters contain offers of volunteer organising help from locals recently organised in rural areas...
...How are they paying their rent and taxes ? This is the question which I asked myself and others in logical sequence of the above stated facts...
...By August Claessens IT is surely good news that I relate) in this report Going through Massachusetts after an absence of several years, I found, it refreshing to note the growth of the Socialist Party, the composition of its membership and Ms activities...
...Schenectady, 3-4...
...Erie...
...6. "The Essentials of Socialism...
...In thu war year of 1917, he was elected to the State Assembly together with nine other Socialists...
...9. "Social Attitudes in Race Conflicts...
...Syracuse, 6-6-7...
...Milwaukee, 89-10...
...The dates for the next tsetion of his tour to the Middle If est are given at the end...
...This campaign will be fought with vigor by Bronx Socialists who expect also to enlist the services of Socialist speakers and workers in the other boroughs...
...In order to present to the American reader a clear, unbiased" and comprehensive picture of prevailing conditions, I have surveyed 102 small business establishments of all sorts and in ill parts of the great city...
...Speaker Sweet and the assembly suspended the five Socialists and they were tried as "traitors" and expelled from that body in sensational proceedings that attracted attention and protest throughout the country...
...True, some of them are as yet uninformed as to party policies and tactics, impatient and critical of the trade union movement and muddled on other matters...
...It is a joy to meet these many new comrades and to see the fine work that they are doing...
Vol. 16 • December 1933 • No. 23
