jowder’ s Revisionism

A Page of Discussion Open To Members
Of The Labor-Progressive Party

n Buck’s: Artide :

a ers Sad eends of}

~foor-Progressive party
Ben awaiting: with keen
ion .the. publication
= Buck’s article on re-
Fof Marxism, which

in a recent issue of
He article provides an

4 > subject all our work,
Bl and practical, to a
i§id searching re-examin-

the light of Comrade
* ticle.” The article fur-

We aasizes that it will be

@ for us to “root out all

rg i toward revisionist’

tegind eliminate any reflec-

Ay jevisionism in our prac-

a ES

meeople expected to find

roductory statement of
re | all that they had ab-
sal the course of many
eidy of developments: in
can movement. Here in
e can arrive at our full

1"

basis for, and indeed is.

asis For Di

Py
ISCUSSIOM By Minerva Cooper

position, not by slavishly copy-
ing American conclusions, but
‘through a separate study of the
Canadian political scene and a
most painstaking examination of
our theoretical and practical
work.*'This process will be prop-
erly launched when members of
the national committee, seventy-
five in number, gather in Tor-
onto to pool in so far as it is
possible all the understanding
and working class experience of
every section of our party.

Following the national com-
mittee meeting intensive dis-
cussions will again be held in

every section of our party, and
in every club, ott of which will
emerge the final formulation of
party policy which will be our
guide to action. in the difficult
peried of reconversion.

In the meantime discussions
are proceeding apace and are
marked by a healthy determina-
tion to free out party of all

+;
ot
r
a

:

tner Understanding

4

2. Marxist party we believed in the continuation of
(struggle betweén the workers and big business, until

‘aR ur combined unity of purpose and education of our
“Sorkers, we would eliminate capitalism from the face

=

fth, and replace it with
rial system for the bet-
ee *aliz
§ irticular set of renin
conditions persuaded
iate from this) policy,
2 reach a compromise
sion of what. we termed
8Sve Capital”?

@-as a fierce desire on

>. all comrades to battle
1 all its rotten brutal-

) obably a keener under-
of what was in. store
2 -id if we lost. When it
jgarent that the great-
alistie powers and the
industrial powers were
(Side, against Hitlerite
awe felt that the great-
cation and unity of
}eyhould be driven into
@@. Perhaps at times we
ct straws and. misread
| of monopoly capital,
fips were down, and an
2 people took heart as
“ded blow for blow and

cost held firm, and
« the road back.
me Teheran. . Signifi-

first time the great
#@capitalism sat down to
, y discuss its problems
Z: | ocialist state. Was this
‘$ieans to an end on the
ete market hungry im-

= afraid that Russia
ifele the matter single
ted was it an honest rec-

= the fact that social-
E2re to stay and it was
By to get along in the
t#1 find common _ inter-

takenly believe
YY.
@ told by our leaders
ept Teheran with res-
aswas little short of not
it at all. A turning
@ been reached in the
the world, the defeat
Was assured. Here is
oint for our study, to.
aluate the moves of

the

| that big’ business did
| PACIFIC ADVOCATE

not intend to cooperate with la-}
bor; but what made us think or
hope otherwise? The growing
might of the USSR, a feeling of
humanitarianism to mankind as
a reaction to the bloody slaught-
er, or just plain wishful think-
ing? Remember that we said if
Wwe did not cooperate with a sec-
tion of capital we would drive
them, friends and*enemies alike,
into the hostile camp and World
War Three against Russia would
be immediately imevitable. Some
truth, some error, and when if
ever. monopoly capital is of the
opinion that it is strong enough
and can sufficiently justify its
actions to the English speaking
world, the terrible war will begin.

The tremendous influence that
such a proven authority as Com-
rade Browder has had on our
thoughts, should not be minim-
ized. The speed at which practi-
cally all members denounce the
exposed revision, shows a healthy
and keen desire to move out of
our somewhat lethargic position
of the present; BUT the fact
that Earl Browder’s policies were
respected and acclaimed by most
members until the arrival of the
“Duclos letter,’ shows the great
need for more careful study of
Marxism and Leninism in order
that we may recognize the devia-
tions in time and by proper mass
discussions, correct our policy
before it takes us into disastrous
channels. ,

For ourselves as ordinary Com-
rades, a proper evaluation of the
facts is vitally important at the
moment,: that we may recognize
this, not as a crisis, or a time
for despair, but an opportunity
to grasp the healthy return of
surging spirits, in the fight for
progress upward.

The recent elections showed
that as-<dndividuals- we influence
a large number of the workers,
as a party the Communists are
known the world over for their

.clear cut fight for the interests

of the common man.
ART MAKEPEACE
Kitsilano.

traces of revisionism at the earli-
est possible moment. There has
been a resurgence of enthusiasm
for Marxist-Leninist classics
which augurs well for the future.
Many of us are anxious to make

our contributions to a further
élaboration of a number of
guestions raised in Comrade

Buck’s article. We shall be con-
sidering to what extent our slo-
gans and formulations. fell short
of Marxist content in the period
from which we are emerging,
notwithstanding the magnificent

contribution of our party to the
winning of the war. We shall
have to consider the manner in
which we can educate and deepen
the socialist consciousness of our
fellow-workers. Some of us are
deeply interested in organization
and party structure, a subject
which will receive special: atten-
tion in the coming national com-
mittee meeting.

Our membership should con-
tinue’ to. hold tentative discus-
Sions on these and similar ques-
tions while the national com-
mittee- is in session, bearing in
mind that final decisions can only
be reached on the basis of the
accumulated understanding and
experience of our party nation-

ally.,Our members, through their |

clubs, and as individuals are
urged to convey their opinions in
writing to the provincial execu-
tive of our party or direct to the
national committee meeting of
the party which will be held in
the King Edward Hotel, Toronto,
August 10, 11 and 12.

‘Throughout these discussions,
cur membership, in their eager-
ness to conduct the searching ex-
amination of our work for which
Comrade Buck’s statement calls,
will have to guard with great
vigilance against any tendency to
swing over to left-sectarianism,

This week we continue dis-
cussion through our columns
on the basis of Tim Buck’s
statement on Revisionism and
its effect on the LPP. We

urge that contributions be.
kept short.
A discussion carried on |

along the right lines, that is,
in a constructive manner, will
do much to clear up misunder-
standings and confusion caus-
ed by interpretations put for-
ward through the pages of the
bourgeoise and_ social-demo-
cratic press. The contributions
on this page express the ideas
of the writers and not neces-
sarily those of P.A Editor.

the “over-correction” which is an
ever-present danger when party
policy is being reviewed.

I am confident that our mem-,
bership as a whole will bring to
the discussions that devotion to
the party and communist object-
ivity which- provide the surest
guarantee of correct decisions,
and from which we shall emerge
strong, united, and better able to
play our vanguard - role in the
working-class movement.

MINERVA COOPER.

A Critical

The recent critical review
to which the policies and
been subjected is of vital sig-
nificance to the workers of
Canada.

From the surface, this whole
affair seems to be filled with
grave meaning. If the most ad-
vanced section of the American
working-class could be induced
(almost unanimously) to follow
and defend a “mirage” with only
slight basis in fact; if, in the
course of this pursuit, a vast
superstructure of apologetics is
erected by the CPA press to house
a “new kind of capitalism,” then
the ideology of monopoly capital
ism has indeed made alarming
inroads into the workers’ move-
ment.

For myself, however, I do not
believe that the current situation
which faces our American com-

rades (and—to a lesser extent—
ourselves) is as serious as the in-
itial reports of the discussion
leads many of us to believe.
Catastrophic — or just plain
serious; what are the problems
which we face and must correct?
Obviously, these problems ‘are
many and complex. Mostly they
are in the nature of unwarranted
conclusions and misplaced em-
phasis. That they also reflect -

certain ‘lack of confidence” in
the fundamental principles of
Marxism-Leninism as a _ valid

guide in the present situation, is
clearly - evident.

Could it be that the leadership
of the CPA—tired of “waiting”
for socialism, and languishing in
it’s failure to win overwhelming
and widespread “respect’’7—long-
ed to broaden it’s influence be-
yond the “narrow” limits of the

working-class?

leadership of the CPA have’

Review “by Arthur Detiman

Some such subjective state
undoubtedly, ingredient in
the sudden and violent way in
which the alliance of Great Brit-
ain, the USSR and the USA—
concretized at Teheran — was
seized upon to champion an ab-
stract and idealized form of de-
mocratic bourgeois society.

was,

The phenomenal respect which
the Soviet Peoples and their
State gained overnight, in inter-
national society ... as a result
of their heroic resistance; the
hard-won right to.an equal voice
with the great capitalist states
in world affairs, re-inforced (by
sheer example) the role of Marx-
ist parties everywhere, and testi-
fied to the great achievements of
which the proletariat are cap-
able.

Legal considerations prévented
us in Canada from resuming our
historic role as vanguard of the
workers and unifier of the anti-
fascist forces UNDER THE
BANNER OF THE COMMUN-
IST PARTY.

In the USA, however, no such
legal barriers prevailed; and the
dissolution of the CP-USA—at
the very moment when the star
of the International proletariat
began to ascend—is beyond jus-
tification. By this act the mantle
of national leadership of the
anti-fascist forces was handed
to the big bourgeoisie (whom it
fitted ill enough); while the role
of the proletariat and it’s van-
guard was reduced to that of an
acquiescing appendage. Apolo-
getics and an inexcusable-inabil-
ity to distinguish betwen gen-
uine anti-fascists and merely
anti-German inyperialists char-
acterized not a little of recent

writings. It became a choice be-
tween the “good” and “bad”
bourgeoisie . . . and sought to
“influence” the good bourgeoisie
as our primary task.

The concept of struggle, too,
underwent a peculiar metamor-
phosis. By persuading the work-
ers to pledge themselves to fore-
go strikes, and by abolishing the
party, many American comrades
began to conceive struggle as a
purely weaponless, exhortative
process! Yes, even the most naive,
petty-bourgeois notions began to
make their appearances at the
core of the movement.

Failing to distinguish between
the concrete military-strategic-
diplomatic aspects of Teheran,
on the one hand, and the expres-—
sion of postwar aims on the
other; the meeting betwen Roose-
velt, Churchill and Stalin was in-
terpreted — symbolically — as a
cooperative and mutually advan-
tageous coming together of the
classes (instead of a _ military-
diplomatic accord reached by
sovereign, independent states).

Once Teheran was interpreted
in this way, Marxism was left
with little role to play. From
here on it became “necessary” to
estimate where and how the
product of a postwar American
national economy —— working at
capacity—could be disposed. For-
mulae for markets, vast increases
in wages and tremendous assis-
tance to backward peoples were
advanced . . and addressed to
the dominant bourgeoisie as the
road to it’s salvation. These be-
came the perspectives. The per-
spective of monopoly capitalism
serving human needs, generally
and adequately, was unfolded.
Capitalism suddenly became ‘cape

— Continued on Page 6
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 1945

ee