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We have confidence
in our
young generation —

By BERT WHYTE
Tribune Staff Correspondent .

MOSCOW

as RESIDENT Johnson’s policy

on Vietnam has also isolat-
_, ed United States and has
caused alarm among sections of
the monopolists, Gus Hall, gen-
eral secretary of the Communist
Party of United States, told a
press conference here Oct. 4.

In a free-wheeling two-hour _

Session Hall covered a wide

Tange of subjects and advanced

thought-provoking views. Some
quotes:

ON VIETNAM: This is the cen-

tral question of today. A world-
wide moyement against Amer-
ican imperialist aggression . is
needed. Johnson’s policy of ag-
Bression is not necessarily a
frozen policy for all time. In ad-
dition to demonstrations and
mass protests there is growing
criticism of government policy
in ‘high political circles. Even
Kennedy, an opportunist, has
chosen the path of disagree-
ment as the path to the presi-
dency.

ON U.S. WORKING CLASS:
The key task is to move the
working class and trade unions
into the arena of political strug-
gle. There is a contradiction be-
tween the readiness of unions to
Strike on “pork chop issues”
and their reluctance to engage
in political action, Yet you can-
not solve the problem of the ef-
fects of automation without po-
litical struggle.

Because of automation the
trade unions represent a smaller
and smaller percentage of those
employed. They win victories
for a narrowing circle, but the
circle outside gets bigger and
bigger, for it includes young
people, Negro workers who are

US. Communist spokesman GUS HALL
advances some thought-provoking views

at a press conference in Moscow

the first to be laid. off, and a
growing section of unorganized
workers. tate

Unions consider the attrition ©

clause in new contracts a victo-
ry, but it further narrows their

\ circle. What has to happen is

that the working class and the
trade unions have to get toge-
ther and face the problem unit-
edly. This struggle cannot be
won on the picket line, it -will
take political action. Once this
is recognized by the unions there
will be a qualitative change in
their work.

Foreign correspondents should

avoid, in writing, putting Amer--

ican unions into one reactionary
mass. Meany and Lovestone are
as reactionary aS anyone can
be, but below the top leadership
there are differences, struggle
and movement. Trade union
committees against the war in
Vietnam have been formed in
several cities and some unions

have taken more direct action.

ON THE YOUTH UPSURGE:
A whole generation today is
probing, seeking, questioning for
this. I have been assigned to
youth work. since 1960 and it is
an enjoyable assignment.

The new generation demands
probing and dialogue. Youth to-
day won’t accept canned an-
swers. In the Hungry Thirties
the problems were relatively
simple — to struggle for food
and jobs, and to some, the strug-
gle against fascism.

But the youth face much more
complicated problems _ today.
Take the two world systems.
For us. the term has become a
cliche. For them it represents a
challenge. They have been
brought up to believe capitalism
is the only acceptable system and

suddenly they are faced with

GUS HALL

a whole new world of socialist
states.

In the Thirties people won-
dered if socialism would work.

_That’s not the debate today —

it’s how well does | socialism

work, how does it compete with ~

capitalism. There is a probing
on this question, not by sec-
tions of youth but by a whole
generation. Or take the question
of unemployment..

In the Thirties we had a cyc-
lical crisis, a temporary econo-

mic crisis. But that is not the.

case with automation, which is
a permanent feature. Youth sees
this and want to probe for a fun-
damental solution — _ notice
YT didn’t say a socialist solution.
Millions still seek a _ solution
within capitalism.

But they are probing and that
is why Communists are among
the most popular speakers on
U.S. campuses. But just try to

hand out pat answers and you
lose your audience.

So our approach to youth has
to be different and our organiza-
tional forms must be’ thanged.
In our party we have introduced
changes and transformed our
central committee meetings into
something completely different
from the past. Our recent con-
vention decided that 25 percent
of our central committee must
be young Communists. And 25
percent of our national commit-
tee members are under 24 years,
including a few in their late

.teens. But these young péople
_ have been in and out of jail and

leading struggles—you learn fast
that way.

We have confidence in our
young generation, the best in
our history, the first which has
created the possibility of a mass
anti-imperialist movement in the
United States.

Some comrades say I’m over-
optimistic and I agree and say
yes, the reason is I’m ‘in charge
of youth work and that’s the ef-
fect it has. Older comrades feel
younger and forget their rheu-

-matism and even look younger.

Of course our young leaders
will make mistakes, all kinds of
mistakes, but not as serious as
some we made — we committed
some rather big ones.

ON CHINA: Youth are natu-
rally idealistic, this is a positive
factor. The events in China will
seriously affect some of our
youth and will create a: certain
cynicism, as developments in
China shock idealistic concepts
of what the new society should
be like. We must not only re-
ject and condemn, but explain
the reasons for the situation in
China — we cannot build a
healthy Marxist movement with
that skeleton in the closet.

October 21, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 9