Source: The Militant, Vol. IV No. 22, 5 September 1931, p. 1.
Transcription/HTML Markup: Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
Public Domain: This work is in the under the Creative Commons Common Deed. You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Marxists’ Internet Archive as your source, include the URL to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above.
The last meeting of the National Committee decided to appeal to the members and friends of the Communist League to make up the balance of the two thousand dollar fund needed to finish the expansion program which was laid out for the year. This decision of the National Committee is a timely reminder that we should not forget the practical tasks we have undertaken nor leave them uncompleted. Approximately two-thirds of the total fund has been subscribed and a corresponding proportion of the objectives of the program have already been attained. These results bear convincing testimony to the practical feasibility of the plan, to the accuracy with which the National Committee estimated the resources and responsive spirit of the membership and its own ability to fulfill the obligations.
As matters stand now our planned method of work stands vindicated, but the program remains uncompleted. The thing now is to finish the job. This will signify another step forward for our movement. Not the least of the positive results of a triumphant completion of the whole program will be its influence in convincing ourselves and others that we mean what we say and accomplish what we undertake. There has been more than enough of bluff and bluster in the Communist movement of America. A practical demonstration of a different method will have a wholesome effect all the way around.
The central task of the moment, upon which the appeal of the National Committee is primarily based, is the stabilization of the Weekly Militant. The launching of this enterprise in the face of the traditional “Summer slump” was a bold step, but it was necessary and therefore correct. This is the tenth issue of the resurrected Weekly. It was undertaken without adequate reserves. and all Summer the financial resources of the organization have been strained almost to the breaking point. We confidently believe that the worst is behind us in this respect.
However, it must be said frankly that a new push is needed all along the line to secure the Weekly. If all the supporters of the Militant see the situation as it is, there can be no doubt that they will pull the belt a little tighter and make the necessary sacrifices to guarantee the uninterrupted weekly publication of our beloved paper. Their past performance speaks in favor of this assumption, and the confident appeal of the National Committee is predicated upon it.
Although the problem presents itself at the moment as a practical question of finances the campaign will derive its scope and power, and its certainty of success, from the broader aspects of the issue. It was a great day for the Communist vanguard of America when our Militant recovered from its first defeat and raised its head again as a weekly publication. And not only for America; the embattled sections of the unconquerable Opposition throughout the world, who are united with us in a single fighting fraternity, have drawn a new strength and inspiration from the triumphant resurgence of our militant paper. It is these considerations which will animate our whole organization as one man when we say that the re-establishment of the weekly Militant was no trifling experiment, but a deliberate action. We mean to carry it through at all cost and we will do so.
Last updated on: 27.1.2013