Marxists’ Internet Archive: ETOL Home Page: Trotskyist Writers Section: Farrel Dobbs
Source: Socialist Appeal, Vol. 4 No. 19, 11 May 1940, p. 1.
Transcription & Mark-up: Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
In the short period of one month since the adjournment of the Third Convention of the Socialist Workers Party the orientation of the party towards mass work has been carried out with such vigor and enthusiasm that important results have already been reported.
Not dismayed by the desertions from our ranks by the splitters and renegades, the proletarian majority of the S.W.P. is daily discovering new sinews of strength and new sources of proletarian membership.
The manifold problems of the trade-union movement are now more than ever an important part of the problems of the party. Important mass actions arise constantly on an ever-broader front. Unlike literary activity and internal discussion within a party, the mass work presents daily problems which must have an immediate answer. A plan of action which is worked out in the morning is very often tested in practice during the afternoon.
These factors demonstrate the profound need for accurate, up-to-the-minute general information on the trends and developments in the trade union movement.
The party press, the main source of this information, is an indispensable implement for the party members engaged in mass work and for the development of the most advanced trade unionists who are coming towards the party. Special distributions of the party press are being carried out regularly in auto, steel, maritime, among the unorganized factory workers, and in many other fields. Inspiring results have been obtained through this work.
Indispensable as it now is, the party press will be even more valuable when it is published more frequently. The two-a-week Appeal will be a decisive factor in increasing the tempo of party mass work. It will enhance general efficiency by keeping both party and non-party readers more closely informed of day-by-day events and developments as they appear in the light of class struggle perspectives and analysis.
Push the two-a-week Appeal campaign to accelerate the development of party mass work!
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Last updated: 18 August 2020