Organisation and Structure of the Communist Party - 4
VII. ON THE PARTY PRESS
36. The Communist Press must be developed by the Party with indefatigable energy. No paper may be recognised as a Communist organ if it does not submit to the directions of the Party.
The Party must pay more attention to having good papers than to having many of them. Every Communist Party must have a good, and if possible, daily central organ.
37. A Communist newspaper must never be a capitalist undertaking as are the bourgeois, frequently also the socialist papers. Our paper must be independent of all the capitalist credit institutions. A skilful organisation of the advertisement, which render possible the existence of our paper for lawful mass parties, must never lead to its being dependent on the large advertisers. On the contrary its attitude on all proletarian social questions will create the greater respect for it in all our mass Parties.
Our papers must not serve for the satisfaction of the desire for sensation or as a pastime for the general public. They must not yield to the criticism of the petty-bourgeois writers or journalist experts in the striving to become “respectable”.
38. The Communist paper must in the first place take care of the interest of the oppressed and fighting workers. It must be our best agitator and the leading propagator of the proletarian revolution.
It will be the object of our paper to collect all the valuable experience from the activity of the party members and to demonstrate the same to our comrades as a guide for the continual revision and improvement of Communist working methods; in this way it will be the best organiser of our revolutionary work.
It is only by this all-embracing organisational work of the Communist paper and particularly our principal paper, that with this definite object in view, we will be able to establish democratic centralism and lead to the efficient distribution of work in the Communist Party, thus enabling it to perform its historic mission.
39. The Communist paper must strive to become a Communist undertaking, i.e., it must be a proletarian fighting organisation, a working community of the revolutionary workers, of all writers who regularly contribute to the paper, editors, type-setters, printers, and distributors, those who collect local material and discuss the same in the paper, those who are daily active in propagating it, etc. A number of practical measures are required to turn the paper into a real fighting organ and a strong working community of the Communists.
A Communist should be in closest connection with his paper when he has to work and make sacrifices for it. It is his daily weapon which must be newly hardened and sharpened every day in order to be fit for use. Heavy material and financial sacrifice will continually be required for the existence of the Communist paper. The means for its development and inner improvement will constantly have to be supplied from the ranks of Party members, until it will have reached a position of such firm organisation and such a wide circulation among a legal mass Party, that it will itself become a strong support of the Communist movement.
It is not sufficient to be an active canvasser and propagator for the paper; it is necessary to be contributor to it as well.
Every occurrence of any social or economic interest happening in the workshop —from an accident to a general workers' meeting, from the ill-treatment of an apprentice to the financial report of the concern— must be immediately reported to the paper. The trade union fraction must communicate all important decisions and resolutions of its meetings and secretariats, as well as any characteristic actions of our enemies. Public life in the street, and at the meetings, will often give an opportunity to the attentive Party member to exercise social criticism on details which, published in our paper, will demonstrate, even to indifferent readers, how already we follow the daily needs of life.
Such communications from the life of workers and working-class organisations must be handled by the board of editors with particular care and affection; they must be used as short notices that will help to convey the feeling of an intimate connection existing between our paper and workers' lives; or they may be used as practical examples from the daily life of workers that help to explain the doctrine of Communism. Wherever possible, the board of editors should have fixed hours at a convenient time of the day, when they would be ready to see any worker coming to them and listen to his wishes, or complain on the troubles of life, which they sought to note and use for the enlightenment of the Party.
Under the capitalist system, it will, of course, be impossible for our papers to become a perfect Communist workers' community. However, even under most difficult conditions it might be possible to obtain a certain success in the organisation of such a revolutionary paper. This has been proved by the ‘Pravda' of our Russian comrades during the period of 1912-13. It actually represented a permanent and active organisation of the conscious revolutionary workers of the most important Russian centres. The comrades used their collective forces for editing, publishing, distributing the paper. and many of them doing that alongside with their work and sparing the money required from their earnings. The newspaper in its turn furnished them with the best things they desired, with what they needed for the moment and what they can still use today in their work and struggle. Such a newspaper should really and truly be called by the Party members and by other revolutionary workers, “our newspaper”.
40. The proper element for the militant Communist Press is direct participation in the campaigns conducted by the Party. If the activity of the Party at a given time happens to be concentrated upon definite campaign, it is the duty of the organ to place all its departments, not the editorial pages alone, at the service of this particular campaign). The editorial board must draw material and sources to feed this campaign, which must be incorporated throughout the paper both in substance and in form.
41. The matter of canvassing subscriptions for “Our newspaper” must be made into a system. The first thing is to make use of every occasion stirring up workers and of every situation in which the political and social consciousness of the worker has been aroused by some special occurrence. Thus, following each big strike movement or lockout, during which the paper openly and energetically defended the interests of the workers, a canvassing activity should be organised and carried on among the participants. Subscription lists and subscription orders for the paper should be distributed, not only in the industries where the Communists are engaged and among the trade union fractions of those industries that had taken part in the strikes, but also whenever possible, subscription orders should be distributed from house to house by special groups or workers doing propaganda for the paper.
Likewise following each election campaign that aroused the workers, special groups, appointed for the purpose, should visit the houses of workers carrying on systematic propaganda for the workers' newspaper.
At times of latent political and economic crises, manifesting themselves in the rise of prices, unemployment and other hardship affecting great numbers of workers, all possible efforts should be exerted to win over the professionally organised workers of the various industries and organise them into working groups for carrying on systematic house to house propaganda for newspaper. Experience has shown that the most appropriate time for canvassing work is the last week of each month. Any local group, that would allow even one of these last week of the month to pass by without making use of it for propaganda work for the newspaper, will be committing a grave omission with regard to the spread of the Communist movement. The working group conducting propaganda for the newspaper must not leave out any public meeting or any demonstration without being there at the opening, during the intervals, and at the close with the subscription list for the paper. The same duties are imposed upon every trade union fraction at each separate meeting of the union, as well as upon the group and fraction at shop meetings.
42. Every Party member must constantly defend our paper against all its opponents and carry on energetic campaign against the capitalist Press. He must expose and brand-mark the venality, the falsehoods, the suppression of information and all the double-dealings of the Press.
The social-democratic and independent Press must be overcome by constant and aggressive criticism, with out falling into petty factional polemising, but by persistent unmasking of their treacherous attitude in veiling the most flagrant class conflicts day by day. The trade union and other fractions must seek by organised means to wean away the members of trade unions and other workers' organisations from the misleading and crippling influence of these social-democratic papers. Also the canvassing by means of house to house campaign for our Press, notably among industrial workers, must be judiciously directed against the social-democratic Press.
VIII. ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE PARTY ORGANISM
43. The Party organisation, spreading out and fortifying itself, must not be organised upon a scheme of mere geographical divisions, but in accordance with the real economic, political and transport conditions of the given district. The centre of gravity is to be placed in the main cities, and the centres of large industries.
In the building up of a new Party, there usually manifests itself a tendency to have the Party organisation spread out at once all over the country. Thus, disregarding the fact that the number of workers at the disposal of the Party is very limited, these few workers are scattered in all directions. This weakens the recruiting ability and the growth of the Party. In such cases we saw an extensive system of Party offices springing up, but the Party itself did not succeed in gaining foothold even in the most important industrial cities.
44. In order to get the Party activity centralized to the highest possible degree, it is not advisable to have the Party leadership divided into an hierarchy with a number of groups, subordinate to one another. The thing to be aimed at is that every large city, forming an economic, political or transportation centre, should spread out and form a net of organisations within a wide area of the surroundings of the given locality and the economic political districts adjoining it. The Party committee of the large centre should form the head of the general body of the Party and conduct the organisational activity of the district, directing its policy in close connection with the membership of the locality.
The organisers of such a district, elected by the district conference and confirmed by the Central Committee of the Party, are obliged to take active part in the Party life of the local organisation. The Party committee of the district must be constantly reinforced by members from among the Party workers of the place, so that there should be close relationship between that committee and the large masses of the district. As the organisation keeps developing, efforts should be made to the effect that leading committee of the district should, at the same time, be the leading political body of the place.
Thus the Party committee of the district, together with the Central Committee, should play the part of the real leading organ in the general Party organisation.
The boundary lines of the Party districts are not naturally limited by the area of the place, The determining factor should be that the district committee be in a position to direct the activities of all the local organisations, within the district, in a uniform manner. As soon as this becomes impossible the district must be divided and new Party districts formed.
It is also necessary, in the large countries to have certain intermediate organisations serving as connecting links between the Central Committee and the local. Under certain conditions it may be advisable to give to some of these intermediary organisations, as for example, an organisation in a large city with a strong membership, a leading part, but as a general rule this should be avoided, as leading to decentralisation.
45. The large intermediary organisations are formed out of local Party organisations: country groups or of small cities and of districts, of the various parts of the large city.
Any local Party organisation that has grown to such an extent that it is existing as legal organisation, it can no longer conduct general meetings of all its membership, must be divided.
In any Party organisation the members must be grouped for daily Party activities. In large organisations it may be advisable to combine various groups into collective bodies. As a rule such members should be included in one group at their place of work or elsewhere and have occasion to meet one another in their daily activity. The object of such a collective group is to distribute Party activity among the various small or working groups, to receive reports from various officials and to train candidates for membership.
46. The Party as a whole is to be under the guidance of the Communist International. The instructions and resolutions of the Executive of the International, on methods affecting the affiliated parties, are to be directed firstly, either (1) to their Central Committee of the Party, (2) through this Committee to some special committee or (3) to the members of the Party at large.
The instructions and resolutions of the International are binding upon the Party, and naturally also upon every Party member.
47. The Central Committee of the Party is elected at a Party Congress and is responsible to it. The Central Committee selects out of its own midst a smaller body consisting of two sub-committees for political activity. Both these sub-committees are responsible for the political and current work of the Party. These sub-committees or bureau arrange for the regular joint sessions of the Central Committee of the Party where decisions of immediate importance are to be passed. In order to study the general and political situation and gain a clear idea of the state of affairs in the Party, it is necessary to have various localities represented on the Central Committee whenever decisions are to be passed affecting the life of the entire Party. For the same reason differences of opinion regarding tactics should not be suppressed by the Central Committee if they are of a serious nature. On the contrary, these opinions should get representation upon the Central Committee. But the smaller bureau (Polit-Bureau) should be conducted along uniform lines, and in order to carry on a firm and sure policy, it must be able to rely upon its own authority as well as upon a considerable majority of the Central Committee.
Carried on such a basis, the Central Committee of the Party, especially in cases of legal parties, will be able in the shortest time, to form a firm foundation for discipline requiring the unconditional confidence of the Party membership and at the same time manifesting vacillations and deviations that make their appearance done away with. Such abnormalities in the Party may be removed before reaching the stage where they should have to be brought up before a Party Congress for a decision.
48. Every leading Party committee must have its work divided among its members in order to achieve efficiency in the various branches of work. This may necessitate the formation of various special committees, as for example, committees for propaganda, for editorial work, for the trade union campaign, for communications, etc. Every special committee is subordinated either to the Central Committee, or to the District Committee.
The control over the activity, as well as the composition of all committees, should be in the hands of the given district committees, and, in the last instance, in the hands of the Party Central Committee. It may become advisable from time to time to change the occupation and office of those people attached for various Party work such as, editors, organisers, propagandists, etc., provided that this does not interfere too much with the Party work. The editors and propagandists must participate in the regular Party work in one of the Party groups.
49. The Central Committee of the Party, as also the Communist International, is empowered at any time to demand complete reports from all Communist organisations, from their organs and individual members. The representatives of the Central Committee and comrades authorized by it, are to be admitted to all meetings and sessions with a deciding voice. The Central Committee of the Party must always have, at its disposal, plenipotentiaries (i.e., Commissars to instruct and inform the leading organs of the various districts and regions not only by means of their circulars and letters, but also by direct and verbal and responsible agencies on the questions of politics and organisations).
Every organisation and every branch of the Party, as well as every individual member, has the right of communicating his respective wishes, suggestions, remarks or complaints directly to the Central Committee of the Party or to the International at any time.
50. The instructions and decisions of the leading party organs are obligatory for the subordinate organisations and for the individual members. The responsibilities of the leading organs and duty to prevent either delinquency or abuse of their leading position, can only partly be determined in a formal manner. The less their formal responsibility (as for instance, in illegalised Parties), the greater the obligation upon them to study the opinion of the Party members, to obtain regular and solid information, and to form their own decisions only after mature and thorough deliberation.
51. The Party members are obliged to act always as disciplined members of a militant organisation in all their activities. Should differences of opinion occur as to the proper mode of action, this should be determined, as far as possible; by previous discussions inside the Party organisation, and the action should be according to the decision thus arrived at. Even if the decision of the organisation or of the Party committee should appear faulty in the opinion of the rest of the members, these comrades in all their public activity should never lose sight of the fact that it is the worst form of undisciplined conduct and greatest military error to hinder or to break entirely the unity of the common front.
It is the supreme duty of every Party member to defend the Communist Party, and above all, the Communist International, against all the enemies of Communism. He who forgets, on the contrary, and publicly assails the Party or the Communist International, is a bad Communist.
52. The statutes of the Party must be drawn in such a manner as not to become a hindrance but rather a helping force, to the leading Party organs in the Communist development of the general Party organisations and in the continuous improvement of the Party activity. The decisions of the Communist International must be promptly carried out by the affiliated Parties even in the case when corresponding alterations in the existing statutes and Party decisions can be adopted only at a later date.
.jpg)
