Investigation of Communist Activities in Seattle, Wash., Area, Hearings, Part 1United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities
History
Investigation of Communist Activities in Seattle, Wash., Area, Hearings, Part 1
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities
Communism -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
Mr. DENNETT. Well, first of all, it is necessary to understand
one principle of organization that the Communist Party adopted, and
that is, that the form of the organization had to satisfy a need, and
that the form itself was subordinate, the form was not the principal
question.
The principal question was the function that they were to serve.
So the Communist Party adopted a very flexible attitude on this.
In some of the early Communist Party literature it refers almost
exclusively to Communist cells. And cells are generally thought of
as some very small unit that is sort of hidden away. Actually it was
Lenin’s instruction to the party that they should make every factory a
fortress for Communist activity.
And the directives of the Red International of Labor Unions always held
forth that as an objective.
Now they found that in some countries such factory cells were
impractical forms of organization. They just didn’t work out. And it
was particularly true in the United States of America because most
workers in most of the factories had very little opportunity to discuss
political business while they were at work.
In some of the other countries workers did engage in that kind of
effort and activity. So shop units and shop cells were possible of
organization and were effected. In fact, they were openly known.
In the united States the Communist Party adopted the practice
of adapting its basic organization, the elementary part of the
organization, to whatever circumstances they found themselves in.
In the period of great unemployment people weren’t working in
the factories. So we found them in the neighborhoods. And in the
neighborhoods where we could recruit a half dozen Communists we made a
neighborhood branch.
At first we called them units. In later years I understand they were
called branches. But at the time when I was most active we always
referred to them as units. And we would try to get each neighborhood
branch to assume some responsibility for some factory or some industry,
to carry on agitation and propaganda among the workers of a particular
factory or plant for the purpose of trying to recruit those workers
into the party and establish a shop unit or what later became known as
a branch.
So the point that is of importance here, as I see it, is that the party
was flexible in adopting forms of organization, but it was inflexible
as to the purpose of those organizations. And their purpose certainly
was always as far as I knew--and I was one of those who insisted that
it must be kept foremost--to lead the working class to overthrow the
capitalist class in political power.
Now I think that there is a great deal of misconception and
misunderstanding as to just what that may involve.
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