7/27/2019 223291_text

1/17

1 I V^V^P^K^-y^rm^-^^ "|1

i' " ' ' ' i IS "f

^e^/7^"0"5"'''\l,J-ii>

all, the ones who need it least. Some ti*w foundthat the composition *of a 'list of students andfacultwmembers who will take a copy rt*y sixweetsiff it is brought ' to thert, is a cotffebeintmethod of dfctribution. Others^divide th^ bStfleamong theXhapter members, expecting Mtl'todispose of his share by the next meeting.i^ywr*your i college library has a subscription 'to theOutlook. ^ '". ,NATIONAL CONVENTIOfci AND NATIONALEXECUTIVE COMMITTEEThe governing body of the Student .L.I.D. isthe National Executive Committee (NEC). This

is composed of thirteen members and the Chair-man, and is elected at the National Convention.The National Convention meets each year be-tween Christmas and New Years. Each Chapteris entitled to representation in proportion to itsmembership, as provided in the Constitution of1933, and it is at this Convention that the funda-mental policies of the Student L.I.D. are deter-mined Between Conventions the N.E.C. is thegoverning body.

ORGANIZERSSeveral Field Organizers are constantly on theroad for the Student L.I.D. During the year itis hoped that every chapter may be visited bvthem. They hitch-hike from college to college, inorder to conserve the all-too-slim exchequer, andthe chapters can greatly assist them 'by providinglodging for them. They are always experts, quali-fied for their job by experience, and will be ablegreatly to assist the Chapter with suggestions andprograms. All of them are qualified speakers, andall are very recent graduates.

THE STUDENT OUTLOOKThe^Student Outlook is our publication.

The obligation is upon every member, as well asthe official; reporter for each Chapter, to send inevery contribution he can, whether a news story,a photograph, a letter, an article, or clippingsfrom ^college : or community press. The editors,while very accomplished, are not omniscient, andurgently request cooperation in making our pub-lications even- more successful. Your commentsand criticisms will, be- seriously considered, andare no less earnestly solicited.

V:

Handbookof the

Student League forIndustrial Democracy

HISTORYPROGRAMORGANIZATIONAL GUIDE

TEN CENTS

Stwdn Laaga* for Industrial Democracy112 Eait JWi Stntt, New York City

7/27/2019 223291_text

2/17

CALENDAR OF THE STUDENT L.I.D.19H-1SS5

September 20 350 Italian studentssent on a goodwill tour by Mussoliniarrive on the Saturnia. At each col-lege they visit they will be greeted bythe Student L.I.D. among others.Anti-fascist demonstrations.

September 24-29 Membership cam-paign. (Each Student L.I.D. memberwill try to get two of his classmatesto sign up.)

October 1-8Meetings in colleges toraise funds for Emergency Committeefor Strikers Relief to go to strikingunions.

November 9-11Armistice eve torch-light parades to war memorials andprotests against advancing war dan-ger. Eighteen regional anti-war con-ferences.

Thanksgiving WeekendEnd Trus-tee Domination Conference of NewYork Colleges.Meeting of the N.E.C. of StudentL.I.D.

December 31-1 ( ?) National Con-vention of the Student L.I.D. insome midwest city.

January 2 (?) National Conferenceof Students in Politics.

February Meetings for GeorgeWeissel Fund to carry on under-ground work in German and Aus-trian universities.

April 6-15Student Anti-War Weekculminating in International StudentStrike against War.

SummerSecond Summer School ofStudent L.I.D.

(This does not represent the complete calendar ofStudent LJ.D, New items will be added as situationsarise. Cooperation imtk the American Youth Congressand the National Student League ilt add to theabove program)

.133

THE HISTORY of the Student League forIndustrial Democracy is the record of theapprenticeship of the prophets and makers of so-cialism in the United States. As a student move-ment it has pursued a steady, uhdeviating coursein bringing students to a consciousness of thesocial1 forces at work in the world today and therole the student must play in society. It has en-riched the lives of the undergraduates whom ittouched, and it has achieved much in bringingnearer the cooperative commonwealth.

1905! A year after the election of TheodoreRoosevelt, but more important to a small bandof ardent intellectuals, it was the year after theSocialist vote had jumped from 100,000 to 400,-000. What could they do to advance the comingof the revolution? A call went out signed byClarence Darrow, Jack London, Upton Sinclair,William English Walling and others for the for-mation of an Intercollegiate Socialist Societywhose primary object "was to create students ofsocialism, not to produce socialists." Even thisdisavowal of propaganda purposes did not quietacademic breasts. When Victor Berger spoke forthe I.S.S., southern ministers prayed for theirstudents to be delivered from his heretical doc-trines, and college administrations began to insistthat lists of speakers be first submitted to themfor approval,

JACK LONDON ON THE ROADThe first lecture trip under the auspices of the

I.S.S. was that made by Jack London. At theUniversity of California, at Harvard and Yaleand other colleges, the popular and picturesqueAmerican author and war correspondent arousedthe college communities with militant addresseson "The Present Crisis," the first tour of its kindamong American universities."I went to the University," London told thecrowds who gathered to hear why he had becomeinterested in the student movement, "I found theuniversity, in the main, practically wholly so,clean and noble, but I did not find the universityalive. I found that the American university hadthis ideal, as phrased by a professor in ChicagoUniversity, namely: 'The passionless pursuit ofpassionless intelligence'clean and noble, I grant

7/27/2019 223291_text

3/17

7%S**

you, but not alive enough. . . . And the reflectionof this university ideal I find the conservatismand unconcern of the American people towardthose who are suffering, who are in want. Andso I became interested in an attempt to arouse inthe minds of the young men of our universitiesan interest in the study of Socialism. We do notdesire merely to make converts. ... If collegianscannot fight for us, we want them to fight againstusof course, sincerely fight against us. But whatwe do not want is that which obtains today andhas obtained in the past of the university, a meredeadness and unconcern and ignorance so far asSocialism is concerned. Fight for us or fightagainst us. Raise your voices one way or theother; be alive. That is the idea upon which weare working."

Dealing with London's Yale University speechduring that trip before an overcrowded house, theconservative New Haven Register wrote, "Thespectacle of an avowed Socialist, standing on theplatform of Woolsey Hall was a sight for Godand Man."When, two years later, the organizer of the

Society went to Princeton to speak on Socialism,the students considered an address on this subjectsuch an astonishing phenomenon that they joking-ly organized a "pee-rade" in celebration of hiscoming, sang the Marseillaise, burned bonfires,and, during his address, hurled firecrackers andskyrockets in his direction through the windowsof the hall.The I.S.S. grew. There were soon chapters on

some forty campuses. Inez Milholland foundedone at Vassar, Walter Lippmann at Harvard,Bruce Bliven at Stanford, Freda Kirchwey ap-peared in the Barnard annals of the I.S.S. andKarl Llewellyn in the Yale. Harry Laidler, afledgling out of Wesleyan, Rose Pastor Stokes andJack London began touring the colleges. The In-tercollegiate Socialist Review was founded, whichKarl Liebknecht was later to tell John Reed,was "the only American magazine of which hehad. heard.The activities of the I.S.S. were mainly of an

educational character, although it was difficult tohear Jack London without rushing out to becomea dues paying member of the Socialist Party. The

>!:k|=J^IWjpSllip

effect of the discussions carried on by the chap-ters of the I.S.S. was to make students realizetheir kinship with labor and their unity withthe oppressed and subjugated everywhere. Onecould not hear such straight-from-the-shoulderadjurations as the following, delivered by Pro-fessor Ellen Hayes of Wellesley at the 1912 an-nual convention of the I.S.S., without aligningoneself with the Socialists: "Fellow students ofthe I.S.S. ... in order to be safe you need notretreat to a library or a laboratory and studyPlato and Kant or Laplace and Darwin in theoriginal. You may read Karl Marx or KarlKautsky, or Hillquit and Spargo, you may evenread Charles E. Russell in the original and nodanger will threaten you so long as you are veryquiet and acknowledge only a theoretical academicinterest in Socialism. But if the vision of humanright and human gain once rouses your zeal andcommands your service, and you bear witness tothe ideallook out for falling mercury and achilling air! The world will weep over you andthe church will pray for youto the end that youmay be rescued from the dangerous and insidiousdoctrine of Socialism."Then the war came and most of the chapters

of the I.S.S. were snuffed out. The draft turnedthe colleges into military training camps, and So-cialist refusal to support the war caused manyacrimonious divisions in the ranks of college rad-icals.

LEAGUE FOR INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACYExcept for the student Christian movement,which at that time was not much concerned with

the problem of squaring social injustice with re-ligious teaching, the I.S.S., until the end of thewar, was the only group that could be considereda student movement, and it was the only groupgiving attention to industrial problems.The war ended and the chapters began to re-vive. But students wanted a more inclusive namethan "socialist," because they believed there wereseveral alternative approaches to a cooperativecommonwealth. They wanted a name that wouldnot necessitate innumerable explanations to stu-dents and administrations of the non-connectionof their society with the Socialist Party. Others

7/27/2019 223291_text

4/17

MSP-'W

felt that the word "Intercollegiate" tended tocut them off from the technician and worker.And finally it was felt there was too much of thetradition of a study society about the I.S.S. Mem-bers wanted a society dedicated to a definite socialprogram. And so the League for Industrial De-mocracy was formed, committed to a new socialorder based upon production for use and not forprofit. Robert Morss Lovett became President,Stuart Chase, Treasurer, while Harry W. Laid-ler and Norman Thomas were selected ExecutiveDirectors. An Intercollegiate Council was formedto represent student activities, and since 1921,this council, under various names, has been aneffective force in the social thinking of the uni-versity world.

THE DARK AGESThere were two kinds of student movements at

this time. One, the L.I.D. along with the studentChristian movement, endeavoring to align stu-dents with the forces of labor and a program ofsocial reconstruction; and the other emphasizingthe cultivation of the open mind and the in-formed student opinion. The program of the Na-tional Student Forum and its publication, TheNew Student, was animated by the belief thatalthough, "College students are 1% of the popu-lation, 50% of the leaders of tomorrow are in ourranks. The power of the future is in our hands."

In either case these were the Dark Ages andit was very difficult to demonstrate to a studentwhat was meant by the class struggle. In 1923and 1924 the L.I.D. arranged debates for itsundergraduate chapters on the open vs. the closedshop. At the University of Wisconsin an electriclight fuse was pulled out and Debs had to speakin darkness at a meeting arranged by the chapter.The Yale Liberal Club fought to secure permis-sion for Carlo Tresca to address an Italian au-dience in Waterbury, Conn. Despite a promisedbarrage of eggs, the Columbia L.I.D. chapterpresented William Z. Foster.The New Student and other intercollegiate

publications were filled with articles about foreignyouth movements and unreal peace discussions.There was great undergraduate indignation whenPresident Atwood of Clark University stopped

^iPjfMfpi

Scott Nearing in the middle of his address anddismissed the audience. But then the Universityof Michigan prevented even former AttorneyGeneral Wickersham from addressing the collegeon the League of Nations ! Perhaps the temper ofthe times could best be perceived in an under-graduate resolution on war: "We, the studentsof Vassar College, believe that the settlement ofinternational differences by war is fundamentallywrong," or in the presidential straw vote in No-vember 1924, in which Coolidge polled 30,141;Davis: 13,825; and LaFollette: 7,491; and inwhich, the latter carried only four colleges andthose by slight margins.

In 1925 a tremendous agitation began againstcompulsory military training. Felix Cohen's fightagainst the R.O.T..C at City College attractednation-wide attention and precipitated subsequentconflict over the issues of academic freedom andthe right of students to recommend changes inthe curriculum. By the end of 1925 the New YorkWorld could speak of the student revolt againstthe cheap commercialism of endowment drives,against the official interpretations of Americanhistory, and against the R.O.T.C.Times were changing! The murder of Chinese

students by British marines in Peking precipitatedstudent protests all over the nation. The Passaicstrike enlisted the support of the liberal clubs inthe New York area. And that year a conferenceon Negro discrimination was held at Swarthmore.

STUDENTS ENTER CLASS STRUGGLEBy 1927 no one could any longer refer to thestudent movement as one of education and inquiry

only. Such contemporary phenomena as a laborunion of student employees, and student proteststo the White House against our invasion of Nica-ragua were recorded in The New Student and theL.I.D. Monthly. At Vassar and Yale, L.I.D.members helped the Neckwear Makers Unionpublicize sweatshop conditions and some dozenYale undergraduates were locked up for distribut-ing a pamphlet they had written and printed attheir own expense on conditions in the industry.The Y.M.C.A. initiated a huge student confer-ence in Milwaukee at which the students ar-raigned the competitive system for profits, came

7/27/2019 223291_text

5/17

out for racial equality, at which 327 voted to re-fuse to go to war under any conditions! At Wis-consin the L.I.D. Chapter started the organiza-tion of a nationwide student committee to freeMooney and Billings. A few weeks later theLiberal Club at the University of Pittsburgh wasdissolved because it arranged for a Mooney-Bill-ings protest meeting. The Sacco-Vanzetti case hadwide repercussions among undergraduate liberalclubs. The Harvard Socialist Club printed aperiodical in which the first article was an ar-raignment of President Lowell for his part intheir execution.

In 1926 the National Student Federation ofAmerica had been started at Princeton with muchblowing of trumpets about a new student move-ment. But by December, 1927, an article appear-ed in The New Student asking, "Who Knowsthe N.S.F.A.?"

In 1928 The New Student announced: "Col-legiana has chosen. And it has awarded the palmto Herbert Hoover."From that time on there was a long line of

incidents of student cooperation with labor andtrade unions. In the strike of December, 1929,of the I.L.G.W.U. New York students took aprominent part in the picketing. In North Caro-lina, the Liberal clubs at Duke and the StateUniversity urged an official investigation into thetextile industry. The L.I.D. Christmas Confer-ence that year was devoted to an analysis of thetextile industry, the experience of L.I.D. studentsworking in the mills, the results of their investi-gations (cf. Southern Labor Revolts, L.I.D.pamphlet), and what could be done. The HarvardSocialist Club exposed the shabby treatment ofthe scrubwomen by the university, which was pay-ing them under the minimum prescribed by thestate law! College clubs began to take part inMay Day demonstrations. Ten thousand petitionsagainst R.O.T.C. went to Washington. TheY.W.C.A. and the L.I.D. carried on a cam-paign for the purchase of union-made hosiery.During the summer of 1931, the student L.I.D.organized its first chautauqua to carry on educa-tional work among the miners in West Virginia.

These activities contained all the elements ofa comprehensive radical student program and yet

in 1931 one could not say that there existed sucha program or a coordinated nation-wide studentmovement in the United States. While L.I.D.chapters carried on the bulb of campus radicalactivity, they lacked a student esprit de corps,they lacked the driving force of a detailed pro-gram.A movement of dissatisfaction set in withinthe L.I.D. which expressed itself in two ways. At-tempts by loyal students from Columbia, Syra-cuse, the University of Chicago, and Wisconsinto change the structure of the L.I.D. ; and thesplitting away of communist students who at-tributed the defects in the L.I.D. to its socialistleadership.The split occurred in the L.I.D. Chapters in

the New York colleges when the New York Stu-dent League was formed. The latter started offvery auspiciously when it organized two busloadsof students to go down to Harlan, Kentucky, inthe wake of Theodore Dreiser and other intel-lectuals. These students received a first-handknowledge of industrial conflict when they werebarred from the county by armed deputies whotold them "to hell with the Constitution." Simul-taneously in Philadelphia, Chicago, New Yorkand Boston, L.I.D. students picketed the homesof the capitalists who owned the mines in thesoutheastern corner of Kentucky.Taking advantage of the publicity given theHarlan trip, the New York Student League be-came the National Student League, and just as

in 19.20 the Communist defection from the So-cialist movement provoked a terrific internecineconflict in the working class, so now the pro-gressive student movement was torn by conflictsover organization as well as over issues and pro-grams. These conflicts continued until Christmas1933 when a national united front pact wassigned between the National Student League andthe Student L.I.D.At Columbia the Social Problems Club or-

ganized the first student strike in this countryand compelled the reinstatement of Reed Harris,editor of the Columbia Spectator. At Texas Uni-versity L.I.D. members forced the administrationto pay higher wages to workers on a collegeconstruction job. The impact of the crisis raised

7/27/2019 223291_text

6/17

%^MW;

the issues of retrenchment in education and aca-demic liberties on campus after campus whichadded to the issues of the anti-war fight and par-ticipation in industrial disputes became the cur-rent that finally swelled into the acknowledgedstudent movement of today.

DOWN WITH CAPITALISM!By 1932 everyone's conception of a student

movement had changed. One no longer spoke ofdiscussion clubs and the educational problem.Students were organizing because the capitalistworld was in chaos. They wanted to fight themanifestations of capitalism on the campus; andjoin with the expropriated and downtrodden off-campus.At the Madison Square Garden rally of the

Socialist Party in the Presidential campaign of1932, 200 Columbia students marched in behinda banner: COLUMBIA PROFESSORS MAYWRITE ROOSEVELT'S SPEECHES BUTCOLUMBIA STUDENTS VOTE FORTHOMAS. At Columbia, N. Y. U, Hunter, St.Louis University, University of Colorado, theColorado School of Mines and C.C.N.Y., Nor-man Thomas ran ahead of Roosevelt and Hoover!

1932-33, depression years! L.I.D. Chapters instate universities fought legislators' efforts to re-duce budgets or to increase tuition fees. L.I.D.members started an Association of UnemployedCollege Alumni which organized a cap and gownmarch on Washington.The fight against war on the campus becamemore bitter. The L.I.D. organized a United

Youth Conference against War in New YorkCity which drew some 600 delegates. The N.S.L.initiated an Anti-War Congress in Chicago inwhich even more students participated. The Ox-ford resolution in which "this House pledges inno circumstances to fight for King or Country"was quickly picked up over here and subscribedto. Conferences to organize permanently againstwar have been held in Columbia and New YorkUniversity. Several years of fighting between stu-dents and administration at City College over thepresence of R.O.T.C., came to a head whentwenty-one students were expelled for a JingoDay demonstration at which President Robinson

10 '

?= :i. ijUjj^pispiB^m

lost his head and waded into the undergraduateswith his umbrella. But the culmination of theanti-war fight and also the highest point reachedby the radical American student movement wasStudent Anti-War Week from April 6-13*, inwhich 50,000 students participated and 25,000struck for one hour from their classes on April13th.Today the radical student movement of Amer-

ica is on the threshold of immense opportunities.Students are listening to our message as never be-fore,,the record of a successful anti-war strike hasassured the prestige of the organizations thatconducted it. Under the pressure of the StudentL.I.D. and the N.S.L. even the N.S.F.A. hastaken a more liberal turn, while the student di-visions of the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. are tak-ing a definitely radical stand. The participationof all these organizations in the first NationalConference on Students in Politics indicated howfar student opinion is swinging toward the pro-gram of the Student L.I.D.

Twenty-nine years ago the I.S.S. was started togalvanize interest in political problems among aclass of society that felt no compulsion or need toexamine the economic base of its privileged posi-tion. Seven years ago the N.S.F.A. was organizedwith erudite citations from Plato's Republic andAristotle's Politics on the responsibility of thestudent classes. Today in a world of poverty, dis-crimination, war, all students are ready to take astand. It should be behind the tried and respon-sible program of the Student League for IndustrialDemocracy, a program which aligns them withthe creative forces of labor which are making fora new world. Any other student movement, with-out a tradition of cooperation with labor and theunemployed, without a strong stand on interna-tional problems, may at this time go the way ofthe fascist German student movement. A strongdash of idealism, will not be enough to stop thejuggernaut of fascism, once it gets under way.Only a student movement that is rooted deep inthe struggles of labor and the farmer for libera-*The anti-war movement on the campus forms achapter in itself. See "The Campus Strikes againstWar," by Joseph P. Lash, pablished by the StudentL.I.D.

II

7/27/2019 223291_text

7/17

tion, that has a socialist understanding of inter-national conflicts is worth promoting.

To. achieve the goal of a classless cooperativesociety in which men will have an equal oppor-tunity to achieve the good things of life the Stu-dent L.I.D. has the following program.DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES

OF THE STUDENT L. I. D.Throughout the world today economic and classinterests are becoming more and more clearly de-fined. Groups that were formerly confused as tothe paths they must follow have thrown in theirlot with labor, or with capital, whichever theirinterests dictate. In Germany and Austria, as wellas Italy, the impact of classes must necessarily beviolent. Open warfare, with an occasional truce,is the rule between fascist governments and theexploited classes. Youth has offered its allegianceto both capital and labor. Germany's Hitler hascaptured the imagination of hundreds of thou-sands of young men and women and has drawnthem into support of his "Third Reich." The So-viet Union, on the other hand, is being built uponthe solidarity of those who work with those whoare growing up amid the struggles to build thefirst workers' state.

FASCISM OR SOCIALISM?What has been true of youth in general hasbeen true also of university students. Students

are being forced today to decide what banners theywill follow, what causes they will support. Again,m Germany and other European countries, stu-dents were among those who formed the founda-tions of Fascist movements, who fought in the"storm troops," who denounced the "red menace,"and who were most violently anti-Semitic. Achoice was made, whether or not it was a goodone, and students threw their vigor and enthusiasminto the movement to save capitalism from com-plete collapse.

In America the clash of class conflict is notyet as sharp. The lines are not closely drawn. Theclass struggle goes on constantly, but open warfareis less the general rule than in Europe. Evenhere, however, we have had a taste of what it

means. In San Francisco, during its general strike,the whole population was forced to take sides^whether for organized labor, or for the Industrial*Association. In such a situation there were noneutrals. Even silence meant support of one sideor the other. Such occasions arise with greaterand greater frequency.Students today can no longer remain aloof,within their academic world, from the struggles'

between organized and unorganized labor andfarmers, on the one hand, and organized capital,on the other. The New Deal, by placing thesetwo forces in sharp contrast in relation to theirrespective interests, has made this very clear. Onephase of the conflict, moreover,unemploymentaffects students directly. Long periods of train-ing in the scientific, technical and liberal artsbecome ridiculous when there are no jobs to behad at the end. Another aspect,the danger ofwaralso threatens them immediately. Hereagain they are faced with the possibility of beingplunged into a conflict that is no concern oftheirs, and from which they have nothing to gain.Much of this, of course, is new. Such problemshave only recently been agitating the collegeworld. And it is only natural that there shouldbe considerable groping for clarity of understand-ing and decisiveness of action. Students are stilluncertain as to the groups with which they willalign themselves.

A NEW SOCIAL ORDERWe in the Student L.I.D. however,, have longknown with which class students must cooperate,the ends they must seek,, the kind of activity theymust pursue, if their essential purposes are to beserved. Students today find little place in theworld of economic activity. There is no work, novalue in their specialized training, no opportunityfor^ further development. In this they are notunlike the great mass of the unemployedthatsection of those who work, for whom societytoday can find no useful occupation. Many stu-dents are in this mass. They come from it, andreturn to it.And this one single fact gives the basis for theprogram which the Student L.I.D. has adopted,and for which it seeks the support of students

12 13

7/27/2019 223291_text

8/17

weverywhere. On the one hand, it expresses theurgency of a new social order that will root outunemployment, war, insecurity and injustice, andin which production will be for use and not forprofit. On the other hand, it indicates the groupthat is most concerned in achieving that end, aswell as the class most likely to accomplish its at-tainment. Those students who desire social changeof a revolutionary character must throw in theirlot with the working classwith labor and farm-ers. Only if they do, will they be able to par-ticipate in the building of the new social orderwhich they seek.

ALLIANCE WITH THE WORKING CLASSThis means participation in union activities

wherever possible; insistence upon the right ofworkers to organize and to strike for improvedworking conditions ; marching on picket lines withworkers when called upon. It means espousal ofthose causes for which labor fightsabolition ofchild labor, unemployment insurance and reliefthat will be genuinely adequate, old age security,protection against too rapid technical change inthe methods of production, and freedom fromoppression and tyranny at the hands of industrial-ists and their armed guards. At times it meansdefiance of power and authority, when govern-mental force is thrown into the balance againstlabor in the class conflict.

But it means still more. It implies participa-tion in and active work to further the purposesof the movement dedicated to the building of anew social order. The Student L.I.D. is a partof the Socialist movement in America, It aimsto draw students into critical thought and radicalaction and to make of them workers for the co-operative commonwealth. Socialism in America isour primary goal.

But Socialism in one country in an interdepend-ent world is almost meaningless. Capital is nolonger national. Its influence reaches every corner,every inhabitant of the earth. The radical move-ment must be international also. And Socialistshave long recognized this. We recognize it by ouraffiliation with the International Socialist StudentFederation.

WAR AND FASCISMWe are opposed to war, not out of any merehorror of it, nor out of any sentimental beliefthat human goodness of itself can avoid it. Weplace little trust in existing agencies that workfor peace. We believe them to have no under-standing of the causes of war, nor of the meansthat must be used to prevent it. We regard war asan aspect of capitalist expansion and rivalry. Warbecomes necessary when national economic in-terests reach the point at which industrialists ofdifferent nations can no longer agree to share thespoils, but must destroy one another. War is aproduct of capitalism. To abolish it, imperialistambitions must be rooted out. Our slogan mustbe, as it has been, "Fight against imperialist war!"

Fascism, too, is a product of capitalism. It ex-presses a social system and a classthe middleclassfighting with their backs against the wallagainst the rising power of the working class andtheir peasant and farmer allies. It lures massesto its support by fake slogans and lying propa-ganda. It abolishes civil and religious freedom.It destroys workers' organizations and beats downwages and other working standards. It is opendictatorship in the interest of large scale indus-try, and may be resorted to whenever the latterfinds it impossible to defend its interests by themethods of bourgeois democracy. Like war, fas-cism must be fought as a part of the struggle fora new social order. It must be recognized as aproduct of capitalist decline. It draws theopen and unequivocal power of the state, backedby armed force, into the preservation of nationalbusiness interests at home and abroad.

Moreover, war and fascism are closely linked.The danger of war in Europe has increased im-measurably since the advent of Hitler in Ger-many, Dollfuss and Stahremberg in Austria, Mus-solini in Italy, Pilsudski in Poland, and otherfascist dictators. Fascist governments glorify mili-tary achievements, knowing full well that mil-itary power will one day be necessary if nationalinterests are to be preserved from the encroach-ments of other countries, and if a way is to beopened for the development of new markets andsources of supply for their industries. When thestate is supreme, and all resistance throttled, na-

H IS

7/27/2019 223291_text

9/17

tionalism is worshipped and honored above allelse. War grows out of capitalist rivalry andeconomic needs, but fascism supplies the trappingsand the propaganda by which the masses are lulledinto acceptance of the inevitable conflict. And sowe fight war and fascism together, believing themto be inextricably interlinked.

In America our fight against fascism has beensometimes ridiculed. Many laugh at the possibilityof fascism here. But fascism goes under manynames. Terrorism and denial of constitutionaland civil liberties have become well known inmany sections of the United States. In San Fran-cisco, in Imperial Valley, in Harlan, Gastonia,Lawrence, and countless other industrial centers,the armed force of the state has been invoked tosuppress strikes, to depress working standards.Farmers in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota havehad a taste of what it means to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the National Guard. We donot have fascism in America as yet, nor is it cer-tain that we shall have it, but the possibility isclearly present. The state, power is being usedincreasingly to defend capitalist interests fromthe attacks of workers and farmers. It is beinginvoked to keep wages low, hours long, and main-tain the stretch-out. And this is true even underthe so-called "red" Roosevelt administration. Normust it ever be forgotten that there are reaction-ary forces of many shades and degrees that standready to combat any sign of awakening on thepart of the exploited workers and farmers.

OUR CAMPUS PROGRAMBut while students need to be aware of the

social issues of today, and to take part in direct-ing human activity toward a new social order,there are immediate problems on the campuswhich must primarily command their attention.Students are only potential members of societyas a whole. As students they are members of asmaller,- specialized institution. This institutionhas functions to perform, and it is up to studentsto see to it that these are served well and ef-fectively.

Colleges are concerned with education, withso equipping students that they may take theirplace in society and work through intelligently and

16

effectively the problems with which they and so-ciety are faced. Rarely before has it been so im-portant that the job of education be done well,' that it genuinely train youth for creative thoughtand actjon. Established ideas and beliefsin theeconomic, political and moral fieldsare every-where being challenged. Having resulted in thenear collapse of a social system, new ways andnew types of behavior are urgently called for.

Colleges and universities should have as their, main objective the training of students in termsof these new conditions.

But, in reality, students are given very littlethat they can use. They are asked to amass factsand knowledge. They are expected to absorbknowledge. But they are not taught to deal withfacts critically, nor how to think through prob-lems intelligently. They do not learn to evaluate. the knowledge they get, nor to select what is sig-nificant. They have no standards against whichto judge what is valuable, either for themselvesor for society.

Indeed those students who question the pre-vailing Republicanism of our schools are oftenforced into acquiescence by administrative pres-sure. A fetish has been made of discipline andpassivityhere, as well as in Italy and Germany.Behavior of a radical nature, and even the voic-ing of divergent views is met with disfavor, andeven punishment. Classrooms are not places inwhich differing points of view are hotly contestedand vigorously defended, but are shrines fromwhich the voices of authority drone meaninglessphrases into willing, but unlistening ears. It is nowonder that students voted overwhelmingly forHoover in 1932, though the whole nation hadrepudiated him.

Colleges do a bad job of education, and it istime that students, in their own interest, wereaware of it. Hitherto a few critics have been alonein demanding a re-examination of establishedprinciples and the building of the course of studyon new and better ones. Here and there studentshave protested and have attempted to formulatea more adequate program, but they have lackedorganization and continuity of purpose. It is timethat students all over the country demanded athorougb-going revision of the curriculum to con-

17

7/27/2019 223291_text

10/17

form with the standards required by intelligence.Recognizing this, the Student L.I.D, is thisyear initiating a new venture. It will seek todiscover in what ways colleges and universitiescan be made more effective as educational insti-tutions. A study of the present functioning of[higher education is planned to learn in whatways they fail to fulfill their fundamental pur-poses. In addition, a report is contemplated em-

bodying those principles which seem necessaryto any successful teaching today. On the basis ofthese studies the Student L.I.D. will campaignfor the scrapping of whatever is valueless and theadoption of new methods and new principleswherever called for.

END TRUSTEE DOMINATIONBut another matter also requires attentionone that is closely allied to the former. Not onlydo our schools fail to educate properly; they per-mit themselves too often to be the mere instru-ments of boards of trustees representing the worldof business and finance. In a capitalist societythose who are in charge of securing money forthe work of any institution have long been re-garded as having the right to say what that insti-tution may or may not do. We challenge that

right. We believe that boards of trustees are notfit to decide matters of educational principle andpolicy. Especially is this true when the ideaswhich they hold are being questioned on all sides,and when it is most important that the educa-tional system give free play to the current of newideas.We regard interference on the part of trusteeswith student activity and organization as unjusti-fied and unwarranted. We note that this is gen-erally exercised to discipline those students whopresume to think critically, and to act in defianceof accepted opinions. Students and faculty mem-bers should.enjoy the right of criticism withinand outside the college, and also the further rightto enforce their convictions by organization andactron. The Student L.I.D. demands the abolitionof trustee domination of our schools. Controlshould rest with the faculty and the student body.These are the groups most vitally concerned inthe successful functioning of the educational pro-

18

cess. On them should rest the power and theresponsibility to do what they see fit.

ACADEMIC FREEDOMThe Student L.I.D. continues its fight in de-

fense of academic freedom. It recognizes no bar-riers of race or creed. Students must have theright to think, discuss, assemble, and act freelyand without hindrance from college administra-tions. The R.O.T.C. must be abolished fromevery campus. Educational opportunities must beexpanded. Relief must be provided for studentswho require it.Much could be said in defense of each of these

points in our program. Here, only a very briefdiscussion must suffice. The need of constant vigil-ance in defense of student rights, and on behalfof academic freedom for the faculty, is obvious.Everywhere today students and faculty membersare being forced into conformity with prevailingideas and opinions. Disciplinary action is beingresorted to with increasing frequency. City Col-lege, the University of Maryland, the Universityof California at Los Angeles, Ohio State, andnumerous other colleges have seen students ex-pelled for anti-war and other radical activity.New York universities have removed professorswho were believed to have radical sympathies.It will be more than ever necessary in comingyears to see to it that such acts shall not betolerated. Students can and must demand freedomfor themselves and for the faculty.

NEGRO DISCRIMINATIONDiscrimination against Negroes and other racialminorities, and Jews and foreigners in general,takes many forms. Restrictions on admission to

educational institutions are common. Segregationis an accustomed thing. Social inhibitions areeverywhere visible. All these must be fought vig-orously, and with determination to root them outof the scheme of things in colleges and universities.Here, above all else, they have no place. Scien-tific achievements, and matters of knowledge, arenot the special property of any race or faith. Theyare the heritage of all. Discrimination againstany group is intolerable.

In regard to the Negro, we note especially that19

7/27/2019 223291_text

11/17

his has been the most exploited class in the UnitedStates. From the days of the great plantationswith their slaves to the era of the tenant farmerand the share-cropper, the Negro has contributedto the wealth of large sections of this countryand has received nothing in return. His labor isbought cheap, because he can be discriminatedagainst on account of his color. Social equality hecannot claim for the same reasons. Any sign ofawakening on his part is met with race riots andlynchings. The Negro himself will have to workout his own salvation. His interests lie with thegreat mass of labor everywhere, with the ex-ploited in every land. Organized he can obtain hisfreedom, a decent manner of living, and equalitywith all men. The Student L.I.D. participates,so far as it can, in his fight for status. On campusesespecially it refuses to allow discrimination of anykind to pass without protest.

R. O. T. C.We are opposed to the existence of the R.O.

T.C. on the campus. We demand its complete andunconditional abolition. We recognize it to bean instrument for perpetuating martial sentimentin colleges and universities. Such an institutionhas no place in an academic community, especial-ly when it is dedicated to a philosophy of peace.We note that the R.O.T.C. in every case is therallying point for those who believe that nationsmust be prepared, for those who shout the slogansof patriotism, for those who put the interests ofthe nation above those who live in it. The R.O.T.C. must be abolished, and the Morrill Act,which justifies its existence on the campus from alegal point of view, repealed.

RETRENCHMENTFinally, educational opportunities must be ex-

panded and students given such financial assist-ance as they require. Throughout the countryschools and colleges have, during the past fewyears,- suffered such drastic retrenchment thatmany hundreds have had to close, while others areoperating on very reduced budgets. Thousandsof children and students have been forced to leaveschool. The facts are well known. What is not soclearly understood is the relation they bear to

"WPPiWIW

conditions in society as a whole. Education hasbeen forced to bear the cost of business depressionin a way that vividly exposes the acquisitive na-ture of capitalist activity. Essential services arethe first to be cut when profits are threatenedthrough taxation or any other cause. And this hasbeen true despite the fact that young people needmore than ever before to be educated, to be ableto think clearly. Closed schools must be opened.Adequate relief must be supplied to all thosewho are unable to attend them for financial rea-sons. UNITED FRONT

For all of these things the Student L.I.D.fights. For all of these it will work vigorouslyand with all the resources it can command. Butthere is one further point that must be empha-sized. The Student L.I.D. stands unequivocallyfor the united front of all radical organizationson the campus. It has undertaken joint actionwith the National Student League and othergroups on numerous occasions. In all of these ithas acted in good faith, to the best of its ability,and in doing so, has insisted upon good faith inreturn. We believe that a solid basis of jointeffort can and must be achieved.

It may be that an amalgamation of all radicalgroups on the campus may result from these ac-tivities. Such a result would be, we think, de-sirable. But we are convinced that the time is notyet ripe for it. We are opposed to a merging ofthe Student L.I.D. and the National StudentLeague at the present time because such an at-tempt would be abortive and bound to end infailure and more irreconcilable division. The So-cialist and Communist movement, fortunately orunfortunately, must have groups on the campuswhose function it is to serve their respective pro-grams there. At the moment, the Student L.I.D.and the N.S.L. represent those tendencies. Untilunity is achieved outside academic walls there canbe little hope of effective harmony inside. Onstudent matters joint action is clearly essentialand possible. We shall engage in it whenever wecan.

In conclusion, we in the Student L.I.D. setforth this program not as any dogmatic statementof beliefs, but rather as a tentative formulation of

20 21

7/27/2019 223291_text

12/17

the principles that must guide any important stu-dent movement. We are members of a com-munity whose task it is to test principles byexperience and to formulate new ones as ourknowledge and intelligence determine. The pro-gram which we have adopted is, we think, ade-quate to serve as a basis for action, and fororganization. It calls for responsibility on thepart of students everywhere, an appreciation ofthe major social and economic issues today, anda willingness to join in the effort to build a newsocial order.

A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR L.I.D.CHAPTERSThe suggestions which follow cannot applyalike to Wisconsin and Drew Theological sem-inary, to the theocratic dictatorship in Fordhamor Concordia and the relative freedom of Antiochor Reed, nor to Columbia or Johns Hopkins andFisk or Bluffton. The women's colleges and thepreparatory schools, the high schools and thecolleges of law, obviously present greatly variantsituations. The inability of the staff of the StudentL.I.D. to cover the chapters adequately, as ithopes some day to do, has made necessary thisattempt to anticipate the problems the chapterswill meet, and suggest ways of meeting them.Every situation must be met on its own ground.Nevertheless there are general suggestions whichmay be made, experiences which may be related,through which those who are taking the initiative

in the organization of Student L.I.D. work maybe assisted. To that end this chapter is presentedOBSTACLES

It is well at the start to acknowledge a fewof the obstacles inherent in the current collegesituation. Troublesome for all student organiza-tions, of course, is the quadrenniel (or more fre-quent) turnover in personnel, which explains whya brilliant record established by a chapter oneyear is sometimes followed by a period of anemiaupon loss of one or two vigorous leaders. Thishas been overcome by those chapters whose leaderscarefully trained their successors, surrendering tothe inexperienced sophomore for experience sake

22

Nthe job which could perhaps have been done moreeasily and quickly by the veteran.Over and over the Student Representatives

complain that their best people are so taken upwith other activities that they cannot do well bytheir L.I.D. work. The crowded calender ofevery active undergraduate is an American studenttradition which will only be overcome as the pres-sure of the times weighs more heavily, and as thesocial conscience is quickened to the point that thesocial revolution is paramount in the student'sinterest. The "irresponsibility" so often lamentedby student leaders seems already to have begunto fade as the radical movement has grown.

Although the inertia of the student is notso serious an obstacle as it was a few years ago,as it has declined there has arisen more seriousopposition from reactionary elements. Campuses aswidely dispersed as University of Colorado andHarvard have reported the rise of avowedly fas-cist, counter-revolutionary, super-patriotic studentgroups; and the Junior Chamber of Commerceand Junior American Legion have declared waron the L.I.D. and kindred student groups, al-though at this writing their threats have not beentranslated into action.More serious is the frequent opposition of the

administrative forces of the college, and of thevested interests represented by the Board of Trus-tees. These we shall discuss more fully later.

But these obstacles must be overcome if wemean business. They are not insuperable. Theyare in fact petty in comparison with the opposi-tion which our colleagues in the labor and social-ist movement meet in the greater movementoutside.

ON GETTING STARTEDOrganize your chapter around an issue. Nothing

is so effective a beginning in most situations asan issue of serious moment to the students aroundwhich to rally the scattered campus liberals andradicals. The Sparks Club at Utah got its be-ginning impetus from a delegation which it or-ganized to "inspect" the situation in CarbonCounty during the strike of the coal miners in1933. In many colleges it has been the anti-warcampaign directed at the R.O.T.C., in some a

23

7/27/2019 223291_text

13/17

JM

cooperative bookstore campaign, in others a bat-tle with the administration against racial dis-crimination. Sometimes it has been a fight foran uncensored student press, or on behalf of afaculty member dismissed for his advanced views.The second test of the organization comes after

the first issue has passed, and the necessity for apermanent program arises. Ordinarily the initia-tive for the organization is taken by one or twostudents,- occasionally with the counsel of a facultymember. It should never dismay anyone that thenumbers are few. In almost any situation it is alittle nucleus of two to five individuals who arethe prime-movers. Never be afraid of the slim-ness of your ranks, and above all do not let thecampus get the impression that you have an in-feriority complex because of your numbersnorshould you have one!

CONFERENCESOne of the best devices to introduce the new

organization to a campus is the calling of anintra-mural, intercollegiate, or community con-ference. Perhaps it should be an anti-war confer-ence, or a conference on student fees or retrench-ment in education ; perhaps it should be on behalfof a strike in the locality. The participation ofmany organizations in the planning is often de-sirable, although in other situations you will wantto set up the conference yourselves. The servicesof prominent liberals and radicals in the localitywill usually be available if you desire speakers forsuch a conference, and the presentation of the re-actionary as well as the radical .point of view isfrequently a great boon to the conference andyour own position. To command the attention ofthe students, one of the best devices for a newgroup is to hold an intercollegiate conference ofliberal and radical student groups on their campussoon after the chapter gets under way. In settingup such a conference, as is the case with allstudent conferences, the national office of theL.I.D. will be in a position to assist with speakers,lists of names in nearby communities, and sugges-tions based on experience in similar situationselsewhere. poRUMOne of the favorite devices has been the Forum

Series, and although the debate, lecture, and24

symposium is sometimes frowned upon todaywhen the premium is on action projects, socialisteducation is one of the most important jobs ofan L.I.D. chapter. Some groups have found thatthe presentation of a series of faculty members,announced in advance on posters and mimeo-graphed sheets, once a week for six to ten weeks,on various subjects of current social importance,was effective. Sometimes such a series is better ifthe faculty members are interspersed with menfrom outside the college, or with itinerant speak-

, ers from the L.I.D., the Socialist Party, or othergroups which route prominent speakers.

HOLIDAYSThe use of patriotic holidays, May Day, Armis-

tice Day, and special community events whichhave a class significance should not be overlooked.Often the student group can take the initiative instimulating the unions, progressive churches, theSocialist Party Local, or other groups to capital-ize those occasions, instead of letting them go bydefault to the American Legion, D.A.R., Chamberof Commerce, or other reactionary groups.

OTHER STUDENT ORGANIZATIONSOne of the objections which will be raised by

conservatives generally is that there is no needfor a new campus organization, since other groupsalready exist to meet the need. There will in factbe no other which does "fill the bill," but it maybe well here to say a word about other groupsfrequently encountered on the campus, and therelation of the Student L.I.D. to them. At firstblush the fraternities might be thought to beunrelated to the situation, but not infrequentlythey have proved the most powerful bulwark ofconservatism on the campus. With the premiumwhich they put upon conformity to the socialconduct of the elite, and the pressure exerted bythem upon individual members who become iden-tified as campus "radicals," they have constituteda major difficulty. However, many of the ablestleaders of the L.I.D. have been fraternity mem-bers in their undergraduate days, and it is gen-erally recognized that the fraternity situationvaries greatly from campus to campus. The Car-negie endowed International Relations Clubs(IRC) have generally been semi-pacifist, milque-

25

7/27/2019 223291_text

14/17

toast outfits, their support largely inspired bydepartmental heads, with no intent to do anythingeven about their mild pro-peace sentiments. Theyconstitute an obstacle by perpetuating the illusionthat peace is something to be procured by know-ing how the League of Nations is operated, orwhat the problems are between nations. It mayhere and there be "captured" for a time by moreenlightened elements, and may be a group whichwill lend its cooperation to occasional confer-ences. The National Student League (N.S.L.),while not nearly so prevalent as the I.R.C., willbe much more militant, and more'ready to cooper-ate with the work of the Student L.I.D. In fact,on a number of major activities, such as the stu-dent strikes against war in April, 1934, the N.S.L.has cooperated whole-heartedly. The Y.M.C.A.and Y.W.C.A., together with the denominationalclubs, have in many cases advanced rapidly intheir social point of view in recent years. Mostof the protestant and reformed Jewish groupshave in recent years taken an uncompromisingstand against participation in war, and severalhave declared for socialization as the only solu-tion to the economic impasse. In very few caseshave these declarations been carried into action,but with the sanction of the official declarationbehind them, much may be done to push and pullthese groups into cooperation. Oftentimes the stu-dent pastors and the Y.M. and Y.W. secretarieshave carried the "social action" program as far asthey can go and retain their positions in the insti-tution, and the Student L.I.D. is ideally suitedfor the development of the spade-work they havebegun. On some campuses their cooperation hasbeen invaluable.

In some situations where the Student L.I.D.has "embarrassed" the Board of Trustees or theAdministration by participation in hot labor situ-ations, or in anti-war activities, there has beenestablished a "kept" forum, at which studentsdiscuss current issues, but which is well undercontrol of the administration. It becomes a campuscorrelative of the company union in industry.Needless to say the work of the Student L.I.D.must be untrammeled, and all such establish-ments exposed for what they are.

J ' CAMPUS politicsTo many L.I.D. members campus politics isbeneath consideration, but frequently the occu-pancy of class offices or student board seats byL.I.D. members has proved invaluable to publicizeissues, and secure official student government sanc-tion for various activities. In Columbia and per-haps a few other institutions the student bodyelections are already conducted between rivalslates, one of which is known as the "left" Party.They have succeeded in substituting the real is-sues of war and peace, retrenchment, racial dis-crimination, and student autonomy for the arti-ficial personality and factional fights which havebeen characteristic of collegiate politics.

NOMENCLATURESometimes student clubs have been almost dis-

rupted at birth in a battle over the name of thenew arrival. Liberal Club was the almost uni-versal appelation until the last three years, duringwhich "liberalism" has been increasingly discredit-ed in the student mind. A large portion of thechapters are known as the Vasser L.I.D., theDenver L.I.D., etc., while others have chosen tobe known as the "Radical Club," the "SocialistClub," the "Social Problems Club," "SocialScience Club,' or "The Forum.' Harvard, Vir-ginia, and others are still known as "Liberal"clubs. FORM OF ORGANIZATIONTo be an accredited chapter of the Student

L.I.D. it is necessary under the new Constitutionto have five or more L.I.D. members make appli-cation for a Charter, which will be granted uponapproval by the National Executive Committee.The Chapter may be known as an L.I.D. chapteron the campus, or, if local conditions make itnecessary, may exist within a larger group whichis not ready to accept the whole program of theStudent L.I.D. At those points where the programof the L.I.D. goes beyond that of the more inclus-ive group, the L.I.D. nucleus will carry out itsprogram independently. Constantly it will pressthe program of the Student L.I.D. within thelarger group. With that understanding thereneed be no antagonism between the L.I.D. and theothers in the federated group.

26 27

7/27/2019 223291_text

15/17

FACULTY ADVISORSIt is highly desirable to have one faculty mem-ber who is in whole-hearted sympathy with theprogram of the Student L.I.D. who will act asadvisor. His acquaintance with the situation inthe faculty and administration will frequently be

invaluable. However it must be remembered thatmost faculty members can go only so far with thestudent group,, and they should not be expectedto participate in all activities of the student chap-ter. .The faculty advisor should be in fact anadvisora counsellorand not the leader.

THE PRESSIt is imperative that more and more L.I.D.members secure places on the staffs of student

papers. Publicity is frequently begrudgingly givenor denied to the activity of the L.I.D., and tothe news of nation and community which mightjolt the consciousness of the students. The Syra-cuse Daily Orange, Columbia Spectator, Wy-oming Branding Iron, Chicago Maroon, VasaarMiscellany News and other student papers havedone excellent wort at times along this line.* Students are news. The community press andthe national press associations (AP, UP, INS),will generally take student news stories, especial-ly if they have to do with the still news-worthyparticipation of students in political or labor ac-tivity. Establish friendly contacts with reportersin the community press; if possible, write. yourown stories, and when something "big" is to oc-cur, notify them in advance. Publicity is fre-quently the most important effect of an activity,particularly in those instances where the studentsseek to draw public attention to some acute situa-tion in the community.The labor and Socialist press of the nation isserved primarily by Federated Press, 32 UnionSquare, New York City. FP has an extensivecoverage, and whenever an event occurs in yourcommunity, whether among the students or not,which has a "class angle," write it up and sendit to Federated Press. Federated Press does nothave the resources which permit a great staff ofregional correspondents, as AP has, and you maymake a contribution to the whole movement andto your own group by volunteering such items.The facts must be accurate.

28

WORKING UP A MEETINGIn addition to newspaper stories of your meet-

ings, conferences, field trips, etc., the generousdistribution of postersoriginal ones by membersof the groupdisplayed at every available placeabout campus, will be seen by everyone. Mimeo-graphed or printed handbills will help materiallyfor special meetings or a conference. To secureattendance at your meetings, however, personalsolicitation is necessary in addition to the generalpublicity. Telephone calls are effective, especiallyif each of the "regulars" undertakes to get intouch with five or ten others. Personal solicitationat classes or on campus, and the placing of an-nouncements on classroom blackboards, are well-tried techniques.

ADMINISTRATION RELATIONSAdministrative regulations usually require of-

ficial "recognition" of all student organizations."Recognition" brings with it the use of collegebuildings for meetings, publicity on the officialcalendar, and a claim to attention in the studentpaper. Ordinarily the Student L.I.D. chapters arerecognized as a matter of course by whateveragency it is that is authorized to approve the ap-plication of a group of students. In a few collegesthe degree of official control over the chapteractivities, censorship of speakers and activities,and other restraints have set the price of officialrecognition too high. In those cases existence subrosa has been necessary, or as an off-campus group.On a number of campuses, such as the Tam-many controlled city colleges in New York, atSyracuse University, and the University of Cali-fornia, at Los Angeles and others,- the collegeofficialdom has refused to recognize the StudentL.I.D. chapters. This has made necessary the de-velopment of a new technique for conducting ourwork in those institutions. As the class conflictsharpens during the period ahead, this obstaclemay be increasingly prevalent. If your chapterencounters any difficulty on this score, communi-cate immediately with the National Office fordetailed advice upon ways and means of carryingon your work. FINANCES

Although several successful organizations func-tion with no financial outlay, a small amount of

29

iHV

7/27/2019 223291_text

16/17

money for leaflets, postage, rentals, etc., is neces-sary almost everywhere. Ordinarily this meagreexpense may be met by small dues, or even bycollections taken at the meetings. Usually thereare members of the Chapter who will supplementthe dues with small donations sufficient to meetthese specific needs.More troublesome,, however, is the necessityto raise appreciable amounts of money for cam-paigns of strike relief, or to defray expense in-curred in rentals for public meetings, or for theissuance of a Chapter newspaper. When the Cor-nell Anti-R.O.T.C. Committee needed a warchest, they secured a large total from donationsby various faculty members. At Syracuse the co-edmembers conducted candy sales, with excellentresults. In at least two colleges, a series of Sun-day evening buffet suppers netted appreciable re-turns. Several groups have been able to makeenough profit on the sale of L.I.D. literature (a30% discount is granted chapters and members)to conduct their work.The Chapters must increasingly plan to financetheir official representatives to certain nationalevents. The annual Convention of the StudentL.I.D. is legislative and policy-forming, hencemust be attended by delegates from considerabledistances. Each chapter should plan to finance theirdelegates, at least in part, for even the best hitch-hikers must eat. The success of the summer train-ing school in New York this last summer has as-surred its continuance as an annual feature of ourwork. The expenses are very small for the school,but they should be met by the Chapters them-selves as far as possible, since it is not an in-dividual who is being benefited but the Chapterand the locality. There are, periodically, regionaland national conferences of youth and studentgroups which are of great significance, and towhich official representatives should be sent. Byraising and maintaining these funds, and by plan-ning for these expenses from the beginning of theyear, the Chapter removes the often embarrassingnecessity of sending as representatives those whoare most affluent.CONTACT WITH THE NATIONAL OFFICEEach Chapter is autonomous, and will be freeto conduct its own activities in its own way, just

30

TV so long as they do not conflict with the Dec-laration of Principles of the Student L.I.D., thefundamental basis of the League's existence.

Each chapter elects what officers it thinks itneeds, the only requirement of the National Ex-exutive Committee being that a Student Repre-sentative be chosen. From the "Student Rep" thenational office expects monthly reports of activitiesand plans, and special reports of particular eventsof special importance. To him go periodic "Or-ganization Bulletins" in which are reported sig-nificant events of the current period, and theplans for the future. In these bulletins are an-nounced the projected joint activities, such asthe united, simultaneous student activities ofArmistice Day and Student Anti-War Week.Reports of decisions or recommendations of theNational Executive Committee are sent him, an-nouncements of speakers coming that way, pro-grams of student conferences, and of the NationalConventions of the Student L.I.D. at Christmastime, the Annual Conference in June. Frequent-ly we join in protest against oppressive measurestaken against one of our groups by reactionaryadministrative officials, or join "with other groupsin aiding civil liberty or strike relief campaigns(Scottsboro, Mooney, West Virginia and Ken-tucky miner's relief, the Flory case at Fisk, etc. )

.

An increasing number of widely distributedcities have been arranging for the presentation ofthe L.I.D, Lecture courses during the wintermonths. In some localities it has been the workof the student chapters which has made the lec-tures possible, and in many places the studentchapters have benefited greatly from the appear-ance on the campus of the prominent men andwomen brought to the community for the Series.The distribution of the inexpensive, authorita-tive, and readily saleable L.I.D. pamphlets is an

important link between the senior League and theStudent L.I.D. The Student Outlook, of-ficial periodical of the Student L.I.D., is availableto each chapter in bundle lots. These must be dis-tributed generally on the campus if our work isto be extended. It is advisable to have one mem-ber charged with responsibility for the sale anddistribution of the Outlook, It comes to everyClass A member automatically, but they are, after

31

7/27/2019 223291_text

17/17

I

'ail, the ones who need it least. Some have foundthat the composition of a list of students andfacult^membcrs who will take a copy every sixweeis|Sf it is brought to them, is a conveneintmethod of distribution. Others divide the bundleamong the Chapter members, expecting each todispose of his share by the next meeting. Be sureyour college library has a subscription to theOutlook. >NATIONAL CONVENTION AND NATIONALEXECUTIVE COMMITTEEThe governing body of the Student L.I.D. is

the National Executive Committee (NEC). Thisis composed of thirteen members and the Chair-man, and is elected at the National Convention.The National Convention meets each year be-tween Christmas and New Years. Each Chapteris ^entitled to representation in proportion to itsmembership, as provided in the Constitution of1933, and it is at this Convention that the funda-mental policies of the Student L.I.D. arc deter-mined. Between Conventions the N.E.C. is thegoverning body.

ORGANIZERSSeveral Field Organizers are constantly on theroad for the Student LJ.D. During the year it

is hoped that every chapter may be visited bythem. They hitch-hike from college to college, inorder to conserve the all-too-slim exchequer, andthe chapters can greatly assist them 'by providinglodging for them. They are always experts, quali-fied for their job by experience, and will be ablegreatly to assist the Chapter with suggestions andprograms. All of them are qualified speakers, andall are very recent graduates.

THE STUDENT OUTLOOKThejSTUDENT Outlook is our publication.The obligation is upon every member, as well as

the official reporter for each Chapter, to send inevery contribution he can, whether a news story,a photograph, a letter, an article, or clippingsfrom college or community press. The editors,while very accomplished, are not omniscient, andurgently request cooperation in making our pub-lications even more successful. Your commentsand criticisms will be seriously considered, andare no less earnestly solicited.

&

rHandbook

of th