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Legion by way of fts lsbor posts, a tough road, they admit, but one in which they can make themselves ef- fective, if successful. “The American Legion ts the de- cislve organization,” is the way Thompson sums it up for his com- Trades, “because what it does wili determine more than anything else what happens jn the veterans fleld. “At the same time, labor must give consideration and systematic attention to the V.P.W. It is most important, especially in the larger cities, that a labor base be estab- lished in the veterans’ orgeniza- tions. “The setup of trade uflion posts ,in the American Legion, called the Labor Legionnaires, is a most im- portant beginning in this direction.” a *. . Lain officials in New York estimate that the present cafil- paign will narrow the Communist effort to about 125 of the 14,006 Legion posts throughout the coun- try. These are the posts organized by F.L. unions, beginning about 1925, among veterans of the First World War combined within the framework of the Legion as the Union Labor Legionnaires, with headquarters at 160 N. LaSalle st., Chicago. Although originally formed among veterans from large individ- ‘ual A.F.L. unions, most of these , posts now admit members from other unions, including the C.1.0. But these posts will be only, the beginning in the Communist effort. In a sidewalk cafe on lower Fifth ave., just above Washington Square, I met a your.g Communist who had served With the Abraham Lincoln ed overseas With the U. &. Army. He still was in uniform, bul was lawaiting discharge. “We'll do better,” he said, “when the C. I. O. unions start forming their own veterans’ posts. They miss- ed gut on the last war, of courte, but they'll be ready to go now that ig over.” Brigade in Spain and later hadgery-_ the Nowe Communists are deol CALE veterans of the Secome*¥erld ed upon invading the American War, now flooding into the American Legion and V.F.W. are the Teal hope of the Communists. “We should not underestimate ‘the ability of the service men of this iwar to make their welght felt,” ‘Thompson encourages his comrades -of the Communist Parfy. “Fourteen million of them are hot going to let a million and a quarter Veterans of | the last war exclude them from a full volce in any veterans’ organi- sation. “Because there la « really mature labor movement in this country with a base of 4,000,000 in the armed forces, I do not have too many doubts about the character of any real, mass, democratically-run vet- _erans’ organization.” To sum up, the Communist effort to move in on the American Legion will be made in three steps: An ef- fort to infiltrate the established of the Labor Legionnaires, a campaign to jsclate the unionists among returning veterans in similar labor posts, and an attcmpt to con- trol and combine these posts in di- recting Legion policy. * * . MINOR iron in the fire will be an effort to organize returning | Negro veterans of the South, ints separate, Communist - controll posts of the American Legion. How many Communists or near Communists in the armed forces th party can count on in this effort ! a moot question. When Theodore Dreiser, the novelist, enrolled in the convention, he estimated there were 11,000 Communists tn the armed forces. That figure undoubtedly is too high. Based on the usual propor- ition, it would indicate 11,000,000 , Communists in the country, which Communists themselves call a ridiculous figure. ° >» 6 ET the Communists are confi-! dent they cen make a dent in the American Legion by working thelr members into key posts. If they fail, they're ready to turn to i another course. “The course of events may be - * 2 “Ses~tenHanged in the veterans’ field as a result ol future developments,” is the way Thompson puts it. “You. may have the emergence of a new organization .. asa result of a fight where the veterans learn from their own experience that nothing can be accomplished through the establisn- ed organizations.” In that case, the Communists wil form their own veterans’ organiza- tions, Jure in as many non-Com- munist members as possible, and set out to outshout the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Nq—icantinsed Tememrwwr—= The Phitaduiplia Laquirer ila, Pas RAUL + URE ~3B-M4S i gn ee > * st ae _ _, . 7 ™ a “ee het “ze ” Pe a ae . a peo : - 4 Ree eee Se ® ee ee i ae .* =. aaa rn fl iY sl PR, 4 aA Peak a rae new om ot m~re me w ea” Fe Ne wl Be Le ge o: oh, woh te ee Ds