Page:William Z. Foster - The Revolutionary Crisis of 1918-1921 (1921).djvu/61

 The method of the C. S. R. is intensified organization of the militants throughout the whole labor movement. In French labor parlance the system is known as noyautage. The militants' organization corresponds with every stage of the trade union structure, industrial and geographical. In every local union there is a noyau, or organized knot of revolutionaries. In every national union there is likewise a general revolutionary committee, composed of delegates from all the local noyaux in the industry. And in every central labor council there is a general committee of noyateurs from all the local unions in a given district. The whole movement is topped off and linked together nationally by a large committee, the C. S. R. proper, which consists of representatives of all the general noyaux in the national unions and central labor councils.

Originally this intricate network of interior organization rested solely upon the principle of the voluntary affiliation together of individuals and noyaux. But of recent months large numbers of unions, influenced thereto by the noyaux within them, have affiliated directly to the C. S. R. and pay it a regular per capita tax—whence a big fight, as we shall see later on. The organization maintains an elaborate headquarters in Paris. It also keeps up an extensive system of journalism, there being noyau papers in many localities and industries to carry the rebel message to the rank and file. The general national organ of the movement is "La Vie Ouvriere," a weekly.

The C. S. R. noyaux, identical in many respects with the Russian Communist Party's yatchaykas, use the latter's method of the preliminary caucus. That is, before every labor gathering, be it a local union meeting, a national union convention, or a C. G. T. congress, the noyaux always meet together beforehand, map out their policies, and organize to make them prevail. The result is a general line-up everywhere between the forces of reaction and revolution; the organized militants wage their battle for