"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee, (unified) Communist Party of America: New York City -- June 7-15, 1921." Minutes of the 2nd session of the CEC of the newly unified Communist Party of America (the CEC of the unified CPA met in nearly continuous sessions). A great deal of effort is expended on seriatim consideration of committee reports on the party program and ground rules for CEC decision making. Proposal of CEC member George Ashkenuzi to call an emergency convention to break the 5-5 deadlock on the CEC voted down. Committee of 3 elected to meet with SP Left Wingers to organize them into a caucus at the forthcoming SPA convention. This committee was instructed to "have the Left Wing delegates work unqualifiedly for the 21 Points" of the Comintern. There was a general tendency of the CEC session to refer controversial matters back to sub-committees (Organizational Committee, Secretarial Committee, etc.) for further discussion. On June 13, James P. Cannon arrived to take his place on the CEC, replacing his substitute, Will Weinstone. Weinstone was later elected Librarian, in charge of gathering publications for the Comintern. Joseph Stilson was instructed not to accept the editorship of the Lithuanian organ of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. Financial coverage of Armenian paper's deficit continued. Bitter debate over the forthcoming District 2 [New York] Conference is alluded to. A passage stricken from the minutes makes it clear that CEC member and NY DO George Ashkenuzi was at the center of the storm. When it came to electing the paid District Organizers, a series of 5-5 votes along straight factional lines resulted. "Post" [Abram Jakira?] assigned to editorial staff of the Russian legal paper. Cannon added to Editorial Committee.

 

"Constitution of the Young Workers League of America: Adopted by the First National Convention, New York City -- May 13-15, 1922." Basic document of organizational law of the Young Workers League, ostensibly the youth section of the Workers Party of America. Interesting in that there is no reference to either the WPA or the Young Communist International in the document, nor is there any sort of party-control mechanism inserted into the structure of the YWL. Instead, the YWL was established as an independent organization, it's membership open to "all young proletarians between the ages of 14 and 30," with its National Conventions designated the supreme authority of the organization. The National Conventions were to elect a "National Executive Committee" of 7 persons, at least 5 of whom were to live in the designated city of the national headquarters, as well as 5 alternates. The headquarters city was to be designated by the convention -- which chose Chicago (and this while national headquarters of the Workers Party of America and the underground Communist Party of America were both based in New York!). Structurally, the organization was to be built of "branches" of between 5 and 150 members, which multiple branches in a single urban local to elect proportional "City Central Committees." Initiation fee was 25 cents and monthly dues (receipted with stamps) were 25 cents per month -- of which the National Office was to keep 10 cents, the City Central Committee 5 cents, and the branch 10 cents. There was no parallel structure for language federations, but rather branches of any language were to have an equal relationship to the National Executive Committee.

 

"Questions to Debs," by J. Louis Engdahl [Aug. 3, 1922] This is a pointed and aggressive open letter to Eugene V. Debs by the editor of The Worker, a former longtime associate of Debs in the Socialist Party. Engdahl rebukes Debs for heeding a request of Socialist Revolutionary Party leader Victor Chernov and sending a cable to Lenin in Moscow with which Debs joined the international chorus of voices demanding leniency in sentencing of the accused in the 1922 show trial of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. Adapting an article from International Press Correspondence for his purposes, Engdahl presents a veritable laundry list of transgressions against the revolution by the PSR, including assassinations plotted and committed, bombings, acceptance of financial and military aid from foreign powers, collaboration with counterrevolutionary peasant movements (Antonov) and the installation of neo-monarchist military dictators (Kolchak), and publication of documents calling for armed revolt against the Soviet regime. Engdahl declares that "The history of the early days of the Bolshevik Revolution showed the Communists too gentle with their force-loving adversaries. The Bolsheviks were not in love with the use of force. They used it only when necessary to win and preserve the workers' revolution. The Proletarian Dictatorship is still fighting for its life in Soviet Russia. It has only reached the doorstep of Communism. Capitalism throughout the world, aided and abetted by the Chernovs, has made war, is making war, and will continue to make war to its last breath against the emancipating rule of Russia's workers. But Communism replies to Capitalism with its own weapons, the only weapons Capitalism knows, and with the spread of the social revolution over the world, the workers everywhere are compelled to take their stand." Engdahl notes that a copy of the communication to Debs and invited Debs' reply for publication in The Worker.

 

"Communists in the Labor Unions," by William F. Dunne [Aug. 5, 1922] A very concise statement of one of the two primary factional visions of the American Communist movement in the 1920s -- the "unionist" perspective associated with William Z. Foster and James P. Cannon. Dunne states that radical political movements have historically been populated by "intellectuals" with a "disposition for study and leisure to indulge it." This group felt that in their book-learning "they hold the key to all the problems that bedevil the workers" and that they were consequently impatient and contemptuous of the working class and its "endless struggle for more bread and butter." As a result, "until recently almost all revolutionary political movements were of a sectarian character." The Russian Revolution "upset all the established theories of revolutionary tactics" and demonstrated the importance of day-to-day struggles of the working class in the transition to socialism, however. Dunne states that radical intellecutals gained a "new humility" in the wake of Russian events and began to make contact with the working class, a turn for the better. The intellectuals could not assume an automatic right to lead the working class based upon their theoretical capacity, however: "There is no magic in the word Communism that will cause the workers to rally to its standard. The service that the Communists render to the labor movement will be the yardstick by which the workers will measure the value of the Communist Party, and it is tht alone that will determine its influence in the class struggle in the United States," Dunne argues. Dunne notes that some Communists are more apt at theory and others at tactical matters -- that very few are skilled in both aspects. Party workers with "special ability for industrial work" need to be trained and made more effective and "the best brains and courage of the labor movement" must be integrated into the Communist Party to build an effective and powerful political organization, in Dunne's view.

 

"An Answer from Debs," by Theodore Debs [Aug. 9, 1922] Reply on behalf of Gene Debs by his brother and personal secretary, Theodore, to Louis Engdahl's open letter of August 3, 1922. "The attempt to make [Gene] appear the enemy of Lenin and the Soviet Government in face of the fact that from the hour that government was born he proclaimed himself its friend and has stood by it and defended and extolled Lenin and Trotsky in every word uttered and written, is too false and silly to merit attention," writes Theodore. While Engdahl's indictment of the offenses of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in the Civil War is complete, it is nevertheless one-sided, omitting the fact that violence and outrages were committed by both sides, and that the PSR were victims as well as perpetrators. Gene Debs "does not believe in revenge, in capital punishment, in cold-blooded murder, and these brutal passions and atrocious crimes are all the more reprehensible in his eyes when committed in the name of law and justice by Socialists who have for years been denouncing capitalism for these identical infamies," writes Theodore. "If we believe in bloodthirsty revenge, in cruel reprisals and savage killings to satisfy our law and ethics, we are even lower than the capitalists and their mercenary hangmen, who at least make no pretense of such humane ideals as we profess and shamelessly betray the moment we succeed to power." Further, Gene Debs is said to be convinced "that the murder of these men would betray the weakness and fear of the Soviet Government and bring it into contempt all over the world among people who now give it their allegiance and support."

 

"A Reply to Debs," by J. Louis Engdahl [Aug. 26, 1922] Rejoinder by the Editor of The Worker to Theodore Debs' "Answer from Debs" of August 9, 1922. Engdahl backs away from his implication that Eugene Debs is in the camp of the international counterrevolutionary movement and instead dismisses him as a wavering pacifist. Engdahl states that it was easy for the pacifist humanitarian Debs to be anti-war; the acid test of "his standing as a revolutionist came in 1920, when, as the Presidential candidate of the Socialist Party, he declared, 'I am a Socialist, not a Communist.'" Engdahl sates that while the Bolsheviks have desired peace, "the Socialist (Counter-)Revolutionaries, with their party, stood on the side of capitalist oppression, and they must suffer the consequences." He continues that "Capitalist nations may rest upon their arms for recuperation between wars and wax merciful for a time toward war objectors, toward pacifists. But there is no letup in the class war until the social revolution has spread to every land and established its victory without dispute. Then, with the inauguration of a Communist Society, mercy and humanity will come into their own, not because there were those who sympathized with Lenin or Trotsky, or any other revolutionary leaders, but because the world heard the tramp of millions ready to give their all, their lives, for the winning of the New Day."

 

"Survey of the Present Political Situation in America: Manifesto of the Communist Party of America. [Sept. 28, 1922] A rare post-Bridgman statement of the underground CPA, Abram Jakira Executive Secretary. The situation has changed for the worse, in the estimate of the CPA, with the coal strike ended via a sweeping injunction while the AF of L failed to back up its previous posturing in favor of a General Strike and meekly acquiesced. The Executive Council of the AF of L came out against a Labor Party and confirmed the expulsion of the New York Bookkeepers, Accountants, and Stenographers' Union for its alleged radicalism. "At a time when solidarity and unity of labor's ranks should be fostered, in order that the fight against the employers may be conducted with concentrated energy, the AF of L acts to split the ranks of the workers," the manifesto charges. In addition, the railway shopmen's strike was terminated with little gained save a nominal defeat of the open shop movement. The betrayal of the United Front campaign of the WPA, SLP, and SPA by the Socialist Party in Rhode Island is detailed. These strike failures and the poor and demoralizing performance of the AF of L have caused a rise in rank and file discontent, in the view of the manifesto's author: "The workers, furthermore, also are voicing a demand for independent political action. The betrayal of the capitalist parties has become apparent." To this end "the conference which is to be held in Chicago in December [Conference for Progressive Political Action] becomes one of the most important events in the life of labor in America. Should a genuine Labor Party be formed of these organized labor bodies, a new factor of great vigor and tremendous possibilities would enter the American political arena.... The potentialities of this mass organization are gigantic."

 

"The Fifth Year of the Russian Revolution: A Report of a Lecture," by James P. Cannon [1923] Full text of a pamphlet published by the Workers Party of America in 1922 by party leader Jim Cannon, detailing a 7 month stay in Soviet Russia dating from June 1, 1922. Cannon notes that Soviet Russia was well on the way recovering from Civil War -- the famine had ended, White armies had been defeated, production was being steadily restored, buildings were being renovated, and the Soviet government was supported by the Russian workng class. Commentary is also provided on the Show Trial of the Socialist Revolutionary Party leaders then taking place. Cannon attended the first day of the trial and he unhesitatingly recalls here: "It was a fair trial -- nothing like it ever occurred in America. The defendants were allowed to talk as freely and as much as they pleased. There was no restriction whatever on their liberty to speak in their own defence. The trouble with them was that they had no defence. The Soviet government had the goods on them. A number of the prisoners had repented of their crimes against the revolution, and they testified for the Soviet government. The case was clear. These leaders of the SR Party, defeated in the political struggle with the Communist Party, resorted to a campaign of terror and assassination. They murdered Uritsky and Volodarsky. They dynamited the building which housed the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party and killed 14 people. They had Trotsky and Zinoviev marked for assassination. It was an SR bullet that brought Lenin down and from which he still suffers today. They went even further than that. They went to the point that all the opponents of the Soviet system go in the end. They collaborated with the White Guards and they took money from the French government to do its dirty work in Russia. All this was clearly proven in the trial; most of it out of the mouths of men who had taken active part in the campaign."

 

"'Foster at Bridgman': Spolansky. Identified by Testimony of US Operative: Defense Paves Way to Claim Evidence 'Planted.'" [March 16, 1923] Details of the cross-examination of Department of Justice agent Jacob Spolansky and Berrien Co. Michigan Sheriff George Bridgman in the trial of William Z. Foster for alleged violation of the Michigan Criminal Syndicalism Law in association with the August 1922 convention of the Communist Party of America at Bridgman, Michigan. Sheriff Bridgman described the scene of the convention as "a deeply wooded ravine hidden away from the Wolfskeel dunes, 20 miles south of St. Joseph and on the shore of Lake Michigan," according to this report in the St. Joseph, Michigan daily press. He also noted that Spolansky came to him to make an arrest of convention participants on Friday, Aug. 19, the actual raid being conducted on the morning of Tuesday, August 22. Three federal agents were named as being part of the arresting party, in conjunction with the sheriff's posse.

 

"Letter to the Executive Committee of the Communist International in Moscow from Max Bedacht in Chicago. [circa April 1924] A passionate defense of John Pepper by his alternate on the Central Executive Committee of the Workers Party. Bedacht states that while he and Jim Cannon were in Moscow arguing before the Comintern for the legalization of the American Communist Party, the issue was "solved finally by the tactfulness of Comrade Pepper. He not only solved the problem of 'liquidation,' but he also lead the party out of the cave of fruitless scholastic discussions onto the field of political action." Unfortuantely, rather than support the new unity in the Party, Bedacht says that Cannon immediately began to cobble together a new factional group to win majority control of the Central Executive Committee. "In spite of the changed situation he never for a moment stopped considering the elimination of the old opposition as a desirable goal. Apparently he saw in this opposition not only the handicap of yesterday but also the stumbling block of tomorrow when opportunist plans were to be carried out," says Bedacht, noting that the New Majority of the CEC elected at the 3rd Convention [Dec. 30, 1923-Jan. 2, 1924] was the ultimate result of Cannon's factional shenanigans. The "New Majority" was an amalgam of the qasi-Social Democratic Right of the party, represented by Ludwig Lore of the New York Volkszeitung, along with the Fosterite "Industrialists," called "Nur-Gewerkschaftler" [Trade Union-Exclusivists] by Bedacht. Foster, " the leader of the present majority [of the CEC] and thus the leader of the party has never yet, in his two years activity in the party, written a political article, nor has he delivered a political speech. The circulus viciosis of his thoughts are the trade unions and the conquest of them," Bedacht charges. The New Majority targeted John Pepper since he was "the best, clearest, and ablest of the minority." Unable to eliminate him due to Pepper's widespread support, a "fable of Pepper the factionalist was invented" so that the CI would eliminate Pepper on behalf of the "opportunists and Nur-Gewerkschaftler," Bedacht says.

 

"Letter to the Central Executive Committee of the Workers Party of America from Peter Hansen and Cornelia Davis in Buffalo, NY, May 6, 1924. In March of 1924, John J. Ballam was appointed District Organizer of WPA District 4, based in Buffalo, New York. He soon thereafter received a 2 month stipend of $150 a month for organizational expenses of the district office and had earned the enmity of the previous District Organizer, Peter Hansen. This is a letter by Hansen to the CEC denouncing the activities of Ballam in Buffalo, charging a failure to keep records, a failure to hold District Executive Committee meetings, a failure to provide financial records to party members in the district, a failure to keep an orderly office, and factional machinations worthy of a machine politician. "He came here with a grouch on against the CEC, and he took it out on those nearest to his hand," Hansen writes. "This man Ballam should not be permitted to come into continuous contact with the rank and file membership of the Party as an organizer. He lacks judgment and common sense. Whatever his abilities in other directions may be, his character is such as to constitute him a menace to the organization in his present capacity. Those who have seen him at work (?) and have not been deceived by his preposterous airs of self-importance, are disillusioned in regard to the leadership of the Party.... His unspeakable pettiness, his malicious, relentless, and cowardly persecution of those who have incurred his dislike, his shameless lying and slandering and falsifying of facts have earned him the contempt of comrades here who asked nothing better than to serve the Party and to be let alone." Includes a very lengthy footnote by Tim Davenport detailing this particular episode in the Buffalo soap opera.

 

"Should the American Workers Form a Political Party of their Own? A Debate. Morris Hillquit (National Chairman, Socialist Party) -- Yes. Matthew Woll (Vice President, American Federation of Labor) - No. [1932] Nearly a decade after the Labor Party question first burned hot for the Socialist Party of America, its position had changed little -- it was in favor of establishing a constituent organization akin to the British Labour Party. Nor had the opposition of organized labor moved -- it remained, by and large, opposed to the establishment of a Third Party, instead continuing to tout the tactic of selective support of "Friends of Labor" within the two major parties. This 1932 debate between Socialist Party National Chairman Morris Hillquit and AFL Vice President Matthew Woll details the thinking behind each of these positions. In the course of his remarks Hillquit assigns blame for the failure of the Third Party movement in 1924 to the desire of Robert LaFollette to run alone, resulting in the "doom of the movement." The AFL is upbraided by Hillquit for its "late and...luke warm" support of the LaFollette candidacy, which is said to have killed any chance for the LaFollette campaign to lay "the foundation of a great and powerful labor party in America." Full text of a pamphlet published in 1932 by the Rand School of Social Science.

 

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