"'Report of the National Left Wing Conference (Extracts -- Part 1): New York -- June 21-25, 1919." The unity of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party was shattered by the coup of the outgoing NEC of the Socialist Party in the late spring and summer of 1919, suspending and expelling tens of thousands of party members. These members thrown outside the organization were less inclined to remain steadfast to a strategy of winning over the organization through normal internal processes of party decision-making, instead seeking immediate establishment of a new Communist Party. This material, published in the August 2, 1919 issue of the organ of the Left Wing Section, The Revolutionary Age, provides a range of perspectives on the situation facing the left wing from the time of relative unity of purpose. Includes the speeches of Louis C. Fraina, Dennis Batt (Michigan Party), I.E. Ferguson (Sec. of National Left Wing Council), John Ballam (Massachusetts Party), Alexander Stoklitsky (Russian Federation), and Harry Hiltzik (Jewish Left Wing Federation). Most interesting of the group are the perspectives of Ballam and Ferguson, who at this time were still staunch advocates of conducting the fight within the SPA. These two later became founding members of the Communist Party of America.

 

"'Indicted.'" by Marion E. Sproule [Nov. 15, 1919] Organized government efforts to decapitate the radical movement was an ongoing process at least from 1917 onward, clearly predating the Palmer Raids of January 1920. Massachusetts State Secretary Marion E. Sproule of the Communist Party of America here provides a first-hand account of her indictment, arrest, and jailing for an October 19, 1919 speech entitled "Americanism and Communism," in which she says that she attempted to show that "the true spirit of Americanism, as embodied in the writings and actions of men like William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Horace Greeley is the spirit that today finds expression in the teachings of Communism." Her speech was misreported in the capitalist press and an indictment was obtained under the May 28, 1919 Massachusetts "Anti-Anarchy Law," which alleged that her speech "did advocate, advise and counsel and incite the unlawful destruction of real and personal property, and the overthrow by force and violence of the Government of the Commonwealth." Sproule tells the story of how she was arrested at home at midnight on October 30, 1919, the authorities clearly springing a classic play from the Secret Policemen's Handbook. She was then subjected to a comically inept five hour automobile ride in the middle of the night to cover the arduous 32 mile journey from her home in Lowell to Boston, where she was arraigned the next morning and held on $2500 bond. Sproule ironically quotes Woodrow Wilson, who said: "We have forgotten the very principles of our origin if we have forgotten how to resist, how to agitate, how to pull down and build up, even to the extent of revolutionary practices, if need be, to readjust matters," snidely noting that "It is evidently one thing for the President to say this and quite another for someone else to interpret it literally."

 

"Minutes of the Meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America, March 17-19, 1920." Minutes for the monthly plenum of the Central Executive Committee of the old CPA, the last peaceful gathering before the explosion at the April meeting when Executive Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg and his associates headed for the exits. The March 1920 session dealt extensively with the question of unity with the CLP. After hearing a presentation by a representative of the Comintern calling for unity, the CEC proceeded to reject the latest proposal of the CLP, contained in a March 9, 1920 letter from CLP Executive Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht on behalf of the NEC of his party. The CPA counteroffers its readiness to immediately proceed to merger, so long as the CLP accepts: the program of the CPA, the constitution of the CPA, the relationship of the Federations to the National Office employed by the CPA. A unity convention with 35 delegates is called for, with elections based proportionally between the two organizations upon dues stamps sold for Oct.-Dec. 1919 -- not accidentally a peak period for the CPA. The CPA is also graciously willing to merge its (larger) CEC with that of the CLP during the transition period. Not surprisingly, this one-sided offer was not accepted by the CLP. The March CEC session also saw the resignation of I.E. Ferguson from the CEC and his role as party editor over a refusal of the CEC to discipline Nicholas Hourwich and "Ries" for misrepresenting the decisions of the CEC in an attempt to raise funds for a Hourwich trip to Soviet Russia. Ferguson remained on as party counsel and was directed to start a Chicago Defense Committee on behalf of the CPA.

 

"What Kind of Party?" by C.E. Ruthenberg [May 8, 1920]. Published in the official organ of the Ruthenberg faction of the CPA during its brief period of independent existence; unsigned though unquestionably written by editor Ruthenberg. This is a lengthy and detailed critique the majority group of the old Communist Party of America, from which Ruthenberg & Co. recently departed. The document is interesting on a number of levels. As a criticism of the CPA majority group, Ruthenberg sounds like a born again member of the CLP, dismissing the old party structure as nothing more than a "Federation of Federations" directed by a clique in the CEC "more interested in the personal 'revolutionary fortunes' of its members than in building up the party." This group were pseudo-ultrarevolutionary dogmatists, he believed, unable to see anything save through Russian revolutionary metaphors, incapable and philosophically unwilling to engage in the daily struggles of the working class, fearful of expanding the party's size and influence lest more qualified people come into the organization and take their jobs. On another level, this is interesting as legal party advocate Ruthenberg's single most explicit statement on the necessity of armed struggle. Ruthenberg writes: "The party must be ready to put into its program the definite statement that mass action culminates in open insurrection and armed conflict with the capitalist state. The party program and the party literature dealing with our program and policies should clearly express our position on this point." Ruthenberg differed by asserting that there were a range of forms of "mass action," ever more intense stages of struggle, whereas the majority group saw only a single form of mass action, armed struggle. "We must propagate to the workers the USE OF FORCE as the ONLY MEANS of conquering the power of the state and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat," Ruthenberg quotes the CPA Majority as asserting. Finally, this is interesting for certain esoteric hints: (1) that the Ruthenberg group was "99% foreign;" (2) a seeming willingness to reunite with the CPA Majority in convention just as readily as the Ruthenberg group chose to unite with the CLP just a couple weeks after this document was written; (3) a belief that "future development of the party organization must be in the direction of shop units" and an understanding that this form of organization was incompatible with the Federation-based dues stamp system; (4) possible first American Communist use of the word "dialectical."

 

"Cable to Ludwig Katterfeld in New York from Robert Minor in Moscow, September 14,1921." Short cable, converted from telegraphese to punctuated English here. Minor passes along hard numbers for Comintern funding, noting a grant of $33,000 for "Party work specified items" for a forthcoming quarter -- presumably the 4th quarter of 1921. In addition, a conditional grant of $50,000 is promised for establishment of an English daily if the Party can raise $10,000 on its own. As the Daily Worker was not established until January 1924, it seems unlikely that these latter funds were actually disbursed. Scholars should additionally be cautioned that the budgeting of $33,000 for the American unified CPA does not mean that this figure was actually disbursed or that disbursed funds were ever received. The unified CPA went through a highly critical budget crunch in the 1st quarter of 1922. The party was torn asunder by the split of the Central Caucus faction in Nov.-Dec. 1921, and dues collections plummeted. The Party treasury was completely depleted -- indicating a likelihood that the funds detailed in this message were not received in the United States in an expeditious manner.

 

"Our Agrarian Problem," by Harold Ware [Nov. 1921] Harold Ware (party name "H.R. Harrow") was a son of Ella Reeve Bloor and the first agrarian expert of the American Communist movement. Ware lends the eye of a Marxist sociologist to the American agricultural situation, identifying four primary agricultural regions: East, Midwest, South, and West. He analyzes two of them in this article published in the underground official organ of the unified CPA. The West Ware finds to be typified by large agricultural units making use of modern production technology and employing large numbers of migratory workers during the harvest season -- true proletarians, Ware says. "Because the proletarian elements are most important in the west we must cooperate with the IWW in their activities among the farm workers. In spite of our general differences of policy we must recognize that the IWW alone is active in the agrarian field." In the East there is an altogether different production norm, Ware states, typified by small and highly productive farms worked by "semi-proletarians." Ware advocates the establishment of a Party "Agrarian Bureau" to coordinate work among the proletarian and semi-proletarian agricultural workers, with "Section-Agrarian Organizers" hitting the road on behalf of this institution. He also calls for establishment of a Communist agricultural newspaper and a party agrarian school to train volunteer city workers in agricultural methods so that they might be employed in agrarian organizing. "American imperialism may cause the longest, bitterest struggle in history before admitting defeat. Military campaigns will have fertile farm sections for their objectives. The critical battles will be for Food. We must win the producers of food to our side or the proletarian victory will be seriously delayed if not defeated," Ware declares.

 

"Draft of a Note to V.I. Ul'ianov (N. Lenin) from Robert Minor in Moscow, December 2, 1921." Robert Minor, the CPA majority group's representative on the Executive Committee of the Communist International, was recalled by his party in November 1921 to bring documents from Moscow and the power of his personality to fight the Central Caucus opposition. He was replaced by Ludwig Katterfeld effective Nov. 23, 1921. Before he left for America, Minor wrote this note to Lenin, seeking a brief meeting and to introduce his successor at ECCI. Minor outlines the controversy in the CPA and notes that he will be returning "with all possible speed" with a resolution from ECCI supporting the position of the CPA majority as well as a thesis on legal work in America written by Otto Kuusinen, Karl Radek, and Nikolai Bukharin.

 

"The Situation in the Lithuanian Federation," by Joseph Stilson [Feb. 1922] The split of the Central Caucus faction, centered in 5 of the 6 Language Federations of the old CPA, dealt a devastating financial blow to the already precarious budget of the unified Communist Party of America. Largest of the Communist language organizations in 1921 was the Lithuanian language group, which exited at the end of November behind the leadership of the as-yet unidentified "Leon" and "Zemotis." This account by the highest-ranking Lithuanian-American on the Central Executive Committee of the CPA details the struggle to win back the bolting Lithuanian Federations to the party. Stilson ("Riley") says that the task began with the meeting of about 14 loyalist leaders in New York (presumably in December 1921). Utterly without funds and paying their traveling expenses out of pocket, a group of Lithuanian organizers from this reorganized "Federation Bureau" spread across the Eastern US, addressing Lithuanian branches. The Philadelphia District of the Lithuanian Federation (home base of the Federation organization) was the first to reaffiliate with the majority CPA, according to Stilson; thereafter, other Districts began to fall back into line. At the time of the writing, the pivotal New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago districts had all declared themselves behind the CPA majority (as well as 3 smaller districts). In Buffalo the majority CPA had a clear majority, while the Central Caucus and the CPA majority split the Detroit district. The Central Caucus' support was based in Boston, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland, according to Stilson, including "the most backward localities." Stilson identifies three social groups behind the Central Caucus: (1) several leaders who lost their positions on account of reorganization of the Language Bureau; (2) a few excitable would-be leaders intent on shouting about the need for armed insurrection "at every nook and corner"; (3) "working men who have the best of intentions but lack the understanding of even the primary aspects of the class struggle." Stilson remarks that "the latter, for obvious reasons, can very well be led by any phrase revolutionary."

 

"Decision by the Communist International," by Robert Minor [Feb. 1922] Robert Minor, formerly the representative of the CPA to the Comintern in Moscow, carried home a 10-page Comintern document dated Dec. 8, 1921 ruling in favor of the CEC majority group with regards to the immediate formation of a Legal Political Party and instructing the Central Caucus faction minority to rejoin the party. This document was read by Minor to the "Emergency Convention" of the Central Caucus' "Communist Party of America" held in New York from Jan. 7-12, 1922. Contrary to the expectations of Minor and the majority CPA leadership, the minority CPA did not roll over on the issue, but continued its factional struggle, continuing to characterize itself as the genuine American section of the Communist International in America and issuing a look-alike official organ bore the same organizational logo and continued the same issue numbering system. This was the angry response of the CPA majority, published in the pages of its own official organ. After studying the CI's ruling, the leadership group of the Central Caucus-CPA "have used that opportunity for nothing further than to spread the most outrageous falsehoods," charges Minor, adding that these leaders had "the dishonesty to issue a forged edition of the official organ of the party, containing evasive language intended to make the party members think that the Comintern upholds their position." While not permitted to publish the Comintern's ruling verbatim, Minor quotes excerpts at length to prove that the CI was fully cognizant of the CEC's rapid move to establish a Legal Political Party without first holding an emergency convention of the CPA to moot the issue. On the other hand, Minor states, "a certain element in the Party membership will inevitably forget" the inevitability of violent class struggle and will thus "come forward with naive proposals for the liquidation of the illegal machinery of the Party." This was a dangerous tendency, he noted, adding that "the actual liquidation of the underground Party would mean the liquidation of the revolutionary movement. Party members who persist in such a view must be ruthlessly expelled from the illegal Party."

 

"Appeal to the Minority Membership," by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America, Section of the Communist International [April 1922] This is the final formal appeal by the Communist Party of America majority to rank and file members of the Central Caucus faction to adhere to the decision of the Executive Committee of the Communist International and rejoin the CPA. The appeal extensively quotes the CI ruling on the decision to establish a Legal Political Party and harshly attacks the "misleaders" of the minority opposition for conducting a "vicious campaign of breaking up the Communist International in America" -- ignoring altogether all subsidiary issues behind the factional split. The rank and file is invited to accept the decision of the CI and to return to the organization "without prejudice" by applying to group, branch, and section organizations for readmission. An interesting sidebar -- previously undocumented in the literature -- the appeal notes that Charles Dirba "could not continue tolerating this sabotage of Communism and completely dissociated himself from his former colleagues." On the other hand, John Ballam, who shortly before returned from Moscow as a vocal supporter of the CI decision to reunify the organization -- for which he was reviled as a traitor to the cause by the Central Caucus' "Communist Party of America" -- receives no such positive mention.

Berrien County Courthouse, St. Joseph, MI. [Circa 1910 postcard] *** PDF GRAPHICS FILE (420 k.) *** This postcard depicts the site of the sensational 1923 trials of William Z. Foster and C.E. Ruthenberg for having allegedly violated the Michigan "Criminal Syndicalism Law" by attending the August 1922 convention of the Communist Party of America at Bridgman. The card notes that the courthouse was also the residence of the county sheriff. The old Berrien Co. Courthouse is no longer standing, having been removed to make way for a parking lot.

 

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