"American Socialist
Forerunner of Powerful Revolutionary Press," by Eugene V.
Debs [July 18, 1914] Socialist
Party leader Gene Debs salutes the decision of the SP National
Committee to break with tradition and establish the first mass
circulation official organ in the history of the organization.
"We who stand for collective ownership and democratic control
cannot logically argue in favor of a privately owned press, and
without detracting in the least from papers that are still so
owned nor underestimating the service they have rendered, the
very logic of our development will ultimately necessitate the
party ownership and control of the Socialist press," Debs
notes. While he acknowledges that while "there will likely
be those who will argue that a party-owned paper will reflect
the personal views of those in charge of it and tend to become
oppressive and dominate the movement instead of representing
it," such an objection does not outweigh the principle involved.
Debs expresses a belief that The American Socialist "will
be the forerunner of a revolutionary press (including daily as
well as weekly papers, magazines, and other periodicals) which
is more and more urgently needed and will have to be established
as a part of the movement itself and which in fact constitutes
its very life and existence."
"Proclamation of the Socialist
Party of America on the Outbreak of War in Europe." [August
8, 1914] First
statement by the Socialist Party of America on the eruption of
hostilities in Europe, issued by the party's "Committee
on Immediate Action" over the signature of National Executive
Secretary Walter Lanfersiek. In the declaration, the SPA "hereby
reiterates its opposition to this and all other wars, waged upon
any pretext whatsoever; war being a crude, savage, and unsatisfactory
method of settling real or imaginary differences between nations,
and destructive of the ideals of brotherhood and humanity to
which the international Socialist movement is dedicated."
Blame is place firmly on the shoulders of the national capitalists
of Europe: "points out to the world that by their action
in this crisis they have conclusively proven that they are unfit
to administer the affairs of nations in such a manner that the
lives and happiness of the people may be safeguarded." Foreign-born
workers in America are called upon to hold "joint mass meetings
for the purpose of emphasizing the fraternity and solidarity
of all working people, irrespective of color, creed, race, or
nationality." Locals of the party are requested to lend
every possible assistance to these events. A quasi-religious
pacifist language is employed rather than the language of class
war: "The Socialist Party of the United States hereby pledges
its loyal support to the Socialist Parties of Europe in any measures
they might think it necessary to undertake to advance the cause
of peace and of goodwill among men."
"Murderous War in Europe
is the Inevitable Culmination of Murderous European Capitalism,"
by Morris Hillquit [Sept. 5, 1914] Analysis of the cause of the 1914 European bloodbath
by a top leader of the Socialist Party of America. Hillquit firmly
advances the Marxist position that the world war was a byproduct
of imperialist rivalry and the standing armies of militaristic
capitalist states. "The countries most prominently involved
in the war are among those in which capitalism has reached the
highest levels of development. Their industries have long been
conducted for the private benefit of individual capitalists,
thus leading to the enrichment of a small group and the impoverishment
of the large masses.... Production became stagnant and business
chronically depressed. Rumbles of revolt became audible among
the workers and grew ever louder and more threatening. In this
critical situation the shortsighted capitalists of Europe saw
but one solution -- finding of new outlets for their goods by
the expansion of the national territory and the conquest of colonies....
The capitalist nations of Europe, armed to the teeth, stood threatening
each other for years. Each of them saw at least a temporary salvation
in downing the other and robbing it of its colonies and markets.
Each waited for an opening. Europe was an armed camp long before
the present hostilities began. Its nations were at war long before
the formal declarations. None of them was taken by surprise --
they were all prepared when the first pretext came." Only
the elimination of barbarous capitalism and its associated barbarous
wars for markets offered humanity hope in the future, Hillquit
declares: "War will become a horrible memory of the past
only with the termination of the system of wealth production
for private gain -- with the advent of Socialism." Americans
must take heed, he adds, since "Already we are developing
a 'colonial policy,' fortifying our army and building up a strong
navy with steady and fatal consistency. The ruling classes of
the United States are even today steering the ship of state towards
a devastating world war as surely and irresistibly as the ruling
classes of Europe have been during the last generation."
"Strangle the Beast!"
by A.M. Simons [Nov. 21, 1914] A red hot anti-militarist screed by Algie Simons,
long time Chicago Socialist journalist, former member of the
Socialist Labor Party, and founding member of the Socialist Party
of America. Simons writes that "familiarity is breeding
acquiescence. Some infection of the martial spirit has crossed
the Atlantic. American jingoes are preaching the need of military
preparations. Powerful newspapers, politicians, and paid agents
of the armament trust, with the blood-lusting snobs of the army
and navy clique are crying for more battleships and whispering
of the need for a great standing army. That whisper will soon
become a scream for the whole military mess." Less than
2 1/2 years later Simons would himself be one of Woodrow Wilson's
chief cheerleaders for the purported "war to end all wars"
and commitment of American lives and funds to the European bloodbath.
Thus Simons' 1914 anti-militarist words ring ironically: "It
is either capitalism and competitive military hell, or Socialism
and cooperative peaceful enjoyment of the bounty of the earth.
The time is here to choose. Militarism is, after all, but the
bloody claw and gore-flecked fang of the beast of capitalism.Whoever
defends any form of militarism, any arming for wholesale killing,
defends the most damnable feature of capitalism and can have
no part or parcel in the doctrine or movement of Socialism."
Simons declares that "we must work quickly, for the beast
is now within our gates."
"Socialism," [excerpt]
by Barney Berlyn [Nov. 28/Dec. 5, 1914] First two parts of a serialized exposition of
the basic principles of socialism written by a founding member
of the Socialist Party of America. Berlyn notes that for all
the various books interpreting socialism, "there is one
Socialism, the Socialism which has its foundation in the worldwide
International Socialist Movement." When the European war
is over, Berlyn notes, "a new and more powerful international
movement will present itself to the attention of the world. It
will be the international workingmen who will understand more
than ever that to emancipate themselves, they, the workingmen,
rather than some swell heads literary wonders, must do the work
themselves." Berlyn calls for "the discarding of superstitious
belief and the challenge of all false authority." Although
evolutionary and democratic in its essence, "let no one
underestimate the element of force which is absolutely essential
in the development of the Socialist movement," Berlyn states.
"The working class must get together, gather force, seize
power, and use such power when acquired in behalf of their class
to relieve them of oppression. When sufficient force shall be
gathered, the new and clean authority based upon the will of
the people, mentally and socially free, will be obeyed without
challenge."
"Disarmament and World Peace:
Proposed Manifesto and Program of the Socialist Party of America."
[December 26, 1914] The
National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of America
determined at its Dec. 12-14, 1914, meeting to appoint a subcommittee
to draft a manifesto and program to end the war in Europe and
assure future peace. This group -- which included NEC members
Lewis J. Duncan and J. Stitt Wilson, Executive Secretary Walter
Lanfersiek, Carl D. Thompson (SPA Information Dept.), John C.
Kennedy (Illinois State Secretary), and May Wood Simons (Women's
National Committee) -- submitted this draft proposal shortly
thereafter, it being published in The American Socialist
on Dec. 26, 1914. Calling the European war "the supreme
tragedy in human history," the SP manifesto noted that for
50 years Socialists had warned the world of impending catastrophe
if capitalism was not halted from its inevitable path of development.
Instead, Socialist predictions had come true. "If now this
unspeakable tragedy shall serve to teach the world the real,
the underlying and fundamental causes of the war, so that by
removing these causes the world henceforth may live at peace,
the war may be worth the cost," the manifesto declares.
A program for peace and disarmament follows, based upon a peace
without indemnities or transfer of territory; establishment of
a world court, international congress, and international police
force to maintain order; a freezing of existing arms levels,
move of armament manufacture out of the realm of private enterprise,
pending international disarmament; neutralization of the seas
and internationalization of strategic waterways; abolition of
secret diplomacy, removal of the power to declare war to direct
vote of the people; implementation of universal suffrage and
a program of economic democracy, including the elimination of
unearned income and the "socialization of the national resources,
public utilities, and fundamental equipment of industry of the
nations." The Socialist movement of the world is called
upon to implement this program, nation by nation.
"Socialist Neutrality,"
by Morris Hillquit [Jan. 9, 1915] Socialist Party of America leader Morris Hillquit
cautions party members to maintain emotional neutrality in the
ongoing European bloodbath. "If any people can afford to
take a sober and dispassionate view of the European catastrophe,
it is the people of this country, about 4,000 miles removed from
the fields of battle; and if any section of our people should
be free from hysteria in its attitude toward the war, it is the
Socialists," he insists. "American Socialists should
not take sides with the Allies as against the Germans. The assertion
that the forces of the Allied armies are waging a war of democracy
against militarism is a hollow catchphrase devoid of true sense
and substance. The governments of France and England are not
fighting for the liberation of the German people from the yoke
of their reactionary and militaristic government.... Nor should
American Socialists favor the German side of this war as against
that of the Allies. The claim that the German sword has been
drawn in the interests of 'culture' is just as false and hypocritical
as the contention that the Allies are fighting for democracy."
Both sides in the conflict included unsavory allies -- Tsarist
Russia on the one hand, reactionary Turkey on the other -- that
belied their propagandistic claims, Hillquit observed. Presciently,
Hillquit argues that "a decisive victory of either side
is likely to foster a spirit of military overbearing and pseudo-patriotic
exultation on the part of the victorious countries, lasting resentment
and increased military activity on the part of the defeated nations,
and a general condition of pan-European irritation with a tendency
to another, perhaps more pernicious war." He concludes that
"from the true Socialist viewpoint the most satisfactory
solution of the great sanguinary conflict of the nations lies
in a draw, a cessation of hostilities from sheer exhaustion without
determining anything. Only in that case, only if it will become
apparent to all the world that the heavy rivers of human blood
have flown for nothing; that hundreds of thousands of human lives
have been extinguished in vain... Only then will this war remain
forever accursed in the memory of men, only then will it lead
the people of all nations to revolt against any repetition of
the frightful experience and to revolt against the capitalist
system which leads to such paroxysms of human madness."
"Peace on Earth," by
Eugene V. Debs [Jan. 9, 1915] Short essay by Socialist Party orator Debs on
a topic assigned to him by an American newspaper chain. Debs
asserts that "there has never been "Peace on earth
and goodwill toward men;" and we shall have to go forward
and not backward to realize that ideal. Civilization is still
in a primitive, rudimentary state. It has taken countless ages
to bring us from the brute, the caveman, and the savage to where
we are today. The development has been painfully slow, but steady,
and will continue to the farthest stretches of time." Debs
indicates that peace will come to earth only "when the brute
and savage shall have died in us and we have become human. In
a word, peace will come to earth when humanity has been humanized,
civilization civilized, and Christianity christianized."
He sees the carnage in Europe as a turning point, in which the
people are coming to see the economic basis of war based in the
capitalist system. But that war inevitably will play itself out,
Debs believes: "We cannot stop the European war. We can
and will intervene when the time comes and do all in our power
to restore peace. To end the war prematurely, were that possible,
would simply mean another and perhaps even a bloodier catastrophe.
Let us show the people the true cause of war. Let us arouse a
sentiment against war. Let us teach the children to abhor war."
"The 'Collapse' of the International,"
by Morris Hillquit [May 1, 1915] Morris Hillquit, arguably the top theoretician
of the Debsian Socialist Party of America, takes aim at "the
peculiar brand of Socialists who rejoice in Socialist mistakes,
fatten on Socialist defeats, and are enthusiastic only when they
can point out some alleged faults of the Socialist movement,"
individuals who had lately been regaling themselves and their
readers with the assertion that "the Socialist International
has utterly collapsed in the face of the world war." Hillquit
begs to differ. Capitalism's evolution has made it an international
system, Hillquit observes, this process in turn giving birth
to a parallel international labor movement. Socialists continued
to share a common economic vision across national boundaries.
While the eruption of nationalism and fratricidal war was a setback
to the cause of international socialism, the economic basis underlying
the Socialists' ideological system remained unchanged. Indeed,
"the war will not check the growing internationalism of
either capital or labor. Rather will it stimulate and accelerate
the developments of both," Hillquit asserts. Therefore,
"the soul of the Socialist International is thus bound to
emerge from the ashes of the war strengthened and purified."
"So far the Socialists engaged in the war have shown a most
remarkable spirit of mutual understanding and forbearance. It
is impossible to predict what situation may be produced if the
war should continue much longer. The sense of irritation may
become acute, and on the other hand a new turn of the war may
alienate the Socialists from their governments and bring them
together in common opposition to the continuance of the war,"
says Hillquit, adding his believe that the latter outcome is
most likely. "Whether the Socialist International will maintain
or change its form of organization after the war is at this time
still uncertain. It is also quite immaterial," Hillquit
states, arguing that International Socialism itself is imperishable.
"Restoring Confidence: A
Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist, July 3,
1915," by John M. Work After peaking in size in 1912, the Socialist Party
entered a period of significant membership decline, with the
organization losing nearly a third of its numbers by 1915. This
substantial setback caused the National Committee at its May
1915 annual meeting to initiate a set of constitutional changes
aimed at enhancing rank and file control over the organization
in the hopes of rebuilding the spirit of participation. SPA founding
member John Work wrote this letter to the editor of the SPA's
official organ supporting these changes and attempting to focus
attention on the need for structural reform of the organization.
Work sees two great obstacles impeding the SPA's efforts -- "scatterization"
(a myriad of privately owned publications and individualistic
initiatives) and "want of confidence" (the rank and
files growing unease with a bureaucratic and centralized party
apparatus). In Work's view, the "want of confidence"
crisis began in 1912 with a rightward turn of the party and the
implementation of a set of constitutional changes lessening democratic
control of the organization by the rank and file. This trend
was continued by the National Committee at its 1914 annual meeting,
Work indicates. The 1915 meeting of the National Committee attempted
to reverse this trend, however, with initiatives intended to
make it easier for the rank and file to propose constitutional
changes and party referenda as well as to provide for direct
election of the Executive Committee and the Executive Secretary
of the Party by the membership. Work characterizes these changes
as commendable, albeit imperfect.
"Party Membership Endorses
Constitutional Amendments Proposed by National Committee: Report
on Referendum A, 1915." [Aug. 28, 1915] The year 1915 saw a significant
overhaul of the constitution of the Socialist Party of America.
Aiming to stave off the attrition of the organization's membership,
a set of changes were proposed to the membership aiming at streamlining
the party organization and bringing elected officials under party
discipline on the issue of spending on the military. The nominations
for President and Vice President were to be made by referendum
vote, the Executive Committee and Executive Secretary were to
be elected by the direct vote of the rank and file for 2 year
terms, and Language Federations were to be held to a higher standard
of 1,000 paid members in order to receive office space and salary
for a Translator-Secretary. The relationship between units of
the various Federations and the Young People's Socialist League
on the one hand and the regular party apparatus of locals, county,
and state organizations on the other, was spelled out. All 17
changes proposed by the National Committee were ratified seriatim
by the rank and file in a referendum vote by wide margins. This
article from the SPA's official organ announces the vote tallies
for each.
"Ludwig C.A.K. Martens,"
by Arturo Giovannitti [Feb. 18, 1921] Lengthy and politically-charged prose poem in
honor of the deportation of unrecognized Soviet ambassador Ludwig
Christian Alexander Karlovich Martens, written by the noted radical
Italian-American labor activist and poet. In Giovannitti's poem
Revolutionary Russia is likened to Revolutionary America of 145
years earlier -- but the long-awaited visitor from afar, coming
in the name of freedom and liberty has no one to welcome him
appropriately, the original American revolutionaries being long
dead and replaced instead by tax collectors and policemen and
royalty-worshiping bureaucrats and aristocrats. Only the poor
and downtrodden American workers, the "stillborn,"
are in a position to welcome Martens and his mission and to bid
him and that mission an appropriate farewell, "And a clod
from the grave of John Brown to spread over the grave of John
Reed."
"Memorandum to the CEC of
the CPA on the Proletarian Party," by H.M. Wicks [circa
Dec. 1922] This
memo from former member of the Proletarian Party Harry M. Wicks
notes that "since the fact that the Comintern has so far
ignored [the Proletarian Party] is the only excuse they now have
for remaining out of the Communist Party of this country I suggest
that a communication be sent direct to [the PPA] requesting them
to work in harmony with other Communist groups in the United
States. Such a communication would undoubtedly force the leaders
of that party to act or would alienate their membership from
them, with the result that all the better elements of the Proletarian
Party would join the recognized party of the Comintern [the CPA]
and proceed to work under the discipline of that party."
This idea was met with the Dec. 22, 1922, letter from CPA Executive
Secretary Abram Jakira to the Comintern requesting the same and
providing an outline of the Proletarian Party's history and suggested
content for the communication -- which was issued on Feb. 19,
1923 by ECCI Secretary General Otto Kuusinen. This memorandum
by Wicks is an excellent summary of the early history of the
Michigan tendency in the Socialist Party of America and its emergence
as the Proletarian Party of America, describing the events of
1919 through the eyes of an adherent of the Michigan group. Wicks
states that he had been a follower of the Michigan tendency since
1916, that is, prior to his moving to Portland, Oregon and activity
in the Socialist Party of Oregon. This explains much of Wicks'
seemingly unstable political activity in the 1920-22 period --
behavior that has been attributed by some to external direction,
with Wicks in the role of police spy. Instead, a certain coherence
and logic to Wicks' actions reveals itself. Wicks freely admits
that he broke the discipline of the Michigan faction in 1919
when he accepted a position on the CEC and Executive Council
of the new Communist Party of America, but provides an explanation
for his behavior (that he was "hoping to be able to propagate
the Michigan tendency in order to test the Party position at
the next convention.") His subsequent action was wholly
in accord with the PPA's general political line up to his break
with that organization in the fall of 1922, it now seems. Includes
copious footnotes and a short biography of Harry Wicks.
"Comments Regarding the Wicks
Memorandum on the Proletarian Party of America," by C.E.
Ruthenberg. [circa December 1922] C.E. Ruthenberg's critical comments on various
aspects of Harry Wicks' December 1922 memo outlining Proletarian
Party of America history and recommending that the Comintern
issue a communication instructing the PPA to liquidate itself
and for its members to join the CPA/WPA. Ruthenberg accuses Wicks
of painting too rosy a picture of the Michigan group's ideology,
noting that Batt's alternative program had been "laughed
out of court" by the June 1919 Conference of the Left Wing
Section; that the group had held a sectarian anti-union position
and had rejected the entire notion of mass action; that Wicks
had misrepresented the nature of the St. Louis Manifesto of 1917
and the Socialist Party of Michigan's response to it; that the
CPA's ideology had been misunderstood and mischaracterized as
"Blanquism;" that the PPA's organizational strength
had been exaggerated by a factor of 2; and that the details of
the Michigan group's exclusion from the CPA were presented inaccurately.
Rather than being expelled in November 1919 as Wicks contended,
Ruthenberg asserts that "The Proletarian group was still
part of the Communist Party in January 1920 after the raids.
I personally went to Detroit to reorganize the CP and conferred
with [Al] Renner, [A.J.] MacGregor, and [John] Keracher. They
refused to become part of an underground party. They were
dropped out of the CP in February of 1920 because they refused
to have any part in the reorganization."
"Letter to O.W. Kuusinen,
Secretary, Executive Committee of the Communist International
in Moscow from John Keracher, National Secretary, Proletarian
Party of America in Chicago, May 26, 1923." Formal reply of the Proletarian
Party of America to the Feb. 19, 1923, request of Otto Kuusinen
on behalf the Communist International that the PPA liquidate
its organization and join the ranks of the Workers Party of America.
Keracher indicates that the Comintern is seriously misinformed
about the situation in America -- that neither the Proletarian
Party nor the Workers Party itself was in any way a mass political
organization of the American proletariat. "Far from having
achieved influence in and having gained control of any portion
of the labor movement, the WP is following a course which, if
unchecked, will add to the discredit of the revolutionists within
the organized labor movement of America," Keracher remarks,
adding that "If members of the Proletarian Party have "attacked"
some leaders of the Trade Union Educational League, it has been
because they disagreed with the tactics of these individuals.
If the Proletarian Party has withdrawn its support from the Trade
Union Educational League, it has done so after mature consideration."
Keracher emphatically states that "While being desirous
of cooperating at all times with the work of the Communist International
in the struggle against world capitalism, the steps urged upon
the Proletarian Party in the communication [i.e. liquidating
itself and joining the CPA/WPA] are so out of harmony with the
requirements of the revolutionary movement in America that the
Proletarian Party can not bring itself to an acceptance of this
unsound proposal." Keracher closes with a call for "COMMUNIST
UNITY," which he characterizes as an amalgamation based
upon "full knowledge of conditions here, and this knowledge
can only be obtained by a thorough investigation and study of
conditions as they exist in America, as well as the principles
of the different revolutionary groups here" rather than
through external fiat.
New HTML Files
** New HTML document ** List of Delegates to the 1885
Convention of the Socialist Labor Party of North America. The convention was held in Cincinnati, OH, from
October 5-8, 1885, and was attended by 31 delegates, representing
41 Sections of the SLP and the NEC.
**
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List of National Committee Members of the Socialist Party of
America, 1914. Most intriguing
names on the list are Santeri Nuorteva (MA) and Duncan McDonald
(IL).
** New HTML document ** List of National Committee Members
of the Socialist Party of America, as of March 1915. Most interesting names on the list are those of
C.E. Ruthenberg (OH) and W.H. Johnston (DC). Santtu Nuorteva
remained on the National Committee in 1915.
**
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List of State Secretaries of the Socialist Party of America,
as of March 1915. Most interesting
name on the list is that of Ludwig E. Katterfeld of Everett,
State Secretary of Washington.
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