"Working Class Politics: Extracts of a Campaign Speech for Local Cook Co. SPA at Riverview Park, Chicago, Sept. 18, 1910," by Eugene V. Debs Debs launches the 1910 fall campaign for Local Cook County, Socialist Party with a rousing speech to the faithful. Debs declares that the millions of wage workers have common economic interests, regardless of nationality, race, or sex, and that it is only the "ignorance" of the working class majority which enables the ruling capitalist minority to keep them in subjugation. "The primary need of the workers is industrial unity and by this I mean their organization in the industries in which they are employed as a whole instead of being separated into more or less impotent unions according to their crafts," Debs argues. This move from the hundreds of competing craft unions to large industrial unions is seen by Debs as essential: "So long as the workers are content with conditions as they are, so long as they are satisfied to belong to a craft union under the leadership of those who are far more interested in drawing their own salaries and feathering their own nests with graft than in the welfare of their followers, so long, in a word, as the workers are meek and submissive followers, mere sheep, they will be fleeced..." Emancipation is in the hands of the working class, Debs believes: "The workers themselves must take the initiative in uniting their forces for effective economic and political action; the leaders will never do it for them." While the Socialist Party is declared to be the political arm of labor, "the new order can never be established by mere votes alone," says Debs. Instead, "this must be the result of industrial development and intelligent economic and political organization, necessitating both the industrial union and the political party of the workers to achieve their emancipation."

 

"Open Letter to President Wilson," by Kate Richards O'Hare [Feb. 1915] Socialist Party orator Kate Richards O'Hare delivers a stinging rebuke to the pious hypocrite in the White House with this open letter published in the radical monthly, The National Rip-Saw. With Europe reduced to a "vast charnel house" with its fields "trampled into quagmires soaked with human blood and polluted with rotting human flesh," Wilson had allowed American capitalism to cash in on the slaughter. O'Hare storms: "With millions of Americans shivering, unclad and unshod, the stored up labor of cotton farmers, fabric weavers, and shoemakers are being hurried across the water to clothe hostile armies while they kill. Iron mills are busy turning out shrapnel, factories are beating plows into bayonets and reapers into rifles. Shrapnel and dum-dum bullets that strew all Europe with dead men are the creation of the workers of the United States, and the inventive faculties of American people have been turned from the works of peace to the creation of the machines for murder." O'Hare declares that "the manly, Christian, statesmanlike thing would have been for you to have called the Congress of the United States into session and said, 'GO TO YOUR LEGISLATIVE HALLS, FRAME THERE A LAW THAT NOT ONE POUND OF FOOD, NOT ONE YARD OF CLOTH, NOT ONE PIECE OF AMMUNITION SHALL BE EXPORTED TO ANY EUROPEAN COUNTRY UNTIL PEACE IS DECLARED.'" Instead, Wilson had hypocritically sponsored "the neutrality of HELL, the Money Changer's pact with the War Demon, the Profit Monger's bargain with DEATH, Peace with DAMNATION, that the profits of a few capitalists may be enhanced!"

 

"I Denounce," by Kate Richards O'Hare [March 1915] "Never in all the history of the United States has the thoughtful intelligent citizenship of our nation had such cause to blush for the petty, sordid, groveling character of our so-called statesmen," declares Socialist Party agitator Kate O'Hare. She is sickened at the failure of American politicians to tackle the pivotal issues of war in Europe or unemployment in America. Hunger, crime, prostitution, suicide, and despair are said to be sweeping America, while in Europe millions had been slain, millions more would be slain, homes were destroyed, production ruined, and womanhood ravaged by invading armies. "The Congress of the United States has the power to stop the war in Europe almost instantly by forbidding the exportation of food and ammunition. Only gross ignorance, brutal stupidity, or hellish cupidity can explain the inaction of our President and Congress in this hour of world travail," O'Hare asserts, adding "BEFORE GOD AND MAN I DENOUNCE THEM AND DECLARE THEIR GUILT AND I CHALLENGE THEM TO ANSWER."

 

"Why Hold a National Convention?" Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist, by Otto Pauls [Sept. 11, 1915] St. Louis rank-and-filer Otto Pauls points out to the membership of the Socialist Party of America that since the organization had recently changed its constitution to provide for nomination of the party's Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates by referendum vote, there was now no significant function for the next quadrennial convention of the party, slated for June 1916. Pauls notes that unless action is taken by the SP to set aside the provision of its constitution calling for such a gathering "we will be compelled to hold a national convention next year, consisting of 300 delegates and costing about $25,000, for the sole purpose of adopting a platform." Instead, Pauls suggests this money would be better spent on the campaign itself, and that the "fairly representative" NEC consisting of George Goebel, James Maurer, Adolph Germer, Emil Seidel, and Arthur LeSueur could solicit suggestions for slightly adapting the existing "excellent" platform and "splendid" statement of principles from the 1912 campaign, and submitting that for approval by the SPA membership by referendum. "It will be just as satisfactory as any convention platform and will save the party about $25,000 -- the difference between a rousing campaign and no campaign at all," Pauls asserts.

 

"The School for the Masses: The People's College of Fort Scott, Kansas," by Eugene V. Debs [Sept. 18, 1915] The People's College was a private venture closely associated with the Socialist Party -- an attempt to create a working class institution of higher education, somewhat reminiscent of early utopian colonization schemes. Eugene Debs was Chancellor of this institution, located just up the road from Girard (home of The Appeal to Reason) in Southeastern Kansas). President and Dean of the Law Department was SP NEC member Arthur LeSueur; Vice President and Director of the English Department was Alva George. Sitting on the 10 member Advisory Board included such SP worthies as Debs, Charles Edward Russell, John Work, Charles Steinmetz, George Kirkpatrick, Frank P. Walsh, Fred Warren, and Kate Richards O'Hare. The article here was published in the official organ of the Socialist Party as a means of publicizing the People's College venture, which was begun in the fall of 1914. Debs writes that " colleges and universities are without exception 'endowed' by the rich with funds taken from the poor for the purpose of controlling educational influences in a way to keep the rich and poor respectively where they are, and to impress the public with the wonderful work the philanthropists are doing in spreading the light when all the time their cunning ingenuity is being taxed behind the curtains to keep the people in darkness." This Debs contrasts with the People's College, "the greatest school for the education of the masses ever instituted among men," founded and funded and democratically administered in the interests of the working class.

 

"Organization," by Dan Hogan [October 18, 1915] High rates of membership turnover were by no means limited to the Communist Party of later days -- all political organizations show a similar sort of rapid membership turnover. In this article leading Arkansas Socialist Dan Hogan shares for the first time his "most serious doubts" about the ability of the American Socialist movement to "democratically direct and control our movement when it shall have reached its high tide of popular manifestation." The Socialist Party is racked by low levels of participation, Hogan observes -- fewer than 100,000 of a population of American socialists which he estimates at approximately 2 million, based on vote returns and so forth. Of this limited percentage of the whole, only a tiny fraction actually participates in the active direction of the socialist movement through participation in party affairs. "Not 1 in each 100 locals organized 'stick,'" Hogan asserts -- instead, they typically gather, elect a secretary and appoint committees, meet for 2 or 3 months, and disappear. The cause of this enormous turnover of membership revolves around the fact that "we have come to regard the Socialist movement as a pure and simple political party and appealing to mankind upon purely political grounds," Hogan believes. The same people who drop out of the Socialist Party ostensibly claiming lack of time and funds loyally support various fraternal and benevolent organizations, Hogan notes, freely giving them time and money. The explanation for this behavior lies in the realm of material self-interest, Hogan thinks: "the lodges and fraternal orders serve their immediate economic interests. Their lodges and fraternal orders supply and offer a necessary function and fulfillment of their economic and social desires." Hogan does not say how the Socialist Party might alter its nature to make it similarly fill this sort of necessary functions and social desires.

 

"Comrades of the Revolution: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist from the State Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of Washington, Oct. 23, 1915." This letter to the Socialists of Washington state reprinted in the official organ of the Socialist Party of America illustrates the very limited tactical vision of the unorganized Left Wing of the Socialist Party in 1915. State Secretary L.E. Katterfeld and the radical Washington State Executive Committee declare that "The time has come for ACTION instead of talking. Never in the history of our movement were the conditions so favorable for carrying on our propaganda. Let us too begin a Great Drive, not irregularly and spasmodically here and there with no unity of action, but with a hearty cooperation along the whole line of front. Let us pierce the enemy's line and capture his trenches at every point." Peeling away this aggressive bluster, for the Washingtonians it is only the "systematic and statewide distribution of leaflets" that is "the secret" and "the Comrades of Oklahoma" ("organized so that they can reach every home in their state with Socialist propaganda") which serves as the model. A series of 12 monthly leaflets to be distributed statewide in Washington state is announced, including among the first set of four rather pedestrian and previously released material by John Work, Fred Warren, and Daniel K. Young.

 

"The War Censor Arrives in America: United States Postal Officials Deny Mails to Jack London's Article 'The Good Soldier,'"by J. Louis Engdahl [Nov. 20, 1915] The Woodrow Wilson regime did not begin its offensive on freedom of speech and freedom of the press in 1917 after American entry into the European war, but rather in 1915, during the first days of the "preparedness" campaign. Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson's first move was a ban of a short anti-militarist article by renowned Socialist author Jack London from the mails. This banning of London's piece, "The Good Soldier," prompted editor of the Socialist Party's official organ Louis Engdahl to publish this article under banner headlines -- complete with London's article in bold type, on page 1 above the fold. Military censorship is characterized by Engdahl as a "great power of darkness that stops up the human brain, while the human body goes ignorant to the slaughter," an institution of the most reactionary militarist regimes of Europe. "The War Censor is out of place in a republic. He has no place or function in a democracy," Engdahl declares. Engdahl cites a recent poll showing an overwhelming majority of Democrats and Republicans in Congress in agreement with Wilson's program for the militarization of America. "Does the Democratic administration intend to maintain this majority by gagging the utterances of the American people? We hope not," says Engdahl. London's original article, basically a prose poem, declares: "The lowest aim in your life is to become a soldier. The good soldier never tries to distinguish right from wrong. He never thinks; never reasons; he only obeys... A good soldier is a blind, heartless, soulless, murderous machine. He is not a man. He is not a brute, for brutes only kill in self-defense. All that is human in him, all that is divine in him, all that constitutes the man has been sworn away when he took the enlistment oath.... Down with the army and the navy. We don't need killing institutions. We need life-giving institutions."

 

"Eugene V. Debs Declines Presidential Nomination," by J. Louis Engdahl [Nov. 27, 1915] Short news article from The American Socialist announcing that 4-time Socialist Party Presidential standard bearer Eugene V. Debs had sent in a form to the national office of the SPA declining the party's nomination for President in the 1916 campaign. In a telegram to Engdahl, Debs stated "I do not think I ought to make a public statement, for I really have nothing to say that would be of any interest to anyone, and it would likely seem presumptuous in me to offer an explanation not asked for and not expected. I have no special reason for declining other than that there are thousands of comrades who are at least as well qualified as I am for the nomination." Debs ultimately ran an unsuccessful race for the US House of Representatives in Indiana in the 1916 campaign.

 

"The Zimmerwald Conference and its Endorsement by the Party NEC," by Arthur LeSueur [Nov. 27, 1915] Member of the Socialist Party's governing National Executive Committee Arthur LeSueur offers this explanation to the party for the NEC's recent endorsement of the manifesto of the Zimmerwald Conference. Despite the conference's unofficial status, its manifesto "contains a clear-cut, definite statement of the principles which should guide us in the future," LeSueur writes, adding that such an endorsement was "all the more necessary because of the fact that many of the members high in the councils of the party had expressed themselves in sympathy with the attitude of the officials of the party in Germany, France, Belgium, etc., in their abandonment of the theory of the class struggle, and the class character of the state, and their adoption of a nationalism that placed their necks beneath the feet of their masters." LeSueur ponders the reason that the European workers were led to the slaughter so easily, theorizing that it was an overemphasis of the socialist movement on economics rather than internationalist idealism that left the rank and file intellectually disarmed. LeSueur states that the NEC cannot bind the party to any certain manifesto, nor would it try, but that the NEC had endorsed the Zimmerwald declaration in order to start the debate in the party over the matter of internationalism. He seeks to change the traditional hesitancy of the international socialist movement to "go on record unequivocally for labor and against war, with a pledge as binding as can be made not to assist or in any way further the war of nations, and never to bear arms against each other, and to bear arms against those who order murder in order to prevent the greater cataclysm, and to do this each in his own country at no matter what cost to themselves..."

 

"Duty of the Working Class Today," by Adolph Germer [Dec. 4, 1915] Socialist Party National Executive Committee member Adolph Germer declares that "the paramount duty of the American working class today is to counteract the pernicious doctrine of pro-Militarism that is spread throughout the land." He makes note of an ideological offensive on all sides by the forces of reaction, making use of schools, churches, fraternal organizations, theater, and cinema (Germer specifically names the films "The Battle Cry of Peace," "Neill of the Navy," and "Guarding Old Glory" as examples of "preparedness" propaganda movies). "Every atom of our energy should be put forth to frustrate the use of hundreds of millions of dollars of the people's money to strengthen the means of destruction of property, the product of labor, and the murder of human beings -- while millions of our comrades are jobless, hungry, ill-clad, and unhoused," Germer declares. He urges party members to flood Congress and President Wilson with letters protesting the attempt to turn America towards militarism. Includes a short biography of Adolph Germer.

 

"The Social Spirit," by Eugene V. Debs [Dec. 11, 1915] Socialist Party leading light Gene Debs briefly upbraids many Socialists for their overdeveloped individualism and their underdeveloped "social spirit." He then moves from party criticism to more familiar terrain, flatly stating that "typical capitalists are barren of the social spirit," while he paints Socialist interpersonal relations in glowing and effusive neo-religious terms: "How differently two Socialist comrades shake hands! Their hearts are in their palms and the joy of greeting is in their eyes. They have the social spirit. Their interests are mutual and their aspirations kindred. If one happens to be strong and the other weak, the stronger shares the weakness and the weaker shares the strength of his comrade. The base thought of taking a mean advantage, one of the other, does not darken their minds or harden their hearts. They are joined together in the humanizing bonds of fellowship." Debs asserts that "the end of the reign of anarchistic individualism is in sight." Until then "we need to be more patient, more kindly, more tolerant, more sympathetic, helpful, and encouraging to one another, and less suspicious, less envious, and less contentious," and thereby to motivate others to join the Socialist cause through the power of example.

 

"The Truth About 'Preparedness,'" by John Spargo [Jan. 8, 1916] The content of this article by John Spargo is largely forgettable, save as a curiosity -- conspiracy-theory alleging mutual manipulations of an owned press by the armaments makers of the main European antagonists. The national trusts of guns and iron are said to each and all have planted hostile stories abroad against their own nationality in order to fan the flames of patriotic hatred at home, generating lucrative military contracts in the process. Points for originality, I suppose. What is more striking is the extent to which John Spargo "flipped" on the question of militarism in little more than a year's time, he becoming a lead propagandist and cheerleader for Woodrow Wilson's War as well as the administration's token Socialist for foreign missions. Unintended irony drips from Spargo's words: "The great war in Europe has caused many people to fear the astonishingly efficient military organization of Germany.... And the capitalist 'patriots' have capitalized that fear. They have made it the basis of the most hysterical campaign in our history. They have even swept some of our best-beloved comrades from the moorings of their faith. Socialists who but yesterday thrilled us by their revolutionary ardor now join in the hysterical cry 'Prepare against War! Prepare against War!' Let us not be deceived. The United States is more assured against attack from any quarter in the world today than at any time within the past hundred years. Nowhere in the world is there the interest, the disposition, or the power to make war upon this nation."

 

"Publishing Statements: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by I.T. Barron [Jan. 8, 1916] This letter to the editor of the Socialist Party's official organ from a long-time New Hampshire rank-and-filer calls on editor Louis Engdahl to publish more verbatim statements by leading party figures, so that the party membership may be better informed. "William D. Haywood was recalled from the National Executive Committee [in 1912] and it's a cinch that not 1 in 25 who voted to recall him knew what he said or that he actually said anything. I voted to recall him but do not know to this day whether I was justified in doing so," Barron writes. A similar controversy surrounds the purported statements of Charles Edward Russell in Philadelphia on Nov. 29, 1915, Barron believes. Russell was alleged to have at that time come out for the Wilson regime's program of American militarization (so-called "preparedness"); party members again remained in the dark about the actual statement made. "Let us get at the facts before we act. If Comrade Russell lacks class consciousness to the extent that he advocates principles to which the Socialist Party is unanimously opposed he is not fit to be a candidate for President or a member of the Socialist Party. Let's fire him," declares Barron, adding that there are three absolutely sacrosanct principles of the SPA: Collective Ownership, Democracy, and Anti-Militarism.

 

"Executive Secretary Candidates in Party Referendum Voice Views on Militarism and Preparedness." [Jan. 15, 1916] "Do You Favor the Policy of Military Preparedness?" Asking early 20th Century American Socialists this question is about as provocative as asking early 21st century Democrats whether they favor a woman's right to reproductive choice or Republicans of the same era whether they favor lower income taxes. Virtually all members of the Socialist Party -- Left, Right, and Center -- were vehemently opposed to the European war and Woodrow Wilson's campaign to militarize America under the slogan of "Preparedness." One can read personal ideology through shadings of position statements, however. The 4 candidates for SP Executive Secretary make their positions heard. At the far Left is Washington State Secretary Ludwig Katterfeld, who states "The capitalist system is rotten ripe for revolution. It will collapse as quick as we are ready. Let us prepare. Stop frittering away our strength on 'reforms.' Educate and organize for the purpose of revolution." A radical Center-Left position is staked out by Adolph Germer, who indicates that if the American public insists upon military preparedness, it should take the form of universal military training for all able bodied men between ages 18-45 in lieu of a standing army, complete with democratic election of officers, guarantees against the militia being used against strikes or in wars of aggression, and a provision that individuals are to keep their rifles and at least 200 rounds of ammunition (all provided by the government) at home -- a de facto arming of the proletariat with obvious albeit unstated revolutionary implications. At the Center, current Executive Secretary Walter Lanfersiek seems demoralized and resigned to electoral defeat, his position reading in toto: "I am opposed to military preparedness." To the SP Right is Carl D. Thompson, who emphasizes a positive program consisting of "a federation of nations, a sort of United States of the World with an international congress and court, universal disarmament, and the erection of the World International."

 

"Election of Party Officials: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist in Support of Santeri Nuorteva for SPA NEC," by J.F. Maki [Jan. 22, 1916] Translator-Secretary of the Finnish Socialist Federation J.F. Maki here endorses Santeri Nuorteva of Massachusetts in the coming election for the 5 members of the SPA's governing National Executive Committee. He provides a fine short biography of Nuorteva, noting that the young Nuorteva had spent two years in Germany as an office worker before touring the world as a fireman aboard a steamer. Maki says that Nuorteva was elected to the Finnish Diet 3 times and served as editor of party publications there, drawing the ire of the Tsarist censorship, "who indicted him at least 20 times for articles he wrote to the party press." Nuorteva had served one 7 month term in prison and was under the cloud of another sentence for a 2 year term in his native Finland. In America, Nuorteva "has made several lecture tours over the country, translated several works on socialism, and at the present time is editor of one of our dailies," Maki notes.

 

"Adolph Germer for Executive Secretary: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by U. Solomon [Jan. 29, 1916] While the campaign for NEC of the Socialist Party was polite, the battle for the Executive Secretary position got a bit nasty, with proxies for the 4 candidates (and candidates themselves) chipping at one another. New York State Secretary U. Solomon here goes after Rev. Carl Thompson, who had previously went after sitting Executive Secretary Walter Lanfersiek, a man who was also attacked by the 4th candidate, future CLP/UCP/CPA leader Ludwig Katterfeld, Washington State Secretary. Solomon accuses Thompson of taking credit for the work of others, engaging in factionalism in Nebraska and Minnesota, and feathering his own nest as head of the SPA's Speakers' Bureau. "If a change is necessary, and it seems that one is because of friction in the National Office, in which Thompson is by no manner of means a disinterested person, then let us have a real change. Keep out of the National Office all those who either started dissensions or were participants in the same. A real change will take place if we elect Adolph Germer." Germer, it should be noted, was a well-known figure in the SP milieu, the leading vote-getter in the National Committee's balloting for NEC in 1915 and a fairly frequent contributor to the party press on labor issues. Regardless, this letter provides an excellent illustration of the idea that factional struggle often had at its root a struggle for jobs and was often powered by personal animosity. Further, this sort of behavior has been typical of human political organizations for hundreds of years and did not suddenly spring from nothing in the American Communist movement in 1919.

 

"Russell and His War Views: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by Eugene V. Debs [Jan. 29, 1916] In November 1915, Socialist Party touring organizer Charles Edward Russell came out for Woodrow Wilson's program of military "Preparedness." A storm of discontent erupted among the Party faithful over this flagrant departure from Socialist principles, including calls for Russell's immediate expulsion. This prompted widely respected party orator Gene Debs to write this letter to the SPA's official organ in Russell's defense. Debs expresses his belief that though he disagrees fundamentally with Russell's pro-militarist orientation "I honor the man for having the courage of his convictions and I want to say that it requires moral courage of the highest order to take the position he has taken and fearlessly and frankly express himself in the face of a hostile and overwhelming opposition." This frankness had cost Russell the probable nomination of his party for the Presidency, Debs believes, noting that such courageous statements of conscience are " all too rare in the world." Debs states that the charge levied against Russell that he was guilty of party treason was not applicable: "There is not a drop of traitorous blood in Russell's veins. He is simply mistaken and it is our duty as his comrades to seek to convince him of his error. "

 

"Choose Hillquit and Berger on First Ballot: Tally of the First Round of Voting for the National Executive Committee of the SPA." [March 18, 1916] Results of the first round of balloting for the 5 member National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party showed only two candidates receiving a majority of the ballots cast -- New York City lawyer Morris Hillquit and Milwaukee publisher Victor L. Berger. Both of these two leading vote-getters tallied over 17,000 votes, far surpassing the just over 10,000 ballots cast for their closest two competitors. The top Left Wing vote-getter was Kate Sadler of Washington state, who drew just over 5,300 votes, narrowly trailing sitting NEC member George Goebel of New Jersey. Santeri Nuorteva, an SP Regular with a Center orientation, drew 5,275 votes, compared with the 3,125 or so garnered by Ella Reeve Bloor, and the fewer than 3,000 votes cast for Cleveland Left Winger C.E. Ruthenberg.

 

"Woman," by Eugene V. Debs [Dec. 1918] Lest one mistakenly think that Gene Debs was nothing but a fire-breathing rabble rouser, here is a prime example of Debs' periodic output of gushing, sentimental fluff. "Man may make the nation, but woman does more -- she makes the home. When I think of what the world would be without the inspiring influence of woman, I am ashamed of what the world has done with her. She has done everything for the world, and man has done everything evil to her. He has filled her delicate hands with weights she could not bear, and laid upon her shoulders burdens that crushed her to the earth; and though she stumbled on uncomplainingly, kissing the hand that smote her, he has taunted her as an inferior and ruled her as if she were a slave." Etc. etc.

 

"Letter to Leonid Belsky in Chicago from C.E. Ruthenberg in New York, May 3, 1920 - afternoon." A second May 3, 1920 letter from CPA dissident factional leader C.E. Ruthenberg to the leading figure of the dissidents in Chicago. It clearly emerges from this document that the official organ of Ruthenberg's faction was printed in Chicago, not in New York -- the 1920 CPA split broke to a great extent along New York-Chicago lines. A decision has been made by Ruthenberg on the question of with whom his faction should unite, but he leaves open the possibility of his unilateral decision being overruled. "Unless I hear from your committee in disagreement I will make tentative arrangements with the CLP for a unity conference, which means that their delegates will come to our convention and before the two groups are united we will discuss Manifesto, Program, and Constitution and each side would work out these documents in advance, so that there will be no great delay at the convention," Ruthenberg writes. Ruthenberg indicates that in addition to Chicago, his faction had support in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh districts. He says in this and other letters of the period nothing of New York or Boston, the other main areas of Communist presence.

 

"Letter to C.E. Ruthenberg in New York from Charles Dirba in New York, May 4, 1920." CPA Majority faction Executive Secretary Charles Dirba writes to Minority faction leader C.E. Ruthenberg in reply to Ruthenberg's April 22, 1920, letter. The CPA Majority takes the position that (1) Before the Majority will enter into discussions regarding a unity convention with the Minority, the Minority must rescind its standing convention call; and (2) The 2nd Convention of the CPA can only be legally called by the CEC elected at the 1st Convention (i.e. by the CPA Majority, not by Ruthenberg and his group). Upon acceptance of these conditions, the CPA Majority was ready to proceed with a joint unity convention with the Minority and a reply was requested.

 

"Letter to C.E. Ruthenberg in New York from I.E. Ferguson in Chicago, May 4, 1920." Communication to CPA dissident Minority leader Ruthenberg from his closest ally in Chicago. After noting that a recent article by Ruthenberg was off to the press for publication in the faction's official organ, Ferguson vocalizes against the CPA Majority, remarking that "I have come to realize that these schemers who suddenly discovered after November 1917 that they were Russians and Bolsheviks have done our work a tremendous lot of harm. There isn't a real Russian among them, much less a real Bolshevik. They are typical East Side politicians who happen to swing revolutionary lingo, and to them need only be added those who fell for the nationalistic jingo stuff, like [Charles] Dirba, and the ridiculous sentimentalists, like [Max] Cohen and [Rose Pastor] Stokes, who can be only the limit of something, be it Wilsonism or Bolshevism." Ferguson believes "reluctantly but with absolute conviction, there must be unity between us and the CLP, no matter how petty they are about it. We face the same proposition which we had last Summer when we made the unity agreement with the Federationists. Let the CLP brag, as did last Summer's "Minority Group" - it is up to us to achieve this one decisive thing of eliminating a counter-Communist Party and the division in the Communist ranks between aliens and natives." Scholars should note particularly that the Ruthenberg-Ferguson faction was not an exclusively or even predominantly Anglophonic group, but included major elements of the Russian, South Slavic, and Polish Federations. As for the "Hourwichites," Ferguson dismisses them as an "anarchist sect" in the making. Ferguson invites Ruthenberg to come stay in Chicago.

 

"Letter to Leonid Belsky in Chicago from C.E. Ruthenberg in New York, May 4, 1920." Cover letter from acting Executive Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg of the CPA Minority to the head of the dissident Chicago organization, Leonid Belsky, noting that the attached draft convention call for a joint unity convention with the CLP represents " the only basis on which we can achieve unity with the CLP and it seems to me that under the existing circumstances we must work toward that end." Ruthenberg adds that "Up to this time the CP has the position of advantage as against the CLP, because it was the larger organization and stood for a more clear expression of Communist principles. If we united with the CLP and form the United Communist Party we will have assumed the dominating position and the Hourwich group will be isolated." Ruthenberg asks the Chicago District Committee to ratify the conditions of this call and to wire their acceptance to Ruthenberg, at which time he will sign the call with the head of the CLP [Alfred Wagenknecht] and have it published in the press.

 

"Letter to C.E. Ruthenberg in New York from Leonid Belsky in Chicago, May 5, 1920." Head of the Chicago District organization Leonid Belsky informs Minority faction leader C.E. Ruthenberg that he had arranged with Karl Wolfskeel to move back the time for which his resort was reserved for the unity convention with the CLP to June 15. This would allow 5 weeks for delegate elections and thus both the CPA Majority and the CLP could "be tested in regard to the honesty of their desire of a 'joint' convention." In other words, even at this late date a 3-way unity convention between the CPA Minority, the CPA Majority, and the CLP was sought. The Chicago District Committee had voted to hold the convention "not later than May 25 [1920]" however -- "regardless of participation of other groups." Unity with the CLP was to be made on the basis of the draft joint call.

 

"Letter to Charles Dirba in New York from C.E. Ruthenberg in New York, May 5, 1920. Head of the CPA Minority Ruthenberg informs Executive Secretary of the CPA Majority Dirba that "We are prepared to discuss with you and come to an agreement in regard to all the details of a joint convention call, including the date of the convention, but until and unless such an agreement is reached the call which we have issued will stand." He notes: "We are not quite so gullible as you may think and while we reiterate our willingness to enter into the joint call, our present call will stand and in the absence of any agreement before the District Conventions are held, the National Convention will be held as we have arranged." An impasse on negotiations between the two CPA factions was thus reached.

 

"Bulletin To All District Organizers and Federation Executives from C.E. Ruthenberg, Executive Secretary, May 5, 1920." Short summary of the factional situation from Executive Secretary of the CPA Minority faction, C.E. Ruthenberg. Ruthenberg notes that the CPA Majority had called for the Minority to rescind its convention call. Along these lines, Ruthenberg notes that "the Majority group of the CEC had indicated that it wants a long delay before a convention and this we cannot agree to. I have said to them that we are ready to negotiate on all questions and come to an agreement, including the date of the convention, but we will not withdraw our call prior to reaching such an agreement. If the Majority group maintains its position this question is deadlocked and we need not look to anything further from this direction." In addition, the CLP had rejected the proposed 32 (CPA) to 18 (CLP) apportionment of delegates. He notes "Since no agreement could be reached on this question a unity conference has been proposed as the alternative. This will mean that the CLP convention delegates and our convention delegates will meet together as separate units and proceed to discuss the question of unity and arrive at an agreement before the two bodies of delegates are united in one convention. A unity conference of this character will take the question of unity out of the hands of executive officials and leave it to the representatives of he members -- the delegates to the convention -- to decide." Ruthenberg sees the prospects for a successful unity convention with the CLP working from these terms as favorable.

 

"Bi-Weekly Newsletter #4 of the National Office, CP of A (Section of the CI), April 3, 1922." Internal party communication produced by CPA Executive Secretary Jay Lovestone. Lovestone spends the bulk of this issues space on discussion of the ongoing factional struggle with the Central Caucus faction. The "criminal splitting activities" of Ballam, Ashkenuzi, and Dirba has "caused a rift in our ranks, and has unquestionably hurt the Party," Lovestone notes. Despite a letter from the Comintern to the Central Caucus' "Communist Party of America" Convention in Jan. 1922, the rift remained -- the Central Caucus ostensibly expressing doubts as to the authenticity of the communication. Robert Minor had been sent on a tour of the country to speak before groups of the Opposition and had made some inroads in getting them to rejoin the regular CPA, despite the obstacles placed by the Central Caucus leaders. "As per our request several comrades high in the esteem of the misled Communists will soon be sent to us by the CI to help us in our efforts to unite the Communist forces of America," says Lovestone -- scholars should note this evidence that the CPA actively SOUGHT Comintern intervention and representatives to help mediate and end this split (compare and contrast to the traditional tale of an isolated and ignorant RCP-dominated Comintern deciding and ruling by fiat, sending disciplined underlings to lay down the law). Lovestone asked the CPA rank-and-file to "send in additional suggestions to help us get more results" in the quest for reunification. This newsletter also deals in passing with the forthcoming Bridgman convention, decisions of the Comintern, and party business. With regard to the ongoing miners' strike, Lovestone proudly declares that "For the first time in the history of our existence as a Party will we have speakers engaged directly in the strike areas."

 

"Bi-Weekly Newsletter #7 of the National Office, CP of A, May 15, 1922." Internal party communication produced by CPA Executive Secretary Jay Lovestone. Lovestone notes the return of John Ballam from Moscow and his presentation of the decision of the Executive Committee of the Comintern on the factional situation in America. He notes that the answer of the Central Caucus Opposition was "a flat refusal to accept the decision of the CI" and the declaration signed by their own delegate. Further, "an attempt was made to expel Comrade Moore [Ballam]." Lovestone notes that a special bulletin republishing all the official documents of the factional controversy was in preparation. On an unrelated note, Lovestone states that work among striking miners "is going on with success," particularly in the St. Louis district (which included Southern Illinois, Kansas, and the Southwest). A special leaflet for the Mingo Co., WV miners was planned, Lovestone notes.

 

"Notes on the United Front Problem," by Haim Kantorovitch [May 1936] Kantorovitch, an intellectual leader of the Socialist Party's "Militant" faction, takes aim both at the "Old Guard" defectors such as Louis Waldman, who after being soundly defeated by the SP majority in National Convention, in a party referendum, in the NEC, and in the New York SP primaries, are presumptuous enough to dictate terms under which they will return to the party fold. "It never occurred to people like Waldman that he and his followers could remain in the Socialist Party and use all the legal and ethical party channels to persuade the majority of the party members that after all the Old Guard was right," Kantorovitch observes. Instead, the Old Guard splitters had chosen to fight the party, making use of none-too-subtle red baiting tactics in the capitalist press. This involved a conscious attempt to confuse two distinct concepts, according to Kantorovitch: the United Front and "participation of Socialists in common action in which Communists also participate." In the former case, a "permanent and national agreement" between the Socialist and Communist Parties would lock the two organizations together, while in the latter case the Socialist and Communist Parties participate in joint projects as members of a still larger coalition, free to come or go or to criticize as each organization so desired. Kantorovitch sees the Old Guard Socialists as having adopted the discarded theory of social fascism and inverted it -- projecting instead the Communist Party as the "chief enemy" which must be defeated and stricken from the ranks of the labor before serious battle could be waged against capitalism, war, and fascism. Kantorovitch states that the revolutionary socialists of the Militant faction the Communists were an integral part of the labor movement -- merely one from which revolutionary socialists differed. Common action with such an organization was possible, Kantorovitch asserts, but not (in present circumstances) a United Front, which would inevitably require the Socialists to surrender their freedom and obligation to criticize particulars of Soviet Society, Stalin, and Stalinism.

 

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