"A Necessary Protest: Letter
to the Editor of The American Socialist, May 6, 1916,"
by Ludwig Lore Translator-Secretary
Lore of the German Federation of the Socialist Party protests
against what he sees as a coordinated effort to fan the flames
of prejudice against the Language Federations and to "attach
the 'American' Socialists to the Thompson bandwagon." The
German Federation was fully justified in making its non-binding
recommendations on party affairs, Lore states. Further, he indicates
that Thompson supporters, in addition to practicing dirty politics
and being incorrect were also hypocrites: "In the East,
George Goebel, a member of the National Executive Committee and
A.W. Ricker, whose party activity...are acting as campaign managers
for Thompson & Co. We say Thompson & Co. because it is
generally known that the same comrades who are so "righteously"
indignant over the 'arrogance' of the German Language Group,
agreed on and supported a slate of 5 comrades -- not 2 -- for
the National Executive Committee." Baited by the Thompson
supporters to explain why Thompson was less than suitable as
Executive Secretary, Lore pulls no punches: "We believe
that Carl D. Thompson's election as National Secretary would
be detrimental to the movement, because in our opinion, the chief
officer of a workingmen's party should be neither a Prohibitionist
nor a Christian Socialist, nor a mere reformer. What the Socialist
Party needs today, more than ever before, is an Executive officer
-- a man who, as a class-conscious Socialist -- knows and understands
the needs of the working class and will keep in touch with the
working class movement. Such a man is Adolph Germer and not the
prohibitionist, 'Christian' Socialist Carl D. Thompson."
"Fair Play: Joint Letter
to the Editor of The American Socialist, May 6, 1916,"
by the Translator-Secretaries of 10 Socialist Party Language
Federations Ten
of the 15 Translator-Secretaries of the Socialist Party of America
join in a protest of the Milwaukee Leader's allegation
that the federations made use of the unit rule and cast their
ballots unanimously in party referenda -- unlike the SPA's English
language locals and branches. Unfair electoral tactics against
the Leader's favorite for Executive Secretary, Rev. Carl
D. Thompson, is thus alleged. "If that charge were true
the foreign branches would make the referendum a ridiculous farce.
But it is not true. It was obviously invented to create a prejudice
against foreign speaking branches," the letter by the 10
asserts. The Leader refused to print the denial and refused to
retract its assertion, however, thus forcing the 10 Translator-Secretaries
to take their case to the party's official organ.
"Russell and Teddy Agree:
Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist,"
by Alfred Wagenknecht [May 20, 1916] This letter from Left Wing Socialist Alfred Wagenknecht
-- home again in Ohio after the better part of a decade as a
leading member of the radical Washington state organization --
takes a shot at Victor Berger by linking him with the "Preparedness"
campaign bally-hooed by Theodore Roosevelt and endorsed by Right
Wing Socialist Charles Edward Russell (soon to leave the party).
In Wagenknecht's view, both Russell and "Teddy the Terrible"
agree that "eventually and ultimately we must come to a
system of universal military service patterned after the Swiss
and Australian plans. Both claim, and so does Victor Berger,
that these plans of compulsory service further true democracy."
Russell may be excused for bringing intellectual baggage of his
past into the socialist movement, Wagenknecht states, "but
how about veteran Berger? Shall we excuse him on the assumption
that his brain still contains vestigial impressions of the savage
state of society?"
"Result of Referendum: Germer
is Chosen National Secretary; Berger, Hillquit, Maley, Work,
and Spargo Members of National Executive Committee." [May
27, 1916] Complete
state-by-state returns for the run-off election for 3 open slots
on the Socialist Party's NEC and for the position of Executive
Secretary. In the all-important Executive Secretary race, Adolph
Germer won a bitter election over Carl D. Thompson, 14,486 (54.9%)
to 11,900 (45.1%). Thompson won majorities in 25 of the 48 states
and territories participating, but lost the race due to strong
Language Federation voting in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New
York, which delivered decisive majorities for Germer. In the
race for the 3 remaining seats on the governing National Executive
Committee -- Morris Hillquit and Victor Berger having already
won impressive majorities in the first round of balloting in
March -- Anna Maley (17,585), John Work (14,057), and John Spargo
(13,413) received majorities of votes cast in the run off and
were elected. Maley garnered strong support across the country,
picking up the highest number of votes cast in 28 of the 48 participating
states. Founding member Work received similar broadly spread
support, while Spargo was put over the top by a decisive total
in New York State. Losing candidates in the run-off were founding
member Algie Simons, Oklahoma favorite H.G. Creel, and sitting
NEC member Walter LeSeuer.
"Chicago 'Prepares' to Live;
Fights 'Preparedness' to Die," by J. Louis Engdahl [June
10, 1916] On Saturday,
June 3, 1916, Chicago's employers declared a paid holiday so
that their workers could march in an official "Preparedness"
parade through the city's streets, patterned after an earlier
event held in New York City. The Chicago Association of Commerce,
primary organizer of the event, claimed that over 130,000 participated.
This article appeared in the Socialist Party's official organ
the following week. The use of economic compulsion and "conscription"
on the party of nationalistic employers is charged, and anecdotes
related about workers who refused participation. Secretary of
the Chicago Federation of Labor Edward Nockels is quoted as saying
""We are not in sympathy with the parade.... The men
at the head of it are all enemies of organized labor." American
Socialist Editor Engdahl characterized the parade as primarily
an event of big business and in support of the Presidential candidacy
of Theodore Roosevelt, and only secondarily as a real "preparedness"
event. An ineffectual counter-effort was made by the two outnumbered
Socialist aldermen on the Chicago City Council, who unveiled
a three part "program of social preparedness" for the
city, calling for the formation of committees given the task
of drawing up concrete legislation to take before the next session
of the Illinois legislature on the issues of housing, unemployment,
and for municipal ownership. The first of these proposals was
passed by the council, the second two referred to committee,
where they presumably died.
"The Party Finances: Report
of the Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party," by Walter
Lanfersiek [June 17, 1916] Final
report of outgoing National Secretary of the SPA Walter Lanfersiek,
of Kentucky. Though soundly defeated in his bid for reelection
in 1916, Lanfersiek takes pride in having righted the Socialist
Party's financial affairs over the past three years. The party's
leftover debt from 1912 had been more or less liquidated, and
the party's net worth had increased by some $25,000, despite
having had 3 costly annual meetings of the National Committee
and undertaken a greatly expanded payroll in the form of 11 Translator-Secretaries.
Actually paid party membership stood at 94,378 (including dual
members and exemptions) for the previous 3 months, Lanfersiek
states. "There is no doubt that the past 3 years have been
the hardest years the party has had, or perhaps ever will have.
The membership has not been as large as all have desired, which
fact reduced the income. The war and unemployment in 1914 and
1915 had a great influence on keeping the party back, and our
present position, with close to 100,000 members, and with the
finances in an excellent condition, will make it possible for
the party to go ahead with its work." Lanfersiek makes no
apologies and indicates that history will show him to have been
"a faithful and conscientious servant of the party."
"Politicians and Preachers,"
by Eugene V. Debs [June 24, 1916] This brief election year article by SPA orator
Gene Debs written for the party's official organ remains timely
in an election year 90 years later: "The politicians and
preachers of capitalism are set up as the shepherds of the flock,
the politicians holding aloft the banner of patriotism and the
preachers arrayed in the livery of religion. These are the real
betrayers of the people, the hypocrites that Christ denounced
and for which he was crucified; the slimy, oil-tongued deceivers
of their ignorant, trusting followers, who traffic in the slavery
and misery of their fellow-beings that they may tread the paths
of ease and bask in the favors of their masters.... Beware of
the liveried hypocrites of the landlords, the usurers, the money-changers,
the stock-gamblers, the exploiters, the enslavers and despoilers
of the people; beware of the ruling class politicians and preachers
and mercenary menials in every form who are so profoundly concerned
about your 'patriotism' and your 'religion' and who receive their
30 pieces for warning you against socialism because it will endanger
your morality and interfere with your salvation."
"Constitution of the Socialist
Party of America." [Version in effect 1917-1919] **REVISED EDITION ** This is the fundamental document of party law
of the Socialist Party of America. The St. Louis Emergency Convention
of April 1917 (later ratified by referendum vote) made a set
of important changes to the form of governance of the organization,
including most importantly the expansion of the National Executive
Committee from 5 members to 15, the election of these NEC members
by district rather than on an at large basis, and the requirement
of an annual conference of State Secretaries, NEC members, and
Federation representatives in non-Convention years. This variant
of the SPA constitution is particularly important in that it
was the exact version in effect during the bitter party war of
1919; the legality or illegality of various actions of the factional
forces can be correctly appraised by historians only when measured
against the specific words here.
"Letter to Eugene V. Debs
in New York City from Ludwig Lore in New York City, March 9,
1917." Letter
from Ludwig Lore of the New Yorker Volkszeitung to Debs
attempting to win his cooperation in the launching of a new theoretical
magazine, The Class Struggle. "A group of Socialists
who endorse the position of the Zimmerwald and Kienthal Conferences
has decided to start a new Socialist periodical, whose task shall
be mainly to educate the intelligent rank and file of the Party,"
Lore notes. An article on "The Defense of the Fatherland"
is sought from Debs, who is asked to send the material to Lore's
co-editor, Louis Boudin, if he is able. Lore notes that the editors
plan on regularly issuing articles from the journal as propaganda
pamphlets -- a number of which were eventually issued under the
imprint of the Socialist Publication Society.
"Letter to Adolph Germer
in Chicago from Eugene V. Debs in Terre Haute, April 8, 1918."
In this letter
to Executive Secretary of the SPA Germer, Gene Debs urges the
convocation of a special convention of the Socialist Party to
refine its position on the war. "To enter the national campaign
this year on the war platform adopted a year ago would be a colossal
blunder and make of our campaign a losing one from the start.
We cannot go before the country in the present state of affairs
on that platform. A year ago when that declaration was adopted,
barring certain unfortunate phrasing, it was all right. Today
it is flagrantly wrong and it will not do at all. You cannot
defend it nor can I or anyone else in its entirety." Debs
indicates that the "ruthless" German invasion of Soviet
Russia and its attempt to dismember the country and reduce the
Russian people to "a Hohenzollern vassalage" had changed
world sentiment towards the war. Debs also indicates his support
for the recently concluded Inter-Allied Conference of representatives
of Labor and Socialist organizations. "I feel that the Socialist
Party of America should at this time make a similar declaration,
defining clearly its present attitude toward the war and the
policy it proposes shall be pursued in the making of the peace
and in the reconstruction era that is to follow the war,"
Debs declares.
"Letter to Eugene V. Debs
in Terre Haute from Adolph Germer in Chicago, April 18, 1918."
In the tendentious
mythology of the wartime Socialist Party, Eugene V. Debs was
a faultless anti-militarist and Adolph Germer a bureaucratic
frontman for the duplicitous SPA Right. This reply to Debs' April
8 letter and a follow-up query belies both of these commonly
accepted caricatures. Germer takes issue with Debs' willingness
to lend critical support to the Wilson war effort in light of
the German invasion of Soviet Russia: "In view of what the
Democratic Administration has done to the members of the Socialist
Party all over the country, and in view of the merciless suppression
of the press and the interference with our general propaganda,
I don't see how we can consistently support the policy of the
Democratic Administration." While Germer agrees with Debs
and most SP members who have corresponded with the National Office
or spoken with Germer in person that some restatement of the
SP position on the war was necessary, Germer asserts that "In
my opinion we should formulate a policy that will command the
confidence of the working classes of all the countries, a policy
of clearly defined Democratic aims, and then insist that the
Allied governments adopt them as a basis for peace negotiations
at the earliest possible moment. If the governments adopt such
a policy, then we will have something to get into the war for.
If they refuse, we have a right to be suspicious of them and
to refuse our support." He believes that the constitutionally
necessary annual meeting of State Secretaries should be combined
with a session of the SPA's NEC to formulate this revised program,
which would then be submitted to referendum. Such a meeting was
preferable to a convention for reasons of both speed and economy,
in Germer's view.
"A Convention to Restate,
Not Apologize," by Eugene V. Debs [June 21, 1918] Somehow Gene Debs ambiguous statements
about the necessity of reworking the SPA's 1917 St. Louis platform
in the face of changed war conditions and his unconditioned support
for the proceedings of the Inter-Allied Socialist and Labor Conference
(which supported the war effort) leaked to the press, prompting
Debs to issue this angry denunciation of editorials appearing
in the capitalist papers. "Years ago I declared there was
only one war in which I would enlist, and that was the war of
the workers of the world against the exploiters of the world.
I declared, moreover, that the working class had no interest
in the wars declared and waged by the ruling classes of the various
countries upon one another for conquest and spoils. That is my
position today. I have not changed in the slightest, and any
report to the contrary is absolutely untrue and is hereby branded
accordingly," Debs declares. In view of the fact that "certain
propositions stated" in the St. Louis platform which are
"now impossible," Debs advocates the rapid convocation
of a party convention to clearly and fearlessly restate the party
position on the war. Various ambiguities and problems in Debs'
argument are pointed out in extensive footnotes.
"Letter to Morris Hillquit
at Saranac Lake, NY, from Adolph Germer in Chicago, August 3,
1918." With
the constitutionally mandated "Conference of State Secretaries
and Party Officials" around the corner, Executive Secretary
of the Socialist Party Adolph Germer sent this note to Morris
Hillquit expressing disappointment that he would not be on hand
to assist with the delicate task of formulating a new party program
on the war. Of particular note is Germer's statement of disapproval
regarding Hillquit's desire to resign from the NEC for reasons
of health: "I advise against it not only for fear that it
might be misconstrued, but for other good and legitimate reasons.
It may make an opening for disturbing elements on the NEC,"
Germer writes -- this several months in advance of the Left Wing
Section's emergence as a concrete faction in the party. Germer
notes that he is sure that Seymour Stedman and Victor Berger
feel likewise on this question and he tells Hillquit that he
will have them write with their opinions on the matter in the
near future.
"Letter to Eugene V. Debs
in Terre Haute from Ludwig Lore in New York City, March 5, 1919."
Letter from Ludwig
Lore, first among equals on the editorial board of The Class
Struggle, to his new, albeit nominal, co-editor Gene Debs.
Lores asks whether Debs might be able to contribute and article
"on some American topic" for the forthcoming issue.
"I suggest an American subject because I sometimes fear
that The Class Struggle is rather in danger of treating too exclusively
with the revolutions of Russia and Germany, without sufficient
application to conditions at home," Lore says. Lore offers
his opinion on the burgeoning Left Wing movement in the Socialist
Party: "You know, of course, that 'Left Wing' organizations
are springing up everywhere in the party. Although I am in full
agreement, as you know, with the fundamental principles that
prompt these organizations, I personally feel that at this time
they constitute a grave danger, not only to the party, but tot
he very cause for which they are being created. So far as I have
been able to discover, the membership of our party is radically
inclined and will support the revolutionary position. But the
propagation by organizations such as these within the party must
inevitably, I feel, bring about a split in the movement. A split
that will, moreover, not strengthen, but weaken revolutionary
socialism in America by driving the rank and file into the arms
of Right Wing leaders as a protest against the methods of the
more radical minority." The Socialist Publication Society
was to hold a meeting in a few days to determine its formal position
towards the Left Wing movement. Later, when the feared split
of the Socialist Party became a reality, Lore turned over The
Class Struggle to the fledgling Communist Labor Party, which
retained him on the Editorial Board for what proved to be one
final issue.
"Letter to C.E. Ruthenberg
in Cleveland from 'J. Kasbeck' in New York, May 10, 1920."
"J. Kasbeck"
was the pseudonym of a Russian federationist from New York that
left the Central Executive Committee of the old Communist Party
of America with C.E. Ruthenberg in April 1920. "Kasbeck"
effectively played the role of touring organizer for the Ruthenberg-led
CPA "Minority" faction during the run-up to the Joint
Unity Convention with the Communist Labor Party which established
the United Communist Party of America. This document is a report
by "Kasbeck" to Ruthenberg of his experiences on the
road. "Kasbeck" states that in every city he visited
in the Boston district, "we have a majority with the exception
of the Letts [Latvians]." The Majority's case against Ruthenberg
& Co. seems to have related largely to his absconding with
party funds and the apparent rush of the Minority to hold a snap
Convention. "Kasbeck" relays the support of the Jewish
and Ukrainian Federations for a joint convention between he CPA
Majority and Minority factions on terms favorable to that latter.
"It seems, however, that the CEC is using its propaganda
in order to win time and undermine our strength by their organized
front," "Kasbeck" notes. "Kasbeck" calls
for Ruthenberg to return to New York from Cleveland (where he
was staying briefly, en route to Chicago): "We can do lots
of work here and break opposition if we act as persistently as
our opponents do. If we neglect New York and if we do not postpone
the convention we will gather but a small representation from
the East," "Kasbeck" states.
"Letter to 'J. Kasbeck' in
New York from C.E. Ruthenberg in Cleveland, May 14, 1920."
Reply of CPA Minority
faction leader C.E. Ruthenberg to Russian Federationist and touring
organizer "J. Kasbeck." Ruthenberg declines to return
to New York after having just left the city a few days earlier,
citing business to be settled in Chicago. He offers the following
optimistic assessment of the Minority faction's support in various
districts: "Chicago is solidly with us in spite of all the
efforts of the opposition; Cleveland is 75 to 90% ours, and in
Philadelphia we have at least 60%." Ruthenberg notes that
plans no longer feature a delay in an attempt to forge unity
between the CPA Majority and Minority factions. "You must
realize that this convention no longer depends upon our arrangements
alone, but it is also a unity conference with the CLP. Their
delegates and ours will meet together and agree upon principles
and program and constitution, and if there is such agreement
the two bodies will unite," Ruthenberg writes. Ruthenberg
makes explicit the reasons for his haste: "There is still
another reason why we must have this convention quickly. We are
at present without any governing committee for our faction. I
am acting alone, merely conferring with different persons on
important matters. This is a source of weakness. We must have
a responsible committee to represent us. It is neither fair to
me, nor a proper arrangement to force me to make all the decisions
for our group individually. In spite of the view of the "majority,"
I don't want to be the party. The convention will organize our
group, with possibly the CLP included." There will be plenty
of time to achieve unity with the Hourwich-led CPA Majority after
the unity convention with the CLP, in Ruthenberg's view: "We
can lay down the terms on which they can join the united party
at the convention. If we take such action we will be the stronger
group -- we will stand in relation to them as the CP did toward
the CLP during the last seven months." He adds that "I
have given up any hope of arriving at an agreement with the Andrews
[Hourwich] and Bernstein [Max Cohen]. We must fight it out to
a finish. The convention is our strong hope and we must have
it quickly."
"Statement on the Present
Situation to the Boston District Organization of the CPA,"
by C.E. Ruthenberg [May 14, 1920] This communication from C.E. Ruthenberg to his
supporters in the Boston District emphasizes the group's commitment
to a May 25 gathering at Bridgman, Michigan. "This convention
has the practically unanimous support of the Chicago District
(including Detroit and Pittsburgh), a majority of the members
of the Philadelphia District, and about half the members of the
New York District. As to the Boston District you know the situation
better than I. There is no question, however, that from 60 to
75% of the entire membership of the party will be represented
in this convention," Ruthenberg asserts. He notes that "the
'majority' group, with the support of possibly from 25 to 40%
of the membership, will not participate in our convention. It
is proposed that the convention shall lay down the terms on which
the CEC of the united party -- if unity is achieved -- will authorize
to deal with this 'group.'" Ruthenberg declares: "If
the Lettish [Latvian], Lithuanian, and that small part of the
Russian Federation which is not supporting the 'minority' want
to have a party consisting of a Federation of two or three Federations,
in opposition to the Communist Party, let them try it. While
such a division will be regrettable, it will not take long for
such a Federation of these Federations to learn that so far as
functioning as a Communist organization that will mean anything
in the life of the workers of this country is concerned, they
are doomed to sterility and impotence. They are doubly doomed
under the leadership of the Andrews [Nicholas Hourwiches] and
Bernsteins [Maximilian Cohens]."
"American Radicals Unite
Forces." (news article in Voice of Labor) [Aug. 4,
1921] In August
1921, the former American Labor Alliance for Trade Relations
with Soviet Russia was supplanted by a new version of the organization,
called simply "The American Labor Alliance." A founding
convention was held in New York City, attended by a dozen groups,
each of which had close ties to the Communist movement. The convention
approved a simple constitution and elected a 7 member governing
Executive Board (complete text and roster included in this report
from the party press). Following conclusion of the meeting, Caleb
Harrison was elected Secretary of the organization and headquarters
established in New York. The ALA was to be an alliance of affiliated
organizations rather than a membership group itself; finances
were to be generated by "voluntary contributions from affiliated
organizations and from sympathizers." Membership in the
ALA was open to "Any organization which declares itself
to be in agreement with the purpose of the ALA and which agrees
to abide by its working rules," upon the majority vote of
a 7 member Executive Board. Members of the Executive Board elected
by the founding convention were: J.P. Cannon, Associated Tailor
Clubs; William Woodworth, Marxian Educational Society; L.E. Katterfeld
and Edgar Owens, National Defense Committee; Michael Dardella,
Ukrainian Workers Club; Dr. Walenka, Friends of Soviet Russia;
and Caleb Harrison, Industrial Socialist League.
"American Labor Alliance,"
by Jack Carney [Sept. 30, 1921] The second version of the American Labor Alliance
begun in August 1921 was apparently stillborn. The shell of the
ALA was restructured yet again in the two months after its formal
foundation. By September 1921 the ALA was governed by an institution
not mentioned in the group's constitution -- the "Provisional
Executive Committee." This body at a meeting in September
decided to transform the ALA into a dues-paying membership organization
based around local groups, and to begin forthwith to raise a
$25,000 organizational fund to sponsor a convention relaunching
itself as a "revolutionary political party." The Provisional
Executive Committee noted that "All working class organizations
which declare themselves in sympathy with the aims and principles
of the American Labor Alliance will be invited to send delegates."
Ella Reeve Bloor, recently returned from Soviet Russia, was to
be sent on the road on a speaking tour to help raise this organizational
fund. The Communist Party's overground Chicago labor organ, Voice
of Labor, opined that "The American Labor Alliance enters
the political field with the largest membership and greatest
number of adherents of any working class party in the country.
It will not offer any false promises to the masses, neither will
it attempt to raise false hopes. It will go before the masses
and frankly inform them that if they require anything to be done
they must do it themselves. The ALA will utilize the various
political campaigns for the purpose of exposing the claims and
pretensions of capitalist politicians, also for the purpose of
rallying the masses together."
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