"Minutes of the 4th Convention of the Russian Socialist Federation: New York City -- Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 1918." On September 28, 1918, 34 delegates representing 38 divisions of the Russian Socialist Federation in 11 states, met in New York. Owing to ongoing federal government surveillance a a desire to conduct its councils frankly, without being heard or influenced by the Socialist Party administration (the party with which it was affiliated), the meeting was held in conditions of secrecy. Delegates first sent to the office of the federation's organ, Novyi Mir, to get the actual convention address at the last minute -- a private apartment. Location of the convention changed each day thereafter, a precaution which successfully kept the gathering from being penetrated by federal agents posing as newspaper reporters. This lengthy report includes reports on the status of each of 31 local divisions of the Russian Socialist Federation. According to the report of the federation's Secretary, V. Rich of Detroit, the Russian Socialist Federation had 51 divisions and some 2,500 members at the time of this gathering. The 4th Convention elected Alexander Stoklitsky as Translator-Secretary of the RSF -- the representative of the federation to maintain an office at Socialist Party headquarters in Chicago and to serve as a conduit between the SPA and the RSF. Elected as the new Secretary of the Federation itself was Oscar Tyverovsky of New York. The party's official organ, Novyi Mir, was in a state of crisis, owing to Wilson administration authorities not only taking away not only its right to send out issues at a subsidized Second Class rate, but also taking away its "privilege" to receive First Class Mail. Income from subscriptions was effectively cut off. Plans for reorganization of the paper were set aside by the convention for the incoming Executive Committee. The 4th Convention of the Russian Federation girded its loins for a forthcoming factional struggle in the Socialist Party, adopting a resolution on parliamentarism and the SPA which read in part: "Considering it inevitable that sooner or later a schism, signs of which are appearing, will arise in the American Socialist Party as it has already happened in other countries between the revolutionary and non-revolutionary factions, the Russian Socialist Federation deems it its duty to revolutionize, as much as possible, its ranks in the spirit of Bolshevik principles and union of its Left Wing in anticipation of the inevitable schism." Another resolution called for the convocation of a conference of the various "Russian Federations" (i.e. Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, South Slavic, Yiddish) of the Socialist Party "to effect unity of action of all Russian Federations and organizations by one united center."

 

"Report on the 4th Convention of the Russian Socialist Federation: New York City - Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 1918," by R.W. Finch The Justice Department's Bureau of Investigation, a secret intelligence-gathering apparatus, maintained close surveillance over the Russian Socialist Federation as well as all other liberal and radical political organizations. Acting on a tip from an informant, probably an individual in the office of the newspaper Novyi Mir, New York BoI Agent R.W. Finch learned of the forthcoming 4th Convention of the RSF and attempted to locate the gathering and to gain admission. A copy of the convention call for the gathering and an agenda (reproduced in Finch's report here) had been previously obtained by an operative of the Treasury Department's Secret Service. "We made every effort to get one of our undercover men into the meeting but without success for the reason that only duly accredited delegates with proper credentials were admitted," Finch notes to headquarters. Finch details the cat-and-mouse game he played during the first day of the convention attempting to locate the site of the gathering -- a private apartment identified only after the meeting for the day had adjourned. "We ascertained that the convention, although lasting 5 days, was not held at the same place 2 days in succession. Each day the delegates would call at at least 3 addresses before they would be taken to the address for the day at which the convention was to be held. Rather than take any further chances of uncovering our men, we made arrangements to secure the minutes of this meeting when the convention was over, and let the matter rest at that," Finch reports. He included with his report a copy of the meeting minutes obtained from his informant. "We believe that the minutes prove conclusively a contention we have long maintained, i.e., that the Russians in the US intend to organize for the purpose of allying themselves with those parties who are opposed to the present American form of government. From day to day we hear a great deal about the fact that they are planning to campaign upon the termination of hostilities in Europe for the purpose of bringing about some change in the governmental situation in the United States. We have heard the names of the Non-Partisan League, the IWW, followers of the People's Council, etc., etc., all lining up their forces for this action," Finch states.

 

"Break the Blockade of Russia! Declaration Issued by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party." (CPA leaflet #2) [dist. Nov. 1-9, 1919.] This very early leaflet of the Communist Party of America announces the forthcoming first anniversary of the armistice in the World War, but notes that a blockade and military action is still being conducted against the Soviet Republic of Russia. "Soviet Russia was a menace to this peace of plunder and oppression. Soviet Russia has repudiated Imperialism; it has repudiated annexations and wars of plunder; it believes in liberty of the peoples. Soviet Russia, in crushing its own Capitalism, is an inspiration to the workers of the world to crush all Capitalism. So the Peace Conference declared war against Soviet Russia," the CPA leaflet declares. Continued military operations had forced Soviet Russia to continue to devote its economy to military purposes, while the blockade had been an intentional effort at "deliberately starving the men, women, and children of Russia -- starving them in a brutal purpose to restore Tsarism and maintain the workers of the world in slavery." The leaflet declares: "The war against Russia, the blockade of Russia, is an expression of the international class struggle between the workers and the capitalists. Force is used against the Russian workers, but force is also used by these governments -- British, French, Italian, Japanese, American -- against their own workers. The war against Soviet Russia is a war against the workers of the world. Let the workers determine: We must break the blockade of Soviet Russia! ... Agitate against the blockade. Organize mass demonstrations against the blockade. Organize strikes against the blockade."

 

"Speech in Celebration of the 2nd Anniversary of Soviet Russia: Park View Place, New York City," by Santeri Nuorteva [Nov. 7, 1919] November 7, 1919, marked the 2nd Anniversary of the Russian Revolution, an event celebrated by mass meetings all over the city of New York and in other American urban centers. One of these gatherings was addressed by Santeri Nuorteva, secretary to Ludwig Martens of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau in New York -- the de facto embassy of Soviet Russia to the United States. A verbatim transcript of this meeting, including Nuorteva's full speech to the gathering, was taken down by a Department of Justice stenographer. Nuorteva indicates an altogether different mood on the 2nd anniversary as compared to the first: "A year ago it required a special enthusiasm, it required a great deal of faith, it required a great deal of conviction to believe and to know that the Russian Soviet Republic was not to go down, that it was to remain in power. Now today we do not need to doubt." Nuorteva indicates that while the blockade was a serious obstacle to the future success of the revolution, the most serious dilemma was the standing need of the Soviet Republic to devote 75% or more of its productive forces to military purposes. To the advantage of Soviet Russia were the contradictions within the imperialist camp, Nuorteva notes, with some Western powers seeking division of the Russian empire into its national constituencies while others sought to back White Russian forces intent upon the maintenance of the multi-national Russian empire. Soviet Russia wanted only one thing, Nuorteva declares: "We want to be left in peace, so that we may concentrate our forces on that work of construction and reconstruction which is before us there. We want to do that, and we are sure that if left alone, if not pestered by all these little dogs that are trying to bite us in the legs, around us, we will be able to show the world that the Russian Workers' Revolution is not a crazy thing, it is not a freak, it is not an invention of 1 or 2 or 3 men, that it really inaugurates an era of a new social order and we want to work it out and it is that very thing which the capitalist class is afraid of."

 

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America: New York -- February 7, 1920." Brief and rather perfunctory minutes of the Feb. 7, 1920 session of the governing Central Executive Committee of the CPA. The meeting was chiefly concerned with pending unity negotiations with the Communist Labor Party. A CLP offer for "immediate working unity as far as this can be affected pending the convention" including merger of the Central Executive Committees and National Offices of the two organizations was voted upon and defeated 5-2, with C.E. Ruthenberg and I.E. Ferguson constituting the minority. Instead, the CPA's previous bargaining position was preserved unchanged. International Secretary Louis Fraina was advised to proceed immediately to Moscow to attend forthcoming meetings of the Communist International.

 

"Letter to Alfred Wagenknecht, Executive Secretary of the CLP in New York, from Charles Dirba ["D. Bunte"], Acting Secretary of the CPA in New York, April 20, 1920." This brief note was written by the Acting head of the Communist Party of America, Charles Dirba, just two days after the acrimonious departure of Executive Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg and his allies, centered around the Chicago party organization and including several District Organizers and members of the Central Executive Committee. This communication to the head of the CLP, Alfred Wagenknecht, makes clear that it was not the issue of merger with the CLP per se which prompted the split -- Dirba expresses his willingness to continue negotiations for a forthcoming Joint Unity Convention as part of the CPA's new 3 member Joint Convention Committee. Other members of the CPA's Joint Convention Committee were Nicholas Hourwich and Max Cohen. "We are very anxious to know what you have done in the matter, or when you expect to take action," writes Dirba, adding the time and place he will be having lunch during the week and inviting Wagenknecht to join him for informal discussions.

 

"Letter to the Executive Committee of the Communist International in Moscow from the Central Executive Committee of the CPA in New York, October 19, 1920." This letter from the CEC of the CPA to ECCI notes the Communist Party of America's recent and accidental discovery of an ECCI ultimatum for immediate unity between the CPA and the rival Communist Labor Party in the pages of Izvestiia. The ECCI ultimatum set a deadline of Oct. 10, 1920 for final unity between the two groups, adding ominously that "those who do not subject themselves to this decision shall be expelled from the Third, Communist International." The ECCI decision was only discovered on Oct. 13, 1920, however -- three days after the deadline. "Your decision was immediately complied with not only because we recognize your full and complete authority but also because we agree with your fundamental plan of creating one Communist Party in each country," the CPA declares. The onus for the lack of unity is placed squarely upon the CLP, which is said to have arbitrarily terminated unity negotiations with the CPA in April 1920 and to have instead brokered a deal with a dissident minority faction headed by the "Centrist" leaders C.E. Ruthenberg, I.E. Ferguson, and Leonid Belsky. This minority group had split "mainly on the questions of mass action and language federations" the CPA majority asserts, after first "committing a grave breach of party discipline as well as absconding with the funds and records of the party." Despite the seeming unfitness of the "Centrist" UCP, the CPA Central Executive Committee states definitively that "We recognize your decision as final and have made preparations that will bring both parties into a unity convention based upon proportional representation of membership in both parties."

 

"Bureau of Investigation Confidential Surveillance Report of the Unity Convention of the Communist Party of America: Woodstock, NY -- May 15-28, 1921." Anyone who has read Theodore Draper's seminal history, The Roots of American Communism, is well aware that the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation successfully penetrated the 1922 Bridgman Michigan convention with an agent elected as a delegate -- Francis Morrow, aka "Ashworth" and "Day." What has been unknown until now this was not the first time that a secret Communist convention had been penetrated in this manner. Pittsburgh Sub-District Organizer "Ryan" (known in the second half of 1921 as "C. Williams" when he served as Youngstown, OH SDO) was one of 30 United Communist Party delegates elected to the 1921 Joint Unity Convention with 30 like delegates of the Communist Party of America. The gathering was held at the Overlook Mountain House hotel, near Woodstock, New York. Immediately after the termination of this convention, secret informant "Ryan" provided the BoI with this extensive report -- one of only two contemporary participant accounts known to have survived. "Ryan" provides a day-by-day summary of convention activities, emphasizing the role of Comintern Representative "Scott" (Karlis Janson) in the proceedings. He also provides the BoI with personal descriptions of all 29 of his UCP "comrades" as well as for a handful of the delegates of the CPA -- the majority of which he characterizes as "mostly Russians and Lettish [Latvians]" who "did not speak on the floor, and were not called by name so it was impossible to learn their convention names and where they came from." "The Superintendent of the Hotel and a Miss Brown, who was in charge, knew the nature of the convention and it was stated by members of the Central Executive Committee that Miss Brown is a member of that Party," the BoI informant notes. Details about the elaborate security precautions in place for the convention are fascinating and lend credence to the seemingly melodramatic accounts previously circulated about similar guards and train station watchers put in place at the 1922 Bridgman convention. The identity of BoI informant and UCP SDO "Ryan" remains unknown at this time.

 

"Circular Letter to All UCP Groups from Alfred Wagenknecht ["Paul Holt"], Outgoing Executive Secretary, June 1, 1921." This communique from the outgoing Executive Secretary of the UCP announces to the membership of the organization that "UNITY HAS BEEN ACHIEVED!" at the recently completed Joint Unity Convention held at Woodstock, NY from May 15-28, 1921, and that effective this date the new CEC elected by the convention would be in charge of the unified organization (with Charles Dirba elected by the CEC as the new Executive Secretary). Dues for former UCP members would remain at 75¢ for the month of June before dropping to the new rate of 60¢ per month effective July 1921. "With unity, the building of a virile, powerful Communist Party in this country becomes an immediate possibility. Energy and time formerly used in duplication of work because of dual organization will now be released and applied to the many tasks which confront the advance guard of the working class. Educational work, propaganda, organization -- all these will now go forward with double speed. All work from now on will be more efficient and planful, for it is now centralized into one party and one executive is at the helm," Wagenknecht declares. "Imperialism has but one foe -- the Communist International. American Capitalism has but one foe -- the unified Communist Party. To build a party which will prove victorious over American Capitalism and so strengthen the Communist International in its struggle against World Capitalism -- this should be the aim of every party member," Wagenknecht adds.

 

"Circular to All District, Sub-District, and Section Organizers of the CPA Regarding the YCL, from Charles Dirba ["C. Dow"], Executive Secretary of the CPA in New York, circa June 6, 1921." This is one of the first communiques to the party apparatus from newly elected Executive Secretary of the unified Communist Party of America, Charles Dirba. Dirba announces that the Young Communist League of America "has been recognized officially as part of the International of Communist Youth, affiliated with the Communist International." Dirba states that "a National Convention of the YCL will be called as soon as the International YCL delegate returns [from the 2nd World Congress of the YCI in Moscow], but there is no need to wait until then with the organizational work. Underground groups of the YCL should be started wherever possible at once. Only they will be entitled to participate in the YCL convention." Organizers are asked to provide a good cover address for the best potential YCL leader in their respective territory so that the YCL Secretary [Oliver Carlson] might contact these individuals directly with regards to the development of the organization. "The success of the revolution tomorrow will depend very largely upon the work done among the Young People today," Dirba declares.

 

"Memorandum to Edward J. Brennan, BoI Division Superintendent, Chicago, from Jacob Spolansky, Special Agent in Chicago, July 9, 1921." This document demonstrates the effectively of the American Communist movement's use of pseudonyms in befuddling the agents of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation. The BoI's highly lauded Chicago agent Jacob Spolansky goes 0-for-2 in his attempt to identify Comintern Representative "Charles E. Scott" -- who Spolansky insists is Alfred Wagenknecht -- and United Communist Party Executive Secretary -- who Spolansky wrongly identifies as Edgar Owens. Bearing in mind that the BoI had previously raided UCP headquarters and seized a trove of documents and code information, it is remarkable that the organization remained so confused about the true identities of leading party personnel. Spolansky was not the only BoI agent making wrong guesses about these identities, it should be noted, but rather one of several.

 

"Comrade Louis Shapiro (Bain): An Obituary." [circa Aug. 1, 1921] This brief official obituary marks the death of former Executive Secretary of the old Communist Party Louis Shapiro (L. Bain). Shapiro had been sent on a party mission to Soviet Russia in February 1921 but was subsequently ordered home from Moscow by the new CEC of the unified party. While en route, Shapiro apparently suffered a heart attack and died, with Hamburg, Germany cited as the place of death. Shapiro had been a member of the CPA since its founding and was elected Executive Secretary at the 2nd Convention of the CPA [July 13-18, 1920]. Shapiro "was an active and loyal worker in the movement. Comrade Shapiro died in the service of the Party and the movement [has lost] an active and valued comrade," the obituary notes.

 

"Statement of the CEC on the Suspension of the 19 Russian Members." [circa Sept. 20, 1921] A shot in the factional war which was to erupt in a party split in the fall of 1921 was fired by the majority of the CPA when its representative to the Russian language conference apparently became embroiled in a machine politics-type move involving a challenge of the credentials of the elected New York delegation and simultaneous packing of the Credentials Committee of the gathering -- thereby putting the minority (which supported the ex-UCP majority of the CEC) in a position of control of the gathering and ensuring the election of a Russian Bureau favorable to that majority. This heavy-handed action prompted the walkout of the (ex-CPA) faction being victimized by this maneuver. In response, the CEC majority suspended the 19 regular and fraternal delegates who walked out of the Russian language conference en masse. This document was issued by the CEC majority (and subsequently leaked to the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation) as an explanation of the situation which had developed. Bridgeport, Connecticut had elected 3 delegates when it was entitled to 2, the document states and the representative of the CEC (presumably Russian Federationist and CEC majority member J. Wilenkin) had arbitrarily disallowed one of these delegates, while 6 New York delegates were under challenge, thereby reducing the (ex-CPA) faction to 12 of 24 regularly elected delegates (and tipping control of the gathering to the ex-UCP faction). Thereupon, the (ex-CPA) minority refused further participation in the gathering. "Continuous and deliberate efforts" to disrupt the gathering were first made by the offended faction, forcing a hasty termination of the first session. The authority of the CEC's representative (Wilenkin) was repudiated. "During the night they informed the delegate from the CI [Janson] that they would not recognize the authority of the CEC unless they were given at least half of the delegation from [New York]," the statement indicates, a demand met with a demand that the authority of the CEC's representative must first be given by the alienated faction. This was refused. The next day George Ashkenuzi refused to give the Federation's financial and organizational report and a bill was presented to Wilenkin for $600 to cover the expenses incurred by the ex-CPA faction in attending the conference. This was refused by Wilenkin on the grounds that the ex-CPA faction had not participated in the convention and therefore could not have their expenses reimbursed. Threats were apparently made against Wilenkin's person, the CEC majority was condemned, and the alienated faction walked out. Thereafter, the CEC of the CPA voted 7-2 (1 member voting "present") to suspend the 19 individuals involved pending fuller investigation by the CEC. "The lies and misrepresentations circulated by some of these comrades regarding their behavior at the conference only adds to their already shameful and uncommunistic conduct," the statement of the CEC declares.

 

"Resolution on the Suspension of the 19 Delegates to the Russian Language Conference." [Adopted circa Sept. 25, 1921.] This resolution issued by Russian Federation elements formerly members of the old CPA protests the heavy-handed action to manipulate the outcome of the 1921 Russian language conference by the CEC majority. The resolution declares that the conference had been denied the right "to constitute itself according to generally accepted procedure" and "to decide for itself upon contesting and contested delegates" and that "regularly elected delegates and all others who did not recognize these arbitrary and disruptionary rulings" had been excluded from participation. As a result, the resolution continues, the 19 affected regular, contested, and fraternal delegates had protested the arbitrary and illegal actions of the representative of the CEC majority in the only manner in which they were able. The resolution calls for the CEC to reconsider its suspensions of these 19 members of the Russian Federation and to restore these 19 individuals to full party membership pending the conduct of a full investigation.

 

"Resolution on the Removal of 4 Members of the Lithuanian Bureau." [Adopted circa Sept. 25, 1921.] There is a tendency to see the split of the so-called Central Caucus in the fall of 1921 as nothing more than a reaction to the decision of the majority of the Central Executive Committee of the unified CPA to move towards the immediate formation of a Legal Political Party -- with devastating results for the members of the various language federation groups of the party, who would be quickly and easily scooped up by law enforcement authorities if secret procedure within the party were no longer followed. This was an enormous issue between the two factions, to be sure, but it was actually but one of a number of closely related issues that led to the Central Caucus split. One early salvo in the factional war was fired over the composition of the governing Bureau of the Lithuanian Communist Federation. On Sept. 15, 1921, the majority of the CEC of the CPA overturned the decision of the recent Lithuanian language conference and sacked 4 members elected by that body to serve on the Lithuanian Bureau, replacing them with handpicked candidates of their own rather than the official alternates named by the conference. This decision enraged a section of the Lithuanian Federation, which passed this condemnatory resolution of this "outrageous act," calling for its reconsideration and for the convocation of an emergency convention of the CPA.

 

"Stand By the Miners of Mingo!" (leaflet of the unified CPA) [circa Sept. 25 1921] This agitational leaflet of the Communist Party of America demands that the American working class stand by the striking mineworkers of West Virginia in their hour of need in their long-running and violent strike. "Troops, airplanes, bombs, machine guns, and all the hellish devices of capitalist warfare have been rushed into the Mingo area. These have supposedly been sent to save 'law and order,' but they have actually been sent to crush the workers," the leaflet asserts. "Their fight is your fight! They are fighting against the vicious US Steel trust that runs the entire strike area. They are fighting against a most tyrannical wage-slavery. Their defeat will be your disaster," the leaflet declares. "A defeat at Mingo will go a long way toward driving the whole American working class into lower wages, longer hours, and endless drudgery," the leaflet warns. "We must everywhere organize meetings and demonstrations to help the Mingo fighters, financially and morally. Let every union local and labor body force the Federal government to compel the profit-hungry coal magnates to go into conference with the miners," the leaflet insists.

 

"Resolution of Protest Against Actions of CEC and For National Convention." (Resolution of the Central Caucus) [circa Oct. 1, 1921.] This protest resolution issued by former members of the old CPA who were heading towards formal organizational split as the "Central Caucus" outlines a fairly complete list of transgressions of the ex-UCP majority of the Central Executive Committee that were prompting such a rupture. These included: (1) the "sudden and drastic" order of the CEC to reorganize underground groups of the party into branches of the American Labor Alliance, thereby liquidating the underground organization and transforming the CPA into a Legal Political Party. This disregarded existing political conditions in the country and needlessly exposed its members to police repression; (2) the conducting of a "crushing policy" of the CEC majority, arbitrarily removing District and Sub-District Organizers for factional reasons, in contradiction to the spirit of the Joint Unity Convention; (3) the refusal to accept the decisions of National Language Conferences, including the arbitrary removal of 4 members of the Bureau of the Lithuanian Federation and the virtual expulsion of 19 leading members of the Russian Federation for "merely protesting against the packing of their convention by the acts of the CEC"; (4) the making of appointments on the basis of factional and personal loyalty and maintenance of a costly and consequent maintenance of an artificially large and costly party apparatus; (5) the gross failure of the CEC majority to act in a timely manner or a meaningful way in aid of the armed struggle of the West Virginia miners against their oppressors. Therefore, the resolution declared, "we demand the holding of an emergency convention as a means of saving the party from the destructive policies of the present CEC."

 

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U P D A T E S

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee, of the Communist Party of America: Chicago - November 15-18, 1919. **THIRD EDITION: CORRECTS TITLE, CORRECTS FOOTNOTE MODIFIES STYLE. (My allusion that the CPA might have suppressed minutes of sessions dealing with controversial topics proved wrong -- the CI simply misfiled second half of meeting minutes in another archival folder.)

 

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America: New York -- March 17-19, 1920." Minor change: adds a pseudonym attribution ("Ries" = John Ballam).

 

"Make the Party a "Party of Action," by C.E. Ruthenberg [published April 25, 1920] Minor change: adds a pseudonym attribution ("Ries" = John Ballam).

 

"Letter to Leonid Belsky in Chicago from C.E. Ruthenberg in New York, May 3, 1920 - morning." Minor change: adds a pseudonym attribution ("Ries" = John Ballam).

 

"Letter to C.E. Ruthenberg in Cleveland from 'J. Kasbeck' in New York, May 10, 1920." Minor change: adds a pseudonym attribution ("Ries" = John Ballam).

 

"A Farewell to Controversy," by C.E. Ruthenberg [July 3, 1920] Minor change: adds a pseudonym attribution ("Ries" = John Ballam).

 

"Further Statement on Unity Proceedings," by Charles Dirba [circa Dec. 1, 1920] Minor change: adds a pseudonym attribution ("Ries" = John Ballam).

 

"Save the Party! An Appeal to All Members of the Communist Party!" [circa Oct. 12, 1921] **SECOND EDITION: Refines estimated date of issuance from Nov. 1 to Oct. 12 based on information garnered from Bureau of Investigation files; adds pseudonym attributions.

 

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