"Socialism as a Mental Disease," by Bertram D. Wolfe [Dec.4, 1917] Occasional contributor to the New York Call Bert Wolfe offers this tongue-in-cheek description of the sickness of Socialism, defined as "a disease of the political forgettory, a faculty very necessary to the absolute mental tranquility and mental quiescence of the political creature, man." Socialists "suffer" from the "curse of a political memory," Wolfe states, and consequently they "cannot forget the campaign slogan of 1916, 'He kept us out of war.' Consequently, the Socialists are still stupidly standing behind the President in his long-forgotten efforts for 'Peace without victory.'" Wolfe whimsically notes that "It is said that this fearful disease is incurable except by an operation to remove the seat of any trouble, the brain, an organ that authorities have recently discovered to resemble the appendix in that each of them apparently serves no useful purpose and may at times become troublesome."

 

"Hourwich Asks 'Precise Charge': Government Shrouds Case with Mystery, Says Speaker Jailed for Talk on Russia." (NY Call) [Dec. 6, 1917] On November 18, 1917, Russian Socialist Federation leader Nicholas Hourwich was arrested in Bridgeport, Connecticut, along with 3 others, charged with treason. This is the full text of a Dec. 6 statement to the press released by Hourwich through his attorney, Charles Recht of New York. Hourwich denies having discussed political conditions in the United States during the hour-long speech for which he was arrested: ""The subject of my lecture was the necessity of holding a convention of Russian colonists in America under the auspices of the Russian embassy in this country. I was to speak also incidentally on the Russian Revolution insofar as it opened up new industrial possibilities for the skilled workman in Russia, and also about the change which has taken place in the attitude of the [Russian] embassy in America as a result of the March Revolution.... I did not speak about the political or industrial conditions in this country; in fact, there was no occasion for any remark of that sort."

 

"Fingerprint Each Person in America, Stevenson Demands." (NY Call) [Dec. 7, 1917] Elements of the American conservative movement have favored the adoption of national identity cards since the second decade of the 20th Century as a means for the state to isolate potential enemies of the state. The intellectual father of this prescribed tool of state repression was Archibald Stevenson, chairman of the Committee on Aliens of the mayor of New York's Committee on National Defense (later better known as chief investigator of the New York legislature's anti-red "Lusk Committee"). Stevenson advocates the adoption of a universal identification card for all Americans, with the documents toinclude signature, photograph, and fingerprints. Such cards were seen by Stevenson as the only means by which wartime "enemy alien" regulations could be properly enforced. "The passage of a law requiring all men and women to carry identification cards would give a sense of security to every loyal citizen, while enabling the public to put secret enemies where they ought to be," Stevenson states.

 

"$50 and 20 Days for Pamphlet: Portland Judge Puts Heavy Sentence on Socialist for Mild War Literature." (NY Call) [Dec. 10, 1917] This short news item from the New York Call documents the hysterical limitations of free speech and free press imposed on the citizens of America during the first world war. J.M. Beck, a Sacramento businessman, was arrested while on a business trip to Portland, Oregon, for distributing copies of John M. Work's "very tame" Socialist pamphlet, The Cause and Cure of War, without a license. "The very fact that it mentioned war in a critical manner was sufficient to arouse the judge...and bring down upon Beck the limit in the way of a fine and sentence," the article states. When told by Portland Municipal Judge Rossman of his sentence and fine, Beck requested an attorney, only to be told that he had already been convicted and that he must appeal the sentence to obtain assistance of an attorney.

 

"Girl Gets 10 Years for Anti-Draft Letters: Judge Pays Tribute to Her Intelligence as He Pronounces Sentence." (NY Call) [Dec. 13, 1917] News article noting the sentencing of Seattle philosophical anarchist Louise Olivereau to 75 years in prison for multiple counts of passing anti-draft material through the mails. Due to the sentences running concurrently, the young woman faced "only" 10 years behind bars for her ostensible crime: "Pointing to the flag and declaring that it stands for liberty and justice, Judge Neterer said: "I will not impose maximum penalties. On counts 1, 4, and 7, I sentence you to 10 years each, and on counts 3, 6, and 9 -- 5 years each, or a total of 45. These sentences may be served concurrently, which will make your imprisonment for a term of 10 years.'" The judge expressed his wishes that Ms. Olivereau would while behind bars in Colorado "change her ideas to conform to organized government." Olivereau ultimately served 2 full years of this term.

 

"Great Open Air Demonstration Tonight!" (advertisement) [Dec. 21, 1917] Machine readable pdf approximation of an ad which ran in the Dec. 21, 1917 edition of the New York Call advertising a "Great Open Air Demonstration" to support "the Bolsheviki demand for a GENERAL ARMISTICE and IMMEDIATE GENERAL PEACE." Speakers at the demonstration were to include Joseph D. Cannon, Frank Harris, Juliet Stuart Poyntz, and Ludwig Lore. The sponsoring committee, the "Friends of New Russia," included James Bagley, Isaac Hourwich, Vida Milholland, Lella Fay Secore, Rebecca Shelley, and J.P. Warbasse.

 

"The Bolsheviki -- Socialism in Action!" by Louis C. Fraina [Dec. 30, 1917] This lengthy letter to the editor of the Evening Call by New York Socialist Louis C. Fraina is fascinating on two counts: first, as an extremely early expression of the Bolshevik Revolution (which took place just 7 weeks previously) as the fulfillment of American revolutionary Socialist aspirations; second, as a very first emphasis in the New York Socialist press of an ideological division within the Socialist Party of America paralleling the split between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks in Russia. Fraina dismisses as "pseudo-Marxists" those believing that Socialist revolution was impossible in Russia due to that country's failure to have undergone first the "stage" of capitalist revolution. Whereas the Mensheviks in Russia had sought to forge a governing alliance between the revolutionary proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the Bolsheviks had rejected any such notion, instead turning to alliance with a radicalized peasantry and agricultural semi-proletariat. Despite the overwhelmingly pro-Bolshevik orientation of the Socialist Party's rank and file in support of the Bolsheviks and their call for an immediate general armistice, in Fraina's view Socialist officials had been criminally silent on the matter, both those of New York state as well as the party's National Executive Committee. "The Russian proletariat acts internationally, offers cooperation to the proletariat of the world, and our party is silent in this historic crisis!" Fraina protests. "Where does the Socialist Party stand? Let the membership declare itself!" Fraina demands, noting that this is a matter of pledging "moral support to the revolutionary Bolshevik peace policy, and in that way encourage the Russian proletariat and contribute toward the development of action in Europe." Fraina does not express an opinion that a revolutionary situation is pending in America in this letter; rather, his eyes are on Europe.

 

"Seattle Labor Paper Wrecked by Sailor Mob: Men in Naval Militia Uniform Destroy Part of Plant, Burning Nearby Hotel." (NY Call) [Jan. 6, 1918] Yet another in a seemingly endless series of incidents of Right Wing thuggery which took place during and immediately after World War I. On Jan. 6, 1918, "Armed men in naval militia uniforms held up the printing plant of the Seattle Daily Call, a Socialist and labor newspaper, endangering the lives of hundreds and causing a fire which burned out a nearby hotel. A job for the Red Cross society was on the machines when the raid was made. Three linotypes and 4 presses were ruined but enough was left in the wreck so that the paper, which has antagonized the big shipbuilding interests, was issued today." Damage was estimated at $100,000, according to this press report. Anti-labor organizations like the 4 Minute Men had been organized and bankrolled by open shop employers and the Chamber of Commerce, it was charged. "It is feared that a violent war will open against labor in Seattle as it did in San Francisco, only in this case the capitalists opened the battle by attacking the citadel of the workers -- the vigorous daily which they have established within the last 6 months," the article declares.

 

"Letter to the Editor of the New York Evening Call," by Morris Zucker [Jan. 10, 1918] This letter to the editor of The Call by future Left Winger Morris Zucker expresses his personal sense of growing apathy towards the national Socialist Party of America. "Years ago I took as keen an interest in the elections in California as I do right here in Brownsville. I used to read of Tom Hickey and his Rebel. I marveled at the gigantic encampments of our Oklahoma comrades; I prayed for Socialist unity in Oregon, and waxed enthusiastic over our prospects in Ohio. While now my thoughts scarcely pass beyond the bounds of my Assembly or my Congress district. And this reflects the thoughts of most of my comrades," Zucker asserts. Zucker calls for the current "Million Dollar Fund" for the coming campaign to be made occasion for a revitalization of the rank and file's interest in and loyalty to the national SP organization.

 

"Cleveland Socialists Go to Jail for Cause." [Statement by C.E. Ruthenberg] [Jan. 17, 1918] On Jan. 17, 1918, Ohio Socialist Party leaders C.E. Ruthenberg, Alfred Wagenknecht, and Charles Baker were informed of the US Supreme Court's decision to uphold the 1 year prison terms imposed upon the trio for violation of the Espionage Act by a Federal Court. Ruthenberg issued a short statement to the press on behalf of the three: "The crime for which we are convicted is truth telling. We believe in certain principles; we fought for those principles, and we go to jail ostensibly for inducing a certain Alphonse Schue not to register. The charge is merely an excuse. Neither of us knew Schue; neither of us heard of him until his name appeared in the indictment against us. The ruling class is always able to find a Judas. Schue was induced to say he heard our speeches, and had been influenced thereby not to register by the promise of his freedom. It is not the Judas that is important. The important fact is that the ruling class feared our message to the workers and tried to silence that message. That fact should make a hundred willing workers take up the work we lay down." The three were going to jail "smilingly" and would return a year hence to work for the cause in which they believed, Ruthenberg declares.

 

"Socialist Party Offices Raided in Cleveland." (NY Call) [Jan. 23, 1918] On January 23, 1918, less than a week after the sentences of Socialist Party of Ohio leaders C.E. Ruthenberg, Alfred Wagenknecht, and Charles Baker to 1 year jail terms under the Espionage Law for their outspoken opposition of the European war had been upheld by the US Supreme Court, authorities conducted a raid against the SP's Cleveland headquarters. This brief article from the Socialist press documents this action, which lead to the seizure of 55,000 flyers produced on behalf of the 3 imprisoned Ohio Socialists. The plates for production of the leaflets were seized from a local printer after a warrant was obtained in the aftermath of the raid, which was conducted by US Deputy Marshals and the Secret Service department.

 

"Keynote Address to the Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party of America: Chicago, IL -- August 30, 1919," by Seymour Stedman The first order of business of the seminal 1919 Emergency National Convention was the election of a chairman of the day, a post handily won by Regular Seymour Stedman over Left Winger Joseph Coldwell of Rhode Island, by a vote of 88-37. Upon his election, Stedman delivered the traditional keynote address to the gathering. Stedman recounts the history of the previous 5 years, in which the workers of Europe, "many of them drilled in economics by Marx and Engels." went to war against one another. The Socialist Party of America stood out by way of contrast, Stedman indicates, adopting the St. Louis Resolution against the war and standing true to its principles despite the "attacks of the mob on the streets, or rage from the [judicial] bench." Rather than be erased by the initial repression, despite losses of numerous locals in small town America, the membership of the Socialist Party soon began to grow. "This served to provoke more desperate measures against us," says Stedman. "Our National Office was raided again and again. Small papers of the workers were suppressed; foreign language papers were suppressed. The privilege of the mails was denied to our leading dailies. Our members were arrested, jailed, convicted and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The liberties which we were supposed to enjoy were throttled, and constitutional guarantees we found to be merely academic declarations." Stedman's tone is measured, mentioning the Left Wing insurgency almost as an aside, accusing this group of "misjudging entirely the psychology" of the American working class movement. This group "commenced an agitation in the party; not solely to bring before our national convention their propositions, but to declare that they alone held the secret of success and to impose it upon the party; and upon refusal of the membership to accept their proposition to launch a new political party. With many of them this has been carried our in the formation of the Communist Party." The split of the SPA is thus judged by Stedman to be an accomplished fact from the opening gavel of the 1919 convention.

 

"Debate on Seating the Minnesota Delegation at the Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party of America: Chicago, IL -- August 31, 1919." From the opening gavel there was little, if any, drama about the outcome of the 1919 Emergency National Convention. The so-called "Right Wing" Regulars had maneuvered themselves into a position of clear control in the face of a Left Wing split over strategy towards to the convention. Despite its preordained outcome, there was drama and a defining movement at the Socialist Party convention, however, -- the extensive debate over the Credentials Committee's recommendation as to the seating of the Minnesota delegation. It was during this debate that the various philosophies and ethical orientations within the Regular wing of the party became clear, as the loyalists attempted to navigate a split without losing the party's democratic soul. Basing their case upon affidavits from 4 Minnesota locals that they had not received ballots for the election for convention delegates from State Secretary Charles Dirba and the acknowledgement that members of suspended language federations had participated in the vote, there were some who favored the adoption of the Credentials Committee report, setting aside the Minnesota election of a Left Wing delegation and instead seating the alternative slate hastily named in an extra-constitutional manner by the Regular State Executive Committee of Minnesota. Others loyal to the Regular faction stood strongly for the principle of rank and file democracy, defending the slate elected by the membership of the state in spite of the delegation's ideological coloration, the alleged and acknowledged electoral irregularities, and the decision of the Minnesota Left Wing delegation not to accept seats in any event (their spokesman Jack Carney having told Jacob Panken's Credentials Committee to "go to hell.") The Left Wing perspective was advanced by delegates from Illinois and New Jersey. Behind the debate lay the question of whether the Socialist Party's National Executive Committee had the ethical authority and legal right to arbitrarily suspend 7 language federations of the party in the first place. The stenographic report reveals a certain complexity and diversity of thought among adherents of the Regular faction which has been little appreciated in the literature. Includes an Art Young pen-and-ink caricature of the leading lights of the dominant New York delegation and a photo of iconoclastic Duluth editor Jack Carney.

 

"Current Phases of the Class Struggle in the United States," by William D. Haywood [July 1922] A brief summary of American labor events for a British Communist readership by expatriate Yank William D. "Big Bill" Haywood. Haywood deals with the recently concluded convention of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association and its so-called "open shop" campaign, a threatened strike of the 16 railway brotherhoods, the strke of the Chicago building trades, continued strife among mineworkers in Kansas (pitting union leader Alex Howatt against the state's "industrial court"), strikes of Chicago meatpackers and marine transport workers and the Ladies' Garment Workers' in New York, the violent West Virginia coal strike, and so forth.

 

"An Anarchist on Russia: A Reply to Emma Goldman," by William D. Haywood [August 1922] "Big Bill" Haywood takes aim at Anarchist Emma Goldman, writing for the New York World from exile in Soviet Russia. Haywood calls her series of anti-Communist articles "mendacious in thought, malicious in intent, but relevant in purpose" and opines that "it is Emma's desire to return to the United States, where she enjoyed the plaudits of an adolescent audience." Haywood notes that Goldman "is not angry at the United States, which she says 'robbed her of her home and hearth,' but is viciously mad at Soviet Russia, which gave her admittance, employment, shelter, and sustenance. Is her reward to the Soviet government any less than ingratitude?" He calls her an "egotist" intent upon peddling "malignant attacks on Russia" to the "mongers of sensationalism" in the press. Haywood quotes an extensive passage from a letter of Leon Trotsky to support his assessment of Goldman. Trotsky calls Goldman's peace commentary on the Brest-Litovsk peace "childish prattle" and answers it at considerable length. He also cites Lucy Parsons, widow of the Haymarket martyr Albert Parsons, who is said to have "severely" criticized Goldman "because she sold herself to the capitalist press of the United States" and for offering up what was effectively "a rehash of the supercilious vaporings of capitalist reporters."

 

 

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