"A Short History of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen," by F.P. Sargent [1889] Brief history of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen by the head of the organization, F.P. Sargent. The BLF is best remembered as the organization for which Eugene V. Debs edited the monthly journal, the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine, from 1878 to 1894, when he left to form an industrial union, the American Railway Union. Sargent notes that the BLF was established in 1873 as a fraternal benevolent association, supplying low-cost life insurance to its members. Over time, benefits increased and coverage for occupational disabilities was added, as the size of the organization and its available funds grew. Historians should note that the BLF was a fraternal benefit society, not a labor union. "The relationship existing between the companies and members of our order is wholly harmonious," Sargent notes.

 

"The Russian Gay-Girls and the War," by Louise Bryant [July 1918] This article from Pearson's Magazine by Left Wing journalist Louise Bryant mixes autobiography with analysis in considering the issue of prostitution during the period of the Great War in Europe. Bryant tells the tale of her girlhood in a small Nevada town and the unkind and discriminatory treatment meted out to prostitutes in that milieu. Bryant notes her long-running concern for the "unhappy girls" of the western sex industry, to whom she says she weekly brought flowers, candy, magazines, and sympathy at the local jail. Bryant took her interest in the subject with her when she went to Europe as a war reporter. She compares the wartime prostitution policies of France (negligent non-concern, refusal of rations) with Germany ("systematic, brutal, and efficient" organization of prostitutes "into a huge army" with superfluous individuals sent into the munitions manufacturing industry). To these she contrasts the enlightened Russian policy of "love and understanding" in which "since the revolution prostitutes have been allowed to become nurses and to enlist in the women's regiments." Bryant asserts that "The only place where prostitution still thrives in Russia is in the cafes frequented by rich speculators and foreigners." Bryant declares: "There is no economic reason for being a prostitute now in Russia, and it isn't even a disgrace to be one, and so the whole pitiful business is just toppling over. With the most lax marriage laws, prostitution banished, and divorces as easy to get as a cup of tea, there is less immorality in Russia than anywhere in the world! It seems to me that it wouldn't be a bad idea for some of the professional soul savers with elaborate systems for saving the 'fallen' to ponder a little on the simple methods of the much-maligned Bolsheviki."

 

"Resolution Passed by the 3rd Congress of the Ukrainian Federation of the Socialist Party of America: New York, NY -- April 1919." This unanimous resolution of the April 1919 convention of the Ukrainian Federation of the Socialist Party proclaims that the Federation has "denounced in the past, we denounce now, and shall continue to denounce in the future, all groups and all parties which defend the old and corrupt social order." Expressing pride in the Bolshevik revolution, the Federation insists "we unreservedly adhere to the Ukrainian (and international) Communist-Bolshevik Party. We shall continue to support it as the sole representative of revolutionary aspirations, as the only party competent to free the workers of all lands and all races from the heavy yoke of capitalism, as the only party which, upon the ruins of existing society, will be able to upbuild the new order, the resplendent and just order of Communism... We hold ourselves ready to fight in person as soon as we shall have overcome the obstacles put in our way by our powerful enemies.
All hail to the universal revolution!"

 

"America: The Foundation of a Communist Party," by "Y." [Sept. 1, 1919] This article from the Petrograd magazine The Communist International speaks of the formation of a Communist Party of America as an accomplished fact -- in an issue with the same publication date as the opening of the founding convention of the Communist Party of America! The author, signing only with the initial "Y.", declares that the SPA, "led by the notorious traitors to Socialism, Algernon Lee and Maurice Hillquit, has long been ripe for a split." The issuance of the Left Wing Manifesto is heralded and quoted extensively in this article. The June 1919 National Conference of the Left Wing Section, held in New York, is mentioned, although "Y." remarks that "unfortunately we have no information as to the decision adopted concerning adhesion to the Third International. All we know is that the question was on the agenda. Nor have we any information as to the numerical strength of the party. It is quite possible that the party has not yet assumed the character of an organization of the masses." Despite the grossly deficient state of communication, "Y." depicts the prospects of the revolutionary movement in America in glowing colors, noting that "in the epoch of universal history upon which we have now entered, every great movement of the toiling masses and the oppressed invariably assumes a Communist form and inevitably culminates in a struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat. At this juncture, America may be described as an erupting volcano. Strikes follow one another ceaselessly. In many of the states there have been armed revolts among the negroes, who demand equal rights. More than 100,000 fully armed Afro-Americans took part in what amounted to actual battles in the streets of Chicago. The revolt was led by colored ex-soldiers back from the front... We are confident that our American comrades will unite into a single stream the scattered torrents of the mass movement, that they will free it from foreign bodies, and will break the lava crust which has formed upon the surface. Then, from the rumbling volcano of the capitalist order there will escape a brilliant and mighty jet of flame which will consume all the obstacles in its path, and will crystallize, as it cools, to form a new society of labor."

 

"Some Plain Words," by Charles W. Ervin [Sept. 10, 1921] Managing Editor of the New York Call Charles Ervin fires a broadside in the direction of the Communist Party's Friends of Soviet Russia organization, appealing for funds for Russian famine relief, to be collected and distributed outside of the FSR apparatus. The Call's fund will be administered without the deduction of a single cent for operational expenses, Ervin indicates. Alternatively, Call readers are encouraged by Ervin to donate to Russian famine relief through their trade unions. Ervin notes the hostility of the FSR to parallel relief efforts, and cites the group's antipathy to the efforts of the ACWU and ILGWU as "proof positive to us of a desire to sabotage other funds being collected, and a total disinclination to really unify the activities taking place among the working class." Ervin declares that "we are used to the abuse of the Communists in this country. All the energies that in Russia go to the doing of constructive work seem to be employed by the Communists in America in factional strife. Not content with going their own way and attacking capitalism, they spend much of their time in a vain effort to destroy the existing labor unions by intriguing within their ranks and by seeking to interfere in every way possible with the activity of other groups of workers who do not happen to believe in their tactics." Ervin characterizes the CPA's efforts under the FSR banner as the "antics" of "long-distance revolutionists" who are "working under false colors, or posing like some cheap detective in ridiculous disguise" and indicates that the paper will not hesitate to "show them up as thoroughly as we know how" when they are caught vilifying others.

 

"The 'Legal' Communists: Letter to the Editor of the New York Call," by Adolph Germer [Sept. 11, 1921] The former Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party and current assistant to Greater New York Secretary Julius Gerber, Adolph Germer, writes this letter in support of Charles Ervin's editorial of the previous day attacking the Friends of Soviet Russia. "It is high time that the unsuspecting public, especially the progressing working class, among whom they carry on their panhandling, understand these self-appointed 'saviors of the proletarian revolution'.... It should require no argument to convince any open-minded person that anyone, or any group, that carries on a persistent campaign to divide the ranks of labor, no matter in whose name it is done or to what pretended purpose, is an enemy of the working class - a far greater and more dangerous enemy than the paid hireling of the employers," Germer declares.

 

"W.Z. Foster, Back from Europe, Pins Faith on Economic Action: Labor Man Slips Quietly Into US After Months in Russia, Italy, Germany, France, England -- Confident of Soviets' Success and Leadership of ACW Here." (NY Call) [Sept. 15, 1921] This article from the pages of the Socialist Party's New York Call documents the return of William Z. Foster from his extended tour of Russia, Germany, Italy, England, and France on behalf of the Federated Press. The friendly writer of this piece indicates that "There are two things of which Foster remains sincerely convinced: that the Russian revolution is a success and that the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America will continue to be the leader among American labor organizations." Foster is characterized as "an optimist, confident of the ultimate victory of the working class in the very near future," despite his belief that the world was enmeshed in a "trough of reaction," with the revolutionary movement stilted across Europe. The Call writer says that Foster argued that one of the most serious problems facing the European labor movement was "the lack of restraint of the younger men." Foster recalled that in Germany and Italy "the workers were continually called on strike, how often at intervals of only 2 or 3 days, for Mooney, for Russia, because some leader had been assaulted, and for hundreds of trifling incidents in the course of events. The workers have struck time and again and nothing has happened. They have become tired of striking." The revolutionary moment had particularly passed in Germany, in Foster's estimation, where "with 9 million members in the unions alone and the workers thoroughly conscious of their political power, the average workman laughs when asked about the revolution."

 

"Gale to Squeal Way to Liberty, Inquiry Shows: Renegade Radical to Give State's Evidence to Escape Penalty for Evading the Draft." (NY Call) [Sept. 17, 1921] This article from the New York Call notes the transformation of draft resister and radical publisher Linn Gale from "a rabid Communist to a prisoner willing to incriminate other radicals, betraying their confidences." In view of Gale's decision to collaborate with Federal authorities after his deportation from Mexico, the American Civil Liberties Union had declined to come to the aid of Gale's legal defense. An Aug. 26 letter of ACLU head Roger Baldwin is cited: "The Civil Liberties Union has no interest whatever in the case of Linn A.E. Gale. He is not and never was a 'conscientious objector.' His activities as a radical in Mexico are open to grave charges of unscrupulous conduct, to put it mildly. His attitude since his arrest and the character of his efforts to secure support for his defense make it clear that he is unworthy of the confidence of those interested in civil liberty. We advise our friends not to contribute to his defense fund." In response to a communication from Baldwin, Gale's lawyer issued a statement declaring "my client has authorized me to make public the information that he has renounced his former political beliefs and convictions, that he has completely severed his connections with the radical movement, and consequently would not be justified in receiving any further aid or support from them. My client, Linn Gale, desires to state that he is absolutely sincere in the repudiation of his former radical opinions, as expressed through Gale's Magazine, and that at no time in the future will he engage in radical activities."

 

"The Detroit Resolution," by James Oneal [Sept. 19, 1921] Socialist Party NEC member James Oneal offers his perspective on the decision of the June 1921 Detroit Convention to survey the field with a view to eventual work with other radical organizations in an umbrella organization patterned after the British Labour Party. Oneal states that the NEC had followed the instructions of the convention and dispatched a survey to likely political partners. Oneal notes that the NEC did not have authority to act upon the replies it received -- it would take approval of the next convention and ratification by referendum vote of the party to call a conference of progressive organizations to formally organize the new multi-party alliance. The model and goal advocated by Oneal is quite clear: "In England, whether the candidate is a member of the Independent Labour Party or any other Socialist organization, whether he is a member of an affiliated trade union or cooperative society, he wages the contest in the name of the Labour Party. The same procedure would be taken here." Oneal critically observes that "for a generation the Socialist movement of the United States has been cursed with theoreticians and dogmatists" and declares that "one advantage of the British form of political organization of the workers is that it throws the Socialists into intimate contact with other organizations of the working class and brings these workers into contact with us." Oneal indicates he personally sees 2 million adherents to the new umbrella organization as the essential minimum for the tactic to be pursued. He rules out alliance with the progressive capitalist "Committee of 48" but does see the Non-Partisan League as being ideologically close enough to the SP to merit interest. Oneal is critical of the "no less than a dozen Communist priesthoods " which emerged from the 1919 split of the Socialist Party and maintains little interest in alliance with those who indulge in "introspective brooding" and who "burn incense in honor of the Communist ritual."

 

"For a Mass Movement," by Adolph Dreifuss [Sept. 22, 1921] This article by the leader of the Socialist Party's German Federation, Adolph Dreifuss, speaks to the hot issue in party ranks -- the move towards organized cooperation with other Left Wing organizations in an American version of the British Labour Party. Dreifuss notes that this represented "a deviation from the tactics hitherto pursued by the Socialist Party" and attempts to explain that the decision to pursue the tactic was not the province of the SP Right, but rather was the considered opinion of all tendencies at the Detroit Convention, including Left Wingers Louis Engdahl and Bill Kruse. Dreifuss notes that "the object is to bring about an organization similar to that of the British Labour Party, which is composed from autonomous parties and groups, like the Independent Labour Party, the Social Democratic Federation, the Fabian Society, the various labor unions, etc. Each one of these parties retains its integrity and autonomy... Each of these organizations has its own platform, based on its own principles. But the struggle of the present against their common enemy they fight together." Dreifuss notes that the United States has "no opposition that amounts to much." He declares that "none of the 'revolutionary' parties, however they may call themselves, reach the masses" and observes that the ongoing economic crisis has made the working class "servile" and "submissive." "It must be every worker's aim to get out of this slough to strengthen his class. To cooperate with others is one means to achieve liberty of movement," Dreifuss declares -- thus the move towards joint action has been supported by all tendencies in the SPA, "from Engdahl to Berger."

 

"Rand School is Voted to Be SP Auxiliary: Controlling Society, 38 to 20, Fixes Its Stand -- Six Directors Resign from Board." (NY Call) [event of Sept. 23, 1921] On Sept. 23, 1921, at the start of the academic year, the membership of the American Socialist Society met and, after lengthy and heated debate, adopted a resolution declaring the Rand School of Social Science to be a Socialist Party institution and determined that "the teachers of history, economics, political science, and related subjects, therefore, ought to be in the main either members of or avowed sympathizers with the Socialist Party." Furthermore, the resolution asserted that "The American Socialist Society considers it inconsistent for any person to act as an officer or director of the society or as an officer of the Rand School whose views or activities are hostile to those of the Socialist Party or who cannot heartily accept the foregoing instruction." Passage of the resolution prompted the resignation of 6 directors of the American Socialist Society -- Benjamin Glassberg, Augusta Holland, Jacob Purchin, Eugene Schoehn, Alexander Trachtenberg, and Rose Weiner. Complete text of the resolution is included here.

 

"Communists Try to Disrupt Socialist Rally: Create Uproar at Brownsville Labor Lyceum During Address by London -- Disturbers are Ejected...: Incident Stimulates Enthusiasm of Workers for Socialist Message..." (NY Call) [event of Sept. 23, 1921] On Sept. 23, 1921, Socialist Congressman Meyer London spoke on behalf of his party before a crowd of 1,500 at an electoral rally held in Brownsville, NY. During the course of London's remarks, a Communist Party member in the audience shouted "Traitor!" -- prompting "a group of workers began battering away at the disturber." The scuffle expanded when friends of the heckler came to his aid; the outnumbered Communists were expelled from the meeting by the Socialists, with the aid of a policeman. According to this news account in the New York Call, "when quiet was restored, Representative London warned the Communists who remained hidden in the hall that in the future the Socialists will not be responsible for what happens to those who try to break up Socialist meetings." "These disrupters will be treated in the same way as a scab is treated by a good union man," London aggressively shouted, "No decent working man will tolerate them in their midst." A demonstration lasting several minutes followed.

 

"Torchbearers," by Moritz J. Loeb [Nov. 1924] This article from the WPA's Workers Monthly marks the first anniversary of The Daily Worker, said to have been started through the "collection" of less than $75,000 of a $100,000 target. The party had used the funds to purchase a printing plant in Chicago, used to produce not only its English daily and the monthly magazine, but also the Italian daily, The Young Worker, The Young Comrade, and the various pamphlets and leaflets issued by the organization. "Upon our press depends the rapidity and the healthiness of the growth of our party. Upon the quality of our press depends the education of our membership, the "bolshevizing" of our Party, the making of Communists out of Communist Party members," Loeb declares. Problems remained, Loeb indicates, including small circulation size, the absence of paid advertising, and financial deficits. Loeb calls for the employment of every WPA member as a "cog in the machine" of a distribution mechanism commensurate with the new party printing plant.

 

"Two Weeks by Train: The Diary of a Canadian Visitor to Soviet Russia and the Soviet Ukraine," by Phil Malkin [May 3-18, 1931] This 20 page journal represents a modest contribution to the vast literature of English-language visitor's memoirs on Russia and the Soviet Union (see Nerhood's bibliography: To Russia and Return.) Phil Malkin was a Canadian who traveled through Russia and the Ukraine for 2 weeks in May of 1931, spending time in Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev, and Odessa. An anti-Communist and a non-speaker of Russian who traveled with a series of interpreter-guides, Malkin compiled this travel diary for the American Consul General at Vienna, who preserved the document. Malkin notes the "spiteful envy" of average ill-clothed Russian women towards one sveltely dressed guide in Moscow. He cites prices and currency exchange figures throughout his account which clearly indicate a substantial level of repressed inflation, expressing itself as catastrophically high prices paid by visitors who converting to local currency at the official rate and then attempting to make purchases in regular shops. Malkin notes that Russia "imports no food" and that fresh fruit was unavailable, as was chocolate and writing paper; queues were pervasive. Restricted Torgsin shops existed to exchange limited goods to foreigners (and the party elite) for hard currency at something approximating world market rates -- a fraction of the equivalent rate in local currency in regular shops. Malkin contrasts a happier and more upbeat Ukraine with the bleakness of Moscow and Leningrad. Malkin observes that "Living conditions are as bad as the world believes them to be. Crowded tenements. Food is scarce, but there is no famine and no danger of it, for the scarcity is voluntary and artificially caused by the desire to create credits abroad for machinery." He also indicates that the Soviet government is "skillfully tending every effort to bring up the new generation on the tenets of communism."

 

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