"The Conference of Russian
Branches of the American Socialist Party in Chicago: Organization,
Representation, and Activities," by Jacob Spolansky [events
of March 24 to Aug. 9, 1919] This Bureau of Investigation intelligence report
by Special Agent Jacob Spolansky reviews the history of the awkwardly
named creation of Alexander Stoklitsky, the "Conference
of the Russian Branches of the American Socialist Party in Chicago
who share the Program of the Communist Party" The Chicago
Conference of Russian Branches was dominated by the Russian language
branches, which contributed 36 of the 49 delegates, joined by
9 Latvian, 3 Ukrainian, and 1 Lithuanian delegate. The Chicago
Conference of Russian Branches elected delegates to the Chicago
Communist Propaganda League, which Spolansky states will join
with various English comrades and "pave their way for a
Communist Party of America." A constitution for the Chicago
Conference of Russian Branches was adopted at a meeting held
April 16, 1919. Elected Secretary of the organization was the
Russian Federationist Berezhovsky. The meeting of May 21 elected
4 delegates to the June National Conference of the Left Wing
(Alexander Stoklitsky, Joseph Stilson, Dr. Kopnagel, and William
Bross Lloyd). Spolansky states that at the June 5 meeting "various
committees to cover various propaganda lines were elected and
instructions were given to those committees to pave the way for
a Communist Party in America." "The following several
meetings were organization meetings of the now existing Communist
Party of America," writes Spolansky in this report,
several weeks before the "founding convention" of the
CPA on September 1 [emphasis mine, --T.D.]. Spolansky
provides a list of 24 Russian branches from around the country
"who have adopted the program of the Communist Party."
"The Martens Affair: Report
of CEC Representative Gurin to the 5th Regular Convention of
the Federation of Russian Branches, Communist Party of America:
Detroit, MI -- Aug. 22, 1919." The published historiographical literature indicates
there was bad blood between the Russian Socialist Federation
headed by Translator-Secretary Alexander Stoklitsky and Secretary
Oscar Tyverovsky and the Soviet Russian Government Bureau in
New York headed by Ludwig Martens. Little background has been
provided, a crude grasp to expropriate Soviet funds has been
intimated. This report by Russian Federation CEC member Gurin
to the 5th Convention of the RF presents the full tale of the
battle between the Russian Federation and the Martens Bureau
for the first time. Rather than a grab for cash, the antagonism
between Martens and the RF is depicted as the by-product of a
struggle to submit the one-man managed RSGB to workers' control,
the members of the RF seen as expatriate but fully vested
members of the Russian working class abroad. Free of any external
supervision and inspection, Martens had made a series of "errors,"
Gurin states. Particularly galling was the fact that for every
staff position at the RSGB, "Martens has appointed either
a Right Wing Socialist or an impartial person. You will find
there an anti-Bolshevist Nuorteva, Lomonosov, and Mensheviki
-- old man [Isaac] Hourwich [father of Novyi Mir editor
Nicholas, incidentally], who sheds tears at the thought of the
dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, and the well known [Morris]
Hillquit." Gurin continues by noting "We are not against
the inviting of bourgeois experts to these jobs. But at the very
moment when any blind man could see that any day there might
be a break in the Socialist Party, filling vacancies in the local
Soviet mission by Right Wing Socialists would mean that the sympathy
of the Soviet Bureau was with the Right Wing Socialists in their
struggle with the Left. Just think! The representatives of Revolutionary
Socialism in the US supports the Right Socialists in their struggle
with the Revolutionary Socialists!" After a stream of orators
spoke on the question, almost universally expressing condemnation
of Martens for failing to submit to workers' control of the activities
of his bureau, Martens had been given the last word in the debate,
not subject to ordinary time limit. "Comrade Martens in
his reply continued to state that he could not fulfill the demands
of control over his activity... His opinion was that he as a
representative of Soviet Russia had a right to present any demands
to the Federation and the Federation must execute them."
Martens asked the RF to renounce its demands for supervisory
control over the activities of the RSGB. In the reply to debate,
reporting CEC member Gurin unleashed a withering barrage at Martens:
Martens had thrown representatives of the RF out of his office,
had threatened to have his opponents blacklisted in Soviet Russia,
had broken his promises, and had refused to submit to the reasonable
authority of the Russian revolutionary socialist movement in
America. A resolution was moved declaring that "all the
activities of Comrade Martens as a local representative of the
Russian worker-peasant government, as well as the activity of
the Bureau and its clerks, must be under the complete control
of the local Bolshevik (Communist) organizations." This
resolution was approved in a massive landslide by the RF, 127
in favor, 8 opposed, and 15 abstaining.
"Preparations for the National
Convention to Organize the Communist Party of America,"
by Louis Loebl [events of Aug. 27, 1919] This Bureau of Investigation report was written
by Louis Loebl, a Special Agent who worked undercover in St.
Louis, attending various meetings under the guise of a radical.
Loebl went to Communist Party headquarters on Blue Island Avenue
in Chicago with a view to meeting I.E. Ferguson, who he had heard
speak in St. Louis the week previous. Ferguson was not there
at CPA headquarters, but Loebl was able to talk at length with
Michiganders Dennis Batt and Oakley Johnson, learning that they
expected between 280 and 300 delegates to be in attendence at
the founding convention, scheduled to open on Sept. 1. Loebl
spotted Hungarian communist J. Frankel in another room at headquarters,
whom he had played a part in arresting in 1914, and had felt
himself compelled to leave the premises rather than risk having
his cover blown.
"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."
"Circular Letter to Comintern-Affiliated
Parties on Parliamentarism and the Soviets from Grigorii Zinoviev,
President of ECCI, September 1, 1919." This communique from the President
of the Executive Committee of the Communist International to
affiliated Communist organizations around the world (received
and published in the United States in February 1920) deals with
the hot-button topic of parliamentarism. Communist elements were
uniting across Europe and in America around the slogan of Soviet
Power and "at all costs" needed to implement "uniform
tactics," Zinoviev states in the September 1 letter. Zinoviev
indicates that the "universal unifying program" of
the revolutionary socialist Communists and those whom they left
behind in the "official Social Democratic parties"
was "at the present moment the recognition of the struggle
for the dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of the Soviet
power." Citing precedent in Russia, Sweden, Bulgaria, and
Germany, Zinoviev forcefully argues for the "complete admissibility
and usefulness" of parliamentary campaigns and use of the
parliamentary tribune by socialist revolutionaries. He continues:
"Such 'parliamentary work' demands peculiar daring and a
special revolutionary spirit; the men there are occupying especially
dangerous positions; they are laying mines under the enemy while
in the enemy's camp; the enter parliament for the purpose of
getting this machine in their hands in order to assist the masses
behind the walls of the parliament in the work of blowing it
up." Zinoviev emphasizes his position by asking and answering
a rhetorical question: "Are we for the maintenance of the
bourgeois 'democratic' parliaments as the form of the administration
of the state? No, not in any case. We are for the Soviets."
Noting that the Russian Bolsheviks variously boycotted and participated
in Duma campaigns depending upon the situation which they faced,
Zinoviev allows that concrete national conditions must be considered
in the matter of electoral participation: "The matter of
taking part in the election at a given time during a given electorial
campaign, depends upon a whole string of concrete circumstances
which, in each country, must be particularly considered at each
given time."
"Communist Party Convention:
Day 1," by James O. Peyronnin [Sept. 1, 1919] In addition to having a "confidential
informant" as a delegate on the floor of the founding convention
of the Communist Party of America (N. Nagorowe, Gary, IN), the
Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation had one of its
Special Agents sitting at the press table, taking notes in shorthand,
and other agents mingling in the guest area. The BoI's "journalist"
was James O. Peyronnin, who contributed daily reports of the
activity of the convention to his superiors. This is Peyronnin's
account of the opening day of the CPA convention. Peyronnin notes
that prior to the opening, officers of the Chicago Police Department
removed red decorations from the convention floor, presumably
to bring it into compliance with a state or local "red flag
law" -- political speech not enjoying any substantive constitutional
protection in this period. A local attorney acting on behalf
of the CPA was summarily arrested when he remonstrated over the
removal of the red signs, streamers, and bunting. The convention
was opened by Michigander Dennis Batt, representing the organizing
committee. Louis Fraina was elected Temporary Chairman and delivered
a keynote address. The all-important Credentials Committee was
elected, 7 members from a field of 18. The committee was chaired
by Lithuanian Federation leader Joseph Stilson and additionally
included Elbaum (Polish Fed.), Olkin (Russian), Kopnagel (Russian),
Lunin (Jewish), Forsinger (Latvian), and Baltrusaitis (Lithuanian)
-- a clean sweep for the Federationist faction. Peyronnin estimated
that 150 delegates and approximately 300 visitors were gathered
for the first day's session. The Credentials Committee reported
out, a process which took 90 minutes and generated a neat list
of convention delegates for Peyronnin and his superiors -- list
included here. Following the report of the Credentials Committee,
the convention formally opened, with the Michigan faction's Al
Renner topping the Left Wing National Caucus faction's I.E. Ferguson
in balloting for Chairman of the Day. The Left Wing National
Caucus' John Ballam was elected Vice Chairman. Rules and an order
of business were passed. A motion by Ferguson to establish and
elect a committee of 5 to conduct unity negotiations with the
Communist Labor Party group was defeated and initial dissatisfaction
with Russian Federation Control began to brew, with Missouri
delegate Henry Tichenor bolting for the CLP gathering and challenged
Californian Irene Smith gavelled down by Chairman Renner "and
interfered with by the delegates at her table."
"Communist Party Convention:
Day 1," by August H. Loula [Sept. 1, 1919] August Loula was a Special Agent
of the Bureau of Investigation who attended the first day of
the founding convention of the Communist Party of America as
a "visitor," using an IWW card to gain admission. Loula
reassures his superiors that "Our Confidential Informant
No. 121 [N. Nagorowe], who has been directed by Division Superintendent
Edward J. Brennan to attend this convention, has been elected
as a delegate and is taking an active part in the proceedings,
and any secret sessions of the heads of the Communist movement
or any other secret procedure that may be contemplated by the
radicals outside of the convention hall are concerned, will be
taken care of by him." Loula passes on the exact vote totals
of the 7 leading candidates for election to the Credentials Committee,
with the Polish Federation's Daniel Elbaum leading the way with
89 votes, followed by Lithuanian Federationist Joseph Stilson
with 87. The keynote speech of Louis C. Fraina is quoted at great
length. "The beginning of this movement has its roots many
years back and has but now reached the stage where it can proceed
as the dominant one. Our work here is to formulate the position
and structure of an organization that will be the weapon by which
the working class will train and organize itself for a conquest
of political power. The party is here. The movement is here.
It is for you to shape its structure. The Communist Party of
America is a fact," Fraina declared. With regard to the
Left Wingers who were to emerge as the Communist Labor Party,
Fraina stated: "Events of the last few days in this city
have amply established the truth of our contention that it was
futile to participate in the Socialist Party Convention. The
Communists who are still of the opinion that they should participate
have since been forced by the contemptible acts of the rules
of the Socialist Party to leave that convention. There is no
question but what these Communistic elements will eventually
be lined up with us. There is also the possibility that a third
movement will be organized." Fraina added: "The American
proletariat, I am confident, does not lack the intelligence and
courage to follow the path lighted by the Moscow International
to a conquest of political power."
"Chicago Police Invade Hall
of Communists: Red Decorations Torn Down -- Lawyer Beaten Unconscious
-- New Party Formed." (NY Call) [Sept. 1, 1919] Unsigned news report from the
pages of the Socialist Party's New York Call detailing
the first day of the founding convention of the Communist Party
of America, held at the home of the Russian Federation in Chicago
and attended by about 100 delegates. The facility was stormed
by Chicago police, who tore down red buntings and are said to
have beaten unconscious and jailed lawyer L.M. Montgomery when
he tried to remonstrate with the bluecoats. A 10 piece orchestra
added atmosphere and a 20 minute keynote address was delivered
by Louis Fraina, who is said to have stated that all controversies
between the Communists and the Socialist Party were at an end
-- meaning, in the reporter's estimation, "that thereafter
the Socialist Party was to be 'common enemy with the rest of
the bourgeoisie.'" Attention is called to "the methodical
way in which the Russian Federation voted without a single exception
for a prearranged slate proved to be interesting, inasmuch as
it foreshadowed clearly one of the rocks on which the Communist
Party is headed for a split." A further deep fissure is
observed between the Michigan federation and others participating
in the Communist convention, the Michiganders being "exclusively
for political action, whereas the others minimize it. On the
other hand, the Michigan group minimizes industrial organization
as a means to revolution and does not believe in mass action
at all, whereas mass action and industrial organization are considered
the trump card by their present partners."
"Communist Labor Party Convention:
Day 2," by L. Loebl [Sept. 1, 1919] This report was written by Louis Loebl, an undercover
Bureau of Investigation based in St. Louis who attended the founding
convention of the Communist Labor Party as a guest. Loebl passes
on to his superiors a complete list of delegates successfully
passing muster of the Credentials Committee, including 16 from
the state of Ohio (including C.E. Ruthenberg, who departed) and
10 from New York. Loebl notes that the gathering was in limbo
awaiting the return of its 5 member unity committee, appointed
to seek merger with the Communist Party on the basis of organizational
parity. As the committee did not return until after noon, the
morning was spent composing a "Bolshevik War Cry,"
an "Official Convention Yell," and singing various
songs. The afternoon was spent hearing the report of the unity
committee, delivered by Jasper Bauer of California, as well as
the individual reports of committee members. "Every one
of them were of the belief that the members of the Communist
Party were absolutely hostile to them and that the Russian delegates
are controlling the situation, who are against any kind of a
unity of those two parties," Loebl reports. Consequently,
late in the afternoon "it was finally decided to organize
definitely and to go on with the order of business regardless
of the Communist Convention." Loebl predicts that no amalgamation
of the two parties would be possible so long as the bitterly
anti-federationist John Reed and Ben Gitlow remained in the leadership
of the CLP.
"First Convention of the
Communist Party of America: Day 2," by James O. Peyronnin
[Sept. 2, 1919] The
Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation had no fewer
than 8, and perhaps a dozen or more, of its agents, operatives,
and confidential informers in Chicago in Aug.-Sept. 1919 for
the conventions of the Socialist Party, Communist Labor Party,
and Communist Party of America. One of the most important was
James O. Peyronnin, who apparently sat undercover as a "journalist"
at the press table of the CPA Convention, and who wrote lengthy
reports of each day's sessions and gathered relevant documents
for BoI Headquarters in Washington, DC. These and other reports
have been preserved on freely available and unexpurgated microfilm
by the National Archives and Records Administration and are an
exciting new historical source. The 2nd day of the CPA convention
sees the acrimonious departure for the CLP convention of delegate
Henry Tichenor of St. Louis, who likens the Russian Federations'
machine control of the CPA gathering to the domination of the
SPA conclave by the Regulars' machine: ""I have certainly
had the steamroller run over me recently -- once by the Berger
regime in Milwaukee, and once right at this convention. It will
be utterly useless for me to work with the element that is in
control and therefore I ask the Credentials Committee to kindly
return me my credentials." Chairman of the Credentials Committee
Joseph Stilson announces that 128 delegates are seated (so far),
representing a membership of 58,000 (the latter number certainly
inflated). A surprising mass resignation takes place by the Left
Wing National Caucus Faction, with a dozen or more delegates
and two convention technical secretaries resigning their posts
over a failure to negotiate with the Communist Labor Party's
unity committee. Michigander Dennis Batt defiantly declares "I
think myself the Convention will progress better without them."
Following a 3 hour recess to resolve the crisis, the convention
reconvenes and reconsiders its previous action, appointing its
own 5 member unity committee, which included Federation chiefs
Stoklitsky, Hourwich, and Elbaum in addition to Ruthenberg and
Ferguson of the Left Wing National Caucus faction. Chicago police
arrest Dennis Batt from the floor of the convention on an outstanding
warrant for alleged violation of the Illinois State Sedition
Act. A Manifesto and Program Committee is elected by the convention
with Nicholas Hourwich the top vote-getter and other committees
of the convention are elected as well.
"Communist Party Convention:
Day 2," by Jacob Spolansky [Sept. 2, 1919] Report of the proceedings at the
the 2nd day of the founding convention of the Communist Party
of America by Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Jacob Spolansky.
Spolansky sees the convention as being "ruled" by a
Russian Federation clique including Alex Stoklitsky, Nick Hourwich,
Oscar Tyverovsky, George Ashkenuzi, and Alex Bittelman. Always
with a flair for the melodramatic, Spolansky reports that "the
convention elected an Emergency Committee of 19. Before the election
of this committee took place, Alex Stoklitsky and several other
Russian radicals appealed personally to every delegate not to
inquire as to the purpose of this committee. Employee ascertained
that the real purpose of this committee is the creation of a
RED GUARD." While Michigan leader Dennis Batt played a key
role in organizing the convention, Spolansky states that he actually
"has no influence whatever and the delegates don't pay any
attention to his suggestions or motions which he makes."
On the other hand, "Stoklitsky is the czar and Stoklitsky
is the man who gives instructions to all the delegates how to
vote. They all look upon him and as soon as he raises his hand
everybody follows him." Spolansky also makes known that
the Military Intelligence Division had placed one of its own
as a delegate at the rival Communist Labor Party convention:
"An undercover representative of the Military Intelligence
[who] is attending the Communist Labor Party convention as a
delegate informed Employee that Ludwig E. Martens has advanced
a considerable sum of money for the organization and propaganda
work of the new Communist Labor Party."
"Resignations Split Ranks
of Communists: Fraina and Ruthenberg Among Those Who Quit --
Another Party is Formed." (NY Call) [Sept. 2, 1919]
This report from
the hostile New York Call notes with barely concealed
glee the bitter acrimony which met the founding convention of
the Communist Party of America in the second day of its founding
convention. The report notes that "the Communist Party,
composed of the Michigan crowd, the Russian Federation, and the
former Left Wing National Council, nearly split in two when,
at a concerted signal, there resigned from the important Emergency
Committee of the convention Louis C. Fraina, C.E. Ruthenberg,
I.E. Ferguson, Maximilian Cohen, D. Elbaum, and A. Selakovich
and, from other offices, former Organizer A. Paul of Queens and
Fannie Horowitz. The issue was over sending a committee of conciliation
to the 'Lefts' who had meanwhile formed the Communist Labor Party.
Afraid of losing their numerical and actual domination of the
convention and of the Communist Party, the Russians had throttled
the proposition to increase the English-speaking element. But
the scantily veiled threat of the 'Lefts' in their midst had
a partial effect." The Federation group ultimately consented
to naming a 5 member unity committee composed of Russian Federationists
N.I. Hourwich, Alexander Stoklitsky, Polish Federationist Daniel
Elbaum, and English speakers I.E. Ferguson, and C.E. Ruthenberg.
"On one thing the Russians and their opponents agreed. Nobody
would be permitted to join the Communist Party Convention without
first passing the Credentials Committee, which consists of 7
Federationistss out of 7 committeemen. Also tacitly, it is agreed
that under no circumstances would they admit John Reed, Ludwig
Lore, Benjamin Gitlow, A. Wagenknecht, L.E. Katterfeld, L.B.
Boudin, and the others who had insisted on disobeying the Russian-Michigan
mandate for a Communist Party several weeks ago," the unsigned
news report avers.
"Report on CLP Mass Meeting,
West Side Auditorium, Chicago," by P.P. Mindak [Sept. 2,
1919] On the evening
of Sept. 2, 1919, the fledgling Communist Labor Party held its
first public meeting in Chicago. Undercover Bureau of Investigation
Agent Peter P. Mindak was in attendance to make a report on the
proceedings. The session was addressed by three CLP leaders --
Ella Reeve Bloor, Jack Carney, and Jack Reed. Mindak is most
enthusiastic about the ability of Irish emigré and CLP
NEC member Carney, calling him "a very eloquent speaker"
who made use of "a very poetic and dramatic style"
to review the history of the contemporary radical movement. "He
spoke of the proposed formation of the Communist Labor Party,
which he stated was in wholehearted sympathy with the Russian
Soviet, and urged agitation amongst the workers and the formation
of shop committees throughout all the shops and factories. He
urged the workers to prepare themselves for the opportunity when
a proletarian dictatorship could be established in this country,"
Mindak states. "There appeared to be a lack of enthusiasm
which is usually seen at gatherings of this kind," according
to Mindak, who adds that "many of those present came for
the purpose of hearing Jack Carney, who is a very eloquent orator."
Literature for the IWW and Soviet buttons were available for
sale at the meeting, Mindak adds.
"Communist Party of America
Convention: Day 3," by Jacob Spolansky [Sept. 3, 1919] While he is the best-known of
the Bureau of Investigation's undercover operatives by virtue
of his melodramatic 1951 memoir, The Communist Trail in America,
Jacob Spolansky was by no means the most important (or the
most accurate) of the bevy of agents put into the field at the
1919 Chicago radical conventions. Spolansky provided to BoI headquarters
in Washington this detailed account of Day 3 of the Founding
Convention of the CPA. Spolansky notes the report of Press Committee
chairman C.E. Ruthenberg, which called for the establishment
of a party owned English language daily called The Daily Communist,
a monthly theoretical journal called The Communist Review,
and the establishment of a $100,00 fund for the publication of
free leaflets and other literature. The name of the theoretical
journal was changed to The Communist International and
the (wildly optimistic) dollar "limit" on the literature
fund were removed by vote of the convention. The convention spent
a good deal of time and energy arguing the question of whether
non-proletarian elements should be allowed in the party, ultimately
approving the essence of Nick Hourwich's motion " that no
man who earns a living through rent, interest, or exploiting
his brother worker can be admitted into the ranks of the Communist
Party. That no Federal, County, City, or Civil Service employee
can be admitted into the ranks of the Communist Party" (as
Spolansky summarized the motion). Another small bolt was made
by Morris Zucker and Edward Lindgren of Local Kings Co., Left
Wing, who purportedly received instructions by telegram from
their local instructing them to leave the CPA Convention. Zucker
stated he and Lindgren were leaving "because the convention
was controlled by Russian elements and that other representatives
have no show whatever; that caucus is being held every half an
hour and the Russians have a well organized machine which has
full control of this convention" and because Zucker "did
not see any difference between this convention and the Emergency
Socialist Convention and he was afraid that a few leaders were
trying to dominate the Communist Party of America for their own
selfish purposes." The departure was met in silence, Spolansky
indicates. Negotiations between the 5 member unity committees
of the CPA and CLP continued without any show of progress, Spolansky
states, and documents exchanged between the committees were reviewed
by the convention.
"Dove of Peace Badly Treated
by Communists: Two Factions Throw Charges of Treason at Each
Other; Folks at Home Worried." (NY Call) [Sept. 4,
1919] This unsigned
account from the pages of the Socialist Party daily the New
York Call revisits the ongoing soap opera in the Communist
movement to unite. The Communist Labor Party sought unification
on the basis of organizational equality with the (larger) Communist
Party of America, the report notes; meanwhile, "each convention
declares that the other consists of inharmonious elements damned
by both as centrist." The news account states that "when
the CLP statement, full of counter-accusations, was read at the
Communist Party convention yesterday morning there was considerable
laughter. But the matter was taken up for caucus and careful
consideration, for both sides realize that negotiations have
reached a critical phase." Standing in the way of easy unity
were matters of personality (active dislike of some leading members
of each organization with their counterparts), the "strenuous
objection to the domination of the Russian Federations"
by the CLP, and organizational rules adopted by the CPA which
would exclude from membership CLP leading light William Bross
Lloyd and others deriving the whole of their income from rent,
profit or interest. CPA convention committee members are listed,
as is the New York delegation to the Communist Party's convention.
The claimed representation of 14,900 New York members of the
CPA is said to have been characterized as "grossly inflated"
by both the Socialist Party and the rival CLP.
"Polish Communist Meeting,
Walsh's Hall, Chicago," by P.P. Mindak [Sept. 4, 1919] In contrast to the tepid mass
meeting of the CLP held the evening of Sept. 2, Bureau of Investigation
undercover agent Peter Mindak indicates that the mass meeting
of Polish CPA members and supporters held 2 nights later was
a rousing and enthusiastic affair, attended by 700 or 800. The
keynote speaker was Daniel Elbaum, editor of Glos Robotniczy
[The Voice of the Workers] of Detroit, with Translator-Secretary
of the Polish Federation Joseph Kowalski chairman of the meeting.
Elbaum "explained to the gathering the purpose and program
of the Communist Party and that this party represented the revolutionary
element of the Socialist Party. His speech had a very powerful
effect on the audience, as at the conclusion the applause lasted
for several minutes," Mindak reports. In his remarks, Kowalski
is said to have taken aim at the American Federation of Labor,
ridiculed as an organization which had outlived its usefulness.
"The meeting was one of the most enthusiastic Polish Communist
gatherings which Employee has so far attended and shows that
the leaders of the Polish Communist movement have been and still
are very active in spreading the Communist Party and organizing,"
Mindak notes.
"First Convention of the
Communist Party of America: Day 6," by James O. Peyronnin
[Sept. 6, 1919] In
this Bureau of Investigation report, Special Agent James Peyronnin
notes that the morning of the 6th day of the Founding Convention
of the CPA was occupied with paragraph-by-paragraph consideration
of the proposed program of the organization -- based upon the
draft prepared by Louis Fraina and the Left Wing National Council
faction rather than the alternative prepared by the Socialist
Party of Michigan. While 2 days earlier chairman of the convention
Al Renner (Michigan) had been eager to push the pace of the gathering,
now he strongly objected to a proposal to move to electing of
officers of the CPA. Peyronnin notes that Renner "stated
that there are certain delegates who are struggling for time
in which to put something over; that the reports of the committees
should by all means be acted upon before the election of officers."
Peyronnin adds that the proposal to move to elections by Left
Wing National Council faction member Isaac Ferguson, "who
seemed now to be in unity with the Russian Revolutionary Organization
to control the convention", was carried, and the process
of nominations and elections moved forward. Four International
Delegates (and 4 alternates) were elected, as was a 15 member
CEC (with 5 alternates). Michigan faction members declined all
nominations, notably Renner for Executive Secretary (Ruthenberg
elected) and Batt for National Editor (Fraina elected). In the
night session of the convention, Dennis Batt took the floor and
excoriated the "100% Bolsheviks" of the Russian Federations
for the "junk which you threw on the table for the delegates
to pass on" (i.e. the Fraina version of the party program).
"Batt in his discourse was very incitive and expressed himself
with much force," Peyronnin notes. The complete Michigan
program was read into the record. Batt was forcefully answered
by Alex Bittelman on behalf of the majority, comparing the two
programs "practically paragraph for paragraph." "In
course of his inflammatory remarks, Batt vacated the hall for
the balance of the night," Peyronnin reports.
"Communist Party Mass Meeting:
Douglas Park Auditorium, Chicago," by Louis Loebl [Sept.
6, 1919] Bureau
of Investigation Special Agent Louis Loebl briefly reports to
his superiors in Washington on the mass meeting of the CPA held
in Chicago the evening of September 6. "From all appearances,
it was a Russian Affair pure and simple, the English speakers,
Ferguson and Ruthenberg addressing the audience for conventionality's
sake, rather than with a view to convey their messages to the
English speaking audience. It is a fair estimate to state that
99% of the crowd were Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish,"
Loebl states. In addition to the two English speakers, Alexander
Stoklitsky addressed the gathering in Russian, A. Forsinger in
Latvian, and Boleslaw Gebert in Polish.
"First Convention of the
Communist Party of America: Day 7," by James O. Peyronnin
[Sept. 7, 1919] Bureau
of Investigation Special Agent James Peyronnin reports on the
7th and final day of the Founding Convention of the CPA. The
report of the Resolutions Committee was presented by S.A. Kopnagel
and was approved by the convention without discussion. P. Sparer
reported for the Committee on the Young Peoples Communist League,
the proposed youth organization of the CPA (never launched).
George Ashkenuzi and Bert Wolfe resigned from the Central Executive
Committee to make way for Harry Wicks (breaking factional discipline
with his Michigan comrades) and Charles Dirba. The finance committee
reported that a total of 137 delegates had been seated at the
convention, with nearly $5900 collected thus far on registration
fees and all but $100 of the amount spent on delegate train fares
and building rent. Translator-Secretary of the Lithuanian Federation
Joseph Stilson indicated that the new organization would be receiving
approximately $10,000 from the various Federations as the portion
of dues withheld from the Socialist Party's National Office during
the faction fight of 1919. At the conclusion, C.E. Ruthenberg
seems to have addressed the convention at length as the new Executive
Secretary of the CPA, deprecating the efforts of the rival Communist
Labor Party, whose list of 90 delegates was seriously padded,
including 7 who "did not represent anyone to speak of";
10 from New York, a state in which Ruthenberg states that he
did not think there were more than "a couple of hundred"
in support of the CLP; and 11 from Illinois, were "not more
than a few hundred at the very best represent them." Ruthenberg
declares "The only sound organizations they have behind
the delegates who were in that convention were Washington, California,
and Oregon. And we have delegates here on the floor representing
those states." Special Agent Peyronnin states in conclusion
that "on account of the antagonism and friction existing
between certain groups of the Convention, the ultra-radicals,
who are the real 'Bolshevists' in the United States, did not
deviate to any extent from the actual business of the convention,
but these radicals, with especial reference to the group representing
the Russian Revolutionary Organization from New York, should
be kept under surveillance in their activities in behalf of the
Communist Party, and which organization with the other foreign
element of the Convention practically controlled the Convention
from its inception to end."
"Minutes of the Founding
Convention of the Communist Labor Party of America, Aug. 31 -
Sept. 5, 1919." After
fighting for control of the 1919 Emergency National Convention
of the Socialist Party of America in Chicago and losing in their
bid, the organized Left Wing Section of the SPA retired downstairs
and held a convention of their own -- a gathering which established
the Communist Labor Party of America (CLP). The body elected
organizational officers and wrote and adopted a platform and
program.This document collects the minutes of every session of
the CLP convention held over the six day period.
"Platform and Program of
the Communist Labor Party of America." [Adopted Sept. 1919]. This is the programmatic document adopted by the
Founding Convention of the Communist Labor Party of America (CLP)
-- the group which emerged when the 1919 Emergency National Convention
of the Socialist Party of America was successfully controlled
by an "old guard" headed by National Executive Secretary
Adolph Germer. The CLP founders consisted of three basic groups:
credentialed delegates who bolted the SPA Emergency Convention,
delegates denied access to the SPA Convention by the SPA's Credentials
Committee, and delegates who had mandate to attend the SPA Convention.
This "Platform and Program" remained in effect for
the CLP for the duration of its short life, from adoption in
early September 1919 until merger with the Ruthenberg/Ferguson
group of the CPA to form the United Communist Party of America
in May 1920.
**Dues Stamp and Organizational
Stamp of the Communist Labor Party.** [pdf graphics file, circa
Sept. 1919] Specimens
of a dues stamp and special revenue stamp sold to founding members
of the Communist Labor Party in 1919, from a scrapbook preserved
by CLP founding member W.E. Reynolds, now in the collection of
Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas.
"The Chicago Conventions,"
by Max Eastman; Drawings by Art Young. [events of Aug. 30-Sept.
7, 1919]. [Large
file -- 1 megabyte] At
the end of August and first of September, there were three monumental
conventions of the American left simultaneously taking place
at Chicago: the 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party of America, the Founding Convention of the Communist Labor
Party, and the Founding Convention of the Communist Party of
America. No more than a small handful of people attended sessions
of all three bodies and only one chronicled them with a journalist's
touch and a historian's eye. This lengthy analysis of the three
gatherings by Max Eastman is a seminal pieces of reportage --
absolutely indispensable for historians of the Debsian SPA and
the early American Communist movement. First published in the
pages of The Liberator in its October 1919 issue, this
a the revised version of the article, adding many of the original
sketches and pen-and-ink drawings by Art Young. Those with slow
internet may alternatively download the text-only
version.
"Convention Impressions,"
by William Bross Lloyd. [events of Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 1919]. An account of the preliminary political jousting
and formation of the Communist Labor Party by a founding member
of that organization. William Bross Lloyd, a millionaire, was
one of the financial angels of the American radical movement
during the last years of the 1910s. In this article, published
in The Class Struggle, he harshly criticizes the Left
Wing National Council of Ruthenberg, Ferguson, & Co. for
having exceeded its authority when it collaborated with the Language
Federations and Socialist Party of Michigan in calling for immediate
formation of a Communist Party of America. Lloyd is particularly
blunt with regards to the "Russian Federations," which
he characterizes as "a machine just as pernicious as the
old SP National Executive Committee. That is the situation which
is the fundamental cause of disunion today." If there is
unity between the CLP and the CPA, Lloyd states, "it will
come because self-seeking politicians and their power of control
have been eliminated."
"Report of the National Convention
at Chicago," by John C. Taylor [events of Aug. 30-Sept.
5, 1919] First-hand
account of the 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party and the founding Convention of the Communist Labor Party
from California SP State Secretary John C. Taylor, not included
in volume 1 of Draper. Taylor provides the best account of Adolph
Germer's use of the Chicago police to "clear the hall"
of those delegates not carrying a white card issued by Germer.
Taylor charges bad faith on the part of the Germer clique in
the distribution of such cards, these not being mentioned the
day prior to the convention during conversation with Germer and
his associates. Removed by a plainclothesman and "fully
a dozen" uniformed officers already standing by, Taylor
and his comrades were excluded from the hall from 10 am until
after 1 pm, at which time they were only permitted to stand in
an adjacent room in the heat. Taylor detaiils the machinations
of the credentials committee, which operated in slow motion until
the Germer clique was certain of the stability of their majority.
Taylor remarks on that several votes were decided by a tally
of 88 to 33 the first day, giving an indication of the relative
strength of the two factions among uncontested delegates, and
details the walkout of the Left Wing delegates when the convention
moved to conduct business before the resolution of all delegate
contests. Taylor's account of the founding convention of the
CLP downstairs is unfortunately less valuable, emphasizing the
songs sung by the delegates but providing little additional substantive
detail.
"Constitution of the Communist
Party of America: Adopted at the Founding Convention, Chicago,
Sept. 1-7, 1919." Basic document
of organizational law of the old Communist Party of America.
Structurally similar to the apparatus used by the Socialist Party
of America -- the basic unit of organization being the "branch"
of at least 7 members, combined into a "City Central Committee"
if more than one existed in a locale (the SP basing itself on
the city-level "Local" which may or may not be subdivided
into "branches"). These CPA branches and City Central
Committees were to be combined into either state or (at the discretion
of the CEC) industrial district organizations. In all there were
two or three layers of organization between the individual member
and the governing 15 member CEC. An inner circle of the CEC called
the "Executive Council" -- all living in the specified
headquarters city of Chicago and consisting of the Executive
Secretary, Editor, and 5 members of the CEC -- were to handle
day to day operations of the party. Also notable in this organizational
structure was the fact that the Executive Secretary and Editor
were to be elected annually at party conventions held in May
or June and that there were to be no members-at-large.
"Minutes of the Central Executive
Committee of the Communist Party of America, September 7, 1919."
The first physical
meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the old CPA was
held in Chicago immediately after the conclusion of the founding
convention of the organization. Attended by 14 of the 15 individuals
elected by the Convention, the CEC elected five additional members
to join Executive Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg and Editor of Party
Publications Louis Fraina on an "Executive Council":
I.E. Ferguson, Charles Dirba, K.B. Karosas, John Schwartz, and
Harry Wicks. The CEC named the Executive Council as the party's
legal bureau and committed to undertake the legal defense of
Dennis Batt, naming Isaac Ferguson as party legal counsel. Ferguson
was also named Associate Editor of Party Publications. A standard
party wage of $45 for those with families and $35 for single
employees was established. The New York members of the CEC were
named a subcommittee to organize a NY state district, with Max
Cohen as secretary of the organization committee. The CEC agreed
to conduct its ongoing activities by mail through executive motions
with the next physical meeting set for October 1. Party funds
were to be deposited in a bank account under the name of C.E.
Ruthenberg, with I.E. Ferguson a necessary co-signer for all
party checks -- a decision which would eventually haunt the CEC
when Ruthenberg and Ferguson bolted the party in April 1920,
taking with them thousands of dollars in misappropriated CPA
funds.
"In Re: Communist Party Convention,"
by N. Nagorowe [events of Sept. 1-7, 1919] In its first great anti-Communist intelligence
coup, the Department of Justice successfully placed one of its
"Confidential Employees" on the floor as a delegate
at the Founding Convention of the Communist Party of America.
This is individual was neither Louis C. Fraina nor Harry M. Wicks
(about whom there have been hushed whispers and furtive glances
over the years; neither of whom were on the BoI payroll by any
indication), but was rather the Russian delegate elected by Branch
2, Gary, Indiana, N. Nagorowe. This extensive report by Bureau
of Investigation employee Nagorowe is an extraordinarily important
historical document, containing a first person account of the
closed door caucus activities of the Russian Federations faction.
According to Nagorowe, the various language federations were
driven by the action of the Russian Federation, disciplined and
united fresh from their Federation Convention in Detroit held
just the previous week. The chief of the faction is said to have
been Translator-Secretary Alexander Stoklitsky, a man of few
words at the caucus meetings. Stoklitsky's verbose and doggedly
persistent front men are said to have been Novyi Mir editor
Nick Hourwich and top Jewish Federationist Harry Hiltzik. Also
playing a key roll was CEC member and Latvian Federation chief
John Schwartz, characterized as "a resolute rough leader
of the mob." The Left Wing National Council faction is interestingly
characterized as the "Fraina group" by Nagorowe. Nagorowe
is particularly important for his description of the 3 way dance
between the Federations with the "Fraina group" and
the "Michigans" -- in which the Michigan draft program
seems to have been abruptly and faithlessly dropped in favor
of the Fraina-drafted program as the working basis for the CPA
program by the top leadership of the Federation. Stoklitsky and
Hourwich failed "even to give any intimation of it to their
own caucus members" this drastic change had been made, Nagorowe
notes. The entire situation was masterfully handled Stoklitsky
& Co., Nagorowe indicates, with open split with either the
Left Wing National Caucus or the Michigan faction avoided and
merger with the Anglophonic "Centrists" of the Communist
Labor Party skillfully managed and ultimately avoided.
"Communist Party Convention,"
(A Michigander Perspective) [events of Aug. 30-Sept. 7, 1919]
There are numerous
primary accounts of the founding conventions of American Communism.
The greatest number deal with the high-profile split at the Socialist
Party convention, which lead to the formation of the Communist
Labor Party. A lesser number deal with the establishment of the
Communist Party of America at the convention of its own, called
for Sept. 1, 1919 in Chicago. Of these few, the only one written
from the perspective of an adherent of the ideologically-distinctive
Socialist Party of Michigan seems to be this one -- published
in The Proletarian, the official organ of the Michigan
party and the Proletarian University of America. The unnamed
author of this report emphasizes that there were 3 fairly compact
caucuses at the CPA convention: "The largest group of the
convention was the Russian caucus group, made up of the Russian-speaking
elements, including Poles, Lithuanians, Letts [Latvians], Ukrainians,
and others." Second was "the Fraina-Ferguson caucus,"
consisting primarily of anglophonic elements associated with
the National Council of the Left Wing. The third group, "generally
referred to as the Michigan group," was composed of "delegates
from Muskegon, Grand Rapids, Grand Lodge, Jackson, Detroit, Buffalo
[NY], Rochester [NY], Cleveland, Rockford, Ill., and Chicago,"
the author indicates. This latter group, consisting of approximately
20 delegates to the convention, remained united in support of
a minority program and platform written in accord with the distinct
teachings of the Michigan organization, which rejected any notion
of mass action by a conscious minority, instead arguing for the
necessity of minority support for any revolutionary action.
"Letter to Alfred Wagenknecht
in Cleveland from John Reed in New York, September 7, 1919."
Brief note from John Reed in New
York to the Executive Secretary of the Communist Labor Party
in New York, Due to Reed's high profile and sexy personality,
the secondary literature often indicates that he was the founder
and head of the Communist Labor Party. This is quite incorrect
as illustrated by this letter; Executive Secretary Wagenknecht
was the outstanding political leader of the CLP and it is from
him that Reed inquires for authoritative documents and pleads
for financial support for the labor publication which he edited,
The Voice of Labor. Reed relates that fact that "We
held a meeting tonight, a hastily-assembled but enthusiastic
crowd from different branches. About three hundred. They are
very much interested, especially in the report on our efforts
to reconcile the two conventions.... There is going to be a terrible
fight in New York, but everybody so far seems to think that the
CP has acted wrongly - everybody, that is, except the Michigan
shouters and the Federation fanatics. We've got three branches,
anyway, already."
"Circular Letter to All Russian
Branches of the Communist Party of America from Alexander Stoklitsky
in Chicago, Sept. 8, 1919." Immediately after the conclusion of the Founding
Convention of the CPA, Translator-Secretary of the Russian Federation
Alexander Stoklitsky dispatched the following circular letter
to the various branches of the Russian Communist Federation detailing
the activities of the convention. Stoklitsky uses a low count
for the number of delegates credentialed (128; actual number
seems to have been 137, according to the Finance Committee's
report late in the convention). He announces the publications
launched by the convention -- the weekly organ (The Communist)
and the monthly theoretical magazine (The Communist International)
and details the names of those elected as International Delegates
and members of the organization's CEC. Stoklitsky declares that
"the work of the construction of the Communist Party of
America has been crowned with success. The old, rotten Socialist
Party has cracked at all its seams. All thinking elements have
joined the fighting Communist Party of America." He adds
that "a difficult task lies before our party. Surrounded
on all sides by enemies, it will be obliged to fight on many
fronts simultaneously" -- including particularly "the
Germers and the Bergers," brothers of the German Social
Democratic "traitors" and "social-patriots,"
who "are ready to do all in their power in order to crush
the real Revolutionary movement."
"Historical Review of the
Split in the Socialist Party and the Organization of the Communist
Party and Communist Labor Party. [Sept. 1919] An official review of the split in the Socialist
Party and division of the Communist movement in two new organizations
from the perspective of the Communist Labor Party. Authorship
is unknown, but the document appeared in the CLP's official organ,
Communist Labor Party News, and was reprinted in the CLP-affiliated
press. Onus for the division is placed squarely on the shoulders
of the Communist Party of America, which broke ranks with the
will of the Left Wing National Conference and then "refused
to elect a committee on unity to confer with the committee elected
by the Left Wing delegate convention" -- changing this decision
only when faced by a bolt of about 40 delegates from their own
convention. The CPA, said to be "controlled" by "the
Russian Federation" and run by means of "dictatorial
methods" then refused to unite with the CLP on the basis
of equality, but instead sought control of the new organization
by uniting on the basis of declared memberships. The claim of
the CPA to represent 55,000 members is contested by this article;
instead the CPA included only 24,900 Federationists and "two
or three thousand English-speaking members" while the Communist
Labor Party represented the Socialist Parties of 23 states as
well as the German, Scandinavian, and Italian Federations --
30,800 in all.
"Circular Letter 'To All
Ohio Locals and Branches,'" from Alfred Wagenknecht. [Sept.
1919] This mimeographed
letter was sent out to the Secretaries of the various Locals
and Branches of the Socialist Party of Ohio by Communist Labor
Party Executive Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht in the immediate
aftermath of the split of the Socialist Party of America at its
convention held at the end of August and during the first week
of September. Wagenknecht briefly recounts the history of the
Left Wing movement from the time of the June 21-24, 1919, Left
Wing National Conference in New York. Those favoring immediate
formation of a Communist Party of America are categorized as
"the Russian Federation bolting minority group," which
"refused to unite with us, for it wanted the "honor"
of organizing the first communist party." Wagenknecht is
careful to describe the actions of the group which founded the
CLP as having "obeyed instructions to the letter."
Wagenknecht states that "Your delegates were not instructed
to attend the convention called by the bolting minority group,
the Russian Federation group, but to attend the convention which
was to have been called by the National Council under instructions
from the National Left Wing Conference." The Socialist Party
of Ohio, having been expelled from the SPA, was henceforth affiliated
with the new CLP, Wagenknecht indicated. The dues structure of
the new organization is detailed -- an initiation fee of $1 (half
to the local organization) with dues of 50 cents per month (15
cents of which were to go to the local organization).
"Statement of the Illinois
Delegates Who Withdrew from the Emergency Convention and Participated
in the Formation of the Communist Labor Party." [September
1919] This mimeographed
letter was sent out to the Secretaries of the various Locals
and Branches of the Socialist Party of Illinois by a group of
12 delegates elected to the Socialist Party's August 1919 Emergency
National Convention. The document is useful in helping to establish
a timeline for the SPA convention -- a four hour caucus of the
Illinois delegation on the second day (Sunday, Aug. 31) is described,
and the full convention did not return to session until 2:00
pm, at which time the Credentials Committee was still unready
to report. When the convention -- sans a mass of challenged Left
Wing delegates -- moved to conduct its business without the resolution
of the credentials question, the bulk of the Illinois delegation
walked out, according to this document. They apparently gathered
with like-minded others in the interim, waiting until 6:00 pm
for resolution of the issue. Failing that, the disputed National
Executive Secretary-elect Alfred Wagenknecht called the "real
Emergency Convention" to order in a room downstairs from
the convention of the Germer-SPA, according to the document.
The charge is made that "we demanded immediate action of
our claims [to seat all constitutionally-elected delegates],
only to learn that it was the intention of those in control to
seat [only] enough of us that they might retain control by a
safe margin." The document states that "it is our purpose
to make of the Communist Labor Party an instrument for the conquest
of the class state and the inauguration of Industrial Democracy."
"Call for a Mass Membership
Convention For the Purpose of Organizing Local Cook County of
the Communist Labor Party of America." [Sept. 1919] . A rare leaflet held in the Comintern Archive,
a call by the provisional Cook County, Illinois, CLP organization
for a "Mass Membership Convention" to establish "Local
Cook County, Communist Labor Party of America." All those
pledging allegiance to the program of the CLP and submitting
an application for membership were to be entitled to participate
at the organizational convention, to be held Sunday, Sept. 28,
1919. Includes the organizational principles and program of the
CLP, an illuminating view of the ideology of the party's early
participants. Published over the signatures of the Cook. Co.
Organization Committee: G.A. Engelken, Arthur Procter, J. Meisinger,
Sam Hankin (Sec.), and John Nelson.
"Circular Letter to All Locals
and Branches of the Socialist Party of America from Alfred Wagenknecht,
Executive Secretary of the CLP, circa Sept. 10, 1919." This communique was sent out by
Executive Secretary of the Communist Labor Party Alfred Wagenknecht
immediately after the formation of the CLP to all local units
of the Socialist Party, seeking their affiliation with the new
organization. "The Left Wing delegates whom you sent to
Chicago to attend the convention of the Socialist Party were
thrown out of the convention hall by the police in command of
the Socialist Party National Secretary. These Left Wing delegates,
82 in number, then organized the legal Socialist Party convention,
under the direction of the new National Executive Committee which
you elected and in obedience to the mandate of the National Left
Wing Conference, organized the Communist Labor Party, the logical
outgrowth of the fight for Left Wing principles made in the Socialist
Party by the majority of its members," Wagenknecht declares.
Wagenknecht advocates the immediate call of a meeting of each
local body for the sole purpose of considering the constitution,
program, and platform of the CLP and for decision on the question
of affiliation. "Take your stand with us in a united revolutionary
movement. Out all ties that bind you to that kind of socialism
which has made Scheidemann and Kerensky infamous.... The old
Socialist Party is dead. The new party is virile with the spirit
of those who know no compromise," Wagenknecht implores.
"Russia -- The World's Greatest
Labor Case: A Speech in San Francisco," by Robert Minor
[Sept. 14, 1919] Texas
born, California dwelling cartoonist and journalist Robert Minor
was one of the first-hand American observers of the Russian Revolution.
For the better part of a year he lived in Moscow, interviewing
Lenin, contributing a cartoon to Pravda, and attempting to fulfill
his journalistic obligations in spite of suppression of his various
cables to America. Once home, Minor toured and spoke extensively
on behalf of the Russian Socialist Republic. This is the text
of Minor's second speech in America, made in San Francisco late
in the summer of 1919. Minor charges that Soviet Russia is the
victim of the greatest of labor frame-ups, a "conspiracy
to falsify the facts" on the part of governments and their
diplomats working hand in glove with the bourgeois press. Soviet
violence was exaggerated and depicted in the lurid accounts,
while the greater violence of the anti-Communists went largely
unreported. Minor tells his audience to "dismiss from your
minds the lies that have been told on the score of the 'red terror.'
Perhaps 4,500 or 5,000 people were killed under the 'red terror.'
For that reason Russia is to be excluded from all consideration,
they say. Look on the other side of the fight. Not less than
76,000 were killed by the "white terror" and you never
heard of it." Minor makes the provocative claim far from
American being threatened by the virus of Bolshevism, to the
contrary it was American that was radicalizing Soviet Russia.
Minor asserts that he "ran across these American-Russians
everywhere, and every one of them who has been here got his political
education and has no illusions, knows all the potentialities
of this country." It was these American-Russians who were
"the most radical of all." The St. Louis stockbroker-turned-diplomat
David Francis was dismissed by Russians as an "old stuff
shirt," Minor declares, while the "one American representative
in Russia who understood and saw" was YMCA man Raymond Robbins,
"a capitalist of the kind that can understand a few things
and see ahead."
"Circular to All Branches
of the Russian Federation of the Communist Party of America from
Oscar Tyverovsky, Secretary." [circa Sept. 15, 1919] In this communique from the first
days after the split of the Socialist Party of America into 3
competing organizations, Secretary of the Russian Federation
Oscar Tyverovsky offers the Communist Party of America's perspective
of the dispute. Tyverovsky is harshly critical of the Communist
Labor Party element for not joining with the Communist Party
of America after the outcome of the Socialist Party convention
became clear on its first day, Aug. 30, 1919. These delegates
disregarded the fact that the CPA organizing committee had agreed
to accept those delegates who would be willing to submit to the
requirements governing the delegates of the Communist Convention,
i.e., to pass the Mandate Commission." Instead, they formed
their own dual communist political organization, the CLP -- a
group which Tyverovsky characterizes as "a party of leaders
without [the masses]." Tyverovsky notes that these "so-called
communists" had admitted to their organization branches
of the Russian Federation which recently been expelled by the
Russian Federation "because of their Menshevik tactics and
disorganizing activities." Instead of making known the real
differences in the orientation of these two wings of the Russian
Federation, Tyverovsky states that the CLP was instead exaggerating
an artificial issue, the question of control over the Russian
Soviet Government Bureau of Ludwig Martens (which the CLP supported
and worked with and the CPA sought to subordinate to its own
party control). The CLP also made use of their "backbiting,
lying paper, Pravda" to slander the Russian Federation,
Tyverovsky charges, adding that "we must stand fast at our
post, not allowing the evil-doers to disrupt our ranks."
"Strength of the Two Left
Wing Parties." (Communist Labor Party News) [circa
Sept. 15, 1919] This
short article pronounces the Communist Labor Party's view of
the membership status of the CPA and CLP at the time of their
formation. The article correctly notes that "only an estimate
of the strength of each can be given at this time for the exact
membership can not be ascertained until both organizations have
functioned for some months and then only upon the basis of dues
stamp sales." The CPA is said to consist largely of members
from the language federations: "Russian, 6,500; Ukrainian,
3,500; South Slavic, 3,000; Lithuanian, 6,000; Lettish [Latvian]
1,500; Hungarian, 2,400; Polish, 2,000," plus "a few
thousand English-speaking members" for a total estimated
membership of the Communist Party of "about 28,000."
This estimate is reasonable. The count of its own CLP organizational
ranks is highly inflated however, based upon Anglophonic state
memberships plus "the greater portion of the German Federation
membership, with a Left Wing of "about 5,000, plus "the
Italian Federation, 1,000; and the Scandinavian Federation, 3,000."
Thus, "the membership of the Communist Labor Party equals,
if it does not exceed, that of the Communist Party," the
article writer optimistically (and wrongly) declares.
"Letter to John Reed and
Ben Gitlow in New York from Alfred Wagenknecht in Cleveland,
circa mid-Sept. 1919." Short
note from the head of the Communist Labor Party to the editors
of the CLP's labor publication, Voice of Labor in New
York. Wagenknecht indicates that discretion is the better part
of valor with respect to impeding enlistment in the army through
the pages of The Ohio Socialist, when mailing privileges
and a potential jail term would be in the offing. But "don't
call me an angle-worm -- backboneless," he asks, noting
that "it will please you to learn that the Communists are
AFRAID to publish their platform and program. Ruthenberg said
to me the other day that they would probably have to circulate
it SECRETLY." Little did he know that in little more than
three months the CLP, too, would be driven underground...
"'Bulletin No. 1' to Local
Units of the SPA and SLP from C.E. Ruthenberg, Exec. Sec. of
the CPA in Chicago." [Sept. 18, 1919] Immediately after formally organizing itself at
its founding convention, Sept. 1-7, 1919, the Communist Party
of America attempted to win adherents en masse to the CPA banner.
This typeset flyer was sent to various branches of the Socialist
Party of America and Socialist Labor Party, attempting to win
the allegiance of entire branches and locals previously affiliated
with these organizations. Noting the move for organization of
a third party by the bolting delegates from the SPA convention,
Executive Secretary Ruthenberg states: "It is still possible
to attain unity between all the workers who are ready to support
Communist principles. If every branch which stands for those
principles endorses and becomes part of the Communist Party,
which already has 50,000 members, no second organization can
come into existence."
"The Communist Party,"
by Jack Carney [Sept. 19, 1919] This article by Duluth, Minnesota Left Wing iconoclast
Jack Carney, a member of the National Executive Committee of
the Communist Labor Party, takes aim at his rival Charles Dirba
and the Communist Party of America. Carney had in the previous
week asserted that "The majority of the English-speaking
membership" which the CPA had was "drawing away from
it" and State Secretary Dirba had taken exception, asserting
that "common decency and honesty demands that you retract
this misstatement." Carney sticks to his guns, writing "If
you want to judge the membership of any party, just judge them
by their actions, not their TALK. There has been more work done
in the city of Duluth than in both of the Twin Cities. We have
sold more literature than the State Office, which has the whole
membership to serve. The Scandinavian Local has practically kept
the State Office above water. This has been made possible because
within the Socialist Party of Duluth there has been unity of
purpose and unity of action. We have not engaged in talk so much
as action. True it is that we have not used many revolutionary
phrases, but we have gone to the place where the worker was reached
and that was on the job." Carney seeks unity of Communist
forces: "There is no Communist Party that has a right to
say that WE are the only party. The times call for more tolerance
and they call for the exercising of our common sense in these
matters. We must come together. If you are prepared to stay in
your own little party, then you are lost to all sense of a conscious
realization of the task that is set before you."
"Application for Membership
in the Communist International on Behalf of the Communist Labor
Party of America," by Alfred Wagenknecht [September
21, 1919] Succinct application
for Comintern membership by the Executive Secretary of the Communist
Labor Party of America, acting in accord with a resolution passed
unanimously at the founding convention of the party, which closed
Sept. 5, 1919. The resolution states: "We hereby declare
ourselves one in principle and actions with all the parties and
organizations already affiliated with the Third International
formed at Moscow, and send them our heartiest greetings. We pledge
ourselves to work upon the lines and according to the program
determined upon by the first Congress of the Third International..."
By way of contrast, the Communist Party of America applied for
Comintern membership on Nov. 24, 1919, and the Socialist Party
of America applied for Comintern membership on March 12, 1920.
"In Re: Communist Meeting
at West Side Auditorium, Chicago," Reports by Peter P. Mindak
and Jacob Spolansky [Sept. 21, 1919] Two Bureau of Investigation reports on the mass
meeting held in Chicago in the afternoon of September 21, 1919,
by the Communist Party of America. According to Special Agent
Mindak, about 800 or 900 persons were in attendance, "most
of whom appeared to be Russians," to hear speeches by Harry
Wicks and C.E. Ruthenberg (in English), J. Kaminski (in Polish),
and Alexander Stoklitsky (in Russian). Mindak singles out Wicks
for special mention: "This speaker assailed the President
in most violent terms, and his entire speech, it can be safely
said, was the most revolutionary and fiery talk that employee
has yet heard. He called all the police and other peace officers
as being all thugs cutthroats, and pimps. He could not find words
powerful enough to portray his contempt and animosity. He advocated
the organization of the workers in the various shops, to prepare
themselves for the time, which he stated was at hand, when the
workers will take the plants in their own hands as they did in
Russia." Ruthenberg is said to have delivered "more
of the old time Socialistic anti-Capitalistic talk and was tame
in comparison with the talk of Wicks." Mindak states that
Stoklitsky was the most effective speaker, resoundingly greeted
by the assembly. The Russian-speaking Spolansky adds a note on
the content of Stoklitsky's speech, noting that he "worded
his speech to the coming strike" on Sept. 22. As is his
wont, Spolansky luridly adds that Stoklitsky "stated that
the steel strike, which is going to start on September 22nd [1919]
will become a general revolution, and that the Communist Party,
whose aim is to bring about this revolution in this country should
make every possible effort to explain to the steel strikers that
proclaiming getting more wages for shorter hours is not the thing
to fight for. He stated that they must fight for the establishment
of communism through the proletarian dictatorship."
"'Not Goodbye, Just Change,'
Says [Alex] Georgian." (NY Call) [event of Sept.
21, 1919] On Sept.
21, 1919, a meeting was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota to honor
Russian-American Socialist activist Alex Georgian, who was slated
to be transported to Ellis Island, New York for eventual deportation.
Georgian was greeted with an ovation by his comrades before telling
them: "Deportation is not a new thing. It has existed since
the exploitation of man was introduced into society. It was so
in Russia, and it is so in England, France, and all over. Deportation
is a social crime by the master class to subjugate workers. I
am not the first, and I will not be the last. Deportation will
exist as long as the capitalist class.... Because of the prosecution
and oppression visited upon the workers of Russia, Russia is
in the vanguard of progress. The same thing is coming here, and
they can't crush it. This is not a farewell, just a changing
of place. I have always been in the struggle, and am going to
talk whether they send me to China, Germany, or Hell." A
footnote by Tim Davenport notes that Georgian was ultimately
freed on a writ of habeas corpus and remained undeported throughout
the early 1920s -- eventually playing a major role as a member
of the dissident Ruthenberg faction of the Communist Party of
America and serving as a delegate to the 1922 Bridgman convention
under the pseudonym "Kasbeck."
Letter of I.E. Ferguson in Chicago
to A.M. Rovin in Detroit, September 23, 1919. A historically important and illuminating document
from the Comintern archives. This lengthy letter from National
Left Wing Council Secretary and CPA founding member I.E. Ferguson
answers a hostile interlocutor and defends the decision to move
to an immediate September 1 launch of the Communist Party of
America. Ferguson charges that the Communist Labor Party resulted
from "the trickery of about a dozen reckless men who were
in the strategic position to mislead about 30 delegates who really
belonged in the Communist Party Convention but were purposely
kept away by misinformation." As for the remaining members
of the CLP founding convention, Ferguson calls them "drifters
of one kind or another, men and women incapable of decision,
and at the moment representing no membership and no set of principles."
Aside from the question of programmatic differences between the
CPA and the CLP, the issue of so-called "autonomous federations"
is discussed, with Ferguson defending the CPA's federation model
as "realistic, yet uncompromising so far as the principle
of party centralization is concerned."
"The Communist Party Convention,"
by I.E. Ferguson [Sept. 27, 1919]. Ferguson,
a prominent member of the Left Wing National Council, founding
member of the Communist Party of America, and editor of that
party's official organ provides a lengthy and detailed account
of the founding of the CPA, published in the pages of The
Communist for the benefit of CPA members. Ferguson's account
makes clear that the gathering was anything but monolithic --
he emphasizes the division of the organization between three
groups: the Michigan faction, the Language Federationists headed
by Alexander Stoklitsky, and the Left Wing National Council group.
Ferguson emphasizes that the latter favored a softer line with
regards to the participation of bolting delegates from the Socialist
Party Emergency National Convention and serious unity discussions
with the emerging Communist Labor Party group -- a position which
was defeated by the convention in a test of strength. Includes
a very useful list of elected officials of the CPA using "real"
names.
"Large Section of Old Local
[Cuyahoga County, OH] Back in Party (NY Call) [event of
Sept. 28, 1919] Brief
news account from the Socialist Party's New York daily detailing
the visit of party NEC member William Brandt to a large Sept.
28, 1919, gathering of Local Cuyahoga County, Ohio -- the massive
local organization from which both Communist Party Executive
Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg and Communist Labor Party Executive
Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht hailed. Brandt had been denied the
right to address the gathering on behalf of the Socialist Party,
which limited presentations to the two rival Communist organizations.
CLP NEC members Wagenknecht and Alexander Bilan spoke on behalf
of the Communist Labor Party and Ruthenberg had spoken on behalf
of the CPA. Debate followed, after which the gathering voted
overwhelmingly for the affiliation of Local Cuyahoga County to
the Communist Party -- the CLP astoundingly mustering only 3
votes of support. The vote for affiliation prompted an immediate
bolt of a small number of loyalists to the Socialist Party, who
proceeded to reorganize as Local Cuyahoga County, Socialist Party,
with former Cleveland City Council member John G. Willert as
Secretary. NEC member Brandt assured the rest of the SPA's NEC
that "the English membership was with the party, as was
the membership of the Jewish and Finnish branches," according
to the news report. "Brandt estimates that while 25 percent
of the membership is inclined toward the Communist Party, at
least 25 percent is loyal to the Socialist Party, with 50 percent
indifferent. He feels that the better part of this 50 percent
can be brought into the Socialist Party," the report optimistically
continues.
"Otto Branstetter Named Secretary
of Socialist Party: Edmund Melms Sees Huge Increase Coming in
Party Membership." (Milwaukee Leader) [Oct. 1, 1919]
Following Adolph
Germer's mid-September resignation as Executive Secretary of
the Socialist Party, the party's governing 7 member "temporary"
National Executive Committee quickly moved to fill the vacancy.
Their choice was was long-time Oklahoma party functionary Otto
Branstetter. The decision was announced to the SP daily, the
Milwaukee Leader, by NEC member Edmund Melms, returning
home from the NEC's quarterly gathering in Chicago. "Encouraging
reports were received from Ohio, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
Indiana, and California, an from indications it will be only
a short time when the Socialist Party of the United States will
witness a new growth and a tremendous increase in membership,
as the result of overcoming the recent troubles forced upon it,"
Melms optimistically told the paper. Melms proclaims the Communist
Labor Party to be a stillborn organization: "The so-called
Communist Labor Party is dead. One of the strongest states that
it claimed was Ohio, and that state is hopelessly lost to it.
Some of the strongest industrial cities have repudiated it. In
Cleveland, in the city and country convention just held, the
Left Wingers [CLP] were able only to muster the votes of 3 delegates
seated in the convention." Plans for aggressive expansion
of the SP's membership ranks are noted by Melms.
"The Three Parties,"
by L.E. Katterfeld [October 1919]. An
official CLP history of the division of the American marxist
movement into "three parties" -- the Socialist Party,
the Communist Party of America, and the Communist Labor Party
of America. Katterfeld portrays the division of the movement
into reformist and revolutionary camps as a fundamental opposition
of viewpoints with the split being reproduced around the world.
As for the split of the American revolutionary section, Katterfeld
states that the germ was planted by the partial suspension and
expulsion of the Left Wing Section by the NEC of the Socialist
Party. A Conference was held in Chicago where it was agreed to
continue the fight within the SPA, but "within two weeks
the Michigan-Russian Federation coalition violated this joint
agreement and began boosting for a separate party." The
matter came up again at the National Left Wing Conference in
New York, where the majority again agreed to carry on the fight
"until the natural climax in convention." A third meeting,
that of the new NEC of the Socialist Party, held in Chicago on
July 26 reaffirmed this decision. Although both Louis Fraina
and C.E. Ruthenberg were at this last meeting and supported the
decision, "within a week they flopped" and endorsed
the call for an immediate convention regardless of the outcome
of the internal Socialist Party fight. "Then the Revolutionary
Age turned a somersault and began to play its financial masters'
tune by abusing as 'centrists' all those that did not join it
in its flop." This was the cause of the split between CLP
and CPA, a division which Katterfeld stated was not based upon
any "fundamental difference of principle." The CLP
stood ready "at any time, anywhere to meet on a equal basis
of Comradeship" with the CPA to forge unity, Katterfeld
noted.
"Fifty-Seven Questions Answered,"
by the National Office, CLP. [Oct. 1919]. Frequently
Asked Questions of the National Office regarding affiliations
of individuals and full SP Locals and Branches to the newly organized
Communist Labor Party -- published in order to minimize the amount
of costly individual correspondence that needed to be conducted
on these matters. Affiliations of SP Locals and Branches were
to be automatic upon majority vote; Socialist Party dues stamps
were no longer to be valid after Nov. 1, 1919; uniform dues for
individuals and couples was to be 50 cents per month (with allocation
of this amount specified); new members were to pay a $1 initiation
fee; and the Communist Labor Party News was to serve as a temporary
membership bulletin until a regular publication could be launched.
"Circular Letter to All Branches
and Locals of the Communist Party of America from C.E. Ruthenberg,
Executive Secretary, Oct. 7, 1919." This recently-surfaced circular letter by CPA
Executive Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg outlines his party's side
of the argument with the Communist Labor Party over the question
"Who is blocking Communist unity?" Ruthenberg unhesitatingly
declares the fault lies with the CLP, the leaders of which asserted
falsely that "the decisions of the Left Wing Conference
called for a third convention, and, logically, for a third party."
These leaders went to Chicago fully intending to hold a convention
of their own to establish such a third party, Ruthenberg asserts,
although they did not have the courage to announce this intention
to the party membership. Ruthenberg reveals that at the caucus
of the Left Wing delegates to the Socialist Party held the evening
before the convention convened, he introduced a resolution "binding
them to enter the Communist Convention immediately after they
bolted from the Emergency Convention" -- a resolution which
was voted down. A similar motion the next day making unity with
the Communist Convention the first order of business was similarly
rejected, Ruthenberg states. The Communist Convention merely
sought bolting delegates to submit their credentials to the Credentials
Committee the same as any other delegates, Ruthenberg says. "Previously
the Organizing Committee and the Left Wing Council had declared
to these delegates that all those delegates who had credentials
for both the Emergency Convention and the Communist Convention
would be included in the roster of delegates that would organize
the convention, and the spirit of the convention toward the other
bolting delegates was shown in the seating without question of
4 delegates from Minnesota because their State Organization had
endorsed the Left Wing Program, although they had no definite
credentials for the Communist Convention." This very reasonable
position was rejected by the delegates who formed the CLP, he
indicates, which demanded all-or-nothing acceptance of all delegates
on the basis of organizational equality. Ruthenberg declares
that "Communist Unity is still possible. The delegates of
the Communist Labor Convention are responsible for the organization
of a third party. If they are Communists in principle let them
step aside. If they desire unity of the Communist elements in
the United States, let them disband their Executive Committee
and urge every local to join the Communist Party."
"The Demonstration of October
8 and What It Teaches Us," by Nicholas I. Hourwich [event
of Oct. 8, 1919] Leader
of the Russian Federation of the Communist Party of America Nick
Hourwich offers his perspective on the ill-fated Oct. 8, 1919
parade in New York of 2,500 to 3,000 Russian immigrants who gathered
to attempt to bring an end to the blockade of Soviet Russia.
The peaceful gathering had been ridden down by mounted policemen
and the unarmed and passive demonstrators had been systematically
beaten by foot officers and from horseback. Hourwich states that
the "illusion of non-partisanship" of the demonstrators
had been "badly shattered" by the brutal actions of
the New York police. The actions of the servants of the state
had proven that anyone "who goes out to fight for the lifting
of the blockade from Soviet Russia must inevitably be drawn into
the conflict against the entire existing economic and social-political
system -- against capitalism and the capitalist state."
The demonstrators, who are compared to the supplicants marching
behind the banners of Father Gapon in Tsarist Russia in 1905,
sorely lacked the leadership that the Communist Party could have
provided, Hourwich asserts. Hourwich notes that Communist leadership
would have understood the potential for state violence and carefully
weighed its strength and prospects, not hesitating to delay action
if conditions were not promising. Cancellation of an ill-prepared
action was "better than a disorderly procession of several
thousand people, lacking any elements of heroism, scattering
aimlessly in the face of several scores or even hundreds of police,"
Hourwich declares.
"Communist Labor Party Mail
Referendum for NEC Motions 3 and 4." [Oct. 11, 1919] Historians of the Socialist Party of America will
immediately recognize this document. The SP was a decentralized
organization based around state party organizations -- its governing
NEC met only infrequently, approximately once a quarter. In the
interim, it transacted its business by mail. So too the early
Communist Labor Party (which in the eyes of many sprang from
the actually elected Socialist Party, illegitimately overthrown
by an illegal coup by the outgoing 1918-19 NEC). In addition
to being an interesting illustration of pre-Palmer Raid organizational
form, this document set in motion the post-September wrangling
of the two Communist Parties over unity, featuring a resolution
by Edward Lindgren to have Executive Secretary Wagenknecht write
a letter to the CPA offering to hold a joint meeting of the two
Executive Committees on Nov. 1 in Chicago "for an informal
discussion of a basis for a formal Unity Conference."
"Letter to Fred Walchli in
Bellaire, Ohio, from L.E. Katterfeld in Cleveland, Ohio, October
12, 1919. Reply by CLP Organization Director
Ludwig Katterfeld to an Oct. 6 letter from Walchli condemning
the alleged statement of Tom Clifford that "We want to make
the Communist Labor Party 100% American." Katterfeld states
that he was next to Clifford at the meeting in question and that
what Clifford actually said is that "We want to build an
American Communist Party." Katterfeld points out
that far from being nativist, all five members of the CLP National
Executive Committee were foreign-born. Statements of CLP election
strategy and the reason for no formal endorsement of the IWW
in the CLP platform are included. Katterfeld also indicates that
it was as yet impossible to determine the numerical strength
of the two Communist Parties, as "not until the individual
member affiliates with a Party by paying his dues can you claim
him as a member," He states that 20,000 CLP dues stamps
had been distributed to date.
"Young Reds Break with Yellow
SP," by Maximilian Cohen [events of Oct. 12-13, 1919] On Oct. 12 and 13, 1919, a closely
watched convention of the Young People's Socialist League of
New York was held. The gathering was attended by representatives
of the 3 main radical parties: Alexander L. Trachtenberg for
the Socialist Party of America, Fannie Jacobs for the Communist
Labor Party, and Harry M. Winitsky (convention Day 1) and Bert
Wolfe (Day 2) for the Communist Party of America. In addition,
Bertha Mailly and David Berenberg were in attendance on behalf
of the Socialist Party-linked Rand School of Social Science.
The primary order of business for the gathering was to determine
the organizational affiliation of the New York YPSL in the aftermath
of the 1919 split of the SPA. The New York convention anticipated
the eventual action of the national YPSL organization, ultimately
deciding upon an official policy of "neutrality" and
severing relations with the parent Socialist Party. A new State
Board of Control was elected, including 4 supporters of the CPA,
1 supporter of the CLP, and 2 supporters of the SPA. All references
to the Socialist Party were deleted from the organization's constitution.
The New York YPSL convention also adopted a resolution repudiating
the Berne International and declaring itself "an integral
part of the International Communist movement."
"A Visit to Communist Party
Headquarters, Chicago," by A.H. Loula [Oct. 14, 1919] This document chronicles a visit
by Bureau of Investigation Special Agent August Loula to the
national headquarters of the Communist Party of America, located
at the so-called Smolny Institute on Blue Island Avenue in Chicago.
Loula states that the CPA is "very actively engaged in spreading
its anarchist propaganda throughout the country" and lists
its leaders as Louis Fraina, Alex Stoklitsky, Nick Hourwich,
Ed Ferguson, Joseph Stilson, C.E. Ruthenberg, Joseph Kowalski,
and Fred Friedman. He notes in his report that his superiors
had instructed Loula to "keep in constant touch with the
activities of the above-named renegades" and he states that
"their activities are carefully being watched." In
response to a complaint by an officer in Central Division Military
Intelligence about a CPA leaflet "pamphlet reeks with sedition
and anarchy," Loula visited CPA headquarters to investigate.
After some verbal jousting with Ferguson and Ruthenberg, Loula
obtained some copies of the leaflet in question, "The Capitalists
Challenge You, Working Man." "I later read the pamphlet
and have come to the conclusion that it does not contain matter
upon which prosecution could be based by this Department,"
Loula indicates.
"Circular Letter to the Members
of the Communist Party of America from C.E. Ruthenberg, Executive
Secretary, Oct. 15, 1919." This letter from Executive Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg
to the members of the Communist Party of America declares that
the organization is "alive to the present struggles of the
workers" and will "aim to enter actively into every
struggle of the workers." By its deeds, the fledgling CPA
would demonstrate that its slogan declaring itself a "party
of action" is "no idle boast," Ruthenberg states.
In practice, these deeds of the young organization consisted
of the coordinated distribution of leaflets -- available for
$1.50 per thousand from the party's national office in Chicago.
"The Capitalists Challenge You, Workingmen" was to
be distributed in the second half of October 1919; "Declaration
of the Communist Party on the Blockade of Russia" from Nov.
1 to 9; and "Your Shop" for the balance of November.
"Action, and more action, comrades, that must be our goal.
Begin a widespread distribution of these Communist Party leaflets.
Each one, while dealing with specific problems contains the argument
for Communist principles. Our party will grow strong and powerful
as we show ourselves worthy of support of the workers. Make the
party what it should be by active participation in this literature
campaign," Ruthenberg implores.
"Communist Labor Heads Arrested!
Infamous Freeman Act Again Used to Crush Political and Industrial
Activity Among Ohio Workers," by Joseph W. Sharts [event
of Oct. 16, 1919] News
account from the (Regular) Socialist Party of Ohio official organ,
the Miami Valley Socialist, edited by Joseph Sharts of
Dayton. Sharts notes the Oct. 16 arrest of 5 prominent leaders
of the Communist Labor Party in Ohio under the state's criminal
syndicalism statute, the ironically named "Freeman Act."
Those arrested included Alfred Wagenknecht, National Secretary
of the new Communist Labor Party; L.E. Katterfeld, national organizer
of the CLP; Elmer T. Allison, editor of The Ohio Socialist;
Charles Baker, state organizer; and Walter Brunstrup, Secretary
of the Cuyahoga County Committee of the CLP. Sharts characterizes
the arrests as the "latest incident of the White Terror
in Ohio" and declares that "everyone personally acquainted
with these radical leaders knows that if they spoke at any meeting
they were careful to avoid making statements that would violate
the Freeman Act." Sharts notes that the Freeman Act was
also being used to battle unions on behalf of the employers,
citing the recent arrest of 9 striking coal miners in Harrison
County, members of the United Mine Workers Union. Sharts calls
for Ohio workers to make use of the initiative process to overturn
the Freeman Act via the ballot box.
"CLP Officials Arrested."
(Communist Labor Party News) [event of Oct. 16, 1919]
This short news
article notes the arrest of a number of CLP leaders when attempting
to organize the party organization in Cleveland. These included:
"L.E. Katterfeld, organization director and member of the
National Executive Committee; E.T. Allison, editor; Walter Brunstrup,
Cleveland CLP Secretary; Charles Baker, organizer; and A. Wagenknecht,
Executive Secretary of the CLP, were arrested Thursday, October
16th [1919] and charged with violating the criminal syndicalist
law." The article declares: "The assault upon the party
by the masters' menials will spur every CLP member to double
duty for the party. Defense funds must be secured. Strength in
organization must be developed. Every attack by the hysterical
opposition must be met by additions to our ranks and greater
determination for an early victory."
"To the Striking Longshoremen:
Proclamation Issued by the Communist Party of America, Local
Greater New York." [leaflet circa Oct. 20, 1919] Full text of one of the very first
leaflets of the American Communist movement, a proclamation to
striking New York longshoremen by the New York Communist Party.
The leaflet attempts to draw parallels between the longshoremen's
strike and the steel strike and to identify the state with violence
on behalf of the capitalist exploiters: "How then can you
expect to receive a square deal from the Bosses' Government?!
The Government will place squads of soldiers on the piers, with
rifles and machine guns to shoot you down. If you hold your ground
they will establish martial law; they will break up your meetings;
raid your homes, arrest you -- just as they are doing to the
steel strikers in Gary now. In other words, they will try to
crush your spirit, break your solidarity with your fellow-workers,
and send you back to work like a lot of beaten dogs." Dismissing
the possibility of amelioration, the leaflet declares that "The
only way is to get rid of the present Bosses' Government and
establish a Workers' Government in its place. A Workers' Government
like the Soviet Republic of Russia. The present Government is
a government of the capitalists, by the capitalists, for the
capitalists. You must aim for the establishment of a Workers'
Republic of workers, by the workers, for the workers."
"Executive Motions of the
Central Executive Committee of the old Communist Party of America,
Oct. 23, 1919." As
was the case with the rival CLP, the Central Executive Committee
of the old Communist Party of America initially used the mails
rather than frequent physical meetings to make its organizational
decisions. This document from the Comintern Archive details the
results of Motion #1 (to approve reply to CLP on unity -- passed)
and Motion #2 (To postpone the next physical meeting of the CEC
from Nov. 1 to Dec. 20 -- failed). It also reveals the limitations
of this slow and tedious method of making decisions, with Motion
#3 (to delay the reply to the CLP approved by Motion #1) arbitrarily
terminated by Executive Secretary Ruthenberg to prevent a defeated
minority from arbitrarily halting action, and Motion #5 (calling
for International Secretary Fraina to delay his letter to the
Comintern until after the next physical meeting of the CEC) announced
as being moot, the letter having already been sent. Motion #4
(to delay the next physical meeting of the CEC from Nov. 1 to
Nov. 15 to allow members to be in their cities to help conduct
Nov. 7 Revolution Day activities had to be voted on by wire due
to the proximity of the Nov. 1 date and the need to make necessary
travel arrangements to Chicago. The motion to delay ultimately
passed.
"Statement to the National
Executive Committee of the Communist Labor Party in Cleveland
from the Central Execuive Committee of the Communist Party of
America in Chicago, October 23, 1919." This is a very early formal reply from the governing
CEC of the Communst Party of America to the NEC of the Communist
Labor Party in reply to the latter's request for a joint meeting
of Executive Committees to attempt to broker organizational unity.
The CPA is dismissive of such a task, rhetorically asking whether
"a conference between the two Executive Committees be of
any use for this purpose? We think not..." Instead, an appeal
is made over the head of the NEC of the CLP, directly to the
rank and file membership of the organization. The delegates to
the Sept. 1 founding convention of the CPA acted decisively,
the statement contends, forming a new Communist Party only after
having made appeals "individually and collectively"
to the Left Wing delegates to the SPA Convention. It was only
"the eagerness of the National Secretary of the Communist
Labor Party [Alfred Wagenknecht] to run socialist candidates
and garner socialist votes" and the selfish desires of other
"conscious manipulators" that led to the "deliberate
act against Communist Unity" that was the establishment
of the CLP. The CPA had stood ready to welcome dedicated Communists
to its founding convention as delegates but was unwilling to
negotiate with a new "third party" as a party. The
door remained open for branches of the CLP willing to accept
the program and constitution of the CPA to join that organization
as branches and participate in the affairs of the organization
leading up to the 2nd Convention, slated for June 1920. The CPA
stood ready to assume all work and liabilities of the CLP as
a condition of liquidating the CLP organization. "We appeal
to the Communist Labor Party membership which is truly Communist
to take this situation in their own hands and to compel unity
on a fundamental basis," the statement declared.
"The Socialist Apostle Speaks,"
by Nicholas I. Hourwich. [Oct. 25, 1919]
This article in the official organ of the Communist Party of
America attacks the perceived duplicity of Morris Hillquit's
second article on the factional war, "We Are All Socialists,"
[Sept. 22, 1919], in the immediate aftermath of the Chicago party
split. Hillquit's chastening of his comrades for "infraction
of Socialist ethics and decency" in the attack on the Left
Wing is dismissed by Hourwich as paternalistic patter -- the
zealous attack of the Left in the bourgeois press is viewed as
being uniform behavior by the "social-opportunists and the
social-reformists of all lands" in their effort to prove
their "ability" and "respectability" to the
bourgeois public. An interesting example of the vehement antipathy
held for the archetypical centrist social democrat Hillquit by
many on the revolutionary left of the American movement.
"National Executive Committee
of Communist Labor Party Meets: Establishes Communist Labor as
Official Organ and Makes Class Struggle Magazine and Voice of
Labor Official Publication of Party -- Takes Over Publishing
Business of the Socialist Publication Society." [Meeting
of Oct. 25-27, 1919] Account from
the official organ of the Communist Labor Party detailing the
second gathering of the party's governing National Executive
Committee. The sessions
were attended by the entire NEC: National Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht
and NEC committeemen Max Bedacht (San Francisco), Alexander Bilan
(Cleveland), L.E. Katterfeld (Cleveland), Jack Carney (Duluth),
and Edward Lindgren (Brooklyn). The group heard an organizational
report by Wagenknecht, in which he stated that a total of 6,788
charter (initiation) stamps had been ordered to date, plus 14,976
monthly dues stamps and 657 dual husband/wife monthly dues stamps.
State organizations were chartered in 9 states, with several
others due to follow in short order and additional unorganized
states to be div