JANUARY

"The Young Communist League of America. Resolution Adopted by the 2nd Convention of the United Communist Party, Kingston, NY -- January 1921." The 2nd Convention of the UCP for the first time set in motion the establishment of a formal Communist youth organization in the United States. This is the text of the Convention Resolution which established the "Young Communist League, Section of the Young Communist International." The resolution stated that "The Party shall recognize the importance of a young people's movement. It is the duty of the Party to prepare them with all the means at its disposal. An intensive cooperation between both organizations is an absolute necessity." To this end financial support and organizational effort by the organizations District Organizers was pledged, space in the official organ committed to youth matters, and literature planned. An additional legal organization "to carry on the legal work of the Young Communist League of America" and to provide "education, recreational, and social facilities" was called for in the resolution, presaging the establishment of a parallel Workers Party of America and Young Workers League in 1922.

 

"Fourth Statement on Unity Proceedings," by Charles Dirba [Jan. 5, 1921] The last of four typeset leaflets prepared for the rank and file of the Communist Party of America detailing the status of unity negotiations with the rival United Communist Party. Dirba notes that the CI's deadline for unity has passed without action and that "the responsibility for this lies entirely upon the UCP. They have refused and they still refuse to abide by the decisions of the Comintern providing for a joint unity convention on the basis of proportional representation." Includes text of (1) UCP to CPA, Dec. 18 (very lengthy reply to the CPA's challenge to supply specifics to back up its charges of systematic membership manipulation. While its citation of external estimates of CPA membership strength in various cities is not compelling, its specific charges of inflation of the Lithuanian Federation membership by including participants in legal work as members of the underground organization, though only nominally organized as such, seems to have merit. The additional point seems well taken that the ceaseless torrent of epithets slung by the CPA toward the CLP and UCP has undermined unity efforts. "Your slanderous and unscrupulous attack upon the UCP, which you have made through your official papers and through your paid organizers trying to poison the minds of the membership by shouting 'centrists' and 'provocateurs,' belie your present protestations of the unity spirit," the UCP declares.); (2) CPA to UCP, Dec. 22 (insistence upon CI's terms for unity and declaration that the UCP's failure to accept these terms constituted a "breach of discipline and a flagrant violation of the mandate of the CI."); (3) UCP Convention to CPA, circa Dec. 24 (convention invitation of the CPA to attend a joint unity convention based upon equal representation of the parties, with not more than 25 delegates per side due to security reasons); (4) CPA to UCP Convention, circa Dec. 25 (rejection of proposed Unity Convention based on equal representation with reiteration that only the proportional representation plan of the CI was possible. Bringing this matter before the UCP Kingston Convention is urged); (5) UCP Convention to CPA, circa Dec. 26 (repetition of the "concession" to hold a convention with equal representation; request that the CEC of the CPA immediate convene its elected convention delegates to consider this offer); (6) CPA to UCP, circa Dec. 27 (rejection of convention based upon equal participation, reiteration of Comintern guidelines); (7) UCP Convention to CPA, circa Dec. 28 (request to distribute a letter to each individual convention delegate detailing the UCP's offer for a joint convention with 25 delegates per side); (8) CPA to UCP Convention, circa Dec. 31 (flat rejection to "submit your outrageous statement to our delegates individually" and statement that "the United Communist Party must obey the mandate of the Communist International.")

 

"BoI Informant's Undercover Report of the UCP Legal Defense Convention, Chicago," by "Mike Benton" [event of Jan. 9-10, 1921] The Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation (forerunner of the FBI) managed to infiltrate the underground Communist movement with a small handful of secret informants, including "Mike Benton" from Mason City, Iowa -- previously employed as a labor spy for one of the city's brickmaking firms. On Jan. 9, 1921, "Benton" traveled to Chicago with leading Mason City radical Harry Keas, where he attended a convention of the United Communist Party's legal defense organization, the National Defense Committee. Sixty-three delegates from all over the United States and Canada were in attendance, according to "Benton," attending a marathon 13-hour session held in an inconspicuous hall attached to a saloon located at 228 W Oak Street. "Benton" notes that the various UCP leaders are "hard-boiled fellow that have been revolutionaries for the last 15 or 20 years, most of them have been indicted and some of them have got good beatings, been in jail serving sentence, and some will be tried in the future. They are all getting more radical every day. They are not working as openly as they used to do and all this radical propaganda is going to be handled through underground work." "Benton" frantically warns his government handlers that "If the radicals are let alone with their propaganda for a couple of years we will have a mighty hard task to deal with them because they take men like William Z. Foster, National Secretary of the Steel Workers Union. He is just about to unite with the UCP. If he does he will pull over about 150,000 union members and with them and then the United Miners of America next."

 

"Open Letter to the Central Executive Committee of the CPA, Jan. 11, 1921" by Maximilian Cohen. Outvoted on the Central Executive Committee of the CPA by a majority who paid little heed to the Comintern's directive to unite with the United Communist Party by Jan. 1, 1921, Maximilian Cohen issued this aggressive challenge to the CEC's line regarding unity, which he viewed as being intent on "crushing" the rival Communist organization. Instead of printing this letter in the party press and opening its pages to a debate of the issue, as Cohen requested, the CEC majority instead initiated expulsion proceedings against him. This strong pro-unity critique of CPA policy is interesting both as an analysis of the politics of Communist unity in 1920-21 and as an object lesson of the limits of intraparty dissent within the old CPA.

 

"Letter to the Executive Committee of the Communist International in Moscow from Alfred Wagenknecht, Executive Secretary of the United Communist Party in New York, Jan. 12, 1921." This document was obtained by the Department of Justice in the April 29, 1921 raid on the national headquarters of the United Communist Party in New York. After obtaining it, there could have been little doubt about the organization's actual Comintern funding situation for the year. The document is the form of a report from two CLP/UCP delegates to the 2nd Convention, Alexander Bilan and Edward Lindgren. The two recount the official request for appropriation from the CI for the American movement ($210,000), which was reduced by the Small Bureau of ECCI to $110,000. This sum was to be divided as follows: $25,000 for general organizational work, $25,000 for defense (prisoner bail and legal fees), $25,000 for literature publication, $25,000 towards establishment of a daily English-language newspaper, and $10,000 for IWW defense. Of this $110,000 budgeted sum for the coming year until the next world Congress, $25,000 had been granted as an emergency appropriation to stem the UCP's "urgent need for money." This $25,000 had been readied in the form of gold; this had been "taken away" from Bilan and Lindgren at the last minute by a sub-committee of the Small Bureau, however, and turned over to a Comrade Matsen from Norway, who was to be in charge of getting the gold through the Allied blockade of Soviet Russia. However, "careless handling" of the gold had led to its loss by Matsen. Bilan and Lindgren reiterated that they took no responsibility for the loss of the first UCP appropriation for 1920-21, the mistake being one made by Matsen. Thus the reality of "Moscow Gold" and the United Communist Party of America as of Jan. 12, 1921: $110,000 budgeted, $25,000 appropriated, $0 delivered. And the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation knew this fact from this internal document no later than May 1921.

 

"Report of Hungarian Organizer," by J. Burok" [January 12, 1921] In October of 1920, the United Communist Party and the legal Hungarian-language Communist paper Elöre sent organizer J. Burok on the road to firm up connections for distribution of the Hungarian language press and to establish groups for the underground UCP. Burok established a total of 15 groups during his 11 1/2 week mission -- 5 in Pittsburgh, 4 in Chicago, 2 in Detroit, and 1 each in Cleveland, Newark, Milwaukee, and West Pullman, IL. This is the report which Burok wrote upon completion of his task. The document was originally composed in Hungarian but was seized by the Department of Justice in the April 29, 1921 raid on the New York apartment of Helen Ware (the Lindgren/Jakira/Amter case). The Federal agents translated the document into English and preserved it in their archives, thus preserving the information for future historians. Burok complains that existing branches of another left wing membership organization, the American Hungarian Workers Federation, reduced the number of groups he was able to form -- the cost of monthly dues to both organizations being prohibitive. Burok recommended a drastic reduction of the UCP dues rate for members of such organizations.

 

"Circular Letter on the Closing of the Chicago Office of the Soviet Russia Medical Relief Committee from Charles L. Drake." [Jan. 15, 1921] The Soviet Russia Medical Relief Committee was the medical relief arm of the Communist-directed Friends of Soviet Russia organization. The group worked hand in glove with the Russian Soviet Government Bureau headed by Ludwig Martens, which served as the official purchasing agent for the fundraising organization. Undercover investigation by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation assured that authorities were well apprised of bitter criticism in the radical community of the ethics and accounting practices of Soviet Russia Medical Relief, charges levied with particular vehemence by the Anarchist-dominated Russian radical movement of the Detroit area. While the BoI believed that the "American Red Star League" organization which emerged in early 1921 was a parallel organization initiated as in response to the improprieties of the Soviet Russian Medical Relief Committee headed by A.M. Rovin and Boris Roustam-Bek, this document reveals an altogether different origin. Rather than an insurgent parallel organization motivated by accountability and fiscal reform, the Red Star League had its roots in the sudden decision of the New York main office to terminate its Chicago, headed by attorney Charles L. Drake. With the deportation of Martens and the shuttering of the Soviet Bureau clearing in the offing, the Soviet Medical Relief organization saw itself as left with no means of transporting its sanitary and medical supplies to Soviet Russia. The determination to shutter the Western Office was abrupt -- two days before Christmas a letter was sent by Secretary Joseph Michael to Drake in Chicago (reprinted here) instructing him to immediately terminate all engagements and close the office. Drake obtained an extension of this deadline to Friday, Jan. 15, 1921, which was the final day of operation of the Western Office of the Soviet Russia Medical Relief Committee. The American Red Star League seems to have been launched immediately thereafter, using the same physical office space being abandoned and with Drake taking on the role of Secretary and guiding figure of the new medical relief fundraising organization.

 

"Financial Report, Soviet Russia Medical Relief Committee, Western District," by Charles L. Drake [Jan. 15, 1921] This report by Director Charles Drake closes the book on the 4-1/2 month tenure of the Chicago office of the Soviet Russia Medical Relief Committee. The accounts presented here show the receipt of over $24,500, which was offset by about $14,000 in office, travel, salary, and other fundraising expenses. $9600 had been sent to New York to support the Society's work, while over $800 remained on account at the time of the Chicago office's Jan. 15, 1921 termination. The discontinuance of the Western Office comes at a time when the heaviest financial drain was being made for organization, and before opportunity has been given to reap the benefits that would more than justify the expenditures. Thousands and thousands of dollars would come in from the preparatory work already done were this office open to receive it. Those who know even the slightest about the collection of funds on a large scale will heartily appreciate the great financial results accomplished, especially those cognizant of the immense obstacles to be overcome. Systematized sabotage and organized antagonism maliciously opposed the work from the start -- elements that would stop at nothing to destroy the work and prevent even the slightest relief reaching the dying women and children of Soviet Russia," Drake asserts.

 

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of America: New York City -- Jan. 11-16, 1921." The Central Executive Committee of the old Communist Party of America held frequent extremely lengthy plenums -- taking up evenings for the better part of a week. This plenum dealt with the issue of Maximilian Cohen, accused of violating party discipline and misrepresenting the position of the CEC with respect to proposed merger with the United Communist Party. For his transgressions Cohen was summarily suspended from the CEC and an investigating committee appointed on the first day of the plenum -- he was expelled from the CEC and the CPA itself on the last. The CEC also heard the report of Karlis Jansons ["Scott"] on behalf of the American Agency -- a body appointed to organize sections of the RILU and Comintern in Canada and Mexico; this group of three (including Louis Fraina and Sen Katayama) attempted to assert authority in the merger discussions, which was rebuffed by the CEC of the CPA. Includes details about party finances and membership for the second half of 1920 (approximately $42,200 received and a paid membership averaging about 7,100, according to the figures). Also included are brief reports from the 6 functioning districts of the CPA. The Executive Secretary of the CPA at this time was Charles Dirba, Editor of party publications was John Ballam.

 

"Letter to the American Agency of the Comintern from the Central Executive Committee of the United Communist Party in New York, January 17, 1921." Facing a Joint Unity Convention for which delegates were to be apportioned by actually paid membership for July-October 1920 -- a period in which the UCP averaged a somewhat inflated 4,561 and the CPA averaged 7,552 -- the UCP suddenly turned about face, terminating their shrill "Unity Now" line and becoming unmistakably obstructionist. This letter from UCP Executive Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht on behalf of the CEC to the American Agency declares that unity under the proportional representation terms set by the Comintern is "impossible," since it was found to be "impossible to get correct membership figures from the Communist Party." Instead, "the United Communist Party proposed a unity convention on the basis of equal representation. This alone can break the deadlock," Wagenknecht declared. He dishonestly added that "we denounce the insistence of the leaders of the Communist Party on the execution of the letter [calling for proportional representation] as a subterfuge behind which they want to hide their determination to prevent unity." In reality, the archival evidence indicates that the CPA provided the UCP with a "clean" membership count, which the UCP summarily rejected when they realized that they would enter the forthcoming convention controlling just 38% of the delegates.

 

"Membership Series by Federation for the (old) Communist Party of America, July 1920 to Jan. 1921." For those of you who like your history crunchy instead of fluffy, here are two pages worth printing out and saving. This is an outstanding membership series for seven core months of the old Communist Party of America, as presented by Executive Secretary Charles Dirba to the May 1921 Unity Convention held at Woodstock, NY. Each of the seven months is divided among the six language federations of the old CPA (these being from big to small: Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Polish, Jewish) as well as the handful of "Non-Federation" (i.e. English language) members. Percentages and quarterly averages have been tabulated and a page of explanatory commentary provided by Tim Davenport. In round figures, membership of the old CPA stood at 7,000 in this period, about a third of which were members of the Lithuanian Federation and about a quarter of which were members of the Russian Federation. There were a shade over 200 "Non-Federation" members in the period.

 

FEBRUARY

"Bibliography: Press of the Communist International (Till February 1st, 1921)." There was an explosion of interest and activity in the revolutionary socialist movement around the world during the first 2 years of the Communist International which resulted in a vast literature emerging. This document lists the official CI and English-language portions of an extensive bibliography which appeared in the pages of the official organ of the Comintern. Of particular note is the list of languages in which the underground official organs of the CPA and UCP appeared. For the CPA, in addition to English: Latvian, Ukrainian, and Polish -- Russian not mentioned. The CPA also published an underground Yiddish organ called Die Rot Fahne. For the UCP, in addition to English: Hungarian, Yiddish, Latvian, Polish, Russian, Finnish, Croatian. From June 1920 the Russian language Novyi Mir, previously a legal publication, had been published on an illegal basis, the bibliography notes. The bibliography is not perfect, scholars should be made aware, listing two defunct publications of the former CLP -- Voice of Labor (first variant) and The Class Struggle. Also interesting are the claimed circulation figures of the English language legal organs of the two parties: 5,000 for the CPA's The Workers Challenge and 15,000 for the UCP's The Toiler.

 

"The American Red Star League: First Aid to the Working Class." [circa Feb. 1, 1921] "The ghastly failure of the present organized relief forces to be of any real service to the working class and their official refusal in many cases to help the workers where help is most needed has made necessary the organization of a relief force that will be of, by, and for the working class, and for the working class alone," declares this leaflet of the newly-organized American Red Star League. This group is said to be "organized solely for the purpose of giving relief to members of the working class in acute need, everywhere in the world." While aid to the working class in war ravaged Europe was clearly a priority, the leaflet notes that "such need is not confined to foreign countries. The anti-labor drive which has been begun by the moneyed powers in this country, headed by the United States Steel Corporation and assisted by every Chamber of Commerce, will lead to terrible conflicts and nationwide destitution." The leaflet exhorts recipients to give financial donations to a $10 million Relief Fund: "The workers must be prepared now to aid their own distressed comrades. The want in Europe and Asia is terrible, appalling, and the official relief agencies use the contributions of Americans against the workers who are seeking to control their own governments. We must help them!"

 

"Circular Letter to All District Organizers of the United Communist Party of America From Executive Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht, February 1, 1921." A cover letter for the first two copies of the organ of Alexander Bittelman's "Communist Unity Committee," sent out by Executive Secretary Wagenknecht of the United Communist Party so that the UCP's DOs might "be better able to meet the propaganda of this 'third party' committee." Wagenknecht relates Bittelman's saga -- failing to be able to keep the Jewish federation neutral in the CPA/CLP split, then joining the UCP. Bittelman was offered the job of editor of the UCP's legal Jewish newspaper, but he declined, seeking to edit a narrow theoretical journal instead. Wagenknecht says he then led 15 Jewish members out of the UCP and into the CPA -- which accepted the rank-and-filers and refused membership to Bittelman! Outside of both organizations, Bittelman established his "Communist Unity Committee" so as to "establish a leadership for himself," Wagenknecht says.

 

"In the Matter of Abraham Zanan, Under Telegraphic Warrant of Arrest: Philadelphia -- Feb. 11, 1921." (Interview of Abraham Zanan of the CPA by A.G. Benkhart, Immigrant Inspector.) Attempting a social history of the early American Communist movement is problematic. While there are many hundreds, even thousands, of Slavic and Baltic and Hungarian names and addresses recorded in the voluminous records of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation -- readily available on microfilm as part of the National Archives and Records Administration's collection M-1085 -- these are ultimately faceless mentions of individuals deported from or absorbed into America without leaving a trace. Those interrogation transcripts which are extant, a fraction of the larger whole, tend to be uninformative , the prisoners understandably tending to lie and obfuscate in the interest of self-preservation rather than to truthfully enlighten their interrogators. This particular document, however, provides a significant glimpse at the history of American Communist Party life "from below," from the perspective of a committed rank and file member. Abraham Zanan answered the questions of Immigration Inspector A.G. Benkhart fully and truthfully because he was (somewhat lamentedly) seeking deportation to Soviet Russia. Zanan was a 20 year old unemployed garment cutter from Philadelphia, a member of the Young Peoples Socialist League (youth section of the Socialist Party) from 1915 and the Yiddish language federation of the Socialist Party of America not long thereafter, a founding member of the Communist Party of America who departed the old CPA with the Ruthenberg group in 1920 to membership in the United Communist Party. Zanan provides details of group life in the UCP, with meetings held at rotating homes at irregular intervals, rare activity in distributing the leaflets of the organization, the organization collecting its 75 cent monthly dues without the use of receipt stamps or party cards. Zanan attempts to explain to the inspector the UCP's position on force and violence, that it was both defensive and inevitable in the struggle for state power. He takes umbrage to the government's assertion that he and his party are "Anarchist" or against all organized government -- these being, along with the charge advocacy of force and violence, the sole statutory rationale for state repression of the Communists. Unable to find employment in his trade for a protracted period and not seeking to be a burden to his family, Zanan turned himself in to the authorities on Feb. 3, 1921, and confessed his party membership, believing himself to be a fugitive from justice since the unsuccessful raid of his home during the so-called Palmer Raids of Jan. 2/3, 1920. He sought deportation to Soviet Russia, believing that he might there find employment and make a living, despite the testimony of his mother and uncle, included here, to keep the "good boy" Zanan in America.

 

"Why You Are Out of a Job." (leaflet of the United Communist Party) [circa Feb. 15, 1921] This leaflet of the United Communist Party is addressed to the workers displaced in the post-war economy. The fact that there are no jobs is said to be the result of the private ownership of productive capital, because "the workshops, mines, railroads, and all other things that supply jobs for people, are the private property of the rich. WE, the workers, do the work. WE produce the goods. THEY take the profits. The wealthy class won't let any goods be produced except what they can sell for a profit. During the war, they made big profits. They worked us overtime.... They are taking it easy now. As for us workers -- WE CAN GO TO HELL. They are through with us." There is only one possible solution, the leaflet declares: "WE, THE WORKERS, MUST ACT! We must take possession of the workshops and establish control over them. We must control production, and operate all industry for the benefit of ONLY the workers. THAT IS THE ROAD TO COMMUNISM." The Russian experience is held up as a model for American workers. There "they seized the factories, mills, and mines and threw out their owners. They overthrew the government, which existed only to protect the bosses. They organized their own government -- the Soviet government of Russia. That is what American workmen must do." The final conflict will be violent and is portrayed as imminent: "when we try to take possession of the workshops, the bosses will call on the government to protect them. Police, thugs, troops armed with machine guns, poison gas, and all war implements will be there to stop us. We must be ready to fight them. We must organize for that. The time is coming -- soon."

 

"British Espionage in the United States: A Secret Memorandum Prepared by the United States Dept. of Justice, Feb. 15, 1921." This secret US Department of Justice memorandum, forwarded under a cover letter by J. Edgar Hoover, reviews the activities of the British Intelligence Service in America. "There are several classes of investigation which the British were, and I assume still are, particularly interested in. These included Sinn Féin activities, Hindu activities, Negro activities (especially as they affect and became part of the activities of all darker peoples), International radical organizations and individuals, and radical affairs of all kinds in the United States," the memo states. The memo dates Britain's active pursuit of intelligence on radicalism in America to the spring of 1918, when Robert Nathan arrived from England. A lengthy list of known and suspected British agents is provided, including Marcus Garvey of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, Rev. R.D. Jonas, Louis Fraina, Big Jim Larkin, Santeri Nuorteva, and former Bureau of Investigation and Lusk Committee investigator Raymond W. Finch. Some of these identifications are dubious. With respect to Fraina, the memo states that "sometime ago, approximately 6 months," an unnamed "prominent State Department official was advised by Sir Basil Thompson, head of the British Secret Service" that Fraina "had been in the employ of the British Secret Service, but at that time, he was not." The memo states that "when Fraina returned to England after the Amsterdam conference of the 3rd International [Feb. 10-11, 1920] he was placed in jail. I have been confidentially informed that Fraina at this time was subjected to a thorough examination by the British authorities and whether or not he was actually placed upon a salary basis with them is unknown but he shortly thereafter departed for Russia where today he is in the intimate confidence of the Soviet authorities." This specific account of Fraina's path to Moscow is at odds with the existing literature (Draper, Buhle) as well as the State Dept. memo of March 5, 1920 and the Hicks/MID memo of Nov. 2, 1920, it should be noted.

 

"Report on the United Communist Party," by BoI Undercover Employee "P-140" [Feb. 15, 1921] This report of a Hungarian employee of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation paints the United Communist Party of America in most alarming tones: "I beg to report that I established the fact that it is the intention of the United Communist Party to try to establish within this year the Dictatorship of the Proletariat." The unidentified "P-140" emphatically declares: "It is namely known that the local factions of the Third International are receiving from Moscow all the directions. It is the intention of the Communists of Europe to celebrate the 1st of May with a general strike and the Communists of America adopted the same program. I was informed by the people who are members of the Communist Party to the effect that the laborers of this province are provided with arms." "P-140" also sensationally adds: "I will also mention a few new points in connection with my investigation of the Wall Street explosion. I was always positive that the outrage was done by the communists, but now I obtained proofs to that effect. The young man who is known only under the name of "Rudy" told me that a great deal of this affair is known to the "comrades" in Detroit, who are the most revolutionary elements." Slightly unhinged and factually erroneous reports like this one stoked the fires of the engine of repression, culminating in the mass arrests in Philadelphia during the night of April 25/26 and the raid of UCP headquarters in New York City on April 29, 1921.

 

"Statement to the Members of the Communist Party of America and United Communist Party from the American Agency of ECCI, Feb. 17, 1921." Unable to bring the two parties to an immediate unity convention, the designated "American Agency" of the Executive Committee of the Communist International proposed the formation of a six member "National Council," formed on an equal basis. The parties were to terminate their dueling official organs and the National Council was to issue a joint official organ on behalf of "The Communist Party of America (Unified)" -- a publication which would be produced under the authority of two editors, one hailing from the UCP and the other from the CPA. This proposal for unity put forward by the American Agency (Janson, Fraina, and Katayama) was accepted with revisions by the CEC of the United Communist Party, but rejected by the Communist Party of America, probably because it merged the two groups on a basis of organizational equality rather than according to organizational size. "We shall accordingly report to the Executive Committee that we cannot break the deadlock, and we shall make definite concrete suggestions to the Communist International on how to break the deadlock and how to realize actual unity -- unity of a character which shall give factional control to neither party," the statement declared. Members were urged not to make factional hay from the impasse, to stay in their current organizations, and to be patient and allow the CI "time to act, finally and authoritatively."

 

"Ludwig C.A.K. Martens," by Arturo Giovannitti [Feb. 18, 1921] Lengthy and politically-charged prose poem in honor of the deportation of unrecognized Soviet ambassador Ludwig Christian Alexander Karlovich Martens, written by the noted radical Italian-American labor activist and poet. In Giovannitti's poem Revolutionary Russia is likened to Revolutionary America of 145 years earlier -- but the long-awaited visitor from afar, coming in the name of freedom and liberty has no one to welcome him appropriately, the original American revolutionaries being long dead and replaced instead by tax collectors and policemen and royalty-worshiping bureaucrats and aristocrats. Only the poor and downtrodden American workers, the "stillborn," are in a position to welcome Martens and his mission and to bid him and that mission an appropriate farewell,
"And a clod from the grave of John Brown to spread over the grave of John Reed."

 

"Summary of the Central Executive Committee's Report to the Extraordinary 3rd Convention of the Communist Party of America." An extended excerpt of the report delivered by the CEC to the delegates at the February 1921 convention of the CPA held in Brooklyn and published in the organization's membership bulletin. This obscure document was saved for posterity in the pages of the theoretical journal of the British Communist Party, where it was published it for the edification of the members of the CPGB. Excellent detail on the old CPA's organizational size and finances in the aftermath of the departure of C.E. Ruthenberg, I.E. Ferguson, and others to join the CLP in forming the United Communist Party of America. Includes copious footnotes for the contemporary reader by Tim Davenport.

 

"The American Red Star League $10,000,000 Relief Fund to Save the Women and Children of Soviet Russia: A leaflet of the American Red Star League." [leaflet, circa Feb. 1921] This leaflet by the new American Red Star League, a left wing rival medical relief organization to the American Red Cross, presents much of the case made by Irwin St. John Tucker in a longer pamphlet published by the Red Star League at about the same time. "Confronted with the terrific destitution in Europe as a result of wars and blockades, the working class of America has been asked to give generously for the relief of suffering in those countries. Millions of dollars have been raised in America for the relief of Europe. How much of this money has actually been of service to the working class? Two MILLION dollars' worth of medical supplies desperately needed in Russia were burned by the American Red Cross in the Crimea to prevent it falling into the hands of the Workers' Government. Supplies to the value of 10 MILLION dollars were allowed to rot at Archangel because the Red Cross would not permit the starving and dying Russians to use them." Capitalist machinations in Russia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, and elsewhere had given a political coloration to the Red Cross' work, while "under the leadership of Herbert Hoover a joint committee of relief organizations has been formed, which is openly using the funds collected for anti-labor propaganda," the leaflet asserts. In response to this ideological orientation of the American Red Cross, the American Red Star League had been formed. "THE AMERICAN RED STAR LEAGUE is organized as First Aid to the Working Class in every country. Our first and most pressing duty is to save the women and children of Soviet Russia!" the leaflet declares. Financial contributions to the organization for its work are solicited.

 

"30,000 Babies Starving!! A leaflet of the American Red Star League," by Charles L. Drake [circa Feb. 1921] This leaflet of the new American Red Star League makes use of a cable of the American Friends' Service Committee from Moscow highlighting the shortage of milk, cod liver oil, and soap in Moscow which had resulted in an infant mortality rate estimated at an astronomical 40%. "America's warehouses are full to bursting with good things. Let us send them to Russian babies! In the name of Humanity, ACT NOW!" the leaflet implores, noting that a $10 donation "will save 10 Russian babies."

 

MARCH

Constitution of the [old] Communist Party of America, Section of the Communist International, as published in the March 1, 1921, issue of The Communist by the old (preunification) CPA. This document of organizational law was adopted by the 3rd Convention of the old CPA, held in Brooklyn, New York, during February 1921 and attended by about 30 delegates. This constitution outlines the structure of the organization and its relationship to its component Language Federations, who were characterized as being subject to the "dictatorship and control of the Party."

 

"Organization Rules of the Young Communist League of America (Adopted by the National Committee of the YCL)." [circa March 1921] According to the literature, there was no organized youth section of the American Communist movement until a founding convention of the Young Communist League held at Bethel, CT on April 20, 1922. This document from the Comintern Archive indicates that fully a year earlier the United Communist Party was moving to establish just such an organization at a First National Convention "in the near future." This document sets down the basic structure of the organization that was to follow -- the "Young Communist League of America -- Section of the Young Communist International." The YCLA was to be an underground organization build on the UCP model, with local groups of no more than 10 members which elected their own group organizer, who in turn participated in the "city central unit." Dues were to be 25 cents a month, the initiation fee was to be 50 cents, and the organization was to work for "the communist education of the young workers; active participation in the struggle to overthrow capitalism; (defense of the proletarian dictatorship and the workers soviets after the seizure of power); reorganization of labor; and the cultural development of the working youth along the lines of communist principles." Based upon this and a programmatic document in the archives, it now seems likely that some sort of formal underground American communist youth organization existed in 1921 -- earlier than previously believed.

 

"Workingmen of America! Stand By Soviet Russia!" (leaflet of the Communist Party of America) [March 1921] Some 483,000 copies of this CPA leaflet were produced in an effort to rally the American working class to the defense of Soviet Russia. "Do not be fooled by the lying and prostitute capitalist press! Victorious Soviet Russia means a triumphant working class. If Soviet Russia is defeated, the whole advancing working class movement will be halted for years to come and black reaction will set in. Show the arrogant and murderous capitalists and imperialists of America, England, and France that we, the workingmen of America, are in full sympathy with Soviet Russia," the leaflet urges. Not only defensive action, but offensive revolutionary action is advocated: "Let us resolve to break the chains of wage slavery. Let us prepare for the overthrow of the hypocritical and bloody capitalist state and establish in its place the Soviet Republic of America. Let us destroy the REPUBLIC OF THE RICH and erect the REPUBLIC OF LABOR. Let us join hands with the Soviet Republics of the World in the glad confederation of free peoples united by the bonds of working class solidarity."

 

"Third International Events in America," by A.J. McGregor [March 1921] Commentary on the underground Communist Party of America and United Communist Party from the pages of the official organ of the Proletarian Party of America. McGregor states that unity negotiations between the CPA and UCP were said to be moving forward slowly, although other communist groups (such as the PPA) were not invited to participate in the negotiations. Given all the secrecy, McGregor notes that "It is far easier to follow the developments of the movement in far off Russia or Armenia than to know what is going on at home. Of course, if one were a police-spy it might be different." McGregor cites Lenin in support of the assertion that any sound principle taken too far can be transformed into absurdity, which is exactly how he views the CPA/UCP mania for underground organization. When "the entire work of a party must at all times be conducted in secret; and that in order to be truly revolutionary a communist party must of necessity be an outlaw organization, then the principle is transformed and made absurd," McGregor states. Anticipating the course of events in the CPA by nearly 2 years, McGregor argues that organization of the communist movement as an underground organization with camouflaged legal work means disaster : "To adopt such a plan of organization means simply that we would sever our connection with the general working class movement and turn the workers over to the gently nursing of the reactionary Socialist Party." Instead, primary party organization and function should be open, with the secret parallel organization called for by the Comintern to consist of "only the tried and experienced members" functioning alongside the open organization. McGregor additionally observes that "it would be the height of folly to advertise that such an organization existed."

 

"Martens Files Libel Suit Against the Washington Post." [event of March 2, 1921] Around the first of March, 1921, claims were made in the Washington Post against head of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau, Ludwig Martens, charging that he he was a member of the American Communist Party, had directed secret organizations aiming at the overthrow of the American government, had associated with and incited criminal anarchists, and that he was himself a German revolutionist. The Post additionally editorialized in favor of delivering Martens "over to the tender mercies of Noske, who knows how to deal with Sparticides, Bolsheviki, and their ilk." Martens responded through his lawyer, former Senator Hardwick, who hired additional counsel in order to bring suit against the Post. "Their contention is that the above and other allegations by the Post are utterly false and are refuted by the official record of the Senate hearings," this news account from the Socialist press declares. The Post's editorial offensive against Martens was seen as part of a final effort by an increasingly desperate Department of Justice and the Lusk Committee of New York to justify their policy of repression of Martens and his Soviet Government Bureau in New York.

 

"NJ Court Frees Communist." [Walter Gabriel] News report in The Toiler [event of March 3, 1921 This short article from the UCP legal weekly, The Toiler, announces the March 3, 1921 release of former New Jersey State Secretary of the Communist Labor Party Walter Gabriel. Gabriel had been arrested as part of the January 1921 Palmer Raids and was sent to prison for 2-10 years for ""advocating the overthrow of the government of New Jersey and the government of the United States by force." The New Jersey Supreme Court overturned this decision, however, ruling that mere belief in the need for overturning either the state or federal governments was not sufficient to constitute an offense against the state of New Jersey. At the time of the decision, Gabriel's attorney, Rose Weiss, claimed that the New Jersey court's invalidation of sections of the New Jersey law could have an impact on similar laws passed in other states, many of which were modeled after the New Jersey provisions.

 

"Special Report on Undercover Operations in the UCP by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation at Mason City, IA," by Special Agent H.W. Hess [March 4, 1921] This extensive report by Bureau of Investigation Special Agent H.W. Hess reviews the information gathered by the undercover operations of the Bureau. B.C. Keeler of the Mason City Brick & Tile Co. had placed his undercover operative ("Mike Benton") at the service of the BoI; this individual had worked himself into the good graces of the local organization of the United Communist Party, headed by cartoonist and writer Harry Keas, a founding member of the Communist Labor Party. The BoI believes that "Carl Alton," UCP District Organizer for the Chicago District, was a pseudonym for Ludwig Katterfeld -- an assertion which has not been positively confirmed at this time. Also figuring largely in the Chicago District of the UCP were Edgar Owens of Moline, IL, and Harry Keas of Mason City, IA. A Dec. 12, 1920 visit to the district by CEC member Edward Lindgren is recounted; Lindgren is represented as having made the (preposterous) claims that "the Russian government would have 5,000 agents in this country within 6 months; that the Russian Soviet Government was appropriating $120,000 per year in the support of the United Communist Party." This document includes an extensive set of footnotes by Tim Davenport clarifying various esoteric points and misstatements.

 

"Report of the United Communist Party's District Organizer 10 [San Francisco] to Exec. Sec. Alfred Wagenknecht in New York, March 7, 1921," by W. Costley. This is terrific stuff, a colorful local report that social historians will be able to sink their teeth in, chronicling the affairs of the United Communist Party's California District Organizer, W. Costley. Costley is outspoken in his advocacy of open, legal political action: "...To my way of thinking the results are not commensurate with the time and expense put into the work. I attribute the slow growth of the movement here to the fact that the right sort of open work up to the present has not been done, because we have had no comrades capable of doing it. I find myself so busy doing the routine work of the office and attending on men whom I know are good timber. But this is slow work when you have to spend time and money in calling on a party three or four times before you catch him and when you finally see him he has to read up and decide what he will do." Instead, at open meetings great numbers might be addressed and directed into party work simultaneously, Costley notes, with literature sales covering the cost of the operation. Costley bemoans the attitude of the Finns in not wanting to jump into the UCP and transfer ownership of their halls to the party: "It made me as mad to the bone to see them have the psychology of the bourgeoisie deeply embedded in their systems, and I told them so. And I told them furthermore that they were covering themselves with disgrace by refusing to enlist in the ranks NOW, and every moment of delay was a discredit to them." He expresses a wish to begin open work and suggests "Albric" [Bertram Wolfe] as a potential candidate for the DO position. He also seeks to launch a free speech fight in Oakland, to pave the way for a return of Bob Minor and other radical speakers.

 

"Debate on the Press and the Society for Medical Aid to Soviet Russia at the 3rd Russian All-Colonial Congress: New York City," by Bureau of Investigation Undercover Agent "P-132" [March 8, 1921] The Russian All-Colonial Congresses were ostensibly non-partisan biannual gatherings of the "Russian colony in the United States and Canada" sponsored by the anarchist Union of Russian Workers. This material is an extract from the report of the 3rd Russian All-Colonial Congress was provided by "P-132," a Russian-speaking undercover Special Agent of the Bureau of Investigation (a full BoI employee who wrote his own reports, as opposed to a paid informer who funneled information to a reporting Special Agent). Topics of debate here are the ideological line to be pursued by the new official organ of the All-Colonial and the financial controversy over the Detroit branch of the Medical Aid to Soviet Russia organization. With regard to the press, the All-Colonial (Union of Russian Workers) had launched a paper called Amerikanskaia Izvestiia [American News] to replace the suppressed anarchist weeklies Rabochii i Krest'ianin and Khleb i Volia. Calls were made by anarchist delegates to the 3rd Congress for the publication to adopt an explicitly anarchist line. Delegate Mikhailov declares" "Comrades, you all know that we are Anarchists. Why should we cover up our beliefs and teachings by organizing schools and various educational societies? And that applies to Amerikanskaia Izvestiia. Once for all we ought to say clearly that it is an Anarchist newspaper and establish definitely its true character and purpose." This perspective is opposed by Delegate Sivko, who states: "You are an Anarchist; well, I am a Communist, and if you demand the Anarchist policy I demand the Communist, and I will never consent that Anarchist propaganda be taught through Amerikanskaia Izvestiia." Despite their control of the convention, the multi-tendency orientation of the newspaper was maintained by the final resolution of the 3rd All-Colonial Congress. That same evening a "special meeting or session" was held to deal with the alleged improprieties of the Medical Aid to Soviet Russia organization. At this "special session," the same "Communist" delegate Sivko (probably a communist-anarchist as opposed to a CPA member) detailed the fraudulent practices which he uncovered in the Detroit organization of the Medical Aid for Soviet Russia organization. Rovin, Saks, Mendelsohn, and Boris Roustam-Bek are accused of having pocketed organizational funds, nearly $2,000 being unaccounted for by a snap audit. A parallel (anarchist) Medical Aid to Soviet Russia organization had been launched. Adding color is the comment by "P-132" that "during [Sivko's] speech several members of the Communist Party were trying to break up the meeting, but they were beaten up by members of the Union of Russian Workers, especially by Kiselev, who threw them down the stairs."

 

"Letter to Attorney General of the US Harry Daugherty in Washington, DC from Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover in Washington, DC." [March 16, 1921] New Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover lost little time in preferring charges against the American Red Star League, which he did with this letter to new Attorney General Harry Daugherty a short time after the installation of the new Republican administration of which he was a part. Hoover was provided with printed material of the Red Star League by the mayor of Portland, Oregon, who noted the group's charge that Hoover had aided anti-labor forces during the conduct of his activities as American food administrator in Europe. Hoover writes to Daugherty of the American Red Star League: "I am certain there is no method on earth by which these people can send either shipments or money into Russia, and aside from the bold character of its literature, my impression is that this group will stand investigation from the point of view of fraud." Such an investigation followed, resulting in a report issued by special assistant to the Attorney General Warren W. Grimes around the 1st of May 1921.

 

"Letter from Ellis Island by Four Polish Communist Deportees," by W. Iwanoski, S. Ull, J. Dardzinski, and J. Kowalski [March 17, 1921] This letter from 4 leading Polish-American Communists was written on the eve of their scheduled deportation aboard the S.S. Mongolia. The deportation of 62 opponents of the capitalist state and their families, most of whom are said to "consider themselves Communists" "will not weaken the struggle because the remaining comrades will continue to work for the labor movement [which is] not the result of Bolshevist propaganda or any other factors but is a natural demonstration of the struggle for existence of the workers under the capitalistic system," the letter claims. The group is said to have formed a prisoners' soviet upon their arrival at Ellis Island for deportation and to have purchased some $500 worth of medical supplies for transport to Soviet Russia. "We say good-bye to you, Comrades, for the last time from the land of Washington and from under the Statue of Liberty. We declare that brutal violence was committed upon us and this violence cannot be justified because all our crime was that we demanded the rights for the working people and that our thoughts were going faster. Leaving this country, we do not regret anything except that we have done so little for the common cause...."

 

"The Case of John P. Anderson: An Investigation by the Communist Party of America," by Charles Dirba [Hearing held March 22, 1921, transmitted April 14, 1921.] One final debunking document that effectively deals a coup-de-grace to the strange and utterly unsubstantiated theory of a purported "$3 million" Comintern subsidy to the American Communist movement in 1920 (Hayes/Klehr/Firsov, 1995).... John Anderson (née Kristap Beika) was a Latvian Federationist sent to Moscow by the suspended Federations of the Socialist Party in the summer of 1919 -- effectively the CPA's first "man in Moscow." In January 1920 Anderson and CLP representative John Reed signed a document in Soviet Russia agreeing to merge the two American parties. Before they headed home, the Comintern issued each a significant quantity of jewels and valuta for the American movement -- cumulative value in the range of $30,000 to $50,000 -- to help support the American Communist movement. Neither Reed nor Anderson made it home with jewels intact, Reed being arrested in Finland and Anderson failing to cross the Latvian frontier. Late in 1920, home in America, the Comintern representatives of the United Communist Party demanded the Communist Party account for Anderson's $25,000 in missing gems, which they were no doubt angling to collect for their own use. The appropriation of gems to the American movement seems to have been news to the CPA and a party trial ensued, the minutes of which constitute this document. Anderson explains how he checked the gems in the office of a military unit, which issued receipts that Anderson took back to the Ian Berzin and Gustav Klinger at the Comintern. The Latvian reds crossing the border with the rocks met with catastrophe, captured in the woods by white forces and summarily executed. Anderson tells his convincing tale, bitterly adding his reasoning for not joining the CPA when he finally made it home to the United States early in the summer of 1920: "When I landed in the US I found the tactics of the CP more resembling a religious sect than a political party, and I considered joining the party as a useless waste of time and energy." Copious footnotes by Tim Davenport -- quite an interesting document...

 

APRIL

"Revolutionary Industrial Unionism versus Armed Insurrection." (leaflet of the Industrial Workers of the World) [circa April 1921] This is a rare document, a fairly thorough and quite explicit exposition of the revolutionary strategy of the Industrial Workers of the World, presented in comparison and contrast to the revolutionary strategy of the American Communist movement. The Communist strategy is regarded as being a product long on enthusiasm and short on thoughtful analysis: "Inspired by the success of the Russian Revolution, many who formerly put their faith in the ballot are now advocating armed insurrection in the United States. But these people ignore the difference between conditions in Russia at the time of the Revolution, and those now existing in this country." The leaflet notes that unlike in peasant Russia, with its small and weak capitalist strata, in the US capitalism had held sway for a number of years and grown large and strong. "To have a reasonable chance of success by armed insurrection the workers would need to have as large and well equipped an army as the capitalists," the leaflet declares, noting that "A good percentage of the workers would support the capitalists" and that those remaining "are unarmed and the great majority are untrained in the use of arms. They have no military organization. They have no means of securing arms." The result of the strategy of armed insurrection, pitting primitive hand-weapons against machine guns and poison gas, would be an unimaginable bloodbath and crushing of the workers. To this is contrasted the strategy for victory of the IWW: "It aims at the root of all capitalist power, control of industry. It advocates organization of the workers in industry in such a way that they can control industry. The power of the workers is neither political nor military, but Industrial. This is the greatest power in the world, it is the foundation that underlies all other forms of power." The leaflet declares that "The workers alone can carry on production" and observes that "in case of civil war between labor and capital, whichever side controls industry will win." Therefore, it is the steady growth of industrial organization that will prove decisive, in the IWW's view. In a revolutionary situation, transportation of enemy soldiers could be sabotaged and production of armaments halted by the direct action of the workers organized in Revolutionary Industrial Unions. "The best tactics on the part of the workers is to avoid armed insurrection unless it is actually forced upon them and work by all means in their power to increase their control of industry. In case of civil war, the success of the workers will be measured by the amount of control they exert over industry. Complete control of industry would mean complete and bloodless victory while lack of control would mean bloody slaughter and inevitable defeat," the IWW leaflet insists.

 

"The Story of Alex Howat," by James P. Cannon. [April 1921] Article from the legal Communist monthly The Liberator on Alexander Howat, one of the most important left-wing labor leaders of the day as President of District 14 of the United Mine Workers of America. Cannon deals at length with his fellow Kansan's protracted battle with the Southwestern Coal Operators' Association, who had made use of the Kansas legislature to establish an Industrial Court as a mechanism for suppressing labor discord. Lack of support by the UMWA for Howat's cause was alleged to be a contributing factor in the mine owners' uninterrupted battle with Howat.

 

"Financial Report of the National Office, United Communist Party of America. As of April 1, 1921." Although a few conservative spinmeisters will doubtlessly remain in denial, here's what the archives actually show were the quarterly revenue and expenses of the United Communist Party in Q1 of 1921. The legendary "several million dollars in valuables" said to have been funneled to the American Communist movement in 1920 seem to have...... vanished! Plain and simple, the inflation-era nominal ruble values (tsennosti) listed in document RTsKhIDNI f. 495, op. 82, d. 1, l. ? were ineptly misinterpreted in The Secret World of American Communism [Yale, 1995, listed as "Document 1"]. A fairly vast number of archival documents demonstrating the financially-strapped condition of the American Communist movement in 1920-21 were blythly ignored by the authors of this collection, Messrs. Haynes, Klehr, and Firsov. An HOAC newsgroup poster challenging their dubious assertion was brutally run down on page 73 of Haynes' and Klehr's 2003 diatribe, In Denial. Whoops! Now we know: According official figures provided in the report of Executive Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht's to the May 1921 Unity Convention at Woodstock, New York (source of this document), the UCP received $25,000 out of $50,000 disbursed in Moscow, the rest failing to arrive. This was the SUM TOTAL of the UCP's funding up to the time of the May 1921 Unity Convention. This document shows line items for Comintern and other external subsidies totaling a shade over $18,000 for the quarter -- about double the organization's dues stamp revenue for the period. (Another document for the old CPA shows a single subsidy of $19,500 received in the 10 1/2 months from July 1920 until the May 1921 convention). Let there be no mistake: this represented a very significant percentage of the early American Communist movement's total income, something in the range of 1/3 to 1/2 for the UCP, though far less than that for the old CPA. Now compare this reality to the claims made...

 

"The Workers' Council: An Organ for the Third International," by Benjamin Glassberg [April 1, 1921] Unsigned lead editorial announcing the formation of a new publication aiming to "become the expression of revolutionary Socialism" and to carry agitation for the Third International "into working class circles that have never been reached before." The Workers' Council was clearly intended as a publication rather than as a political organization, and was closely linked to the Left Wing still inside the Socialist Party. Secretary of the Editorial Board was Benjamin Glassberg, and Secretary of the publishing association which produced the journal was Walter M. Cook -- a person depicted as a sort of Party Regular alter-ego of Julius Gerber and Adolph Germer in the pages of Theodore Draper's history of the early Communist American Communist movement. Mounting frustration with the Socialist Party is clear, the organization being characterized as "vacillating between the Second and the Third International, standing upon a platform of ineffectual reforms and parliamentarism of the kind that have, since the war, been discarded by every European socialist party outside of the Second International" and thus "not today the instrument of revolutionary working class education and action."

 

"Report to the 2nd World Congress of the Young Communist International by the Young Communist League of America and the United Communist Party of America, April 1921." This document by Young Communist League of American national organizer "H. Edwards" fully substantiates the theory that there was a communist youth section in America one year previous to the "April 1922" date claimed in the literature. Edwards gives the April 1921 Jena World Congress of the YCI a brief synopsis of the history of the radical youth movement in America. After the split of the Socialist Party in 1919, the SP's Young People's Socialist League was similarly effect. "Edwards" states that "many of the younger comrades left the League and the remaining part of the League as a whole decided to remain independent of any party while the controversy between the two Communist parties was going on." The SP regulars fought to gain control of the organization, League members were unclear of their mission, financial crisis set in, and the YPSL's national organization dissolved. "Only a few of the local or sectional organizations of it managed to remain more or less intact," says "Edwards." While the CPA and CLP indicated support in principle of a youth section, it was not until the 2nd Convention of the United Communist Party in January 1921 that real work began to organize a Young Communist League of America. In the subsequent three months, leaflets and a pamphlet were prepared, provisional rules drawn up, and organizational work done in the main cities with a UCP presence, resulting in the organization of "about 20 groups." "At the earliest possible moment a national convention of the YCL will be called, at which time the members will outline the ways, means, and policies of the organization and elect their own officials," the national organizer stated.

 

"Then and Now, April 6, 1917 - April 6, 1921." (leaflet of the Communist Party of America) [April 6, 1921] The date at the heart of this document, April 6, 1917, was the date of American entry into the European bloodbath, a war which left over 10 million dead and millions more wounded or maimed. On this the 4th anniversary of Wilson's about face on the question of American participation, the Communist Party asks the American working class to make an assessment of whether promises about the war were delivered upon and whether the escapade was worth the price. "The capitalists wanted war because they could greatly increase their profits. And increase them they did beyond those of any other country. The United States before the war was a debtor nation. Today the capitalists through their government in Washington hold a mortgage on almost every other country in the world," the leaflet declares. It adds: "But the capitalists didn't do the fighting. They stayed at home and hired out to their government for one dollar a year. Their sons were placed in positions that afforded security for life and limb. The working class was called upon to do the fighting and the paying and to produce the munitions of war." Conscription was instituted and Communist and IWW political objectors "were ground under the Iron Heel with the brutality of the Russian Tsars. The capitalist White Terror stalked through the land." The lessons of the world war are clear, the leaflet indicates: "There can be no peace while the few have the power to exploit the masses. The road to peace lies through world revolution." To this end: "The working class -- the overwhelming majority of the people - must become the ruling class. They must establish their own government -- the DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT -- THE WORKERS' GOVERNMENT IN THE FORM OF SOVIETS. This Workers' Government will suppress the counter-revolution of the capitalists. It will take over the factories and the railroads and the land. This Workers' Government will gradually introduce the Communist Society."

 

"Report to UCP Executive Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht in New York from William Costley, UCP DO10 in San Francisco, April 6, 1921." This report from the United Communist Party's San Francisco District Organizer, William Costley, deals in large part with the UCP's relationship with American blacks -- a fact which is particularly interesting given the fact that DO Costley was himself a black American. "You tell me to take those [blacks] in the party that are qualified. There are none hereabouts," Costley remarks, adding that a single correspondent in El Paso, Texas was "the only one I would pass." Costley tells Wagenknecht that "the Negroes are not a reading people, the most progressive communities have no general bookstore, there is non operated by them in the US. If you want them, special literature must be written from them. They practically know nothing of the class struggle and pending worldwide revolt of the working class. But they can be depended on to get in strong when the time comes for action." Costley also notes that German UCP groups (primary party units) in the bay area had collected $150 for the defense fund, which would be reported in his subsequent financial statement to the center.

 

"Debs Tried Out One Big Union of Railroads: Plan Weakened Craft Bodies, Says Foster," by William Z. Foster [April 6, 1921] This article distributed by the Federated Press by the former syndicalist and future Communist leader emphasizes Foster's anti-dual union perspective. While the spirit behind the effort of Gene Debs to establish a militant industrial union of railway workers in 1893 is embraced, Foster ultimately declares that the ARU's "brilliant" early victory only lead to "overconfidence" and a smashing of the union. "The advent of the American Railway Union, as is always the case with dual organizations, did great harm to the railroad craft unions. All of them were weakened and some nearly destroyed. Thousands of their best members quit them to take part in the ARU, only to find themselves blacklisted out of the railroad service later because of the lost strike," Foster declares. He adds that "The case of Debs himself is a striking example of the damage done. When he resigned his position as General Secretary-Treasurer and editor of the official journal of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen in order to form the ARU, he was a great force for progress in the old unions. Had Debs stayed with them he would have been a big factor in their future development. But he was lost to them, and that they have suffered much in consequence no unbiased observer will deny." Foster does not recognize or emphasize that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, from whence Debs sprung, was a fraternal and benefit society rather than a union per se -- providing cultural opportunities and accident insurance rather than engaging in collective bargaining.

 

"Soviet Russia Called by Communist Worst Tyranny in World." [Milwaukee Leader on Morris Zucker] [April 8, 1921] This short article from the pages of the Milwaukee Leader sheds a bit of additional light on the strange case of Morris Zucker, an active member of the Left Wing Section of Local New York who upon being released from prison left for Soviet Russia without passport or papers, becoming quickly entangled with the Soviet Secret Police upon arrival. Once release from prison and expelled from the country, Zucker bitterly denounced the Soviet regime in the mainstream press of the day. This article notes that Zucker left the United States in Sept. 1920 and arrived in Soviet Russia only in November -- and that he was arrested by the Cheka (as an accused spy) after only 3 days in the country. "Conditions steadily are becoming worse. What little foreign trade Russia is able to get is of no help to the people, who everywhere are the victims of tyranny and go about in a hopeless attitude because of the great and constant red terror," Zucker is quoted as declaring from Estonia.

 

"Dept. of Justice General Intelligence Division Report on UCP Propaganda Mailed to Detroit, MI -- April 7-14, 1921," by J.S. Apelman. Department of Justice intelligence report for the Detroit district by Bureau of Investigation agent J.S. Apelman. Apelman's report makes clear the level of the DoJ's penetration of the Detroit district of the UCP. The "Electrical Installment Company" of Detroit, documented to be owned by Nathan Kosin and Benjamin Singerman (Singer), "is used by the radicals of this city as a distributing point for their literature, especially literature issued by the United Communist Party." Apelman details the seizure of 5 literature shipments from March and April 1921, quoting the shocking revolutionary prose from the South Slavic edition of Communist #10 at considerable length. Apelman also directly quotes the slogans on 9 of the 16 stickers manufactured by the UCP for their May Day 1921 propaganda blitz. This organized campaign proved to be a ludicrous debacle that resulted in 79 arrests, due largely to federal penetration of the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh UCP organizations, probable penetration of the St. Louis organization, and possible penetration in other districts of the UCP.

 

"Soviets Would Trade American War Prisoner for Convicted Communist: Would Swap Kirkpatrick for Either Larkin or Gitlow." News report in The Toiler [April 16, 1921] This news report, originating with Soviet Russia's official ROSTA Press Agency, states that the Soviet government stood ready to swap an American military prisoner, Captain Kirkpatrick, captured during the Red Army's offensive against Baron Wrangel in 1920. In exchange for Capt. Kirkpatrick, the Soviet government is said to have sought the pardon of one of two political prisoners incarcerated in American penitentiaries -- either New York journalist Benjamin Gitlow or Irish labor leader "Big Jim" Larkin. Gitlow's sentence had been affirmed by the Appellate division of the New York Supreme Court on April 1, 1921, pushing his case back into the news and quite likely serving as an inspiration for the Soviet prisoner trade offer. The article details a visit by American journalist Louise Bryant to the Andronevsky Prison Camp where Capt. Kirkpatrick was held, which was portrayed in glowing terms as a model facility by Bryant. Nevertheless, the original ROSTA account is quoted as saying that "Captain Kirkpatrick feels very peeved because the United States government has not made decisive efforts to secure his release and has requested political friends here to intercede in his behalf." Hope is held up for the possible future prisoner exchange, given the more tempered perspective of the new Harding administration towards wartime political prisoners compared to the draconian Woodrow Wilson regime.

 

"On Unity: Telegram Sent Jointly to the Communist Parties in America by their Representatives in the Communist International," by Nicholas Hourwich and Max Bedacht [April 21, 1921] Brief cable sent from the Moscow-based representatives of the Communist Party of America and United Communist Party to their respective Central Executive Committees disavowing the authority of the "American Agency" of the Comintern to establish specific preconditions for a unity convention -- such details to be left to be decided by the convention itself. The cable reads: "Authorized by [ECCI] to state [American Agency] has no authority to press 5 conditions. Equal basis [in size of party delegation] and [neutral] chairman [Unity Convention] with voice but no vote is enough and all is necessary. Other conditions are not pertaining to preliminary arrangements and are subject to decision of [Unity Convention]."

 

"W.D. Haywood Now in Russia, Chicago Rumor." [Milwaukee Leader] [April 21, 1921] Official history of the life of William D. "Big Bill" Haywood emphasizes the fact that he was driven from the country by arbitrary and draconian judicial fiat. What is not emphasized, however, is the way that in fleeing from imprisonment Haywood broke faith and discipline with his former organization, the Industrial Workers of the World, and the codefendants with whom he was sentenced -- who were engaged in trying to win their freedom as a group as political prisoners from the late European war. This news report from the pages of Victor Berger's Milwaukee Leader breaks the news of Haywood's flight from justice (using that term loosely) as part of a group of 7 delegates to the Founding Congress of the Red International of Trade Unions, who sailed from New York on March 31, 1921 for Stockholm. Haywood had failed to report back to Leavenworth Prison after the failure of his appeal before the US Supreme Court, prompting Chicago District Attorney Charles W. Clyne to engage the Department of Justice in a nationwide search for Haywood.

 

"Haywood Joins Communists; Quits IWW." [Milwaukee Leader] [April 23, 1921] This Federated Press news account quotes unnamed friends of bail jumper Bill Haywood to the effect that Haywood "has joined the Communist Party and has definitely severed all connection with the IWW." Haywood had "definitely aligned himself with the Communist Party" about the first of 1921, according to this account. Trying to keep hopes alive for a pardon of the mass of IWW political prisoners left in limbo by Haywood's ill-timed and self-centered flight, attorney for the IWW prisoners Harry Weinberger said, "In my opinion the failure of Bill Haywood or of anyone else to appear for imprisonment can in no way affect the broad principle of political amnesty, which includes the Industrial Workers of the World, and which the administration should immediately put into effect."

 

"Letter to the Central Executive Committee of the United Communist Party in New York from Max Bedacht ["James A. Marshall"], Representative of the UCP to ECCI in Moscow, April 25, 1921." First of a flurry of 5 letters to the CEC of the United Communist Party about the urgent need for immediate unification with the Communist Party of America penned between the last week of April and the third week of May by the UCP's man in Moscow, Max Bedacht. Bedacht notes that the stock of the American Communist movement had fallen to its nadir among the councils of the Comintern: "Matters have reached the point that the [ECCI leadership] considers the American branch more as a nuisance than as a bona fide [viable Communist organization]. I know that you will say: 'But why don't you tell them and explain to them.' I will answer that nobody wants to listen to me, that most of the doors are closed to me, and that wherever one of the doors is reluctantly opened, they do not leave me in doubt that they consider me but one of those more numerous 'representatives,' each one of whom had a different story to tell." Bedacht states that Grigorii Zinoviev had stated definitely that "as far as [the Comintern] is concerned, there will be no further action. Its last decision [on the American situation, calling for unification with a drop-dead deadline of June 1, 1921] is final." Unless such union were achieved, both the UCP and CPA would be barred from the forthcoming 3rd World Congress of the Comintern and a new Communist Party established in America ignoring the previously existing organizations, Bedacht warns. Bedacht details the twisted saga of the Comintern's "American Agency" of Janson, Fraina, and Katayama, noting that the group initially "had full power to settle [the unity] question once and for all." However, the AA had shown itself unable to take "decisive action," forcing ECCI to grudgingly take up the American question again. Thereafter, the American Agency had lost its backing as a plenipotentiary force. Bedacht quotes Zinoviev as saying "it would seem very peculiar indeed if this agency, so long unable to fulfill its mission, would again be instructed to do the thing which it proved itself unable to do." Consequently, Zinoviev had told Bedacht that the unity matter now rested with the Americans themselves.

 

"The Philadelphia Red Raids," by Erasmo S. Abate [raids of April 25/26, 1921] During the night of April 25/26, 1921, some 38 members and sympathizers of the American Communist movement were arrested in Philadelphia in conjunction with the planned distribution of May Day leaflets and charged under the state Anti-Sedition Act, which called for penalties of 1-20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. This article from the UCP's legal English language weekly, The Toiler, details the background and judicial outcomes of many of these cases. One meeting in a private residence was raided without warrant, Erasmo Abate recounts, resulting in the arrest of 12 men and women "upon the seeming presumption that a meeting of the United Communist Party was being conducted there." The police ransacked the home, stealing "valuable articles" and $100 in cash, and raiding the wine cellar -- "the 'honest' guardians of the law got drunk, came to a fight, and shot each other," Abate notes. Pennsylvania test cases of the state's Anti-Sedition Law had gone both directions, with a defendant named Harry Belavsky convicted and the constitutionality of provisions of the law seriously questioned by the court in the case of W.B. Brukas. All 38 defendants of the April 25/26 raid were released on $5,000 bail, with an additional $1,000 tagged on to 20 defendants who faced possible deportation. An appeal for funds on behalf of the "Workers Defense and Relief Committee of Pennsylvania" is made.

 

"Department of Justice Surveillance Report of the Activities of Edward Lindgren, April 23-28, 1921." by Clarence D. McKean. This Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation report reveals two interesting facts about the underground American Communist movement. First: how was an illegal organization able to distribute illegal literature, fliers with print runs running into the hundreds of thousands? "It was decided to distribute the May Day leaflets at the discretion of the distributors, with the limitation that the literature must be put out some time after dark Friday night [April 29] and before daylight the following morning." Such bulk literature drops in the dead of night must have been terrifically ineffective. Second, the encyclopedic contents of every meeting which Lindgren attended, detailed in this document, make it clear that the UCP apparatus was penetrated by a DoJ agent at the very highest level in Pittsburgh -- either the DO or the SDO. Further: it was this top-level penetration in Pittsburgh that set in motion the raid and arrest of Lindgren, Jakira, and Amter in New York City. "Much of the information contained in this report was received from a confidential source; therefore, the Bureau Offices furnished with copies are respectfully requested to handle the information contained herein in such a manner as not to embarrass our informant," Agent McKean notes. The arrest was made far, far away from where the tail picked up -- the secret agent's identity was preserved.

 

"Roger Baldwin Raps Haywood's 'Desertion.'" [Milwaukee Leader] [April 29, 1921] Roger Baldwin, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, issued a sharp critique of Bill Haywood's decision to jump bail and flee to Soviet Russia rather than return to Leavenworth Penitentiary in the Spring of 1921, following loss of his appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. Baldwin criticizes the "ordinary Communist propaganda, intended to justify Haywood's desertion of the IWW defense organization and of his bondsmen, by stressing his new allegiance to the Communist Party, whose members are under a discipline which admits no personal judgment or other loyalties." Baldwin continues that "We do not question Haywood's motives. We do question the spirit and methods of a movement which has so little concern with loyalty to the elementary obligations of good faith to one's fellows."

 

"Department of Justice Surveillance Report of the Activities of Edward Lindgren, April 27-30, 1921," by Dan E. Tatom This Bureau of Investigation document records the first-hand account of the activities of the Pittsburgh-based agent who followed UCP leader Edward Lindgren from Pittsburgh to New York by train, en route to a sensational raid on UCP headquarters and Lindgren's arrest. Agent Tatom stayed in another berth of the same railway sleeper car used by Lindgren and kept him under close observation throughout the trip. He missed connections with his relief in the crowded Pennsylvania station in New York City on the next day, but managed to tag with Lindgren through the streets of New York until Lindgren stopped and the location could be phoned in to headquarters. Tatom then helped follow Lindgren as he made a multi-box mail drop of illegal newspapers, peeling off the surveillance at one mailbox to have the mail carrier band and and hold Lindgren's mail until a search warrant could be obtained. This is indicative that there were legal constraints on seizing and opening mail to which the DoJ/BoI was subject.

 

"In Re: Communist Activities -- John E. Siebert, aliases Lindgren, Flynn, Landy, Lang, and Smith. by Al Weitsman [Events of April 29, 1921] Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation report by one of the Special Agents assigned to trail United Communist Party organizer "John Siebert" (believed by them to be the real name of Edward Lindgren), who had been shadowed to New York by an agent of the Bureau from Pittsburgh. This account provided additional fine detail about events leading up to his arrest. Most interesting for the fact that even though there was a major, multi-state effort to trail Lindgren, set in motion by an informer in the top ranks of the Pittsburgh UCP organization, and despite reams of surveillance reports on the American Communist movement, the Bureau of Investigation still did not know LIndgren's real name. Evidence that the constantly changing pseudonyms of the underground movement did their work in keeping the hundreds of agents and informers of the Bureau of Investigation off balance.

 

"Department of Justice Surveillance Report of the Activities of Edward Lindgren, Abram Jakira, and Israel Amter, April 29-30, 1921," by Edward Anderson. Warrants? We don't need no stinking warrants... Surveillance and arrest report in the case of Lindgren, Jakira, and Amter. Having trailed the UCP National Organizer from Pittsburgh to New York City by train, DoJ gumshoes and the NYC Bomb Squad saw their quarry, Edward Lindgren, pass a package to Abram Jakira; they followed Jakira as he carried it to the apartment of Helen Ware. "Agents noticed a number of suspicious characters going into this house, so Detective Murphy called up Sergeant Gegan of the Bomb squad, who said that he would be right over to raid the place." A valuable trove of United Communist Party documents and literature was seized in the raid (kindly saved for posterity by the fuzz), and Lindgren, Amter, and Jakira carted off to jail, where they were held initially without bail, later set at $50,000.

 

"Re: A. Jakira (formerly reported as Jakera and Jackera and Iakira): United Communist Party: National Secretary," by C.J. Scully [April 30, 1921] A summary of Bureau of Investigation file information on Abram Jakira, recently arrested at the headquarters of the UCP, prepared by New York City Special Agent in Charge C.J. Scully. Scully's synopsis of file material includes the verbatim quotation of an extensive report by Special Agent M.J. Davis that illuminates the technical aspect of the Communist Labor Party's literature production in 1919 (as well as the operating procedure of the DoJ's Bureau of Investigation). A flyer entitled "HANDS OFF SOVIET RUSSIA" was printed for Jakira and the CLP by the Chatham Printing Co., proprietor of which was Alexander Trachtenberg. Trachtenberg's bookkeeper, Abraham Goodman, was an informant for the Department of Justice and brought the leaflet to their attention, keeping the Bureau of Investigation apprised of the shop's doings on behalf of the radical movement. This work was said to have been paid for cash-in-advance and kept off the books by Trachtenberg so as to avoid a paper trail. Abram Jakira was the recipient and distributor of the finished printed publications; the Department of Justice was intent on proving that he was but a transmission mechanism for funding from the office of Ludwig Martens (the Russian Soviet Government Bureau). Trachtenberg initially denied having produced the "HANDS OFF SOVIET RUSSIA" leaflet at all, a claim which bookkeeper Abraham Goodman pronounced to be a lie in a further interview with the Bureau. The story is picked up in a later file item, in which four agents of the Bureau of Investigation served a search warrant on Trachtenberg's print shop, and found there 10,000 party cards printed for the Communist Party of America, postcards printed for the CLP, a Yiddish language edition of The Class Struggle (a CLP publication), and leaflets for the Newark branch of the CLP. In the course of his interview with the BoI, Trachtenberg implicated the print shop of CLP member Eugene Krug for having printed the Ukrainian language official organ of the CLP -- although a still later document in this series indicates the the DoJ already had an informer in that establishment as well.

 

"Red Headquarters Are Raided Here; Revolt Plan Bared: Bomb Squad and Federal Agents Seize Literature Calling for May Day Revolution: Two Found in Apartment: Documents Indicate They are High Officials of Russia's Third International: Third Arrested in Theatre: Is Delegate to "Underground Convention" -- Papers Show Moscow Directed Conspiracy Here." [April 30, 1921] Unsigned New York Times report of the April 29, 1921 raid on the National Headquarters of the United Communist Party in New York City. The melodramatic reporter's account here is amended with numerous footnotes by Tim Davenport comparing assertions made to the documentary evidence present in Bureau of Investigation agent reports and files. The most interesting aspect of the report is its function as a record of the way the Bureau of Investigation saw the United Communist Party: a group comprised of a majority of Russians, Poles, and Italians, often illiterate, with "a surprisingly large number of Negroes" and particular strength in the mining districts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia -- a band plotting bloody insurrection at the behest of Moscow. This was a manifestation of popular fear and prejudice rather than objective reality but is nonetheless an important snapshot of official mentalité driving the repression.

 

MAY

"Don't Be So Sure of Your Job!" (leaflet of the United Communist Party) [circa May 1921] Aside from publishing newspapers and giving speeches to one another at various meetings and conventions, the only "revolutionary" activity conducted by the underground Communist movement of the early 1920s involved the periodic mass distribution of cheaply printed newsprint leaflets. These were printed in runs running into the hundreds of thousands and then stealthily scattered around various industrial cities of the north over the course of one or a few dark nights. This "leaflet no. 2" of the United Communist Party from the spring of 1921 attempts to turn the fear of unemployment into mass strike action: "Force the government to take care of [the unemployed]! Fight for shorter hours with no reduction of pay, so they can get back on the job! Fight for opening up trade with Soviet Russia, so there will be work!" These strikes would be met with opposition, the leaflet noted: "Of course, the courts will issue injunctions against us. The government will send troops against us. Soldiers, police, thugs, legionnaires, and vigilantes will be lined up against us." There was a solution, however, painted in rosy hues: "The Russian workers showed us what to do. They overthrew their BOSSES' government and set up a WORKERS' Government. They took over the industries and ran them ONLY for the workers. They threw out all idlers and bloodsuckers! They put an end to unemployment. They became the OWNERS OF THEIR JOBS!"

 

"In Re: Communist Activities -- Special Report," by C.J. Scully [May 1, 1921] A summary of the operation which netted the arrest of Edward Lindgren, Abram Jakira, and Israel Amter in a raid on the National Headquarters of the United Communist Party. This account is written by the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation -- the commander at the desk rather than the agents on the street. As such, Scully is in position to provide the important tidbit that the operation to trail Lindgren from Pennsylvania to New York related to a belief that he was leaving "to attend a convention of Communist deputies." Rather than tracking Lindgren back to UCP headquarters, the secret police believed that he was leading them to the site of a convention -- thus the scale of the operation and the eagerness to launch an immediate raid. Two other things bear mention about this report: first, it once again indicates the extreme difficulty that literally HUNDREDS of BoI agents, undercover operatives, and informants had in connecting the thousands of ever-changing party pseudonyms with the actual individuals. Even after days of tracking him, based on top level intelligence inside the Pittsburgh UCP apparatus, it was an extremely lengthy process for the authorities to positively identify the man they called "Flynn" and later tentatively identified as "Siebert" as Edward Lindgren. One sees such difficulty again and again in the Bureau of Investigation's files. Secondly, the ease of a warranteless raid on a residence by the New York Police's Bomb Squad stands in marked contrast to the difficulty the BoI had in seizing and opening the mail deposited by Lindgren in a postal mail box. Requests needed to be made of postal officials to hold this mail and then a formal search warrant obtained -- an altogether different standard of legality and privacy rights than that afforded the domicile.

 

"Spies and Traitors! [re: Morris Zucker]" [Published circa May 1, 1921] This is a short, unsigned news snippet from the 16th and final issue of the United Communist Party's official organ making note of the return of Morris Zucker from Soviet Russia. Zucker, formerly a leading figure in the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party and a founding member of the Communist Labor Party, traveled to Russia in November 1920 and soon ran afoul of the Cheka, who imprisoned him as a suspected spy, only releasing him towards the first of April 1921 on condition of his immediate departure from the country. Zucker is characterized as a "traitor to the workers" and a "turncoat," since "he comes back a 'disillusioned' man! It is his intention to agitate against the Russian Government!" The short news item closes with a rather ominous warning: "Is Zucker a traitor and spy? If he is, let him take care!" Includes a brief biographical footnote on Morris Zucker.

 

"May Day: Labor's International Holiday." (leaflet of the Communist Party of America) [distributed for May 1, 1921] Another in a series of CPA leaflets intended to agitate for insurrection. "The bosses - the capitalist class -- have organized to crush you. They openly declare that they intend to smash your unions - destroy your resistance -- reduce your wages and bring you to the level of serfs. This May Day you must demonstrate. Let us answer their challenge. Let us resolve this May Day to prepare for the REVOLUTION," the leaflet declares. Unless dramatic action were soon taken, the prospects facing American workers were grim, in the leaflet's estimation: "What are the prospects which confront us if the capitalist slave drivers remain in power? Nothing but new wars, slavery, billions upon billions of taxes, poverty, starvation, and perpetual oppression." No punches are pulled as to the means of the necessary change: "The Government of the US was established by FORCE; it is maintained by FORCE; it will be destroyed by FORCE." Only in Soviet Russia would the workers be celebrating May Day as "free men," the leaflet states. "This May Day let us resolve to PREPARE for the destruction of the capitalist government and the establishment of a WORKERS' GOVERNMENT -- The Dictatorship of the Proletariat -- in America. Let us ORGANIZE to build a SOVIET REPUBLIC in America. The road to working class freedom lies through REVOLUTION," the leaflet concludes.

 

"May Day of Revolution." [UCP leaflet written by Israel Amter] [distributed for May 1, 1921] This 1921 May Day leaflet of the United Communist Party features the purple prose of Israel Amter, author of a legendary and laughable leaflet of similar vintage which attempted to use hysterical verbiage to singlehandedly create a revolutionary situation out of a Brooklyn streetcar strike. The concert violinist Amter shrilly declares: "We, American Workers, will no more stand the tyranny of the bosses and of their government. We have had enough. The United States Government stands for the bosses against the Workers! It uses the law-making bodies, the courts and its troops against the Workers. THEN WE MUST DESTROY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT! We must overthrow it and put in its place a Workers' Government. We must uphold the Workers' Government with a strong army, to crush the bosses and all who support them! We must prepare for the Revolution - there is no other way! May Day of Revolution is here! * * * LET US PREPARE FOR THE REVOLUTION!"

 

"William D. Haywood, Communist Ambassador to Russia," by David Karsner. [May 1, 1921] In 1921, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the conviction and 20 year sentence of IWW leader William D. Haywood under the so-called Espionage Act. Rather than return to the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, Haywood instead jumped bail and emigrated to Soviet Russia. This article, published in the illustrated Sunday supplement of the Socialist Party-affiliated New York Call assesses "Big Bill" Haywood's career as a revolutionary labor leader and attempts to analyze the thinking behind Haywood's decision to escape American justice for foreign shores. The author of this article, David Karsner, the editor of The Call's Sunday magazine and the first biographer of Eugene Debs, was not unsympathetic to Haywood's plight.

 

"Stedman's Red Raid," by Robert Minor. [May 1, 1921] Full text of a pamphlet produced by the UCP's Toiler Publishing Association detailing a particularly disgusting footnote to the 1919 split of the Socialist Party. Minor indicates that in the immediate aftermath of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's anti-red raid of January 2, 1920, Socialist Party attorneys Seymour Stedman and Lazaras Davidow attempted to expropriate the assets of the Socialist Party of Michigan under the flimsy pretext that as "Communists" the expelled Michiganites of the party's holding company were participants in a criminal organization which "advocated the overthrow of the government by force and violence." At bottom of this scheme was a Detroit headquarters building owned by the Michigan party, represented by Minor as having approximately $90,000 of equity. Stedman issued a Bill of Complaint paralleling the criminal charges of the state against the unfortunate Michigan party members already jailed for alleged violation of the state's Criminal Syndicalism law. He then red-baited the members of the legitimate holding company on the stand in an attempt to have the property awarded to a hastily gathered and miniscule Michigan "organization" retaining ties to the national SPA. Minor states that when they were at last confronted about their uncomradely behavior by concerned Socialist Party members, Stedman and Davidow thereafter lied and mislead their inquisitors as to their actions and had a further smoke screen laid by SPA National Executive Secretary Otto Branstetter with a fallacious news release of his own to the socialist press. A sordid tale of greed, deceit, and foul play...

 

"The American Red Star League: A Report by the Bureau of Investigation," by Warren W. Grimes [circa May 1, 1921] This is the final report of the Department of Justice on an investigation set in motion by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover on March 16, 1921. Hoover had charged that the American Red Star League was raising money under false pretenses, as he was certain "there is no method on earth by which these people can send either shipments or money into Russia." In response, the Bureau of Investigation had analyzed the claims and activities of the American Red Star League, a radical competitor to the American Red Cross to see if charges of fraud could be sustained. Grimes indicates that the American Red Star League had been "created after numerous protests by local communists against the misappropriation of funds collected by the Soviet Russia Medical Relief Society" headed by A.M. Rovin and Boris Roustam-Bek. "The affairs of that Society were turned over to a committee of the United Communist Party of Detroit and Chicago," Grimes states, with Charles L. Drake, formerly head of the Western Office of the Soviet Russian Medical Relief Society, and Mrs. Moses Stroud the most active individuals behind the new organization. Officers of the American Red Star League included Drake as Secretary, Illinois labor leader Duncan McDonald as President, Swan Johnson as Treasurer, Rev. Irwin St. John Tucker as organizer, Dr. R.B. Green as medical adviser, and Lincoln Steffens as lecturer. Grimes concludes: "From the information at hand, I can find nothing tangible on which to base an assumption of fraud or, in fact, a violation of any law. Inevitably, of course, there will be irregularities -- there always have been in organizations of this kind. The Soviet Russia Medical Relief Society experienced them -- and this very scheme grew out of those irregularities. But the evidence shows that both organizations have at least made shipments. While the 'Declaration of Principles' and the personnel of the directorate clearly indicate the likelihood of both questionable faith and propaganda opportunities which undoubtedly will be worked to the limit; and while the activities of the organization and its officers should and will be followed closely, there appears nothing on which the Department could take extraordinary action at present."

 

"Appeal to American Workers." (leaflet of the American Bureau, International Council of Trade and Industrial Unions [RILU]) [May 1921] Before the role was filled by the Trade Union Educational League (TUEL), the program of the Red International of Labor Unions was advanced in the United States by the "American Bureau of the International Council of Trade and Industrial Unions." This is a rare early leaflet of the "American Bureau," produced in a run of 40,000 copies and distributed by the Communist Party. A grim situation faces the world, the leaflet indicates: "The specter of starvation haunts the entire world. Victors and vanquished of the late war alike tremble before it. This breakdown of the whole fabric of capitalism is accompanied by a savage drive upon the workers by the massed power of the employing class. The Master Class has declared war on Labor. This war rages in all countries." White terror was being employed around the world -- in the United States as well as Hungary; an open shop campaign had been launched to break American unions; 4 million American workers remained unemployed; new wars were plotted. In response, the leaflet advocates an opening of trade relations with Soviet Russia to provide a willing market for American products and to restore industry. Further, workers are urged that their own international organization is necessary to fight the international organization of the capitalists in the League of Nations. The International Council of Trade and Industrial Unions (RILU), based in Moscow, is just the organization needed by workers, the leaflet claims, standing in stark opposition to the "capitalist international" as well as the "yellow Amsterdam international," whose " traitorous leaders, whose hands are stained with the blood of 13 million workers." The social democratic Amsterdam International is cast in a particularly noxious light, as "agents of the bourgeoisie in the camp of the workers." American workers are urged to take up the issue of international affiliation at local union meetings and to influence their national unions to affiliate with RILU: "You cannot remain neutral. There can be no neutrality between the workers and the capitalists. You are for the dictatorship of the workers or you are for the dictatorship of the capitalists."

 

"Letter to the Central Executive Committee of the United Communist Party in New York from Max Bedacht ["James A. Marshall"], Representative of the UCP to ECCI in Moscow, May 4, 1921." Second of a flurry of 5 letters to the CEC of the United Communist Party about the urgent need for immediate unification with the Communist Party of America penned between the last week of April and the third week of May by the UCP's man in Moscow, Max Bedacht. A range of matters are covered, including the need for the American party to send (open) addresses to receive Comintern publications by mail, the establishment by the UCP's European Comintern contact "Latimer" of an office in Christiana, Norway (presumably) to serve as a distributing center for Comintern "goods" throughout the world, brief comment about Morris Zucker and Leonid Belsky ("Ed Fisher") being in the bad graces of the Cheka in Soviet Russia, news that the Proletarian Party of America had attempted to attain status as American Comintern affiliate, and emphasis of the need for all American Communists traveling to Moscow to carry letters of recommendation including extensive reviews of their personal political histories. Bedacht once again emphasizes his desire to eliminate Nicholas Hourwich from the Moscow scene -- not only as a representative of the American Party to the Comintern, but also as a delegate to the forthcoming 3rd World Congress of the Comintern, if possible. "If you find yourself powerful enough to do that, make a thorough job of it," Bedacht urges. Bedacht closes with a personal note to Executive Secretary of the UCP Alfred Wagenknecht sharply criticizing him for his failure to send word from Bedacht's wife to him in Moscow. " During the whole period of my absence I have not had a line from home. And you in your letters do not find it necessary to even mention the state of affairs at home. This is unbearable. You had better prepare now for the championship fight you will have on hand when I get back," Bedacht warns, adding that he has found the role of UCP representative to the Comintern to be, instead of an honor, "quite a tedious and disagreeable job."

 

"Note to Leon Trotsky Regarding a Survey on Conditions in America Distributed in Advance of the 1st World Congress of RILU from Earl Browder, Delegate, in Moscow, May 9, 1921." Short addendum to responses made by others to a survey circulated by Leon Trotsky among delegates to the 1921 World Congress of the Red International of Labor Unions. UCP member and RILU congress delegate Earl Browder writes to Trotsky about future revolutionary possibilities in America. Browder declares that "mass-action of the workers in America almost invariably springs from the ranks of organized labor or finds its expression in the attempt to organize. It is usually defeated and dispersed by some definite act of submission of the union officials to the capitalists or to the capitalist state." The volatile events of 1919, with strikes in steel, mining, and on the railroads, demonstrated "that it is within the realm of possibility, in the immediate future, for the Communists of America to take over the direction of the labor movement if they could be given a clear idea of the technical requirements for labor union leadership and administration. A compact, well educated Communist minority in the great mass organizations, united upon a clear program of practical action, can obtain the strategical positions of power in organized labor. With these positions the masses can be thrown into direct conflict with the state whenever a similar situation arises, like that of 1919." Browder therefore feels it of primary importance that Communist activists be instructed so as to be able to fulfill the technical requirements needed for union leadership."

 

"Letter to the Central Executive Committee of the United Communist Party in New York from Max Bedacht ["James A. Marshall"], Representative of the UCP to ECCI in Moscow, May 13, 1921." Third of a flurry of 5 letters to the CEC of the United Communist Party about the urgent need for immediate unification with the Communist Party of America penned between the last week of April and the third week of May by the UCP's man in Moscow, Max Bedacht. Bedacht continues to attempt to inform Executive Secretary Wagenknecht and the CEC that it is urgently necessary that they solve the unification question themselves. Bedacht writes: "You ask me to give you exact description of negotiations. Well, comrades, that is what I would like to get from you, because no negotiations are carried on. That is your work now and here I am being asked every day whether I have some news about the stand of negotiation. The Board of Directors [ECCI] here has given its decision in March [1921] at the first meeting I attended and that was final." Bedacht quotes Radek as saying of the American situation, ""We've decided that we want to have absolutely nothing more to do with the affair;" Zinoviev told Bedacht, "We have done all we could, now it is up to you to do what you can do. We will not act any more in the matter."

 

"Report of CEC to UCP Convention and to the Joint Convention of the United Communist Party and the Communist Party for Unity," by Alfred Wagenknecht [May 15, 1921] Extensive extracts of the report of the CEC of the UCP to the Joint Unity Convention in Woodstock, NY, held from May 15-28, 1921. Internal UCP documents of the underground period tend to be terse and vacuous -- this report is exceptional for its expansiveness and attention to detail, making it THE seminal document of the UCP. Wagenknecht once and for all slaughters the myth of "several million dollars" of support rendered in 1920 to the American Communist movement by Moscow. He says, "...The UCP was also promised financial support amounting to $100,000 for specific purposes such as defense, publishing the CI magazine, starting a daily paper, organizing work, etc. Fifty thousand dollars of this was sent, but only $25,000 arrived here. A donation of $10,000 was to come to the UCP to be given to the IWW defense." (According to the CPA's report to the same gathering, they received absolutely nothing from Moscow.) The other big news revealed in this document is that the raid of Helen Ware's apartment in New York City, resulting in the arrests of Edward Lindgren, Abram Jakira, and Israel Amter, was on the NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS of the UCP. Wagenknecht stoically underplays the magnitude of the loss, which included subscription lists and a vast number of documents containing contact addresses kept in a code which the DoJ broke. Wagenknecht details the boundaries of the UCP's districts and delves into the Party's position on a wide range of strategic and tactical matters, not sparing the CPA from harsh criticism.

 

"General Report of the [old] Communist Party of America to the Joint Unity Convention," by Charles Dirba [May 15, 1921] Extensive extracts of the report of the CEC of the old CPA to the Joint Unity Convention in Woodstock, NY, held from May 15-28, 1921. Dirba emphasizes the old CPA's work establishing shop nuclei and its oft-times difficult relationship with the "Pan-American Council" of the Red International of Trade Unions as well as the "American Agency" sent by the Comintern to help unite the American movement and initiate Communist Parties elsewhere in the Americas. The old CPA's Federation structure is eloquently and effectively detailed and defended by Dirba, who upbraids the UCP for "lack of a true understanding of democratic centralization" which contributed to the "failure of the UCP in language organization and propaganda, resulting in the chaotic conditions within their party." Dirba defends the CPA's commitment to unrelentingly propagandize among the workers the inevitability of armed insurrection as a means for overthrowing the bourgeois order and accuses the UCP of "Serratianism" (you'll never see that word again) for waffling on the issue. Detailed figures are provided for the old CPA's publications and membership statistics given (by district and by federation) for the first quarter of 1921. The old CPA's largest language group was its Lithuanian federation, followed by its Russian, Ukrainian, and Latvian language groups.

 

"CPA Financial Report to the May 1921 Joint Unity Convention," prepared by Charles Dirba [May 15, 1921] This is the major portion of the financial report of the Executive Secretary of the old Communist Party of America to the convention in Woodstock, NY. The statement shows receipts and expenditures of approximately $40,000 for the 3 1/2 month interval of the report and just over $80,000 for the 10 1/2 months dating from July 1, 1920. Of this, it appears from this statement that $19,500, or roughly one-quarter of revenue, came from a Comintern grant. These figures, it should be noted, represent the operating budget of the National Office alone; a companion document which will be posted next week will show that the CPA's semi-autonomous federations controlled assets and produced literature on a scale substantially larger than that of the National Office. Particularly vigorous were three of the old CPA's Federations -- the Lithuanian, the Polish, and the Ukrainian -- which published extensively and owned significant facilities and machinery. The relative proportion of Comintern aid to the size of the entire operation of the old CPA was thus further diluted.

 

"CPA Condensed Cash Statement, Feb. to May 1921, Including Federations, But Not Including Payments to and from the National Office and the Federations: Presented to the Joint Unity Convention, Woodstock, NY - May 15, 1921." This is a very esoteric budget document, but specialists in the history of the early American Communist movement will probably immediately recognize its import. For me, at least, this document has led to a fundamental rethinking about the nature of the old CPA, for it shows that the organization truly was a "federation of federations." Five of the old CPA's 6 Language Federations possessed assets at least twice the size of the National Office of the organization. The same 5 possessed printing plant in excess of the National Office. Three of them retained substantial real estate holdings. Three of them spent more money than the National Office on literature production, and a fourth spent approximately the same amount as the National Office. These were clearly fully functioning political organizations in their own right, not tiny social groups of members speaking a common language. It is little wonder that the "Federation Issue" stood so large on the landscape as the primary issue impeding merger efforts between the UCP and the old CPA for so long and fueling the Central Caucus split that erupted in late November of 1921.

 

"Letter to the Central Executive Committee of the United Communist Party in New York from Max Bedacht ["James A. Marshall"], Representative of the UCP to ECCI in Moscow, May 16, 1921." Fourth of a flurry of 5 letters to the CEC of the United Communist Party about the urgent need for immediate unification with the Communist Party of America penned between the last week of April and the third week of May by the UCP's man in Moscow, Max Bedacht. Bedacht passes on information from Nicholas Hourwich's "own mouth" that the CPA had -- like the UCP -- received $25,000 in Comintern funding during the previous 12 months. Bedacht notes that the American UCP delegates to the First World Congress of the Red International of Labor Unions were working on a program for the gathering, about which Bedacht expresses reservations for its hardline spirit and its controversial nature. "But all these matters will be discussed tonight," Bedacht remarks, adding that "Should the amalgamation take place then it will be necessary for me and for us to take into our conference, before the great event, also the representatives of the other side."

 

"Letter to the Central Executive Committee of the United Communist Party in New York from Max Bedacht ["James A. Marshall"], Representative of the UCP to ECCI in Moscow, May 18, 1921." This 5th letter from the UCP's man in Moscow provides fascinating detail about the structure and operating procedure of the Communist International. Bedacht summarizes the three-sided unity dance of the previous months from his vantage point in Moscow: "The AA [American Agency] had full power and did not understand to use it. Had the instructions, which they finally agree upon to give, been given 3 months or so ago, and had the AA [American Agency] then, instead of asking the [ECCI] to OK this, asked that same body to throw out the disobedient bunch [anti-unity elements in the CPA], all trouble would have been settled." With regards to CI funding of the American movement, Bedacht holds out little hope: "In the matter of money I again tell you that it is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to do anything. Not only are the present conditions in America in the way, but even otherwise the Main Office [CI] is somewhat reluctant to unhesitatingly consider all demands for money. Some of the [national parties] have overdone the thing so much that a plan is now being considered to change the procedure in regard to financial transactions completely. I have made requests for the support of our wounded [legal defense of prisoners]. I was permitted this support, but it is impossible to find out now whether it was ever passed. By what I see in your letter in regard to the AA [American Agency], it rather seems that it did pass. If the money was turned over to the AA, it would only be in conformity with their new policy in this matter." Bedacht attempts to illuminate his American comrades about the way the CI actually functions: "Firstly, the Board of Directors [ECCI] is the supreme body, is fully conscious of that, and is influenced in its actions neither by threats nor by any other method. Secondly, in the Board of Directors [ECCI] there are never discussed any details. Thirdly, the body meets only about every 3 weeks, and then only for a session of about 6 to 8 hours. This alone can prove to you the impossibility of discussing or taking up any details. The body is concerned with POLICIES, and WITH POLICIES ONLY. Fourthly, the matters discussed at the meetings of the Board of Directors [ECCI] are not the choice of its members but are prepared by the Small Bureau, which generally meets the day previously."

 

"The Ripening of Revolution in the United States," by Max Bedacht [circa May 20, 1921] This article was first prepared for publication in Pravda by the United Communist Party's representative to the Comintern, Max Bedacht; later reprinted in the pages the unified CPA's legal English weekly, The Toiler. Bedacht observes that "the world war let loose the Social Revolution, and released everywhere the forces of proletarian upheaval. Capitalism everywhere is facing bankruptcy." One country seemed at first glance exempt from this trend, however -- the United States of America. But American prosperity was illusory, Bedacht argues: "this colossus of American capitalism stands on the clay feet of a thoroughly disorganized capitalist world economy, and is built upon the slumbering volcano of a discontented working class.... The bankruptcy of the capitalist countries of Europe presses down on it like a heavy load and poisons its very existence." Unemployment was rampant and strikes increasing in frequency and volume, Bedacht believes. He concludes that America "will not lag behind in the revolutionary development either. It will destroy capitalism more thoroughly and rapidly, it will, after a sharp but decisive revolutionary struggle in the not far distant future, pave the way to communist development, will leave behind its elder revolutionary brethren thanks to its economic ripeness, and, instead of being the bogey of the world revolution, will become its ministering angel."

 

"The White Terror. (Unsigned Reportage from The Toiler, May 21, 1921). News report from the semi-legal press of the United Communist Party detailing assorted acts of police illegality and malfeasance. Lead importance is given to the arrest of Abraham Jakira, Israel Amter, and Edward Lindgren of the UCP on April 29, 1921 -- arrests made without warrant. Held on $50,000 bail, at their hearings a week later the trio was brought before a judge, who dismissed the charges for insufficient evidence. The three were arrested again on the courthouse steps, again without warrant, and held pending completion of a pending grand jury hearing. In addition, four women were arrested in New York for distributing May Day leaflets and held on Criminal Anarchy charges, while in Philadelphia houses were entered and 48 arrests made and property seized -- again without warrants. One group of police got drunk on seized wine and made gun plays on one another, according to the report. In Chicago, two were arrested for displaying the Red Flag.

 

"Liberator to Have Second Class Rates: Communist Magazine Gets Favorable P.O. Ruling. Will Receive Refund." News report in The Toiler [event of May 25, 1921] This brief news article from the pages of The Toiler, the United Communist Party's legal English-language weekly, announces that US postal authorities had recently restored the 2nd Class mailing privileges of The Liberator, the party's monthly artistic and theoretical magazine. This decision was in accordance with new Postmaster General Will Hays' ruling that any publication mailable under the law was entitled to the rate without regard to its political content. The Liberator was to be refunded over $11,000 of the more than $14,000 it had paid in postage charges since being arbitrarily stripped of its 2nd Class status by former Postmaster General Albert Burleson. "The ruling is looked upon as an important one in respect to the post office censorship of the public press. Inasmuch as a number of radical and socialist magazines and papers were deprived of second class rates while being allowed to pass through the mails as mailable matter under the Wilson-Burleson-Palmer administration, the new Hays ruling comes as a welcome rift in the clouds of official suppression of public expression," the article declares. The decision helped keep the publication solvent through the end of 1921 (an emergency appeal for funds appeared in the December issue of that year).

 

"Unity Achieved! To All Members of the CP and the UCP Now United in the Communist Party of America, Section of the Communist International." [Late May 1921] Communique of the newly unified CPA to its membership regarding the decisions of the Joint Unity Convention held at Woodstock, NY, May 15-28, 1921. An enumeration of the primary differences between the two organizations (size of CEC, relationship of center to the Language Federations, election vs. appointment of party officials, etc.) and details of their final resolution. Published in a free bulletin to the membership along with the new organization's constitution and the Report of the Liquidation Committee. (These supplemental documents published separately below).

 

"The UCP and the CP United: An Account of the Joint Unity Convention." [Woodstock, NY - May 15-28, 1921] This is an official account of the Joint Unity Convention which brought together the United Communist Party and the old Communist Party of America to form the "Communist Party of America (Section of the Communist International)," first published on the front page of the official organ of that organization. Although it is difficult to determine, probable author was a member of the old CPA. The most interesting tidbits include the fact that it was Ludwig Katterfeld rather than Executive Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht who delivered the report of the CEC of the UCP; that some sessions were held outdoors in a "natural amphitheatre with a boulder for the chairman's desk," indicating the premise that this was structured as a working retreat in the Catskills is sound; and stellar first-hand description of the impasse which the convention faced over matters of constitutional organization structure and the solution at which the gathering eventually arrived.

 

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

 

"Constitution of the Communist Party of America: Approved at the Joint Unity Convention of the United Communist Party and the Communist Party of America, May 1921." Full text of the Constitution of the newly unified Communist Party of America, which amalgamated the two rival American Communist Parties into a single organization. This document was negotiated and ratified by a gathering of 60 delegates (30 from each of the old parties) held in Woodstock, New York, during the second half of May, 1921. Although the party once again split in November-December 1921 and was to some great extent supplanted by the legal Workers Party of America at the end of December, this was the basic document of party law for the underground CPA of 1921-22.

 

"Report of the Liquidation Committee." [Late May 1921] Report of a joint committee consisting of members of the old Communist Party of America and the United Communist Party of America detailing specific measures to be taken for the amalgamation of the two party organizations into one organic whole. The directives of this Liquidation Committee were binding, approved by the Joint Unity Convention of May 1921.The new Central Executive Committee was formally given the task of determining the geographic boundaries of the new party's districts; District Executive Committees consisting of the new DOs and old DOs and SDOs of both parties were established to determine the new subdistricts; language branches were to be combined; cash turned in; assets tallied and reported to the new CEC; and the party press immediately unified.

 

"Wherefore Stand Ye Divided?" by William Z. Foster [May 28, 1921] This article is a bit of a curiosity -- a piece written by closeted Communist union leader William Z. Foster and published in The New Day, propaganda weekly of the Socialist Party of America (probably distributed by the Federated Press as the conduit). Foster outlines the fundamental principles of his union philosophy: "For a generation virtually the whole radical movement has been wasting itself on utopian union projects," Foster declares, dedicating themselves to futile radical dual unions and abandoning the mass organizations to the control of a conservative bureaucracy. In Foster's view the dual unions violate what Foster calls "the first principle of unionism, namely the solidarity of labor." Foster states that the dual unions are essentially utopian attempts to bypass the normal development of mass unions -- which in other countries typically include a broad array of ideological tendencies, including "Anarchists, Socialists, Communists, Catholics, Protestants, atheists, craft unionists, industrial unionists, etc.," instead basing themselves on narrow ideological tenets "not held by the great masses." The normal course of union development includes 3 phases, Foster believes, including "(1) Isolation; (2) Federation; and (3) Amalgamation." Foster bitterly notes: "but our dual unionists ignore it all. They have their spick and span, blueprinted, perfected organizations. And they ask an ignorant working class, habituated to craft unionism, to throw aside their old unions, built through 40 years of strife and struggle, and to join themselves forthwith to the highly advanced type they propose. They would abolish the law of labor union development. That's all. Is it any wonder that the American radical movement stagnates, resting as it does upon such a bizarre and unworkable economic program?"

 

"National Defense Committee News," by Edgar Owens [May 1921 Report] Monthly report of the American Communist movement's legal defense arm, the National Defense Committee, by its Secretary, Illinois UCP veteran Edgar Owens. Owens notes the progress of the Lindgren-Jakira-Amter case (arrested April 29, 1921 when the apartment housing UCP headquarters in New York was raided) in which the defendants are said to have been "kidnapped by police" and held without warrant for a grand jury to return an indictment following their release from the April raid on lack of evidence. Owens also details a coordinated raid in Philadelphia on April 25, 1921, in which 48 had been arrested and 38 of these later indicted for violation of the Pennsylvania "Anti-Sedition" Law. (The round up of leaflet distributors was probably tipped by the Camden, NJ SDO and police spy Francis A. Morrow). Owens notes in the Philadelphia case that "In ransacking the place the police found some homemade wine and proceeded to get gloriously drunk and indulged in a fight among themselves to demonstrate their respect for law and order." Owens also mentions 3 additional cases in New York, 20 in the Midwestern Division of the NDC, 2 deportation cases in Chicago, 4 in Milwaukee, 10 in Kansas City, and 1 case in San Francisco. Owens also notes the May 8, 1921, arrest of (San Francisco District Organizer) William Costley and UCP touring speaker Floyd Ramp for speaking at a hall meeting. After being held in jail overnight, the pair were released for lack of evidence, Owens notes. Owens also note a number of continuing cases: the appeal of those arrested in the mass Illinois CLP trial, the Reed-Ragsdale case in San Francisco, the Carney-Bentall case in Minneapolis, and ongoing deportation proceedings against Alex Georgian, also of Minneapolis. An appeal for funds to assist the NDC in the defense of all these cases is made, not surprisingly.

 

JUNE

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee, (unified) Communist Party of America: New York City - May 30-June 3, 1921." The minutes of the first plenum of the CEC of the unified CPA, which brought together 5 members of each the old Communist Party of America and the United Communist Party of America to establish the structure of the new organization. Charles Dirba (ex-old CPA) is elected Executive Secretary of the new CPA, Ludwig Katterfeld (ex-UCP) is elected Assistant Secretary. The new CEC spends much of its time and energy establishing boundaries for the new district system, arriving at a 9 District system which most closely resembles the boundaries of the old-CPA (which had 8 districts in theory, of which 6 were functioning in practice). The paid District Organizer positions also are bitterly contested. The CEC also carefully considers and ultimately approves its own procedural rules, which are appended to the minutes document. All known "real names" and their former organizational affiliations are included in the edited version of the minutes here, which make the document comprehensible to non-specialists in the underground period. The initial 10 members of the CEC of the unified CPA were: George Ashkenuzi, John Ballam, Charles Dirba, Joseph Stilson, and J. Wilenkin (ex-old CPA); also Ludwig Katterfeld, Jay Lovestone, William Weinstone, Joseph Zack (Kornfeder), and the yet-unidentified "Post" (ex-UCP).

 

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

 

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

 

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee, (unified) Communist Party of America: New York City -- June 7-15, 1921." Minutes of the 2nd session of the CEC of the newly unified Communist Party of America (the CEC of the unified CPA met in nearly continuous sessions). A great deal of effort is expended on seriatim consideration of committee reports on the party program and ground rules for CEC decision making. Proposal of CEC member George Ashkenuzi to call an emergency convention to break the 5-5 deadlock on the CEC voted down. Committee of 3 elected to meet with SP Left Wingers to organize them into a caucus at the forthcoming SPA convention. This committee was instructed to "have the Left Wing delegates work unqualifiedly for the 21 Points" of the Comintern. There was a general tendency of the CEC session to refer controversial matters back to sub-committees (Organizational Committee, Secretarial Committee, etc.) for further discussion. On June 13, James P. Cannon arrived to take his place on the CEC, replacing his substitute, Will Weinstone. Weinstone was later elected Librarian, in charge of gathering publications for the Comintern. Joseph Stilson was instructed not to accept the editorship of the Lithuanian organ of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. Financial coverage of Armenian paper's deficit continued. Bitter debate over the forthcoming District 2 [New York] Conference is alluded to. A passage stricken from the minutes makes it clear that CEC member and NY DO George Ashkenuzi was at the center of the storm. When it came to electing the paid District Organizers, a series of 5-5 votes along straight factional lines resulted. "Post" [Abram Jakira] assigned to editorial staff of the Russian legal paper. Cannon added to Editorial Committee.

 

"Ellis Island -- A Dantean Hell," by Edgar Owens [June 11, 1921] Secretary of the unified CPA's National Defense Committee Edgar Owens reminds readers of the party's legal organ, The Toiler, of the plight of 38 of their comrades, along with a dozen of their wives and 24 of their children, held at Ellis Island, New York, for an indeterminate time pending completion of deportation proceedings. Owens notes: "Ellis Island is a cheerless place at best. But the detention rooms are desolate indeed, especially for those classified as politically undesirable. For them Ellis Island is a prison, stone walls, steel bars, locked doors... They are charged heavily for food of inferior quality; the women complain that the milk contains chalk and is unfit for the children, and when they ask for boiled water for their babies, they are informed that sink water is good enough for them. Are they not Communists? What right have they to expect human consideration? Down with them!" Only the NDC is working on behalf of these unfortunates, Owens declares: "Plans have been made to remove our comrades from the Island. The men can be released providing bail is secured. But bail is expensive, and premiums must be paid. Arrangements are in preparation to establish a place near New York in which to put the women and children where there will be plenty of fresh air and room for the children to play without danger to life or limb." Contributions to further this end are solicited.

 

"The Tulsa Massacre!" -- leaflet of the unified Communist Party of America [June 1921] Full text of a shrill revolutionary leaflet issued in the wake of the extreme racist terror levied on June 1, 1921 against the black population of Tulsa, Oklahoma. "There is only one appeal that will stop the fiendish and bloody outrages -- that is the appeal to organized force. The only language that the bloodthirsty capitalist of America can understand is the language of ORGANIZED POWER," the leaflet declares. "For the Government of the US is nothing but the organized expression of the WILL of the CAPITALIST CLASS. The Government of the US is nothing else but a ruthless DICTATORSHIP of the RICH over the POOR. It is in the interest of both the Negro and the White WORKERS to destroy this CAPITALIST GOVERNMENT, root and branch. Shoulder to shoulder, and heart to heart, the workers of ALL races must UNITE to establish in this country a WORKERS' GOVERNMENT -- THE SOVIET REPUBLIC OF AMERICA." The leaflet does not absolve the white working class from culpability for the standing state of affairs: "If the Negro worker can be used against the White worker, who is to blame? We have refused to allow our colored brothers to join our unions. We have repeated all the idiotic accusations against their race. We have foolishly allowed ourselves to be swayed by race prejudice. We have failed to ORGANIZE the Negro workers. We have refused to treat him as our own, our equal BROTHER in the CLASS STRUGGLE. WE ARE TO BLAME."

 

"The Economic Basis of the Tulsa Race Riot," by Elmer T. Allison [June 18, 1921] Beginning on June 1, 1921, genocidal racial violence erupted in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with widespread killings and arson -- violence which was ultimately answered by a section of the city's black population. This article by Communist journalist Elmer Allison attempts to expound upon the economic basis of the explosion frenzied ultra-violence that gripped Tulsa. "The main purpose and object of all white aggressions upon the Negro are to KEEP HIM DOWN, down under the feet of the white rulers, the white's laws, the white politicians, the white masters," Allison asserts, adding that amidst oil riches and rising cotton prices, a parallel black-owned economy had emerged in the southwest in competition with the region's historic white capitalists. The downturn of the economy made blacks expendable in the eyes of the white ruling class of the region, and the Tulsa race riot is portrayed as a long-brewing and consciously directed policy. Allison declares that, "it was the white business interests that fomented the Tulsa riot. Whatever differences there may have been between white workers and black workers on account of undercutting of wages by Negroes because of unemployment, it must not be assumed that these differences counted for anything with the white master class," Allison says. "The Negroes were becoming an established competitive factor to white business. And because of it they were outlawed, and the sentence of death passed upon them. The riot ensued." Allison likens the plight of America's southern blacks to that of the Jews in Eastern Europe: "White capitalist society is as clearly in a conspiracy against the Negro here as is any pogrom-ridden Eastern nation against the Jews. Here the lynching bee and the race riot, there the pogrom. The causes are the same as are, too, the results."

 

"Account of the Executive Committee's Work: Meetings of June 25-26, 1921 in the Kremlin." This is a State Department translation from the Soviet press detailing the activities of the Executive Committee of the Communist International at the body's final June session. This report, originally published in Krasnaia Gazeta [Red Newspaper], quotes President of the Comintern Grigorii Zinoviev's summary about the work of the Executive Committee of the Comintern (ECCI) during its first 10 months of actual operation. An average of 3 meetings per month were held by ECCI, Zinoviev states, with an average of about 20 questions examined by the body each month. Zinoviev does not mention America, but rather singles out France, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland as the nations in which the "most lamentable conditions" exist regarding the discipline and subordination of Communists to their party and the actual tactics followed by these parties. England and America are lumped together as nations with "weak" Communist Parties needing to establish closer connections with their national proletariats.

 

JULY

 

"'Farewell!' to the Socialist Party: An Appeal to Its Remaining Members: Statement by the Committee for the Third International of the Socialist Party to the Members of the Socialist Party." [Circa July 1921]. The Committee for the Third International was the organized faction for Left Wing realignment of the Socialist Party of America in 1920-21, after the departure of the great bulk of the Left Wing Section for the Communist Party of America, Communist Labor Party of America, and Proletarian Party of America. Headed by Secretary J. Louis Engdahl and including such future Communist leadership cadres as William F. Kruse, Benjamin Glassberg, Alexander Trachtenberg, J.B. Salutsky, and Moissaye Olgin, the Committee for the Third International formally left the SPA with this statement, published as a pamphlet in the aftermath of the June 25-29, 1921 Convention of the party. "A new home for constructive revolutionary Socialism must be built. Another political party of the working class must be established with the passing of the Socialist Party," the farewell statement declared. In the interim, a formal organization called The Workers' Council was established -- a group which merged with the American Labor Alliance and elements of the majority underground CPA to form the Workers Party of America in December 1921.

 

"BoI Informant's Report on the Cleveland District Conference of the unified CPA," by "Ryan"-"Hill" [July 3-4, 1921] An invaluable participant's account of the first Cleveland District Conference of the newly unified Communist Party of America by the Bureau of Investigation's top informant inside the organization, the Pittsburgh Sub-District Organizer hailing from the former UCP who used the pseudonyms "Ryan" and "Hill." The BoI informer describes traveling to Cleveland with Joseph Stilson and 3 other delegates by train to reach the convention, which was attended by 9 delegates from the former UCP, 8 delegates from the former CPA, and 2 fraternal delegates. Security procedures were in place, including 3 lookouts, "Ryan-Hill" indicates. The election of a new District Executive Committee (DEC) for the newly unified District organization was the prime subject of concern, and "Ryan-Hill" describes the way in which he and 4 other leading members of the former-UCP agreed upon a slate of 4 former-UCP candidates for the 5 member DEC; these names were then passed along to the other delegates hailing from the former-UCP and the caucus carried the day with its slate. Thus, even at a small meeting such as this, a caucus within a caucus and bloc voting along party lines was the mechanism of election, rather than honest discussion and open elections. "Ryan-Hill," the Bureau of Investigation informer, describes how Stilson suspected delegate Joseph Verba of being a spy, leading to a search for evidence and a shouting match.

 

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

 

"Theses on Tactics: Adopted at the 24th Session of the 3rd World Congress of the Communist International, July 12, 1921." The Theses on Tactics adopted by the 3rd World Congress of the Comintern was one of the seminal documents of the early Communist movement in America. The proposals were drafted by the high-powered Russian delegation in consultation with the German delegation and were introduced at the Congress in a report by Radek. Following their adoption by the Comintern, the Theses on Tactics of the 3rd Congress were regarded as a definitive exposition of the "tactical problems of [the] struggle for the proletarian dictatorship" by the CPA. The Theses declare that world revolution would only take place as the result of a long period of struggle, during which capitalism would generally decay and the revolutionary proletariat would concentrate its energies. The most important task of the Communist movement in the current period is proclaimed to be "the attainment of decisive influence on the most important portions of the working class, in short the leadership of the struggle." The isolated propaganda party is disavowed and participation in the daily struggles of the working class through the trade union movement is endorsed. As for the United States in particular, one of "the most important countries of victorious capitalism," literally "everything" remained to be done, the document states. In the USA "the communists are still before the first and simplest task of creating a communist nucleus and connecting it with the working masses." The document notes that American capital was attempting to "crush and destroy the young communist movement" in an attempt to avert the "imminent dangers" of a radicalized labor movement. This "barbarous persecution" had forced the communists into "an unlegalized existence under which it would, according to capitalist expectations, in the absence of any contact with the masses, dwindle into a propagandist sect and lose its vitality." This effort at forcing isolation had to be countered most energetically, in the view of the Comintern. The pressing need for an overground Communist movement in America is asserted quite explicitly: "The Communist International draws the attention of the United Communist Party of America to the fact that the unlegalized organization must not only form the ground for the collection and crystallization of active communist forces, but that it is their duty to try all ways and means to get out of their unlegalized condition into the open, among the wide masses; that it is their duty to find the means and forms to unite these masses politically, through public activity, into the struggle against American capitalism." Parliamentary activity of the world Communist movement was to concentrate upon the "ruthless unmasking of the agents of the bourgeoisie"; trade union work was not to settle for building of the numerical strength of the union movement, but rather in developing amongst the unionized workers "the consciousness of the coming struggle." Only in this way would the Communist Party of each country "be able to fulfill its task when the time for drastic action will have arrived," according to the Theses on Tactics.

 

"Brief Report on the 1st World Congress of RILU: Moscow," by Evan E. Young [events of July 3-19, 1921] Session-by-session outline of the principle activities of the first World Congress of the Red International of Labor Unions, held in Moscow from July 3 to 19, 1921. Note particularly the concluding date of this gathering, which rather surprisingly does not seem to exist elsewhere in the English-language literature. The author of the report, a member of the US State Department staff in Riga, Latvia, apparently compiled this material from reports in the Soviet press. Tension among the American delegates between their Communist and syndicalist/IWW members is noted, a division reflected in the convention as a whole, which ultimately adopted a resolution of A. Lozovsky making explicit the organic connection of the two international groups by a vote of 270 (mandates) to 28. A total of 16 sessions were held by the Congress. Includes a complete list of members of the Executive Bureau (which Young calls the "Soviet") of RILU, with Nicholas Hourwich and Earl Browder representatives of the United States.

 

"The Red Trade Union International: The First World Congress of Revolutionary Unions," by Earl R. Browder [events of July 3-19, 1921] Pioneer American Communist Earl R. Browder, a delegate to the 1st World Congress of the Profintern held in Moscow in the summer of 1921, provides an account of the gathering for the members of the Workers Party of America. Browder characterizes the gathering as the "culmination of a long historical development in the principles and tactics of the international labor movement" in which the wartime use of European trade unions as recruiting grounds for the army and post-war period of the trade unions being instruments of the immediate political situation, in which the bureaucratic leadership of the unions had blocked the revolutionary impulses of the rank and file, had given way to a new phase. "By the spring of 1920 a great movement of revolt against the reactionary control of the trade unions by the international organization at Amsterdam was in full swing throughout Europe," Browder asserts, adding that "this revolt was spontaneous, chaotic and unorganized, and without center or directing head. "The first steps taken to unite all these forces into one disciplined body were taken in Moscow in July 1920, when the leaders of the Russian trade unions took advantage of the presence of many union representatives from England, Italy, France, and other countries, some of whom were attending the Congress of the Communist International, and invited them to confer," Browder states. Anti-political revolutionary syndicalists chose to participate in the 1st World Congress of the Profintern in an attempt to capture it, but this tendency was decidedly in the minority, Browder notes. Browder promises further commentary on the specific issues of division in a future article, which does not appear to have made print in the pages of The Worker.

 

AUGUST

"The Need for Open Work," by C.E. Ruthenberg [Aug. 1921] This is a very interesting article from the official organ of the unified Communist Party of America -- not just for its fascinating content, but also for the fact that it was written by Ruthenberg from behind New York prison bars. Ruthenberg (writing under his 1920-21 party name, "David Damon") relates the fact that the United Communist Party during 1920-21 had "created an open organization which was known as an auxiliary of the party. In some cities the authorities and the White Guard organizations of the capitalist class charged that this organization was but the camouflaged UCP, but no attack was made upon it and its work was not interfered with." This bode well for a similar organization to be created in conjunction with the newly unified party. Ruthenberg indicates that given the openly stated party belief that "the use of armed force in the struggle to overthrow the capitalist state is an inevitable phase of the Proletarian Revolution," there would always remain a place for the underground organization. This form was inadequate to the task of building class-conscious, mass support for the cause of revolution among the working class. "Prestige, confidence, leadership can only be established by winning it upon the field of action, in such a way that the workers recognize and see the men and the organization which are seeking to become their leaders in the class struggle. To accomplish this would be indeed a difficult task for a secret, remote, unseen organization such as an underground organization must be of necessity," Ruthenberg writes. He also notes that "the greater part of petty, soul-destroying bickering which has helped so much to keep the Communist Movement in this country sterile, has been due to the fact that the conditions of underground work threw the membership inward upon itself, in place of outward in an attack upon the capitalist class."

 

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

 

"The Negro Convention," by Cyril Briggs [events of Aug. 1-28, 1921] Writing under the pseudonym "C.B. Valentine," founder of the African Blood Brotherhood Cyril Briggs gives his account of the "2nd International Convention of Negroes" called by the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, headed by Marcus Garvey. Briggs draws contrast between the Garveyites' obsession with matters of rank and privilege, such as various "knighthoods" and a "ladyship" awarded, and the designation of President-General Garvey as the "Provisional President of Africa," etc., with the practical and single-minded desire of the ABB for "real constructive action." Briggs states that "The ABB delegation...demanded among other things a constructive program for 'the guidance of the negro race in the struggle for liberation,' and suggested and agitated before the congress the creation of a federation of existing negro organizations 'in order to present a united and formidable front to the enemy,' and the adoption of a program calling for means 'to raise and protect the standard of living of the negro people,' to "stop the mob-murder of our people and to protect them against sinister secret societies of cracker whites, and to fight the ever expanding peonage system.' They further demanded that Soviet Russia be endorsed by the congress and the real foes of the negro race denounced." The ABB's publication of a weekly journal and other literature hostile to the brazen pocket-stuffing of the Garveyite leadership brought about a crisis late in the month, culminating with Garvey's denunciation of the ABB as "traitors and Bolshevist agents" and the expulsion of the ABB delegates from the convention, Briggs notes.

 

"American Radicals Unite Forces." (news article in Voice of Labor) [Aug. 4, 1921] In August 1921, the former American Labor Alliance for Trade Relations with Soviet Russia was supplanted by a new version of the organization, called simply "The American Labor Alliance." A founding convention was held in New York City, attended by a dozen groups, each of which had close ties to the Communist movement. The convention approved a simple constitution and elected a 7 member governing Executive Board (complete text and roster included in this report from the party press). Following conclusion of the meeting, Caleb Harrison was elected Secretary of the organization and headquarters established in New York. The ALA was to be an alliance of affiliated organizations rather than a membership group itself; finances were to be generated by "voluntary contributions from affiliated organizations and from sympathizers." Membership in the ALA was open to "Any organization which declares itself to be in agreement with the purpose of the ALA and which agrees to abide by its working rules," upon the majority vote of a 7 member Executive Board. Members of the Executive Board elected by the founding convention were: J.P. Cannon, Associated Tailor Clubs; William Woodworth, Marxian Educational Society; L.E. Katterfeld and Edgar Owens, National Defense Committee; Michael Dardella, Ukrainian Workers Club; Dr. Walenka, Friends of Soviet Russia; and Caleb Harrison, Industrial Socialist League.

 

"American Labor Alliance is Launched in New York: Independent Labor Organizations Form a United Body to Abolish Capitalism and Establish a Workers' Soviet Republic: Sentiment Against Reaction is Crystallized." [The Toiler] [Aug. 6, 1921] Announcement in The Toiler about the formation of the Communist Party's new legal mass organization, the American Labor Alliance. The convention call was issued to 15 organizations (mostly affiliates of the CP), to which the following 10 sent delegates: Friends of Soviet Russia; the Irish American Labor League; National Defense Committee; Finnish Socialist Federation; Associated Toiler Clubs; American Freedom Foundation; Ukrainian Workers Club; Industrial Socialist League; Marxian Educational Society; and the Hungarian Workers Federation. Caleb Harrison was elected National Secretary of the ALA and filling out the Executive Board were James P. Cannon, Michael Dardella, L.E. Katterfeld, Edgar Owens, Dr. Walenka, and William Woodworth. The Executive Board pledged to work in three fields of endeavor: lyceum, literature, and defense. Local branches of the ALA were slated for creation and "All true progressive organizations will be encouraged to affiliate and the entire mass of progressive and radical workers will be united to present a common front against its enemies," according to the article.

 

"Circular to All District Organizers, Sub-District Organizers, Section Organizers, and Respective Committees of the Communist Party of America from Ludwig Katterfeld, Executive Secretary, Aug. 6, 1921." This circular letter from new Executive Secretary of the unified CPA L.E. Katterfeld announces the recently concluded 3rd World Congress of the Comintern had adopted a manifesto which called upon Communist Parties around the world to "act in behalf of Soviet Russia through the present crisis." To this end, a new "legal" famine relief organization, the Friends of Soviet Russia, was to be formed (called "the B" in this document). Each District Committee was to elect a committee of 3 trustworthy members to be in charge of legal activities, one of whom was to be designated as Secretary. "The name will be turned over to the [American Labor Alliance], and information how to proceed will be sent him by the [American Labor Alliance] direct," Katterfeld states. "The first public activity for the [American Labor Alliance] will be to launch the [Friends of Soviet Russia], and help energetically in the campaign for relief of the famine stricken districts of Russia. In [the American Labor Alliance] we can affiliate only organizations that comply to certain strict requirements, but in [the Friends of Soviet Russia] we shall ask the cooperation of much wider masses, as is suggested in the call sent out by the Third Congress." Other Russian famine relief organizations are to be amalgamated in the new FSR organization, Katterfeld indicates. "The work is going full blast already. Speakers are being listed, application blanks, subscription lists, appeals, literature, etc. are being prepared, and will be sent as soon as we have the name and address of your legal secretary," Katterfeld notes.

 

"Brutal Officer Attacks Workers' Meeting," by P.S. Kerr [event of Aug. 7, 1921] On Sunday, Aug. 7, 1921, the International Workers' Association held a picnic in a park near Buffalo, New York. Without provocation a speaker was interrupted by a local constable with "a volley of vile oaths, and a threat to pump the speaker full of lead if he continued." The constable is said to have "manhandled" the speaker and ordered him from the grounds, which provoked several in the crowd to free him from the constable's clutches. A woman was thrown to the ground and the speaker taken again by the constable; when the woman and another man remonstrated, the man was " knocked unconscious for a space of 15 minutes by the constable with a pair of brass knuckles or a blackjack." Two more constables bearing shotguns were summoned. The sheriff was quick to address the crowd and disavow the violent doings, saying his office had nothing to do with the affair. Neither the district attorney nor local justices of the peace would charge the violent and illegal actions of the rogue constable the next day, according to Kerr. "No justice is expected in the case. Had the assault been committed by a working man, how different it would have been The conviction of a police officer for assaulting a wage-worker is indeed rare in the annals of jurisprudence," Kerr declares.

 

"Friends of Soviet Russia Launched: Unions and Other Working Class Organizations United to Relieve Famine in Russia." [The Toiler] [Aug. 9, 1921] This news story in The Toiler announces the formation of the Friends of Soviet Russia, a mass organization started by the Communist Party of America in accord with general instructions of the Communist International to member parties around the world. The organization was launched with a conference held in New York on Aug. 9, 1921, attended by 150 delegates representing 87 organizations, with Dr. Jacob Hartman, editor of the magazine Soviet Russia, in the chair. The new organization was contrasted with the "imperialist terms" and counterrevolutionary nature of the Hoover mission and other capitalist relief efforts. "The organization will collect funds for the relief of famine stricken Russia, the money to be turned over to the Soviet Government or its accredited representatives without imposing any terms. All appeals shall be of a distinctly working class character, class-conscious and free from the humanitarian taint always involved in such enterprises conducted by capitalist organizations," according to the article. An Executive Committee consisting of Dr. Hartman, Caleb Harrison, Edgar Owens, Allen S. Broms, Dr. Mendelsohn, Dr. Wilenkin, Dr. Reichel was elected by the conference. This group in turn selected as officers Caleb Harrison, Chairman; Allen S. Broms, Secretary; and Dr. J.W. Hartman, Treasurer.

 

"Financing of Ultra-Radical Propaganda in the United States," by Warren W. Grimes (Special Assistant to the Attorney General) [excerpts] (Aug. 20, 1921) Despite possession of documents indicating that the American Communist movement was impoverished and that budgeted Comintern funds were in the low 6 figures -- of which a considerable portion had gone missing -- the Department of Justice was not in the least deterred from making asinine overassessments of foreign funding of the American movement. This Aug. 20, 1921 report of Special Assistant to the Attorney General Warren W. Grimes (a top-ranking official of similar stature to J. Edgar Hoover) is the epitome of fantastic exaggeration. Despite the utter lack of corroborating evidence, Grimes declares that "authentic estimates from abroad" had indicated "Gold Shipments from Soviet Russia" to the American Communist Parties to the tune of $45 million for the 1919-21 period -- or 1,406,250 troy ounces of the precious metal (@$32/troy oz.). An astounding $70,913.66 per day (including Sundays and holidays) were said to be at the disposal of the country's Communists from this source of funding alone, not to mention other sources of revenue and the "enormous expenditures of the American Agency of the Communist International in connection with the unity proceedings of the Communist Parties." Why not a pinch of this vast quantity of yellow metal had ever been seized by an agent of the Bureau of Investigation or why no paper trail of these vast financial transactions had ever been located is left unexplained. Grimes provides estimates of gross revenue for the full gamut of Left Wing organizations and publications.

 

SEPTEMBER

"The Necessity for Legal Work," by J. Wilenkin ("J. Morris") [circa Sept. 1, 1921] This article by veteran Russian Federationist Dr. J. Wilenkin from the underground official organ of the unified CPA details the thinking behind the recent move of the governing Central Executive Committee of the party towards a legal political organization. The two Communist Parties had begun as open organizations, a status which "succeeded in attracting the attention of the broad toiling masses and have helped considerably to spread our ideas among them." Soon thereafter, Wilenkin recalls that "we were compelled to go underground to protect the movement, strengthen our organization, to create a strongly centralized party, and to develop a clearly defined revolutionary program," since "only through an underground organization could we make clear to the proletariat of this country the ultimate necessity of armed insurrection for the overthrow of the bourgeois state and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat." Wilenkin asserts that "the CPA has now reached a point where a change of tactics is an absolute necessity. This change is vital not only to the party but to the progress of the entire American labor movement. The mountain did not go to Mohammed, so Mohammed must go to the mountain. The masses do not and will not come to our underground organization, so we must organize above and carry out agitation on a legal basis." Wilenkin states that "our isolation was affecting the entire party," causing it to become "more and more sectarian." Wilenkin declares "the purpose of legal work is, through propaganda and agitation, to awaken in the proletarian masses an interest in the political struggle," and towards this end the party must be prepared to work with a variety of outside organizations, including those headed by a reactionary leadership. Wilenkin indicates that "The proletarian masses are instinctively revolutionary as the Russian Revolution has demonstrated" and argues that to suppose that the rank and file of such organizations are automatically reactionary is incorrect and narrow, a manifestation of what Lenin called the "infantile disorder of Leftism." Wilenkin about the question of armed revolution, acknowledging that one argument put forward "against legal Communist propaganda is that at the present time we will be compelled to refrain from propagating openly some of our principles, such as the necessity of armed insurrection." Wilenkin states that the continued existence of a controlling underground apparatus punctures any such objections: "Whatever cannot be circulated through legal means can and must be given publicity through our underground political party. The illegal party remains the controlling factor. It directs all the agitation and propaganda of the illegal as well as of the legal organization." Wilenkin provides a quotation from Comintern head Grigorii Zinoviev's at the recently completed 3rd World Congress of the Comintern validate the CEC's conception of dual underground and overground political organizations. Zinoviev had said: "We must advise our American friends to learn to work not only within the limits of the illegal party, but to organize notwithstanding the White Terror, a legal and semi-legal movement, functioning parallel to the party, in order to win over larger circles of the working class."

 

"The Party at the Crossroads," by Jay Lovestone ("Roger B. Nelson") [circa Sept. 1, 1921] This article by Central Executive Committee member Jay Lovestone portrays the unified Communist Party of America as being at a crossroads -- facing a decision whether to continue on the underground path towards isolation, sectarianism, and irrelevance or whether to take the new path of legality, leading to contact with the American working class, leading toward a mass organization and opportunity for success in the coming struggle for power. Lovestone's conception of the pivotal role of the Communist Party is clear: "The Party must fulfill its historic role of serving as the guiding, unifying, and directing center of the class struggle. We must lend unity of plan and purpose to the American labor movement....Propaganda alone is not sufficient for the realization of working class victory. It is high time that we act. The Party must develop such a machinery as will enable the entire membership to actively participate in all the struggles of the working masses. We must further give these struggles a political character and direct them into revolutionary channels." Lovestone directly quotes from the "Theses on Tactics" proposed by the Russian delegation to the 3rd World Congress of the Comintern earlier that summer, which explicitly told the Americans "it is the Party's duty to try all ways and means to get out of the illegalized condition into the open, among the wide masses." "It is therefore the inviolable duty of every member of the Party to give the Central Executive Committee undivided support in its efforts to build a Party of life, of action, of revolutionary power," Lovestone declares.

 

"What Shall We Do in the Unions?" by Joseph Zack Kornfeder [circa Sept. 1, 1921] Lengthy statement of proposed policy for the unified Communist Party of America by Joseph Zack, active in the industrial organizing arm of the party. [Note: Zack wrote here under the pseudonym "J.P. Collins" -- a pseudonym incorrectly attached to J.P. Cannon in 1957 by Theodore Draper and as recently as 2007 in a book on Cannon by Bryan Palmer.] Zack blames that backwards level of the American trade union movement not on its multinational nature, but rather on the conscious failure of the AFL to organize unskilled and black workers, and its concentration on the antiquated craft union system. Zack calls for the Communist Party to work at raising the class consciousness of the American working class and to help batter down barriers to participation in the unions such as racial barriers, high initiation fees, and undemocratic forms of union organization. The Communist Party must get serious about this, Zack declares: "The days when mere attendance at group meetings and occasional leaflet distribution was considered sufficient are over. Every member who is eligible must join a labor union. Those that cannot join a labor union must join the workers' organization in their territory. Every member must serve as a link between the Party and the masses." Zack calls for the establishment of foreign language speaking nuclei in each industrial unit: "Russian miners should be place in Russian miners' nuclei, Polish workers into Polish nuclei, etc. They shall be connected with all the other language or English nuclei in their trade union or industries. Each of the language nuclei should organize the sympathizers in its language." Zack declares there to be 4 principal sorts of party sympathizers: "(1) the communist sympathizer, those workers who agree with the main points of our program; (2) the revolutionary syndicalists; (3) the Left Socialist element; (4) the anarchists. In this country, due to the backwardness of many sections of the labor movement, even less conscious elements than the above mentioned could be used to great advantage on many occasions." Of these, he asserts the revolutionary syndicalists of the IWW to be the most important, and the winning of the IWW activists to the Communist banner thus the most critical. "The only way for the IWW's functioning effectively is to work as a minority within the organized labor movement, not by worshiping three letters but by doing everything to put across their program," Zack declares.

 

"Letters to Oscar Tyverovsky in Moscow from Charles Dirba (Sept. 3, 1921) and John Ballam (Sept. 2, 1921)." An account of the factional situation in America provided to the Central Caucus faction's man in Moscow, Oscar Tyverovsky, representative of the CPA to the Executive Committee of the Communist International. Here the decision to establish a Legal Political Party by the CEC Majority Group is given distinctly less emphasis than their factional machinations with respect to District Organizers and the conferences of the language federations. It is no so much the content of the policy initiatives sought by the CEC Majority Group that cause distress so much as the brazenness and tone of the group towards the former members of the old CPA and the timing and details of the move to a LPP. Includes copious explanatory footnotes.

 

"Letter to Sen Katayama from Charles Dirba, Sept. 6-9, 1921." This is a fascinating primary source document, an account of the issues behind the "Central Caucus faction" split which erupted late in November of 1921, written by a leading participant, Charles Dirba. Dirba was the Executive Secretary of the unified CPA from the time of its formation at the end of May 1921. As Dirba makes clear, this shotgun marriage of the old CPA (of which he was a part) to the United Communist Party was tumultuous from the start -- a Central Executive Committee initially divided 5 to 5 along factional lines became a 6-4 working majority when Russian Federationist and editor J. Wilenkin began voting with the former UCP group. Dirba details the transgressions of this majority faction in this letter to Sen Katayama of the "American Agency" of the Comintern, a three member committee without a mandate in this factional situation. Dirba makes clear that while the issue of the rush to transform the American Labor Alliance into a full fledged Legal Political Party was paramount, there were other significant issues which sparked the CEC minority, including patronage issues and a rather crude effort to manipulate the composition of the Jewish and Russian language federations through procedural shenanigans. Document has been rendered into readable English with copious footnotes provided.

 

"CPA D3 [Philadelphia] District Bulletin to All Sub-District, Section, Branch and Group Organizers from Anthony Bimba, District Organizer, Sept. 10, 1921." This internal bulletin sent out to local leaders of the Philadelphia district of the Communist Party of America by new DO Antanas "Anthony" Bimba further belies the farcical assertions emanating from the Justice Department that the CPA was an organization awash in tens of millions of dollars worth of "Moscow gold." This gross disparity between official claims and actual reality was no secret to the Justice Department -- this internal bulletin was provided to the DoJ at the time of its issuance by a Bureau of Investigation informant. To this end, Bimba specifically states that "The CEC at its last meeting reorganized the entire machinery of the Party in order to cut down expenses. Only one paid organizer will be kept in your District hereafter." The bulletin is filled with news of routine party business, such as the mention that the party's Industrial Organizers had sent out Registration Cards to the membership "so we can know the percentage of the members who can be utilized for work in the unions." Laxity in the purchase of party literature is noted. A concerted educational drive was beginning, Bimba notes, in which "Each group [primary party unit] must send one comrade at least to the theoretical class." Bukharin's ABC of Communism was to be the textbook for courses conducted in English and Russian, while the lack of a translations meant that Lenin's State and Revolution would be the book taught in classes working in Yiddish, German, Latvian, Polish, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian. Instructors for these theoretical classes were selected by the Philadelphia District Committee and the instructors would be meeting once a month themselves for training.

 

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

 

"Cable to Ludwig Katterfeld in New York from Robert Minor in Moscow, September 14,1921." Short cable, converted from telegraphese to punctuated English here. Minor passes along hard numbers for Comintern funding, noting a grant of $33,000 for "Party work specified items" for a forthcoming quarter -- presumably the 4th quarter of 1921. In addition, a conditional grant of $50,000 is promised for establishment of an English daily if the Party can raise $10,000 on its own. As the Daily Worker was not established until January 1924, it seems unlikely that these latter funds were actually disbursed. Scholars should additionally be cautioned that the budgeting of $33,000 for the American unified CPA does not mean that this figure was actually disbursed or that disbursed funds were ever received. The unified CPA went through a highly critical budget crunch in the 1st quarter of 1922, the party was torn asunder by the split of the Central Caucus faction in Nov.-Dec. 1921, and dues collections plummeted. The Party treasury was completely depleted -- indicating a likelihood that the funds detailed in this message were not received in the United States in an expeditious manner.

 

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

 

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

 

"Memorandum to William J. Burns, Director, Bureau of Investigation, and to the attention of J. Edgar Hoover, Special Assistant to the Attorney General, from Walter C. Foster, Special Agent in Charge, Philadelphia (and response)." [Sept. 20, 1921] This memo from the Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia District of the Bureau of Investigation passes on some ideas of the Philadelphia BoI agent who was given the task of coordinating anti-red activities, J.F. McDevitt. The magnitude and limitations of the government's spy apparatus are made clear: "In Philadelphia alone, we have more than 28 different organizations affiliated with the COMMUNIST PARTY OF AMERICA - UNIFIED, and with but one paid confidential informant, who only speaks the English language." This implies that nothing could be done to penetrate the Yiddish, German, Latvian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Russian, or Polish language apparatus of the organization in the Philadelphia district in a meaningful way. McDevitt suggests that each district of the BoI should concentrate upon one or two local languages used extensively in that locale, with the various language groups coordinated nationally -- for example, Russian in Philadelphia, Hungarian and Yiddish in New York, Italian and Irish in Boston, Lithuanian and Polish in Chicago, Spanish in New Orleans. In this way more careful attention might be paid to each specific group and "it would give the Department at a much smaller expense a good general idea of what is going on." Bureau of Investigation Director William Burns solicited Assistant to the Attorney General J. Edgar Hoover's comments on this suggestion, to which Hoover replied that the idea "has been in force and operation for some time, as we made an effort to have an informant in every one of the leading movements of the country, particularly those of a foreign nature."

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

"Letter to William J. Burns, Director of the Bureau of Investigation, US Dept. of Justice in Washington, DC from T.L. Felts, Baldwin-Felts Detectives, in Bluefield, West Virginia, Sept. 29, 1921." This unpublished letter to Justice Department by T.L. Felts of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency reiterates Felts' previous public statement that the company was not responsible for the provision of violent armed guards to the coal companies in Mingo and Logan Counties of West Virginia. "There can scarcely be a doubt but that my public statement through the press was read by the Mine Workers' officials and, notwithstanding my denial, they continue to prate about the Baldwin-Felts mine guards in Logan and Mingo Counties. It is, therefore, evident that they have an utter disregard for the truth of their public utterances," Felts declared. "I submit that their utterances in this regard, as well as many other statements bearing on the recent trouble, are not only deplorable, but criminally false and they have justly earned the condemnation of all right thinking people, who believe in truth and justice," Felts concludes.

 

"Circular to All Organizers of the Communist Party of America from the Central Executive Committee, Sept. 30, 1921." In the fall and winter of 1921-22, the American Communist movement hovered near financial insolvency. Paid functionaries were laid off and wages paid partially and irregularly due to the cash-flow crunch. In a desperate effort to maintain funds for continued operation, the unified Communist Party of America revisited the "One Day's Wages" idea first employed by the old CPA in August 1920. Each member of the CPA was required to contribute, in addition to regular monthly dues, one day's worth of wages as an additional tax payable to the organization. The entire party apparatus was put into action in September and early October in an effort to collect this extraordinary assessment. Full 100% fulfillment was sought, according to this circular sent out to all levels of the CPA's functionaries: "This means that every member must put in ONE DAY'S WAGES. No one is excused. Those that are unemployed shall put in one day's time collecting for the Party, and turn these funds into the treasury in lieu of the one day's wages." The reason for the emergency fundraising campaign was explicitly stated: "You all know of course WHY this special collection is made. You know that the language conferences cost the Party many thousands of dollars more than was received from the conference assessment. You know also that our activities for famine stricken Russia has diverted to that channel many thousands of dollars which would otherwise have come to the Party. You know furthermore that we have no 'Rich Uncle,' and that our organization MUST STAND ON ITS OWN FEET." This document, reflective of the reality of CPA finance in the period, fell into BoI hands through one of its informants just over a month after Assistant to the Attorney General William Grimes blithely stated in an official report that the American Communist movement was the recipient of $45 million in "Moscow gold" during its first three years of existence -- a sensational and delusional guess said to be based on ""authentic estimates from abroad" that archival documents indicate actually overshot the mark by approximately $44.95 million.

 

"American Labor Alliance," by Jack Carney [Sept. 30, 1921] The second version of the American Labor Alliance begun in August 1921 was apparently stillborn. The shell of the ALA was restructured yet again in the two months after its formal foundation. By September 1921 the ALA was governed by an institution not mentioned in the group's constitution -- the "Provisional Executive Committee." This body at a meeting in September decided to transform the ALA into a dues-paying membership organization based around local groups, and to begin forthwith to raise a $25,000 organizational fund to sponsor a convention relaunching itself as a "revolutionary political party." The Provisional Executive Committee noted that "All working class organizations which declare themselves in sympathy with the aims and principles of the American Labor Alliance will be invited to send delegates." Ella Reeve Bloor, recently returned from Soviet Russia, was to be sent on the road on a speaking tour to help raise this organizational fund. The Communist Party's overground Chicago labor organ, Voice of Labor, opined that "The American Labor Alliance enters the political field with the largest membership and greatest number of adherents of any working class party in the country. It will not offer any false promises to the masses, neither will it attempt to raise false hopes. It will go before the masses and frankly inform them that if they require anything to be done they must do it themselves. The ALA will utilize the various political campaigns for the purpose of exposing the claims and pretensions of capitalist politicians, also for the purpose of rallying the masses together."

 

OCTOBER

"Raids, Deportations, and Palmerism," by Swinburne Hale [written circa October 1921] This article provides a useful short summary of the abuses of Attorney General Mitchell Palmer during 1920. Hale, a civil libertarian lawyer from New York City, dates the repression from an August 12, 1919, directive of the head of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation to its field agents to begin vigorously investigating "anarchistic and similar classes, Bolshevism and kindred agitations." Then in November 1919 came the first systematic wave of persecution, targeting the Federation of Unions of Russian Workers of the United States and Canada. On December 27, 1919, came the order for the mass dragnet of January 2/3, 1920, targeting the Communist and Communist Labor Parties and the IWW, among other radical groups. Hale indicates that approximately 10,000 persons were arrested in this campaign. On January 24, 1920, Sec. of Labor Wilson declared membership in the Communist Party of America to be a deportable offense. The tide had begun to turn, however, on Jan. 22 and 23, when hearings concerning a peacetime sedition act proposed by Right Wingers in Congress met with organized liberal and labor opposition, which stopped it. Another landmark came on April 10, 1920, when Assistant Sec. of Labor Post handed down an important decision that raised the bar for the prosecution in deportation hearings and began releasing prisoners held from the Palmer raids for whom there was no sufficient evidence of guilt. The Right Wing in Congress responded by beginning impeachment hearings of Assistant Sec. Post. Another major turning point came on May 5, 1920, when it was held that mere membership in the Communist Labor Party was insufficient grounds for deportation. " It is a matter of opinion that the distinction between the two parties rested on pretty thin reasoning, and that the principal difference between them lay in the fact that the Communist Party case was argued at the height of the "Red" hysteria in January [1920] and the Communist Labor Party case 3 months later," Hale notes. Then on May 28, 1920 came the "Twelve Lawyers' Report" published as a pamphlet by the National Popular Government League, which further turned the tide against the illegality and "white terror" of the Palmerites and their allies. Congress adjourned on June 5, 1920, without taking action on the Post impeachment and Mitchell Palmer was defeated in his bid to win the Democratic Presidential nomination that summer, Hale noted, effectively terminating the Red Scare of 1919-20.

 

"Weekly Radical Report for Pittsburgh, PA for the Week Ending Oct. 1, 1921. [Extract]," by H.J. Lenon An extended section of the weekly report by Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation Special Agent H.J. Lenon on radical activities in Pittsburgh -- in this case those of the unified Communist Party of America. There can be no doubt to any careful reader of this report that the DoJ's penetration of the highest level of the UCP in Pittsburgh through an undercover operative or particularly thorough informer was carried over into the Pittsburgh organization of the unified CPA. This extensive report containing copious detail from "read and destroy" bulletins of the National Office to the District organizations. "The Communist Party is in bad FINANCIAL condition," Lenon declares, adding that the party had initiated a number of changes for reasons of economy, including the discontinuation and consolidation of newspapers, the reduction of wages of party workers, and the elimination of party offices. Further, disorganization was rampant within the party's ranks: "We find a badly SPLIT up organization developing more wings than the SP had. Here we have the LEGAL, ILLEGAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, and a mixture of everything. The party organizes and disorganizes at will, leaving in its wake a mass of confusion..." This dysfunctional organization was comically ineffectual: "Most of their activity centralizes around districts where the leaders reside, like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago, Detroit. In cities where the SP has any strength the Communists usually spend most of their time fighting with the SP. It is always easy to detect the Communists in action, for they always condemn the SP, agitate for the Soviet Republic, etc., also use plenty of the Bolsheviki terms of expression. Supposed to be underground but they LOVE TO RECOMMEND THE COMMUNIST TACTICS. Mostly all intellectuals in the red movement like to display their extreme Bolsheviki radicalism. Being a red Communist is something that will not be underground."

 

"The Workers League." [unsigned article in The Toiler, Oct. 1, 1921] This article in a primary English-language legal organ of the Communist Party of America announces the formation of "a new political party of labor" -- the Workers League. This New York City-based forerunner of the Workers Party of America was not intended to engage in parliamentarism as a means of winning state power through the ballot box. Rather: "While the Socialist Party is committed to bourgeois parliamentarism and political reform, the Workers League refuses to stimulate illusions in the minds of the workers as to the possibility of improving their long under the present economic order and with parliamentary activity as an instrument. The Workers League enters politics to unmask it. It seeks to enter Congress and other legislative bodies not to urge reform but to voice the wrath of the workers at their terrible situation. With the parliamentary tribune as a sounding board it plans to spread forth over the country the message of international solidarity, the challenge of the irreconcilable class conflict."

 

"An Opinion on Tactics," by Max Eastman [October 1921] Two years after the September 1919 split of the Socialist Party of America, the American workers seemed to be even less friendly to communism than they were at the time of the break, according to co-founder of The Liberator Max Eastman. Eastman reckoned that the reason from this step backwards was "simple and obvious": While the Communist movement was based around the idea that the world was in a period of the "breakdown of capitalism," such was not the case in the USA. "We are not in the period of the breakdown of capitalism, and yet we are employing tactics that could never be appropriate in any other period -- tactics which have no practical relation to the period we are in -- that of preliminary propaganda." Eastman sharply criticized the CPA for having established "elaborately conspiratorial organization excellently adapted to promote treasonable and seditious enterprises, although they have no such enterprises on foot." Unless the artificial and inappropriate underground tactics were abandoned there would be no way to build close relations between the party and the mass of American workers, Eastman declared.

 

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

 

"'In Re: Workers Council.': Report of a Meeting Held in New York, Oct. 8, 1921," by Department of Justice Undercover Agent "P-134" This is an unusual document, the report of an undercover agent of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation of an open meeting of the Workers' Council group in New York City. Agent "P-134" quotes Secretary of the Workers' Council J. Louis Engdahl as saying that "he is a Communist, and that the Workers Council is organizing for the purpose of establishing Socialist Soviet Republic in the US." He quotes Engdahl as saying that the primary mission of the group is to "help all the revolutionary classes unite into a true revolutionary Socialist organization." The meeting was also addressed by Benjamin Glassberg, Rose Weiss, Comrade Ligoria of the Italian movement, Alexander Trachtenberg, I. Cohen of the Independent YPSL, and Ludwig Lore of the Newyorker Volkszeitung. Agent "P-134" quotes Lore as admitting his membership in the Communist Party of America and declaring that "the American working class will not take any orders from a clique, namely, the [CEC] of the Communist Party of America, which is termed illegal and underground." Lore seems to have taken a similar independent position towards the Executive Committee of the Comintern, saying that regardless of "whether the 3rd International says that Workers Council is proper or not, they will go before the masses openly and preach Communism and the establishment of a Soviet Republic in the United States." Agent "P-134" states that Lore "also said the Workers Council will organize the class conscious revolutionary forces of this country regardless of what the orders from Moscow may be, and carry on their educational campaign organizing mass open organizations, whether it be legal or not..."

 

"Socialist Party Declared Dead: Ex-Members Dine, Chant Requiem for Organization in Various Keys." (NY Call) [event of Oct. 8, 1921] This short news report in the New York Call notes the formation of the Workers Council organization by anti-Socialist Party members of the Jewish Socialist Federation and the newly departed SP Left Wingers of the Committee for the Third International. This article chronicles a dinner held in New York City and addressed by J.L. Engdahl, Benjamin Glassberg, J.B. Salutsky, Rose Weiss, Alexander Trachtenberg, L. DeGregoria, Isadore Cohen, and Ludwig P. Lore. The purge of Communists at the Rand School of Social Science seems to have been a contributing factor to the formation of the Workers Council organization, with both Glassberg and Trachtenberg alluding to the event, the latter of whom said: "I have tried to continue on in the Socialist Party. A few weeks ago I found that it was impossible to stay in. Now is the time to build up a class-conscious, revolutionary party that will stay our in the open." Keynote speaker was Lore, who told the attendees ""We need the Communist Party. We need frank discussion and education for the masses. This is the movement which will give us what we want and need."

 

"A Letter to the Communist Party of America, Oct. 9, 1921," by Grigorii Zinoviev. The head of the Communist International sent this note to the American Communist Party urging the immediate formation of a legal political party. "It is necessary to fight for every inch," Zinoviev states, urging that the example of the Russian Bolsheviks be followed in establishing a seemingly innocuous legal organization to propagandize the basic ideas of Communism or even simply the ideas of the class struggle. Russian comrades in America would be taking great responsibilities upon themselves if they stood in the way of this unquestioned directive of the Comintern, Zinoviev warned.

 

"Save the Party! An Appeal to All Members of the Communist Party!" [circa Oct. 12, 1921] This is "Statement No. 1" of the Central Caucus Faction of John Ballam, Charles Dirba, and George Ashkenuzi -- a detailed catalog of the transgressions of the CPA's Central Executive Committee majority group. These faults included the arbitrary and reckless formation of a Legal Political Party with mandatory participation of all members of the underground -- an "insane" and "suicidal" policy that would result in a liquidation of the Communist Party; a disregard of the constitutionally-established rights of language federations; a factional "crushing policy" on the part of the 7 member CEC majority, exemplified by the splitting of districts and factional removal of (ex-old CPA) District Organizers and Sub-District Organizers without cause; and a profligate spending of party funds that resulted in a $20,000 debt for the organization. An emergency convention of the unified CPA was called for to resolve these issues and all party members were called upon to discuss these issues and to issue resolutions to force the CEC majority into action.

 

"Answers to Questions," by Steven Ross ["Charles Wallace"/"Stepan"] [Oct. 13, 1921]. A conference between Lenin and the members of the American delegates to the 3rd Congress of the Comintern and the Profintern late in the summer of 1921 was a matter of heated debate, pitting Max Bedacht (ex-UCP), who contended that Lenin issued an instruction for the CPA to immediately establish a Legal Political Party in America against Seven Ross ["Charles Wallace"] (ex-old CPA), who contended that Lenin said no such thing. This is Ross' reply to a questionnaire issued by the CEC entitled "Questions to International Delegates," attempting to rectify the discrepancy in the testimony between Bedacht and Ross.

 

"The Open Communist Party -- The Task of the Hour," unsigned appeal by The Workers' Council. [Oct. 15, 1921] While there was stiff opposition to liquidation of the underground party inside the unified CPA itself, there was a countervailing tendency standing outside of the ranks of the party pushing in exactly the opposite direction -- for the elimination of the underground apparatus and for commitment to a fully legalized communist movement. This tendency's organizational expression was "The Workers' Council" -- formerly the "Committee for the Third International of the Socialist Party," which departed that organization after the June 1921 Detroit Convention of the SPA. This appeal of the Workers' Council states that the "infantile radicalism" of the newborn communist movement was contemptuous of mass movements and "called for small, intensely class-conscious organizations that should take upon themselves the leadership in the approaching struggle against world capitalism." This perspective had been denounced by Lenin and was refuted by the Comintern at its recently concluded Third Congress. Instead, the Comintern now called for participation in the actually existing conservative unions and "openly condemns the agitation for armed insurrection and open rebellion in countries where the revolution is still in the distant future and insists that the communist movement, in every country, must proceed at once to the creation of an open, aboveboard mass movement." The secret movement had been intellectually stultifying for the American party, the Workers' Council declared, and its secrets were no secret to authorities, who had inevitably made use of espionage to penetrate the underground organization. The underground form had become an end in itself. It was a form unable to adapt to crisis and dominated by a handful of romanticist underground leaders. Instead, the Workers' Council called for an open organization, a form able to do effective work. "There could be no better time. Raise your voices, Comrades. Come out of your cellars into the open. Go to your brothers in the mills, the mines, and the factories, and talk to them openly, fearlessly."

 

"To the CEC of the CPA in New York from Max Bedacht in New York," [late October 1921]. The decision of the Communist Party of America to establish a parallel "Legal Political Party" came at the behest of the 3rd World Congress of the Communist International [June 22-Aug. 12, 1921] and a supplementary meeting of the American delegation with Lenin held in the Kremlin on July 7, 1921. Bedacht reported to the CEC of the American Party in New York at its meeting of Sept. 1, at which -- based largely upon Bedacht's depiction of Lenin as emphatically in favor of a legal party -- the CEC resolved to create such an organization "parallel with the underground organization and controlled by it." Bedacht was directly contradicted by an ex-old CPA member pseudonym "Stepan" at the October 5 meeting of the CEC, however, and this written statement about the meeting with Lenin was a byproduct of the CEC's investigative process attempting to rectify the contradiction in testimony between the two. Bedacht notes that Nicholas Hourwich and he constituted a committee of 2 to prepare a proposal on legal activity in America for the ECCI. It was Bedacht who drafted the document on July 6(without input from Hourwich) and delivered it at the meeting of the full delegation with Lenin on the next day. At the meeting, attended by Bedacht, Hourwich, Bill Haywood, Robert Minor, Oscar Tyverovsky, "Stepan," and "Gorney," Lenin "immediately went to the point. First he told us of the necessity of the establishment of a daily press. He made it clear at all times that this was expected of us. Then he opened the question of a legal party. He told us of the absolute necessity of the formation of such a body and he even suggested a name for it. Maybe if the other delegate tries hard enough to remember he will recollect that Comrade Lenin suggested 'Anti-Capitalist Party' in contradistinction to all other parties which are pro-capitalist." Lenin and Bedacht were both surprised at the apparent unanimity of the American delegation with regard to establishing a Legal Political Party, but Bedacht bitterly notes that "the opponents of the decisions of the congress did not have the courage to speak up in this conference [with Lenin] although they do not seem to lack the courage to now lie about the proceedings in this conference."

 

"Circular Letter to All Districts and Federations from John Ballam, Secretary of Central Caucus, Summarizing the Results of Meeting of Oct. 24-25, 1921." This document may be aptly characterized as an internal bulletin from the "Central Caucus" to its adherents -- dissidents in the unified Communist Party of America hailing from the old Communist Party of America who organized factionally in September 1921 and quickly departed the party en masse, declaring themselves to be the legitimate bearer of the Communist Party of America's mantle. This report details what amounts to an expanded plenum of the Central Caucus, including not only the regularly attending representatives of the Russian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Jewish, Latvian, and Polish Federations, but also its de facto District Organizers ("Caucus leaders") from the Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh districts. The October statement to the Comintern by the minority of the unified CPA's CEC -- John Ballam, Charles Dirba, and George Ashkenuzi -- was the basis for discussion of the meeting. A summary of the views of each of the Federation representatives and district Caucus leaders is providing, showing that the Lithuanian Federation was the least irreconcilable to the majority of the CEC of the unified Party and its line, stating that they "Cannot oppose Comintern on question of [a Legal Political Party] but absolutely against form proposed by CEC" and urging that "no action to be taken which would give reason for being thrown out of Comintern." The statement of the 3 CEC Members was taken up by the meeting seriatim and amended, and was to be then signed and prepared for distribution to the "entire membership."

 

"Membership Series by District for the (unified) Communist Party of America, June to October 1921." Here's another one that serious historians of early American Communism would be advised to print out and save -- the definitive membership series for the first phase of the (unified) Communist Party of America, bounded on one side by the May 1921 Unity Convention at which the party was formed and on the other by the "Central Caucus" split of Nov.-Dec. 1921, which severely disrupted the organization. This snapshot reveals substantial organizational strength in the Midwest (the Chicago district bigger than New York!) and a general growth of the total average paid membership from about 7,200 in Q-III for the old CPA to about 8,750 for Q-III for the unified organization (the math of the merger between the old CPA/UCP seems to be of the "2+2=3" variety...) Included are Q-III Federation average memberships which show a membership crisis in the Lithuanian, Russian, and Ukrainian Federations which ANTEDATES the purported cause of the Central Caucus split, the October 1921 decision to rapidly establish a Legal Political Party. Includes copious commentary by Tim Davenport.

 

NOVEMBER

"Keysquare for '1921 Money Order Code' used by the unified Communist Party of America, Nov. 1921-Feb. 1922," Cryptanalysis by John K. Taber and Tim Davenport. The United Communist Party in 1920-21 and its successor, the unified Communist Party of America in 1921-22, used a simple single letter replacement code appearing on the page as fractions. By way of example, a "D" might have been written as "3/21" -- corresponding to the letter located at keysquare coordinates line 3 and column 21. A series of no fewer than four "keysquares" for coding and decoding were used during the period. This is a substantially solved keysquare that was used by the "majority" CPA at the tail end of 1921 and early in 1922 to make its messages to and from Moscow harder to comprehend if intercepted by the Bureau of Investigation's General Intelligence Division or the Army's Military Intelligence Department. The original source of the keysquare appears to have been the fine print of a money order form, beginning "WHEN PAYABLE IN BOLIVIA, CHILE, COSTA RICA, DENMARK, FRANCE, GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, HONDURAS..."

 

"The Third International Congress," by Dennis Batt [Nov. 1921] Proletarian Party of America representative to the 3rd Congress of the Comintern Dennis Batt (a guest rather than a delegate) outlines a number of policy positions of the CI -- each of which is said to support the long-standing position of the PPA -- in contrast to the contrary positions of the Communist Party of America. These included the assertion that successful revolution implies the winning of the conscious support of a majority of the working class and other toilers; the necessity of maintaining an open organization; the importance of making use of every means to win support for communism, particularly parliament and parliamentary elections; and the need to enter existing mass unions and thus "by virtue of their activity and devotion to the cause of the workers, to convince the membership that Communism is the only solution for the endless struggle in which they are engaged." In each of these instances, Batt indicates that the position of the Proletarian Party was closer to the current Comintern line than that of the Communist Party, the membership of which was said to be " too stupid and ignorant of the proper Communist position" on legalization, adherents of a "silly semi-syndicalist attitude" on participation in elections, and continuers of a 25 year old policy of attempting to organize "pure" unions and then try to smash the AF of L.

 

"Letter to Leo Laukki in Moscow from Alfred S. Edwards in Boston." [circa Nov. 1921]. A very interesting politically-charged letter from a Latvian-American radical who helped found the Socialist Publishing Society in Dec. 1916 to a compatriot in Moscow, detailing the transgressions of the majority group of the Central Executive Committee. The CEC majority -- "Mensheviks," in Edwards' view -- had done nothing to organize units of the party in the army and navy, had done nothing to agitate among the unemployed, had been woefully inadequate in participating in the daily struggles of the working class, and had failed to organize party nuclei in shops and unions, and had done nothing to fight centrism in the Party. Instead, the Party was dominated by an enormous and costly paid bureaucracy that was intent upon liquidation of the underground Communist Party in favor of a parliamentary orientation and communism of "the respectable, rose-water kind." The greatest achievement of the CEC was the establishment of the Friends of Soviet Russia, Edwards indicates, although the American Labor Alliance had been allowed to atrophy into nothingness -- an "excellent form of organization" in the charge of a leadership group that didn't know how to do the work, Edwards states. Edwards applauds a recent article by Lenin indicating that 99% of the mensheviks who joined the Russian Communist Party after the revolution needed to be stricken from the ranks and states that "50% of our CEC" (that is, the former members of the United Communist Party) are similarly mensheviks who until recently supported the 2 1/2 or even the Second International. Edwards urges Laukki to inform Tyverovsky as to the state of affairs and to use the information for "enlightening the comrades on the present situation in America."

 

"Make It a Party of Action! A Declaration of the Central Executive Committee to the Membership." [circa November 1921] Full text of a 4 page leaflet of a statement by the majority group of the Central Executive Committee of the CPA to the rank and file on the heated factional situation developing in the party. Citing the directive of the Comintern expressed at the Third World Congress that it is the duty of the American Party "to try all ways and means to get out of their illegalized condition into the open, among the wide masses" the CEC here notes that "It is necessary to build a machinery that can make the fullest use of all legal possibilities" -- a "legal political organization which would centralize the legal activities of the Party." An opposition had appeared, however, a faction which in "both in the content of their criticism and in their methods...show themselves incapable of understanding or applying the tactics of the Communist International." Already "19 members who refused to recognized its authority, flagrantly violated its instructions, and threatened its representatives with violence" had been suspended. A circular letter of the Russian Federation is quoted to illustrate the factional activities of the opposition in the party and the exhortation is made that "every member knows that without a solid, united, and well disciplined party, victory over capitalism is impossible." Similar factional troubles relating to the editor of the Lithuanian Federation's underground official organ is detailed at some length and the withholding of funds by opponents of the current policy is noted. "The CEC declares that it will stop these destructive activities by decisive action. It will brook no disruption of the Party. The day for disruption is over! We must build a united and invincible front! We must build a party of revolutionary action!"

 

"Our Agrarian Problem," by Harold Ware [Nov. 1921] Harold Ware (party name "H.R. Harrow") was a son of Ella Reeve Bloor and the first agrarian expert of the American Communist movement. Ware lends the eye of a Marxist sociologist to the American agricultural situation, identifying four primary agricultural regions: East, Midwest, South, and West. He analyzes two of them in this article published in the underground official organ of the unified CPA. The West Ware finds to be typified by large agricultural units making use of modern production technology and employing large numbers of migratory workers during the harvest season -- true proletarians, Ware says. "Because the proletarian elements are most important in the west we must cooperate with the IWW in their activities among the farm workers. In spite of our general differences of policy we must recognize that the IWW alone is active in the agrarian field." In the East there is an altogether different production norm, Ware states, typified by small and highly productive farms worked by "semi-proletarians." Ware advocates the establishment of a Party "Agrarian Bureau" to coordinate work among the proletarian and semi-proletarian agricultural workers, with "Section-Agrarian Organizers" hitting the road on behalf of this institution. He also calls for establishment of a Communist agricultural newspaper and a party agrarian school to train volunteer city workers in agricultural methods so that they might be employed in agrarian organizing. "American imperialism may cause the longest, bitterest struggle in history before admitting defeat. Military campaigns will have fertile farm sections for their objectives. The critical battles will be for Food. We must win the producers of food to our side or the proletarian victory will be seriously delayed if not defeated," Ware declares.

 

Convention Call to Organize the Workers' Party of America [circa Nov. 1921]. This is a document issued in the fall of 1921 (circa November) formally calling for the formation of a Legal Political Party at convention in New York City on December 23. The call was signed by the CPA-associated American Labor Alliance, the radical SP-offshoot The Workers' Council of the USA, the Jewish Socialist Federation, and the Workers' Educational Association.

 

"Appeal of the Minority Members of the CEC of the Communist Party of America Against the Policies of the CEC on the Question of the Formation of a Legal Political Party in the United States." [Nov. 5, 1921]. The formal appeal of the CEC minority (i.e. the Central Caucus faction) to the Communist International seeking a halt to the actions of the CEC majority's actions with regard to establishment of a legal political party. While stating their agreement with the notion of legal political action and their willingness to adhere to the final decision of the ECCI in the matter, this appeal outlines the case of the minority: that the CEC majority had misrepresented the position of the ECCI and Lenin himself on the Legal Political Party; that its action in forcing the entire underground party into the open legal organization would put it at grave danger of arrest and destruction; that the duplication of legal and underground personnel would inevitably result in liquidation of the underground organization; that the proposed transformation of the American Labor Alliance for Trade with Soviet Russia into a full fledged Legal Political Party was counter to the Unity Agreement joining the old CPA with the UCP in May 1921 and artificial -- as the ALA had no mass membership outside of the underground CPA; that the CEC majority had failed to call an emergency convention of the party to work out details of this drastic change of the party line, thus resulting in confusion and a lack of confidence among the rank and file in the party leadership; that major preparatory work among the working class needed to be done before any Legal Political Party could be considered. For good measure, a litany of the offenses of the CEC Majority on other matters are tagged on the end, ranging from botched opportunities for mass propaganda to apathy to engagement in a policy of factional "crushing" of the former members of the old CPA.

 

"American Agricultural Problems," by Harold M. Ware [Nov. 12, 1921] During 1921, Harold Ware, the radical son of Ella Reeve Bloor and himself a small-scale farmer in Pennsylvania, abandoned his farm and went on the road incognito in order to experience the life of a migrant farmworker first-hand. "In the jungles and box cars I learned from one stiff after another of the battle of the migratory workers for a chance to organize, to find work, and to live," Ware writes, noting that. This is a summary of his assorted adventures on the road, a survey of American agriculture in the crash year of 1921 ranging from the tenant cotton farms of the South to cattle ranching of the Southwest to the the industrialized farming of California to the grain fields of the Northern Plains and Midwest to the rich agriculture of the East. The situation in the South was most critical, in Ware's estimation, based upon tenant farming in which the impoverished farmers, often negro, were extended credit to finance operations and living expenses in the coming year, at usurious rates of interest. In the spring of 1921, cotton prices had dropped precipitously, causing a contraction of credit and absolute destitution among the tenant farmers. The industrialized agriculture of California was the most favorable to organization, in Ware's view, for it was here that the IWW had made its greatest inroads in organizing agricultural workers for higher pay and shorter hours. Small farmers of the Northern Plains had been virtually wiped out by drought and plummeting agricultural prices, Ware says. North Dakota was something of a special case, Ware notes, in which farmers had been successfully organized for parliamentary action in their common interests in reaction to protracted exploitation by "the grain gamblers of Minnesota." Throughout, Ware sees average American farmers as an intermediate "semi-proletarian" class, producing the greater part of their output on the basis of their own labor and making use of hired labor only to assist during the peak period of harvest. The decline of agricultural prices was creating a tendency towards cooperation in the face of negative market pressures. "They have not learned that a loose marketing organization can never function effectively against the highly organized capitalist machinery. They will learn eventually that they must organize as a class, as working farmers, literally as producers. There are a large number of farmers in the South-Central states north of the Black Belt, both tenant and mortgaged owners, who are aware that the entire economic system of agriculture is at fault," Ware declares.

 

"Circular Letter to Districts and Federations of the Central Caucus from John Ballam, Secretary, Nov. 13, 1921." An internal bulletin of the Central Caucus faction, compiled by its Secretary, John Ballam. Ballam notes that the Statement of the 3 CEC Members had been sent to all districts and translated and transmitted by the officials of the faction's 6 federation caucuses -- Russian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Jewish, Latvian, and Polish. Ballam notes that arch-Legal Party advocate Max Bedacht had been named the editor of the underground organ and internal bulletin of the unified CPA and that in the coming week "ALL FEDERATIONS WILL BE NOTIFIED TO 'RAISE THEIR BRANCHES INTO LPP IN SYSTEMATIC MANNER, LANGUAGE BY LANGUAGE.'" The actual split was near at hand; groups of the Polish Federation had ceased paying dues to the unified CPA, some Yiddish-language party groups were refusing to obey directives to "raise" their branches from the underground despite threats of expulsion from the unified CPA. The Central Caucus (that is to say, the directing council of federation representatives of the faction)had decided to immediately send a representative to Soviet Russia to argue its case, Ballam notes -- although another archival document indicates that no representative was actually sent at this time in connection with this decision. The document includes district-by-district and federation-by-federation summaries of the activity of the Central Caucus faction.

 

"We Want an Open Communist Party." Unsigned appeal by The Workers' Council. [Nov. 15, 1921] This unsigned statement from the pages of The Workers' Council is a pointed attack on the plan of some inside the underground CPA to maintain a parallel secret organization in conjunction with the open Communist Party designed "to act in the capacity of a controlling organ, directing the activities of the public party, representing it internationally, determining its tactics and its principles.They insist on a system of parallel underground groups whose membership shall, in all important questions, act as a determined unit in the open organization." This amounts to perpetuation of the fundamental error, the WC statement contends, since "the underground form of organization places a premium on mediocrity. That part of the membership that has the destinies of the movement most at heart, and feels its individual responsibility most keenly, that can think for itself and see the mistakes that are being made, must struggle against almost impossible odds to make itself heard and to make its influence felt." At the same time, "Executive offices will be filled with men and women who will take dictation, who can be relied upon to carry out every order that is handed down to them." The purity of a sect is what is sought by the advocates of a directing underground structure. "But there is ever present the danger that discipline becomes tyranny." Examples of the imposition of party discipline for dubious objectives are cited for the German and American Socialist movements. This excessive discipline is dangerous and needless, the Workers' Council statement argues, since "the movement whose membership understands so little of its ideals and purposes as to need the watchful eye of a secret caucus, is a menace to the world revolution and should be abandoned."

 

"The Communists Answer," by Jay Lovestone [Nov. 26, 1921] Member of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America Jay Lovestone (writing as "R.B. Nelson") vigorously replies to charges levied by the Workers' Council group that the CPA went underground of its own volition, due to the "revolutionary romanticism" of many of its leading members -- a decision which lead to a separation from the masses of American labor and to the fostering of a false sense of security. Lovestone replies that the decision to go underground was in no way a choice: "While the 'above-boarders' of the Workers' Council were striving to win over the traitorous Socialist Party to a 'real, revolutionary international' (whatever that could have meant after 40,000 to 60,000 suspected of being Communists were expelled), the American Communists were openly fighting as Communists and were being jailed for scores of years of penal servitude." It was through the arrest and jailing of thousands in Dec. 1919 and Jan. 1920 that finally the communists "were driven to cover for protection and worked underground in order to save their organization," Lovestone declares, adding that "Since then the communists have tried their best to work in the open." The underground form of organization was not an end in and of itself, Lovestone states, noting that the Comintern itself declared for the need of parallel legal and illegal organizations in each country. The Comintern had never supported sectarian and "splendid-isolationist" policies, Lovestone declares and he states his belief that the inconsistent positions of the Workers' Council group "shows clearly that our Left Wing Socialist comrades were not in the past and are not even today ready to accept fully the principles and tactics of the Third International."

 

DECEMBER

"Report of the Communist Party of America to the Executive Committee of the Communist International," by L.E. Katterfeld [December 1921]. A lengthy and detailed report on the situation facing the communist movement in the United States. Katterfeld notes that "it is necessary to build a machinery that can make the fullest use of all legal possibilities" and unveils the forthcoming Workers Party of America -- which sprung from the American Labor Alliance. This turn brought about a "new alignment in the Central Executive Committee," Katterfeld states, including the resignation of Executive Secretary Charles Dirba and an organized campaign to withhold dues from the central party organization. "The overwhelming majority of the membership, comprising all of the former United Communist Party and over half of the former Communist Party, are cooperating fully" with the plans of the CEC, Katterfeld declares. Katterfeld reports on the political campaign of the party in New York municipal elections, the work of the Friends of Soviet Russia in raising funds for famine relief, Party finances and membership, and the work of the Party press and in the trade union movement. An interesting esoteric point is Katterfeld's remark that the "very critical" financial situation of the CPA "was made acute through the expense for holding 10 different national Language Federation conventions, to which the Party HAD to agree as one of the conditions for achieving unity... Those language conferences cost about $15,000." Katterfeld makes an inflated claim of CPA membership of "between 12,000 and 13,000" -- as opposed to actual statistics showing an average paid membership of 8,588 for the five months BEFORE the Central Caucus split.

 

"For a Party of the Masses (The Struggle Against Sectarianism): A Statement on the Controversy in the Communist Party of America by the Central Executive Committee, in Answer to the Appeal of the 'Minority' Members...to the Executive Committee of the Communist International." [circa Dec. 1, 1921] This is the official response of the Central Executive Committee "majority" to the November appeal of the CEC "minority" (Ballam, Dirba, Ashkenuzi) to the Comintern, published as a special printed "bulletin" to the party membership as explanation of the factional crisis in the CPA. The document -- signed first by CEC member James Cannon, indicating some likelihood of his primary authorship -- is feisty and combative, charging Ashkenuzi, Ballam, and Dirba with the "unwarranted and indefensible action" of unnecessarily exposing details of the CPA's planned foray into legal political activity as a calculated means of sabotaging their implementation. The "minority" is charged to have repeatedly changed their position on "the all-important question of communist legal organization and activity" -- their claim of support "in principle" of legal political organization is asserted by the "majority" to be brazen and insincere. "Their pretended acceptance of the principle of legal communist political organization is accompanied by an intensified campaign to obstruct its actual realization in life. Their opposition now takes the form of open defiance of the Party discipline, an open appeal to the Party members to refuse to obey the decisions of the CEC. They accept the principle, they say, but they are willing to smash the party to pieces to prevent the APPLICATION of the principle." The claim of the "minority" that the "majority" sought the liquidation of the underground party is held to be without basis. "No communist can or should rely upon bourgeois legality, even in peaceful times," this statement of the "majority" affirms. The idea of the "minority" that only a portion of the underground CPA should be raised to the overground is dismissed as "ridiculous" -- an excuse for vesting authority over a brave and hardworking overground component in a cowardly, isolated, and sectarian underground component. Charges of the "minority" that the "majority" mishandled propaganda in the armed services, botched the structure of the legal press, allowed non-communist elements into the party, and had conducted a "crushing policy" is dismissed as hypocritical and without merit. "Their campaign of slander, disruption, and sabotage has failed to break the party. The split which they propagate cannot succeed," the CEC majority declares.

 

"Report of Campaign Committee, Workers' League Campaign, Dec. 1, 1921," by Edward Lindgren. While the Communist Party boycotted the 1920 elections, it made a first tentative step as a political party proper in the New York City elections of November 1921. The vehicle for its electoral campaign was a legal political party called "The Workers' League." This is a post-election report of the activities of the Workers' League by the organization's secretary, Edward Lindgren. Lindgren notes bitterly that "hostility and indifference" sprung up immediately within the party from the time of the August 26, 1921 nominating convention of the Workers' League, which put forward a ticket headed by Benjamin Gitlow for Mayor and including Edward Lindgren for Controller, Harry Winitsky for President of the Board of Aldermen, and Rose Pastor Stokes, Charles Brower, and Jacob Hartman as Borough Presidents. A "lack of discipline" which was "beyond description" crippled the organization's momentum and morale, while the erstwhile allies of the Workers' League -- including the Workers' Council, and Finnish, Jewish, and Hungarian Socialist Federations, did nothing to aid in fundraising. The attempt to garner signatures to gain ballot access was an outright debacle, forcing the organization to spend $1200 to employ professional signature-gatherers, who did in 10 days what the organization was unable to accomplish in 5 weeks. While a speakers bureau was built from scratch, a lasting achievement for the organization, many of these individuals failed to appear at the meetings which they were assigned, causing Lindgren great consternation. Still other qualified speakers refused their services to the party due to disagreement with the immediate demands of the Workers' League's program, Lindgren indicated. As a result, barely over 3,000 votes had been cast for the various candidates of the League, which ended the campaign about $3,000 in debt. While this first foray into electoral politics was a debacle, Lindgren provided a set of recommendations for future action. This document includes a full financial statement and preliminary vote counts for the various candidates of the Workers' League.

 

"Draft of a Note to V.I. Ul'ianov (N. Lenin) from Robert Minor in Moscow, December 2, 1921." Robert Minor, the CPA majority group's representative on the Executive Committee of the Communist International, was recalled by his party in November 1921 to bring documents from Moscow and the power of his personality to fight the Central Caucus opposition. He was replaced by Ludwig Katterfeld effective Nov. 23, 1921. Before he left for America, Minor wrote this note to Lenin, seeking a brief meeting and to introduce his successor at ECCI. Minor outlines the controversy in the CPA and notes that he will be returning "with all possible speed" with a resolution from ECCI supporting the position of the CPA majority as well as a thesis on legal work in America written by Otto Kuusinen, Karl Radek, and Nikolai Bukharin.

 

"Letter to James P. Cannon in New York from Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow, Dec. 10, 1921." This letter from the American Representative on the Executive Committee of the Communist International Ludwig Katterfeld to James Cannon in America has an intimate and personal tone, rather unlike most of the surviving correspondence between Moscow and New York. "Everything is all hunky dory, as far as our business [the CPA "majority"] is concerned," Katterfeld writes, adding that funding prospects from the Comintern for the American party in the coming year were promising. He indicates that the American party's decision to move forward with a parallel Legal Political Party has been warmly received by ECCI but he cautions that "you MUST heed the advice to hold a private conference of your own sales force [convention of the underground CPA] before entering into the public competition with others [the WPA]. There'll be some heads chopped off if you don't." This message was not received in time to postpone the founding convention of the WPA until February, as the Comintern had insisted -- but no heads rolled for the failure. Katterfeld indicates that CPA Executive Secretary Will Weinstone "seems to be asleep at the switch there. Please feed him a little cayenne pepper to wake him up." He also obliquely alludes to the demise of Nicholas Hourwich [Nikolai Gurvich] as a factor in American politics in the Comintern, stating that " The old geyser that used to befoul the landscape here has stopped spouting, or rather has been stopped."

 

"The Friends of Soviet Russia," by Alfred Wagenknecht [Dec. 17, 1921] Weekly report of Secretary of the Friends of Soviet Russia, Alfred Wagenknecht, writing for the official organ of the Workers Party of America under the pseudonym "A.B. Martin." Wagenknecht notes that to date $265,000 had been collected for the relief of the Russian famine, including the collection of 7,000 pairs of used shoes in Chicago and 26 bales of clothing in Cleveland. New York cobblers had volunteered to do shoe repair on donated footwear, two clothing manufacturers had made available their machinery, a benefit symphony concert had been arranged in Detroit, and Chicago was organizing druggists. Wagenknecht urges the collection of surplus grain from from Midwestern farmers. He notes that Floyd Ramp, Norman H. Tallentire, and Dennis E. Batt had been added to the FSR's staff of touring speakers. Includes a c. 1918 portrait of Alfred Wagenknecht.

 

"Minutes of the First Session of the Founding Convention of the Workers Party of America: New York -- Dec. 23, 1921." This terse record of the first day of the founding convention of the WPA is useful for its reckoning of the delegate strength of the various constituent organizations. Leading the list is the Workers Council and Arbeiter Bildings Verein groups, with 13 delegates each; the Finnish Socialist Federation and Jewish Socialist Federation, with 12 each; and the Jewish Section of the American Labor Alliance (i.e. the CPA), with 10. Three fraternal delegates were on hand from the Proletarian Party, while the African Blood Brotherhood was represented by 2 fraternal delegates. A total of 94 voting delegates were passed by the Credentials Committee. Caleb Harrison was elected permanent chair of the convention and Margaret Prevey of Ohio permanent vice chair. A proposed order of business was adopted, committees were elected, and the convention adjourned itself in favor of committee work.

 

"Speech to the Founding Convention of the Workers Party of America," by William F. Dunne [Dec. 26, 1921]. Speech of this Montana trade union activist and publisher of the Butte Bulletin to the founding convention of the WPA in New York. Dunne charges that the Socialist Party's obsession with chasing ballots was misplaced and had led to a "divorce" of that organization from the American working class. The IWW on the other hand, contained "the very cream of the revolutionary elements in this country" -- about 2/3 of the organization's membership would be in sympathy with the aims and purposes of the Workers Party of America, Dunne estimated. The WPA would attract these elements, Dunne believed, although he cautioned against overconfidence and an unwillingness to admit the possibility of present mistakes or the fact that mistakes had been made in the past.

 

"Constitution of the Workers Party of America: Adopted at National Convention, New York City, Dec. 24- 26, 1921." Full text of the initial set of organizational rules governing the so-called "Legal Political Party" attached to the the underground CPA. The unit of local organization is the branch, consisting of at least 5 members; multiple branches in any one city being joined by a City Central Committee with delegates based on branch size. National governance by annual conventions, which elect a 17 member Central Executive Committee. The CEC in turn selects the Executive Secretary and chooses District Organizers. Primary governance of the organization via District Conventions, which each elect 6 to a District Executive Committee, which includes the DO to make 7. Branches consisting of members speaking a common non-English language were to form "Language Branches," the sum total for each to be a "Language Section" (formerly Federations). Language Sections were to be governed by an annual Language Section Conference, which was to elect an executive Language Bureau -- candidates subject to the approval of the CEC. The Language Sections and their governing Bureaus were to have no power of suspension or expulsion, those prerogatives limited to the CEC.

 

"A Christmas Party," by Max Eastman. [events of Dec. 24-26, 1921] The above-ground ("legal") Workers Party of America was established at a founding convention which opened in New York City on Dec. 24, 1921. Liberator editor Max Eastman was on hand for the festivities, turning in this piece of eyewitness reportage. Eastman is enthusiastic for the new organization, calling it "much more mature and confident than any previous assemblage of its kind in this country." He noted that two years earlier a theoretical challenge such as that made by the two fraternal delegates of the Proletarian Party, Dennis Batt and Harry Wicks, "would have struck fire and split the convention in forty places. Large blocks of earnest young Bolsheviks of the "hyperthyroid" type would have withdrawn to closet themselves for forty hours' debate in caucus, while the American working class waited breathlessly to learn who were to be its leaders in the revolution. Today almost everyone seemed to realize that the American working class will not pay any attention to a debating society, and that the leaders will be those who occupy themselves with organization, propaganda, and action in the current struggle." Eastman expounds at length on the choice facing Eugene Debs -- to join and lend the new organization his prestige or to do likewise in the quest for a new organization uniting liberals and the farmer-labor movement in a short-lived transitional reformist political organization. This version includes a Boardman Robinson drawing, "Hail, the Workers Party!" from the same issue of The Liberator.

 

undetermined month

"Tentative Program for the Organization of Communist Party Shop Committees." [A Document of the unified CPA, Circa 1922] The Communist Party of America sought an active position in the workplace from its earliest days. This rare leaflet from the underground CPA in 1922 details a plan for the establishment of "Communist Party Shop Committees" (CPSC). First, an industrial survey of the CPA membership was to be conducted, with information on Occupation, Union affiliation, and Employer gathered -- and kept in code with no attached names of party members! This information in hand, the new organizational structure was to be tested.The CPSC were to be groups of no more than five members of the CPA working in the same shop or factory, and were conceived as being parallel and subordinate to the normal organizational structure of groups and branches. The CPSC were to elect their own chairman and to work under the direction of the Local Executive Committee, distributing leaflets and propaganda, organizing educational meetings of reliable workers, building a circle of sympathizers to assist in the distribution of literature, and acting as a medium of collection of funds for the organization. This latter function was a byproduct of the underground CPA's dire financial situation in 1922: "The regular income from dues, etc. is insufficient even for the upkeep of the organization. As the Communist Party grows in influence and scope new fields of activity are developed requiring more and more funds. The ways and means for collecting funds in an underground organization are necessarily limited. The CPSC can supplement the regular party organization for raising funds directly from the workers in the industries."

 

"For the United Front of the Proletariat: The Call for the First Enlarged Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, January 1, 1922." The 3rd Congress of the Communist International (Summer 1921) barely mentioned the tactic of the "United Front." This was, indeed, a slogan advanced in the aftermath of the Congress, during the run-up to the First Enlarged Plenum of the ECCI-- a new institution to which member parties sent double their usual contingent of representation to both increase the range of perspectives heard by the conclave and to improve the transmission of the decisions of the gathering from Moscow to the member parties abroad. This call for the First Enlarged Plenum was an open manifesto, published in the pages of the Communist press around the world. It marked an important change in the line of the CI: instead of a world on the brink of revolution, the Comintern posited a new phase in which regroupment and unification were the order of the day. The manifesto declared frankly to the workers of the world that "you are not yet ready to renew your struggle, you do not yet dare the armed conflict for power, for the dictatorship, you do not yet dare the great attack on the citadels of world reaction. Then at least join forces for the struggle for a bare existence, for the struggle for a bit of bread and peace. Join your forces in a battle front, unite as a proletarian class against the class of the exploiters and pillagers of the world. Tear down the walls which have been built up between you, take your place in the ranks -- whether Communist, Social Democrat, Anarchist, or Syndicalist -- for the battle against the misery of the hour." It was stated that the realities of the daily struggle would generate awareness of the necessity for fundamental change: "Only when you, proletarians, in shop and factory so unite, will all parties which rest upon the proletariat and wish to be heeded by it, be compelled to united for a common defensive fight against capitalism."

 

"Foreign Treasury Exchange, January 4, 1922: [A Complete Record of Comintern Subsidies Actually Received by the American Communist Movement, 1919-1921]," by Will Weinstone Davenport footnote: "This is a big one, a Moby Dick of archival documents -- a receipt for Comintern funds received by the Executive Secretary of the unified CPA, with no mincing around or obfuscation. These numbers, it should be noted, match the internal evidence of CPA and UCP budget figures presented to the May 1921 Woodstock Unity Convention and represent the sort of significant-yet-comparatively-modest funding that would have allowed the American Communist movement the sort of healthy activity it demonstrated in 1920-21 before running out of funds and nearly going bankrupt in 1922." And the final answer for the years 1919-1921 is: $25,000 to the CPA, $25,000 to the UCP, $35,000 for the American Agency (some of which was spent in Canada and Mexico and a significant unspent balance of which was filched by Louis Fraina). Please print this page out on acid free paper and insert it between pages 24 and 25 in your copy of Klehr, Haynes, and Firsov's The Secret World of American Communism (1995).

 

"Historical Timeline of the Central Caucus-CPA (Sept. 17, 1921 to Jan. 6, 1922)." [Jan. 7, 1922] This is an extremely valuable document consisting of short summaries of the results of the weekly sessions of the Central Caucus (the council of representatives of the rebellious wings of 6 language federations of the Communist Party and their officials). It is noted that the Central Caucus was established on Saturday, Sept. 17, 1921 (presumably in New York City), that it had undertaken to organize factional leaders on a district-by-district basis on the following Tuesday, that it had considered and adopted its first factional document, "Statement No. 1," outlining its grievances on Sept. 27, 1921, and that the appeal of the 3 CEC Members to the Comintern was first read at its Oct. 17 session. The actual organizational break was set in motion at the Nov. 7, 1921 meeting by a narrow 4 to 3 vote, it is revealed, when it was decided "to notify all Districts and Federations that where parts of groups, branches, or sections are raised [forced overground] into LPP, those who are with us an opposed to joining LPP at once organize themselves, elect their own captains, branch organizers, section organizers, etc.; and hold their meetings separately before going into regular underground meeting, in order to maintain the present form of party organization and to prevent the total liquidation of our party." A call for a "National Conference" of the faction, which ultimately declared itself the "Emergency Convention of the Communist Party of America," was issued on Nov. 28, 1921, and the decision that membership dues should be paid to the Central Caucus rather than to the CEC of the unified CPA was made December 5, 1921. The National Conference/Emergency Convention was actually held in New York from Jan. 7-12, 1922, it should be noted.

 

"Report of the Secretary of the Central Caucus to the National Conference of the Communist Party of America," by John J. Ballam ("John Moore") [delivered Jan. 7, 1922] Report of the head of the Central Caucus to the "Emergency Conference of the Communist Party" held in New York City during the first half of January 1922. Ballam ("Moore") gives a thumbnail history of the development of the Central Caucus. From the first days of the unified CPA, Ballam asserts that it was clear that "the CEC was going much further in projecting the ALA [American Labor Alliance] than was necessary for the establishing of legal machinery." A "conference of representative comrades" of the old CPA was called to discuss this situation. CEC member J. Wilenkin, a former activist in the Socialist Labor Party and supporter of increased overground activity of the Communist movement, was among those invited to this meeting, but he seems to have been put off by the proceeding and to have disavowed its authority. In Ballam's colored words, Wilenkin "definitely repudiated his obligation to his constituency, refusing to confer further with us or be bound by any decisions which might be made." The adherents of the old CPA were thus placed into a minority position on the 10 member CEC of the party. In August 1921, Max Bedacht returned from Moscow with what he purported to be instructions to transform the ALA into a full-blown legal political party. In response, an informal deliberative caucus was established, including delegates of the bastions of the old CPA -- the Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish Federations -- as well as the 3 members of the "minority" of the CEC (Joseph Stilson having joined Wilenkin and the former UCP members of the majority). This faction was formalized as the "Central Caucus" on Sept. 17, 1921, Ballam states, adding that this directing center of elected delegates held 15 regular weekly meetings thereafter, culminating in the convocation of the emergency "National Conference of the CPA" in Jan. 1922. Ballam states that it remained the task of the assembled delegates to determine whether they should continue the fight against liquidationism and factional "crushing" by the majority within the unified CPA or whether "reorganize the Communist Party" by "maintaining that the membership now affiliated with the Workers Party have in effect left the CP of A, and claiming before the EC of the CI that we are the only party in this country that can be recognized as the American section of the CI, and carrying our appeal from a possible adverse decision by the EC of the CI before the 4th World Congress of the Comintern, if necessary."

 

"Emergency Convention: The Fifth Convention of the Communist Party of America." [Central Caucus faction -- Jan. 7-12, 1922] From Jan. 7-12, 1922, the Central Caucus faction containing sections from 6 dissident federations (Russian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Polish, Jewish [Yiddish-language]) held an "Emergency Convention of the Communist Party of America," attended by 20 delegates and 18 fraternal delegates. At this conclave the group heard a series of reports on the status of the organization, including a reading of confidential letters of the Comintern by Robert Minor on behalf of the CPA majority group. The group made plans for participation in legal political activities on their own and adopted an extensively revised constitution, in addition to electing a 7 member Central Executive Committee, along with other organizational officers. This is a lengthy account of the Emergency Convention published in the official press for members of the Central Caucus faction (which called itself "Communist Party of America, Section of the Communist International," just like the majority group of the party).

 

"Constitution of the C.P. of A.: Adopted at the Emergency Convention, January 1922, of the Communist Party of America." [Central Caucus faction] Basic document of organizational law of the Central Caucus faction's "Communist Party of America," established by an "Emergency Convention" held Jan. 7-11, 1922. The document details the complicated underground structure of the group, containing five layers of organizational structure between the individual member and the Central Executive Committee (in ascending order: Groups headed by a Group Captain, Branches headed by a Branch Organizer, Sections headed by a Section Organizer as part of a Section Executive Committee, Sub-districts headed by a Sub-district Organizer as part of a Sub-district Executive Committee, Districts headed by a District Organizer as part of the District Executive Committee). In addition to this extensive structure was placed a parallel Language Federation structure. It should be noted that the same basic model was used in the "regular" CPA during this period.

 

"Provisions for the Organization of Communist Party Nuclei in the Shops and Unions." [Central Caucus faction] This document was produced by the Central Caucus faction's CEC as a sort of appendix to the Constitution of the Central Caucus faction's "Communist Party of America." A third parallel organizational structure -- based on structured arrangement of party organizations in the workplace -- was thereby established, joining the geographic-based and language-based apparati already in place. A National Industrial Department was to be established, under which District Industrial Organizers elected by the District Executive Committees were to serve. Under these committees were also to be Section or Sub-district Industrial Departments, if necessary, these in turn organizing party members in shop nuclei of "about 10 members" each, each of which was to elect a captain. The nuclei captains were to get together with Nuclei union Organizers which they elected to form a Nuclei Committee in their respective union local or shop.

 

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America, January 1922." Summary minute of undated (multiple) January deliberations of the governing Central Executive Committee of the CPA. The CPA was in possession of a Comintern ruling that held "the tactics of the majority of the CEC [on the establishment of a Legal Political Party] to be absolutely correct." Robert Minor had attended the Jan. 7-12, 1922 "Emergency Convention" of the "Communist Party of America" of the Central Caucus faction and read the letter to the convention and again to the leadership of the organization. The three top leaders of the faction -- Charles Dirba, George Ashkenuzi, and "Johnson" -- had "answered that they will not obey the decision of the Comintern and will fight the [WPA]. They also informed Com. [Minor] that they hold themselves to be the [Communist Party of America]" and that they sent a delegate to Russia to argue their case. As a result, a campaign of publicity was launched and CEC members Bittelman, Zack, and Weinstone were sent on tour of the various districts to publicize the Comintern's decision. The CEC also established a new Party-wide wage scale, based on location, character of work, and number of dependents, ranging from $25-35 single, $30-40 one dependent, and $40-45 for employees with multiple dependents./// New material added in the 2007 edition includes a number of district-by-district reports as well as text of a resolution passed by D5 [Chicago], etc.

 

"Letter to Louis C. Fraina from William Weinstone in New York." [Jan. 10, 1922] This short note to representative of the American Agency Louis Fraina repeats and reiterates the text of a cable sent to him that same day, notifying Fraina of the Comintern's decision to liquidate the American Agency and to turn over its remaining funds to the (nearly bankrupt) Communist Party of America -- the "regular" party, rather than the Central Caucus-Opposition which was beginning to use the same name. Fraina is instructed to submit a report of his expenditures and to turn over remaining funds. CPA Executive Secretary Weinstone notes that "We sent you a similar wire about 3 or 4 weeks ago when we first received this information, but it was returned because of removal of address. This is official and final, brought to us from the Main Office [Moscow] by our del. [Robert Minor]."

 

"Circular Letter to All District Organizers and Federation Secretaries of the CPA from William Weinstone, Executive Secretary, Jan. 10, 1922." This communique from head of the Communist Party of America Will Weinstone provides first details about the relationship of the underground CPA to its new legal political entity, the Workers Party of America. "We have had no experience in the form of organization which we are at the present time building," Weinstone admits, noting that "Today in constructing the [WPA], we are confronted with the problem of adjusting the [CPA]...in such a manner as not to hamper the growth of [the WPA] and at the same time not allow [the CPA] to fall into disuse." A set of scenarios for CPA District Executive Committees to play towards WPA DECs is drawn up, based upon the composition of the latter. Similarly, procedure for combining District Organizers is specified. With the emergence of the new dual organization, dues for the underground CPA were reduced to 25 cents per month, the circular letter announces. Meetings of the CPA and the WPA were according to the model to be held "alternately, each week." The circular does allow, however, that "if further adjustment shall be necessary, such adjustment shall be guided by the following: [CPA] meetings shall be regular and shall be held prior to [those of the WPA]. These meetings may be long or short according to necessity, but the DOs are instructed not to permit [CPA] meetings to be discontinued." This problem of the relationship between the underground and legal Communist organizations "will be definitely solved at the next convention of [the CPA], which will take place within a few months," according to the circular. The 2nd CPA Convention at Bridgman did not take place for over 8 months, however.

 

"From Recent Mails: Report to ECCI No. 1," by L.E. Katterfeld [Jan. 11th, 1922] Report of the CPA's representative to the Executive Committee of the Communist International on recent happenings in America. Katterfeld notes the successful formation of the legal Workers Party of America and details the "party controversy" which has erupted over the establishment of this institution. "The CEC of the CP of A, which is responsible for the forming of the new legal party, is not leading the movement into the swamp of liquidation, as the 'minority' charges, but has the correct tactics as laid down by the Communist International," Katterfeld asserts. In addition to routine notes about the freeing of Eugene Debs from prison, the movement to establish an English language daily paper, and the formation of Freiheit, Katterfeld relates the saga of the accusations of Wall Street bomber William Linde. This individual "has made a 'confession' to the effect that the Communist Party of America received $3,000 from the Communist International for attempting to expedite Mr. Morgan of Wall Street into the hereafter with a bomb. In his statement, Linde names ten members of the Communist Party as being the guilty ones. [William] Burns is reported by the papers to maintain that this confession of Linde's clears up the entire mystery, and that he will soon have the guilty parties under arrest."

 

"Report No. 8 to Will Weinstone et al. in New York from Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow, Jan. 16, 1922." Brief and routine report from the CPA's representative to the ECCI on Moscow events, noting the safe receipt of documents traveling with Max Bedacht, an ongoing effort to employ a new female Moscow correspondent for the Federated Press, and an instruction to make International Women's Day (Feb. 8) the focus of a major propaganda campaign. The fact that the party did not follow CI instructions to hold a convention of the underground CPA prior to the founding of the legal WPA "cannot now be helped," Katterfeld observes, "but it makes it all the more essential for you to observe all the regulations that have been laid here at headquarters for our general sales campaign." Katterfeld incidentally provides a future codebreaker with an important clue towards solving the CPA's "heavy code" when he asks that "21212121" be used as the "figure system" instead of the previously agreed upon "14321432."

 

"From Recent Mails: Report to ECCI No. 2," by L.E. Katterfeld [Jan. 18, 1922]. Periodic report by the CPA's representative to ECCI to his colleagues on ongoing events in America. Katterfeld reports the arrival of Max Bedacht in Moscow on Famine Relief and Party business and the safe arrival of Robert Minor in the United States. He notes the controversy in America over the Nuorteva case, documents the achievements of the Friends of Soviet Russia in raising funds and in-kind contributions for Russian famine relief, and comments upon the controversy within the IWW over that organization's position towards the Comintern and the Red International of Labor Unions in the wake of that organization's bitter disavowal of the Moscow-based organizations.

 

"Report No. 9 to Will Weinstone et al. in New York from Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow, Jan. 22, 1922." A brief and routine update on events in Moscow written by the CI Rep to Executive Secretary Weinstone and his colleagues: the CPA convention needs to be held after May 1 to allow CI's decision on the Central Caucus faction split to be publicized; Friends of Soviet Russia are to receive communications direct and the unidentified "Dub" is to keep hands off; an inquiry had been received from Finnish-American communists inquiring as to the fate of Santeri Nuorteva, about which information would be available from ECCI shortly; March 8 was to be International Women's Day; the ECCI decision on the Central Caucus split carried home by Robert Minor was to be regarded as final; the IWWs in Moscow were angry at the recent change of line of their organization towards the communist movement; and Nicholas Hourwich had been booted from Room 300, causing great mirth and rejoicing.

 

"Statement to the Communist International Issued to John J. Ballam ["John Moore"] by the CEC of the Central Caucus Faction's Communist Party of America, Jan. 22, 1922." This document prepared for the Executive Committee of the Communist International outlines the rational behind the split of the Central Caucus faction from the regular Communist Party of America. The insurgents represented themselves as the continuers of the old CPA, the United Communist Party, and the unified CPA, depicting their Jan. 7-12, 1922 Convention as an "Emergency Convention" that was part of an unbroken series. The regular CPA's position on the Legal Political Party, the Workers Party of America, is presented as the sole reason for the split. A series of charges are made. According to this document, the regular CPA had (1) engaged in secret negotiations with "certain groups who had recently left the Socialist Party" without informing the minority members of the CED; (2) had refused to call a special convention of the party to determine the question; (3) had suspended and disconnected 3,000 members without hearing, in violation of party and Comintern rules; (4) had suspend the CEC minority (Dirba, Ballam, Ashkenuzi) in violation of the party constitution. The Workers Party is held to be "not the legal political machinery of the CP of A under the control and discipline of the illegal party." Rather, CPA members were said to have been "absorbed" within the "centrist" WPA. Not more than 3,000 CPA members are said to have joined the WPA, 2,000 remained aloof, and another 5,000 had cast their lot with the Central Caucus' "Communist Party of America," which Ballam represented. "All members of the CP of A who have joined the Workers Party have left the Communist Party, which according to its constitution adopted at the Joint Unity Convention, held May 1921, prohibits the members of the CP of A from joining or being members of any other political party or organization," the statement declares.

 

"Memo to the Secretariat of the Executive Committee of the Communist International in Moscow from Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow, Jan. 25, 1922." Text of two cables from Executive Secretary Will Weinstone of the Communist Party of America with recommendations for action by the CPA's representative to the Comintern. Cable 1 notes the disappearance of Louis Fraina -- "Left for Argentina. Rejects orders, refuses accounts. Instruct Argentine Party to help trace him for us." It also asks for rapid transmission of $10,000 to free C.E. Ruthenberg and I.E. Ferguson on bail. Cable 2 explains that it was impossible to postpone the founding convention of the Workers Party of America until after a convention of the underground CPA dues to the 11th hour receipt of the instruction to do this. "Those joining new Party would have rejected delay necessary to give us time to prepare and hold underground convention. They would have proceeded with their own incorporation," Weinstone notes, adding that the CPA's delegates to the convention were the "most trusted, active members," who had "in preliminary conference decided all points of program and constitution adopted at open convention." Katterfeld recommends to ECCI that a cable be sent to the Argentine Communist Party asking for assistance with Fraina.

 

FEBRUARY

"Letter to Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow from Executive Secretary Will Weinstone in New York, Feb. 2, 1922." Letter from the Executive Secretary of the CPA to the party's representative on the ECCI, Ludwig Katterfeld. Weinstone expresses his regret that the Workers Party of America Founding convention was held in December rather than postponed to February in accord with Comintern instructions. "Had we not held our [convention] then our new partners would have formed a [legal party] of their own," Weinstone states, adding that the financial drain associated with formation of the new WPA has been "very heavy." Weinstone states that the three leaders of the Central Caucus faction who left the CEC -- John Ballam, Charles Dirba, and George Ashkenuzi -- had been informed of the Comintern's decision on the faction fight. "They flatly refused to comply, decided to call themselves the real CP of A" and were even speaking of making a move on the Friends of Soviet Russia organization. Weinstone notes in code that George Ashkenuzi had been dispatched for Moscow to argue the group's case -- an event which is previously unreported in the historical literature. Weinstone notes the dire financial condition of the CPA, impacting particularly the publishing endeavors of the Yiddish-language federation and the ability to pay the salaries of District Organizers. He notes additionally the refusal of Louis Fraina to acknowledge Comintern instructions to surrender his funds to the CPA, but instead "we are informed that he has left for the Argentine."

 

"Our Next Step," by Jay Lovestone. [Feb. 1922] This fascinating document was written immediately prior to the founding meeting of the Conference for Progressive Political Action by Jay Lovestone for the official organ of the new "legal political party," the Workers Party of America (Lovestone was made Executive Secretary of the underground Communist Party of America that same week). It may be regarded as an authoritative exposition of Communist thinking about the forthcoming CPPA. Lovestone argued that the Conference offered the WPA "an opportunity of joining with large sections of the workers in the immediate struggle" as part of the united front against the capitalist foe. The demand for common action was growing in the ranks of labor, Lovestone believed, and the fact that the WPA had not been invited to the conference "does not matter a straw." "We should not stand on ceremony and refuse to participate in any conference where representatives of the workers are found," Lovestone stated, arguing that if the WPA was denied from the assembly, the falsity of the CPPA's unity claim could be conclusively proven to the working class, while if they were admitted, the opportunity for airing the organization's program and advancing effective slogans would present itself. The CPPA's declared intent not to establish a Labor Party in America would give fuel to the WPA's objective of constructing " genuine Labor Party along federative lines and modeled after the British Labour Party."

 

"The Situation in the Lithuanian Federation," by Joseph Stilson [Feb. 1922] The split of the Central Caucus faction, centered in 5 of the 6 Language Federations of the old CPA, dealt a devastating financial blow to the already precarious budget of the unified Communist Party of America. Largest of the Communist language organizations in 1921 was the Lithuanian language group, which exited at the end of November behind the leadership of the as-yet unidentified "Leon" and "Zemotis." This account by the highest-ranking Lithuanian-American on the Central Executive Committee of the CPA details the struggle to win back the bolting Lithuanian Federations to the party. Stilson ("Riley") says that the task began with the meeting of about 14 loyalist leaders in New York (presumably in December 1921). Utterly without funds and paying their traveling expenses out of pocket, a group of Lithuanian organizers from this reorganized "Federation Bureau" spread across the Eastern US, addressing Lithuanian branches. The Philadelphia District of the LIthuanian Federation (home base of the Federation organization) was the first to reaffiliate with the majority CPA, according to Stilson; thereafter, other Districts began to fall back into line. At the time of the writing, the pivotal New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago districts had all declared themselves behind the CPA majority (as well as 3 smaller districts). In Buffalo the majority CPA had a clear majority, while the Central Caucus and the CPA majority split the Detroit district. The Central Caucus' support was based in Boston, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland, according to Stilson, including "the most backward localities." Stilson identifies three social groups behind the Central Caucus: (1) several leaderswho lost their positions on account of reorganization of the Language Bureau; (2) a few excitable would-be leaders intent on shouting about the need for armed insurrection "t every nook and corner"; (3) "working men who have the best of intentions but lack the understanding of even the primary aspects of the class struggle." Stilson remarks that "the latter, for obvious reasons, can very well be led by any phrase revolutionary."

 

"Decision by the Communist International," by Robert Minor [Feb. 1922] Robert Minor, formerly the representative of the CPA to the Comintern in Moscow, carried home a 10-page Comintern document dated Dec. 8, 1921 ruling in favor of the CEC majority group with regards to the immediate formation of a Legal Political Party and instructing the Central Caucus faction minority to rejoin the party. This document was read by Minor to the "Emergency Convention" of the Central Caucus' "Communist Party of America" held in New York from Jan. 7-12, 1922. Contrary to the expectations of Minor and the majority CPA leadership, the minority CPA did not roll over on the issue, but continued its factional struggle, continuing to characterize itself as the genuine American section of the Communist International in America and issuing a look-alike official organ bore the same organizational logo and continued the same issue numbering system. This was the angry response of the CPA majority, published in the pages of its own official organ. After studying the CI's ruling, the leadership group of the Central Caucus-CPA "have used that opportunity for nothing further than to spread the most outrageous falsehoods," charges Minor, adding that these leaders had "the dishonesty to issue a forged edition of the official organ of the party, containing evasive language intended to make the party members think that the Comintern upholds their position." While not permitted to publish the Comintern's ruling verbatim, Minor quotes excerpts at length to prove that the CI was fully cognizant of the CEC's rapid move to establish a Legal Political Party without first holding an emergency convention of the CPA to moot the issue. On the other hand, Minor states, "a certain element in the Party membership will inevitably forget" the inevitability of violent class struggle and will thus "come forward with naive proposals for the liquidation of the illegal machinery of the Party." This was a dangerous tendency, he noted, adding that "the actual liquidation of the underground Party would mean the liquidation of the revolutionary movement. Party members who persist in such a view must be ruthlessly expelled from the illegal Party."

 

"Letter to L.E. Katterfeld in Moscow from Jay Lovestone in New York" [fragment] [Feb. 11, 1922] An intriguing (albeit esoteric) section of a communication from Executive Secretary Jay Lovestone to the CPA's Rep on ECCI, Ludwig Katterfeld (last page missing). Lovestone notes a security breach in the underground CPA's communication channels: "The enemy [DoJ] has succeeded in breaking through our service in sectors 6 [Detroit] and 11 [Pittsburgh]. In the former our chief sales agent is taking a vacation in order to save himself from hospital treatment. In the latter our man is actually tied up in the enemy's camp. We have a hard sale ahead of us here. One of our local sales agents is suspected. He has as a result been disconnected from our firm." The reference to Pittsburgh seems to indicate that the Department' of Justice's mole who had been instrumental in the 1921 raid on UCP headquarters and who had served as a delegate at the May 1921 Woodstock Convention, party name "Ryan," had been identified as such. On the other hand, the known personnel change in this period, the replacement of Pittsburgh DO "James Curley" by African Blood Brotherhood member "Robert Bruce," indicates that the CPA may have purged the wrong individual, circumstantial evidence indicating that "Curley" was not "Ryan." This message also confirms a charge levied by the Central Caucus-Opposition: that the regular CPA had withdrawn and destroyed the Jan. 1922 issue of its official organ, eventually replacing this issue "#6" with a "#6/7" dated Feb.-March 1922. The recalled issue #6, never distributed to the general membership, seems to be a bibliographical rarity -- although at least one copy was sent to Moscow and might have survived. (It is not among the run filmed by Harvard University or in the run in the Davenport collection.)

 

"Open Letter to the Conference Called by the Authorized Committee of the 16 Standard Railroad Labor Organizations from the Central Executive Committee of the Workers Party of America." [c. Feb. 20, 1922] Published letter to the forthcoming first Conference for Progressive Political Action in Chicago, probably written by Workers Party of America Chairman James P. Cannon. The open letter formally calls for a "United Front of Labor, politically and industrially," but aggressively challenges the orientation of the forthcoming conference, declaring "Those who would form a 'front of Labor' together with sections of the privileged classes are making sure that no privileges will be abolished. Only with the toilers of the farm -- with the farm laborer and the rent-ridden, mortgage-ridden small farmer -- can the working class strike hands." The WPA open letter asserts that "We do not believe that the social or political maladjustments can be remedied by mere reforms in the manner of exploiting Labor, but only by the complete abolition of the system of Labor exploitation. We believe that this can only be done with revolutionary struggle, through the establishment of the Workers' Republic. In regard to this goal and this method, we have no compromises to offer and no illusions of any willingness of those who initiated this Conference to compromise in our direction." Chambers of Commerce, business groups, and manufacturer's associations had joined in "a veritable Ku Klux Klan of Capitalism," the open letter declares, adding "we hold that it would be nothing short of criminal betrayal of the working class to suggest that the condition can be met by any instrument less than a complete mobilization of all of Labor, industrially and politically." United action on a limited set of objectives in which constituent political organizations would retain their right to put forward their own programs and retain the right to criticize others is prescribed by the open letter.

 

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee of the CPA, February 10, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22, 1922." Official minutes from the February 1922 sessions of the Communist Party's governing Central Executive Committee -- some pages missing from the source document in the Comintern archive. A variety of interesting tidbits: the balance of his funds owed the American CP by Louis Fraina ($15,666); decision-making as to participation in the founding conclave of the Conference for Progressive Political Action (three delegates sent with a declaration that the Workers Party is a revolutionary organization not believing in reforms); a decision TO INSTRUCT THE COMINTERN to in turn INSTRUCT THE CENTRAL CAUCUS OPPOSITION GROUP IN THE NAME OF THE COMINTERN that failure to return to the CPA within a designated period will result in expulsion from the Communist International itself; and the resignation of William Weinstone as Executive Secretary of the CPA on Feb. 22, 1922, and his replacement in that role by Jay Lovestone.

 

MARCH

"The Principles and Program of the Trade Union Educational League," by William Z. Foster [March 1922] This early leaflet of the Trade Union Educational League reprints an article by the group's founder, William Z. Foster, on the thinking behind the organization. America was marked by a particularly backwards state of unionism, in Foster's view, with fewer than 4 million out of 27 million workers unionized -- a far lower rate than that of Germany or Great Britain. Worse still, these unionized workers were dissipated throughout a maze of craft unions, often at cross-purposes with one another. These unions were furthermore in their political infancy, Foster states, not having "advanced to the point of even rudimentary political class consciousness." With two international organizations of unions in the field, the "reformists" of Amsterdam and the "revolutionaries" of Moscow, the "pitiful" conservative American trade union establishment was, alone in the world, unwilling to join either "on the ground that both are too revolutionary." TUEL was organized to combat the 30 year trend of radical workers deserting the "backward" and "ultra-conservative" American union movement, Foster states. He announces a determination to "develop trade unions from their present antiquated and stagnant condition into modern, powerful labor organizations capable of waging successful warfare against Capital. To this end it is working to revamp and remodel from top to bottom their theories, tactics, structure, and leadership. Instead of advocating the prevailing shameful and demoralizing nonsense about harmonizing the interests of Capital and Labor, it is firing the workers' imagination and releasing their wonderful idealism and energy by propagating the inspiring goal of the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of a workers' republic." A dual structure of TUEL organization is posited including "general groups" formed in localities as well as others formed as "industrial sections." A non-dues organization, the sale of "pamphlets, bulletins, journals, etc." was to be paramount, with the monthly magazine The Labor Herald proclaimed to be the official conduit of a "burning message of constructive unionism and solidarity."

 

"Circular Letter to All District Organizers of the Workers Party of America from James P. Cannon, Chairman. [March 4, 1922] Short snippet illustrating the organizational incompetence of the Workers Party of America first few months of existence, under the organizational administration of James P. Cannon and Caleb Harrison. On March 4, after more than two months of nominal existence, charter certificates were almost ready to be sent to District Organizers, Cannon notes here. An engravers' strike was blamed. Upon assuming the reins of the organization in May 1921, after his release from Sing Sing Penitentiary on bail, pending appeal, C.E. Ruthenberg was rather aghast at the slap dash dues collections and haphazard record keeping of the WPA during its first 4 months of existence. This perspective may well have been factual rather than factional, documents such as this one illustrate.

 

"Letter to Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow from Jay Lovestone in New York, March 7, 1922." A fascinating glimpse at the Communist Party of America at the moment of its greatest weakness in numerical and economic terms. The Communist Party of America was shaken financially by the departure of about 2,000 of its members and saw its paltry resources further stretched by the recent decision to launch a parallel legal party apparatus, resulting in extraordinary startup expenses and a further reduced revenue stream. Additional funds were loaned to help launch a Canadian Communist Party and to the Profintern in American or were expended on various other special projects. New Executive Secretary Jay Lovestone detailed the problem to the CPA's representative to the Communist International in Moscow, Ludwig Katterfeld: "There is today not one cent in the Treasury and there is no outlook for getting a penny.... Wages have been reduced and expenses have been cut down all along the line. We are today faced with a situation where there is actually no money to pay anyone wages.... Unless immediate relief is secured the whole party machinery of both organizations will break down." The CPA in the early 1920s was no wealthy party swimming in "Moscow gold," this document demonstrates.

 

"Report No. 11 to Jay Lovestone et al. in New York from Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow, March 13, 1922." The CPA's man in Moscow notes the arrival of John Ballam on behalf of the Central Caucus faction on March 12, 1922. Katterfeld states that he was "undergoing a process of disillusionment as he meets one after another of his old cronies and friends. I think he received the surprise of his young life when he discovered that I had not been fired and shipped home by Marshall [Max Bedacht] as he expected, but found us living amicably together in Hourwich's old castle," The ECCI was about to resolve the Central Caucus split in favor of the CPA majority, Katterfeld believed, and anticipated details were outlined in this letter to help clarify the forthcoming cable on the matter, to be sent after final decision was rendered. A Ukrainian comrade was being dispatched to help win the Ukrainian elements in the Central Caucus faction back to the party, Katterfeld noted.

 

"Letter to the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America from C.E. Ruthenberg in Ossining, NY, March 14, 1922." Letter from imprisoned Communist leader C.E. Ruthenberg to the governing CEC of the Communist Party of America explicitly exonerating the actions of Jay Lovestone in his decision to testify (under compulsion) in the trial of Harry Winitsky in 1920. "At first it was thought that certain legal provisions would relieve them from any responsibility and make their appearance unnecessary, but while the matter was pending the state legislature changed the situation by amending the law covering it," Ruthenberg states. Citing a previous decision of the CEC on a similar matter, Ruthenberg declares that " I personally gave instructions to Lovestone and Ferguson to make an appearance and also telephoned Rose Stokes, giving her the same instructions." At a subsequent investigation of this matter by the CEC, Ruthenberg indicates that "I assumed all responsibility for Comrade Lovestone having appeared, citing as my authority the previous ruling of the Executive Committee.... Comrade Lovestone was exonerated from all responsibility for his appearance, leaving open only the question of what he said." Ruthenberg cites his associate I.E. Ferguson, a lawyer who was also present at the proceedings and who later studied the transcript of the trial, who declared to Ruthenberg that "there is nothing that Comrade Lovestone said that was not already a part of the proceedings and that nothing he said could have been of any material effect in influencing the outcome."

 

"The United Front of Labor," by William W. Weinstone. [March 18, 1922] William W. Weinstone was the Executive Secretary of the underground Communist Party of America [majority faction] from Oct. 15, 1921, to Feb. 22, 1922 -- about a month before this article was written for the weekly newspaper of the legal Workers Party of America. Weinstone recounts the history of the United Front policy, noting explicitly that it was a tactic originating with Lenin and the Second Congress of the Comintern. The expression of the tactic in the United States should take the form of a "United Political Front of Labor on somewhat the model of the British Labour Party -- the identity of the uniting bodies to be unaffected; their autonomy of organization and full freedom of criticism retained," Weinstone argued. He noted that such an organizational form would unite the currently disconnected "advance guard" of the working class (the Communists) with the main body of the American working class and would provide fertile ground for winning workers to the program of the Communists. The current onslaught of the capitalists to roll back the gains of the working class in length of the workday, wage rates, and the right to organize were creating pressure within the labor movement for unity. The "United Front of Labor" would accord with this growing sentiment and give the movement's revolutionary wing a chance to unmask the "reformists" as "false leaders unwilling to fight for the simple, elementary needs of the workers" and "of being the real split-makers dividing the workers for their bureaucratic interests," Weinstone asserted.

 

"Letter to the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America in New York from Abram Jakira in New York, March 18, 1922." In February of 1922 the Detroit District Organizer of the unified CPA resigned his position so that he might more easily participate in sessions of the Central Executive Committee. The CEC named Goose Caucus leader Abram Jakira to the position of Detroit DO, a move which Jakira saw as a factional maneuver to remove him from the New York area in the run up to the forthcoming Second Convention of the party (Bridgman, MI -- August). The CEC demanded compliance from Jakira at a meeting in March, to which he responded with this letter to the CEC a few days later. "You are fully aware of my opinion regarding the tactics used by you - tactics that have led to a complete break up of the Party, that are destroying the #2 [Workers Party of America].... It is true that Party Discipline demands of every Party member to defend the policies of the CEC even if he does not agree with them. But you must realize that it is absurd to appoint a comrade with my opinions about the personnel, activities, and conduct of your committee as your sole representative in the District," Jakira writes, noting that it was only after he began local political activity in New York that he was to be assigned to Detroit -- paralleling a similar maneuver to remove him from the Russian Bureau by naming him DO of the Buffalo district sometime earlier.

 

"Letter of Protest to ECCI from John J. Ballam ["John Moore"], Special Representative of the Central Caucus Faction's CPA, March 18, 1922." John Ballam's arrival in Moscow to argue the case of the Central Caucus faction's "Communist Party of America" before the Executive Committee of the Comintern was not met with open arms, prompting Ballam to pen this letter of protest. "These comrades in America sent me to the EC of the CI expecting to obtain at least a complete and thorough hearing and investigation of the causes and incidents leading up to the present deplorable situation in the American Communist movement. At the instigation of Comrades Carr [Ludwig Katterfeld] and Marshall [Max Bedacht] the proceeding s of the commission appointed by the EC to report upon the American situation were hurried and the investigation far from satisfactory. There was no stenographer present and no adequate interpreter. From my observation the commission kept no records and called no witnesses. I had no opportunity to present documents..." Ballam declares. "If the EC of the CI wishes to support Comrade Carr [Katterfeld] and his friends in the face of a growing and determined opposition not only among the comrades who have given me their mandate to represent them, but also among the faction directly represented by Carr [Katterfeld] and Marshall [Bedacht] the consequences will rest squarely upon the EC," Ballam brashly warns. "We demand from the Comintern adequate guarantees that our membership rights shall not be violated, and cannot yield, under the circumstances, unless such guarantees are provided," Ballam insists, adding that a thorough investigation of the American inner-party situation is called for.

 

"Testimony to the Executive Committee of the Communist International, March 18, 1922," by John J. Ballam John Ballam's heated letter of protest to ECCI on behalf of the Central Caucus faction seems to have been the cause for an immediate Executive Session of the American Commission, during which the Ballam was probably taken to the proverbial woodshed. This stenographic document, regrettably limited to Ballam's comments, shows Ballam as a defiant loser of the factional war mediated by the CI. "The Executive Committee seems to be determined that we must go back without guarantees as to our membership rights, that I must go back and insist on the waiving of these rights. I will not do so. We will not join the Fourth International. We will not join the Second International, nor the Two-and-a-Half International. We will stay outside the Communist International, if we must, and we will fight, but within one year the Communist International will recognize the Communist Party of America that I represent, or they will recognize nobody. The Workers Party, as at present led, will not last one year. Its divergent elements pulling against each other in all directions will split it in pieces without any assistance from us," Ballam declares. Ballam accuses the regular CPA of undergoing liquidation in the process of attempting to organize the WPA.

 

"Report No. 12 to Jay Lovestone et al. in New York from Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow, March 19, 1922." This communique from CI Rep Katterfeld notes the decision in favor of the CPA majority in the faction fight with the Central Caucus faction. The minority is to be allowed a two months' grace period to return to the ranks of the party without penalty, Katterfeld notes. Given this fact and allowing time for the multi-level election process, Katterfeld states that the forthcoming convention will need to be moved back to September (although it was ultimately held in the second half of August). Katterfeld urges a moderate tone in the move to reintegrate the Central Caucus defectors: "The decision is so strong in our favor that I believe it will be good tactics for you to adopt a very conciliatory tone in the letter that you send out with this decision... From the defiant tone adopted here by Johnny [Ballam] I conclude that they will attempt to buck the inevitable, and that it is your task, with cool heads, to win access to their membership, convey the truth to them, and bring them into our house." Katterfeld notes his forthcoming participation in the conference of the executive committees of the 3 internationals at Berlin and makes a recommendation to move paid party workers out of the FSR relief effort so that they might work more completely for the CPA and the WPA.

 

"Letter to Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow from Jay Lovestone in New York, March 21, 1922." This letter from Executive Secretary Lovestone to CI Rep Katterfeld in Moscow notes the decision of the CEC of the CPA for Katterfeld to return to the United States to attend the 2nd Convention of the party. The CPA is unable to locate Louis Fraina, who is said to be in Argentina -- Lovestone asks Katterfeld to have the Comintern tell the Argentine Party to get Fraina to leave the country or comply with his instructions. The struggle with the Central Caucus faction continues unabated, Lovestone notes, with pressure being put on by the Central Caucus for representation on the board of the Friends of Soviet Russia "on the threat of spreading misinformation which will give away our best workers and break up the whole relief show." Gene Debs is reported to have regretted his errors, but any trip by him to Soviet Russia is dismissed by Lovestone as speculation. Lovestone again emphasizes the dire financial straights of the CPA: "Rush help and rush it at once. You can't be too soon," he pleads.

 

"Letter to Grigorii Zinoviev in Moscow from John Ballam ["John Moore"] in Moscow in Regard to the American Situation, March 24, 1922." Less than a week after his defiant performance before a session of the American Commission of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, Central Caucus faction representative in Moscow John Ballam had thought better of his strategy of threats and bluster, as this note to the President of ECCI demonstrates. Now, Ballam was amenable to compromise, if not quite contrite: "In the interests of the Communist movement in America I am prepared to agree to the disbanding of the faction which I represent and to work for the policies of the Comintern, which, as a soldier in the revolutionary ranks I cannot oppose," he writes. A set of policies is proposed by Ballam "in order to protect these comrades in their membership rights; and to avoid the danger of further disagreement and splits." These suggestions include the appointment of a 3 person commission to attend all meetings of the Central Executive Committee of the reunified party -- with voice but not vote -- the commission to consist of Ludwig Katterfeld of the regular CPA, Ballam of the Central Caucus faction's CPA, and a mutually agreed-upon representative. The commission of 3 was to have access to all books and records of the party, including the list of contacts in the localities. Mikhail Borodin is proposed by Ballam as the decisive third member, with Ballam adding that he had met with Borodin and Borodin had agreed to accept the assignment. The commission was to study the American party situation and to make a thorough report to the Comintern. In addition, Ballam strongly suggested the convocation of a convention of the reunified party, with the call issued within 30 days of factional unity and the convention itself to be held within 30 days of the call. (This latter suggestion seems to have been followed, with the Bridgman Michigan unity convention taking place just under 60 days after the June 25 formal date of reunification.)

 

"Report on Visit to Eugene V. Debs of March 25, 1922," by "Jack Travis." Following Eugene Debs' Christmas 1921 release from federal prison, a struggle broke out between the Socialist Party and the various Communist factions to win his valuable endorsement in the factional struggle. A CPA member using the pseudonym "Jack Travis" went to Terre Haute and met with him on March 25, 1922, and reported back to his comrades two days later with the results of the meeting. Debs made his recurrent pitch for party unity, felt that both sides shared blame for the split of the the American movement, expressed no taste for minority rule and less for following orders from "a maniac like [Zinoviev]." A meeting with William Z. Foster was already on the horizon and no meeting with a more formal delegation of the CPA would take place before that occurred. Debs expressed a strong desire to go to Russia and "Travis" felt that such a trip would be the most important step that could be taken in winning Debs' support of the CPA.

 

"Report No. 13 to Jay Lovestone et al. in New York from Ludwig Katterfeld in Moscow, March 27, 1922." This communication from the CPA's man in Moscow, Ludwig Katterfeld, details the situation with regards to the Central Caucus faction. Although Katterfeld states that he is "stuck here for a few days longer like an ocean liner on a sandbar" due to John Ballam's documents failing to have arrived, the decision against the Central Caucus faction "has already been definitely adopted" by the full ECCI and the fate of the faction fight is sealed. Budgetary figures for the coming year are provided, although the exact amount of the 5-figure appropriation from the CI for the coming year is given in code; a 4-figure appropriation from the Profintern for American work (exact amount also coded) was also won by Katterfeld. Katterfeld notes that the Communist Party of Canada was zeroed out in the coming budget period due to the Comintern's tough financial situation and he asks for consideration for the Canadian party in the CPA's budget for the coming year. Finally, a new well-known correspondent for the Federated Press has been employed, while the former female correspondent is returning home, Katterfeld notes.

 

"Cable to the Central Caucus Faction's Communist Party of America in New York from John J. Ballam ["Moore"] in Moscow, March 27, 1922." Text of a terse cable for the Central Caucus faction's man in Moscow, John Ballam, to his party comrades in New York announcing that an end to the factional controversy had been brokered before the Executive Committee of the Comintern. Ballam states that the Central Caucus faction's CPA should stop all competition with and attacks upon the regular organization. Ballam indicates as well that a representative is coming from ECCI. Under terms of the deal, the rights of all opposition members are to be guaranteed at an upcoming convention, Ballam notes, adding that "our [faction] must obey decision of [the Comintern] or [be expelled]."

 

"Declaration Resolving the American Situation by L.E. Katterfeld ["Carr"] for the Communist Party of America (Majority) and John J. Ballam ["Moore"] for the Minority Group, March 29, 1922." John Ballam was elected by the Central Caucus faction-CPA's Emergency Convention of Jan. 7-12, 1922 as an international delegate to the Comintern, where he traveled to state his group's position in the bitter factional controversy. Ballam was met with a stinging rebuke from the American Commission of the ECCI which saw the regular CPA's establishment of a Legal Political Party to be in tune with the directives of the 3rd Wold Congress of the Comintern and the Central Caucus' secession to be destructive and undisciplined. Ballam soon acclimated himself to the situation in Moscow and as a disciplined adherent of the Comintern, was won over to the CI's perspective. This document details the process for reunification -- a halt to issuance of printed propaganda by the Central Caucus faction, members to rejoin the regular party without discrimination within 60 days, all of the Central Caucus faction's property and records to be turned over to the CPA majority group. When he got home, Ballam's agreement was immediately scrapped by the Central Caucus faction, who continued the factional strife up to the ill-starred Bridgman, Michigan unity convention in August.

 

"To the Communist Party of America: A Communique from the Executive Committee of the Communist International, March 30, 1922." This document was the cover letter for a 10 point decision of the ECCI on the American factional situation, specifically the split of the Central Caucus faction of Dirba, Ballam, and Ashkenuzi (the decision document appears in Klehr et al., The Soviet World of American Communism, pp. 20-21). This letter notes the ruling of the ECCI was unanimous, that the Central Caucus faction must rejoin the regular CPA. "Our opinion is that the majority of the Party has acted fully in accordance with the spirit of the Theses of the World Congress when it quickly proceeded to prepare and carry out the formation of a legal party," the letter states, adding that the minority secessionists had "broken the unity of the Party, you have opened fire on the Party from the outside." The Central Caucus' representative in Moscow, John Ballam, had been won over to the argument of the ECCI and come to an agreement with the regular CPA's Moscow representative, Ludwig Katterfeld, the document states, arguing for a quick end to factionalism. The dispatch of a CI plenipotentiary (Genrik Valetskii) to aid in the reunification process is also noted.

 

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America, New York, March 8-31, 1922." Minutes of the governing CEC of the underground CPA for the month of March 1922. The body met 8 times during the month and dealt with a wide range of topics. Highlights include: a decision to circulate a photostatic copy of the Comintern letter resolving the Central Caucus faction split in favor of the CPA majority (March 8); a declaration by Executive Secretary Jay Lovestone that "the treasury is totally empty, that the needs were pressing, no funds coming in from the districts and that the outlook for improvement was very dark." (March 8); the appointment of Morris Kushinsky as the Philadelphia District Organizer (March 8); an attempt to name Abram Jakira the Detroit DO (March 8), which was rejected by Jakira. The CEC then demanded a letter of explanation (March 14). Jakira continued to strenuously object and the CEC resolved to establish a voluntary (unpaid) DO for the district (March 23). Further tidbits: Rep to the CI Katterfeld in Moscow was instructed to "try to secure an appropriation of at least 25 [thousand dollars]" (March 10); a per capita convention assessment of $1 was levied to support the forthcoming 2nd Convention of the CPA and a 1-for-200 members representation agree upon (March 10); Katterfeld was recalled from Moscow, to be replaced by Bedacht (March 10); a forthcoming miners' strike was prepared for (March 14 and passim); division of work in writing the theses for the 2nd [Bridgman] convention was made (March 16); an attempt to censure Bittelman for editorial misconduct failed and Minor and Cannon resigned from the Editorial Board in protest -- Bittelman also attempted to resign, but his resignation was rejected on a tie vote (March 16); and Joseph Zack Kornfeder and Joseph Stilson were appointed as a committee to investigate and reorganize the CPA's Russian and Jewish Bureaus (March 23, 29).

 

APRIL

"Apologizing for Liquidators," An unsigned article from the official organ of the "minority" CPA (Central Caucus faction). [April 1922]. This is the bitter reply of the Central Caucus/"minority" CPA to the February 1922 article by Robert Minor entitled "Decision by the Communist International." The Central Caucus attempts to depict itself as wearing the mantle of authenticity, calling the Central Executive Committee of the regular CEC "former," their organization "spurious," and their publication "fraudulent." The "majority" is said to have "demonstrated its total depravity when it deliberately lied to the Comintern about conditions in the United States." They are said to have misrepresented the potential following of the "pie-card artists and fakirs" of the Workers' Council with whom they were uniting in the new Workers Party of America. Katterfeld of the "majority" is said to have deceived the Comintern by misrepresenting the danger that delay in forming a new political organization would present. "That the [minority's] CP of A still exists is not due to the fact that any stone was left unturned by the liquidators to crush it, but solely to the fact that the genuine Communist membership could not be bamboozled or terrorized by unscrupulous centrist politicians masquerading as Communists," the article declares, adding that contrary to the "lies" of the "majority," the Comintern had not rendered its decision on American factional dispute.

 

"Appeal to the Minority Membership," by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America, Section of the Communist International [April 1922] This is the final formal appeal by the Communist Party of America majority to rank and file members of the Central Caucus faction to adhere to the decision of the Executive Committee of the Communist International and rejoin the CPA. The appeal extensively quotes the CI ruling on the decision to establish a Legal Political Party and harshly attacks the "misleaders" of the minority opposition for conducting a "vicious campaign of breaking up the Communist International in America" -- ignoring altogether all subsidiary issues behind the factional split. The rank and file is invited to accept the decision of the CI and to return to the organization "without prejudice" by applying to group, branch, and section organizations for readmission. An interesting sidebar -- previously undocumented in the literature -- the appeal notes that Charles Dirba "could not continue tolerating this sabotage of Communism and completely dissociated himself from his former colleagues." On the other hand, John Ballam, who shortly before returned from Moscow as a vocal supporter of the CI decision to reunify the organization -- for which he was reviled as a traitor to the cause by the Central Caucus' "Communist Party of America" -- receives no such positive mention.

 

"Report no. 14 from Moscow, April 1, 1922" by L.E. Katterfeld. Katterfeld, the Communist Party of America's Representative to the Executive Committee of the Communist International, summarizes recent events in Moscow prior to his return to the United States via Berlin. He notes the apparent capitulation of John Ballam, present in Moscow to argue the case for the Ballam/Dirba/Ashkenuzi "Central Caucus" faction and that Ballam says he will work to reintegrate his group into the party. Katterfeld outlines terms of the reunification agreement. Katterfeld notes the departure of CI plenipotentiary Genrik Valetskii for America and instructs his correspondents [William Weinstone and Jay Lovestone] to "show him every courtesy possible." Katterfeld states that Max Bedacht will be unhappy at being asked to resume the role of the CPA's Representative to ECCI.

 

"CEC Settles Defense Policy. A document sent by the Workers Party of America to its press, DOs, and Language Bureaus, April 1922." A document announcing an agreement on the structure of the WPA's defense committee, reached between a subcommittee of the governing Administrative Council of the Workers Party of America and the previously-existing National Defense Council. A structure of local organizations, separate holding of treasuries, and new defense cards and 5 cent assessment stamps was part of the new system. The new National Defense Council was to be headed by a "Secretary of the National Defense Committee" appointed by the CEC of the WPA. Edgar Owens of Illinois was to remain in this role due to his experience with the task and "widespread satisfaction" with the quality of his work.

 

"Bi-Weekly Newsletter #4 of the National Office, CP of A (Section of the CI), April 3, 1922." Internal party communication produced by CPA Executive Secretary Jay Lovestone. Lovestone spends the bulk of this issues space on discussion of the ongoing factional struggle with the Central Caucus faction. The "criminal splitting activities" of Ballam, Ashkenuzi, and Dirba has "caused a rift in our ranks, and has unquestionably hurt the Party," Lovestone notes. Despite a letter from the Comintern to the Central Caucus' "Communist Party of America" Convention in Jan. 1922, the rift remained -- the Central Caucus ostensibly expressing doubts as to the authenticity of the communication. Robert Minor had been sent on a tour of the country to speak before groups of the Opposition and had made some inroads in getting them to rejoin the regular CPA, despite the obstacles placed by the Central Caucus leaders. "As per our request several comrades high in the esteem of the misled Communists will soon be sent to us by the CI to help us in our efforts to unite the Communist forces of America," says Lovestone -- scholars should note this evidence that the CPA actively SOUGHT Comintern intervention and representatives to help mediate and end this split (compare and contrast to the traditional tale of an isolated and ignorant RCP-dominated Comintern deciding and ruling by fiat, sending disciplined underlings to lay down the law). Lovestone asked the CPA rank-and-file to "send in additional suggestions to help us get more results" in the quest for reunification. This newsletter also deals in passing with the forthcoming Bridgman convention, decisions of the Comintern, and party business. With regard to the ongoing miners' strike, Lovestone proudly declares that "For the first time in the history of our existence as a Party will we have speakers engaged directly in the strike areas."

 

"Where I Stand -- And Why," by Emil Herman [April 7, 1922] Article by the former State Secretary of the radical Socialist Party of Washington Emil Herman -- a victim of Wilson administration repression during the world war -- on why he was choosing to remain with the Socialist Party despite speculation to the contrary. Upon his Christmas 1922 release after nearly 3 years in the Federal Penitentiary at McNeil's Island, Washington. Herman made an assessment of the political situation that had developed since 1919. He saw the heavy hand of the Justice Department behind the 1919 Socialist Party split: "It is apparent to me that the programs of the Communist Labor and the Communist Parties which resulted from the ill-advised Left Wing split from the Socialist Party were in great part written by agents of the Department of Justice and that this was true to a still greater extent of the program of the United Communist Party, which was a fusion of the two first-mentioned organizations. They swallowed hook, bait, and line of the programs imposed upon them, and having adopted the illegal programs, were, of course, driven underground." While the rank and file party members involved were individuals with honest intentions, circumstances had led them to form the Workers Party of America -- which Herman characterizes as similar in form and strategy to the Socialist Party of America. "The Left Wing offshoot from the Socialist Party, having made the illegal and ill-fated underground attempt to organize the workers for revolutionary activity through the United Communist Party now recognize their mistake, return above ground in the Workers Party, and find themselves advocating practically the same program which they formerly advocated through the Socialist Party and which the Socialist Party still advocates," Herman declares. The other contenders -- the Farmer-Labor Party and the Socialist Labor Party -- are dismissed by Herman as (respectively) "merely a repetition of Socialist Party principles" and " a small, critical, and comparatively ineffective group." Herman proclaims he has a 25 year history as a Socialist and that the Socialist Party most closely approximates his political views. "It is impossible for me to be a quitter in this time of crimes and imminent change," Herman writes, therefore he would cast his lot with the SPA.

 

"Basis for Reinstatement of the Central Caucus Faction, April 11, 1922," by Jay Lovestone. Circular letter from Executive Secretary of the unified CPA Jay Lovestone to all District Organizers and Federation Secretaries of the party detailing the terms by which members of "the opposition" [Central Caucus faction] are to be readmitted to the party in accord with the decision of the Communist International. Returning members must "dissolve all forms of independent organization and autonomy, official and unofficial, underground and legal" and acknowledge the authority of the CI, the party, and the subdivisions of the party. They must additionally pay back dues to the CPA to April 1922, and purchase at least one convention stamp. "All former members rejoining the Party on this basis become members in good standing with full membership rights and obligations," according to the directive. Includes details of procedures for reintegration of full groups and branches into the CPA.

 

"Report to the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America, April 14, 1922" by Jay Lovestone. Jay Lovestone served a first stint as Executive Secretary of the CPA in 1922, taking over for Will Weinstone on Feb. 22, 1922, and serving for several months. This is an interesting document from the Comintern Archive, a report by Lovestone to the guiding CEC of the party -- a sort of "State of the Party" speech. Lovestone provides a district by district breakdown of the faction fight with the Central Caucus opposition, as well as brief reports on the federations, the status of the Friends of Soviet Russia organization, the Workers Party of America, and party finances (cutbacks of staff and tight budgets being the order of the day),

 

"Statement to the Membership of the Communist Party of America by the CEC, April 24, 1922." At the session held Monday, April 17, 1922, the Central Executive Committee decided to reorganize itself, with a number of members voluntarily submitting resignations and three voted upon, in order to make way for three new members of the body -- Robert Minor, Alfred Wagenknecht, and Earl Browder. This document was signed by the entire CEC, including its resigning members (Will Weinstone, Joseph Zack Kornfeder, and "Green"] to announce the change to the rank and file of the Communist Party. No change in the line of the CEC in the ongoing factional fight with the Central Caucus faction was to be implied in this personnel change, the document stated, adding that "those who voluntarily resigned have set before the membership an example of personal disinterestedness and Party devotion which if followed generally will quickly cement the unity of all Communist forces..."

 

"Hail the First of May." [leaflet of the United Toilers of America] [c. April 25, 1922] This is the text of a rare leaflet of the "Legal Political Organization" subsidiary of the Central Caucus-CPA Opposition! It seems to have been printed in Detroit! The UTA used a lot of BOLD TYPE and exclamation points in this document! They advanced many slogans! They bought them by the gross and used them all at once in the hope that one would stick! "We will refuse to allow ourselves to be killed through overwork!" they declare. "Long live the maximum eight-hour working day!" they continue. "Down with all lengthening of the working day!" they add. "We do not want to starve to death as a reward for our hard toil!" they emphasize. "Down with all wage cutting!" they implore. "Down with starvation wages!" they protest. "We will not allow the smashing of workers' organizations! We will defend the hard fought-for rights of our Unions!" they defiantly assert. "Down with the Open Shop!" they demand. They continue in a like vein! The slogans go on and on! It is difficult to understand why a spontaneous revolution did not erupt in Detroit on May 1, 1922, since there was so much BLACK TYPE, so many slogans, and so many exclamation points circulated! But somehow, the social revolution was delayed! Capitalism survived! "Long live the struggle of the workers!" they urge. "Long live the international solidarity of the proletariat!" they reiterate. "Long live the mobilization day of the revolutionary working class of the whole world -- Long Live the First of May!" they reemphasize. "Long live the Proletarian revolution!" they repeat. "Long live Communism!" they conclude.

 

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America: New York, April 3-27, 1922." The governing Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America met an unprecedented 12 times in the month of April 1922. Key matters covered at these sessions included: discussion of pre-convention theses on the relationship of the legal and underground communist organizations (April 3); controversy in the Friends of Soviet Russia between top leaders Alfred Wagenknecht and Jacob Hartmann (April 6); discussion of the activities of the party and TUEL in the unions (April 7, 9); controversy in the Jewish Federation (April 9); discussion of the Central Caucus-CPA Opposition (April 10); an important reorganization of the CEC, in which were tendered resignations of 7 of its members and a vote taken resulting in the removal of Will Weinstone, Meyer Lunin, and Joe Zack in favor of Bob Minor, Alfred Wagenknecht, and Earl Browder (April 14, 17) and the issuance of an official statement on the same (April 24). This change was ostensibly made in the interest of party unity, an attempt to assure representation on the CEC by all major factions in the run-up to the August Bridgman Convention. Also considered by the CEC was: convention planning (April 25); the question of industrial nuclei (April 26); appointment of a committee to visit Gene Debs in Terre Haute in an apparent attempt to win his support for the CPA (April 26); and personnel matters on the Federated Press (April 27). The efficient administrator Wagenknecht and the newly-released Ruthenberg were put in charge of reorganizing the WPA (April 27), which had up to that point been rather haplessly directed by the orators Jim Cannon and Caleb Harrison. Perhaps the single most important matter addressed during the April 1922 was the division of the CEC into 3 permanent sub-committees, on the motion of Earl Browder: an Industrial Committee of 3, and Organization Committee of 3, and a Political Committee consisting of the remaining "resident" members (April 26). The same Chicago-based Industrial Committee was then kept (including CEC members Browder and Swabeck and non-CEC member Bill Foster), with the other 2 sub-committees sitting in New York -- Katterfeld, Stilson, and Lovestone on the Organization Committee, with the remaining 5 CEC members sitting on the Political Committee. This Chicago-Industrial / New York-Political division of the organization would prove to be the fundamental contradiction powering the party's factional war of the 1920s.

 

MAY

"Open Letter to Every "Minority" Member, from the Central Executive Committee, CPA." [circa May 1, 1922] This document, very likely written by CPA Executive Secretary Jay Lovestone, was transmitted to the members of the Central Caucus faction, inviting them to rejoin the party "without discrimination" in accord with the unanimous decision of the Executive Committee of the Communist International. According to terms of the CI's binding directive, 60 days after first publication of the decision were to be allowed for those who had left the CPA to rejoin without penalty. After June 28, 1922, however, "in accord with this decision...you are definitely expelled from the CI." Each member was invited to decide for themself whether to rejoin -- bearing in mind that the decision might mean the severing of old friendships and associations. To help resolve difficulties that may arise as part of the reunification process "the CI has sent a special plenipotentiary representative" [Genrik Valetskii] the document notes.

 

"Address to the Convention of the International Ladies' Garment Workers, Wednesday, May 3, 1922," by C.E. Ruthenberg. C.E. Ruthenberg, former Executive Secretary of the CPA and future Executive Secretary of the Workers Party, was freed from prison on $5,000 bond pending the outcome of his appeal on Monday, April 24, 1922. Just 10 days later he made this speech to the convention of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Ruthenberg noted that the prosperity of the war years had given way to about 18 months of economic turmoil, opening the way for a capitalist offensive against the working class -- resulting in reduced wages, longer working hours, and an assault on the right of workers to organize. The Communists were not an enemy of the union movement as they had been falsely portrayed, Ruthenberg said, but rather were active and committed members of the unions themselves, struggling both for union goals aimed at amelioration of the immediate needs of the workers as well as making ready for "the time when the workers will take over and administer industry."

 

"Constitution of the Young Communist League of America: Adopted by the First National Convention, early May 1922." Basic document of organizational law of the underground Communist youth section. The underground Young Communist League was a parallel organization to the "legal" Young Workers League -- theoretically sitting in a position to control the activity of the latter organization, which was originally intended to attract a larger and broader membership. Initiation fee in the YCL was 50 cents and monthly dues were 25 cents per month. Dues were receipted with dues stamps issued by the National Office. The basic unit of organization was the "Group" consisting of (in ideal circumstances) from 5 to 10 members and meeting at least every other week. Groups elected their own "Group Captains" to coordinate with the center. Multiple groups in a locale were parts of a "Section" of up to 5 groups; multiple Sections in a locality combined to form a "Sub-District," which was in turn part of a "District" organization with boundaries following those of the underground CPA. The NEC elected the District and Sub-District Organizers. Each level of the YCL organization had its own governing Committee, which supervised and disciplined lower levels of organization. In between annual conventions the YCL was to be governed by a 5 member National Executive Committee, which was to publish a monthly bulletin for the membership and an issue of the group's official organ every third month.

 

"Program of the Young Communist League of America: Adopted by the First National Convention, early May 1922." Fundamental statement of organizational policy issued by the underground youth section of the Communist Party of America. "Centralized leadership is an essential factor for the success of the proletarian revolution, nationally as well as internationally. Therefore, the YCL of A places itself under the political leadership of the recognized Section of the Communist International, the Communist Party of America," the document states. "The YCL of A shall at all times endeavor to attain an open mass movement of the revolutionary youth.... When sufficient strength has been achieved openly to function as a Communist organization, the open organization, merging with the YCL of A, becomes the YCL of A; but until the proletariat has obtained political supremacy -- the dictatorship of the proletariat -- capitalist society compels the maintenance of an illegal apparatus."

 

"Relation Between the "Y" [underground YCL] and the "L" [overground YWL]: Resolution adopted by the First National Convention of the Young Communist League of America, early May 1922." Set of extraconstitutional guidelines governing the activities of underground Young Communist League members within the Branches of the Young Workers League -- which was initially conceived of as being a less doctrinally pure, mass-oriented organization. Every YCL member was required to play an active part in the YWL and to establish itself as a nucleus within that organization. "All questions of importance" regarding the YWL were to first be decided within these YCL nuclei, which, contrary to sound underground practice, were to include members of multiple underground YCL Groups. These nuclei were to elect steering committees and the policy decisions of these nuclei or their steering committees were to be binding upon all members of the nucleus.

 

"Report of the International Delegate to the Conference of the CP of A," by John J. Ballam [delivered circa May 8, 1922] This is the text of an extensive and quite detailed report by the International Delegate of the Central Caucus-CPA Opposition, John Ballam, on his efforts to advance the faction's agenda in Moscow. Ballam states that he arrived in Moscow on March 12, 1922, and was met immediately by the Moscow representative of the regular CPA, Ludwig Katterfeld. Katterfeld informed Ballam that ECCI had appointed a 3 member American Commission, consisting of Heinrich Brandler, Mátyás Rákosi, and Otto Kuusinen, to finally resolve the American party situation. This American Commission met on March 15, Ballam states, with Ballam forced to participate despite the lack of substantiating documents, which had been entrusted to a courier for transit to Moscow and which were still not received by him. The American Commission asked Ballam whether he had a concrete proposal to make to end the American stalemate, to which Ballam responded that "if any proposals were made to settle it, they should come from Carr [Katterfeld]." Katterfeld submitted such a document at that time, Ballam notes, adding that he believed the American Commission would act no further until Ballam's documentary materials were received. Instead, the very next day he was called before a full meeting of ECCI, where the body was prepared to decide upon the American question based upon the document drawn up by Katterfeld. Ballam submitted a 9 point counterproposal (full text included here) which would have established a 3 member committee, consisting of Ballam for the Opposition, Bedacht for the Regulars, and a third non-factional member appointed by the Comintern, to call a unity convention. However, "Zinoviev declared that since the question of the organization of the legal party was eliminated, the theoretical differences between the two factions were wiped out and that therefore the EC should adopt the report of the American Commission." This caused Ballam to issue a lengthy formal protest (text included here) charging the American Commission with a lack of due diligence in investigating the American situation and asserting "no adequate solution of the difficulty can be achieved in this haphazard manner." ECCI then referred the matter back to an expanded 5 member American Commission, with Boris Souvarine (supporter of the Opposition) and Boris Reinstein added to the mix. The expanded American Commission waited "4 or 5 days" for Ballam's documents to surface in Moscow, and when they did not decided to proceed. Ballam then proposed the appointment of a 3 member ECCI Investigating Committee with plenipotentiary powers, headed by Mikhail Borodin, to be dispatched to America to resolve the situation. Katterfeld objected that this commission would supersede the CEC. It was ultimately determined by the American Commission that the real agenda of Ballam and the CPA Opposition was to sink the already constituted legal political party, the Workers Party of America, and the tide turned decisively. The Opposition was defeated on this main issue, in Ballam's estimation: "In the meantime I talked with Zinoviev and others about the American question. There is not a person in Moscow who formerly belonged to our faction that supports our position. Not one of the representatives of the Communist parties of other countries in Moscow that supports our position. Our only friend was the old man Yavki [Sen Katayama] and even he was opposed to our position on the LPP [WPA]." Ballam concludes: "They are sending their representative to this country [Genrik Valetski]. He carries a mandate directly from the EC and has plenipotentiary powers. I advise you to give him all the facts."

 

"Decision of the CEC [of the Central Caucus-CPA Opposition]," by "J. Davis" [Mrs. A.S. Edwards] [circa May 12, 1922] This article by the Executive Secretary of the CPA Opposition (former Central Caucus faction) relates the decision of the group's Central Executive Committee to the Report of International Delegate John Ballam. The Opposition chose to repudiate the agreement for unification agreed to in Moscow by their representative John Ballam and the representative of the regular CPA, Ludwig Katterfeld, due to "inadequate and incomplete" investigation of the American situation by the American Commission of ECCI and "short time devoted to the matter" by ECCI itself. Instead, the CEC of the Opposition calls for a thorough investigation of the situation by a committee of investigation of both factions, headed by ECCI Rep Valetski, followed by "immediate expulsion of all those who advocated the liquidation of the CPA" from the ranks of the regular party. Only after these preconditions were met would the Opposition agree to meet in "a convention of the two factions...called for the purpose of solidifying the Communist forces in this country" -- note that this phrasing does not include the words "unity" or "amalgamation." Ballam responded to the repudiation of his agreement with Katterfeld by moving over to the ranks of the regular CPA, where he agitated for unity on behalf of the CEC.

 

"Death Chills Seize Meeting of Socialist Party," by C.E. Ruthenberg. [events of April 29-May 2, 1922] The new Executive Secretary of the Workers Party of America, C.E. Ruthenberg, observed and wrote about the 1922 Cleveland Convention of the Socialist Party of America. He depicted it as a lifeless gathering, showing "senile decay." As for the small group of assembled delegates, Ruthenberg notes that "A majority of them are portly, gray-haired men with a look of petty-bourgeois prosperity about them. They talk in the language of past Socialist conventions, but there is no enthusiasm, no fervor, in what they say." Ruthenberg isolated the root cause of this geriatric decay in the blows struck against the industrialist Left Wing at the 1912 Indianapolis Convention -- "anti-sabotage, anti-force, and narrow definition of political action constitutional clauses" which drove vital elements from a 100,000 member organization. At the 1917 St. Louis Convention these "elderly men" were unable to control the gathering but sabotaged the party's militant position against the war by lack of action, Ruthenberg charged, while at the 1919 Chicago Convention they presided over a mass purge of 3/4 of the party's membership that resulted in the current lifeless skeleton organization.

 

"Constitution of the Young Workers League of America: Adopted by the First National Convention, New York City -- May 13-15, 1922." Basic document of organizational law of the Young Workers League, ostensibly the youth section of the Workers Party of America. Interesting in that there is no reference to either the WPA or the Young Communist International in the document, nor is there any sort of party-control mechanism inserted into the structure of the YWL. Instead, the YWL was established as an independent organization, it's membership open to "all young proletarians between the ages of 14 and 30," with its National Conventions designated the supreme authority of the organization. The National Conventions were to elect a "National Executive Committee" of 7 persons, at least 5 of whom were to live in the designated city of the national headquarters, as well as 5 alternates. The headquarters city was to be designated by the convention -- which chose Chicago (and this while national headquarters of the Workers Party of America and the underground Communist Party of America were both based in New York!). Structurally, the organization was to be built of "branches" of between 5 and 150 members, which multiple branches in a single urban local to elect proportional "City Central Committees." Initiation fee was 25 cents and monthly dues (receipted with stamps) were 25 cents per month -- of which the National Office was to keep 10 cents, the City Central Committee 5 cents, and the branch 10 cents. There was no parallel structure for language federations, but rather branches of any language were to have an equal relationship to the National Executive Committee.

 

"Bi-Weekly Newsletter #7 of the National Office, CP of A, May 15, 1922." Internal party communication produced by CPA Executive Secretary Jay Lovestone. Lovestone notes the return of John Ballam from Moscow and his presentation of the decision of the Executive Committee of the Comintern on the factional situation in America. He notes that the answer of the Central Caucus Opposition was "a flat refusal to accept the decision of the CI" and the declaration signed by their own delegate. Further, "an attempt was made to expel Comrade Moore [Ballam]." Lovestone notes that a special bulletin republishing all the official documents of the factional controversy was in preparation. On an unrelated note, Lovestone states that work among striking miners "is going on with success," particularly in the St. Louis district (which included Southern Illinois, Kansas, and the Southwest). A special leaflet for the Mingo Co., WV miners was planned, Lovestone notes.

 

"Communists Absorb Selves: 'Lefts' Pick Still Another Alias In Drive to Pack St. Paul Convention." [May 24, 1924] This unsigned news report from the pages of the New York Socialist Party weekly The New Leader illustrates the depth of antipathy felt towards the Communist movement by the majority of the Socialist Party in the run up to the Farmer-Labor Party conventions of the summer of 1924. The lead mockingly notes that "A new 'Labor Party' consisting of Communists united with Communists and consolidated, federated, amalgamated, and joined with Communists, was launched here Sunday when a group of Communists met, declared themselves the 'United Farmer-Labor Party of New York State'" and describes the refusal of the Schenectady Trades Assembly to send delegates to the gathering, which was ultimately attended by 92 people. "So far as is known, did not have a single delegate from a bona fide Labor organization," the report indicates, sarcastically adding that among the 16 members of the executive of the new organization "are such well known American 'trade unionists' as Ludwig Lore, Harry M. Winitsky, Juliet Stuart Poyntz, William Weinstone, [Charles] Krumbein, Noah London, [J.] Jampolsky, and [Benjamin] Lifshitz."

 

"Letter to the Executive Committee of the Communist International," by L.E. Katterfeld, May 25, 1922. Katterfeld, a member of the ECCI Presidium, writes to his colleagues in Moscow on the American political situation. He finds a confusing situation in which some members of the Central Caucus group (an organization which split the party over establishment of a legal political party late in Nov. 1921) favored and were working for reintegration into the regular CPA, while members of the group were not. At the same time, some members of the regular CPA (Cannon, Bedacht, and others) were anxious to keep the Central Caucus group out altogether and were likewise working to sabotage the CI-mandated program of reunification. On top of that, Katterfeld notes a growing trend favoring outright "liquidation" of the underground CPA apparatus and the naming of the Workers Party of America as the official affiliate of the Comintern. Katterfeld states that a substantial majority of the party shares his view favoring retention of some sort of underground apparatus in addition to the legal WPA.

 

"Theses on the United Front of Labor," a confidential document adopted by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America at its session of May 29, 1922. A fascinating glimpse from the Comintern Archives at the thinking of the governing CEC of the Communist Party with respect to its United Front strategy. The majority of the American proletariat was not conscious of its distinct class interests, the document stated, and could gain awareness -- and usefulness to the revolutionary movement -- only through its daily struggle over wages, working conditions, etc. These struggles would expose reformist economic and political leaderships as enemies of the working class. While a broad united front might be constructed in the labor field through the amalgamation process, in the political sphere established parties claiming to represent the working class must be eliminated from positions of leadership. Practice would prove the superiority of the Workers Party's tactics, slogans, aims, and leadership and a role of political leadership would consequently follow. The Communists must become a factor in any Labor Party to be formed in America. "We can achieve this end only if we anticipate the formation of such a party and now adopt a policy through which we will become established as a force in the political struggle of the workers..." Any party emerging from the Conference for Progressive Political Action would be retrograde due to its eclectic class composition, however. This organization would dissipate working class power in "election campaigns fought on the basis of petty ameliorative reforms and of schemes for minor changes in the form of capitalist government." Only a federative United Front Labor Party allowing the Workers Party's continued existence "as a distinct organization with a disciplined, educated membership acting upon a program to give leadership to the struggles of the workers," complete with "its full independence, its right of criticism, and its freedom of action" would be acceptable, according to these theses. Primary authorship of this document has been attributed to Max Bedacht.

 

JUNE

"Minutes of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America: New York, May 29 to June 1, 1922." A full session of the CEC of the CPA met daily in New York City from May 29 to June 1, 1922. Important decisions of this plenary session included: a juggling of personnel at the Federated Press, with E.J. Costello confined to editorial work and Tom Tippet taking over as managing editor transitionally until the role could be fulfilled by Carl Haessler (May 29); the appointment of Ben Gitlow as Industrial Organizer for the 3 Northeastern districts (May 29); the reopening (yet again) of the Albert Verblin spy case (May 29); the election of Max Bedacht as Assistant Secretary of the party, to serve in the absence of Jay Lovestone, who was going to Europe (May 29); the replacement of Alex Bittelman on the Political Committee by C.E. Ruthenberg and the replacement of Jay Lovestone on the Organization Committee by Ben Gitlow (May 31). On June 1, the report of the Budget Committee was heard. An infusion of Comintern cash in the amount of approximately $40,000 seems to have been received by the CPA -- $1,000 of which was dedicated to the Communist Party of Canada, which was not allowed a direct appropriation under the 1922 budget process in Moscow. About 40% of the remaining $39,000 was committed to previously incurred and short term projected expenses (back wages, missed payments to federations, printers bills, convention expenses, etc.) with the balance going to the CPA Organization fund ($5,000), TUEL ($5,000), the WPA ($5,000), a reserve account for a national daily paper ($5,000), the YCL ($1,500), the Freiheit ($1,000), Voice of Labor ($500), the Federated Press ($500), and the women's Secretariat ($500), (all these numbers except the TUEL figure slightly higher than the actual amount appropriated). Federation affairs in the Russian, Ukrainian, and South Slavic Federations were also discussed (June 1). Earl Browder was named the representative of the CEC to the NEC of the Young Communist League and Arne Swabeck was named representative to the NEC of the Young Workers League (both of which were based in Chicago).

 

"Activity in Ohio," by Caleb Harrison. [June 1922] Around the first of May, 1922, Executive Secretary of the Workers Party of America Caleb Harrison stepped down from his position to make room for C.E. Ruthenberg, newly released from prison in New York. Harrison embarked on a short speaking tour as a "National Organizer" for the party before settling down as the new District Organizer for WPA D6 [Cleveland]. This outstanding piece of social history was written by new DO Harrison about his visits to striking miners in Neffs, Bellaire, and Fairpoint, Ohio -- a glimpse of the radical members of the working class that rallied to the support of the new organization.

 

"Report on the United States of America: A confidential document prepared for the Comintern, June 1922." by James P. Cannon A lengthy and detailed assessment of the economic and political situation in America attributed to WPA man in Moscow James P. Cannon and dated to June 1922 from content. An extremely revealing glimpse at party thinking with regard to specific unions (United Mine Workers, Metal trades, Needle trades, Railway Brotherhoods, local federations) the role of the Trade Union Educational League, the position of the party towards the IWW and the Socialist Party, the Farmer-Labor Party, the Conference for Progressive Political Action, negro political organization, Russian famine relief, application of the United Front policy, role of the party press, position of the CEC towards the Central Caucus faction opposition, and the relationship between the underground CPA and the "overground" WPA -- including specifics about the thinking of dissenters on the Central Executive Committee Ludwig Katterfeld, Alfred Wagenknecht, and Robert Minor. Cannon speaks of a conscious strategy of the CEC to shift the "seat of Party authority" from the underground party (as a directing center of the legal organization) to the legal organization (with the underground apparatus a sub-division under the control of the "overground" organization. This transition is slated to take time, Cannon indicates, as "the CEC takes the position that the seat of Party authority can be transferred from the illegal to the legal party only after the latter has become a Communist Party in the full sense of the word -- if its program, contents of propaganda, international affiliation, and name are those of a Communist Party."

 

"The Task of the Hour," by Alfred S. Edwards [circa June 1, 1922] With ECCI coming down on the side of the regular CPA against the Central Caucus-CPA Opposition, there were some who refused to submit to discipline, as indicated by this hardline call to arms in the factional war by A.S. Edwards ("Sullivan"). "By an accident the control over our party got into the hands of the former gas-socialists and social-patriots, now political prostitutes, who are for the Comintern as long as they can secure jobs for themselves," Edwards rages. "It was only natural to expect that former Bolsheviks, who had fought this gang for 10 and 15 years in the Socialist Party, would not be tolerated in a CP controlled by their old and bitter enemies, consequently 5,000 members were expelled. The 'experiment' of the Comintern in uniting Centrists and Communists that resulted in the 1921 Joint Unity Convention [Woodstock: May 15-28, 1921] was a complete failure." Now that the Opposition had "succeeded in organizing the expelled Communists into a strong party, after we have established our legal and illegal press and organizations and are beginning to 'go to the masses' and gaining their confidence," the regular CPA was using the authority of the Comintern to destroy the fledgling organization, Edwards declares. He adds that "the order to disband our organization and turn all our press, property, and organization over to the Mensheviks is nothing but a defeat. And this is done at a time when the Mensheviks have come to a complete intellectual, moral, and financial bankruptcy." Edwards charges that his foes Katterfeld, Bedacht & Co. had won the day at ECCI by weaving a fabric of lies and grossly exaggerating their organizational strength. "The question to be decided now is whether we continue our Communist work and by doing so disobey the Comintern, or obey the Comintern and disband our organization," Edwards notes, adding: "The only way out is shown by our Party Conference [New York: May 8-12, 1922]: to continue our good Communist work and ask for a complete investigation from the Comintern. We love the Comintern, but we love still more the Communist movement."

 

"Political Prisoners in Russia," by Max Bedacht ["James A. Marshall"] [June 17, 1922] The mentality of Communist Party loyalists of the 1930s and later faithfully defending unsavory actions of the regime in Soviet Russia had clear origins in the 1920s. The "Trial of the Socialist Revolutionaries" of 1922 was the first controversial show trial of the post-Civil War period, putting leading members of the PSR on trial for their lives as alleged participants in a terrorist conspiracy against the regime. This article by Max Bedacht appeared in the English weekly The Worker. Bedacht is harshly critical of the Socialist Party of America, the Workmen's Circle, and the ILGWU for defending the Socialist Revolutionaries and other political prisoners in Russia. Bedacht has no doubt about the veracity of the charges against them: "Whoever demands the release of such bandits and murderers identifies himself with them and their acts." Bedacht charges the Mensheviks organized the counterrevolutionary government of Arkhangelsk, fanned labor discontent and led strikes against the regime, "The Mensheviks, these enemies of terror, organized the White terror the first days of the revolution," Bedacht charges. As for the PSR, this group attempted to sabotage the peace agreement with Germany by assassinating Count Mirbach in 1918, kindled local uprisings, and "until the final defeat of foreign intervention, the SR called for and supported foreign intervention." SR's inspired the Antonov revolt, were responsible for the assassination of Uritsky and Volodarsky, and bombed Bolshevik Party headquarters in Moscow. "And the leaders of that party who were caught in the meshes of the Cheka as murderers and would-be murderers, as organizers of the counterrevolution, as agents of Petliura and Pilsudski, as tools of capitalism and the capitalist class, are to be released as 'politicals' from Russian prisons," Bedacht scornfully remarks.

 

"Letter to Max Bedacht ["James Marshall"], Acting Executive Secretary, CPA, from Joseph Kowalski ["A. Gorny"], Secretary of the Polish Bureau, CPA, June 17, 1922." Short note from Joseph Kowalski, head of the Polish Bureau of the underground CPA (depicted as a Muscovite supervillian in DoJ gumshoe Jacob Spolansky's laughably melodramatic and factually sparse Cold War tome, The Communist Trail in America) to the acting head of the CPA, Max Bedacht. This communication emphasizes the utter poverty in which the CPA was enmeshed during the first half of 1922. Peeking up from behind his propaganda-laden desk, the shrewd Communist boss Bedacht must have let out a low whistle as he glanced furtively at the words of the Polish-American Bolshevik superrevolutionist detailing his progress in fulfillment of his nefarious tasks: "For the last few weeks all the work in Polish Bureau was hampered on account of lack of money. Theses are out and same ought to be translated. This cannot be done, because we have no typewriter and after all I have not a place were I could perform party work. In such circumstances I cannot accomplish the duties which were given to me by CEC and Pol[ish] Bureau, and therefore I cannot take any responsibility." The only way out of the "serious situation" was for Kowalski to submit his resignation, which he was doing forthwith, the letter indicates.

 

"The Crisis on the Railroads," by William Z. Foster [June 17, 1922] With TUEL funded for 1922 to the tune of $5,000 by the Comintern via the Communist Party of America, this typeset news release was produced for the Trade Union Educational League by the Workers Party Press Service. In it, TUEL head William Z. Foster weighs in on the economic situation facing common workers of the rail transportation industry. Foster provides statistics to demonstrate the miserable financial situation faced by the Shopmen (repair workers) and Maintenance of Way workers -- pitiful salaries which were under further attack by railroad ownership forces. A "lickspittle" Railroad Labor Board, controlled by the employers, had approved reductions of salary, pushing many employees off the financial precipice. The solution seems clear to Foster: "What must be done in this crisis? Strike, of course, if the Railroad Labor Board tries to make its recent infamous decision stand up. But not a strike of a few crafts. Make it a strike of every railroad man in the United States. Anything short of this would be a crime. The railroad employers of the country are united. They are determined to crush the unions and to wipe them off the railroads. The railroad men, therefore, must stand together in one solid body."

 

"Letter to Earl Browder in New York from Jim Cannon in Moscow, June 18, 1922." This is the first report from Moscow to America by Jim Cannon, representative of the Communist Party of America to the Red International of Labor Unions in Moscow. Cannon details how the United States was effectively without representation on the RILU Bureau after former representative "George" [Andreychine] essentially abandoned his post. The vacancy is said to have been known to Cannon's factional foe CI Rep Katterfeld, but "the information never leaked through to me." Cannon tells Browder that "I had a session with the Bureau a few days after my arrival, making a general report of the activity in America and bringing up the question of policy which we discussed just before my departure in regard to the independent unions. I gave a general outline of our point of view and the reasons for it. They manifested great interest in the report and were greatly pleased with the work done in America." Cannon also notes the dispatch of Boris Reinstein to America from RILU. Prospects of an infusion of money through this emissary are excellent, In Cannon's view, as Reinstein "is going for the express purpose of endeavoring, through private resources of his own, to get some substantial assistance to you." Cannon adds that "The big question before the next Congress of the Profintern (set for November 28 [1922]) will be relations with the Syndicalists."

 

"Circular Letter to All District Organizers of the unified CPA, from Max Bedacht, Acting Secretary, June 20, 1922." Circular letter from the acting Executive Secretary of the unified CPA Max Bedacht to all DOs of the organization detailing the approaching end of the campaign to reintegrate adherents of the Central Caucus faction into the CPA. Bedacht notes that June 25, 1922 is the final day in which members of the opposition can return to the party without additional penalty and with all rights -- including the right to vote for delegates to the 2nd Convention of the CPA, which was held in Bridgman, Michigan in August. A series of meetings are to be organized for June 25th to facilitate the termination of the split and a good faith effort is to be made by the DOs to gain maximum participation by opposition communists at these events. "This instruction is issued so that no excuse may be given by members of the opposition afterward that they were unable to connect up in time. Please make a conscientious effort to wind up this "opposition campaign" in good faith to the decision of the Comintern so that those failing to obey have no ground for attack on the score of our unwillingness to carry out our share of the bargain," Bedacht says.

 

"Declaration to the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America, Section of the Communist International," by Central Bureau, Lithuanian Federation of the Central Caucus faction. [June 21, 1922]. Faced with an the ultimatum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International to rejoin the official Communist Party of America or face expulsion from the Communist International, the Central Bureau of the Lithuanian Federation voted unanimously at its June 21, 1922, session to rejoin the official party, to turn over its records to the majority group, and to appeal to the members of the Lithuanian Federation to do likewise. The document was signed by "B. Karpus" as Secretary of the Central Caucus faction's Lithuanian Federation.

 

"Report of "John Moore," Delegate of the Minority Faction of the CP of A to the Comintern, to the CEC, June 27, 1922, " by John J. Ballam. Ballam, one of the leaders of the Central Caucus faction that split from the CPA in late November and early December of 1921, went to Moscow to state his faction's case. He was met with a torrent of harsh criticism, and the Anglo-American Department of the Executive Committee of the Comintern stated in no uncertain terms that the factional struggle should come to an immediate close, with members of the Central Caucus faction to rejoin the CPA within 60 days of publication of its directive or face expulsion from the American party and the international communist movement. Ballam was converted to this task but was unable to persuade the Central Caucus to end its fight at a conference held in the middle of May. As a result, Ballam was sent on a tour of the country by the CPA's Central Executive Committee, along with Ludwig Katterfeld, in an attempt to win back the rank and file members of the Central Caucus "over the heads" of the factional leadership. This is a report written by Ballam for the CEC on the results of his tour, featuring district by district analysis of the strength of the "Minority faction."

 

"Report of the Executive Secretary to the Meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the Workers Party of America: New York -- June 29, 1922," by C.E. Ruthenberg Executive Secretary of the WPA C.E. Ruthenberg was not a spellbinding orator or an original Marxist theoretician, but he did possess a skill set that made uniquely suited for the job. This first report of his issued as Executive Secretary of the Workers Party of America (following his April 24, 1922 release from prison in New York on bail) demonstrates Ruthenberg's organizational prowess. Organizational expenditures and revenues were carefully itemized, categorized, tallied, and analyzed; Federations were surveyed about their membership size and assets and the results were reported succinctly and coherently; the WPA's defenses situation was summarized. Of particular interest is the fact that the WPA ran at a deficit of just over $2,000 per month for the first 5 months of its existence -- a considerable sum, particularly given the parallel dismal financial situation of the underground CPA. Nearly half of this deficit was run up through the operation of the party's weekly English language newspaper, The Worker. A second financial summary including the last week of May and the month of June depicts the WPA as having turned the financial corner, running in the black.

 

JULY

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

 

"Theses on Relations of the CP to an LPP: by the Central Executive Committee of the CP of A, Section of the Communist International." [July 1922] One of the 3 sets of Theses prepared for decision by the August 1922 Bridgman Convention of the Communist Party of America, this the official "Theses of the CEC," drafted by Robert Minor. Although none of the 3 sets of Theses were used as the actual basis for discussion at the convention, according to the report of CI Rep Genrik Valetski, the Minor-CEC Theses most closely anticipated the thinking of the gathering, attempting to steer a middle course between one-sided orientations towards either open or underground organizational forms. On the one hand, the CEC Theses hold that: "The leadership of the masses of the exploited can be attained only by directly engaging in all their struggles, together with the masses of the workers. In a country where political conditions permit the possibility of mass political organizations of the working class, the revolutionary party cannot secure leadership without securing a powerful, and finally dominant position among such mass political organizations of the workers... In America, it has become the most urgent immediate task of the Communists to secure a public, open, so-called 'legal' existence as an organization." On the other hand: "The overthrow of the capitalist system can only come through the violent overthrow of the capitalist state. To accept this view is to accept the certainty that the capitalist state will find itself in violent conflict with the masses led by the Communist Party, and that the state will attempt to destroy the Communist Party. While the capitalist state retains the governmental machinery, and as the struggle grows sharper in approaching the final struggle, the capitalist state will inevitably strike again and again at the revolutionary party in the effort to destroy it. After the Communist Party shall have established itself in the open, it must be prepared for, and must expect to be driven out of a 'legal' existence from time to time. The Communist Party must at all times be so organized that such attacks cannot destroy it." Dual organization with firm primacy of the underground organization at every level of decision-making authority is envisioned.

 

"Theses on the Relations of No. 1 [the CPA] and 2 [the LPP]," by Israel Amter ("J. Ford") and Abram Jakira ("A. Dubner") [July 1922] One of the 3 sets of Theses prepared for decision by the August 1922 Bridgman Convention of the Communist Party of America, this the Theses of the "Anti-Liquidation" faction (so-called "Geese"), prepared by Israel Amter and Abram Jakira. This Left Wing orientation is based upon a view of an impending violent class struggle: "Government is force organized by one class to keep another in subjection. When the subject class becomes conscious of the oppression under which it labors, it organizes to overthrow the class in power. This struggle, of necessity, develops into a struggle of force against force -- of the armed force of the oppressed class against the armed forces of the class in power, the government." This situation of acute class struggle "makes it impossible, as history has shown, for a party with this program to carry on its most essential work in the open. The conflict with the government is so brutal and so frequent that the revolutionary organization working openly would be disrupted and ground to pieces by the superior force of the state. The Communists, therefore, are compelled to function as an underground party..." While the underground form of organization is admitted to be "very cumbersome" and insufficient "for the overthrow of the capitalist system," the Legal Party is envisioned as essentially a transmission belt through which the underground party can participate in and direct the day-to-day struggles of the working class. "The underground CP, remaining as an organization within the open Party, continues to be the directing and controlling body," the "Ford-Dubner Theses" declare -- an ongoing situation which "will continue up to and through the revolution and to the establishment of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat."

 

"Problem of Communist Organization in the US," by C.E. Ruthenberg ("Damon") and Max Bedacht ("Marshall") [July 1922] One of the 3 sets of Theses prepared for decision by the August 1922 Bridgman Convention of the Communist Party of America, this the Theses of the "Independent" faction (so-called "Liquidationists"), prepared by C.E. Ruthenberg and Max Bedacht. Whereas the Left Wing "Ford-Dubner Theses" envisioned an ongoing underground Communist Party acting in a directing capacity in the legal movement in perpetuity, through the entire revolutionary period, the comparatively Centrist "Damon-Marshall Theses" emphasize the transformation of the underground CPA into a legal form, albeit one still retaining a component underground apparatus as a means of defense and for the conduct of special tasks not possible by an organization adhering strictly to the legality of the capitalist state. The Communist Party had been driven underground by dire necessity, Ruthenberg and Bedacht declare, and the cost had been great, with membership plummeting from 50,000 to 60,000 to barely 10,000. Of this small remaining contingent, "it would be difficult to find 500 American comrades." This situation mandated a fundamental restructuring of the party organization, Ruthenberg and Bedacht contend, for it was an impossibility for a miniscule party of foreign-born workers to fulfill its historic role as the vanguard of the American working class in any coming revolution. "There is no revolutionary virtue in a Communist Party being an underground organization. It is at all times a bitter necessity against which the party must fight with all its energies," the "Damon-Marshall Theses" declare. In contrast to the hysteria of 1919, in the year 1922 the capitalist class did not feel insecure with respect to the revolutionary movement, and the pre-war norms of bourgeois legality and constitutional rights had been largely restored. "The CP must take advantage of this situation to again achieve existence as an open CP," Ruthenberg and Bedacht declare. They call for an ongoing expansion of the function of the legal political party, with the dualism of the underground organization steadily eliminated. Eventually, the Communist movement would achieve a fully legalized status. "After the CPA becomes an open party it will maintain an illegal apparatus for the conduct of such work as cannot be carried on openly. It will maintain machinery necessary to carry the party underground in case of renewed attack upon the organization," Ruthenberg and Bedacht declare. It is worth noting that although the "Damon-Marshall Theses" were defeated at the 1922 Bridgman Convention, this theoretical conception ultimately was the one which described the development of the Communist movement over the coming months, as the legal Workers Party of America, headed by Ruthenberg, grew and prospered and expanded in function, while the underground Communist Party of America, headed by Jakira, withered and was ultimately terminated.

 

"That Centrist!" by Max Bedacht ("James A. Marshall") [July 1922] Max Bedacht, a former CPA Rep in Moscow and leading member of the CPA Right in the 1922 factional controversy defends himself eloquently against charges of "Centrism" in this article from the underground organ of the party. Bedacht depicts himself as the recipient of ill-earned epithets ensuing from a struggle in the party between "Marxian Realism" and "Infantile Leftism." Bedacht declares that "the slogans of the Lefts in the United States today are those of yesterday; and their slogans of this year are those of yesteryear. Untiringly they shout, 'Centrist!'" This epithet was inappropriately used, Bedacht asserts, meaning in reality the supporters of the 2-1/2 International -- those "who 'believes' in the proletarian revolution -- but condemns the means by which it must be accomplished." The "100 Percenters" in the party (a play on the reactionary nationalists of the day who described themselves as "100% Americans") had mutated this precise concept into the following, Bedacht contends: "A Centrist is one who does not believe as we do." Bedacht asserts that the essential point of the Communist movement was that "the proletarian dictatorship exercised through workers councils must be the instrument of the proletarian revolution, and that such a dictatorship -- a proletarian state -- must supercede the capitalist dictatorship, the capitalist state." By way of contrast, the "100% Shylocks" attempted to make use of the phrase "armed insurrection" in every place and situation the "test of Communist understanding," Bedacht states. While contending their so-called "Centrist" opponents did not believe in centralization and discipline, it was the "100 Percenters" who repeatedly broke discipline and demoralized and weakened the party, Bedacht indicates. He notes finally that 3/4 of the sections of the Comintern are open parties, that the American Communist movement was driven underground by dire necessity, and "that the CPA cannot accomplish its task in America through the underground organization and must for that reason create open instruments." Therefore, "when the possibility of an open existence of the CPA is established by the actual practice of the open instrument, the reestablishment of the CPA as an open party becomes an imperative duty," Bedacht declares. After expounding his views on the situation further, Bedacht notes: "This is my program. If that be 'Centrism,' if that be 'liquidation,' make the best of it. But remember, the Communist International will say the last word in this question as it has done so before in a similar question." The problem in the party is not "Centrism," but "Leftism" against "Common Sense," Bedacht asserts.

 

"The Blight of Purity," by Robert Minor ("J. Ballister") [July 1922] One of the most perceptive and brilliant analyses of the underground period by CEC member Robert Minor. Although characterized in the literature as an adherent of the Anti-Liquidation faction (following the 1950s-era recollections of Jim Cannon to Theodore Draper, Cannon incidentally having been outside the country from mid-May 1922), Minor seems to have actually quite clearly occupied a position between the extremes of CPA factional discourse. Be that as it may... Minor wittily declares that the American Communist movement is "Descended from the Theological Apes," automatically and blindly carrying forward not only "many of the foolish traits of our deceased Aunty, the Socialist Party," but also "many of the outworn and stupid thought-forms of the old religious movements." Minor declares the thinking of the typical CP member to be partly that of "a morbid, hysterical, shallow-witted and self-righteous Christian Baptist or synagogue Jew or Catholic." Instead of looking at the world with open eyes and attempting to eliminate analytical mistakes, these individuals tend to see themselves as a "Chosen People," possessors of indisputable "Truth" which is "Pure and unchangeable," and missionaries of the one "True Faith." Minor notes that "this way of thinking has been the basis on which thousands of sects have grouped themselves during may hundreds of years. The habit of mind did not stop suddenly on the day that Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto." "If we say that 'we are the vanguard of the proletariat,' it may not be perfectly untrue, but to reason from that basis is perfect rot. It is in violent contradiction to the whole process of Marxian thought and action." Only direct contact with the working class could prevent an organization's hermetical sealing into a sect, in Minor's view -- thus the need for an expansion of the Communist movement's open functions. Minor makes a case for the "CEC Theses" on the underground and legal parties which he drafted. He notes that these theses call for an organic unity between open and underground arms of the movement. He also notes that the need for the most tested and committed party members for underground work will ensure the continuation of an underground core even within a legal party. Minor is sharply critical of sectarian purity and a desire to produce and distribute "armed leaflets" in lieu of participation in the actual class struggle. Minor also identifies and analyzes for perhaps the first time in the Communist press the problem of membership churn: "In a surprising number of cases, both in the CP of A and in the Minority Opposition [former Central Caucus-CPA], whole Party groups and even branches have simply dried up with useless formality. Comrades that came into the Party full of enthusiasm and willingness to work endless hours at Communist work have found their days and nights piled up with tedious routine having no apparent connection with the revolutionary movement, which is teeming in development in the world outside of their stale, dry meetings. Time and again, young, enthusiastic workers whom I personally know have come into the Party and then dropped out. When I ask them why they dropped out, they invariably mention being forced to listen to long-winded, mimeographed reports and to eternal petty squabbles of little bureaucrats."

 

"The American Socialist Party and the Farmers," by Alexander Trachtenberg [second half of 1922] This is a short analysis of recent changes of Socialist Party of America tactics written for President of the Communist International Grigorii Zinoviev. Trachtenberg states that the 1921 and 1922 SPA conventions had given the right to state and local units of the party to engage in the formerly prohibited tactic of "fusionism" by working directly with other non-socialist progressive organizations in the electoral realm. "Altogether the Socialist Party has during the past few years made strenuous attempts to secure cooperation among the farmers' organizations of the Western states. In the East it is joining in political compacts with all sorts of progressive political groups, some of which are of distinct bourgeois origin," Trachtenberg declares, adding that "the political orientation of the SP is now on the one hand toward securing close contact with the reactionary leadership of the labor unions -- its only contact with labor -- and on the other, with various political and economic groupings of farmers and various middle class reform organizations." Trachtenberg sees the defeat of anti-fusionism as a victory for the revisionist Marxist Victor Berger over the orthodox Marxist Morris Hillquit -- a policy which won due to the practical results achieved in Milwaukee as well as the greatly attenuated size of the Socialist Party itself.

 

"Memorandum to All Groups of the CPA from Jay Lovestone, Executive Secretary." [July 25, 1922] This breathless memorandum by CPA Executive Secretary Jay Lovestone announces (falsely, in accordance with a erroneous anticipatory cable dispatched from Moscow by arch-factionalista Jim Cannon): "The Executive Committee of the Communist International has carefully considered the situation prevailing in our party and the new problems arising out of the tactics pursued by our party to date. It has decided to send back to American Com. James Cook [Jim Cannon], now representing our party on the Executive Committee of the Communist International, member of the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, and member of the Presidium of the Red Trade Union International with full instructions and detailed reports for our party adopted by the Communist International." This ECCI discussion never happened, Cannon was never dispatched to America with instructions, and the rival Goose Caucus won the day at the forthcoming Bridgman Convention, deposing Lovestone as Executive Secretary (for Jakira) and Cannon as representative to ECCI (for Katterfeld) and RILU (for Swabeck).

 

"Minutes of Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of America: New York -- July 26-28, 1922." This is the account of a very important 3 day session of the governing Central Executive Committee of the CPA, held during the run-up to the organization's 2nd Convention, held at Bridgman, Michigan less than a month later. This 3 day session was the first attended by the 3 emissaries of the Comintern, including CI Rep Genrik Valetski, RILU Rep Boris Reinstein, and future factional leader John Pepper. While the literature often represents the American Communist movement as a tank of obedient clapping seals who respond unthinkingly to Comintern fiat, the reality of feistiness and independence is indicated by Robert Minor's motion, approved by the body, "that [CI Rep Valetski] be instructed that fines for lateness will hereafter be applied to him." Reports are heard from Valetski regarding his mission to reunite the CPA with the Central Caucus Opposition and from Reinstein (content not specified). Arne Swabeck is elected the new CPA Rep to ECCI and RILU (July 27th), replacing Cannon. Katterfeld is condemned by the CEC for "misstatements and misrepresentations to the Communist International without the knowledge of the CEC"; he is instructed to turn over to the CEC all communications with the CI regarding the American party situation or individual members of the CEC. Pre-convention planning is initiated. The 8 member so-called "Disarmament Commission" is established by the motion of Earl Browder, to consist of the 3 Comintern emissaries as well as Amter, Jakira, Dunne, Katterfeld, and "Tompkins." This group is formally given the task of presenting "plans for unification of the party to the convention."

 

"Railroad Men! Act Against the Traitors to Labor." [United Toilers of America] [July 31, 1922] In addition to its English and Russian official organs, the United Toilers of America, "Legal Political Organization" of the Central Caucus-CPA Opposition, issued targeted newspapers in support of the strikes of the Railroad Shopmen and Miners in the summer of 1922. This article from the 2nd issue of the UTA's "Railroad Strike Bulletin" urges the railroad workers to make the strike of the shopmen general across the railroad industry. The Maintenance of Way union and the powerful railroad brotherhoods must be appealed to, for unless they would join the shopmen today, they would face defeat in their own isolated actions tomorrow, the article asserts. "The rank and file of all the railroad unions, with the exception of here and there a fossilized conductor or engineer, is anxious to get into the fight and to teach the railroad barons that they cannot crush labor," the article declares; to this are opposed the "reactionary officialdom" of the brotherhoods, exemplified by the "reptile and mountebank fakir" head of the Firemen and Enginemen, Robertson, and others of similar ilk. "We, the rank and file, must act and act decisively to bring all the workers on the railroads under the strike banner in order to once and for all teach the arrogant exploiters and robbers that we will not accept any conditions they desire to impose upon us. The strike must be broadened; the picket line must be extended to stop every wheel that turns on the railroads of the United States," the article declares.

 

AUGUST

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

 

"Questions to Debs," by J. Louis Engdahl [Aug. 3, 1922] This is a pointed and aggressive open letter to Eugene V. Debs by the editor of The Worker, a former longtime associate of Debs in the Socialist Party. Engdahl rebukes Debs for heeding a request of Socialist Revolutionary Party leader Victor Chernov and sending a cable to Lenin in Moscow with which Debs joined the international chorus of voices demanding leniency in sentencing of the accused in the 1922 show trial of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. Adapting an article from International Press Correspondence for his purposes, Engdahl presents a veritable laundry list of transgressions against the revolution by the PSR, including assassinations plotted and committed, bombings, acceptance of financial and military aid from foreign powers, collaboration with counterrevolutionary peasant movements (Antonov) and the installation of neo-monarchist military dictators (Kolchak), and publication of documents calling for armed revolt against the Soviet regime. Engdahl declares that "The history of the early days of the Bolshevik Revolution showed the Communists too gentle with their force-loving adversaries. The Bolsheviks were not in love with the use of force. They used it only when necessary to win and preserve the workers' revolution. The Proletarian Dictatorship is still fighting for its life in Soviet Russia. It has only reached the doorstep of Communism. Capitalism throughout the world, aided and abetted by the Chernovs, has made war, is making war, and will continue to make war to its last breath against the emancipating rule of Russia's workers. But Communism replies to Capitalism with its own weapons, the only weapons Capitalism knows, and with the spread of the social revolution over the world, the workers everywhere are compelled to take their stand." Engdahl notes that a copy of the communication to Debs and invited Debs' reply for publication in The Worker.

 

"Workers Party Convention Picks List of Candidates." [Aug. 5, 1922] The Workers Party of America was founded at a convention held in New York in the last days of December 1921. It did not take long for the party to run a slate of candidates for elected office. This is the list of nominees of the party put forward by a city convention of the WPA held by Local Greater New York. The number of candidates running was impressive and many of the names recognizable, including: Elmer T. Allison, Israel Amter, Henry Askeli, I.B. Bailin, Solon DeLeon, William F. Dunne, Max Eastman, Benjamin Gitlow, Jacob Hartman, Louis Hendin, Otto Huiswoud, Noah London, Ludwig Lore, Jay Lovestone, Tom O'Flaherty, Juliet S. Poyntz, J.B. Salutsky, Alexander Trachtenberg, William Weinstone, J. Wilenkin, and Harry Winitsky.

 

"Manifesto of the United Toilers of America to the Miners, Marine, & Transport Workers of the World." [Aug. 5, 1922] In the 17th week of the bitter strike of the coal miners, the "legal political organization" of the Central Caucus-CPA Opposition issued this manifesto calling for workers in the marine and transport industries to expand the strike to prevent defeat of the miners' action. With the decision of the Railway Shopmen to strike in July, "the shutdown is now complete; the demands of industry in this country will force the coal barons to yield to the demands of the miners -- UNLESS FOREIGN COAL CAN BE OBTAINED!" the manifesto declares. However, "there have been many transports loaded with cargoes of coal from Europe landed at American ports. The ruling class is jubilant. The coal famine can be postponed if only they can continue the steady influx of foreign coal. The ruling class of Britain is working hand in hand with the ruling class of the United States to defeat the miners here... If they can crush the American mine workers now, the same combination of predatory fiends will crush you later." The UTA exhorts transport workers to "rally to the support of the struggling miners of the United States of America" and to "smash the international conspiracy against labor with the United Front of the Working Class" by shutting down the effort to use foreign coal to defeat the American miners.

 

"Communists in the Labor Unions," by William F. Dunne [Aug. 5, 1922] A very concise statement of one of the two primary factionals visions of the American Communist movement in the 1920s -- the "unionist" perspective associated with William Z. Foster and James P. Cannon. Dunne states that radical political movements have historically been populated by "intellectuals" with a "disposition for study and leisure to indulge it." This group felt that in their book-learning "they hold the key to all the problems that bedevil the workers" and that they were consequently impatient and contemptuous of the working class and its "endless struggle for more bread and butter." As a result, "until recently almost all revolutionary political movements were of a sectarian character." The Russian Revolution "upset all the established theories of revolutionary tactics" and demonstrated the importance of day-to-day struggles of the working class in the transition to socialism, however. Dunne states that radical intellectuals gained a "new humility" in the wake of Russian events and began to make contact with the working class, a turn for the better. The intellectuals could not assume an automatic right to lead the working class based upon their theoretical capacity, however: "There is no magic in the word Communism that will cause the workers to rally to its standard. The service that the Communists render to the labor movement will be the yardstick by which the workers will measure the value of the Communist Party, and it is that alone that will determine its influence in the class struggle in the United States," Dunne argues. Dunne notes that some Communists are more apt at theory and others at tactical matters -- that very few are skilled in both aspects. Party workers with "special ability for industrial work" need to be trained and made more effective and "the best brains and courage of the labor movement" must be integrated into the Communist Party to build an effective and powerful political organization, in Dunne's view.

 

"Kidnap Foster in Colorado! Secretary of the Trade Union Educational League Driven from Rockefeller-Owned State as "Undesirable." [Events of Aug. 6-7, 1922] On the evening of Monday, August 6, 1922, William Z. Foster was taken from his hotel in Denver, Colorado without cause or warrant by three state policemen. He was transported to jail in a town 20 miles away and held there incommunicado overnight. The next day he was driven across the Wyoming state line and turned over to the sheriff of Cheyenne, Wyoming who in turn drove him about 75 miles up northeast from Cheyenne, dumping him along the road outside of Torrington, WY, about 10 miles from the Nebraska border. This is the initial report of this illegal incident published on the front page of the Workers Party's weekly organ, The Worker. The story quotes the words of the man responsible for this action, Colorado Adjutant General Pat Hamrock, who said that in this case "no law was consulted." Instead, this illegal arrest and jailing of Foster was deemed to be "for the best interests of the state," in the words of the Adjutant General.

 

"Foster's Own Story: Kidnapping and Deportation Act of Revenge for Striking Rockefeller Steel Plant 100%," by William Z. Foster [Events of Aug. 6-7, 1922] On the evening of Monday, August 6, 1922, William Z. Foster was taken from his hotel in Denver, Colorado without cause or warrant by three state policemen. He was transported to jail in a town 20 miles away and held there incommunicado overnight. The next day he was driven across the Wyoming state line and turned over to the sheriff of Cheyenne, Wyoming who in turn drove him about 75 miles up northeast from Cheyenne, dumping him along the road outside of Torrington, WY, about 10 miles from the Nebraska border. This is Foster's first-hand account of his ordeal, emphasizing the fact that his was a case of interstate kidnapping at the behest of moneyed powers. "Though few, no doubt, are childish enough to expect justice to be done in the situation, yet at least, all may look for the crooked authorities of Colorado and Wyoming to be compelled to break a few more laws in their efforts to cover up their illegality in this kidnapping affair. It will be one more occasion to show the class character of present day society," Foster states.

 

"The State of Colorado: An Editorial from The Worker" by J. Louis Engdahl [Events of Aug. 6-7, 1922] Commentary in the pages of the official organ of the Workers Party of America on the kidnapping and expulsion of William Z. Foster from the states of Colorado and Wyoming. The connection of the man behind the operation with previous illegal atrocities committed against the labor movement is made plain: "Adjutant General Pat Hamrock was with the fiend Lieutenant Linderfelt when the latter brutally murdered the Greek coal mine leader, Louis Tikas, striking him dead with the butt end of his gun. Hamrock was in command at Bloody Ludlow. At that time he was a 'major.' But that was nearly ten years ago. He is now 'Adjutant General.' The Rockefeller-owned Colorado, of brute capitalist force, has rewarded him handsomely." This connection is illustrative, Engdahl indicates, and the prescription clear: "If a few more thousands of workers in Colorado will learn this lesson of the bitter struggle of capitalism against labor then Foster will not regret the attack that was made upon him.... Let labor's answer to the state of Colorado and its Adjutant General be hundreds of thousands of members for the Trade Union Educational League."

 

"An Answer from Debs," by Theodore Debs [Aug. 9, 1922] Reply on behalf of Gene Debs by his brother and personal secretary, Theodore, to Louis Engdahl's open letter of August 3, 1922. "The attempt to make [Gene] appear the enemy of Lenin and the Soviet Government in face of the fact that from the hour that government was born he proclaimed himself its friend and has stood by it and defended and extolled Lenin and Trotsky in every word uttered and written, is too false and silly to merit attention," writes Theodore. While Engdahl's indictment of the offenses of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in the Civil War is complete, it is nevertheless one-sided, omitting the fact that violence and outrages were committed by both sides, and that the PSR were victims as well as perpetrators. Gene Debs "does not believe in revenge, in capital punishment, in cold-blooded murder, and these brutal passions and atrocious crimes are all the more reprehensible in his eyes when committed in the name of law and justice by Socialists who have for years been denouncing capitalism for these identical infamies," writes Theodore. "If we believe in bloodthirsty revenge, in cruel reprisals and savage killings to satisfy our law and ethics, we are even lower than the capitalists and their mercenary hangmen, who at least make no pretense of such humane ideals as we profess and shamelessly betray the moment we succeed to power." Further, Gene Debs is said to be convinced "that the murder of these men would betray the weakness and fear of the Soviet Government and bring it into contempt all over the world among people who now give it their allegiance and support."

 

"Agenda for the Second Convention of the unified Communist Party of America. Bridgman, Michigan - August 17-22, 1922." Traditional histories of the early CPA harp on the "atonal singing society" which met in secret at the "Wulfskeel farm," their heavily-accented voices raving madly amidst the droning of the crickets. The reality of the Bridgman convention was far less melodramatic and farcical. It was, in fact, a working unity convention of the CPA, dealing with fundamental issues of party policy, which met at the secluded summer resort camp of Karl Wolfskeel near the shore of Lake Michigan. This is the pre-convention agenda upon which the group based its work. A report of the CEC was delivered, debate on of the line of the 3rd Congress of the Comintern and its subsequent decisions on the American situation, and discussions held on the contemporary political situation within the communist movement, the legal political organization, the trade unions, unemployment, the YCL, the "negro question," famine relief, imperialism, the language federations, and a host of other topics, concluding in the election of a new Central Executive Committee. The proceedings were interrupted by a police raid on the morning of August 22 -- the federal authorities tipped off by a professional spy in the ranks of the delegates.

 

"Decisions of the Second Annual Convention of the Communist Party of America: Bridgman, MI -- Aug. 17-22, 1922." Published summary of the decisions of the ill-fated 1922 Bridgman Convention of the Communist Party of America: 1. Trade Unions: "The work in the trade unions must be increased tenfold. Every member of the Party must not only be a member of a trade union, but if at all possible must become a leader in these organizations." 2. Open v. Underground Party: "The illegal Communist Party of America has no prospects in the near future of becoming a legal party, and therefore the underground party is and remains the only Section of the Communist International in the United States. Should conditions change, and should the Communist Party of America become an open, "legal," party, even then it will, like the other legal Communist Parties, need an underground apparatus for special purposes. But whether the Party is legal or illegal, the center of gravity of the activities of the Communist Party of America is in the open work..." 3. Program of Legal Party: "The dictatorship of the working class through Soviets must be shown as the historic form in which the victory of the working class has up to the present time manifested itself." 4. The Opposition: "It is possible and desirable to bring about full Communist unity by bringing back into the Party the Opposition, on the basis of the decisions of the CI.... All measures shall be taken in agreement with the representative of the Communist International [Valetski]." 5. Party Discussions: "Discussions of controversial questions may be accompanied by a simultaneous discussion in the Party press, or they may not, just as the CEC decides. Under no consideration can an editor take the initiative to open discussion in any Party paper on any controversial question in the Party." 6. Caucuses: "According to the explicit declarations of the 3rd World Congress of the Communist International, the formation of caucuses within the Party is formally forbidden." 7. Liquidation of the Underground Apparatus: "The Communist Party of America must continue to exist as an underground party. Its main task consists in the open work, especially through the LPP and the trade unions. Should conditions change and the possibility of an open Communist Party arise, then a convention of the Communist Party alone can decide." 8. Party Council: "The Party Council consists of the Central Executive Committee members and of one Party Council member from each Party District or from a combination of Districts as designated by the Convention." 9. CEC Composition: "According to the Thesis on Organization of Communist Parties adopted by the 3rd World Congress of the Communist International, the majority of the Central Executive Committee must reflect the majority of the Party Convention. But also the minority of the Party Convention must be reflected by a minority representation in the Central Executive Committee."

 

"Report of [1922 Bridgman CPA] Convention." [events of Aug. 17-22, 1922] This unsigned official account of the 1922 Bridgman Convention is decidedly more positive than the frustrated analysis of CI Rep Genrik Valetski. Mention of the police raid which was to embroil the party for the next year is understated and the analysis of the gathering upbeat: "Unforeseen circumstances made it necessary to condense the convention deliberations within a shorter time than anticipated. And yet at no Communist convention in America has so much constructive work been accomplished." Although it is noted that no caucuses would henceforth be permitted within the party, it is simultaneously remarked that "from the very beginning of the convention, a tendency to caucuses was manifest. A majority caucus representing those contending against a tendency which they regarded as leading toward the liquidation of the underground party was formed and remained the majority of the convention. The second caucus was a looser aggregation and embraced those who declared there were no liquidators in the Party and others who for different reasons remained outside the majority caucus." William Z. Foster addressed the gathering about the turbulent situation in the American trade union movement. "Against this review of possibilities of revolutionary work in the trade unions was cited the appalling fact that only 5% of the Party membership is actively engaged in trade union work," it is noted. The previously negotiated agreement of the factional "Disarmament Committee" was unanimously approved by the convention and a new 11 member CEC elected (2 unanimous choices, 6 from the "Anti-Liquidation" majority caucus, and 3 from the "Independent" minority caucus) to